List of Legends elements in the films

C-canon elements from licensed Expanded Universe creators have been known to appear in the Star Wars films, mainly the prequel trilogy. Most of these are brief, cameo appearances, almost taking the form of Easter eggs, and are even hardly distinguishable. However, others are more substantial.

Many Expanded Universe works have given names and/or background information to nearly every element shown in the films. Additionally, the Visual Dictionary series, along with other official sources such as "What's The Story?", has also introduced many retcons, thus "creating" C-canon depictions in films&mdash;e.g. the Revenge of the Sith: The Visual Dictionary identifies Count Dooku's tunic in Revenge of the Sith as being created on Vjun, a planet found heretofore strictly in the EU. The significance of these identifications, for the most part, is downplayed in this article.

The prequel trilogy also has many references to names and elements introduced in the television series Star Wars: Droids due to Ben Burtt's large involvement in both, not the least to mention, the cameo by himself as Ebenn Q3 Baobab in The Phantom Menace.

Episode I



 * The name Rodian appeared for the first time in Galaxy Guide 1: A New Hope, but was used in the prequel trilogy in scripts and production notes (although it is never mentioned in dialogues).
 * The Force Speed ability, used by Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi to evade droidekas, was first created for the West End Games Star Wars Roleplaying Game
 * The name "Coruscant" was originally used by Timothy Zahn in the Thrawn trilogy of novels. Lucas was going to include the capital world of Had Abbadon in Return of the Jedi, but adopted Zahn's name for Imperial Center when presenting the planet in the Special Edition and prequel movies.
 * The Aurebesh that appears, is the one created by West End Games for Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game (in turn based on meaningless characters appearing in the original trilogy).
 * The acceptance of Hutts as a species, rather than a gangster title (as originally suggested), was also new to the film.
 * The Jedi Code is mentioned, having first appeared in Dark Apprentice.
 * "Boonta Eve Classic" resembles a race known as the "Boonta speeder race" where the droids ends up in the fourth episode of the Star Wars: Droids series A Race to the Finish.
 * Darth Maul's double-bladed lightsaber was a design originally seen wielded by Exar Kun in the Tales of the Jedi: Dark Lords of the Sith and Tales of the Jedi: The Sith War comic books.
 * It is not known if the following were intended to be EU references all along, or were later retcons, coincidence, and EU extrapolations:
 * Prince Xizor appears as a spectator at the Mos Espa Arena. A Micro-Machines model of the Shadows of the Empire villain was used to populate the crowd, possibly randomly, without canonical significance.
 * Toong, the species of Ben Quadinaros, was mentioned in Droids, while his planet, Tund, was first mentioned in the Adventures of Lando Calrissian
 * Theelin species, by the appearance of Diva Shaliqua. The species first appeared in Dark Empire (note that another Theelin had already appeared in the Return of the Jedi Special Edition – see below)
 * Ebenn Q3 Baobab of the Baobab family introduced in Droids. It was a minor cameo by sound designer Ben Burtt.

Episode II



 * Aayla Secura appeared as a significant, albeit minor, character in the movies. She was introduced in Star Wars Republic: Twilight released after the Phantom Menace. George Lucas liked her illustration and decided to import her.
 * Action VI Transports, initially appeared as the Wild Karrde in Heir to the Empire, they also arrive at the Theed Spaceport in Attack of the Clones.
 * The planet Rishi, introduced in Dark Force Rising, was given a mention via the Rishi Maze in Attack of the Clones.
 * The swamp planet of Bogden is a planet visited by the droids in the series. In Attack of the Clones, Jango Fett says that he was "hired by a man named Tyranus on the moons of Bogden."
 * Power chairs first appeared in Tales of the Jedi: The Golden Age of the Sith. Note however that the concept of an anti-gravity seat is quite common in science fiction, therefore it's more possibly a coincidence than inspiration.
 * Dex's Diner has a strong similarity to the diner in an episode of the Droids series.
 * Anakin Skywalker's use of Jar'kai near the end of the movie was first seen in Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II.
 * When Darth Tyranus's Force lightning gets caught on a lightsaber blade near the end of the film, this is possibly a reference to Luke Skywalker doing the same to Joruus C'baoth's lightning at the end of The Last Command.
 * Footage similar to that found in Star Wars: Episode I Racer can be seen played in a screen of the Outlander Club.
 * It is not known if the following were intended to be EU references all along, or were later retcons, coincidence, and EU extrapolations:
 * San Hill is identified as a Muun from Muunilinst, a planet first mentioned in Specter of the Past.
 * The region of Coruscant in the scene where Dooku arrives and meets with Sidious, resembles the Coruscant scenes in the alternate dark side ending of Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II. Note, however, that in JK the Imperial Palace appears instead of the LiMerge Power building.
 * The concept of Power couplings (of the type that Obi-Wan and Anakin flew through) first appeared in the Dark Empire comics.
 * Dooku's lightsaber design originated in Bane of the Sith

Episode III


Episode III has several elements that have first appeared in EU sources, such as Labyrinth of Evil, that have been written during the movie's production. However, since those sources have borrowed those elements directly from the finished post-production movie script (for example, General Grievous was written for Ep. III but first appeared in the Clone Wars TV series), they will not be included.


 * The theme song of Coruscant, known as Imperial City, from the Shadows of the Empire soundtrack was used in the opening sequence music by John Williams.
 * The form of Force Grip as appears in the scene with Darth Tyranus and Obi-Wan (with immobilizing and lifting the target), first appeared in the Jedi Knight games.
 * Anakin Skywalker's double-lightsaber decapitation of Tyranus is similar to Luke Skywalker's defeat of Shimrra in The Unifying Force.
 * Plo Koon's Delta-7 Aethersprite-class light interceptor has the same paint scheme as the Azure Angel.
 * Quinlan Vos mentioned (as "Master Vos") by Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Jedi briefing room. Vos is an EU character (who in turn was based on a background extra seen at the Mos Espa café in The Phantom Menace). A cameo appearance of this character was planned but not filmed.
 * During the Battle of Kashyyyk, a Juggernaut tank is prominently seen. Although based on unused original AT-AT concept art, the Juggernaut was established in the EU as being a siege vehicle of the Old Republic, making its appearance in RotS a significant C-canon inclusion.
 * As first mentioned in The Illustrated Star Wars Universe, Aldera is depicted as at the very least being in close proximity to a lake, if not at the center as previously noted.
 * Although most likely an unintentional reference, Mace Windu's line 'He is too dangerous to be left alive' echoes the same line spoken by Kreia in Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords
 * The sinkhole grottos of Utapau bear a striking resemblance to the pirate caves on Tarnoonga as seen in the Droids episode, The Pirates of Tarnoonga, and, to a lesser extent, the Great Well on Ophideraan, from the Classic Star Wars series.
 * The wheel bike, the vehicle of choice for General Grievous, when in a chase with Obi-Wan Kenobi on Utapau, was Jann Tosh's vehicle and was seen in the Droids animated series as confirmed by StarWars.com
 * Tsui Choi was about to appear in the movie, but the scripts were altered and didn't make it in.
 * It is not known if the following were intended to be EU references all along, or were later retcons, coincidence, and EU extrapolations.
 * The 501st Legion was canonized in Survivor's Quest before being included in Revenge of the Sith. In turn, it was a real-life charity organization, being therefore also a fanon element that made its way in continuity.
 * The Massassi frieze in Palpatine's office depicts a battle of the Great Hyperspace War, described in the Tales of the Jedi comics. However, it is possible that when designed, it was intended to represent that Battle of Ruusan which was invented along with The Phantom Menace, therefore the official description could be a retcon.
 * Itchy also is seen, who first appeared in The Star Wars Holiday Special in 1978
 * Baron Papanoida is identified as a Wroonian. Wroonians appeared first in issue seven of the Marvel Star Wars comic series.
 * Nee Alavar, a background character, was identified as a Lorrdian. The Lorrdian people first appeared in the novel Han Solo's Revenge.
 * Padmé Amidala says, "this war represents a failure to listen." The character Mira says the exact same sentence in Jedi: Mace Windu.
 * The Room of a Thousand Fountains appears in a hologram when Cin Drallig fights with Darth Vader; it was first mentioned in Jedi Apprentice: The Rising Force
 * The following are retcons
 * Salporin first appeared in Heir to the Empire. A Wookiee in the movie has been retconned to be Salporin.
 * Olana Chion, a Jedi, first appeared in Jude Watson's Jedi Apprentice: The Fight for Truth.

Episode IV
Logically, no EU was possible to exist when Episode IV was released; the following therefore, describe only the special edition movie.
 * Swoop bikes from Shadows of the Empire. In the Special Edition scenes added to A New Hope, a swoop bike scares a ronto.
 * The Outrider (also from Shadows of the Empire) and with it, the YT-2400 freighters in general. Minor cameo, seen from distance lifting off from Mos Eisley, in the special scenes added to A New Hope for the Special Edition.
 * ASP-series droid, new to the film, also appeared in Shadows of the Empire.
 * Yet another Shadows of the Empire addition is the appearance of the Sentinel-class landing craft seen in the new dewback scene as well as above Mos Eisley.
 * The tractor beam characters have been changed from the English alphabet to the Aurebesh for the Special Edition. Of note is the fact that the Aurebesh appearing in original releases of the original trilogy (i.e. the clearance code screen for Tydirium in Return of the Jedi) is made up of nonsensical characters. West End Games created an original signification with English letters for Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game based on those characters. When using these newly assigned alphabetic values, most of the original trilogy Aurebesh remains unintelligible; however, in the prequel trilogy and a few remastered original trilogy examples, it actually does translate.

Episode V

 * Boba Fett, who first appeared in The Star Wars Holiday Special in 1978, plays a major role as the individual who takes Han Solo to Jabba the Hutt. Note however that Holiday Special is an exceptional case since it was written by Lucas himself, and the character of Fett was designed for Episode V but revealed to the public through the Holiday Special&mdash;in much the same way Grievous made his first appearance some sixteen years later.

Episode VI

 * Theelin species, by the appearance of Rystáll Sant in the Special Edition. The species first appeared in Dark Empire.