Star Wars: 10 Villainous Female Characters From Canon & Legends

The neverending struggle between the light and dark, between good and evil, is at the heart of Star Wars, involved in every aspect of the franchise’s forty-plus year history and giving way to so much of the beloved iconography that has become ingrained in fan’s lives. Star Wars is famous for its heroes, for their journeys, but it is also known for producing some incredible villains.

The likes of Darth Vader, Maul, and the Emperor stand out, but there are a slew of female characters across the canon and Legends timelines that are epic baddies in their own respect and earned a certain level of hatred, or even admiration, for how awful they were. Honorable mention to Mara Jade, an extremely popular former villain who became far more good than she ever was evil.

10 Darth Traya (Legends)

One of the central characters of Knights Of The Old Republic II: The Sith Lords, Darth Traya, went between that name and the name Kreia throughout her life as she fell in and out of favor with the Sith Order.

She was once a Jedi, exiled due to her desire to free the Galaxy from the constraints of the Force, which eventually took her down the path of the Dark Side, a path that led to much betrayal, manipulation, and violence on her quest to pretty much destroy the Jedi and the Sith.

9 Miraj Scintel (Canon)

Miraj Scintel is not the most obvious villainous character that pops into fan’s minds. Still, the Queen of Zygerria is well remembered by fans of The Clone Wars as a pretty despicable individual who sided with Count Dooku’s Separatists.

She was the head of a slave empire that sought to return to former glory, having teamed up with Dooku to kidnap Togruta colonists as slaves. She also captured Rex, and Obi-Wan, taking a liking to Anakin and using him as her bodyguard, with Anakin holding a blatant hatred of slavery. She kind of redeemed herself while dying, but she was still the head of an evil, evil operation.

8 Captain Phasma (Canon)

Captain Phasma was a character who got many fans excited for Disney’s sequel trilogy, being one of the first and only live-action female antagonists in the saga, played by Gwendoline Christie, while also having great stories in the extended canon.

Ultimately, the fans got disappointed not once but twice by Phasma’s time in the trilogy. Nevertheless, she was still a pretty despicable character, not only leading the First Order stormtrooper training program but conspiring to assassinate higher-ups and always looking to get herself ahead and look out for her own neck over everybody else.

7 Abeloth (Legends)

Once a mortal woman who was the Mother, keeping the peace between the Son and Daughter of Mortis, after serving them for many years. However, as her mortal life approached its end, she became scared to lose her family, drinking from the Font of Power and bathed in the Pool of Knowledge, corrupting her.

She was imprisoned by her family before being freed by Darth Caedus hundreds of years later. When free, she immediately sought out the end of civilization, only being stopped by Luke Skywalker, his son, and Darth Krayt, with the former two having killed many of her avatars and Luke and Krayt killing her last known body.

6 Aurra Sing (Canon)

There are a slew of badass bounty hunters in the canon timeline who do not get time to shine in the movies but who are great nevertheless, and Aurra Sing is just one example.

Sing took Boba Fett under her wing, helping him in an attempt to get revenge against Mace Windu, and when that relationship ended, she took jobs from other villains of the Galaxy like the Hutt’s and Cad Bane. She was skilled, ruthless, uncaring, and a solid part of The Clone Wars whenever she appeared.

5 Darth Talon (Legends)

There are not many female Sith in either Star Wars timeline, especially compared to the number of men who take up a role on the dark side of the Force, but they can be quality characters, with Darth Talon proving that in her limited appearances.

A Twi’lek Sith, Talon was the apprentice of Darth Krayt and even took on an apprentice at one point in the form of the fallen Cade Skywalker. Talon was a powerful and loyal warrior, born and raised in the ways of the Sith as a third-generation member of the order, and whose body was inscribed with tattoos earned from combat.

4 The Inquisitorius (Canon)

Led by Darth Vader, the Inquisitorius are a group of Jedi hunters sensitive to the Force and talented with a red lightsaber, but not Sith, just agents of the dark side, and there are a few female members fans have met in canon thus far.

Probably the most well known is the Seventh Sister from Star Wars: Rebels, who hunt the heroes alongside the Fifth Brother. But there is also the Second Sister and the Ninth Sister from Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. There are more whose roles in the canon have yet to get fleshed out.

3 Barriss Offee (Canon)

Barriss Offee was just another Jedi Padawan, a friend of Ahsoka who was learning the ways of the Jedi Order during a tumultuous time. However, she eventually became disillusioned with the Jedi, bombing the Jedi Temple and framing Ahsoka.

She does not get much time to show off in the role of villain, but she certainly was one, even donning Asajj Ventress’ two red lightsabers in a duel with Anakin. Her fate is unknown, with many believing she became an Inquisitor after Order 66, but fans can only hope that her story gets told.

2 Darth Zannah (Legends)

Moving back to Legends to another famous Sith Lord, Darth Zannah was undoubtedly one of the most powerful and successful female Sith of all time, with one of the most well known Sith as her master, Darth Bane.

Initially recruited by the Jedi, Zannah was lost and presumed dead before eventually falling to the dark side and capturing the attention of Bane, who trained her, helping her to become an incredibly powerful Force user. Zannah eventually rivaled her master in power, ultimately defeating her Master and taking up the mantle of Dark Lord of the Sith.

1 Asajj Ventress (Canon)

All hailing from Dathomir, the Nightsisters, Mother Talzin, and Asajj Ventress are all crucial components of The Clone Wars and leave their mark as some of the most villainous female characters in canon thus far.

Talzin and the Nightsisters, while villainous, are not as prominent or as clearly evil as what Asajj Ventress is for a lot of the show. While she is eventually redeemed, for most of her time in canon, she is a Sith Assassin who wreaks havoc on the Jedi and citizens of the Galaxy in assisting the Separatists in the war. She is the very best canon female villain so far and will be hard to top in the coming years.