19% Of People We Polled Said This Is The Worst Star Wars Sequel Character - Do We Agree?
(Welcome to Survey Says, a feature where we conduct a movie-related survey for a random group of people and explain why they're completely right, completely wrong, or somewhere in-between.)
Greetings and salutations, it's time to dig into the results of yet another poll, this one hanging out a nice bit of fresh bait for all the angry "Star Wars" fans out there by asking one simple question: Who is the Worst Character from the "Star Wars" Sequel Trilogy?
I'm gonna state right up front that I typically hate any conversation starter that uses blatant negativity as its foundation. I spend a lot of time on Twitter and can get enough "everything sucks" vibes from there thank you very much, but I must admit that when I saw this poll sitting there on /Film's backend I had to click on it to see what the results were.
If I was that curious, I figured you might be too, so let's see what this poll of 624 random internet people has to say.
There are two types of hardcore "Star Wars" fans. Those who love "The Last Jedi" and those who are wrong. The wrong ones tend to be very ... loud ... about that particular opinion and I expected to see that in the results.
To my great surprise it seems like the anti-"Last Jedi" brigade missed out on this poll because Palpatine came out on top with nearly 19% of the vote. Behind him was Snoke and then Rose Tico.
I half expected the toxic fans to have been the ones polled here and that the number one winner was going to be "Any Star Wars Lady." That is not the case and I'm oddly proud about that. Way to go, fellow geeks!
By the Numbers
Here's the full rundown, with exact percentages:
Palpatine takes the top spot with 18.75%, Snoke is second with 17.63%, followed by Rose at 14.90%, Luke at 12.98%, Finn with 9.94%, Poe at 9.29%, BB-8 at 9.29%, and finally Rey with 7.21%.
I mean, clearly this poll is flawed because it's saying about 60 people claimed BB-8 was the worst character in the sequel trilogy and we all know that only hellspawn with shriveled, black, rotten hearts would ever claim that BB-8 was the worst at anything.
Be that as it may, you can still see a little of that lingering "Last Jedi" unease in there, especially considering Luke Skywalker captured almost 13% of the vote. There's always going to be those who wanted their Old Mentor Luke to be doing backflips and crushing entire battalions of First Order Troopers with The Force and whatnot and will feel robbed that his chosen method of engaging in the fight was the ultimate pacifist move.
Listen, I get it. Yes, I thought the post-"Return of the Jedi" Luke making short work of the Dark Troopers in "The Mandalorian" was cool, too, but if you're looking at Luke's arc as a character it only makes sense that when push came to shove he'd remember his lesson from his duel in the Emperor's Throne Room. He literally throws away his lightsaber rather than strike down his own blood.
Unpopular Villains
I do find it interesting that both Palpatine and Snoke top this particular list and that Kylo Ren didn't appear at all. Let's examine that a bit, shall we?
Palpatine is easy to understand. He was shoe-horned into the final film in the trilogy (and by some accounts this was a last-minute decision) without any logical explanation at all. It was so ham-fisted that even the great Oscar Isaac couldn't deliver the news of Palpatine's return without looking embarrassed. You won't get an argument from me on this one.
Snoke I might argue with, though. Yes, all the Snokes-In-Jars you see in "Rise of Skywalker" is dumb, but for those first two movies I did like the mysterious threat of the character. He was especially ominous in "The Last Jedi" and much like his predecessor, his hubris was his fatal flaw because let's face it: Snoke would have made short work of both Rey and Kylo Ren had he paid them even a hint of respect.
Reading between the lines, I suppose Snoke's unpopularity stems from him getting taken out so early. Again, it was a genuinely surprising moment for me which is why I love that scene so much. It instantly tells you that this isn't going to follow the same pattern as the Original Trilogy and for that I'll always love Snoke's role in this sequel story, abrupt as it is.
A New Hope (for Fandom)?
As for Rose, well ... it's just not cool to be hopeful and optimistic in this day and age, and that's what Rose Tico embodies. Kelly Marie Tran got a rough go of it and was done super dirty in "Rise of Skywalker" to top it all off. Could you argue that Rose wasn't used to her fullest potential? Absolutely. That argument can apply to Finn and Poe, too, who I agree should have had more screen time, but coming in third place as the worst character of the sequels? I guess it's to be expected, but it still feels mean, y'all.
It does feel like "Star Wars" fandom is healing a little bit. There'll always be the angry loons out there, but now that the Saga films are put to rest that's allowing Lucasfilm to explore other, more interesting corners of the galaxy. I'm sure the [Angry YouTuber With Tons of Followers Who I Refuse to Name] and the like will always find something to scream about as fans continue to demand more and more ownership over the things they profess to love, but I feel like time will be kind to at least the first two sequels. Call me optimistic, but I have a (new) hope that the toxicity diminishes in the near future.