Vector Prime - Death of Chewbacca

Death of Chewbacca

At the time of its first publication, Vector Prime was extremely controversial among Star Wars fans in that its plot called for the death of Chewbacca, making the Wookiee the first major character from the original trilogy to be permanently killed off in the Expanded Universe novels. The concept of killing such a character was the decision of the book editors (said to include Randy Stradley, a then-editor at Dark Horse Comics), who sent a list of characters they would like to kill to George Lucas, with Luke Skywalker at the top of the list. The response was what characters they couldn't kill, and Chewbacca wasn't on the list, hence his selection. This is covered – in some detail – in the round table interview with the series editors published at the end of the final New Jedi Order novel, The Unifying Force. Opinion was sharply divided as to whether this death of a beloved character was an effort to boost sales and interest in the new series, or if it served the dramatic purpose of declaring that not even the core characters were necessarily "safe" anymore.

Though Chewbacca is the first major character from the original trilogy who dies in a novel, this is not the first time a talking character from the original trilogy dies in a novel. General Madine, who appears in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi alongside Admiral Ackbar and Mon Mothma, had died in the novel Darksaber, published in 1995. Several other characters from the movies had previously died in novels and tales, such as Het Nkik, the Jawa in the cantina. Mon Mothma's death occurred a few weeks before the events of Vector Prime, and Admiral Ackbar died toward the end of the New Jedi Order series.