Ensemble Dark Horse / Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga

Original Trilogy

• One of the poster boys for this trope is Boba Fett due to his distinctive armor and spaceship in addition to his assertive demeanor towards Darth Vader despite getting very little screentime. His death in Return of the Jedi was eventually changed so that he survived falling into the Sarlacc pit in both Canon and Legends and having many works dedicated to him. George Lucas even stated he would've spared him had he realized how popular he would become, which might explain his family's retroactive importance in the Prequel Trilogy. He returns in The Mandalorian and eventually got his own series on Disney+.
• Wedge Antilles, a Mauve Shirt who went from a single appearance in A New Hope to appearing throughout the Original Trilogy and considerable EU following due to being an everyday man surviving each film's final battle. The X-Wing series, anyone?
• A non-character example: the All-Terrain Armored Transport walker. Next to the Death Star, TIE Fighter and Star Destroyer, the AT-AT is the "face" of the Empire in popular media, and the only major ground vehicle at that.
• The pilots of Rogue Squadron have become quite popular in the EU, especially Wes Jansen and Derek 'Hobbie' Klivian.
• The bounty hunters in The Empire Strikes Back: Dengar, Bossk, IG-88, 4-LOM, and Zuckuss, who just stand around looking cool on the bridge of the Executor and nothing else. This was all it took to get them all extensive backstories in the Expanded Universe.
• Admiral Ackbar. A lot of people forget that he only appears in the second half of Return of the Jedi, but a combination of his unique look, his voice, and a three word phrase of warning propelled him into fan consciousness.
• Arvel Crynyd, aka "that one nameless A-wing pilot" who ends up turning the tide of battle in the Rebellion's favor by crashing his A-wing into the bridge of the Executor.
• Porkins is only on-screen for about a minute before being blown to smithereens, but his unique appearance made him probably the most popular background character in A New Hope.
• Nik Sant. The bearded Cool Old Guy who joins Han Solo’s strike team on Endor in Return of the Jedi. He’s mainly popular because of the theory that he’s actually Captain Rex, which became so popular that it has gotten Approval of God and has been Retconned.
• The Cantina denizens. In the actual film they're more set pieces than characters, but they did their job in the narrative - giving the viewer an impression of just how diverse The Galaxy is - so well that most of them have received extensive backstories in the Expanded Universe. And to think, a number of them were cobbled together from old Halloween costumes!
• Many imperial officers have fan following, including:
  • Commander Daine Jir for criticizing Vader in the opening in A New Hope. It doesn't look like much at first, but seeing the You Have Failed Me moments in Empire Strikes Back, that's one brave commander. Expanded info reveals not only does he come from a family that donated to the stormtrooper cloning program, but that Vader found his bluntness refreshing compared to the usual Smug Snake attitude that Imperial officers have and kept him around.
  • General Tagge for actually acknowledging the threat the supposed insignificant rebels pose. Too bad nobody else listened. According to Darth Vader, being this cunning allowed him to escape the destruction of the Death Star in the Disney Expanded Universe (in the Legends Expanded Universe, he died with the Death Star).
  • General Maximillian Veers, for leading the assault on Hoth with great success (in comparison to the incompetent Admiral Ozzel). The Expanded Universe states that he survived the collapse of the Empire.
  • Captain Needa for taking responsibility for losing the Falcon, then apologizing to Vader in person for it despite it being a death sentence.
  • Admiral Piett, the Cowardly Lion in Empire Strikes Back that actually survived the film. He became such a Breakout Character that he returned in the next film by popular demand, where he's killed when the Super Star Destroyer is destroyed. Thanks, fans.
  • Grand Moff Tarkin. He only had a big role in A New Hope, but he'll always be remembered as the man who blew up Alderaan. His memorable nature has caused him to since become an Ascended Extra, with him getting a lot of backstory and characterization in the expanded universe. This is especially true in the new Expanded Universe, as works such as Tarkin to raise the stakes served to remind audiences why he's the second-most powerful known man in the Empire (and thus even Darth Vader - the Emperor's apprentice - is subordinate to him) despite not having any Force powers.
• Davin Felth, aka that random stormtrooper who says "look sir, droids". Mainly because the expanded universe gave him a fleshed out personality and backstory, revealing him as a Noble Demon who became a spy for the rebels after witnessing Owen and Beru being killed.
• In the same vein as the cantina patrons are the various thugs in Jabba's palace. Nearly all of them were given extensive backstories and a surprising amount of them turned out to be alive after the fall of their boss' criminal empire, complete with turning over a new leaf.
• For a race example, there are the amani (plural: amanin), aliens resembling something like humanoid worms or slugs. Only one appeared in the films (Episode VI specifically) and was barely visible due to the lighting near Solo's carbonite prison it was standing near. However, the alien's design attracted much attention from the more keen-eyed members of the fanbase and a description of the race was fleshed out quickly.

Prequel Trilogy

• Aurra Sing is a bounty hunter who literally had about three seconds of screen time in The Phantom Menace watching the pod race. Due to the coolness of her look as a character, her surprise popularity led to her getting a lot of EU material along with a fleshed out expanded role in The Clone Wars as a surrogate mother to Boba Fett not to mention plenty else to do. She even received a Shout-Out in the anthology film Solo that suggested she was Killed Offscreen by the Big Bad of this film.
• Yaddle, the female member of Yoda's species seen on the Jedi Council in The Phantom Menace. There was much rejoicing when she was announced as a playable character in LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, as well as her receiving her first foreground role in Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi.
• Kit Fisto is very popular with the fans, even though he only appeared a couple of times briefly in Attack of the Clones and once (before he dies) in Revenge of the Sith. His grin seems to be what does it for most people. Also the fact that his last name is "Fisto" does it for some.
• The non-canon Clone Wars micro-series that made Grievous popular was also what started the Ensemble Dark Horse popularity of Shaak Ti. Despite having VERY minimal screen time in the films themselves, getting only a split second of screen time in Attack of the Clones and then not even appearing in Revenge of the Sith (despite being Back for the Dead in two completely different deleted scenes), she's become popular enough to show up in a surprising amount of EU materials along with The Clone Wars.
• Have you ever heard the tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise? Despite the story only showing up in one scene of Revenge of the Sith, Darth Plagueis is definitely one of the more beloved aspects of the Prequel Trilogy and it quickly became accepted that he was Darth Sidious's master.
• Princess Leia's adopted mother Breha Organa has had a popularity explosion on Tumblr with the release of Leia: Princess of Alderaan, with many comparing her cybernetic pulmonodes to superheroes like Iron Man.

Sequel Trilogy

• Bobbajo, the alien that appeared in the "Force For Change" promotional video and at Comic-Con 2015 has already becoming popular with the fandom, most likely because it's a puppet on par with what Jim Henson would have made instead of simply being CGI.
• The Riot Control Stormtrooper, aka TR-8R/Trey Tor (after his only line, "Traitor!") or his canon designation FN-2199 (Nines), is made of badass. Throwing his blaster and shield away in favor of going mano-a-mano with a melee weapon, his sassy weapon twirl, soundly defeating a lightsaber-wielding Finn, and his delivery on said only line have made fans latch onto him in a way reminiscent of Boba Fett. The irony that Disney probably intended to evoke this darkhorse status with Captain Phasma is not lost on the audience◊.
• First Order Lieutenant Dopheld Mitaka (Nameless in-movie in only 2 scenes and has only a few lines), the man who blasted Finn & Poe's TIE Fighter with the Ventral Cannons then get force-neck-grabbed by Kylo Ren is a fan-fave with some due to his boyish good looks, adorable pout, being perceived as The Woobie and his backstory as some who graduated as top off his class at the First Order's Academy of Evil. There's plenty of Fan-Fiction with this guy.
• Despite having all of four lines of dialogue in the first film, Poe's wingmate Jessika Pava has attracted a sizable fandom among the Tumblr Star Wars community, mostly on account of the extra representation she brings to the series. That she's portrayed by Game of Thrones alum Jessica Henwick certainly hasn't hurt her standing any.
• Sidon Ithano, the red-armored alien who Finn speaks to about a ride to the outer rim, won multiple fans thanks to his strikingly slick design and cool voice. The fact that his starring short story in Tales from a Galaxy Far, Far Away showed him to be a swashbuckling pirate captain AND A Father to His Men who adopted an unexpectedly returning Clone Trooper Kix into his crew did nothing to diminish his popularity at all.
• Adam Driver's SNL Star Wars parody character, Matt the Radar Technician, has a sizable fan following and lots of fan backstory placing him in the canon universe. Surprising, considering he isn't actually a canon character. Or at least he wasn't, until Star Wars Battlefront II (2017) came out.
• The Praetorian Guard definitely became unexpectedly popular, specifically for the fact that they fight on equal terms, and almost manage to win against Kylo Ren and Rey, to the point where the two need to work together just to even survive the fight. This despite the fact that there is no indication that they have any connection to the Force whatsoever. Their incredibly cool weapons and fighting styles don't hurt either.
• Rose's sister Paige, who many people are calling one of the best characters in the movie despite her death in a Heroic Sacrifice 10 minutes into the movie. She's played by the Vietnamese actress, Veronica Ngo who's very famous in her home country.
• The crystal foxes on Crait are almost universally beloved thanks to their beautiful, elegant designs and helping save the Resistance by leading them to the secret escape route.
• DJ, who is popular even among people who didn't like the otherwise controversial Canto Bight plotline for Benicio del Toro's excellent performance and the element of moral ambiguity that he brings to the Star Wars cast. Many people loved his personality despite, or perhaps even because of selling the Resistance out to the First Order to save his own skin.
• Captain Canady, commander of the Dreadnought, who gets a lot of attention for being a crusty old Imperial Navy veteran and his Surrounded by Idiots attitude compared to the usual clueless incompetence of his fresh-faced First Order officers.
• Tallie, the A-wing pilot who participated in the Dreadnought attack but was killed when the hangar blew up, has drawn attention from people who wish redshirts didn't have to be so good-looking, as well as fans who feel the character was simply wasted.
• The Porgs became overnight sensations on the internet shortly after they were first officially unveiled.
• BB-9E is also very popular due to being an Evil Counterpart to BB-8.
• General Pryde has been very well-received by many fans, thanks to his ruthless professionalism and Richard E. Grant's cold charisma. More than a few people have favorably compared him to a First Order equivalent of Grand Moff Tarkin.
• Babu Frik the tiny non-human droid-smith is the latest successor to Porg-mania. He's tiny, adorable, funny and outspoken. He originally became popular as a joke due to initially being seen as a pointless addition, but this ended up becoming genuine for being such a weird character and getting a weird but funny amount of important. His "HEEEEYYY!" is very much beloved.
• Rey's dark doppelganger is onscreen for less than twenty seconds and only has a single line, but she still left quite an impression on audiences, thanks to being equal parts cool and creepy (and quite attractive, as far as some viewers are concerned). Some audience members were fascinated by her even before the movie came out after her brief, but memorable, appearance in a sizzle reel.
• The satirical community r/saltierthankrayt in Reddit has give some love to Klaud, the Resistance mechanic who went with Poe and Finn to meet Boolio in the Millenium Falcon, it started as a joke but quickly became the pet of the subreddit and a new community called r/Saltierthanklaud was born.