12. Chewbacca
Name: Chewbacca
Biography (from Starwars.com): An immense, fur covered warrior of great strength and loyalty, Chewbacca the Wookiee was a well-known figure in both the underworld and in the Rebel Alliance. Born on Kashyyyk over two centuries before the Battle of Yavin, Chewbacca was a wise, sophisticated being with exceptional skills in starship piloting and repair.
Chewbacca is a veteran of the Clone Wars, the galaxy-wide conflict that pitted the clone armies of the Republic against the droid forces of the Confederacy of Independent Systems. The Wookiee was part of the high command tasked with protecting Kashyyyk from droid invasion. There, he served with fellow Wookiee Tarfful and the Jedi Master Yoda.
The wise Yoda had maintained a good relationship with the denizens of Kashyyyk, earning the respect of the mighty Wookiees. When events surrounding the rise of the Empire resulted in the clone forces betraying their Jedi generals, Chewbacca and Tarfful remained loyal to Yoda, helping the Jedi Master escape the clone trap.
For their brutish strength and technological savvy, Wookiees were enslaved by the Empire for use as labor. For a time, Chewbacca was a slave, toiling away for the betterment of the Empire until an impudent Imperial cadet named Han Solo freed him.
Drummed out of the military, Solo had few options but to return to the fringe lifestyle he knew so well. Chewbacca swore loyalty to Han, and became his partner in crime. The two of them became a well-known smuggling duo. When they came into ownership of the freighter Millennium Falcon, their exploits became legendary.
Chewbacca and Solo spent hours modifying and tinkering on their beloved Falcon, souping it up far beyond its original performance specs. Although the Falcon's upkeep was a labor of love, many a time Chewie unleashed his legendary temper on the recalcitrant freighter, banging his massive furry hands against delicate components that refused to behave.
Chewbacca became Solo's conscience of sorts. Though the smuggler maintained a mercenary air of bravado that refused to adhere to any ideals other than self-preservation, Chewie was openly the more compassionate of the two. Perhaps it was the ordeal suffered by his people at the hands of the Empire that caused Chewie to feel this way. Although Solo steered clear of any allegiance during the Galactic Civil War, Chewbacca definitely supported the Rebel cause, though the two of them tried to avoid the struggle altogether.
Ironically, a simple steerage assignment landed them in the heart of the Rebel Alliance. Desperate for cash, Chewie and Han took on a charter of two passengers and their droids from Tatooine to Alderaan. Little did the two smugglers realize that their cargo consisted of a legendary Jedi Knight, the son of the prophesied Chosen One in Jedi mythology, and a pair of droids containing information vital to both the Empire and the Alliance. This trip inextricably drew Chewbacca and Solo into the Rebel fold, and they continued flying missions for the Rebellion for years after that.
