History Woobie / StarWars

Franchise/StarWars has a great many [[TheWoobie woobies]].

* All Clone troopers. Born and bred to fight as a slave army for a Republic where the common-folk views them as nothing more then flesh-droids and where they holds not a single legal right. [[TrainingFromHell Their training]] (which included live ammunition) [[ChildSoldiers started as soon as they could walk]] and anyone that showed less then perfection were "removed". To makes sure that the army is ready to fight in time they were genetically engineered to age twice as fast as a normal human, so those who live through the war have effectively been robbed of half their natural lifespan. Anyone who tries to desert is hunted down and killed (by other Clones) and those who are injured severely enough to never return to active service are terminated as "faulty property of the Grand Army of the Republic". Most Jedi treated them with dignity though, which makes Order 66 even more sad.

[[AC:''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'']]
* The surviving Clone Troopers have become this even after Order 66. [[DudeWheresMyReward In addition to getting no compensation for their services and being resigned to menial labor duty in their old age]], [[ShellShockedVeteran some of them]] have to [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone live with the guilt of being forced to kill the Jedi generals]] they bonded with, [[ManchurianAgent all because of bio-chips planted in their brains before they were even born]]. Even the Clones who had the bio-chips removed, allowing them to subsequently escape the Empire, have it rough -- Rex, Wolffe, and Gregor live on a backwater planet away from civilization to escape being forced back into service.

[[AC:''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'']]
* If anything, ''The Clone Wars'' has made Anakin Skywalker into a bigger woobie retroactively due to the events that happen to him. During the Mortis Arc, he is confronted by the truths of his destiny, emotionally manipulated by the Son, forced to duel Ahsoka, and Mind Raped into turning to the dark side. In the Season Five finale "The Wrong Jedi", Anakin [[spoiler: does everything he can to help Ahsoka, but is powerless to clear her good name until it's very nearly too late, and still loses his beloved Padawan when she leaves the Jedi Order, which results him being left with one less MoralityPet.]] During the beginning of Season Six, it gets even worse, as Fives dies in "Orders" at the hands of Commander Fox. In the Clovis arc, his relationship with Padme is damaged by the presence of Rush Clovis. In the unfinished animatics for the Utapau arc, he laments to Obi-Wan about what if he became a disappointment like Ahsoka. If there's anyone in the Star Wars universe who needed a hug, it's Anakin.
* Usually an IronWoobie, Ahsoka becomes a flat-out woobie during the [[TraumaCongaLine season 5]] [[BreakTheCutie finale]].
* The clone troopers, during the Umbara arc. They spend the entire arc being abused by [[{{Jerkass}} Krell]], watching clone after clone die from his pointlessly reckless tactics, and [[spoiler: being manipulated by Krell into killing their own brothers]]. Rex, in particular, stands out, especially when [[spoiler: he realises [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone exactly]] [[TheReveal who]] he and his men have been shooting at]].
** [[spoiler: Waxer's death scene]] sets him up as, arguably, the biggest woobie out of all the clones in the Umbara episodes.
** Fives. Apart from experiencing everything the other clones did, he was almost [[spoiler: executed]], and before the Umbara arc he had to cope with [[spoiler: the other members of Domino Squad being killed off]]. It only gets worse for him in the Order 66 arc, [[spoiler: where he discovers the order and eventually gets killed for it]].
* The Togruta colonists who were abducted and enslaved by the Zygerrians.
* The three Jedi younglings in "Padawan Lost"/"Wookiee Hunt", who had been relentlessly hunted by the Trandoshans to the point where they had all crossed the DespairEventHorizon by the time Ahsoka arrived. Special mention goes to Kalifa, who struggles to keep the other two younglings safe, and [[spoiler: is the only one who doesn't get off Wasskah alive]].
* The Father. After spending God knows how long keeping his children in check (and having to live with the fact that they, as he says, [[PhysicalGod could tear apart the fabric of the universe]]), his only reward is to be dying by the time the Jedi arrive on Mortis, as well as [[spoiler: nearly being murdered by his own son, watching his daughter sacrifice herself to save him, and having to arrange his son's death before dying of [[DrivenToSuicide a self-inflicted stab wound]].]]
--> '''The Father''': And now, [[spoiler: I die]], [[TearJerker my heart broken]]...
* ''The Son'', [[ObviouslyEvil of]] [[MadeOfEvil all]] [[HumanoidAbomination people]] ends up as one by the end of the Mortis arc. Despite his nature, he did still care for his family is [[spoiler: horrified by The Sister's death, and even the death of The Father.]]
* ''The Daughter'', despite given the least characterization of the three. She's the embodiment of all that's good about the force and is the very epitome of selfless. She then uses the power that ''could'' be used to save herself, and sacrifices her life to save Ahsoka's.
* Rush Clovis during "Rise of Clovis" and "Crisis at the Heart". [[spoiler: Given a chance to do good by taking a chance to lead the Banking Clan, but his taking the position was just to turn him into an UnwittingPawn of Dooku and Sidious, ends up bringing the war to Scipio and he watches everything fall apart around him. In the end, he sacrifices himself ([[DrivenToSuicide possibly out of guilt for his actions]]) to save Padme's life, and [[ShootTheShaggyDog to pour more salt in the wound]], he gets scapegoated for the corruption in the Banking Clan and control of the banks falls into the hands of Palpatine.]]
* Ahsoka Tano. She devotes her life to becoming to a Jedi, [[spoiler: then gets framed for terrorism. She is forced to go on the run, is declared a traitor and expelled from the Order, feeling utterly abandoned by the Jedi in the process. She then learns that the real culprit is another Padawan and a close friend who betrayed her. Although she is pardoned, the experience leaves her disillusioned with the Jedi and she decides to leave]]. Of course, not long after, the Jedi are massacred and Palpatine creates the Empire. The majority of the people Ahsoka loves and looks up to are killed or forced into hiding, including Padme, whom she viewed as a CoolBigSis, her beloved master Anakin, who was like a brother and Plo Koon, who was almost like a father and the one who originally discovered her potential in the Force. Ahsoka herself has a target on her back due to her past association with the Jedi and must lay low for over a decade to avoid detection. Then, she learns the AwfulTruth about her former master: Anakin didn't die a hero of the Republic, but turned on the Jedi and became Darth Vader, the Emperor's right-hand man, betraying everything he stood for and who is now actively trying to ''kill'' her. The revelation is not only a crushing emotional blow for Ahsoka, but part of her blames herself for his fall, believing she failed or abandoned him by choosing to leave. The last time she's seen, she's [[spoiler: fighting Vader in a collapsing temple to give the rebels time to escape, tearfully insisting that this time, she won't leave him, even though the man she loved and admired is long gone by this point]].

* Zuckess and 4-LOM eventually became this. How? Well the two HeterosexualLifePartners bounty hunters pulled a HeelFaceTurn near the end of the war with the Empire and worked with the Rebel Alliance. But than on a mission 4-LOM got heavily damaged and a distraught Zuckess had to give him a memory wipe as part of the repairs. This took 4-LOM's personality along with it and resulted in him becoming a cold and ruthless droid who only cared about his next paycheck. This in turn utterly destroyed probably one of the closest friendships in the galaxy. We're treated to a [[{{Tearjerker}} tearful]] goodbye between the two as their ties are severed, with Zuckuss devastated and 4-LOM walking off without even realizing why this is a bad thing. We don't learn if the two ever patched things up but it's doubtful.

* Usually an IronWoobie, Ahsoka becomes a flat-out woobie during the [[TraumaCongaLine season 5]] [[BreakTheCutie finale]].
* Less so than in the films, but Anakin still qualifies, especially in the Mortis trilogy and the season 5 finale. In the former, he's confronted by the truths of his destiny, emotionally manipulated by the Son, forced to duel Ahsoka, and {{Mind Rape}}d into turning to the dark side. In the latter, Anakin [[spoiler:does everything he can to help Ahsoka, but is powerless to clear her good name until it's ''very'' nearly too late, and ''still'' loses his beloved Padawan when she leaves the Jedi Order.]]

** Even though Chewie [[spoiler: survives in the re-written storyline in The Force Awakens, he experiences his best friend get killed by Kylo Ren, leading to him shooting him at the hip, and killing the stormtroopers in a fit of rage and even after the Starkiller's destroyed and saving Rey and Finn, he mourns over his best friend that's gone forever.]]

* Cliegg Lars. Lost a leg and widowed ''twice''.

* Rose Tico. In her very first scene, she’s sobbing over her sister Paige [[spoiler: who was killed not long ago in a battle against the First Order fleet]]. She and Finn go on a very risky mission in a desperate attempt to save the Resistance [[spoiler: [[NiceJobBreakingItHero which backfires horribly]], leading to them being captured and the hacker they unwisely trusted selling out the Resistance, causing nearly all of them to be wiped out]]. And at the end of the film, Rose [[spoiler: seriously injures herself and is left in a coma stopping Finn from sacrificing himself]].

* Then there's Obi-Wan Kenobi. His master dies when he's very young and he's plunged into becoming a master when he's not ready. He finally opens up to his apprentice and then his apprentice turns evil and tries to kill him...then he's forced into seclusion and nearly everyone he ever cared for is either dead, a fellow exile or now his enemy. And then, when he comes out of seclusion to try and help the Rebellion... [[spoiler: the aforementioned apprentice ''does'' kill him - although it was a deliberate HeroicSacrifice on Obi Wan's part.]]

* ''The Daughter'', despite given the least characterization of the three. She's the embodiment of all that's good about the force and is the very epitome of selfless. She then uses the power that ''could'' be used to save herself, and sacrifices her life to save Ahoska's.

**
''Revenge of the Sith'' also shows that Chewie had to watch his homeplanet be invaded by the Separatists, causing mass death and destruction. And we all know how the Clone Wars turned out...

* Padme Amidala, to the point where it's hinted she died partly from a ''broken heart'' due to the crap she's been through. She faces the responsiblity of running an entire planet at only fourteen and shortly after her election, Naboo is invaded, endangering her citizens. She risks her life to travel to Coruscant to plead for assistance from the Senate, with her advisors back on Naboo constantly sending her messages to return or more people will die, which she is forced to ignore for Naboo's sake. And then when she finally arrives at the Senate, she discovers they're mostly a bunch of corrupt, self-serving bureacrats who um and ah over helping her whilst her people are suffering. She spends much of the Separatist Crisis being threatened by assassins, one such attempt costing the life of her decoy, which she is clearly distraught over. She falls in love with Anakin, the one person she can lower her guard around and be herself, but knows their relationship cannot be. She then marries him in secret anyway after they both nearly died on Geonosis, though this is shown to take a toll on their relationship, with Padme becoming frustrated at constantly having to live a lie. She watches as the galaxy descends into war and chaos and the Chancellor, who she believed she could trust, increasingly moves away from the ideals of the Republic to seize more power for himself. Finally, she watches as everything she worked for her whole life is torn down to be replaced by a dictatorship, many of her friends in the Jedi Order are killed or forced into hiding and her beloved husband and the father of her unborn child turns to the Dark Side. When she confronts him, she tearfully begs him to stop what he's doing, expressing horror when he tries to justify his atrocities as 'protecting her'. He then accuses her of betraying him and chokes her until she passes out whilst she desperately pleads with him. And in spite of all this, she still loves the man he once was; the first thing she asks after waking up is if he's alright (unaware of the horrific injuries he received in his duel with Obi Wan). She dies shortly after giving birth, never even getting to hold her children (and with the knowlege they're being born into a CrapsackWorld where they will be in danger), and her last words are her assertion that she believes there is still good in Anakin even after what he did to her and numerous others. Her daughter's only enduring memory of her is that she was "beautiful and kind, but sad".

* Zuckess and 4-LOM eventually became this. How? Well the two HeterosexualLifePartners bounty hunters pulled a HeelFaceTurn near the end of the war with the Empire and worked with the Rebel Alliance. But than on a mission 4-LOM got heavily damaged and a distraught Zuckess had to give him a memory wipe as part of the repairs. This took 4-LOM's personality along with it and resulted in him becoming a cold and ruthless droid who only cared about his next paycheck. This inturn utterly destroyed probably one of the closest friendships in the galaxy. We're treated to a [[{{Tearjerker}} tearful]] goodbye between the two as their ties are severed, with Zuckuss devastated and 4-LOM walking off without even realizing why this is a bad thing. We don't learn if the two ever patched things up but it's doubtful.

* The three Jedi younglings in "Padawan Lost"/"Wookiee Hunt", who had been relentlessly hunted by the Trandoshans to the point where they had all crossed the DespairEventHorizon by the time Ahsoka arrived. Special mention goes to Kalifa, who struggles to keep the other two younglings safe, and [[spoiler: is the only one who doesn't get off Wasskah alive]].

* ''Woobie/StarWarsTheCloneWars''

* The Expanded Universe reveals Greedo to be one. He's basically TheChewToy and the only reason he was a bad guy was because he wanted to become a famous bounty hunter. He promptly got heckled, abused, and tormented due to his incompetence, forced into danger he wanted no part of, and was nearly killed horribly on multiple occasions (including a time he was almost [[ItMakesSenseInContext beaten to death with flowers]]). And [[TraumaCongaLine of course]] the time he ''finally'' got a notable job, it ended in him getting casually shot dead by Han Solo--and that was a {{Uriah Gambit}} by a buddy who'd accepted a bounty on him but couldn't bring himself to ice Greedo in person. Really, given his past, one could almost consider Han shooting him to be a MercyKill.
* All Clone troopers. Born and bred to fight as a slave army for a Republic where the common-folk views them as nothing more then flesh-droids and where they holds not a single legal right. [[TrainingFromHell Their training]] (which included live ammunition) [[ChildSoldiers started as soon as they could walk]] and anyone that showed less then perfection were "removed". To makes sure that the army is ready to fight in time they were genetically engineered to age twice as fast as a normal human, so those who live through the war have effectively been robbed of half their natural lifespan. Anyone who tries to desert is hunted down and killed (by other Clones) and those who are injured severely enough to never return to active service are terminated as "faulty property of the Grand Army of the Republic". Most Jedi treated them with dignity though, which makes Order 66 even more sad.

** In The Force Awakens [[spoiler: it was mentioned that he trained a group of students to lead to a new generation of Jedi only for one of them to turn to the Dark Side and cause another Jedi purge leaving Luke feeling responsible and go into exile like Obi-Wan and Yoda did. It makes matters worse that said student is ''his own nephew''.]]

** In The Force Awakens [[spoiler: it was mentioned that he trained a group of students to lead to a new generation of Jedi only for one of them to turn to the Dark Side and cause another Jedi purge leaving Luke feeling responsible and go into exile like Obi-Wan and Yoda did. It makes matters worse that said student is his own nephew.]]

* Although nobody wants to hear it, Jar Jar Binks is a number one candidate for the "Star Wars Woobie Awards". First, he's hated, no he's ''loathed'' out of universe simply for being George Lucas's admittedly shaky attempt at making another successful KidAppealCharacter like R2. He also seems to be almost as disliked ''in'' universe (perhaps as a means to appease the fans). The poor guy is mocked in other media as well, where some even wish him ''dead'' simply for ''existing!!'' Not to mention he's lost his closes friends Anakin, Obi-Wan and Padme. He's the only character to survive the Prequel Trilogy. Ironically enough, if any character in the series needs a hug, it would have to be Jar Jar.

* What about Han Solo, eh? Okay, he's a jerk at the beginning (but less of a jerk than a LoveableRogue by the end of the first movie, and he just got better from there), but come on: He was brutally tortured by Darth Vader (who was using his and Leia's distress to lure Luke to Cloud City), then frozen in carbonite to repay his debt to Jabba the Hutt, ''then'' sentenced to die in the Sarlaac pit because Luke defeated the rancor... And how about the times (at least two) when Han risked his own life to save Luke's? Also, when Leia releases him from the carbonite in ''Return of the Jedi'', how could you ''not'' want to hug Han as he's shivering, blind and scared, having no clue where he is or (because of Leia's mask) who's talking to him? And those are just his woobie moments from the ''movies''. (His biggest woobie moment in the Expanded Universe? The deaths of Chewie and Jacen.) Also: He's an orphan. Orphans are woobies by default.

* The Han Solo Trilogy pretty much explains his jerk behavior by beating the crap out of his life right up to New Hope.

* Chewbacca. Where do we begin? He's a loyal sidekick to Han Solo and in some ways contrasts the latter's JerkAss-ness. Even though he played as big a part as everyone else in the Battle of Yavin, he is infamously denied a medal (though in all fairness R2-D2 didn't get one either, maybe they only go to ship commanders). Even though a lot of people in-universe (and outside of it) dislike C-3PO, Chewie takes great pains to put him back together in Cloud City. Chewie is also as fond of giving BearHug s as he is of ripping arms out of sockets-though the hugs are sometimes violent. Early on in life, Chewie was bullied for not being as big and strong as the other Wookiees. His final act was a HeroicSacrifice in order to save Han Solo's son, and the comics story "Chewbacca" (in which C-3PO and R2-D2 travel the universe to collect anecdotes and stories about the late Wookiee for his MeaningfulFuneral) is likely to have you in tears at the end.

* I know nobody wants to hear it (which is sad in and of itself), Jar Jar Binks is a number one candidate for the "Star Wars Woobie Awards". First, he's hated, no he's ''loathed'' out of universe simply for being George Lucas's admittedly shaky attempt at making another successful KidAppealCharacter like R2. He also seems to be almost as disliked ''in'' universe (perhaps as a means to appease the fans). The poor guy is mocked in other media as well, where some even wish him ''dead'' simply for ''existing!!'' Not to mention he's lost his closes freinds Anakin, Obi-Wan and Padme. He's the only character to survive the Prequel Trilogy. Ironically enough, if any character in the series needs a hug, it would have to be Jar Jar.

* All Clone troopers. Born and breed to fight as a slave army for a Republic where the common-folk views them as nothing more then flesh-droids and where they holds not a single legal right. [[TrainingFromHell Their training]](which included live ammunition) [[ChildSoldiers started as soon as they could walk]] and anyone that showed less then perfection were "removed". To makes sure that the army is ready to fight in time they were genetically engineered to age twice as fast as a normal human, so those who lives through the war have effectively been robbed of half their natural lifespan. Anyone who tries to desert are hunted down and killed (by other Clones) and those who are injured severely enough to never return to active service are terminated as "faulty property of the Grand Army of the Republic". Most Jedi treated them with dignity though, which makes Order 66 even more sad.

* Anakin Skywalker – raised in slavery and separated from his mother at the tender age of nine, he watches her die in his arms when he manages to return for her. Drafted into a war and loosing an arm, he finds solace in his wife. Foreseeing her death upon the birth of their children, he tears the galaxy in an attempt to save her, accidently killing her in the process. A quadruple amputee, burned to the point of having to spend the rest of his life on life support, and with no indication that his children survived his wife's death, he dedicates his remaining years to service of the empire, only to learn upon the discovery of his grown son that he had been lied to and only getting to gaze upon his face once as he lay dying.

* So I suppose forcing to watch as her home planet got blown up, tortured while being interrogated by Darth Vader, who turned out to be her own father, and made a slave by Jabba isn't enough to qualify Leia on the list? That's before we add [[spoiler: losing her son to the dark side, which costs her both her marriage to Han as well as her brother. Then there's how Han dies after they've reunited after so many years, killed by their own son Ben, and being Force sensitive, she feels it as it happens.]]

* The Expanded Universe reveals Greedo to be one. He's basically TheChewToy and the only reason he was a bad guy was because he wanted to become a famous bounty hunter. He promptly got heckled, abused, and tormented due to his incompetence, forced into danger he wanted no part of, and was nearly killed horribly on multiple occasions (including a time he was almost [[ItMakesSenseInContext beaten to death with flowers]]). And [[TraumaCongaLine of course]] the time he ''finally'' got a notable job, it ended in him getting casually shot dead by Han Solo. Really, given his past, one could almost consider Han shooting him to be a MercyKill.

* Rounding out the main characters, R2D2. He's been there from the beginning and his memory was never wiped like C3PO's. Meaning that he could remember everything...including people he knew, loved and was [[UndyingLoyalty extremely loyal to]] either die or fall into corruption. And the poor little guy was unable to do ''anything'' about it. [[spoiler:In ''The Force Awakens'', Luke's disappearance seems to have been the last straw for him, as it causes him to completely shut down]].