Onaconda Farr

Padmé Amidala was a courageous, hopeful leader, serving as Queen and then Senator of Naboo -- and was also handy with a blaster. Despite her ideals and all she did for the cause of peace, her secret, forbidden marriage to Jedi Anakin Skywalker would prove to have dire consequences for the galaxy.

Neimoidians are known for their business skills, but Nute Gunray, Viceroy of the Trade Federation, was more cutthroat than most. It was Gunray who conspired with the Sith Lord Darth Sidious to launch the blockade and subsequent invasion of Naboo. Once the planet was under siege, Gunray attempted to force Queen Amidala to sign a treaty that would legitimize the occupation. Amidala escaped, and returned to infiltrate her own palace and blast through Gunray's protectors. Arrested by Republic officials, Gunray was carted off to answer for his crimes, but evaded imprisonment and kept his post.

A strong-willed female Kaminoan Senator, Halle Burtoni was once well-respected in both the Galactic Senate and on her own world of Kamino, known for its production of the Republic's clone troopers. At the height of the Clone Wars conflict, Burtoni bartered her clone production efforts into a seat in the Senate, and she longed for nothing more than to see Padmé's peace-promoting efforts fail. But Burtoni's aggressive and intrusive behavior led to her downfall, and after the dawn of the Empire, Burtoni was disgraced among top government officials, without a planet or a people to represent as the surviving Kaminoans were scattered among the stars.

As a police lieutenant in the Coruscant Security Force during the Clone Wars, Lieutenant Tan Divo has a low-rate of success in his investigations, yet displays the pompousness and self-importance of someone who always gets his criminal in the end. Because of his arrogance, he often jumps to conclusions of guilt before a thorough investigation is conducted. Pride and his rigid by-the-book agenda get in the way of finding the truth, which in turn forces others to seek clues without his help.

A clumsy, well-meaning Gungan outcast on Naboo, Jar Jar Binks struggled to prove his worth throughout his life. Putting his awkward past behind him, Jar Jar left the swamps of Naboo to enter the even murkier waters of Coruscant politics, becoming a representative for his people in the galactic capital. There, his best intentions and eagerness to serve were exploited by scheming Senators and others in positions of power.

At the height of its rule, the Galactic Republic was governed by a body of Senators representing the many worlds of the galaxy. Within the cavernous Senate rotunda, hundreds of politicians would fill the viewing platforms that lined the curved walls. The Senate’s power gradually eroded after it voted emergency powers to Supreme Chancellor Palpatine during the Clone Wars, and the body was sharply divided between supporters of the war and those seeking peace. After Palpatine declared himself Emperor, power was increasingly wielded by regional governors. Shortly before the Battle of Yavin, Palpatine disbanded the Senate.