The Star Wars franchise didn't originally feature that many of female characters when it first launched in 1977 with Episode IV: A New Hope. Thankfully, several powerful new female heroes and villains have appeared in books, movies, TV series, and video games over the years.

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Star Wars fans are excitedly enjoying the latest season of The Mandalorian and anticipating new series like The Acolyte. That makes it the perfect time to highlight some of the most powerful women in a galaxy far, far away to see who is the strongest female Star Wars character of them all.

Update March 23rd, 2023 by Louis Kemner: This list has been updated with streamlined headings and updated links for clarity, so fans can learn even more about their favorite Star Wars female characters and what they can do.

14 Jyn Erso

First Appearance: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)

Jyn Erso disguised as a stormtrooper in Rogue One

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story explored the mission that occurred before the events of A New Hope. Jyn Erso joined a motley assortment of Rebel fighters including Cassian Andor, who starred in his own series on Disney+. They attempted to steal plans for the battle station that would become known as the Death Star.

Jyn Erso initially joined the crew of the Rogue One to find her father after a youth spent surviving on her own. She also received training from legendary Rebel leader Saw Gerrera. Her strength and determination would help change the course of the war. Unfortunately, it came at the cost of her life, along with the rest of the crew from Rogue One.

13 Padme Amidala

First Appearance: Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)

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While she didn't have any Force abilities of her own, when Padme Amidala first appeared in the Star Wars prequel trilogy, she was already the powerful Queen of Naboo. She disguised herself as one of her handmaidens to protect herself and get closer to the action when needed, making her one of the cleverest Star Wars female characters.

Amidala spent years flexing her political strengths, but she also showcased her fighting spirit a few times. She held her own in the gladiator arenas of Geonosis in Episode II: Attack of the Clones before her untimely death during childbirth. Amidala's strength and determination were further explored across her appearances in the Attack of the Clones animated series.

12 Hera Syndulla

First Appearance: Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Season 1, Episode 21, "Liberty on Ryloth"

Hera Syndulla smiling on her ship in Star Wars Rebels.

The Twi'lek named Hera Syndulla was the pilot of the Rebel ship known as the Ghost that appeared in Star Wars Rebels. However, she first appeared in Star Wars: The Clone Wars as the daughter of a Galactic Republic General who died during the war. His death inspired her to follow in his footsteps.

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Hera formed her own small faction of the rebellion that soon caught the attention of the Alliance's higher-ups. She helped train young Jedi Ezra Bridger alongside her close ally and lover, Kanan Jarrus. Hera and the Spectres became instrumental members of the Galactic Alliance who fought against Palpatine and the Empire.

11 Mon Mothma

First Appearance: Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)

Mon Mothma at breakfast on Andor

One of the best characters on Andor was Genevieve O'Reilly's take on Mon Mothma. While Catherine Blakiston first played the character in Return of the Jedi, O'Reilly has excelled in adding new depth to the secret leader of the Rebellion.

Mon Mothma was a member of the Imperial Senate who maintained her opposition to events like the Clone Wars. She played a delicate game of public politics while secretly acting as a leader of the Alliance until it turned into a full-scale rebellion. Mothma knew how to command a room of powerful leaders, showcasing her strength to make tough decisions.

10 Bo-Katan Kryze

First Appearance: Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Season 4, Episode 14, "A Friend in Need"

The Mandalorian's Bo-Katan Kryze seated on throne on Kalevala.

Live-action fans have only begun to explore the history of Mandalore and its leaders in The Mandalorian, especially with the introduction of Bo-Katan. Her decorative helmet, along with her strength and skills as a Mandalorian warrior, made her the prime choice to carry Mandalore into the future as an essential new Star Wars female character.

Star Wars: Rebels first showcased Sabine Wren's fight for one of the deadliest lightsabers in the Star Wars franchise, which highlighted her own strengths. She chose to give the Darksaber to Bo-Katan willingly, making Bo-Katan their new leader and further her above the rest of Mandalore's powerful warriors. As of The Mandalorian Season 3, Bo-Katan is still Din's most vital ally and even helped him during his quest for redemption in Madalore's sacred waters.

9 Princess Leia Organa Solo

First Appearance: Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)

Princess Leia holding a blaster in Star Wars

Leia was best known as Princess Leia Organa of the planet Alderaan when she first appeared in A New Hope in the original trilogy. However, Leia soon discovered her heritage as a Skywalker and proved herself to be a powerful leader in the rebellion, as well as a resourceful fighter. She was also one of the first female Star Wars characters to truly shine in this franchise.

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Over the years, Leia rose through the ranks and found love to become General Leia Organa Solo. She also developed her Force-abilities with the help of her brother Luke Skywalker. She would later pass her training on to her own padawan before her death in Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker.

8 Fennec Shand

First Appearance: The Mandalorian Season 1, Episode 5, "Chapter 5: The Gunslinger"

Fennec Shand from The Book of Boba Fett

The Mandalorian introduced quite a few new bounty hunters to the Star Wars franchise. Another bounty hunter hired Din Djarin to bring in Fennec Shand, a legendary mercenary with a contract on her head. Shand was brutally injured in the battle, but she was found and healed by her old ally, Boba Fett.

Fennec Shand would stay at the classic Star Wars bounty hunter's side as they took control of their own corner of Tattooine in The Book of Boba Fett. Shand's skills as a highly trained mercenary helped them claim Jabba the Hutt's former territory. Shand's combat skills even made her a match for Cad Bane in The Book of Boba Fett as one of the toughest Star Wars female characters of all.

7 Reva

First Appearance: Obi-Wan Kenobi, Season 1, Episode 1, "Part 1"

Moses Ingram as Reva on ObI-Wan Kenobi

Exiled Jedi Master Obi-Wan returned in the highly anticipated Disney+ series, Obi-Wan Kenobi. A group of powerful Sith Inquisitors arrived on Tattoine searching for a hidden Jedi. Reva Sevander was the Third Sister, a powerful Force-user willing to do anything to become the Grand Inquisitor.

Reva displayed her mastery of the Force in battles as a powerhouse female character in battles with Obi-Wan Kenobi, other Inquisitors, and even Darth Vader himself. She wielded the red double-bladed spinning lightsaber of the Inquisitors with a practiced skill that made Reva a serious threat to anyone who crossed her.

6 Asajj Ventress

First Appearance: Star Wars: Clone Wars, Season 1, Episode 6, "Chapter Six"

Asajj Ventress from Star Wars: The Clone Wars

The character Asajj Ventress first appeared in Genndy Tartakovsky's non-canon Star Wars: Clone Wars mini-series. She then became a regular pain in the Jedi's side before eventually becoming an ally in the long-running Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series.

Ventress grew up on Dathomir as a Force-sensitive Nightsister. She then began training as a Dark Jedi, which eventually brought her under Count Dooku's influence. While she trained as a Sith, Ventress resumed her training with the Nightsisters after a betrayal. This further increased her deadly abilities and combat skills that allowed her to take on multiple Jedi at once.

5 Mara Jade Skywalker

First Appearance: Star Wars: Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn

Mara Jade preparing for a fight with her lightsaber in Star Wars

Star Wars' Expanded Universe of novels is now known as Star Wars Legends after the Disney purchase. Timothy Zahn's 1991 novel Heir to the Empire introduced a fan-favorite female Star Wars character named Mara Jade. She was a skilled assassin known as the Emperor's Hand who trained in the Force with Palpatine.

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Mara Jade enhanced her powerful abilities even further after she met and fell in love with her future husband Luke Skywalker. She became a Jedi Master who used her abilities in skilled new ways thanks to her dark training. Unfortunately, she suffered an untimely death at the hands of her nephew Jacen Solo/Darth Caedus.

4 Nomi Sunrider

First Appearance: Dark Horse Comics (Vol. 1) #7, by writer Tom Veitch, penciler Janine Johnston, colorist Matthew Hollingsworth, and letterer John Costanza

Nomi Sunrider, ready for battle with her Master lightsaber.

Dark Horse Comics Tales of the Jedi introduced the legendary Jedi Master known as Nomi Sunrider. She took up her deceased husband's lightsaber to become a Jedi Knight who fought in the Great Sith War. Her enhanced skills in battle meditation allowed her to use the Force to compel her enemies to attack each other.

Sunrider demonstrated her impressive Force abilities when she completely cut off a corrupted Jedi from the Force, ending the Great Sith War. Sunrider helped rebuild the Jedi Order as its Grand Master and continued to grow in the Force until her stories became a legend in the Galactic Republic.

3 Jaina Solo Fel

First Appearance: Star Wars: Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn

Jaina Solo with her lightsaber on Yavin 4 from Star Wars

Jaina and Jacen Solo were the twin children of Han and Leia Organa Solo. They trained under their uncle Luke Skywalker as the next generation of Jedi. Jaina inherited her father's skills as a pilot, and she had an aptitude for machines and droids, which seemed to run in her family.

Jaina won her own personal battles against the dark side of the Force. She overcame the power of her corrupted twin, who had taken on the Sith title Darth Caedus. Unfortunately, she was forced to slay him in battle. Jaina found love and led her flight squadron for years. She became a renowned leader in the ongoing galactic wars within the New Republic and beyond.

2 Ahsoka Tano

First Appearance: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008)

Rosario Dawson as Ahsoka Tano, wielding her white lightsabers

Anakin Skywalker took on his first padawan in 2008's Star Wars: The Clone Wars movie. It introduced young Ahsoka Tano, a character who would grow up with fans in the Clone Wars series and Star Wars Rebels. Rosario Dawson would bring the character to life in The Mandalorian before starring in the Ahsoka Tano series on Disney+.

Ahsoka Tano was powerful in the Force at a young age and was further tempered by the many battles during the Clone Wars. She was on her way to becoming one of the coolest Jedi in Star Wars, but she split from the Order. Ahsoka Tano continued her fight against the Empire as one of the most powerful surviving Force users in the galaxy.

1 Rey Skywalker

First Appearance: Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)

Rey Skywalker training with her lightsaber in The Last Jedi.

The mysterious character known only as Rey first appeared in 2015's Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens. This powerful and talented female Star Wars character found herself involved in a conflict between the First Order and the Resistance that unlocked Rey's powerful Force abilities.

Rey's untapped and untrained abilities were further explored in the sequel trilogy. She began to further develop her incredible power levels as she demonstrated new abilities like Force-healing. Rey defeated other powerful Force-users like Kylo Ren and Emperor Palpatine, earning her place as a Skywalker.

NEXT: 10 Ways Star Wars Can Reinvent Itself For A New Trilogy