Luke Skywalker rescued Princess Leia, blew up the Death Star, trained to be a Jedi Knight, rescued Han Solo, defeated and then saved Darth Vader aboard the second Death Star. He didn’t do any of that alone, though. He had Han, Chewie, Obi-Wan, Leia, droids, Ewoks, and Yoda to help him along the way. Some of his support team were big time heroes in their own right. Some gave their lives to help stop the Empire, and some just low-key did their thing.

Throughout the Star Wars Saga, there have been plenty of characters that have helped out our main heroes. It’s usually a thankless job. Lobot didn’t even have a name at first, he was in The Empire Strikes Back barely five minutes and he still managed to help Lando get everyone free. He has an entire history and is fully fleshed out in the Extended Universe Canon. There are plenty of characters within the movies that have a similar history. Here are 10 underrated Star Wars characters who saved the day without any of the limelight they deserve.

Wedge Antilles

Besides our core four heroes of the original trilogy, Wedge Antilles was the only Rebel pilot who survived all three films. He founded Rogue Squadron along with Luke, and in The Empire Strikes Back helps to deal a huge blow to the AT-AT Walkers that are coming to stop the Rebel escape.

Wedge has been an integral part of the Rebel Alliance, but in both Episodes IV and V he was able to provide enough backup support to keep Luke safe and allow him to defeat the Empire and escape Hoth.

Green Leader

During The Battle Of Endor, throngs of Rebel soldiers took to space to stage an all-out assault on the second Death Star. The Green Squadron flew brand new ships, the A-Wings, into battle. Once Han and company blew up the shield generator, the Rebel fleet began their attack run.

The Green Leader, posthumously named as Arvel Crynyd, was shot down, but he still refused to go down without a fight. He flew right into the lead Star Destroyer, the Executor, and sent that monstrosity into the Death Star to deal the station a critical blow.

Nien Nunb

With Han and Chewie running the ground battle on Endor, someone had to lead the fleet in the Millennium Falcon. Who better to do so that its original captain, Lando Calrissian? Lando chose the Sullustan Nien Nunb as his co-pilot for the battle.

Behind the scenes, in the Expanded Universe, Nunb was a skilled smuggler who had been helping the Rebels for years. He not only helped Lando, but he’s survived up to this day and is one of the remaining Resistance fighters at the Battle of Crait in The Last Jedi.

R5-D4

While the protocol droid R5-D4 didn’t know the sacrifice that he was making would eventually save the galaxy, his malfunctioning might be the most important malfunction in astromech history.

Owen and Luke were all set to purchase C-3PO and R5-D4 to help work their moisture farm, despite R2’s protests. When R5 tanked mere seconds off the auction block, 3PO suggested that Luke and his uncle take R2-D2 instead. The second he had a chance to find Obi-Wan, he ran off.

General Veers

The Empire Strikes Back is the only movie in the entire saga where the bad guys are the main protagonists. As they strike back, Vader is obsessed with finding Like Skywalker and the Rebels. He’s choking out all of his generals for their incompetence.

There was one member of the Empire who survived Vader’s vengeance. General Veers found out the secret to evading getting choked out - it was success. Veers was successful in leading the Imperial army in the assault on Hoth. Good for him, we guess?

Maz Kanata

The most mysterious new character in The Force Awakens is the diminutive tavern owner Maz Kanata. With a backstory that extends to her having dealt with Han, he and Chewie take Rey and Finn to see her. It’s at her tavern that Rey has her first encounter with the Force.

She also finds Luke’s lightsaber there. While it’s unclear how she got it, the fact that she has it and is a friend to the Resistance has been a continual help. She also advised Finn and Rose to find the code breaker on Canto Bight.

Uncle Owen And Aunt Beru

Owen and Beru Lars took in the infant son of Owen’s half-brother turned scourge of the galaxy, Darth Vader. Not only did they do that, but Owen and Beru seemingly kept as much information about Anakin as they could from Luke.

It kept Luke from fleeing too far from the farm during his formative years. Even after Luke met Obi-Wan and his buddy Biggs left for to join the Rebellion, Owen and Beru still did their best to keep Luke safe from the grip of Vader.

Beckett

Han Solo can talk all he wants to about how he’s a rough and rugged warrior, but when he left Coruscant, he was just a star-struck flyboy who wanted to save his love, Qi’ra. It wasn’t until he met Beckett that he started to really learn how to be a smuggler and how to look after number one in the vastness of space.

If Beckett didn’t teach Han to just shoot first and worry about consequences later, Han wouldn’t have survived Greedo, let alone shoot his former mentor Beckett first.

Qui-Gon Jinn

Within the Jedi Order, it was quickly established that Qui-Gon was not Council material. He simply wouldn’t listen to them when the Council had refused to admit Anakin. Considering what happened to the boy, perhaps he really should have.

After getting skewered by Darth Maul, he did learn how to be one with the Force, which was an ability he was able to pass on to Yoda and Obi-Wan. This allowed them to continue to teach Jedi from beyond the grave.

This Unnamed Rebel Hero

He hasn’t been given a name, but the man in this picture might be the most important supporting character in all of The Star Wars Saga.

During the final moments of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, the Rebels continued passing the Death Star plans forwards as Vader mowed them all down, one by one. This brave hero was the last one in the line and managed to get the plans to Leia’s hands.