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Everyone loves a good underdog story, and luckily for us, Star Wars has a plethora of these beyond its movies and television shows. With Andor season 2 just around the corner, it's time we take a look at some of my favorite underdogs within a galaxy far, far away. Whether you're a bounty hunter lover, a friend of the Republic, or a dark side user at your core, there's an underdog character for you here.  

Beilert Valance

Now I know what you're thinking - gee, that fella fighting Chewbacca looks an awful lot like The Terminator. Well, the bounty hunter, Beilert Valance, actually predates the first Terminator movie entirely: he made his debut in Star Wars #16 all the way back in 1978. Now, Beilert Valance genuinely hates Darth Vader more than anyone else in the galaxy (there, I said it). That's because our sweet Beilert in his youth was drafted into the Imperial army, and was left to die after the ship he was piloting crashed. Darth Vader, however, decided to collect Beilert's body and "repair" him with an array of cybernetic enhancements - all against Beilert's will, of course. Now, more man than machine - his heart is the last remaining vestige of his human body - Beilert wants nothing more than to get revenge on Vader. And he'll give it everything he's got. 

As impressive as Beilert's cyborg enhancements are - he can lift a Stormtrooper in full armor over his head like nothing, he can emit blasts from his palms, and he's one of the few humans who can go toe-to-toe with a Wookiee in a fight - they're not enough to take down one of the strongest Force users in the galaxy. But that doesn't stop him from trying. While Beilert's story began in the original Star Wars series from Marvel Comics, he got the chance to shine as one of the main characters of Ethan Sacks and Paolo Villanelli's recent Bounty Hunters series. And, if you happen to work in editorial at Marvel, please make an omnibus of Sacks and Villanelli's Bounty Hunters series so I can reread that gorgeous series all over again, and have a comically large object to throw at people whenever they ask who my favorite Star Wars character is. 

To join #ValanceNation, start with Star Wars: Bounty Hunters vol. 1: Galaxy's Deadliest by Ethan Sacks and Paolo Villanelli. 

Geode 

Okay, I promise all the characters I'm writing about here are real Star Wars characters. And that includes Geode. Geode isn't either of the humans in the image above (Affie Hollow and Leox Gyasi), but the slab of stone between them. He may look a lot like a rock, but he's actually an alien - a Vintian to be specific. And he also happens to be one of the damned best navigators in the galaxy during the High Republic period. Geode may look stoic in our eyes, but he's actually quite expressive. Just ask his crewmates Affie Hollow and Leox Gyasi of The Vessel. With the rest of The Vessel's crew and the entire Jedi Order, Geode stood up to the raucous and cruel Nihil space pirates during the High Republic, who nearly destroyed everything we hold dear about the Republic. I mean that literally - Geode stepped out and bravely took a blaster shot to his body in Claudia Gray's novel, The Fallen Star, to protect an innocent child. Ever the wily one, Geode survived the blast because of his unique biology as a Vintian (they can magnetically seal themselves at will). His attacker though? Dispatched by the bolt ricocheting off of Geode's body. Never mess with Geode. 

To catch Geode (and the crew of The Vessel), start with the novel, Star Wars: The High Republic - Into the Dark by Claudia Gray. 

Darth Bane

Walk with me here: yeah, Darth Bane is a Sith, but the challenges the guy overcame in his lifetime (at least within Legends continuity) are staggering. Within the context of the Sith, Darth Bane is the ultimate underdog. First of all, Darth Bane was born on a mining planet called Apatros in the Outer Rim during the Old Republic. It would be years until Bane found out that his special abilities were from the Force, and he began training with the Sith at a much later age than typical recruits. Picture the tallest man you've ever seen in your life training with a bunch of Dark Side youngsters, that was basically Bane. Despite being at a disadvantage compared to his other Sith apprentices, Bane applied himself and eventually bested his other classmates in combat. He studied Sith history, opening his mind to forgotten applications of the Force. Before long, Darth Bane singlehandedly destroyed the entire Brotherhood of Darkness, the main body of the Sith, with a thought bomb during the Sith-Jedi War. And thus, the Sith's Rule of Two was born: where there would never be more than two Sith at any given time. A master, and an apprentice. Darth Bane is objectively not a good dude, but you gotta give him credit for overcoming the odds stacked against him. 

Darth Bane's story is told across Drew Karpyshyn's (the writer of the Knights of the Old Republic video game, by the way) Darth Bane trilogy, Path of Destruction, Rule of Two, and Dynasty of Evil. 

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