Qi'ra

"I might be the only person who knows what you really are."

- Qi'ra, to Han Solo

Qi'ra was a human female from the planet Corellia who lived during the reign of the Galactic Empire. She grew up on the streets along with Han as part of the White Worms. Though they were at first rivals, the two Scrumrats eventually fell in love and became lovers. Sometime after Qi'ra was made Head Girl by Lady Proxima, Han and Qi'ra attempted to escape with a vial of coaxium, but were separated at the Coronet Spaceport, Han got out but promised to return for her.

Qi'ra was sold into slavery by Proxima to the slave dealer Sarkin Enneb, who eventually sold her to Dryden Vos, the public leader of Crimson Dawn. Vos trained Qi'ra in martial arts and prompted her to kill Enneb, branding her neck with the Crimson Dawn symbol and making her his most trusted lieutenant.

In 10 BBY, Qi'ra reunited with Solo on Vandor and accompanied him and his friends on a mission to retrieve coaxium. She recommended a ship owned by the smuggler Lando Calrissian and rekindled her relationship with Solo. After the mission was unsuccessful, she returned to Vos, whom she betrayed and killed to save Han. Despite this, however, Qi'ra left Solo behind as she traveled to Dathomir to meet with Maul, the true leader of Crimson Dawn.

Early life
"It's what we learned on the street, Han; Someone falls, you keep running. It's how you stay alive."

- Qi'ra

Qi'ra hailed from the planet Corellia during the reign of the Galactic Empire, before the outbreak of the Galactic Civil War. She grew up on the streets and became friends with Han. By the time Qi'ra was eighteen years old, she was enmeshed in a criminal life working for the White Worms gang on Corellia. She was chosen by Lady Proxima to be the Head Girl after Han revealed to her that Qi'ra had turned down an opportunity to travel the galaxy, but to work for her instead. Qi'ra attempted to flee Corellia with Han, by this point her lover, who had stolen a vial of coaxium during a delivery for Proxima that had gone badly. After a confrontation with Proxima, in which Solo caused a distraction by shattering a window allowing light in, exploiting her vulnerablility of her skin, he and Qi'ra attempted to escape through the Imperial control zone using the coaxium to bribe Falthina Sharest, an Imperial Emigration Officer. Sharest agreed to allow them through, provided they handed over the coaxium before passing through the security gate. Solo reluctantly agreed, and instructed Qi'ra to hand it over. However, only Solo got through, Qi'ra was captured by several members of the White Worms, and the gate closed when Sharest triggered a security alert. Solo promised Qi'ra he would come back for her as soon as possible before he ran away from the gate.

Road to Dryden Vos
Qi'ra lived an even more difficult life after being captured again by Lady Proxima's gang. The blistered Proxima was displeased of her actions, opting to sell Qi'ra away. She was sold to a slave dealer, Sarkin Enneb, and later Dryden Vos, the leader of Crimson Dawn. After a year of failed escapes, she attempted to do so yet again, killing the guard outside her cell and reaching the escape pods, only to find Vos waiting. He offered her a position within the ranks of Crimson Dawn, having seen potential within her, but he demanded her lifelong loyalty in return. Vos later branded Qi'ra's forearm and the back of her neck with the Crimson Dawn symbol.

Life with Crimson Dawn
With Crimson Dawn, Qi'ra lived a more opulent lifestyle, becoming Vos' top lieutenant. She was trained by Vos in the martial arts of Teräs Käsi.

At some point during her employment with Crimson Dawn, Qi'ra found herself being pursued by bounty hunter droid IG-88 on Ord Mantell. Qi'ra fell into a trap laid by IG-88 and his temporary partner, Weequay pirate Hondo Ohnaka. The two were planning on turning Qi'ra in for a bounty, but she was able to turn them against one another, giving her a chance to remove her bonds and capture them both, with intent to turn them in for their bounties.

Qi'ra's association with Crimson Dawn brought her back into contact with Solo, who was working with Vos' associate Tobias Beckett in order to obtain a large quantity of refined coaxium. Qi'ra attended the meeting between Vos, Beckett, and Solo on Vos' yacht. Vos berated Beckett and Solo for failing to obtain the coaxium shipment on Vandor, and considered killing them until Solo suggested that they instead retrieve unrefined coaxium from the spice mines of Kessel. Qi'ra advised Vos that the plan would work, and he agreed to allow Beckett to try, the penalty for failure being death. Vos sent Qi'ra to accompany Beckett's crew to make sure the plan would work.

Finding Calrissian
Knowing that they would need a particularly fast ship to transport the unrefined coaxium before it degraded and detonated, Qi'ra sought her old acquaintance, Captain Lando Calrissian of the Millennium Falcon. Qi'ra watched as Solo failed to win the Falcon at sabacc. However, Calrissian agreed to fly the Falcon for Qi'ra, Beckett, and Solo in exchange for a cut of the profits. En route to Kessel, Qi'ra and Solo rekindled their romance, kissing in the back of the Falcon.

Kessel heist
Upon arriving at Kessel, Qi'ra masqueraded as a slaver, Oksana Floren, selling Han and Chewbacca to Quay Tolsite of Pyke Syndicate in order to infiltrate the mines. Qi'ra, Beckett, and L3-37 secured the control room, allowing Solo to steal the coaxium. Qi'ra initially served as Solo's co-pilot during the escape from Kessel, but was replaced by Chewbacca.

Savareen
"Qi'ra&hellip; you and I will be working much more closely from now on."

- Maul addresses Qi'ra after summoning her to Dathomir

On Savareen, the Falcon crew refined the coaxium and awaited Vos' arrival. They were confronted by Enfys Nest, leader of the Cloud-Riders, who told them they were freedom fighters resisting the atrocities of Crimson Dawn, not pirates. Solo devised a plan to give Vos fake coaxium, and give the Cloud-Riders the real coaxium in order to fund their resistance. Qi'ra, Solo, and Chewbacca presented the coaxium to Vos aboard his yacht, but he saw through their plan, made aware in advance by Beckett, who had been Vos' double agent all along. Vos expressed his disappointment that Qi'ra betrayed him, and realized that Solo was her weakness.

However, Solo foresaw Beckett's treachery, and double-crossed him: the coaxium containers left with the Cloud-Riders were empty, and Enfys Nest dispatched the Crimson Dawn agents sent to recover it. The coaxium they brought along was in fact genuine. Beckett captured Chewbacca, and left with the coaxium. Vos and Solo fought, but Qi'ra intervened, holding Solo at sword point. However, Qi'ra sided with Solo, dueling and killing Vos.

Solo left to rescue Chewbacca and retrieve the coaxium for the Cloud-Riders. Qi'ra told Solo she would be right behind him, but instead took Vos' ring, and used it to contact Maul, the actual leader of Crimson Dawn, informing him that Vos had failed to obtain the coaxium. Qi'ra was then ordered to bring the yacht to Dathomir, Maul's homeworld, and that she would be working more closely with Maul, leaving Solo behind. Qi'ra would then go to assume Vos' role as the public figurehead of Crimson Dawn.

Legacy
"Hey, I didn't say that I was any good at being a trooper. I didn't have many options&hellip; and there was a girl."

- Han recalling why he wanted to become a pilot

During the Galactic Civil War, while on Hubin, Han took the opportunity to tell Princess Leia Organa about his time in the Empire before defecting. When Organa told him that there was no way she would have accepted serving the Empire, Han assured her that he was an excellent stormtrooper and that aside from not having many options, there was a girl, adding that girls were always messes.

Eventually, Han told too the story of how he and Qi'ra managed to break out from the Den of the White Worms to Organa. In 4 ABY, during Han's rescue from Jabba's Palace on Tatooine, Organa had the idea, from having heard Han's story, of bringing a thermal detonator with her to ensure Jabba Desilijic Tiure's cooperation in the deal.

Personality and traits
"Still don't get it, do you kid? It was never about you. She's a survivor."

- Tobias Beckett to Han Solo

Qi'ra was a Corellian human female with moderately short brown hair that was usually kept in a ponytail, blue eyes, and light skin. Qi'ra was a very complex woman. When she was younger she was hopeful that she could escape the criminal life and strove for something better. But as she grew older she realized that because of all the bad things she had done, there was no escaping the criminal life. Despite having grown up on the streets, she was able to adapt to a lusher lifestyle and fit in with the Crimson Dawn gang. Having known Han for so many years, she believed she may have been the one person who could see him for who he truly was, thinking he was “the good guy”. She was a fighter and had been trained in combat by Vos, which helped her survive.

Behind the scenes
"She has a couple of guises, but essentially she is just fighting to stay alive. If you've got a really glamorous lady in a really sordid environment, you kind of know the glamor is hiding a few rough roads."

- Emilia Clarke, on Qi'ra

Qi'ra was created for Solo: A Star Wars Story, written by Lawrence Kasdan and Jon Kasdan and directed by Ron Howard, and is portrayed by Emilia Clarke. Her casting was announced on November 18, 2016. Clarke said the filmmakers described the character to her as "film noir"; the character of Kathie Moffat of the 1947 seminal film noir Out of the Past was writer Lawrence Kasdan's early inspiration for the character.

In the earliest version of the script from late 2013, her name was Kura, as originally conceived by Kasdan, while in early concept art, she was an alien. The alien design for Qi'ra was later used as the character of Margo and her species.

The name Qi'ra is phonetically similar to "Kira," a name that stems from George Lucas' early outline for the Star Wars sequel trilogy and was the original name for the character Rey during the development of Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens.

In Star Wars: Forces of Destiny, Qi'ra was voiced by Olivia Hack.

Non-canon appearances

 * Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes