Mara Jade is a fictional female character within the Star Wars franchise. She appears in the now non-canon Legends series, as the wife of Luke Skywalker and mother of Ben Skywalker . In the different video games , she has been voiced by Heidi Shannon, Edie Mirman and Kath Soucie . Despite not being part of the regular canon and never appearing in the film series, Mara is considered one of the most popular Star Wars characters.

In 2006, Zahn called Mara and Grand Admiral Thrawn his favorite characters out of those he created, saying that "Mara, with her attitude and her Jedi skills, is just plain fun to write, especially when she's in opposition—or in partnership—with Luke." [4] In a 1998 Star Wars Insider poll of fans' favorite Star Wars characters, Mara was the only expanded universe character to break the top 20. [ citation needed ]

Compared to Star Wars ' sole iconic female character, Princess Leia , Zahn said, "Mara has a sharper and more sarcastic manner, and of course, she had to go through the painful realization that her service had been to an evil cause. But they're both women who are strong without sacrificing their femininity, a balance which I think some authors have trouble writing. Bear in mind too, that Leia was one of the first people in the New Republic who decided Mara could be trusted, which perhaps says something about their understanding of each other." [3]

In 2018, Zahn said that Lucasfilm had given him some creative control over the character of Mara Jade: any possible appearance of Mara in new works requires Zahn's approval. Zahn also explained that the Lucasfilm Story Group also had the authority to prevent him from incorporating Mara back into the canon, and that any appearance would have to be approved by both parties. Zahn said that he would only allow her to appear if she plays an important role in the plot, and that he would block any kind of cameo. Previously, the character of Grand Admiral Thrawn, whom Zahn also created, had made the jump from Legends to canon, albeit with a slightly reworked story. Due to that, Zahn said that he hoped to find a way to bring Mara into the canon, stating "If there was a generic, or organic, spot for her to fit into a story... I promise people, I will pitch it to the Lucasfilm story group, and then, it's their decision whether to allow it or not."[5]

Legends Edit

With the 2012 acquisition of Lucasfilm by The Walt Disney Company, most of the licensed Star Wars novels and comics produced since the originating 1977 film Star Wars were rebranded as Star Wars Legends and declared non-canon to the franchise in April 2014.[6][7][8]

Mara is introduced as smuggler Talon Karrde's second-in-command in Heir to the Empire. The novel establishes that she was previously an "Emperor's Hand"—a special agent—for Emperor Palpatine.

Several stories depict Jade before the events in Heir to the Empire, showing her training under Palpatine and executing his orders. The Thrawn trilogy depicts Mara's first confrontation with Luke Skywalker, whom she has sworn to kill to avenge Palpatine's death (Palpatine having sent her a faked image of Luke and Vader turning on him together, rather than Vader killing Palpatine on his own and the demand for Luke's death simply motivated by Palpatine's desire for revenge against his father rather than Luke himself having done anything). This was reinforced by the Emperor's final telepathic command to assassinate Luke, which had plagued her thoughts since his death; upon learning this situation, Luke vowed to help Mara break Palpatine's hold on her, regardless of the danger she posed to him. Towards the end of the trilogy, she turns against the Empire and resolves her anger toward Luke and silences the command without killing him, instead killing Luke's clone— Luuke Skywalker— who had been made by the Dark Jedi Joruus C'baoth to challenge Luke. In doing so, she took Anakin Skywalker's blue lightsaber (which Luuke was using), and used it instead of Luke's green lightsaber to defeat C'baoth. At the close of The Last Command, Luke gives her Anakin's lightsaber not only because she had earned it, but because he truly wanted her to have it. Over the course of the series, Luke recognizes in Mara an underdeveloped affinity for the Force ; and although she initially resists Jedi training, she eventually becomes a Jedi Master.

Luke and Mara develop a strong bond in Zahn's The Hand of Thrawn Duology; he proposes marriage, and the two wed in Michael A. Stackpole's graphic novel Union.[9] She delivers a son, Ben, during The New Jedi Order series.

In the Legacy of the Force series, Mara becomes suspicious of her nephew, Jacen Solo, when he sends Ben on several ethically dubious missions. Upon learning that Jacen has become a Sith apprentice, Mara vows to kill him, but Jacen ultimately kills her in Sacrifice. She later appears as a Force ghost, first to Ben and then to Luke, in Revelation. She also appears as a Force ghost to Cade Skywalker in the Legacy comics, set more than a century after the Star Wars films.

Mara also appears in the short story "Sleight of Hand: The Tale of Mara Jade", by Timothy Zahn, in the anthology Tales from Jabba's Palace. In this story, she infiltrates Jabba the Hutt's palace as a dancing girl in order to assassinate Luke Skywalker under orders of the Emperor, but misses her chance when Jabba drops him into the Rancor's lair and he escapes.

Other appearances Edit

Mara was portrayed by model Shannon McRandle (as Shannon Baksa) on several cards in the Star Wars Customizable Card Game.

Meeting her was also a mission objective in the now defunct massively multiplayer online game Star Wars Galaxies. She is a playable character in Star Wars: Masters of Teräs Käsi,. Star Wars Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith, Star Wars: Empire at War and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. She also narrates the Imperial campaign in Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds.[citation needed]