Star Wars: The 10 Best Prequel Trilogy Characters To Only Appear In One Movie

Undoubtedly one of the best aspects of the prequel trilogy is the range of fantastic characters that appear throughout the three films. For all the criticism surrounding the trilogy, some of Star Wars’ best characters come from the prequels, being great in both the trilogy and the extended canon. Strangely enough, though, some of the trilogy’s best or most interesting characters only appear in one film.

Whether they steal the movie or one singular scene in one of the three movies or if they are characters who would go on to have a rich history in Star Wars, the trilogy is full of awesome one-movie characters.

Sebulba

The Phantom Menace (1999)

There are two standout sequences in The Phantom Menace that just about every fan can appreciate: the Duel of the Fates and the Boonta Eve Classic Podrace. Sebulba acts as the antagonist against Anakin in the latter.

The Dug is hardly a revolutionary character, but he is a memorable one in the scope of The Phantom Menace alone, serving the purpose of stacking the odds against Anakin further and being his foil who acts like a scumbag by cheating to win races.

Zam Wesell

Attack Of The Clones (2002)

Zam Wesell does not come near the best of the best bounty hunters such as Din Djarin, Cad Bane, etc., in terms of quality of bounty hunter character, but she is a fun part of Attack Of The Clones’ opening.

Her appearance helps to showcase the ruthlessness of Jango Fett as well as introduce audiences to the hugely interesting Clawdite race who were changelings. She is another badass female bounty hunter who kicked ass in the prequel era alongside Aurra Sing, Asajj Ventress, and Fennec Shand.

Dexter Jettster

Attack Of The Clones (2002)

Dexter Jettster, known as Dex, is not only a hugely interesting character based solely on his relationship with Obi-Wan, but he is the source of one of the most memed moments in Star Wars history through “Well whaddya know.”

The Besalisk (a species of which the phenomenal Pong Krell is also a part of) is a part of the lumped criticism hurled at the prequel trilogy regarding CGI characters. Getting past that, though, Dex acts as a MacGuffin in the film that leads Obi-Wan to Kamino while also furthering the idea that Obi-Wan enjoys mingling with the more shady groups in the Galaxy.

Quarsh Panaka

The Phantom Menace (1999)

Captain Panaka played a vital role in protecting Padmé Amidala and Naboo in The Phantom Menace, but never popped up in another movie after this, reserved to being a part of Padmé’s story in the extended canon, through her brilliant must-read book series.

Panaka actually has quite the interesting story, going on to become a Moff when the Galactic Empire came to fruition, eventually dying at the hands of Saw Gerrera’s partisans. He is not the most remarkable character in The Phantom Menace, but a solid part of the film.

Sabé

The Phantom Menace (1999)

Sabé was perhaps the most loyal of all the handmaidens to Padmé Amidala but never appeared again in the prequels beyond her time as her decoy in The Phantom Menace. Despite this, she has a truly excellent story.

Sabé survived the events of the prequels and eventually went out to discover the truth about Padmé’s death, forming an unlikely ‘alliance’ with one Darth Vader. After The Phantom Menace, Sabé stayed in the service of Padmé and got sent on a mission to Tatooine to free slaves, showing the honor and brilliance of both her and Padmé.

Commander Cody

Revenge Of The Sith (2005)

There are a few clones that, particularly thanks to The Clone Wars and Rebels, stand out above the rest, including Rex, Wolffe, Gregor, Clone Force 99, 99, Fives, and many more. The original popular clone in canon, though, was Commander Cody.

Cody was not involved in the First Battle of Geonosis but became a revered soldier in the Clone Wars and a close ally of his Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi. He only has a short amount of screen time in the Star Wars prequel trilogy, but in that time, he breaks fan’s hearts as he enacts Order 66.

Jango Fett

Attack Of The Clones (2002)

Boba Fett came out of the original trilogy having only a few minutes of screen time as one of Star Wars’ most iconic characters. Jango never gained the same acclaim, but perhaps he deserved it.

The father of Boba Fett is not only a crucial piece of the Skywalker saga puzzle because he is Boba’s father, but because he is the template of the clone army. Through Attack Of The Clones, he is far more badass than Boba ever was in the original trilogy – armor aside – and so perhaps deserves more love.

General Grievous

Revenge Of The Sith (2005)

General Grievous completes the trilogy of great secondary villains under the orchestration of Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine, and while he was not as good, as intimidating, or as downright scary as his animated counterpart, he was still great.

Not the most powerful villain in Star Wars, Grievous still managed to make an impact, giving audiences his iconic exchange and lightsaber duel with Obi-Wan Kenobi, and his death is pretty much the last good thing to happen in the Jedi’s life. Like it does to so many aspects of the trilogy, The Clone Wars improves Grievous.

Qui-Gon Jinn

The Phantom Menace (1999)

Along with Count Dooku and even perhaps Padmé, Qui-Gon is arguably the most underrated major character to come out of the trilogy. He may only have been in The Phantom Menace, but he still gets a huge chunk of screen time to shine.

Qui-Gon is such a fascinating character and is right up there alongside Ahsoka and Kanan Jarus as the characters who best exemplify what the Jedi of the Republic should have been. His unique view of the Force led to Obi-Wan and Yoda’s becoming Force Spirits, he discovered Anakin, and his death led to Obi-Wan training Anakin, all of this making him one of the most crucial characters ever.

Darth Maul

The Phantom Menace (1999)

In The Phantom Menace, Darth Maul is a straight-up badass. Sure, he is one-dimensional but is cool all the same and a key part of one of Star Wars’ best duels which alone makes him one of the prequels’ best characters.

Maul does make a short cameo in Solo. But in terms of the prequels and Skywalker saga, he only pops up once, stealing the show just as he went and done in The Clone Wars and Rebels, where his character became one of the most fleshed out and brilliant in all of Star Wars, adding to his short appearance in the prequel film.