Captain Rex was almost a completely different character in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, but the show’s original plan for him would have done a disservice to his character. Captain Rex was the main Clone character in The Clone Wars and, like Ahsoka Tano, quickly became one of the show’s breakout stars due to his compelling character development and incredible storylines. Rex was initially meant to be a Legends character, however, which wouldn’t have worked nearly as well as the original character that he ended up being.

Due to a plethora of continuity snarls with the original Clone Wars multimedia project, 2008’s The Clone Wars is considered by some fans to be only part of the post-2014 canon timeline, since it doesn’t fit with the Star Wars franchise’s original continuity, Legends. Before he became Rex, The Clone Wars was going to make the ARC Trooper Alpha-17 (a.k.a. “Alpha”) its primary Clone character. Alpha was featured heavily in the Legends-era Republic comics, fighting alongside Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi throughout the Clone Wars. Alpha’s fate was tragically left unclear, however, as he was aboard a medical vessel commandeered by the Rattataki Sith apprentice Asajj Ventress and was never heard from again.

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Alpha was nearly the main Clone character in The Clone Wars, but George Lucas vetoed the idea, disliking the alliteration of Alpha sharing a team with Anakin, Ahsoka, and Artoo. An original character, Captain Rex, was created instead, which proved to be a far better decision than using Alpha. In addition to avoiding further continuity issues with Legends, which was the official continuity at the time, Rex made a far stronger statement regarding Clone Troopers. Alpha is an ARC Trooper while Rex is an ordinary Clone Trooper, making Rex’s characterization in The Clone Wars have a greater impact on the series.

In Legends, ARC Troopers are the most elite Clones in the Republic military. Personally trained by Jango Fett as Mandalorian warriors, ARC Troopers were also minimally modified, with only growth acceleration and some physical enhancements separating them from their template. This makes Alpha’s personality and quippy responses to allies and enemies alike unsurprising, as ARC Troopers were fundamentally different from the rest of the Clone Army.

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Despite his customized armor that greatly resembled that of an ARC Trooper, Rex was a standard Clone Trooper with the rank of Captain. This means that Rex was heavily modified from the Jango Fett template like the majority of Clones and underwent conditioning meant to make him totally obedient. Despite this, Rex constantly demonstrated his free will throughout The Clone Wars, and his character development was, therefore, possible for any Clone Trooper.

Rex questioned orders, mourned the deaths of his men, and significantly grew as a character throughout The Clone Wars’ seven seasons. For a Legends-era ARC Trooper like Alpha, this would be expected, as he and all other ARCs lacked most of the behavioral conditioning of standard Clone Troopers. A more common Clone Officer like Rex being characterized so robustly reflected the potential of every Clone Trooper, which is far better than Star Wars: The Clone Wars’ original plan for the character.

Key Release Dates
  • Rogue Squadron (2023)Release date: Dec 22, 2023
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David Miller
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David Miller is a staff writer for Screen Rant, indie comic writer, and life-long lover of all things Star Wars, Marvel, and DC. He was born and raised in New York and has a degree in English from Rider University. He relates to Peter Parker maybe a little too much.

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