Top 20 Most Disturbing Star Wars Deaths

Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith (2005)

As a result of Order 66, Yoda senses that two of his Clone Commanders are coming to shoot him, and without any hesitation, jumps up and decapitates both of them with his lightsaber. Yodas actions here, as well as in a subsequent scene where he and Obi-Wan Kenobi fought Clones outside of the Jedi Temple, play as decisive, cold but necessary, and even a bit badass. But thats just in the context of the prequel films. If you look at the Clone Wars series, Yodas actions in Revenge of the Sith may still be necessary, but become all the more unsettling. The Jedi Master not only got to know his troops as individuals, but even called them luminous beings, and tried to instill in them a sense of self-worth.

Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

Whats the temperature inside a Tauntaun? Luke warm. Jokes like that, and even products like the Tauntaun Sleeping Bag, where you can sleep inside a Tauntaun, may be cute, but they also mask the sad and graphic fate of the two Tauntauns we met in The Empire Strikes Back. The Wampa killed and ate one, giving Luke Skywalker time to free himself, and the other died of hypothermia before Han Solo used Lukes lightsaber to cut it open to keep Luke warm inside its carcass. The grotesque way the Tauntauns insides fell out was disturbing in a way that even Hans joke about the creatures smell couldnt mask.

Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens (2015)

The Empire always had a purpose behind their worst acts. Comparatively, The First Order, under Kylo Rens command, seemed to be brutal for brutalitys sake, seemingly to prove that they could be just as horrible as their predecessors. When Captain Phasma asked what was to be done with the captured villagers, the Order already had Resistance pilot Poe Dameron, and, as far as they knew, the map to Luke Skywalker, in their custody. Exploiting the Jakku villagers by putting them to work, or letting them tell the story and spread fear would have served a practical purpose. Simply executing them, as Ren commanded, served none, except to disturb the audience, and Finn to the point where he defected.

Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

Darth Vaders casual brutality towards subordinates and, really, anyone he didnt think mattered, was a hallmark of the Original Trilogy. We see it in one of his first scenes, when he crushes a Rebel soldiers neck, but its really The Empire Strikes Back that sets the tone. When he thinks Admiral Ozzel came out of light speed too close to the Hoth System, alerting the Rebels, Vader Force Chokes him to death during a video call, and promotes Captain Piett before the former Admiral is even dead. The scene may be iconic, but the sheer callous nature of the act, combined with the fact that it was really the probe-droid Han destroyed that alerted the Rebels, should really give us pause.

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

Droids in the Star Wars Universe have the ability to feel not only pleasure, but also pain. The droid processing area in Jabbas Palace is effectively a droid torture chamber, run by the administrator C-3PO and R2D2 meet, who, according to ancillary material, is a sadistic droid named EV-9D9. We see a Gonk droid getting hot irons pressed against its feet, and then, after 3PO learns of the previous protocol droids disintegration, we see another droid getting pulled apart, clearly aware of what is happening, and screaming. Torture is torture, and the mere existence of such a place is disturbing.

Star Wars: The Bad Batch (2021-24)

Most of Star Wars is, at the very least, accessible to younger viewers, but shows like The Bad Batch, one can argue, are aimed primarily at them. So when a major character dies in what is ostensibly a kidss show, it carries extra weight. Techs death had that emotional heft already. After developing his character, as well as his bond with Omega, earlier in the season, the Bad Batch member is faced with a choice. He realizes that he is the extra weight preventing the cable carriage from moving, so rather than let the Empire take out the rest of his squad, he invokes Plan 99 and sacrifices himself, allowing the carriage to complete its journey as he plummets to his death over Eriadu.

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

Sure, none of our heroes fell into the pit. That fate was left for the bounty hunters and assorted hangers-on working for Jabba the Hutt. That doesnt make the concept of being slowly digested over a thousand years any less horrifying. Yes, most would probably die long before full digestion, but a good chunk of their life would be constantly uncomfortable to say the least. We later learned that Boba Fett did escape thanks to his Mandalorian armor, but in seeing that process, we caught a glimpse of how horrible life inside the Sarlacc was.

Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith (2005)

Padme Amidala was presented as a fighter, both with words, and, if needed, a blaster. She was one of the most strong-willed characters in the Prequel Trilogy. This is why her losing the will to live, according to the medical droid, or, in other words, dying of a broken heart, is a really tragic way for such a character to go. It even proved a pill too tough to swallow for many fans, who proposed their own theories. Some suggested that the Emperor stole her life force and gave it to Darth Vader, allowing him to go on living, while others proposed that Vader took it himself. These theories prove that such a fate hardly bears thinking about.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008-20)

Decapitating a table of people with a single, swift movement may be a little much for some. It definitely was too much for the Cartoon Network. When the leaders of The Black Sun crime syndicate refused Darth Mauls offer to join his Shadow Collective, the former Sith Lord calmly nodded at his brother Savage Opress and ducked. Opress took Mauls double-bladed lightsaber and flung it like a frisbee at the group. It swiftly removed the heads of the heads of the Black Sun before Savage pulled it back with The Force. You wouldnt have seen this if you watched The Clone Wars in its original airing, as Cartoon Network simply deleted the scene from the episode, though put it back for the shows DVD release.

Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith (2005)

Cutting off someones hand seems to be a recurring thing in Star Wars, but chopping off both hands at the same time, and following it with a decapitation brings it to a new level of brutality. Now factor in that the handless person is defenseless and that the one holding two lightsabers to his neck is a supposedly honorable Jedi, and what follows is truly messed up. Yes, Anakin Skywalker was understandably angry with Count Dooku, and Chancellor Palpatine was pushing him to the dark side, but Anakins choice to do this might not have even been his choice, rather an emerging Darth Vaders. The horrified look Dooku shoots at his secret master underscores this and makes it even more disturbing.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008-20)

Obi-Wan Kenobi chopped Darth Maul in half. That might have made this list, except Maul didnt die. Instead, he got bitter and vengeful, and finally got his revenge on Kenobi by killing the love of his life, Duchess Satine Kryze, and making Obi-Wan watch. In one blow from the Darksaber, he stabbed Satine through the heart literally, and figuratively cut Kenobis heart in half. In the moment, this served as a test of Obi-Wans commitment to the Jedi and the light side of the Force, which he passed, but it was arguably the saddest, and most unnecessary death in the Clone Wars animated series, and possibly in all of Star Wars animation. And it wasnt even the last scene of the episode.

The Mandalorian (2019-)

Sliced in half by a closing circular door has got to be one of the most gruesome ways to die. And we see just that in the opening scene of The Mandalorian. Din Djarin, the titular Mandalorian bounty hunter, arrives at a bar looking for his bounty. When two of the locals threaten him, he starts fighting. When one of them tries to escape, he pulls them back with a cable, just enough for the door to close around, and through, him. This wasnt even the person Din was looking for, but it did set the tone for a show that would turn out to be equal parts violence and cuteness. Wed have to wait until the end of the first episode to see Grogu.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)

The film may be called A Star Wars Story, but a better title could be Rogue One: Dont Get Attached. We spend over two hours getting to know and love a group of new heroes fighting the Empire and embarking on a self-chosen mission which sets the plot of the Original Trilogy in motion. Then, alone or in groups of two, they are all killed by The Empire. This is a deep and emotional look at the tragedy of ordinary people and droids in the Star Wars Universe dying for a noble cause. Its made even sadder when you realize that all this sacrifice goes unappreciated when these events are summarized in the first two paragraphs of the Episode IV Title Crawl.

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

The Battle of Endor in Return of the Jedi is a contrast to the intense warfare happening on the Death Star and around it. Here we see the cute, furry, and infinitely marketable Ewoks helping the Rebels defeat the far better-equipped Imperial forces. This is the fun part of the movies climax, but for a brief moment, its not, when one Ewok gets shot and doesnt get up. His Ewok friend tries to revive him to no avail. Seeing as how George Lucas based the Ewoks on the Viet Cong of the Vietnam War, it makes sense that some of the horrors of that war seep through here. But that doesnt make seeing a loveable teddy bear getting shot to death any less messed up.

Andor (2022-)

Getting your head and body crushed by a crate of credits because the ship youre in made a sharp upward movement on your insistence is quite the way to go. When just that happened to Karis Nemik, though, it was even more visceral and brutal, as we hear the sound of the impact of the crate. He doesnt die right away, so Vel injects him with a med spike to keep him alive long enough for him to guide Cassian Andor through the ships escape. He dies on an operating table shortly thereafter. This grizzly death of such an earnest and likeable character is juxtaposed with the striking beauty of the Eye of Aldhani, which the ship makes its escape through.

Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens (2015)

He survived being frozen in carbonite, countless battles with The Empire, and life as a smuggler. It was letting his guard down, and trusting in his sons ability to make the right choice that eventually spelled the end for this beloved iconic character. When Han Solo stepped onto that bridge to confront Kylo Ren, and turn him back into Ben Solo, he was sealing his fate. The tone and lighting of the scene underscored this beautifully. Kylo would eventually become Ben again, and Han would get a chance to see this happen, either as a ghost or as part of his sons mind. But that doesnt take away the sting of being stabbed through the heart by the very person you were trying to save.

Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022)

Villains not caring about collateral damage is common, but what Darth Vader does to the villagers on Mapuzo is the opposite of ambivalence. After his Inquisitors track Obi-Wan Kenobi to a small town near the planets space port, Vader targets and kills some of the innocent people at random, just so Kenobi will feel their pain and suffering, and come out of hiding. Vader pulls one villager out of a window with the force, levitates him, and chokes him, and then sees another one cowering on the ground and snaps his neck with the force. We even hear the cracking. The whole scene is very dark, its almost like were seeing what Obi-Wan sees. Vaders plan worked, but Kenobi surely wasnt the only one disturbed.

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

One of the earliest indications we get that the Star Wars Universe can be a brutal one is Luke Skywalker rushing back to his family homestead to find the charred skeletal remains of his Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru, who died seemingly crawling out of their burning home. Its not clear if they were burned alive, or were shot first by the Imperial Stormtroopers who had set the fire. The fact that both options are possible makes this potentially even more horrifying than if we had seen the act itself onscreen. This demonstrates how brutal The Empire can be, and sets the plot in motion for the Original Trilogy. It is an image Luke, and many in the audience, wont soon forget.

Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith (2005)

The Order 66 sequence is full of tragedy, but none of the moments are more horrifying than Anakin Skywalker entering the Jedi Council Chamber, igniting his lightsaber, and terrifying the Jedi Younglings looking for his help. We dont see what happens next on screen, but its easy to assume, and confirmed when Yoda finds the younglings bodies. This isnt the first time Anakin perpetrated a massacre, but when he slaughtered the Tusken Raiders, he could at least fall back on the flimsy explanation that he held this particular tribe responsible for his mothers death. This time, there was no explanation other than pure subservience to evil. It was one of Darth Vaders most despicable acts.

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

Millions of voices crying out in terror, and then suddenly silenced. Thats how Obi-Wan Kenobi described what he felt when the Death Star obliterated the planet of Alderaan with a single shot. Thats the closest we come to what it must have felt like for the victims. Instead we see the destruction from the point of view of those on the Death Star. Its a cold and calculated strategic decision for Grand Moff Tarkin, and just a day at the office for the troops. The body count may have been higher when the First Order destroyed the Hosnian System, but that was done with rage. The sheer callous detachment, combined with the horrific loss of life, make Alderaans destruction even more disturbing.

Do you agree with our list? What Star Wars deaths disturbed you the most? Let us know in the comments.