Star Wars Villains Who Are Not as Evil as They Seem (5 photos)

A galaxy far, far away has, for decades, been home to some of the most iconic villains ever to grace the big screen (or television) in entertainment media.





However, beyond figures like Darth Sidious and some other obvious antagonists, there are also villains who aren't as bad as they might seem at first glance.

Yes, there's no denying that the characters listed below have been part of, or even personally committed, terrible things. And yet, none of these villains were unambiguously evil. They had their own truths, they were not devoid of emotion and ambiguous motivations, or perhaps they were simply victims of heartbreaking events. Let's take a closer look at a few such examples.

Enjoy reading!

Jango Fett



Long before his son became one of the most famous bounty hunters, Jango Fett collaborated with the likes of Count Dooku, participated in assassination attempts on Padmé Amidala, and fought the Jedi.

All this paints the typical image of a bounty hunter who doesn't care whose side he's on, as long as he gets paid. In reality, the man who became the genetic basis for the clone army was a much more multifaceted individual.

Besides being called a "man of honor" by his old friend and fellow pirate Hondo Ohnaka, Jango clearly cared for his son. While he dismissed other clones as "cattle bred for slaughter," Jango found time to raise and educate his son, teaching him valuable skills and the ruthlessness needed to survive in a galaxy far, far away.

Simply put, this dangerous bounty hunter was still a good father.

Darth Maul





In his first appearance in The Phantom Menace, Darth Maul looked and felt like the embodiment of pure evil, but as fans learned more about the character, their opinions changed.

It turned out that Maul was actually the son of a powerful Nightsister leader named Mother Talzin. There was even a time when Darth Sidious considered taking her as his apprentice. It never happened. Palpatine sensed potential in her young son and kidnapped him to make the young Dathomiri his new apprentice.

Besides being taken from his family at a young age and manipulated into hating the Jedi Order, the hatred-filled Sith later witnessed the massacre of one of the few who truly cared for him – his brother Savage Opress – at the hands of Sidious himself.

Yes, Maul committed many terrible acts, but the Dathomiri, consumed by the dark side of the Force, never wanted to take that path, and his life was ruined by the gloating Sith Lord.

General Grievous



Anyone who's seen Revenge of the Sith knows that the fearsome General Grievous is no fan of the Jedi Order. But why was he so obsessed with hunting Jedi and collecting their lightsabers?

It turns out that even before the events of the prequels, the Order had treated him rather unfairly. His people on the planet Kamino were invaded by the Yam'rii. Grievous led the resistance, driving the invaders from their homeworld, but the Kaminoans had every reason to be angry after such an attack.

Ultimately, the Yam'rii turned to the Republic for help, which led to the Jedi's intervention in the conflict. The inhabitants of Kamino were punished and fined for their actions. This cascaded into the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Grievous's compatriots from starvation, and understandably, he harbored a grudge against the "guardians of peace."

Like many other characters on this list, he committed numerous terrible and unforgivable acts. But he was far from a mindless killer, but a devastated Kaminoan seeking revenge for his people.

Count Dooku



Once a respected member of the Jedi Order, trained by Master Yoda himself, Count Dooku left the Order when he felt the Galactic Senate was mired in corruption, and after the fall of Darth Maul, he became Darth Sidious' new apprentice.

But why did this happen? Largely because Sidious exploited Dooku's dissatisfaction with the corrupt Republic and the arrogant Jedi Order, inviting him to lead a new Separatist movement.

Of course, he later succumbed to the dark side and became yet another of Palpatine's puppets, but Dooku initially yearned for change and believed that the only way to bring peace and justice to the galaxy was to ally with the Sith and overthrow the bureaucratically mired Republic. Unfortunately, Dooku ultimately became just another power-obsessed Sith who dreamed of overthrowing his master.