The 18 Best Characters From 'Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace,' Ranked By Fans (2024)

Qui-Gon Jinn

Who He Is:Qui-Gon is our first real glimpse at the Jedi Master/Padawan relationship. We may see it a bit with Obi-Wan and Yoda's relationships to Luke in the first two Star Wars films, but it's not fleshed out all that much, and Luke and the Resistance are too busy trying to take down the Empire to do much training. Qui-Gon is tasked with training a young Obi-Wan, and we see the give and take between master and apprentice. Qui-Gon offers sage wisdom, but he still makes mistakes - leading to his untimely death.

The prequels hone in on the Jedi Council and its flaws, which Qui-Gon pushes back against when he feels it's necessary. Despite Yoda's insistence that Anakin is too dangerous to train, Qui-Gon takes the boy on. Who knows what could have happened if he had lived long enough to see that promise through?

Standout Moment: Though Qui-Gon is unsuccessful during his battle with Darth Maul, he really gets into the whole meditative Jedi thing. When a force field briefly separates the antagonists, forcing a pause in battle, Qui-Gon immediately sits down to meditate, while Maul paces agitatedly.

Obi-Wan Kenobi

Who He Is:We all know Obi-Wan Kenobi as Luke's wizened pseudo-master in A New Hope, but we get to see a much younger and fiery guy in the prequels (we're just gonna move right past the fact that it looks like Obi-Wan aged at least 30 years between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope).

Given that Obi-Wan senses things even his Master Qui-Gon doesn't, it's clear just how powerful and intuitive the Jedi is. We also get a much sassier Obi-Wan than we see in the OG film and the rest of the prequels. This is really the only time where we see him as the junior partner, rather than the mentor. Though Obi-Wan disagrees with Qui-Gon's decision to train Anakin, he honors his master's dying wish and takes on Anakin as his Padawan – with, as we know, tragic consequences.

Standout Moment: Though Maul defeats Obi-Wan's master, the young Padawan fares better. He's quicker with his lightsaber and even does the patented Jedi flip. He almost falls down the shaft during the scuffle, but he rallies. Obi-Wan is able to Force-levitate Qui-Gon's lightsaber to him, jump up from the shaft, and immediately slice Maul in half - one of the coolest “death” scenes in the franchise.

Darth Maul

Who He Is:Unfortunately, we don't know much about the Galaxy's most fascinating short-lived Sith apprentice in Episode I (though his story gets expanded on in The Clone Wars). He's Palpatine's apprentice, he's not very chatty, his face is iconic, and he has one of the coolest lightsabers in the franchise. He also takes out Qui-Gon (RIP).

Standout Moment: Whirling a double-bladed light saber, Maul takes on two Jedi simultaneously – and almost wins – in Phantom Menace's dazzling “Duel of the Fates” climax. As played by expert martial artist Ray Park, Maul displays lightsaber technique far beyond what had been seen in the original trilogy.

R2-D2

Who He Is:Of course, we know that R2-D2 is critical in destroying the Death Star in the OG trilogy, but what about before then?R2 is chilling in Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan's ship when they leave Naboo with the Queen and her handmaidens. After things go very badly, the Jedi decide to keep the droid, and everyone from Padmé to Anakin ends up looking after him.

Standout Moment: R2 saves the day when the shield generator fails with the Queen on board. Out of the several droids who exit the ship mid-flight to try mending it, R2 is the only one who manages to fix it - and he's the only survivor. Padmé sweetly cleans him off afterward, when we still think she's a handmaiden and not the Queen of Naboo.

Yoda

Who He Is:Everyone's favorite old green guy is the head of the Jedi Council, and a strict leader at that. He's almost obsessed with following the “Jedi ways” to the detriment of those under him. Yoda refuses to allow any of the Jedi to express emotion, which ultimately leads to their downfall.

Instead of embracing training Anakin, Yoda would rather refuse him – despite the fact that regardless of whether or not Ani is trained as a Jedi, his Force abilities will still get stronger. But Yoda is too set in his ways to come up with training that will benefit Anakin and help him resist the allure of the Dark Side. We all know how that turns out.

Standout Moment: Though it's kind of BS, Yoda's declaration that fear leads to the Dark Side is his most significant moment in the movie. We get a much deeper look into the Jedi teachings in the prequels, and this sets us up for some of the contradictions and failings we see within the Jedi structure.

These setbacks include but are not limited to the demand that Jedi push down their feelings and maintain a level of impassivity and objectivity that's nearly impossible to carry out. Fear doesn't necessarily lead to the Dark Side - but forcing people to hide their negative emotions rather than embracing them and handling them in a healthy manner does.

Padmé Amidala

Who She Is:Padmé is the deeply compassionate Queen of Naboo who goes undercover to accompany Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon on their journey to Tatooine. She's a strong-willed and brave pacifist who tries to prevent war when she can. However, she's also a leader who knows when her back is against a wall, and is willing to do what must be done.

Padmé profoundly cares about democracy and always chooses her planet (and the democratic process) ahead of her own interests.

Standout Moment: When Padmé addresses the Republic with the accusation that the Trade Federation is sending battle droids into Naboo, they try to lob the bureaucracy handbook at her - which she promptly dismisses, saying, "I was not elected to watch my people suffer and die while you discuss this invasion in a committee.”

Padmé demands a vote for a new regime (though it's unfortunate that Palpatine has her duped). But she's also not going to sit around and wait while her planet is at risk. Returning to Naboo to join the fight, Padmé dons the “captain goes down with her ship” mentality, opting to put herself at risk to be the leader she was elected to be.