The Star Wars franchise has given way for a variety of characters who have become nothing short of iconic in the pop culture sphere. Both heroes and villains alike are some of the best characters in all of cinema and general geekdom, and one such character that fits that bill is Han Solo.
Since 1977 Han Solo has been a presence on screen that fans have adored. He is insanely cool and loved by fans, even when he was morally questionable at the beginning of his Star Wars run. Han is one of the biggest heroes in Star Wars, but that does not mean he has not done some bad things in his time.
VARIOUS THINGS IN LEGENDS
Han Solo, as fans know him in canon, does not have as fleshed out life as of yet as he did in Legends. That is not a bad thing, but by pure mathematics, Han did some bad things in the Legends universe alongside the movie canon.
An example that sticks out is when he blamed his son Anakin for the death of Chewbacca, while he was understandably emotional, blaming Anakin was no solution. There is also the time when he kidnapped Leia, and when he threatened to kill Bria, and various other small things.
SHOOTS BECKETT
As poorly as it performed at the box office in the vacuum of Star Wars films, Solo: A Star Wars Story was a fun adventure flick with some great performances. Two of the movie’s best and main characters are Han and Tobias Beckett.
When Han shoots Beckett, he can hardly get blamed. Beckett was planning on shooting him anyway and goaded Han into it. But still, shooting and killing somebody is not exactly the best thing in the world, a shot to the leg or arm could have done the job, but that is a nitpicky point.
DISMISSIVE OF THE FORCE
In A New Hope, Han is famously a pessimist and cynical of the Force and all the possible workings of it. Han’s arrogant nature is, in itself, both one of the worst things he does alongside one of his best assets in terms of character and development.
Han’s dismissive nature towards the Force is something that is not a criminally offensive act. But, Han is sitting insulting Obi-Wan’s entire life, as well as something Luke is desperate to know more about. Alongside that, Han had lived through a lot of stuff. So while his pessimistic nature is earned, his overall ignorance towards the Force is not.
LYING, CHEATING, AND STEALING
It is in Han Solo’s nature to get by on his charm, charisma, and a whole lot of luck. A lot of what Han does up until we meet him in the film involves a healthy combination of cheating, lying, as well as some stealing.
There are many examples of this, but the true main one that deserves a place as one of the worst things Han has done is when he basically steals the Millenium Falcon from Lando. Both Lando and Han were cheating in that last game of Sabacc in Solo, but still, Han left with Lando’s most prized possession, even if the details of who was cheating more is kind of in the air.
JOINED THE EMPIRE
Han Solo’s entire plan to join the Empire to get a ship, return to Corellia and get Qi’ra was honorable. However, joining the Empire and being there for years in general, not so much.
Han floundered as a member of the Imperial Academy unsurprisingly. He has a good heart under the cool and arrogant exterior, but being a part of the Galactic Empire is not Han’s greatest accomplishment.
OPENLY CARING ONLY FOR HIMSELF AND HIS REWARD
The entire rescue of Leia sequence/Leia rescuing everyone sequence is one of the most iconic in the franchise. While Han and Luke are both brave for undergoing the rescue, Han’s actual intentions are not in the right place.
Han is very open about his hatred for the idea of a rescue mission. It is the thought of a sizable reward that gets Han on board with Luke’s plan at all, and he does not waver from this idea until after he receives the reward.
WORKING FOR JABBA (& OWING HIM MONEY)
Han and his working for Jabba is an underlying theme from A New Hope throughout the trilogy to Return Of The Jedi when he is a prisoner of the Hutt.
The reason for Han being Jabbas prisoner is the same reason he is on this list, he owed him money that he never paid back. Yes, stuff came up and got in the way of Han paying back Jabba, and we love him for it. But, getting involved with Jabba and the bounty hunters, in general, is one of the worst things he does.
BEING A SPICE RUNNER
In the Star Wars universe, there are constant references to spice and spice runners. Spice is mined and used for both medicinal use and recreational use.
A lot of Han’s dealings with Jabba, and the reason he owed Jabba money, was spice. This meant Han delivered spice, which was then distributed and used. Han was in the galactic drug trade to sum it up, and that speaks for itself.
NOT LEARNING FROM PAST SMUGGLING MISTAKES
When fans are reintroduced to Han and Chewbacca in The Force Awakens, they are back in the life of smuggling and caught in trouble. Various people are after Han, who he has screwed over in one way or another.
Even after thirty years, Han does not learn from his mistakes. He owes people money, he gets people who work with him killed, and overall is just a typical selfish smuggler, looking out for him and Chewie alone.
LEFT LEIA
Han has, at points, gotten a bit too much stick for being either a deadbeat dad or poor husband to Leia. Han indeed never would have won father or husband of the year, but it is not like Han changed much from the original trilogy, nor did he ever stop adoring Leia. On top of that, both Han and Leia reacted in different ways to the loss of Ben.
That being said, Han up and leaving Leia to go back to a life of smuggling was a big mistake, and one of the worst things he ever did, no matter how realistic it was. While he loved Leia and ended up going to try and bring Kylo back, leaving was not the best reaction to it all.
