Star Wars is a classic tale of good and evil, a tale of a galaxy threatened by the tyrannical Galactic Empire, with only the courageous Alliance to Restore the Republic standing in their way. The light and dark sides of the Force also played a major role in this conflict that is frequently referred to as the Galactic Civil War within the series. While the Galactic Civil War is considered to have officially started during the Battle of Scarif, the Rebel Alliance was formed far earlier than that. This means that individuals integral to those earlier days predating the Galactic Civil War are among the Rebellion's strongest .
Over the years an extensive number of characters have been part of the Rebel Alliance. As such, this list only focuses on canon of the Rebellion. These characters and their deeds come from a wide variety of stories, including the original trilogy films, Rogue One, Star Wars Rebels, and comics and novels. Each individual's strength is defined by their contributions to the Rebel Alliance's fight against the Empire and the dark side.
May the Force be with you as we explore Star Wars: 30 Strongest Of The Rebel Alliance, Officially Ranked.
Saw Gerrera
As someone trained by the Jedi to fight for themselves and save their planet during the Clone Wars, Saw Gerrera has been described by Dave Filoni as the "original rebel." The Jedi planted the seeds for the Rebel Alliance with individuals like Saw, and he was a major figure in in the Alliance's earlier days as his group known as the Partisans were a prominent cell. However, Saw's extremism— such as orchestrated a tragedy at a festival where he took out a political ally of Emperor Palpatine— caused a divide in the Rebellion. Already an underdog, weakening the Alliance's unity and distorting what it meant to fight the Empire overall hurt the Rebellion.
Kallus
As an agent of Imperial Security Bureau, Kallus was a longtime enemy of the Ghost crew, had fought rebels like Saw Gerrera, and even participated in the genocide of the planet Lasan. These actions obviously hurt the Alliance, but his loyalties to the Empire began to shift after he found himself stranded on a frozen moon with Ghost crew member Zeb. By working together to survive and through their conversations, Kallus began to question his beliefs in the Empire and the Rebellion, ultimately leading him to become a rebel spy known as Fulcrum. In this capacity, Kallus provided the Rebel Alliance with crucial intelligence on the Empire, especially concerning Grand iral Thrawn. Even after his cover was blown, Kallus managed to escape the Empire and continued serving the Rebellion on Yavin 4, and later on helped liberate Lothal from the Empire.
Jan Dodonna
Destroying the first Death Star completely changed the tide of the Galactic Civil War, and part of the credit for that victory belongs to Jan Dodonna. Using the Death Star plans, Dodonna formulated and oversaw the execution of the plan to attack and destroy the first Death Star. The Rebel Alliance lost many of its pilots in the Battle of Yavin, but it was ultimately a success as the Death Star was destroyed. It's an impressive contribution, but his overall strength is lowered by the fact that he wasn't ive of Jyn Erso's plea for the Rebellion to send their best troops to Scarif. He successfully planned how to destroy the Death Star, but didn't have the foresight to the plan to acquire the Death Star plans in the first place.
Shara Bey
Poe Dameron's mother, Shara Bey, was one of the most gifted pilots in the Rebel Alliance. She flew her A-wing with Green Squadron in the Battle of Endor in which she helped the Alliance Fleet to destroy the second Death Star, and she even managed to survive the battle. She faithfully served as a pilot for the Alliance in several crucial missions following the Battle of Endor. This included protecting the planet Naboo from the Empire's Operation: Cinder and assisting Luke Skywalker in a mission to retrieve fragments of the Great Tree— a Force-sensitive tree that once sat at the heart of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. She left a lasting impact that lived far beyond the end of the Galactic Civil War as she taught her son Poe to fly and he would go on to General Leia Organa's Resistance, becoming a skilled pilot and leader serving a just cause much like his mother.
Commander Sato
The rebel cell known as Phoenix Squadron was integral to the Rebel Alliance and conducted many successful strikes against the Empire. Phoenix Squadron's success was largely owed to its leader Commander Sato. When Grand iral Thrawn and his Imperial fleet converged on Atollon— the planet where Chopper Base was located— Commander Sato made a bold and effective sacrifice. He crashed his ship into the Interdictor cruiser commanded by Imperial iral Konstantine. In doing so, Commander Sato lost his life, but he allowed Ezra Bridger and Chopper to escape and reach Sabine Wren and the Mandalorians for aid. Ezra and Chopper returned with Sabine and the Mandalorians, which enabled at least the Ghost crew and some of the Rebel Alliance to escape Thrawn and live to fight another day.
Nien Nunb
Nien Nunb was introduced to audiences in Return of the Jedi where he co-piloted the Millennium Falcon with Lando Calrissian during the Battle of Endor. His piloting helped Lando and the Rebellion destroy the second Death Star and win the Battle of Endor. This is only a piece of Nien Nunb's contributions to the Rebellion, though. After the destruction of Alderaan, the Empire sought to exterminate the planet's citizens who hadn't been on their home world when it was destroyed. Nien Nunb helped smuggle those Alderaanian refugees to safety without being detected by the Empire, ensuring that despite what the Empire had done, Alderaan would survive.
C-3PO
C-3P0 is often dismissed as irritating or serving as little more than comic relief, but he was actually quite helpful to the Rebel Alliance on many occasions. For starters, C-3PO convinced Luke Skywalker to purchase R2-D2. If not for this, R2 would've remained in the clutches of the Jawas rather than getting closer to ing Leia's message to Obi-Wan Kenobi and eventually delivering the Death Star plans to the Alliance. C-3PO also convinced the Ewoks to aid the Rebellion in their fight against the Empire. Regardless of one's feelings toward the Ewoks, it can't be denied that they were integral to defeating the Empire during the Battle of Endor, something that wouldn't have been possible without C-3PO's persuasion.
Baze Malbus
Even though he wouldn't live to see the fruits of his labor, Baze Malbus was a key member of the Rogue One crew that successfully stole the Death Star plans. Along the way, he dispatched Stormtroopers on Jedha, thereby saving the lives of Jyn Erso, Cassian Andor, and Baze's dear friend Chirrut Îmwe. He and Chirrut were the first to agree to risk everything and Jyn on her mission to Scarif. On Scarif, Baze helped infiltrate the Imperial base and eliminated many of the Empire's soldiers, including some of their elite Death Troopers. Without his actions, the Alliance may never have received the Death Star plans.
Chirrut Îmwe
Chirrut Îmwe was one with the Force and the Force was with him. He wasn't a Jedi, but rather a Guardian of the Whill and spiritual warrior-monk. Even though he was blind, Chirrut was able to use those skills to take out Stormtroopers and even shoot down a TIE fighter on Eadu. He immediately believed what Jyn Erso said about her father's message and was among the first to her on the unsanctioned mission to retrieve the Death Star plans from Scarif. In the heat of battle on Scarif, Chirrut managed to locate and flip the master switch, which allowed the Death Star plans to be successfully transmitted to the Alliance Fleet.
Bodhi Rook
Bodhi Rook wasn't with the Rebel Alliance for long, but his contributions made him vital to the cause. It was to Bodhi that Galen Erso entrusted his message about the Death Star's fatal flaw and the plans that would expose that critical weakness. Without Bodhi, Jyn Erso would never have seen her father's message. She never would've led the charge to acquire the plans and the Rebel Alliance wouldn't have been able to use the plans to destroy the Death Star. Also, when the Empire closed the Shield Gate during the Battle of Scarif, Bodhi realized that they wouldn't be able to transmit the Death Star plans to the Alliance Fleet. He communicated this message to iral Raddus, who made sure the Shield Gate was destroyed so the plans could be transmitted.
