There are quite a few different Star Wars characters who have seemingly died, only to be brought back or revived later on in the franchise. Somehow, SO many characters have returned (and no, we don’t mean as Force ghosts).
When it comes to presumed and even blatant demises in Star Wars, there’s always a chance a deceased character could return. As such, it would be quite ridiculous for a studio to cite a character’s death as the primary cause behind rejecting an exciting spin-off with a completed $3 million script developed over two years.
Keeping that in mind, let’s remind Disney of some major on-screen Star Wars characters who’ve been revived and/or brought back over the years.
13
Darth Maul
- Died: Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999)
- Returned: Star Wars: The Clone Wars season 4, episode 21 (“Brothers”)
After being cut in half by Obi-Wan Kenobi on Naboo, Maul was presumed dead for over a decade. However, The Clone Wars revealed that sheer rage and the dark side itself kept Maul alive on the trash world of Lotho Minor.
Saved by his long-lost brother, Savage Oppress, Maul was fitted with cybernetic legs from the Nightsisters of Dathomir, becoming a major player in the galactic underworld up until his ultimate death in Star Wars Rebels via a final duel with Kenobi on Tatooine.
12
Emperor Palpatine / Darth Sidious
- Died: Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi (1983)
- Returned: Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
“Somehow..Palpatine returned…” Emperor Palpatine’s resurrection remains one of the most divisive elements in all of Star Wars, not because of his revival, but because of the subpar execution in the sequel movies.
While a multitude of canonical projects after Rise of Skywalker have put in the work to explain how Palpatine was brought back via Project Necromancer, it doesn’t change the lack of context given in Episode IX itself.
Ironically, this was the same movie where Ben Solo died, though Disney executives still can’t fathom how Adam Driver’s character could ever return for The Hunt for Ben Solo.
11
Boba Fett
- Died: Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi (1983)
- Returned: The Mandalorian season 2, episode 6 (“The Tragedy”)
Boba Fett’s fall into the Sarlacc pit was once considered one of Star Wars‘ most infamous deaths, killing off one of the galaxy’s coolest-looking characters.
However, The Mandalorian season 2 confirmed the bounty hunter lived, clawing his way out of the pit and eventually recovering his armor from Din Djarin. Boba Fett’s revival culminated in his own series with The Book of Boba Fett.
10
Fennec Shand
- Died: The Mandalorian season 1, episode 5 (“The Gunslinger”)
- Returned: The Mandalorian season 2, episode 6 (“The Tragedy”)
After being shot and left for dead on Tatooine in The Mandalorian season 1, Fennec Shand’s story seemed over, until the fifth episode ended with her body discovered by an unknown figure (later revealed to be Boba Fett).
Having her repaired with cybernetic implants, Shand entered Fett’s service as his right hand, as seen in The Mandalorian season 2 when her survival was first revealed, as well as The Book of Boba Fett, which provided context for her return and ongoing work with Fett.
9
Aurra Sing
- Died: Star Wars: The Clone Wars season 2
- Returned: Star Wars: The Clone Wars season 3
Aurra Sing was believed to have been killed in The Clone Wars’ season 2 finale, crash-landing Boba Fett’s Firespray and presumed dead. While her survival was never fully explained, Sing later appeared in The Clone Wars season 3, attempting to assassinate Padmé Amidala. Ultimately, it was mentioned in 2018’s Solo: A Star Wars Story that Sing was killed by Tobias Beckett.
8
Ahsoka Tano
- Died (Sort of): Star Wars Rebels season 2, episode 22 (“Twilight of the Apprentice”)
- Returned: Star Wars Rebels season 4, episode 13 (“A World Between Worlds”)
Ahsoka’s duel with Darth Vader on the Sith world of Malachor seemed to end in presumed tragedy as the Sith ziggurat they were dueling on collapsed around them, shortly after it was confirmed for Tano that the Dark Lord was indeed her old master.
While there was a tease in the season 2 finale itself that Tano might have survived, her survival was fully confirmed in Rebels season 4 when Ezra Bridger used the World Between Worlds to reach back into the past and pull her into the Force nexus before ultimately sending her back to her own time.
Ahsoka was then free to make her live-action debut in The Mandalorian season 2 and later lead her own series in 2023.
7
Echo
- Died: Star Wars: The Clone Wars season 3, episode 19 (“Counterattack”)
- Returned: The Clone Wars season 7, episode 2 (“A Distant Echo”)
ARC Trooper Echo was believed killed in an explosion during the Clone Wars’ Citadel mission, only for The Clone Wars to later reveal that he’d been captured and cybernetically enhanced by the Separatists’ Techno Union. Rescued by The Bad Batch, Echo became a member of Clone Force 99, joining the team in their own spin-off series.
6
The Grand Inquisitor
- Died: Obi-Wan Kenobi episode 2 (2022)
- Returned: Obi-Wan Kenobi episode 5 (2022)
During 2022’s Obi-Wan Kenobi series, The Grand Inquisitor was run through by the Third Sister, allowing her to take his place among Darth Vader’s Inquisitorius. However, this was rather anticlimactic for Star Wars fans, given the Grand Inquisitor’s role in Star Wars Rebels season 1, which is set some years after the events of Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Sure enough, the Grand Inquisitor did return alive and well in Obi-Wan Kenobi episode 5, ultimately dying in the season 1 finale of Rebels at the hands of Kanan Jarrus, though the comics did reveal his spirit was cursed and tethered to an old Jedi Outpost by Darth Vader.
5
Asajj Ventress
- Died: Star Wars: Dark Disciple (2015)
- Returned: The Bad Batch season 3 (2024)
Long presumed dead after sacrificing herself to save her love Jedi Master Quinlan Vos in the novel Dark Disciple, Asajj Ventress made a shocking return in The Bad Batch season 3.
Confirmed to have been revived by the dark magicks of the Nightsisters in 2025’s Tales of the Underworld, Ventress’ return gave fans some long-awaited closure from the novel’s teases to her survival, expanding her complex redemption arc and setting up all-new Ventress stories to be told in the future.
4
Cobb Vanth
- Died: The Book of Boba Fett episode 6 (“From the Desert Comes a Stranger”)
- Returned: The Book of Boba Fett episode 7 (“In the Name of Honor”)
Freetown Marshal Cobb Vanth was shot by Cad Bane and left for dead in The Book of Boba Fett, just ahead of the show’s finale episode. However, a mid-credits scene following the seventh episode revealed that Vanth survived with his body having been placed in Boba Fett’s healing bacta tank, teasing his survival and return in a future Star Wars project.
