Origins
Han Solo was a cadet in the Empire stationed in a forced labor camp where Wookiees were made to do slave labor for the Empire. It wasn’t long before Han developed disgust for the Empires treatment of the Wookiee people, and his friendship with the Wookiee slave Chewbacca led to Han helping in a prison break. Han and Chewbacca became partners, and the two took smuggling jobs from various people, reputable and otherwise.
Han is something of a gambler as well, winning the starship known as the Millennium Falcon from his friend Lando Calrissan in a high stakes game of Sabacc. But Han’s luck ran out when an Imperial inspection team boarded the Millennium Falcon forcing Han to dump a valuable cargo of spice, a cargo owned by Jabba the Hutt. Han found it difficult to repay the debt, and soon found himself being shaken down by Bounty Hunters.
Creation
Han Solo was created by George Lucas. His first appearance in media was the massively-loved Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. His first appearance in a comic book is Marvel Special Edition Featuring Star Wars #2.
The Original Trilogy
A New Hope
Soon Han was given a break that seemed too good to be true, an old man willing to pay more then what Han owed to Jabba simply for passage to the planet Alderaan for himself, a farmboy, and a pair of Droids, Han eagerly accepted the offer but was confronted by the bounty hunter Greedo, who made the mistake of talking too much, and was killed by Solo.
Han soon realized there was more to his passengers then meets the eye when a platoon of Sandtroopers tried to prevent their departure from the Mos Eisley spaceport. During the hyperspace flight to Alderaan Han voiced his skepticism of the Force towards Kenobi and Skywalker. Soon after when the Falcon was supposed to exit hyperspace in the Alderaan system, when they were surprised by the unexpected asteroid field which was in fact the remains of Alderaan destroyed by the Death Star. They see a TIE fighter and follow it, intending to shoot it down before it calls in for back up, when the Death Star comes into view. Han famously mistakes the Death Star for a “small moon’, but is soon corrected by Kenobi. They decide to hide out in hidden storage areas used for smuggling, then ambushing a pair of stormtroopers for disguises and sneaking onboard the Death Star.
Obi-Wan leaves to deactivate the tractor beam, while Luke insists on rescuing Princess Leia, convincing Han to follow after the promising a large monetary reward. They handcuff Chewbacca to pretend that they are escorting a prisoner, making their way to the station’s prison cells. On arrival all hell breaks loose and set off all the alarms, but they find her and escape through a vent to the trash compactor, and are narrowly rescued from being crushed to death by the timely intervention of R2-D2. However upon reaching the Falcon and nearly escaping unscathed they witness the death of Kenobi by Darth Vader, but escape to the safety of the Rebel base on Yavin IV.
Han receives a large amount of money for his efforts in receiving the Death Star data and saving Princess Leia. He then planned on leaving to pay off his debts to Jabba the Hutt, after this he has a heated debate with Luke Skywalker and leaves. Later he returns to save Luke Skywalker by shooting down Darth Vader’s TIE fighter above the Death Star, giving Skywalker enough time and space to fire his torpedoes. Due to these actions Han received a medal for bravery at the end of A New Hope.
The Empire Strikes Back
At the beginning The Empire Strikes Back Han is repairing the Falcon, which docked in the Rebel Echo Base on Hoth. He is planning on leaving to pay Jabba off again, but before he can word comes in that Luke is missing. Worried for his friend he takes a taun-taun out at night on his own. He finds Luke nearly dead but cannot return to the base when his taun-taun dies from exhaustion. He uses Luke’s own lightsaber to cut it open, forcing Luke into the carcass to stay warm long enough to build a shelter.
They are then rescued in the morning and returned to base. Shortly after Luke’s rapid recovery, the Empire launches an assault and they are forced to flee. In the escape attempt Han and Chewbacca are forced to take Leia and C3-PO with them, as the crumbling base cuts off access to all other evacuation ships. They escape Hoth relatively easily losing the fleet by entering a near by asteroid field and landing on one. Later they find out that this inhabited by a giant space worm and then attach the Falcon to one of the Star Destroyers. Once the Star Destroyer and the rest of the fleet prepare to exit the system the jettison their waste and Falcon drifts off with the garbage. Unbeknownst to Solo and the rest of the crew Boba Fett is in hot pursuit.
They arrive at Cloud City a mining colony controlled by Han’s old friend Lando Calrissian, they are welcomed with open arms and given the finest accommodations. But the Empire had gotten there first due to Boba Fett’s extensive knowledge of Han and had struck a deal with Lando. They are led to Vader and after disarming Solo, Vader sets about torturing him. He is then used as a test subject to see if a human can survive the Carbonite freezing process, but before this is done Leia tells him that she loves him and he replies “I know”. Afterwards his frozen body is handed over to the bounty hunter Boba Fett and then sold to Jabba the Hutt.
Return of the Jedi
Not much is seen of Han until because of his frozen state, later he is released from Jabba the Hutt’s imprisonment by Leia disguised as a bounty hunter. However this is short lived and they are both capture and imprisoned again, Leia as slave and Han with Chewbacca in a cell. They are then transported with Luke to the Sarlacc pit, for sacrificial entertainment.
However the group escape from their captives, thanks to R2-D2 smuggling in Luke’s Lightsaber. During this time Han is suffering from temporary blindness and manages to kill Boba Fett and shoot a Sarlacc tentacle to save Lando. After killing Jabba and escaping from his minions, the group reunite at the Rebel command. Solo is granted a General’s commission and is given command of a small group of rebels to infiltrate the Empire base on Endor and destroy the shield generator. The group fly to Endor on a stolen Imperial Transport and used an old code, however Vader senses his son’s presence on the ship and prepares to leave for Endor himself. During their initial attack Imperial forces the group is separated from Leia and then captured themselves by Ewoks.
The group is later reunited again and join forces with the Ewoks against the Imperials. Unbeknown to Han and the group is that the Emperor knows they are down there and are ready, they are then capture and all looks grim. C3-PO and R2-D2 desperately call the attention of the Imperials, who are then ambushed by a band of Ewoks. The Ewok’s then attack full force leading the Imperials away by stealing speeders and crushing AT-STs with traps. Han then breaks into the shield generator with some help from Chewbacca, blowing it up from the inside out with Terminal Detonators. He is later seen celebrating the defeat of the Empire and acknowledging his love for Leia, on Endor with his close friends and Ewok allies.
Characteristics
- Homeworld: Corellia
- Species: Human
- Gender: Male
- Height: 5.97 feet (1.82 meters)
- Hair: Brown
- Eyes: Brown