There's nothing cooler than a good villain, and Star Wars has cool villains in spades. From the 1970s to the present day, Star Wars has held a grip over pop culture with the likes of Darth Vader, Boba Fett, Darth Maul, and a slew of others that were gracious enough to fill the screen with their unique brand of tantalizing villainy.
But Star Wars is one of the most expansive franchises in history, and what viewers see on screen hardly scratches the surface of the deep, dark depths of content hidden away under comics, games, and a very complicated canon. Here are just a few.
10 Carnor Jax
In the early days of the expanded universe, Carnor Jax was a standout. Remember the cool, red-armored Royal Guards flanking the Emperor? He was one step above, holding the rank of Imperial Sovereign Protector, even training under Vader himself. Where he really came in to his own was after the Battle of Yavin, as his lust for power made him vie for the Emperor's recently vacated seat. When Palpatine returned as multiple clones of himself, Jax slew the final Palpatine clone and took control with the help of his new master, the Dark Lady of the Sith, Lumiya in Star Wars: Crimson Empire.
Jax aimed to be the strongest during his training and killed anyone in his way. Dark side powers fueled his superiority complex further still, and soon enough he considered himself equal to both the Emperor and Vader. His sworn enemy and rival was a fellow Sovereign Protector, Kir Kanos, and in his quest to eliminate all the former Guards he dedicated himself to hunting down second-best student Kanos. Their final battle was a decisive one, taking place in their old training grounds in a fight to the death between a mad Sith general and a former comrade.
9 Juno Eclipse
Juno Eclipse was undoubtedly the heart of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. One of the youngest cadets to ever join the Empire was later promoted by Vader to lead the Black Eight squadron, where she served as a venerable TIE pilot. After that, she was made the pilot of the Rogue Shadow with Jedi hunter Starkiller, where they were tasked with hunting the last remaining Jedi.
Juno was vocally against much of Vader's brutality, and even before joining Starkiller, she had some friction with the Empire. She and the surviving Jedi Rahm Kota gave Starkiller a crisis of conscience and an eventual change of heart, turning the most powerful Force user around into more of a grey Jedi that fought against Vader. Juno herself would eventually join the Rebellion. Without her, gamers wouldn't have the epic story of Force Unleashed at all, or see the gentle humanization of a monster designed by Darth Vader.
8 Hazard Troopers
These guys are the biggest of the big and are similar to the Dark Troopers recently shown in The Mandalorian. Unlike them, Hazard Troops are all living soldiers converted into cyborgs, having all their limbs replaced with mechanical ones to facilitate the use of their heavy armor more effectively. Their suits are completely resistant to small arms fire and sealed off to protect them from any hazardous environment, even space. They're so robust they can even withstand hits from lightsabers.
While they only appear in the mouthful title that is Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy, they make quite the impression. Towering over the player with their imposing height and shrugging off damage like it's nothing, they take effort just to damage, let alone defeat. Fighting more than one at a time is even more frightening.
7 Second Sister
Here's a more recent addition, and the first canonical one so far. The Second Sister is a member of the Inquisitorius, and the main antagonist of Jedi: Fallen Order. Like all the others in the Order of Inquisitors, she was once a Jedi, but was turned to the dark side by the Empire and sent off as a Jedi hunter, and to round up Force-sensitive children. They've been in the Rebels animated series and recently made their live-action debut in the Kenobi show, but Second Sister only appears in Fallen Order and is a brilliant foil to protagonist Cal Kestis, who will go on to appear in the recently announced Jedi: Survivor.
It's heartbreaking comparing Cal and Second Sister because they're so similar in background. Both were victims of Order 66 but went on different paths. Second Sister stands in Cal's way as a powerful obstacle, but also as an emotional connection to the Empire's doctrines. Like Luke and Vader before them, they each stand on opposite sides of the Force, contrasting each other and showing exactly what it means to be a Jedi and the sadness of the Dark side.
6 Shadow Guards
Let this entry prove that The Force Unleashed did not miss when it came to cool characters. Case in point: Shadow Guards. Like Jax, their uniform is strikingly similar to the Royal Guards but inverted: they're all black with red visors, making them visually striking next to standard stormtroopers.
These guys don't have books worth of lore or miniseries dedicated to them. They only appeared in Force Unleashed and have remained there since. It's a shame too, as they would still fit into canon nicely. Deploying Inquisitors with a few Shadow Guards as a backup would be terrifying, and their costume designs already match. Imagine an Inquisitor alongside their Shadow Guards, red blades ignited. That would make any Jedi run for cover. That said, the Inquisitors already have soldiers that somewhat fit that role: Purge Troopers.
5 Purge Troopers
Purge troopers were solely used to hunt Jedi with the Inquisitors and took orders from Vader directly. The first wave of Purge Troopers were actually clones, some of the last to ever be made before the project on Kamino was discontinued. They were designed to be an expendable death squad Vader could throw at the Jedi with extreme prejudice, and they would do their duty to the letter. Black and red always look great on Imperial soldiers, and the Purge Troopers' unique vibe of black ops/clone paratrooper is an iconic look.
Because most of them were initially clones, they still had Order 66 pushing them to kill Jedi by any means necessary. They didn't hesitate and worked well with the Inquisitors that worked in much the same way. After the first wave, they were supplemented by regular humans, who were given the title of Purge Trooper to bolster the ranks. With such a large force at the ready, and one with a singular purpose, it's no wonder the Jedi were hunted so effectively.
4 Starkiller
Starkiller, or Galen Marek, was the son of a Jedi killed by Vader in the Jedi purge. Vader sensed that the boy was unusually powerful in the Force, more so than both he and the Emperor, and secretly took him under his wing. Given the codename Starkiller, he is unique among the Inquisitors that would take his place in the canon lore. He is a genuine apprentice, not just a Force user with a red lightsaber and training.
Vader intended to train and/or break him, send him off to kill Jedi to hone his skills even further, and use Starkiller to usurp the Emperor, neatly following the Rule of Two by the book. This obviously doesn't happen, and players have to fight to survive as Starkiller following the events of the game.
It was mentioned earlier that Force Unleashed isn't canon for a reason, and that reason is Starkiller. He is wildly overpowered and cracks all of Star Wars wide open. No Force user in any of the films pulled stunts like him, most famously yanking a Star Destroyer out of low orbit with the Force to crash it into a planet. While he most likely will never see the light of day again, Starkiller remains one of the coolest playable Star Wars characters ever. On the bright side, Starkiller voice actor Sam Witwer is still lending his talents to the franchise, playing the iconic version of Darth Maul seen in Clone Wars and Rebels.
3 Storm Commandos
Transitioning back to canon again, Storm Commandos were soldiers made as a direct response to the Rebellion's guerilla battle tactics. They were to use their own enemies' strategies against them, utilizing surprise tactics, small-scale warfare, and unending ferocity. Scarier still, the superior technology of the Empire allowed Storm Commandos to have polymer-coated armor designed to deflect light and sensors, making them almost impossible to detect.
Cooler still, their most common design mimics that of the Scout troopers seen in Return of the Jedi, but all black. Their lighter armor makes them capable infiltrators and snipers, easily able to trek over difficult terrain for reconnaissance. Also called Shadow Commandos, they essentially operate as the black ops of the Empire, as both silent spies and counter-terrorist units. But stealth was not their only function: they also were deployed as second-wave cavalry to support their boys in white, and sometimes even carried flamethrowers to get the job done.
2 Moff Trachta
The Empire was not all troops of course, as there must be officers in charge. Moff Trachta was one such leader, and a very odd one at that, introduced in the Empire comics. After a thermal detonator thrown by a padawan blew up in his face during the Clone Wars, Trachta's face and arms had to be replaced with cybernetics, making him stick out among the straight-laced Imperial tacticians. His face was made up of a breathing mask, he had ocular sensors for eyes, and even a sensor on the back of his head to see behind him.
Trachta came into contact with the Emperor towards the end of Clone Wars, and Palpatine took a liking to him. He was given the job of hunting down rogue Jedi that sided with Count Dooku, and after impressing Palpatine, became one of the first Grand Moffs in the new Empire.
Eventually, Trachta would decide that the Jedi and Sith were equally foolish and plotted to kill Vader and the Emperor, as he believed the whole Empire should not be ruled by just two Force users. After a failed assassination attempt, Trachta is killed not by the Sith, but by his coconspirators, taken out under the orders of fellow Grand Moff Bartam.
1 Kyle Katarn
He qualifies more so as an honorary mention, but Kyle has to be added to keep his name alive. Kyle Katarn was only an Imperial for a short time, quickly defecting to the Rebellion. While no longer canon, his achievements outnumber almost everyone in the franchise's history. He exists in dozens of Star Wars properties, including an entire game series, multiple books, and hundreds of references in other media.
Rogue One may have had a team of people go through great sacrifice to steal the Death Star Plans, but Kyle stole them all by himself, no Bothan spies required. Remember the Dark Troopers that terrorized the Mandalorian in season two? He sabotaged the entire project single-handedly. Later, he discovers he is Force-sensitive and becomes a Jedi over the course of a few games, and teaches at the non-canon Jedi Praxeum academy founded by Luke Skywalker.
Kyle continues to serve as a leader when the Yuuzhan Vong invade and remains a valiant member of this franchise's giant cast of characters. Equally likely to use blasters or his lightsaber, Kyle Katarn is the well-rounded warrior every Jedi should aspire to be.