Leia Organa

"The Force is strong in my family. My father has it. I have it. And...my sister has it."

- Luke Skywalker

Leia Organa, a Human female, was the daughter of fallen Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and senator Padmé Amidala. Her mother died in labor and her father, the now-Sith Lord Darth Vader, thought Leia and her twin brother Luke Skywalker to be dead, and so Leia was taken to Alderaan to be raised by Bail Organa and his wife. Raised by her father, Leia eventually became an Imperial senator, only to join the Rebel Alliance, becoming a key member in the movement. After the rebels managed to steal the plans of the Death Star, an Imperial space station capable of destroying planets, Organa attempted to flee with the plans from Imperial forces, but she was captured over Tatooine, but not before transmitting the plans to Jedi Master Ben Kenobi. Threatening to destroy her homeworld, Wilhuff Tarkin, commander of the Death Star, tried to force Organa into disclosing the location of the rebel base, but even as she provided a fake location, Tarkin ordered Alderaan destroyed. Before the Empire could locate the real rebel base, however, Organa was rescued by Kenobi, Skywalker, smuggler Han Solo, and the Wookiee Chewbacca. Thhe group escaped the Death Star, only to have the Imperials track them to Yavin 4, where the rebel base was located. As the rebels scrambled to destroy the battlestation, Organa witnessed the destruction of the Death Star at the hands of Skywalker.

Later on, Organa was present on Echo Base on the planet Hoth, a major rebel hideout, when it was discovered by the Empire. Engaging in a ground battle with Imperial forces, the rebel troops were overrun and Organa fled the base together with Solo and Chewbacca. The group narrowly avoided capture by the orbiting Imperial fleet, fleeing into a nearby asteroid field. After losing their tail, the group set course for Cloud City on Bespin, run by Lando Calrissian, an acquaintance of Solo. However, Calrissian had made a deal with the Empire, and the group was captured soon after arriving. Witnessing the freezing of Solo in carbonite, Organa and Solo proclaimed their love for each other. Soon after, Calrissian liberated Organa and Chewbacca, and the trio fled Cloud City. As they departed, Organa sensed the presence of her brother&mdash;who had arrived on Bespin and lost his hand in a duel with Darth Vader&mdash;and the trio returned to pick up Skywalker. Narrowly escaping Imperial forces in orbit, the group rendezvoused with the Rebel fleet.

With the help of her friends, Organa aided in the rescue of Solo, who had been sold to Jabba the Hutt. Impersonating a slave, she liberated Solo with the help of Skywalker, Chewbacca, and Calrissian. The group returned to the Alliance forces in time to join the Battle of Endor, where Organa fought alongside Solo and Chewbacca on the forest moon to destroy the shield generator protecting the second Death Star. During the campaign, Organa learned that Vader was her father, and Skywalker her brother. After the rebel ground forces successfully disabled the shield generator, the space forces managed to destroy the second Death Star.

Birth
"It's a girl.''" "''Leia."

- Obi-Wan Kenobi and Padmé Amidala

Leia was the daughter of Galactic Republic senator Padmé Amidala and Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker. The twin sister of Luke Skywalker, Leia was born shortly after the end of the Clone Wars on the asteroid colony of Polis Massa. Her father had converted to the Dark side of the Force just before the end of the Clone Wars, becoming a Sith Lord and the apprentice of Sheev Palpatine, newly-proclaimed Galactic Emperor. Amidala confronted Skywalker, who had since become known as Darth Vader, on the planet Mustafar, who in turn strangled his wife when Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, Vader's former master, appeared, believing that Amidala had brought Kenobi to kill him. After Kenobi defeated Vader in a duel, he took the dying Amidala to Polis Massa, where she gave birth to Luke and then Leia shortly before passing away. Vader on the other hand believed that Amidala had died before giving birth, and as such, he was unaware of his children. After discussing the fate of the twins, Kenobi, along with fellow Jedi Master Yoda and senator Bail Organa, agreed that it was necessary to split them up to hide them from Vader and the Galactic Empire. While Kenobi took Luke to Tatooine, Bail Organa agreed to adopt Leia together with his wife Breha. Raised in the Royal Family of Alderaan, Leia adopted the last name Organa. Although it was common knowledge that she was adopted, she remained unaware of her biological parents' fates.

Even though her mother died shortly after her birth, Leia was left with a lasting impression of images and feelings of her that Luke did not: that their mother was "very beautiful, kind, but sad."

Destruction of Alderaan
By her late teens, Leia had followed into her adopted father's footsteps by becoming a senator, which granted her diplomatic immunity which she exploited to aid the Rebels. Her luck ran out when the Empire intercepted the stolen plans for the Death Star being transmitted to the Organas' cruiser, the Tantive IV. The Imperial Star Destroyer Devastator captured the ship after Tatooine.

As stormtroopers led by Darth Vader boarded the Tantive IV, Leia stored the plans in the astromech droid R2-D2, and recorded a message for Kenobi, who was living on Tatooine, pleading he return from exile to smuggle the plans to Alderaan. While R2 used an escape pod, Leia tried to evade the stormtroopers but was captured with a stun blast, and escorted to by Vader.

She feigned ignorance of the Sith Lord's accusations, so he berated her for lying and ordered she be imprisoned on the Death Star: in the meantime, R2-D2 found Kenobi, who, accompanied by Luke, hired Solo to fly them to Alderaan on the Millennium Falcon. Simultaneously, the Emperor Sheev Palpatine dissolved the Senate, along with Leia's position.

Vader tortured Leia in Detention Block AA-23 in Cell 2187 to make her reveal the Rebel base's location, using with an interrogator droid equipped with mind probes, but she proved resilient. Vader took her to see Grand Moff Tarkin, who threatened to use the station to destroy her homeworld unless she disclosed the base's location. Leia claimed the base was on Dantooine, but Tarkin had Alderaan destroyed anyway as a demonstration of the Death Star's power. After scout ships ascertained there had been a Rebel base but it had long been abandoned, Tarkin ordered Leia's execution.

However, when the Millennium Falcon arrived at the remains of Alderaan, it was drawn into the Death Star by a tractor beam. Its passengers evaded capture, and R2-D2 discovered the location of the princess. While Kenobi deactivated the tractor beam, Luke and Han mounted a rescue by disguising themselves as stormtroopers escorting Chewbacca to her detention block. Leia was astonished to hear Kenobi was present, but became unimpressed as Solo alerted the stormtroopers to their presence, and snatched a rifle during the ensuing firefight to blast open a garbage chute and make their escape.

Leading the Rebellion
The group escaped the Death Star, but without Kenobi, who gave his life to fend off Darth Vader. However, Leia discerned Vader let them go and was following them to Yavin 4, site of the base. Organa subsequently witnessed the destruction of the Death Star at the hands of Skywalker.

A time to celebrate, a time to grieve
"We have much to be grateful for today. Thanks to your courage, we have delivered a telling blow to the Empire with the destruction of their Death Star. But our casualties were not small. Let us take a moment to honor the lost souls of Alderaan. To honor Viceroy Bail Organa and Queen Breha Organa. May they forever be remembered."

- Leia's speech to the Rebel heroes. After the Rebel pilots returned from successfully turning the Empire's greatest weapon into nothing but a layer of dust orbiting around Yavin, the personnel of the Yavin 4 honored the heroes by orchestrating a medal ceremony for them. Leia wore an Alderaanian gown for the event as she was to hand out the medals and present a speech. She took to the stage as Luke, Han and Chewbacca walked the aisle to the stage. She smiled first at Han then Luke as she bestowed the medals upon them for their bravery&mdash;for rescuing her from Tarkin, who was dead with the Death Star, and then their part in the Battle of Yavin. Han winked at her before he and Luke bowed to the Princess. R2-D2, now repaired from the damage he sustained during the battle, let out joyous beeps and clicks that made them all laugh. Chewbacca let out a roar of triumph as Yavin's personnel clapped for them.

General Jan Dodonna looked to Leia, silently letting her know the celebration was over&mdash;it was time to reflect upon the lost. She started by thanking the Rebels for their courage and sacrifice during the Battle of Yavin. She knew though, that their casualties had not been small&mdash;Alderaan, an entire world had been destroyed; along with Bail and Breha Organa&mdash;Leia's parents. Bail had been a founding member of the Rebel Alliance and she asked the Rebels to take a moment of silence to honor him, and all those who had died when her homeworld was destroyed. She wished they, and all the other beings lost, to be remembered forever. General Dodanna took over for Leia and stated that this was not the proper time to mourn&mdash;the Empire knew their location so the Alliance's top priority was to evacuate Yavin 4. The Rebel fleets from throughout the galaxy were converging upon Yavin to assist in the evacuation. While others would help in the effort of scouting for a new base location. Leia wished to assist the Alliance in any way she could. The ceremony was over, the evacuation had begun. Leia jokingly referred to Han and Chewbacca that they would need the help of "a hairy beast and his copilot." Han retorted that Chewbacca was the copilot not him. Leia left it at two words: "I know." She greeted Luke next, asking if he was staying with the Alliance. He insisted he would not be leaving any time soon, though he admitted to feeling strange toward the Princess. He felt that way because when Obi-Wan was killed Leia comforted him, even though she had lost her homeworld, parents and many other people she'd called friends. And she had no one to comfort her in her time of need&mdash;not that she wanted that anyway. As Luke departed with R2 and 3PO, Leia noticed a lone female in X-wing pilot fatigues paying respects to a statue of Bail and Breha that had been erected in their memory.

No time to grieve
"I am sorry my Queen." "Don't address me that w&mdash;" "It must be, my test will come soon. As we speak the Imperial are hunting down all surviving Alderaanians." "All? How do you know?" "Word travels through the Rebel forces too much to be simply rumor."

- Evaan and Leia arguing over their course of action.

After the ceremony, Leia changed into a less luxurious outfit and went to find Admiral Ackbar to ask an audience with Dodonna. The Mon Calamari pointed her in the right direction after scolding several Rebel troopers for their clumsiness. She approached the General who was currently searching for a location for the new base on a 3D holographic map. He greeted her as Senator Organa, before remembering that with the Imperial Senate disbanded and Alderaan destroyed, Leia was no longer a senator. She informed Dodanna that she yearned to take action, to scout for a new base location. But the General disagreed, telling her the best thing for her to do for a time was to grieve her losses. The Empire had placed a 10,000,000 Credit Bounty on her just hours before. He stated the Princess would not leave Yavin "under anything less than a full military escort", and dismissed her.

Defeated but still fighting for action she left and again briefly ran into Ackbar. As she moved on she heard two Rebel pilots&mdash;including the female pilot she had noticed earlier&mdash;talking about her. Evaan, she overheard was the pilot's name, referred to Leia as the "ice princess" before Leia barged in and dismissed the other pilot. Evaan bowed to Leia, but she let her know that formality was no longer required. She asked Evaan why she had stayed behind after the ceremony earlier. Evaan muttered a reply that Leia couldn't hear, Leia became frustrated and after coaxing Evaan into revealing her past as a Royalist mentored directly by Leia's mother, Queen Breha; she openly wondered why Evaan respected the throne but not its keeper&mdash;Leia. Evaan let her know she planned on preserving as much of Alderaan's culture as possible, before pledging herself to Queen Leia Organa of Alderaan. Leia disagreed that she was the Queen, but Evaan told her the Imperials were currently hunting down down all surviving Alderaanian's throughout the galaxy. Leia took the information and easily created a course of action as Evaan as her bodyguard.



Shortly thereafter, Leia enlisted the help of R2 and recorded a holographic message of herself apologizing to Dodonna for disobeying his orders and leaving. She then sent the message and a decoy hologram of R2 to the General's quarters while he slept. The trio made their escape at the dead of night in an elegant T-1 shuttle; their goal was to save all the remaining sons and daughters of Alderaan from the Empire. Just after departing Yavin 4, Leia insisted that she and Evaan be totally honest with each other. Evaan agreed, telling her Queen that leaving the Alliance's protection was ill fated. Dodanna would put lives at risk to recover Leia. The Princess dismissed her worry and asked R2 his opinion. R2 typed his response on a screen: "I've got a bad feeling about this." The next moment Evaan noticed that they were being pursued by two X-wing fighters&mdash;Luke and Wedge&mdash;the only two survivors of Red Squadron. The two pilots ordered them to turn back, but the Princess would not. The fighters tried to box the T-1 in with a herding maneuver while Evaan tried to outmaneuver the veteran pilots. In the process, Evaan recklessly collided with Wedge's X-wing, knocking off the shuttle's alluvial dampener. Leia accused her pilot of deliberately sabotaging the mission because she disagreed with it. The two fighters began to back off, Evaan hit the hyperdrive and escaped the X-wings. Leia was confused, and Evaan explained that the whole maneuver had been a rouse that she and R2 had cooked up. Leia's mind was changed and she thanked Evaan for her magnificent work as they made their way to Naboo.

Taking the fight to the Empire
"We're going in. Everyone, hold your positions."

- Leia, to the team as they entered the feactory.

Shortly after Leia's adventure on Sullust, she helped plot and execute the Assault on the Imperial factory world of Cymoon 1. She, Han and other members of the Alliance concieved a plan to infiltrate Weapons Factory Alpha; after the Rebel Fleet captured a shuttle that was sent from the Crime lord Jabba the Hutt. The shuttle had previously contained an envoy that was to negotiate with the Empire on shipping raw materials from Hutt controlled space to Imperial facilities; like Weapons Factory Alpha. The materials would then be processed into War machines such as 74-Z speeder bikes and TIE fighters. Leia, Han and the others agreed that due to Han's past allegiance to the Hutt he would be able to pass himself off as Jabba's negotiator; while Leia, Luke and R2 disguised themselves as his bodyguards.

The plan was soon in motion, the team boarded the captured shuttle and arrived on Cymoon 1. Han led the team onto a large landing platform where they were greeted by the facility's Overseer and a squad of stormtroopers. Han's identity was confirmed by the Bounty hunter droid 4-LOM. Overseer Aggadeen ordered Han and his "bodyguards" to leave their weapons outside; Leia handed over her Vibro-ax as she contacted the other two members of the strike team. (C-3PO and Chewbacca.) She told them to hold their positions as they entered the factory. 3PO congratulated the team on fooling the Imperials, in short 3PO had a very good feeling about the mission. The Overseer and Han conversed as they past through the TIE fighter assembly area; they soon arrived at the room where the negotiations were to be held, Han gave R2 the single. R2 poured a green liquid onto the floor, electrocuted it and the stormtroopers who now found themselves standing in it. Leia, Luke and Han defeated the remaining troopers in hand to hand combat. Aggadeen was perplexed when Han reveled themselves to be members of the Rebel Alliance, and refused to cooperate when Han asked the direction to the main power core. The proud Imperial officer soon gave in after R2 threatened to electrocute him as he had the troopers. Leia "thanked" him and punched him across the jaw.

Leia and Luke rid themselves of the Hutt's armor as she contacted 3PO and Chewbacca via comlink. She informed that they were successfully in the facility and the plan had moved to its second part. Han checked n with 3PO to insure that the droid had not damaged his prized Falcon&mdash;the droid had not. They nade their way to the core reactor while stealthily avoiding many stormtroopers. Leia told R2 to turn off the core's safety restraints so she and Han could safely rig the reactor to explode. Luke fell into the Force and wandered off from the main group without being noticed. Soon the core was sabotaged to blow in ten minutes time; Leia thanked Han for coming on this mission, Han told her to wait until they were away from Cymoon 1 to really thank him. Han noticed Luke was missing, but Leia ignored him, instead focusing on Han. She wanted the scoundrel to know that know matter what happened, her respect for him had grown. The simple smuggler with a price on his head had put his face out in front of the Empire, now everyone would know that Han Solo was associated with the Rebel Alliance. But Leia could not understand why he would do such a thing&mdash;"What is it you really want, Han Solo?" Han tried to avoid talking about their realtionship; and was saved when Luke returned with more passengers&mdash;slaves of the Empire. Leia was unsure of Luke's decision to free the slaves, but he and Han assured her "The more the merrier," Han let 3PO and Chewbacca know that now was the time for their escape to begin. But Chewbacca warned them that the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Vader had arrived to negotiate. Han told his copilot not to fire on Vader&mdash;if he did the entire moon would know of their presence. But the Princess of Alderaan disagreed, telling the wookiee to kill the Dark Lord if he had a shot. Their lives meant nothing to ridding the galaxy of Alderaan's murderer. Chewbacca tried, but was thwarted by Vader's strong connection to the Force. Chewbacca was out of contact and the entire moon knew of their presence. 3PO informed the team that the reason he had not yet arrived with the Falcon was that native scavengers were tearing the light freighter apart. The Rebels&mdash;with slaves in tow began their retreat, and fled through the factory's corridors. Han ordered everyone into a large hangar that housed several newly minted All Terrain Armored Transport Walkers; he ordered everyone on board&mdash;they were gong to walk right out of the factory. Leia doubted Han's ability to drive the 22.3 meter tall walker; but he assured her that he could drive anything. Before boarding Leia noticed that Luke was agian missing. Unknown to them Luke had gone to confront the man who killed Obi-Wan Kenobi, and he believed killed his father&mdash;Darth Vader.

Leia, Han, R2 and several slaves boarded an AT-AT, Han piloted it through the factory before stepping on a subterranean corridor&mdash;almost crushing Luke and Vader who had been engaged in lightsaber combat. Leia acted as Han's spotter and called out when he nearly stepped on a Twi'lek slave. She told him that if he was going to step on anybody he should step on Vader. But Han wasn't trying to step on anyone; he just wanted to get Leia, Luke, Chewbacca and the droids out of danger. Leia didn't think he was doing an adequate job, Han told her that she should help by firing the walker's laser cannons&mdash;but Han had chosen a walker that had yet to have its cannons operational. R2 and a pair of Jawas were attempting to fix that problem, Leia was worried that Vader was going to catch up to them before the guns were working. They spotted Vader and Han tried to crush the Dark Lord using the AT-AT's bulk. Leia told him to do it for General Kenobi, and the entire world of Alderaan. Vader used the Force to hold the walker's massive foot several meters above his head. As the power Vader throttled at the walker began to tear it apart, Leia let Han know that Vader was using the Force&mdash;Han was dismayed, he did not believe the Force existed. Leia told him him to "Tell that to Vader!" At that moment R2 and the Jawas notified them that they had fixed the laser cannons. Leia yelled "Fire!" as she hit the fired the cannons. The AT-AT exploded Vader and the factory walls as it escaped the facility. The Princess told R2 she could kiss him she was so happy, although she settled for a hug. Han tried to contact 3PO but, he&mdash;like Chewbacca, was missing in action. Luke was on his way to meet Han and Leia with the Dark Lord nowhere in sight.

Of Snow and Gamblers
Later in the conflict, Organa was present on the planet Hoth, site of a major rebel stronghold known as Echo Base. However, the location of the hidden base was revealed to the Empire by an Imperial probe droid that had been sent to the planet. As the Imperial fleet, led by Vader, arrived at Hoth, Organa helped coordinate the ensuing evacuation, giving instructions to pilots. As the base was being overrun by Imperial ground forces, Organa joined Solo and Chewbacca on the Millennium Falcon as the group attempted to escape the base. However, the ship was unable to leave the system due to Star Destroyers blockading the planet in orbit. During the ensuing pursuit, Solo opted to pilot the ship into a nearbly asteroid field, hoping that the Imperials would be unwilling to follow them. However, Vader ordered his fleet into the asteroid field, and the Millennium Falcon was chased by Imperial starfighters deeper into the field. To evade capture, Solo piloted the ship into a cave in a big asteroid. Once inside the cave, Organa and her fellows exited the ship. However, they quickly realized that they were in fact inside of something else than a cave. Narrowly escaping the inside of a big creature residing inside the asteroid, the Millennium Falcon was once again pursued by Imperial forces. Unable to make the jump to hyperspace due to technical problems, Solo decided to land on the back of the command bridge of a Star Destroyer, shutting down all systems to avoid detection. The plan worked exactly as planned, and as the Imperial fleet prepared to exit the system, Solo detached the ship from the hull. With a faulty hyperdrive, the group decided to head to the gas giant Bespin, where an old acquintance of Solo, Lando Calrissian, owned a mining colony. However, they were unaware that they were being tracked by the bounty hunter Boba Fett, one of the mercenaries hired to locate the group.

Arriving in Cloud City on Bespin, Organa and the others were greeted by Calrissian. He agreed to repair the hyperdrive of the Millennium Falcon, and in the meantime, Organa and the others stayed at Cloud City. However, secretly to the group, Calrissian had made a deal with Vader to hand over the rebels in exchange for not being invaded by the Empire. Captured by Vader, Leia and the others were taken to a carbonite freezing facility, where it was revealed that Solo was to be frozen in carbonite. As the smuggler was being lowered into the freezing pit, Organa proclaimed her love for him. As Organa was being taken away by Imperial forces, Calrissian turned the tables. After disarming the Imperial guards, Organa attempted to save the now-frozen Solo from being taken by Boba Fett, but they were too late. In the meantime, Skywalker had arrived at Bespin, having sensed that his friends were in danger. However, the situation turned out to be a trap, and Skywalker was forced to confront Vader in a duel, which ended in Skywalker losing one of his hands. After learning that Vader was actually his father, Skywalker jumped down a shaft, eventually ending up hanging on an antenna below Cloud City. Meanwhile Organa had escaped with Chewbacca and Calrissian, but as they departed Cloud City aboard the Falcon, Organa sensed Luke's presence, and they turned around to retrieve Skywalker. Chased by starfighters into orbit, the Falcon was confronted by the Imperial flagship Executor. However, this time the hyperdrive worked, and the Falcon exited the system. Rendezvousing with a rebel fleet group, Organa stood at a viewport with Skywalker&mdash;who had received a prosthetic hand&mdash;and watched as Calrissian and Chewbacca left to find Solo.

With the help of her friends, Organa aided in Solo's rescue from Jabba, and Organa herself killed the Hutt. They returned to the Alliance in time to join the Battle of Endor, where Organa fought alongside Solo and Chewbacca on Endor to destroy the shield generator protecting the Death Star II. During the campaign, Organa learned that Vader was her father, and Skywalker her brother. Due to their successful efforts on the ground, the Alliance fleet destroyed the Death Star, while Skywalker redeemed their father&mdash;who, in turn, destroyed the Emperor, bringing victory to the Rebel Alliance.

Personality and traits
Leia Organa was a sharp-witted diplomat who was unafraid to speak her mind, even when confronted by powerful men like Vader and Tarkin. She found a kindred spirit in Han Solo, whom she enjoyed bickering with. She was also as competent with weaponry as she was with words, and kept her composure even in humiliating situations to perform daring feats like diving into a garbage chute or strangling the infamous Jabba the Hutt.

Powers and abilities
"I'm sure Luke wasn't on that thing when it blew." "He wasn't. I can feel it."

- Han Solo and Leia Organa after seeing the Death Star II had been destroyed.

Daughter of the Chosen One, Leia, like her older brother Luke, was born Force-sensitive. After her birth Leia was left with a lasting impression of images and feelings of her mother, that she was "very beautiful, kind, but sad." When Skywalker failed to contact Kenobi while hanging from a weather vane underneath Bespin's Cloud City, weak and helpless, he called out to Organa with the Force, apparently out of instinct. Organa sensed him, and was able to direct the Millennium Falcon to his location.

After Skywalker revealed on Endor that they were siblings, she was shocked but deep down, she had always knew this to be true. Skywalker also revealed that she was strong in the Force like he was and could learn how to use it in time. After the second Death Star blew up, Organa assured Solo that Skywalker had not been on it at the time, actively demonstrating the ability to sense her brother's presence.

Behind the scenes
Princess Leia was portrayed by Carrie Fisher. In Revenge of the Sith, the infant Leia was played by Aidan Barton (the son of editor Roger Barton), who also played her brother Luke.

In George Lucas's rough draft of the original film, Leia was a 14-year-old princess (the same age as Queen Amidala in The Phantom Menace), the spoiled daughter of King Kayos and Queen Breha of Aquilae. In that draft, she had two brothers, Biggs and Windy, whose identities were substantially revised into their current form by the fourth draft (though they did not appear in intervening versions). The later story synopsis established her as Leia Antilles, the daughter of Bail Antilles from the peaceful world of Organa Major. In the fourth draft the names were turned around so that Leia Organa came instead from Alderaan. Interestingly, when George Lucas was writing background material for licensees in 1977, he wrote that she had several brothers, and that she was unaware whether her parents had escaped the destruction of her homeworld. No-one from the House of Organa, however, had reached the Rebels as yet.

Princess Leia's Theme is the name of the character's leitmotif introduced in the original film.

Name

 * The name "Leia" has a number of potential origins. It may have been derived from "Lay'a" which in Arabic means "weary". Alternatively it might mean "mistress'" or "ruler" in Assyrian. Additionally, a Talmudic source cites "Leila" as the "Angel of Night". A third origin could be the Greek word "basileia," meaning "reign". There was also a biblical character called "Leah" (which is pronounced as Leia) in the book of Genesis, she was Jacob's first wife. It could also have been adopted from the Hawaiian "Leia", which means "child of heaven".
 * In the Italian version of the films, "Leia Organa" was renamed to "Leila Organa".
 * In June 2005, Princess Märtha Louise of Norway admitted in an interview that the first name of her youngest daughter, Leah Isadora Behn, was inspired by Princess Leia.

Make-up and costumes
George Lucas commented on Leia's "cinnamon bun" hairstyle in Time magazine: "In the 1977 film, I was working very hard to create something different that wasn't fashion, so I went with a kind of Southwestern Pancho Villa woman revolutionary look, which is what that is. The buns are basically from turn-of-the-century Mexico."

The costume designer for the films had a "no lingerie in space" policy, which prevented Fisher from wearing a brassiere. To maintain decorum, adhesive tape was used in place of the banned garment.

The iconic Slave Leia costume worn in Return of the Jedi is a popular cosplaying choice.

Her real mother
"The part that I never really developed is the death of Luke and Leia's mother. I had a backstory for her in earlier drafts, but it basically didn't survive. When I got to Jedi, I wanted one of the kids to have some kind of memory of her because she will be a key figure in the new episodes I'm writing. But I really debated on whether or not Leia should remember her."

- George Lucas

George Lucas stated that he wanted one of the Skywalker twins to recall their mother, hence Leia describing her as "very beautiful, kind but sad" in Return of the Jedi.

When Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith came out, many people did not understand how it was possible that Leia claims to remember her mother although she had known her for barely a minute. There has been some debate about whether Leia is discussing her real mother, Padmé Amidala, or her foster mother. The official Star Wars website stated in a "Q & A" section that Leia is remembering Padmé, but this may no longer be canonical.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Galactic Defense
 * Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith
 * Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope
 * A New Hope Read-Along Storybook and CD
 * A New Hope Illustrated Novel
 * Escape from Darth Vader
 * Epic Yarns: A New Hope
 * The Adventures of Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight
 * Star Wars: Princess Leia
 * Heir to the Jedi
 * Star Wars 1: Skywalker Strikes, Part I
 * Star Wars 2: Skywalker Strikes, Part II
 * Star Wars 3: Skywalker Strikes, Part III
 * Star Wars: Darth Vader 1: Vader
 * Star Wars: Commander
 * Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back
 * The Empire Strikes Back Illustrated Novel
 * Moving Target: A Princess Leia Adventure
 * Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi
 * Return of the Jedi: How a Princess, a Scoundrel, a Hairy Giant, Two Droids, Lots of Cute Furry Things, and a Jedi Knight Saved the Galaxy!
 * Rescue from Jabba's Palace
 * Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens - Shattered Empire 1
 * Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens