If you’re a fan of A Galaxy Far, Far Away like me, there’s quite a few good reasons why you should be very excited about Ubisoft’s upcoming open-world adventure Star Wars Outlaws. Nestled between the exciting events of Empire Strikes Back and the climactic Return of the Jedi, Star Wars Outlaws follows scoundrel Kay Vess – and her trusty merqaal companion Nix – as they navigate a Galaxy where crime syndicates run rampant in the hopes of pulling off, and I quote, “one of the greatest heists the Outer Rim has ever seen” – as described by creative director Julian Gerighty. From what we’ve seen so far, I think it’s fair to say that this has the potential to be one of the best Star Wars games ever. With this period of Star Wars’ history so wonderfully rich, and Kay Vess so perfectly poised to find herself brushing shoulders with all kinds of scoundrels, scumbags, heroes, and villains, here are the seven Star Wars Outlaws characters I want to see – and why they make sense when it comes to this upcoming PS5 game.
In the year of galactic conflict between the events of ESB and RotJ, the Rebel Alliance is scattered and recuperating. After several heavy losses, including the capture of hero Han Solo and the decimation of the Rebellion’s base on the ice planet Hoth, The Empire is finding itself able to rebuild the Death Star in the Endor system and there’s not a lot the Rebellion can do about it. If you’re someone who’s seen the movies, you’ll know how that all turns out. However, in the years 3 ABY to 4 ABY, when Star Wars Outlaws is set to take place, The Empire is on the up and the Rebellion is rattled.
Thankfully for Kay, this is a period of time where the criminal underworld of the Galaxy is thriving; in particular, organizations like the Pyke Syndicate and Crimson Dawn are on the up and the balance of power in the Outer Rim is starting to shift. All of this presents Kay with the unique opportunity to find herself working for, with, and against, some of the most interesting Star Wars characters out there – and, it presents Ubisoft with the unique opportunity to include them in this upcoming Xbox game.
So, here are seven characters I need to see in Star Wars Outlaws:
- Qi’ra
- Dengar
- Lando Calrissian
- General Hera Syndulla
- Max Rebo
- Norra Wexley
- Doctor Chelli Lona Aphra
Qi’ra
If you’re going to show Star Wars fans the criminal underworld during this period of history and you’re not including Qi’ra in some capacity, you’re making a huge mistake. While you may only recognize this character from Emilia Clarke’s wonderful performance in Solo A Star Wars Story, Qi’ra has made herself one of the most influential people in the Galaxy by 3 ABY after succeeding Dryden Vos as the leader of the Crimson Dawn.
Orchestrating the War of the Bounty Hunters, capturing the frozen Han Solo from bounty hunter Boba Fett, and then hosting the infamous auction of Han Solo – which Jabba the Hutt, of course, won – Qi’ra is a character who has emerged from the shadows as one player in this galactic game that Kay could certainly benefit from brushing shoulders with. I can imagine Kay will be looking for work while she’s preparing to pull off one of the greatest heists the Outer Rim has ever seen, and someone like Qi’ra would have more than enough credits to spend. If we’re getting the Pyke Syndicate in Star Wars Outlaws, it would be a crime if we didn’t see the Crimson Dawn too.
Qi’ra even goes toe-to-toe with Darth Vader in War of the Bounty Hunters #3, a comic issue that takes place between 3 ABY and 4 ABY. A dangerous attempt to buy Rebel agents time to re-capture Han Solo before the auction ends, it proves that she’s not afraid to get her hands dirty when necessary, and that she is far from being on The Empire’s side. While I don’t think we’ll see Kay gunslinging side-by-side with Qi’ra, she’s just too important to this period of Star Wars’ history to leave out of a game like Star Wars Outlaws.
Dengar
The bounty hunter known as Dengar, however, is not really that important at all when it comes to this period of Star Wars. That doesn’t mean he wouldn’t be the perfect fit for Star Wars Outlaws, though. A formidable, but often ultimately unsuccessful, foe, Dengar is always looking for a way to score credits – and I think he would be the perfect contact for Kay Vess if she was looking for help from a somewhat indestructible scumbag like Dengar.
In Bounty Hunters #15, Dengar’s seen duking it out with Deathstick – a mysterious Nightsister assassin – and Beilert Valance – another bounty hunter – on Canto Bight, one of the planets we could be headed to in Star Wars Outlaws. He’s also been in contact with Bib Fortuna, Jabba the Hutt’s majordomo, a number of times throughout the era. With this crime boss featuring in the first Star Wars Outlaws cinematic trailer we were shown, and a lot of unassigned time between Dengar being hired to track Han Solo and then later appearing in Jabba’s Palace in Return of the Jedi, there’s no reason for Ubisoft not to rope him into things in one way or another.
Dengar isn’t a nice man, even if he does have a soft spot for his girlfriend Manaroo, and Kay needs to come across as many friends as she does foes to really cut her teeth as a scoundrel. While it’s often nothing too personal with bounty hunters, Dengar isn’t the consummate professional his peers can be and I think having someone with his brash confidence and – almost always – unlikeable personality involved lays the foundation for some wonderful storytelling and entertaining situations in Star Wars Outlaws.
Lando Calrissian
With that being said, though, there’s really no one out there quite as entertaining as Lando Calrissian – someone Kay Vess could learn quite a bit from in Star Wars Outlaws if they were to cross paths. A scoundrel and a sweetheart, Lando is a stand-out figure wherever you find him – and he gets around quite a bit. However, in the period of time this game is set, we don’t actually know too much about what he’s up to – and that’s perfect.
In the one-shot comic book Age of Rebellion Princess Leia #1, we learn that Lando has been dodging bounty hunters with the Wookiee Chewbacca on Arkanis while Leia is working on a plan to rescue the now-frozen Han Solo. However, beyond that, there’s more than enough time for Lando to get caught up with Kay in the Outer Rim. In fact, he would be a fantastic way for Ubisoft to introduce Kay to some of the Galaxy’s seedier characters – like Jabba the Hutt, the leader of one of the main crime syndicates in this period.
Star Wars Outlaws could also be one of the last chances Billy Dee Williams gets to play the character, as sad as that is to say. At 86, with Disney’s Lando series focused on Donald Glover’s portrayal of a younger Lando, you have to wonder how many more projects featuring Lando Calrissian at this age are coming. He’s no stranger to the recording booth, though. He’s Lando in the Lego Star Wars The Skywalker Saga cast, and he’s also Lando in Star Wars Battlefront 2 – a game where other Original Trilogy actors weren’t featured.
So, if given the chance, I would like to think he’d jump at it – and, who wouldn’t want to have a character like Lando Calrissian in their game, really?
General Hera Syndulla
That same sentiment applies to General Hera Syndulla. A hero of the Rebellion right from its inception, Hera Syndulla would be the perfect way to introduce the Rebels as a faction and a force to be reckoned with in Star Wars Outlaws. I know the Rebel Alliance is on the back foot between 3 ABY and 4 ABY, but that doesn’t mean it’s completely out of action and someone like Kay – who’s supposedly one of the Galaxy’s most wanted in Star Wars Outlaws – would be on everyone’s radar, the Rebels included.
Interestingly, Hera Syndulla is another character with quite a bit of free time on her hands between the events of Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. She’s stationed on Hoth for a while before Echo Base is blown up by The Empire, and we see her meeting with the commanders of the Rebel Alliance in Star Wars #26. However, beyond that, we don’t know what she’s up to until the Battle of Endor – which I don’t think we’ll see in Star Wars Outlaws.
So, while Hera’s helping the Rebel Alliance re-establish its supply lines in the wake of the events of Empire Strikes Back, I can certainly see her enlisting the help of a capable pair of hands like Kay. She’s certainly going to need a bit of help if she’s pulling off one of the greatest heists the Outer Rim has ever seen and Hera isn’t opposed to doing things the hard way if it affects The Empire. I certainly think there’s a mutual benefit to be had in their meeting and Ubisoft should take advantage of her lack of lore during this time period.
As you can see above, it’s this wouldn’t actually be the first time we see Hera Syndulla in a Star Wars video game. So, what’s stopping Ubisoft?
Max Rebo
One character we really don’t know enough about, though, is Max Rebo – one of the best Jizz-Wailers in the Galaxy and someone I want to see pop up somewhere in Star Wars Outlaws. To many, Max is just another Glup Shitto from the Star Wars universe – a background character in Return of the Jedi and The Book of Boba Fett who knows how to work a Red Ball Jet Organ. However, he’s also a character with interesting ties to Jabba the Hutt and someone I think Kay would benefit from crossing paths with – while also being a way for Ubisoft to introduce some in-universe music to the game.
An employee of Jabba the Hutt between 3 ABY and 4 ABY, Max Rebo and his band are something of a firm fixture in both Jabba’s Palace and his sail barge, the Khetanna, on Tatooine. With this being another planet we’re likely to come across in Star Wars Outlaws, and Jabba the Hutt – as mentioned above – a major player when it comes to the criminal underworld, it would make a lot of sense to see Max Rebo at some point in-game – should Kay find herself crossing paths with the Nal Hutta native at any point.
Of course, I know Rebo is unlikely to play a major role when it comes to the story of Star Wars Outlaws – if he appears at all. However, he could be a fantastic connection for Kay to have – whether she’s looking for opportunities to earn a few credits or information on the criminal underworld. As someone indirectly connected to it, he could actually be presented as something as a safe source for these things while Kay continues to make a name for herself in the Outer Rim.
Norra Wexley
One woman, however, who could serve as a rather direct connection to the Rebel Alliance on Akiva – a planet confirmed for Star Wars Outlaws – is Norra Wexley. A freighter pilot turned fighter pilot for the Rebel Alliance, and the mother of Resistance hero Temmin ‘Snap’ Wexley, Norra is someone who acts on instinct and hates The Empire – a character Kay could do with having in her holocommunicator.
We don’t know how familiar Kay is with Akiva yet, and the fact that she has somewhere to lay low there may actually be the reason why she jumps there after her run-in with The Empire in the gameplay footage we were shown during June’s Ubisoft Forward. However, as speculative as that is, Akiva’s appearance would be the perfect place to bring Norra Wexley to a new medium and introduce the character to so many more Star Wars fans.
She would also be another way for Ubisoft to keep the Rebel Alliance in the picture without delving too deeply into the Galactic Civil War – something I am getting the impression that it is trying to avoid. She isn’t quite a scene-stealing character like Luke Skywalker or Leia Organa, but she is someone who could provide Kay with useful information when it comes to navigating Akiva and the Outer Rim undetected – at the very least.
Doctor Aphra
One woman who would, most likely, do the exact opposite of that, however, is Doctor Chelli Lona Aphra. If you’re someone who reads The Loadout regularly, you’ll know that I have professed my love for this character before. However, Doctor Aphra really would be a fantastic fit for Star Wars Outlaws – and, she could present herself as a wonderfully tricky character for Kay to deal with as she navigates the criminal underworld of the Outer Rim.
Technically killed – and then revived after a short stint as the avatar for the Spark Eternal – at some point between 3 ABY and 4 ABY, Doctor Aphra is a scoundrel in every sense of the word. She’s someone who’s brushed shoulders with almost every major player in the Galaxy at this point, and she loves a heist. If you’re someone skulking around the criminal underworld – like Kay is – during this time period, Aphra’s going to have betrayed you at some point.
She might be out for herself a lot of the time, but she’s smart enough to know when to work with people and I think Kay and Aphra could find themselves fast friends in a number of sticky situations given the fact that they’ll both be flirting with major crime syndicates like Crimson Dawn and the Pyke Syndicate during this period of time. Sana Starros calls her a “horrible little womp rat of a person”, and I can’t think of anyone more entertaining than her when it comes to characters Kay should cross paths with in Star Wars Outlaws.
There are so many more Star Wars characters we could see in Star Wars Outlaws, but these are some of the most influential characters in the Galaxy and Kay – just like Cal Kestis in Respawn Entertainment’s Star Wars Jedi series – deserves to cross paths with them once or twice. Saying that, I don’t think she would stand much of a chance against Darth Vader. So, as much as that cameo contributes to those games being some of the best Star Wars games out there, I think Ubisoft can leave the big man out of this one.