Author Topic: Best "New" Prequel Characters?  (Read 4518 times)

Offline Brian

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Best "New" Prequel Characters?
« on: April 17, 2007, 01:02 PM »
I was curious what characters from the prequels you enjoyed the most - which were the best visually and concept-wise, and really fit in with "Star Wars" as you see it?  I'm thinking mostly of characters we didn't see in any incarnation in the OT (like Vader, Obi-Wan, Yoda, etc.)  What new concepts of characters did you like the most?

Here's a few that I thought were pretty "cool" if nothing else, and seem to fit into the Star Wars universe pretty nicely:

Darth Maul (underused in many respects I think)

Jango Fett (sure, the "coolness" came from Boba, but I admit when I first saw a pic of him, I thought he looked cool too)

Qui-Gon Jin (I can see why he was killed early on, but it was a shame.  I really liked the character)

New Jedi (everyone has their favorites, but I thought the alien "looks" of Plo Koon, Kit Fisto, and others were nicely done)

New Aliens (again, different favorites, but Watto and Dexter were kind of cool looking)

Clonetroopers (I guess sort of "in" the OT as Stormtroopers, but I liked the designs of many of these as well.  I especially like the ROTS designs that brought them closer to OT versions - Elite Corps, Galactic Marine, etc.)

Just a few off the top of my head to start things off here, but there were other concepts that were pretty cool in the prequels.  As bad as TPM gets rained on a lot (much of it deservedly so), I have to say that two characters from that movie (Maul/Qui-Gon) are some of my favorites from the prequel movies.  It was just neat to get to see more of the Jedi Order as well, and to see them in action.

Offline Nathan

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Re: Best "New" Prequel Characters?
« Reply #1 on: April 17, 2007, 06:57 PM »
Qui-Gon. Lucas should have kept him around for another Episode or two. Maybe give him the "Dooku role" in II and III.

I know he was basically a plot device, a throwaway Jedi Master to aid in Obi's character arc, but he ended up a more compelling character than most of the leads in TPM.
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Offline P-Siddy

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Re: Best "New" Prequel Characters?
« Reply #2 on: April 17, 2007, 07:19 PM »
Maul was definitely a favorite of mine and a pity he was wasted at the end of TPM. But his role was to reveal the Sith and was more muscle than the brain that Palpatine was, so losing him was no big deal to the endgame. Recruiting Dooku to be the charismatic leader of the Separatists while scheming with Palpatine/Sidious on the Republic side was quite interesting. I was disappointed that Dooku had such a small role in the movies (introduced late on Geonosis in AotC and then killed in the Battle of Coruscant very early in the movie). I know the character was developed more in books or Clone Wars, but I just wish he would have lasted a little move into Sith... maybe they could have eliminated Grievous' role all together? Grievous didn't impress me.

Offline JangoTat

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Re: Best "New" Prequel Characters?
« Reply #3 on: April 17, 2007, 09:28 PM »
jango, maul, plo koon, kit fisto. i acually think jango looks coller then boba though...but of course in terms of the actual character boba is still the best :)
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Offline Rune Haako

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Re: Best "New" Prequel Characters?
« Reply #4 on: April 18, 2007, 03:30 PM »
General Grievous

Neimoidians

Separatist Leaders

Separatist Droids

Offline Nathan

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Re: Best "New" Prequel Characters?
« Reply #5 on: April 18, 2007, 03:33 PM »
Maul was definitely a favorite of mine and a pity he was wasted at the end of TPM. But his role was to reveal the Sith and was more muscle than the brain that Palpatine was, so losing him was no big deal to the endgame. Recruiting Dooku to be the charismatic leader of the Separatists while scheming with Palpatine/Sidious on the Republic side was quite interesting. I was disappointed that Dooku had such a small role in the movies (introduced late on Geonosis in AotC and then killed in the Battle of Coruscant very early in the movie). I know the character was developed more in books or Clone Wars, but I just wish he would have lasted a little move into Sith... maybe they could have eliminated Grievous' role all together? Grievous didn't impress me.

Yeah, I think Grievous' function could have been filled just as easily by Dooku. Have Obi chasing him across the galaxy to Utapau, etc. It would actually have made for a more emotional confrontation--he has to find and kill a legendary Jedi Master, Qui-Gon's former teacher, instead of just some random robo-nutcase.

Or keep Dooku where he is but leave Jango Fett alive in II and bring him back in III as the Separatist general and have Obi go after him for a rematch. Or hell, scrap Jango altogether and find a way to get Maul back.

One of the problems with the prequels is the "revolving-door" nature of the villains compared to the OT. The OT had Vader in all three, Palpy in two, and then a variety of disposable baddies (Piett, Ozzel, Needa, Boba). The only one who came close to the Big Two was Tarkin. Thus the final victory in ROTJ is more satisfying than all those "boss battles" (to use a video-game metaphor) in the PT.

Whereas the PT was like supervillains-of-the-week. TPM had Maul--but he was killed. Then AOTC had Dooku and Fett--Fett was killed and Dooku was barely in the movies, as Vlad mentioned. Finally ROTS killed Dooku and introduced Grievous, only to kill him immediately. The Neimoidians/Separatists were in all three, but were really just puppets. Sidious was in all three, but only played an important role in ROTS. And yes, I realize those last two sentences kind of contradict one another. Which probably just proves my point about not knowing where the focus lies. What the PT needed was a tighter focus on a smaller number of baddies.

Let's say we scrapped Jango and Grievous and had Maul fill both those roles. It would have given much greater urgency to Obi's search for him in II and III (both from dramatic/audience standpoint and from Obi's point of view) and Maul's eventual death on Utapau in III--after escaping Obi twice already, on Naboo and Kamino--would be a very satisfying conclusion to a subplot that had been running thru the whole trilogy, six years in real-world time and thirteen in movie time.

Of course, keeping Maul around would necessitate several fundamental changes to the plot structure. Palpy recruits Dooku and then suddenly brings back a borgified Maul and they have to work together while at each others' throats? Palpy converts Qui-Gon and he ends up having to work with Maul, his former enemy? Qui-Gon is the unwitting puppet leader of the Separatists, doesn't know Palpy is a Sith, and Palpy keeps Maul's survival from him?
« Last Edit: April 18, 2007, 03:36 PM by Nathan »
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Offline Brian

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Re: Best "New" Prequel Characters?
« Reply #6 on: April 18, 2007, 04:16 PM »
That's one thing that kind of bothered me too, the "revolving door" for the baddies.  I liked Maul, and Jango, but it seemed like once they appeared they were basically gone.  Again, like you mentioned, it would really change the movies around - and I'm not sure the best way to do it, but it would have been nice to see them stick around a bit more.  You hit it on the head, the OT basically had the same "big bads" the whole way through - and I think it helped the movies to tie together a little better.

Offline Matt

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Re: Best "New" Prequel Characters?
« Reply #7 on: April 20, 2007, 11:20 AM »
The more bad guys you have, the more toys you can sell.

Dooku was easily the best (and the most OT-like) of the baddies, but old man action figures don't exactly fly off the pegs.
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Offline DarkKnight2k4

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Re: Best "New" Prequel Characters?
« Reply #8 on: April 20, 2007, 11:23 AM »
True Crime !

Darth Maul
Jango Fett
Qui Gon Jinn
General Grievous

I think they all could have added so much more to make the PT better. But now all we have is games and books for that.  :P

Offline Artoo

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Re: Best "New" Prequel Characters?
« Reply #9 on: April 24, 2007, 09:55 PM »
General Grievous
Jango Fett
Nute Gunray
Watto
Dexter
Darth Maul
Plo Koon
Clones (Well they're sort of new)
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Offline David

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Re: Best "New" Prequel Characters?
« Reply #10 on: April 26, 2007, 07:26 PM »
I think Dooku is my favorite. I think Dooku shouldve been made to kill Padme by Sidious, and then Sidious would say to Anakin: 'Let the hate flow through you!!!' or something like that, and then Ani would kill Dooku and turn to the dark side. That wouldve worked very well.

I really like Mace too, I didnt like how he went out though. Palpy shouldnt have killed him, it shouldve been Boba. I think all the Palpy lightsaber duel stuff really kicked the crud out of the OT perception I have of him being a weak and manipulative old fart who hides in a robe taking advantage of the power of others, rather then taking matters into hisd own hands and swinging a lightsaber around. I thought that was a shame, the stuff they made him do in the PT. Bummer.
 
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Offline Reid

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Re: Best "New" Prequel Characters?
« Reply #11 on: April 26, 2007, 08:11 PM »
Naboo Soldiers
Qui-Gon Jinn
Mace Windu
Seperatist leaders- the cantina aliens of the PT.
Jango Fett- though Boba is way cooler.
Darth Maul
Clone Troops