Han Solo: Character Explained

credit: Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi

Han Solo was one of the most recognizable fictional heroes of all time. He first appeared in Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (which was the intended first episode) and made additional appearances as a supporting character in The Empire Strikes Back (Episode V) and Return of the Jedi (Episode VI). He made his final physically alive appearance in The Force Awakens (Episode VII), where he died under the blade of his own son’s lightsaber.

Aside from being a smuggler who once found himself too deep in debt and also being the owner of the Millennium Falcon, Han was also known for being frozen in carbonite and, in fact, the most popular character in frozen form.

Below, we will be diving deeper into Han Solo’s life, starting from his childhood up to his death in The Force Awakens. We will see how he was doing before he was noticed by the Rebel Alliance and also during the time that he was in their service.

Early Life

Han (still without a known surname) was born on the planet Corellia, whose specialty was building spaceships such as starfighters and Star Destroyers. At an early age, he was exposed to the world of creating ships for the galaxy, and his father even hinted that his destiny would be in shipbuilding, which he promptly refused, declaring that he was fated to fly a ship, not to build one. This made his relationship with his father quite sour.

He later found himself among the ranks of the criminal gang White Worms as a scrumrat. Simply put, a scrumrat is a child who was abducted by the said gang. In there, he met another scrumrat, Qi’ra. Soon enough, the two were vying for the head of the gang, and after some failed assignments and being hunted down by several factions, Qi’ra became the head, thanks to Han’s help. The two would often go on adventures together. Qi’ra essentially became Han’s childhood friend. Han once asked him if they were dating. She rebuked it but pointed to the possibility that it might be the case in the future.

credit: Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens

As a Trainee Pilot

One day, Qi’ra was abducted. Pledging to himself to save her, Han joined the galactic empire as a pilot so that he could fly back to Corellia. He went to the recruitment center. He was given a numeric designation, Cadet 124-329, and a surname, Solo, which stemmed from the fact that he came alone and didn’t have a people.

During his stay, he underwent some rigorous training to become a skilled pilot (as he wanted to fly a spaceship rather than build one). He also experienced humiliation in the military academy. When he was asked why he chose to enlist himself, he said that he wanted to become a skilled pilot to be able to fly back home. Upon knowing that he would not be able to achieve that due to the corrupt practices of the academy, he tried to be as mischievous as possible so that he would be a problematic person and be kicked out of the academy.

Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens

Life in the Jedi ranks

Now a grown man, Han, and his alien sidekick, Chewbacca, became so indebted financially to the crime lord Jabba the Hutt. Instead of choosing a life of always being on the run from debts, he chose to serve as a pilot for the Jedi team (Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, C3PO, and R2-D2) as a pilot. During the events of A New Hope, he was paid for the service.

During The Empire Strikes Back, he fell into the trap of Darth Vader in Cloud City. The Sith Lord, wanting to capture Luke Skywalker without severely injuring the latter, practiced carbonite freezing on Han Solo. He wanted to know if it would be safe to perform the freezing on a human being without killing it. It was a success, and the frozen Han was taken to Jabba by the bounty hunter Boba Fett.

The frozen Han became Jabba’s favorite decoration in his place, and the Jedi team went to rescue him during the events of Return of the Jedi. In the second Death Star, he encountered Kylo Ren, his son who turned to the Dark Side. Han pleaded to his son to renounce it, but Ren (the former Ben Solo) stabbed him with a lightsaber.