Maz Kanata

"I have lived long enough to see the same eyes in different people."

- Maz Kanata

Maz Kanata was a female pirate who lived for over one thousand years. Around thirty years after the Battle of Endor, she owned a castle which played host to travelers, smugglers, and others.

She had eyes covered with goggles, and somehow came into possession of the blue-bladed lightsaber previously owned by Anakin Skywalker and Luke Skywalker. Although it was unclear if Kanata had any ability to use the Force, she nevertheless seemed to have the ability to sense Force-potential in others.

When Han Solo visited Takodana with Rey and Finn, he stated that Kanata had run her castle for a thousand years. It is unknown where she resided after the destruction of her castle at the hands of the First Order. She was fond of the Wookiee Chewbacca, jokingly describing him as her "boyfriend."

Behind the scenes
"I had some specific ideas about how she would work and what she would do. I had this pitch about these goggles that she wore. Her eyes are an important aspect of her character, and you’ll see how it plays out."

- J.J. Abrams

Maz Kanata appears as a fully CGI character in Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens, in which she is played by the actress Lupita Nyong'o via motion capture. The character's name was first revealed in an exclusive Vanity Fair article in May 2015.

The character was inspired by J.J. Abrams and Rick Carter's English high school teacher Rose Gilbert. "We really wanted the story to feel authentic, despite being a wild fantasy. I mentioned Rose in an early story meeting as a sort of timeless, wise figure that I'd actually known in my life," he explained. Abrams and Carter had hoped to inform her that she was being turned into a Star Wars character, but she died while Episode VII was in pre-production.

A shot of Maz giving Leia Luke's first lightsaber was prominently shown in the second trailer of The Force Awakens, but the scene went unused in the film. Abrams explained, "Maz used to continue along with the characters back to the Resistance base, but we realized that she really had nothing to do there of value, except to be sitting around."

Appearances

 * "The Face of Evil"
 * Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens
 * Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens junior novelization