Editing Star Wars (section)

==Expanded Universe==

It can be said what makes a franchise into a long term lasting thing is when a wealth of extra story and background is created that expands on the original story far beyond what there was. It could be argued Star Wars leads the race in this, as the sheer amount of extra novels, graphic novels and games based on Star Wars can and does overwhelm the ordinary fan.

===The original EU/Star Wars "Legends"===

[[Image: Choices_of_One_PB_art.jpg|right|200px|thumb|The waifu was so strong with Mara Jade, Luke Skywalker himself decided to wife her up]]
The background has expanded into the distant past before the founding of the current Jedi and Sith orders and into the (not-quite-so) far future looking at the descendants of Luke Skywalker and other popular characters. Uniquely, especially considering [[Warhammer 40K|other]] [[Star Trek|franchises']] track records, the Star Wars Expanded Universe is <strike>remarkably</strike> <strike>sorta</strike> sometimes internally consistent, both with other sources within the universe and with the films themselves, at least in comparison to other comparable settings. Of course, it's got plenty of its own [[C. S. Goto|problem children]] that slipped through, and the [[skub]] mine of it all isn't much shallower than that of 40K. Good portions of it do hold up well, largely due to the efforts of Lucas' company's continuity department leaning on everyone to hold it together. One thing that greatly helps is continuity books and articles aren't afraid to make small retcons to make even the most obscure and shitty sources (like that terrible PS1 fighting game) seem like part of an organized plot. 

Particularly well-loved parts include characters like Grand Admiral Thrawn (a rare alien officer in the Empire and popular enough that Disney brought him back to the canon from the EU) and Mara Jade (pictured right, a Force-using former agent of Emperor Palpatine who later turned good, became a Jedi Master, married Luke and had a son with him) - interestingly both were created by the same author [[Timothy Zahn]].  

Upon their acquisition, Disney said "fuck it" and threw out everything but the films and the Clone Wars cartoons...  But since so many of the guys they kept around are the same guys who made the old stuff, they just keep bringing back the Legends stuff they liked.  Some popular old stuff got mentions or appearances (and Thrawn got to be a major character), but the overall quality is even lower than the old EU(at least, the cool parts we care to remember). What was set up as a major book contains phrases like "The TIE wibbles and wobbles through the air" and random virtue signalling. As though to top the previous, Disney literally published a book with an entire chapter about mass wedding farts (Yes. Really.). The only good stuff is from established EU authors writing stuff far away from era of the Sequel Trilogy. 

The [[rage]] over the EU's scrapping was major among many fans of it, but for all Disney's shortcomings, they were in a tight spot. Towards the end all that continuity and consistency got thrown out the airlock for increasingly dumb and disjointed narratives and garbled plot threads to the point that the Star Wars logo was just about as much a sign of quality as the Nintendo approval stamp on shitty SNES games.  

Another problem was that Disney is mostly family-friendly, and some of the Star Wars EU could get really dark.  As in Warhammer 40k levels of grimdark.  Examples of this are the invasion of the Yuuzhan Vong - forcenull space-Druchii (no no, not Comorrites though they have the pain and body modification fetishes for it, space-'''Druchii''', riding enslaved tyranid bioships) from another galaxy, Mnggal-Mnggal - mindraping gelatin lost on its way to Star Trek, and Abeloth - an ancient (she predates the Jedi and the Sith) yandere Force entity more like something from the Cthulhu Mythos and is so dangerous the Jedi and the Sith '''joined forces''' to fight her.  It's difficult to envision how Disney could have kept the EU when even before all that it was struggling to find a market beyond the most [[neckbeards|dedicated fans]].

The Old Republic era that takes place millennia before the movies is technically part of the EU as well. But as it doesn't intrude on it, not to mention one game set in it is still receiving new content, almost all fans treat it as canon.

===The Books===

'''The Good EU'''  
[[Image: Heir-to-the-empire-cover.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Heir to the Empire (1991): The book that started it all]]
* '''The Thrawn Trilogy''': The origination point for the EU despite not being the first Star Wars books published, and focuses on the conflict with the Imperial remnants left over after RotJ.  Named for one of its two main villains, Grand Admiral Thrawn, who went on to become one of Star Wars most well-loved characters.  Basically the story "The Force Awakens" wishes it was (also introduced the character Mara Jade, a sexy redhead that's everything Disney wishes Rey was and more). Revealed Lucas' ideas and concepts from abandoned drafts like the Republic capital planet Coruscant, later put into the Prequels. 
* '''The Han Solo Adventures''': Star's End was the second spinoff book written and the first good one.  Hit store shelves before Empire Strikes Back was even in theaters.  Han and Chewie are trying to get some work done on the Falcon and get volun-told to bust out some political prisoners to pay for it.  The Z-95 Headhunter fighter comes from this one.  Would have made for a better film than ''Solo'' did. 
*'''The Darth Bane Trilogy''': The origin of the Rule of Two for the Sith in Legends, along with a compelling protagonist and his apprentice. Excellent addition to Legends continuum, especially since it does a fairly good job of reconciling Lucas' ideas with contradicting information from KotOR and TotJ .
* '''Cloak of Deception''': Luceno's prequel to the prequels, a political thriller, much more focused than ''The Phantom Menace''. Foreshadows ''Clones'' characters.
* '''Shatterpoint''': The Mace Windu spinoff, ''[[Heart of Darkness]]'' style with Samuel Jackson playing the Charles Marlow role. Windu cracks off lines like "we're going to beat him like a rented gong".
* '''Revenge of the Sith''': The novelization is actually considered a serious improvement over the movie itself (which is already widely considered to be the best of the prequels themselves). Provides brilliant views into Anakin's psyche and motivations over the course of the film, culminating in the single best description of what it is like to be Vader ever.
* '''Jedi Apprentice''': That Qui-Gon / Obi-Wan series for kids, started by Dave Wolverton and continued by Jude Watson over a near-flawless run of eight books, until Xanatos (Qui-Gon's apprentice before Obi-Wan gone bad) bites it and there's no focused villain anymore. What a waste we barely got to see this relationship in the movie.

'''The Bad EU'''
* '''Jedi Academy Trilogy''': Luke sets up his academy on Yavin IV and tries to teach [[Rage|Kyp Durron]].  Imperial remnant superweapons hit [[Mary Sue|ludicrous territory]] with the Sun Crusher.  This was the beginning of Kevin J Anderson (already infamous for fucking up [[Dune]]'s EU) hammering out a couple dozen Star Wars books over about four years. As for Kyp himself, he would go on to become a [[Skub|polarizing figure in-universe and out]]. 
* '''Young Jedi Knights Series''': Set between Jedi Academy and New Jedi Order, mostly follows Han & Leia's kids. Unfortunately, for some odd reason, [[Fail|Jaina Solo was frequently saddled with a damsel in distress role despite being the daughter of one of fiction's most famous feminist icons]].
* '''I, Jedi''': A retelling of the Jedi Academy Trilogy (see above) with more of Corran Horn from the first set of X-Wing books. Less derp in general but significantly more [[Mary Sue]]age of Horn.
* '''Legacy of the Force''': The survivors of the Yuuzhan Vong War are trying to rebuild the galaxy, but Jacen Solo turns Sith and becomes the main villain.  The book series is infamous for nearly killing the Star Wars brand and issues between various writers years before Disney went down the same road (Jacen Solo was also a major influence for Kylo Ren).  The biggest complaints were Jacen killing off Mara, villains having plot armor, heroes acting out of character, poor dialogue, long-winded writing and the story being overstuffed with allusions to post 9/11 US culture and politics. Given that Star Wars (especially under Lucas), has always been informed by political events of past and present, that last one ''could'' have been interesting, but a better writer was needed. Overall, the only things this series usually gets any credit for is Jaina Solo finally getting out of her damsel in distress role and becoming a badass worthy of her parents, and her brother turning into a solid Sith villain in Darth Caedus. 
* '''Revan Novel''': More "disappointing" than terrible, but for a novel centering on one of the most beloved EU Star Wars characters of all time, it was generally seen as a huge letdown. Problems include a dearth of action (including for Revan himself), the Jedi Exile getting killed off in a way that felt tailor-made to piss off as many KotoR II fans as possible, and with almost none of Revan's companions from the first game getting more than a simple mention. [[Wat|Revan even decides not to bring Jolee and HK-47 on his mission because the former is a Jedi who would be obligated to report him to the Council, and the latter is too "unstable"]], [[Derp|even though HK is totally loyal to Revan and so wouldn't do anything Revan told him not to do, while Jolee is established as being a maverick who doesn't agree with the Council and so wouldn't just tattle on Revan]]. That the novel was written by the lead writer of the first Knights of the Old Republic game just makes the disappointment sting even more.

'''The [[Skub]] EU'''
* '''Shadows of the Empire''': This multimedia earns pride-of-place as the most-canon of all the EU content, and as being ''an unfocused mess''. ''Shadows'' fills in the details of where the Rebels got the Death Star II's plans and found where Han was taken; it also had Luke building his own saber, ''etc'', as if it mattered. Since there was a game involved, and since Lucas' team didn't think things through very well, we got introduced to some bounty hunter by the name of Dash Rendar who is just another Han Solo except one we don't care about (he's no Katarn, that's for sure). It was all a Major Multimedia Event at the time (being thought of by the folks behind it as "a movie without a movie"), including a soundtrack and an uneven video game which we'll get to. The game was why Rendar even exists: he's your avatar. The Special Edition rerelease of ''A New Hope'' added the Outrider to the background of one scene. Oh right: and there's a book. Steve Perry wrote it. It's notable for Xizor the ultra sexy crime boss; he comes close to porking Leia, but she evades his wiles. We guess that's why LucasArts didn't pick Crispin to write it. Told an interesting story, and helped expand the criminal underworld aspect of Star Wars. It just needed more cohesion and consistency between the different mediums.
[[Image: Yuuzhan-vong-eu2_bg.jpg|right|200px|thumb|The Yuuzhan Vong, [[Skub|either badass and interesting or grimderp canon-defiling villains]]]]
* '''The Paradise Snare''': AC Crispin's first book (1997) in a new Han trilogy, an ANH prequel this time. Han escapes his Oliver Twist youth ("F8GAN", LOL). He ends up in a "spice" (LOL) operation because it was the late 1990s and we were all reciting "D.A.R.E., Drugs Are Bad Mmkay" in school before heading off to raves at night. Young Harrison Ford shuts down this particular hacienda; with the help of Crispin's self-insert, who then gets to bounce on his lap. Those readers who could ignore the cringe, and we admit there was a ''lot'' of cringe from several directions, were generally entertained. It was all a bit episodic for a film but, again, that didn't stop the Rat House from scrapping it and filming what they filmed instead... which was ''also'' episodic and full of cringe.
* '''New Jedi Order''': The longest-running Star Wars book series (19 books long) and about an extragalactic invasion and the Jedi's role in fighting it.  Luke and his wife Mara are training new Jedi, including Han and Leia's kids, while Han and Leia build bridges between the New Republic and Imperial Remnants.  Cue the invaders, the Yuuzhan Vong - [[Culexus|Force-null]] [[Imperium of Man|religious fanatics]] with [[Tyranids|organic technology]] and a fixation on [[Dark Eldar|pain and body modification]].  The resulting war sees a body count rivalling anything in  Warhammer 40k including Chewie's death (they dropped a fucking moon on him), Han and Leia's youngest son going nuclear and Admiral Ackbar.  Mara gives birth to Ben Skywalker and overcomes a terminal illness.  The Vong take over and [[Tyranids|terraform]] part of the galaxy, including Coruscant, and lots is learned about the Force.  A real love-it-or-hate-it series, some parts are good, some are bad and some are weird. 
* '''Dark Empire''': Palpatine's back to save a dying franchise decades before Disney tried it.  He even uses clone bodies to do so (but unlike Disney, Dark Horse didn't flip-flop on the lore), wrecks a fleet of enemy ships using the Force and at some point has his power reflected back at him.  Starts off good, falls apart fast.  Known for its love-it-or-hate-it artstyle and dialogue. Original version of Episode 9. 
* '''Courtship of Princess Leia''': The queen of a star cluster that could ally with the newly reformed Republic against the Imperial remnants offers a deal which hinges on Leia marrying her prince son.  In response, Han sorta-kinda kidnaps Leia.  Luke teams up with the prince in question (who's a bit of a Jedi fanboy but basically a competent officer) to track them down.  Along the way he finds a crashed Jedi training cruiser and its library of holocrons.  This one introduced the planet Dathomir and the force witches the Nightsisters, which were ultimately adapted to be Maul's homeworld.  
* '''X-Wing''': A long running series that passed between several authors that followed Wedge and his squad post RotJ. Initially focused on the liberation of Coruscant and was solid if formulaic, but eventually spiraled off into skub territory. Generally speaking, the action sequences and space battles are quite good but the characterisation falls flat, ranging from 'three-words stereotypes' to 'utter cringe'. Also tends to over-abuse Deus Ex Machina shenanigans to allow the good guys escaping the villain's ''Perfect Plan One-Billionth To Ensure Their Bloody Demise''™.  Did have some clever ideas like fitting a station with hundreds of torpedo targeting sensors to bluff a star destroyer into surrendering.  
* '''Fate of the Jedi''': Want some Cthulhu with your Star Wars?  Luke, his son Ben, Leia and the remaining Jedi work to counter anti-Jedi backlash following the events of LotF while Han takes a bigger role in politics.  Things go from bad to worse when several Jedi suffer mysterious shared bouts of psychosis and an ancient Sith tribe emerges from hiding.  Things then go from worse to cosmic horror when both sides encounter Abeloth, a yandere, Lovecraftian Force entity so dangerous the Jedi and the Sith have to ''team up'' to fight her (yes really!).  But Abeloth escapes her prison, and both sides have to stop her before she plunges the Force and the galaxy into chaos. During these events, Ben Skywalker finds himself in a Batman/Catwoman situation with the Sith apprentice Vestara Khai. While being an OoM better than the preceding book series, FotJ has a very divided opinion among SW fans.
* '''Darth Plagueis''': Shows how Palpatine becomes a Sith Lord under his mentor. Less Star Wars than Star Politics, which is a good thing for this particular story. Very much a "by the fans for the fans" type book, in that it is '''''filled''''' with easter eggs, lore dumps, and other things that, if you're a hard-core lore buff, you'll love, and if you're not, you'll probably be confused as fuck. So a great novel for the die-hards, but a lot denser/harder to get into for the casuals. 

'''The Not EU'''  
* '''Splinter of the Mind's Eye''': By Alan Dean Foster, apparently short on cash at the time, it’s the now-aborted sequel to ''Star Wars'' before anyone, even Georgie himself, knew what was coming in ''Empire Strikes Back''. Therein lies a tale. A long time ago, in the far far away production of the first movie, no one knew that Star Wars would be a hit, with many seeing it as a bloated costly flop, and even Mr Lucas expecting a mid-level success at best. So the flannel-wearer mooted multiple sequel plans: [proto-]''Empire'' was one, if he'd been allowed the budget; while ''Splinter'' was much smaller in scale, with a single planet with only a few locations, a much simpler plot, etc. Since novelization usually starts during or before production (the ''New Hope'' novelization includes deleted scenes!), this book represents a C-tier movie that never was. So: what did we get? [[Incest Smith|chemistry]] between Luke and Leia, and Darth Vader being defeated [[Fail|by being tripped into a pit]]. So this was one of the first EU stories, although with ''Empire'' and especially ''Return of the Jedi'' it's been retconned off-canon entirely. It tends to be read by ''SW'' autists who wonder What Could Have Been.
* '''Dark Forces''': The novelisation of the games, starring Kyle Katarn. Pretty good writing except for the action scenes, which are rote accounts of the missions in-game. At the time Katarn wasn't considered a canon character and the first game, proposing yet another heist of the Death Star Plans, was explicitly ''disavowed'' as canon. As time went on LucasArts warmed up at least to Katarn who, unlike Dash Rendar, acquired a personality.
* '''Heart of the Jedi''': One of the earliest post-ROTJ books to be commissioned by Lucasfilm after the success of '''Heir to the Empire''', it was cancelled due to publisher issues sometime in 1993. Rereleased in 2021 to tremendous sales success for what is essentially fanfiction. Takes place immediately after the events of ROTJ (so, replaced by '''Truce at Bakura''' both in the timeline and the publishing schedule) and features early takes on many later EU novel staples.