"The choices you make, the actions you take, all shape us into forces of destiny."
— Maz Kanata
Star Wars: Forces of Destiny is a Lucasfilm animated web series with shorts focusing on the heroines of Star Wars. It covers multiple eras of the saga and features Daisy Ridley, Lupita Nyong'o, Felicity Jonesnote , and Kelly Marie Tran reprising their roles as Rey, Maz Kanata, Jyn Erso, and Rose Tico most notably. Also reprising their roles on the series are Star Wars animation veterans Ashley Eckstein as Ahsoka Tano, Catherine Taber as Padme Amidala, Matt Lanter as Anakin Skywalker, Tiya Sircar as Sabine Wren, Vanessa Marshall as Hera Syndulla, and Gina Torres as Ketsu Onyo, and even actors from the live-action films including John Boyega as Finn, Anthony Daniels as (who else) C-3PO, and Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker note . Star Wars newcomer Shelby Young voices Leia Organa.
It debuted on the Disney YouTube channel in July 2017. The preview can be seen here
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In 2018, it received an Adventures spin-off comic series under the subtitle of Adventures: Forces of Destiny.
Tropes in this series include:
- Action Girl: The series focuses on Star Wars heroines, who each incarnate the trope their own way. Though "The Path Ahead" stars Luke Skywalker instead.
- Adaptational Attractiveness: Anakin gets this treatment with much more of a pretty-boy look than he had in The Clone Wars. His scar isn't there, either. Volume 3 gives him a more masculine appearance.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: Jyn Erso is significantly more polite to strangers here than she is in Rogue One or its related tie-ins — likely a result of this show targeting a young demographic.
- Art Evolution: Ahsoka's montrals and lekku during the Republic era of the shorts are depicted as more rounder and wider, akin to her montrals and lekku as an adult as seen in Rebels, making her appearance in this series a midpoint between her The Clone Wars appearance and her Rebels appearance.
- Ascended Meme: The common fan theory that the Ewoks ate the stormtroopers is referenced. They try, tying two of them in the same spits they were gonna roast Han and Luke on, but Leia insists on treating the enemy fairly.
- Ass Kicking Pose: All of the heroines have one.
- Bigfoot, Sasquatch, and Yeti:
- Leia runs into a wampa while unarmed. She manages.
- The Gorax resembles a very large, horned Sasquatch. It even lives on Endor, which looks very similar to the Pacific Northwest, the region that is most associated with Sasquatch.
- Bring It: Jyn confronts a bunch of Stormtroopers while gesturing them forward with one finger.Jyn: Why don't you pick on someone your own size?
- Brother–Sister Team: In "Traps and Tribulations", Luke and Leia team up together to trap the Gorax and save the Ewoks.
- Canon Immigrant: Season Two adds characters and creatures who appeared in the Ewok movies and animated series.
- Narrator: Maz Kanata acts as the narrator, telling stories around a campfire.
- Lighter and Softer: While still action packed, the show definitely skews younger. Not that it's a bad thing though.
- Limited Animation: Since Forces of Destiny doesn't run on a high budget, it uses Flash animation, reuses sets (which is why there's multiple shorts on Garel, Endor, etc.), and only Ketsu, Leia, & Padmé have more than one outfit (in Ketsu's case, it's only a minor change).
- Limited Wardrobe: Sabine and Hera only have one outfit so far despite the two having various different appearances throughout the show and other media, which makes it hard to tell when their shorts happen and also serve as Continuity Snarl. This is in spite of Leia having four different outfits here (her princess outfit, her Hoth outfit, her Endor camo outfit, and her Endor dress outfit) and Padmé having two (her white outfit and her Naboo pilot's uniform).
- Police Brutality: Stormtroopers love bullying nonhumans.
- Production Foreshadowing: If you watch "Triplecross" before watching Solo, it will come as less of a surprise when Qi'ra ends up betraying both Dryden and Han in quick succession.
- Ridiculously Cute Critter: Artoo, BB-8, Chopper, the return of the Ewoks, the Porgs, the tooka....even the nightwatcher worm and baby sando aqua monster are
sorta cute. - The Rival: "An Imperial Feast" reveals that Han and Hera have a running rivalry over which is the best ship, the Millennium Falcon or the Ghost.
- Saved by Canon: At the time the series was announced, Rebels had finished its third season, but the appearance of Hera, Sabine, Ketsu, and Chopper in events that have yet to pass in Rebels at least confirms they survive what is yet to come in Rebels until then. For Hera, one episode puts her on Endor shortly after the battle there, showing she makes it all the way through the Trilogy), while Sabine eventually returns to the main Rebellion (having left to help the Mandalorian Resistance) a little before the events of A New Hope (at the time of this announcement, it was not revealed that she would rejoin the Rebellion in Season 4 yet). Though the episode with Hera on Endor managed not to spoil the reveal that Hera had a son with Kanan.
- Title Drop: Maz's opening quote at the beginning of every episode.
- Token Evil Teammate: Of all the show's protagonists, Qi'ra is the only one to be an Anti-Hero rather than a typical hero. There's even a scene where she captures Hondo (who, while being a space pirate, is still a very funny and likable character) and stands over him gloating that she'll make a lot of money from his capture, which is quite unusual for a show like this. Of course, she's also the only protagonist who'll eventually take on a villainous role, though you can interpret her actions as villainous here.
- Wham Episode: "Accidental Allies" reveals that Jyn and Sabine have met in the past.
