Highlights
- The Star Wars Universe features characters who excel in manipulation, using their words to achieve their goals and deceive others.
- Characters like Obi-Wan Kenobi and Padmé Amidala demonstrate their manipulative abilities to rally support and influence important events.
- The ultimate master manipulator is Emperor Palpatine, who successfully manipulated politicians and Jedi alike to gain and maintain power over the galaxy.
The Star Wars Universe is filled with a fascinating assortment of characters. From the great Jedi to the lowliest rebels and everything in between, the list of characters who have played significant roles in the events across the galaxy far, far away is astounding now.
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The main players, despite many of them being great warriors, are often those who can inspire the loyalty of others, whether it is deserved or not. From Jedi Masters to the Sith who drag people’s minds to the dark side, there have been some fantastic manipulators in the Star Wars Saga to date, some even making up the best characters whose fates remain unknown following projects like Ahsoka.
8 Baylan Skoll
His Unknown Motives Go Beyond Light & Dark
- Victims: Shin Hati, Sabine Wren
The most recent addition to the Star Wars Universe of a dark Jedi, if not quite a Sith, is Baylan Skoll and his apprentice Shin Hati. This pair troubled Ahsoka and her friends to the point that Baylan almost killed the former Jedi, while Shin Hati was perfectly capable of taking on the likes of Sabine Wren, proving their strength on numerous occasions.
However, Baylan likes to avoid confrontation when he can, knowing that his strengths come in the form of speech. His manipulative abilities proved impressive, as his true desire was to get to what he referred to as “true power”. He allowed everyone to think they were controlling him and his apprentice, all just to get to what he wanted, and in the end, he did.
7 Obi-Wan Kenobi
Master Of The Jedi Mind Trick
- Victims: Anakin Skywalker, Luke Skywalker
There are a number of Jedi who, despite sticking cleanly to the light side of the Force throughout their lives, did unquestionably use their powers to manipulate others. Not only was Obi-Wan skilled at Jedi mind tricks, something he used to great effect, but he was able to work his maneuvers on more intelligent minds as well.
This was showcased throughout Star Wars: The Clone Wars, when Obi-Wan was one of the Jedi’s greatest generals but also one of their best negotiators. Kenobi was great at convincing leaders and followers alike that the cause of the Jedi was just, and he utilized this ability when convincing Luke Skywalker to join in the footsteps of his father to become a Jedi.
6 Padmé Amidala
A Political Strategist
- Victims: Many Within The Senate
Though the majority of important figures in the Star Wars Universe have some kind of ability in the Force, there are exceptions. Padmé Amidala managed to find herself at the center of a lot of important events over the course of her career within the Senate, from the prequels to the Clone Wars series, she appeared a lot.
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Usually, Padmé was rallying important people to the cause of the Jedi, and trying to keep power away from those she deemed untrustworthy, like Palpatine. While Padmé wasn’t successful at manipulating the Senate away from Palpatine, it’s only because she wasn’t willing to resort to methods as depraved as his, but Padmé nevertheless garnered a lot of support and power in the Senate herself, creating something of her own Rebellion against Palpatine.
5 Dark Lady Lumiya
Turned Jacen Solo Into Darth Caedus
The Star Wars Legends material that is no longer canon within the franchise nevertheless includes a variety of characters, some of whom were geniuses in manipulation. This includes Lumiya, a practitioner of the dark side of the Force, who managed to help Jacen Solo justify his own downfall as he became Darth Caedus.
Lumiya managed this by helping Jacen understand that the dark side of the Force could be used without the user becoming dark themselves. This tactic was very similar to the method that Palpatine used to convince Anakin Skywalker. Her methods and manipulation helped Jacen slide into becoming Darth Caedus, justifying murders and worse along the way.
4 Yoda
Led The Jedi To Disaster
Yoda is often heralded as one of the very best the Jedi Order ever saw. His wisdom, leadership, and power are often touted, but Yoda is, at the end of the day, a manipulator. One of his primary jobs was taking younglings, convincing them to forget their families and everything they ever knew in favor of an ancient religion that most of them then dedicated their lives toward.
Yoda managed to lead the Jedi to disaster by never seeing the Sith right under his nose. This was a horrible failure, but he had many successes of his own, convincing the Jedi that their path was righteous even though it made most of them cold and distant from their fellow beings. The lack of warmth the Jedi Order contained made it easy for the dark side to create defectors, and they often did. Yoda was a master at manipulation, but he made it easy for others to manipulate his victims.
3 Grand Admiral Thrawn
Heir To The Empire
- Victims: Everyone He Speaks With
Thrawn is considered by many to be the greatest political and strategic mind in the history of Star Wars. He is a genius that cannot easily be defeated, and the one time he suffered a great loss, it required huge sacrifice. In the Legends novels, he almost regained the true power of the Empire because he was so mighty and capable of convincing those around him that he was the one the remnants of Palpatine’s reign could turn towards.
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In Ahsoka and Star Wars: Rebels, Thrawn has once again showcased the might of his strength. Outsmarting and outthinking the likes of Ahsoka Tano and Ezra Bridger gave fans a view of what he would be truly capable of if he could regain more of the Empire’s power after returning to the central galaxy.
2 Luthen Rael
Started The Rebellion
- Victims: Cassian Andor, Countless Rebels
The man who started the Rebellion has drawn a number of comparisons to Emperor Palpatine, hiding in plain sight but undercover as a loyal member of the very regime he was trying to tear down, Luthen Rael kept himself clean while dragging people into doing his bidding for him. It was all in the name of saving the galaxy from the Empire’s tyrannical rule.
Not much is known about why or how Luthen started gathering support for the Rebellion, but the successes the organization eventually achieved showcased the results of his labor. Luthen was a fantastic manipulator, convincing disheartened people around the galaxy that they needed to rise up against the powers controlling them.
1 Emperor Palpatine
Killed Democracy & The Jedi Order
- Victims: Anakin Skywalker, The Galactic Senate
The clear master manipulator above all others in the Star Wars franchise is Emperor Palpatine. From his early days, working as an undercover Senator and attempting to gain power, to controlling the Senate and convincing huge numbers of politicians to side with him, giving him more power, Palpatine never stopped manipulating people to gain power.
He even managed to manipulate worthy minds like Count Dooku into believing his ultimate plan was to keep Dooku as his apprentice when he was angling for the power of Anakin Skywalker at his side all along. Nobody saw Palpatine’s grand plan except for himself, and for this reason, he managed to rule over the galaxy for decades before anyone was able to bring him down. Even at the end, Palpatine was angling to replace Darth Vader with Luke Skywalker, helping extend his power for further decades.
