Blue Rubber Gloves

Style is part of the motorcycle equation for every rider. It comes up every time you buy a new bike or jacket, accessorize, study your reflection in a plate glass window, and when you pull into a crowd that scrutinizes every move you make. All this makes you think about the style you have or wish to create.

Maybe you just want to look cool. But you can get philosophical about it and make your style exhibit you – if you know who you are. What image do you want to project as a biker? What do you want to tell people about you? Style development begins with the bike you choose to ride. Most bikes will fall into one of the styles below, and your style will emerge from there. The bike and the style it inspires go together. You can change your style too. Cross over to another bike. But that can get costly.

I see six styles all around me. Find yours here or start defining yours by reading these characteristics. If you ride any of  these bikes in these categories, you are already inclining toward their styles.

Leisure Style

This person isn’t the James Dean/Marlon Brando/Peter Fonda type. He enjoys the ride and the breeze and looking impressive in bermuda shorts and tennis/deck shoes without socks. He may despise the leather look and its image. He refuses to conform to any of the well-defined, rigid styles characterized below. He bops around town in a Hawaiian shirt and corduroy OP shorts or cruises down beach drive in 70-90 degree weather making everyone envious by announcing, “This is living.” Forget safety. Wearing a helmet only gets in the way of his mane waving in the humid breeze. Shaving the nipples off of his chest with road rash, or rounding off his knee caps down to the nerves and marrow isn’t going to happen. There is a little bit of the 60’s beach movies in this style. You observe it in Florida, California, and other beach, resort, or retirement communities where life is slower. Teenagers who are not serious about riding, older adults, and people who are frightened by larger bikes do the leisure style. But you just as easily see it anywhere where a person just does errands, saves money on gas, or cruises to enjoy the experience. Those who do not ride that often or have a scooter or a smaller displacement bike adopt this style. It is relaxed and surrounded with an air of innocence and a money-saving attitude.

Honda GoldWing Style

Now we begin the major styles. GoldWinging is a unique style in motorcycling. GoldWingers are in their own world. Nobody but them does what they do. Check out any normal bike night you might frequent. Bikers will be everywhere wandering around and mixing, but off to the side someplace will be a contingent enclave of GoldWingers like a wallflower at a 50’s Sock Hop. But it really doesn’t make any difference because there are so many of them out there that they have an army of their own rallies just for them only. They have enough peer support that no matter how strange things may look to others, they think that everything they do is preferred. GoldWingers ride these behemoth, bus-like, half-ton bikes that they decorate and hold certain behaviors in common. But there is one thing alone that defines the GoldWinger above all others. Lights. The quintessential GoldWing will look like a rolling solar system at night. The entire bike and road will be bathed in luminescence. Lights flashing in the front, on the side, in the back, on the wheels, the helmets, everywhere. The reason is because a GoldWinger is hammered with the gospel of SAFETY. Safety is the by-word for this style more than any other. Hence, lights. They believe in being seen. And seen they will be for all kinds of reasons. Every conceivable doodad one can imagine hangs off a GoldWing. Helmet holders reflect lights off of the back like little sequins. Stuffed animals perch on top boxes. There will be CB’s, helmet microphones with dangling cords, pin striping, GPS’s, cup holders, wind wings, horns, chrome trim for every hole and vent, windshield etchings, detailed paintings of landscapes and Indians and wolves, hitches, coolers, sheep skin, beaded seats, speakers, arm rests, back rests, tissue holders, electrical outlets, XM radios, flags, antennas, plastic woodgrain trim, and every convenience of an automobile. If they can think it, it is on there. The last word for a GoldWinger is “minimalist”. A GoldWinger maxes out. They are the most adorned and stocked in the motorcycle world, which is why they are liked by so many. They head out on the road with every convenience there is. Except for one thing. Leather. This is not normally included in the GoldWing style. You WILL see denim jackets with GWRRA emblems and pins, satin jackets, and screwy looking stuff at times, like striped clown pants, especially at their rallies. Another GoldWinger feature is the pressure to join GWRRA (Gold Wing Road Riders Association) with all its camaraderie, but it is not required. GoldWinging comes with the Couple of the Year Award (lots of emphasis on 2-up riding), couple’s names painted on their bikes, evening rides, and restaurant stops galore. GoldWing people (not unlike many other motorcyclists) often add significantly to the overall weight of their bikes. Group rides are a phenomenon. Everyone saddles up with his CB and a rider who is the locomotive and another who is the caboose. This little train rides along at moderate speeds and is shepherded by the leader and end as they alert  riders of every move they should make with every potential hazard in the road. GoldWinging makes little sense to many bikers. For that matter, none of the other styles make any sense to the other styles either. But it takes a certain frame of mind to get into this. It has its own culture and lifestyle, just like a HOG Club. So who does this? Go to rallies and just look around a bit. You see a lot of older guys and their wives. The cost of the bikes probably has something to do with that. They are independent thinkers who are conforming to a certain philosophy about motorcycling that is legitimate if that is who you are and what you like and like to do. “Do” is another good word for the GoldWing style. These people have all sorts of chapters, officers, and things to do together. GWRRA is about doing.

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BMW Style

Beemer people are among the most independent thinkers in motorcycling. That is because, by comparison, there are few BMW’s out there even though they are among the most technologically sophisticated bikes there are. But they are expensive. To buy a Beemer, you will force yourself to think outside the herd. They look different than the most popular bikes out there, the most peculiar being the GS. If you buy one and are not a loner, you will become a loner because you will be riding solo most of the time. Why? Nobody will be able to keep up with you for one. These things fly. But BMW riders prefer to ride alone anyway. They don’t ride in packs. You won’t see them laden with useless ornaments. Only what is essential for the job of LONG DISTANCE RIDES at high rates of speed for hundreds of thousands of miles over the life of the bike, far ahead of the conforming mob behind them. The Beemer rider is confident, self-assured, and swimming up stream against the current. He doesn’t need any kind of approval from the majority. Because all this goes together, the Beemer crowd has a style as peculiar as the bikes upon which they ride. Leather is not the BMW style. Textile is. With armor and heated clothing. And full riding suits so you look like the Michelin Tire Man. Thus, weather is irrelevant. Beemer people are ready for anything. He’ll be in a full-face helmet. With gloves and GPS’s and XM radios and panniers and weather-proof boots and rear end black tape on his bags that reflects light like the sun at night. He is likely a camper too. Completely self-contained and self-sufficient. A 2-wheel RV with camping gear loaded wide and high, including tires, sleeping bags, tents, chairs, stoves, and coolers. A BMW rider stands alone. His conformity is non-conformity. He is pretty much ignored. But he is like a Marine and thinks he rides the best. All other bikes are inferior, and the riders who ride them have been deceived or are ignorant.

Wanna talk about motorcycles? What biker doesn’t? The Beemer guy takes it to the next level. Most people talk about new ones coming out next year or some of the late models around. Beemer men love history. They love to ride history too. Bikes from the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s. The are more interested in the greatest than the latest. Simplicity rather than complexity.

Some of the most unlikely people in the world ride Beemers. If there is such a person who does not think of style at all, it would be a BMW rider. Lots of farmers in the Midwest sit on these things and roll up at rallies as if they just came out of the barn. Their rallies are benign. I went to a Beemer rally in Iowa one Spring. Every registrant was given a mug. It entitled him to unlimited alcohol for the weekend. Parked on the rally grounds was a beer wagon open 24 hours a day for three days. It was the biggest bong you could think of with a beer Niagara Falls pouring through it. All beer and meals were in the rally fee, and the beer wagon was drained non-stop every hour on the clock. The event was uneventful. No one got drunk or naked. Think innocent for the Leisure style, gaudy for GoldWing, and plain for BMW.

Harley Style

This is the majority style. It is not plain. Most conceptions of bikers are in this category. 99% of most riders at most rallies model this version. It is marked by four features. CHROME. Not plastic. It is a signature item that gleams on every spot where it can be fitted. BLACK. For almost everything. BLUE. As in jeans. LEATHER. Add doo rags, beer gushing like a fire hydrant, beards, mustaches, long hair, patches, and expensive rides weighed down with sparkling silver. Throw in muscles and tattoos, chains. pack riding. Vests worn outside the jackets. Thunderous racket. Each rider tries to raise the dead before the Day of Judgment and get cagers to curse. Lack of self-assurance or over-confidence with constant throttling at a stop light that says to everyone around them, “Look at me.” Sexy women. Skulls. Club names. Revelry. Black and orange and Harley-Davidson written on everything from the boots to underwear. T-shirts from every Harley shop on the planet. Vendors by the thousands. Charity rides. Poker runs. $100 minimum for all things Harley. The omnipresent, stocked Harley-Davidson dealership at every exit on the interstate. The H-D style is emulated by every age group from children to old men. The ultimate rebel and independent conforms to the majority. The bikes are cruisers or metric cruisers. Leather is the de rigueur outfit, the uniform of long-standing tradition that looks right. It fits the soldiers who ride them to a tee. And it’s practical because leather provides the best protection when evil visits. Textile is loathed like a GoldWing. This style can be worn everyday of the year, even if you are not riding or have never ridden a motorcycle in your miserable life, because it is a fashion statement worn by movie stars to teeny boppers to infants. It is THE style. Black leather begs to adorn the classic loner.

Sport Biker Style

The sport biker style gains momentum every year. Sit on a beach boulevard. What bikes are coming down the pike? Sport bikes outnumber cruisers sometimes seven to one. The reasons are: PRICE. It is half or less to get into a sport bike compared to a Harley. SPEED. The cops give up if you fly down the street at 100 mph. They turn around and radio ahead, hoping that you are not already outside the range of their frequency. You can wheelie 10 miles across the Howard Frankland bridge on Tampa Bay and still pass everyone. Adrenaline will fire down your veins like cocaine as you cut between cars and blast past them like F-15’s. Cagers almost fly off the road when you sneak upon them with that high-pitched whine in the left lane just before they were about to enter it.  IMAGE. Cruisers are for old men. Sport bikes reflect youthful egotism and unabashed, daredevil courage that takes unnecessary risks. YOUTH. They can bend over like a rubber band on those things. The cruiser guy sits in his Lazy Boy seat and picks up his own leg to get on. This calls for a different style. Not leather. Unless it looks like it came from a racetrack and is rated for 200 mph. Textile is the costume. And exo-skeletal armor strapped to the back. In fact, armor everywhere. With a pack. And racing boots with colorful full-face helmets. Often strapped to the side. The most pronounced and unimaginable decoration to everyone over 30 though is the hood ornament on the BACK. The girl. Knees on both sides of her face, back bent like a hinge, her thong straps painted on her bare back, she sails by at 100 miles an hour in short shorts and hangs on to the moron’s waist while she both exults in the speed rush and thinks about her eternal destiny if something goes haywire. The Harley style is macho or classic; the Sport Bike style is just plain crazy.

Your Own Man Style

Other than the Beemer rider, this is the cruiser rider who refuses to imprint everything he owns with the words Harley-Davidson. He’s not a pack rider and doesn’t conform to their lifestyle. He watches the crowd and enjoys the rallies, but “watch” is the key word, not do. If something makes sense to him, he will borrow a useful feature from another style whether anyone else (more likely, no one else) does so or not. These people are few.

So there you are. Motorcycle style. You have one, and it is probably one of these. You style is either innocent, gaudy, plain, insane, classic/macho, or maverick. In your mind or with your bike and all things related to it, you are in one of these camps.

Originally published here.

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Dale Haven Cox

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Appearances

Star Wars films

Early life

Baby Leia being put in the care of Bail Organa and his wife after the death of her mother, the fall of her father, and the separation between her and her brother.

By the fictional chronology, Leia first appears in Revenge of the Sith, when Padm gives birth to her and Luke at Polis Massa.

After Padm’s death, Jedi Masters Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda decide that they must hide the Skywalker children from their father, former Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, who had recently turned to the dark side and became the Sith Lord Darth Vader. Leia is sent to Alderaan with the droids R2-D2 and C-3PO with her adoptive parents, Bail and Breha Organa, so she would not be found by the Empire.

According to the Expanded Universe, Leia is raised with Winter, who becomes her handmaiden later on in life, as well as her children’s nanny.

At the age of 16, Leia becomes the youngest member of the Imperial Senate and becomes good friends with Senator Pooja Naberrie of Naboo, her maternal cousin. She also becomes one of the driving forces behind the Rebel Alliance, the New Republic and even later, the Galactic Alliance. She serves the Senate until Emperor Palpatine/Darth Sidious dissolves it. Three years before Episode 4, she is taken as a hostage to Kashyyyk, to stop adoptive ther Bail Organa from speaking out against Darth Sidious. After being saved by the young Galen Marek, she is later present at the formation of the Rebel Alliance on Corellia, which is disturbed by Darth Vader, seeking Marek, his secret Apprentice. She is at the formation via transmission, and Vader never actually sees her when raiding the rebel Alliances’s formation headquarters. She later chooses the symbol of the Rebel Alliance as the Marek family crest.

A New Hope

Princess Leia aboard the Death Star with her, at the time, unknown twin brother Luke Skywalker, and future husband Han Solo.

In Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, Darth Vader captures her onboard the ship Tantive IV, where she is acting as a spy for the Rebellion. He accuses her of being a traitor and demands to know the location of the secret technical plans of the Death Star, the Empire’s newest and most powerful weapon. Unknown to him, the young senator has hidden the plans inside an Astromech droid, R2-D2, and has sent it to find Obi-Wan Kenobi on the nearby planet of Tatooine. Later, Vader has her tortured, but she resists telling him anything. Still believing she could be useful, the Death Star’s commander, Grand Moff Tarkin, threatens to destroy Alderaan with the superweapon unless she reveals the location of the hidden Rebel base. She still does not give in and lies to them, as Tarkin orders Alderaan to be destroyed anyway. She is finally rescued by unlikely heroes: Luke Skywalker, an elderly Obi-Wan Kenobi, the cocky smuggler Han Solo, the Wookiee Chewbacca, and the two droids, R2-D2 and C-3PO. When they finally escape, at the expense of Obi-Wan’s life (sacrificed in a duel with Vader), they take part in the Battle of Yavin. Luke, in his one-man X-wing fighter, destroys the Death Star. In the Massassi Temple at the hidden Rebel base on Yavin 4, the radiant Princess Leia Organa presents the Alderaanian Medal of Freedom to her rescuers and the heroes of the battle.

The Empire Strikes Back

Three years later, in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, Leia is at the Rebel base on Hoth When Luke was rescued after being knocked unconscious in the snow storm, Leia began to worry for Luke. Later Han rescues Luke and back at the base, Leia tells Han that he probably doesn’t know everything about women and then kisses Luke. Leia later helps with the evacuation of Hoth. Despite the ongoing battle, she remains vigilant and issues commands from the crumbling base. She flees with C-3PO, Han, and Chewbacca on Han’s ship, the Millennium Falcon. Although they are pursued by Imperial TIE fighters, they dodge their fire by flying into an asteroid field when the Falcon’s hyperdrive breaks down. Despite Leia’s having kissed Luke earlier and being constantly at odds with Han, romance blossoms; while hiding in the stomach of a space slug, she finally shares a kiss with the scruffy-looking Corellian smuggler. Later, when they stop at Bespin for repairs, Han’s friend Lando Calrissian turns them over to Vader, who uses them as bait for Luke. Han is also used as a test subject for the carbon freezing chamber meant for Luke, and it is there that Leia finally confesses her love for Han. Vader then gives the frozen Han to bounty hunter Boba Fett to give to Jabba the Hutt, to whom Han owes a very large debt. Later, Lando helps Leia, Chewbacca, and the two droids escape. While escaping, she senses that Luke is in trouble and makes them go back for him. They save Luke, who is badly hurt after a near-fatal duel against Vader, who has revealed that he is Luke’s father.

Return of the Jedi

In Return of the Jedi, Leia, Chewbacca, Lando, Luke (now nearly a Jedi Knight), and the droids go to Tatooine to try to rescue Han Solo from Jabba the Hutt. Leia’s part of the plan consists of posing as the Ubese bounty hunter Boushh, who will turn Chewbacca over to Jabba. Her ruthless bargaining as Boushh, negotiating the price for Chewbacca at the end of a thermal detonator, impresses Jabba and Boba Fett enough to allow her quarters in the palace for the night. The Huttese gangster eventually discovers her real identity, captures her, makes her his new slave girl, and forces her to wear her now iconic metal bikini after she frees Han from the carbonite.

After Luke kills the Rancor, Jabba sentences Luke and Han to be fed to the Sarlacc. Just as all seems lost, Lando, disguised as a guard, helps Luke and Han overpower their captors. Leia seizes the moment to kill Jabba by strangling him with the very chain that bound her. R2-D2 cuts her loose, and after Luke boards the sailbarge, he rescues Leia. With Leia’s help, Luke uses a deck cannon to blow up his barge as they swing to safety.

While preparing for a last battle with the Empire on Endor, Luke reveals to a stunned Leia that she is, in fact, his twin sister, and that Vader is their father. Initially reluctant to believe him, Leia realizes that Luke speaks the truth and joins Han Solo in leading the Rebels in battle on Endor as the Rebel Fleet battle the second Death Star. Leia is injured in the battle, but the Rebels, allied with the Ewoks, are victorious over the Empire.

The Star Wars Holiday Special

Leia and C-3PO in The Star Wars Holiday Special

Leia briefly appears in the 1978 TV movie The Star Wars Holiday Special, where she is once again portrayed by Fisher. In the show, Leia is a leader and administrator of the new Rebel Alliance base. She is accompanied by C-3PO when contacting Chewbacca’s wife, Mallatobuck, for assistance in finding Chewbacca and Han. She also appears in the cartoon segment at a different Rebel Base, located in an asteroid field, and at the Life Day ceremony at the end of the film.

Leia also appeared in and hosted the November 18, 1978 episode of Saturday Night Live that aired one day after the holiday special. The Summer 1983 issue of Rolling Stone magazine poked fun at this appearance.

Star Wars literature

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Alderaan

After the Rebellion’s victory on Endor, Leia establishes New Alderaan, a sanctuary for the destroyed planet’s surviving inhabitants. The Royal House of Alderaan, in the person of Leia Organa Solo and her children, continues to hold sovereignty over both New Alderaan and the old Alderaan system. Her title is largely ceremonial, however, as the government on New Alderaan actually administers the Alderaan system and New Alderaan in her name. Alderaan thus has been ruled under what seems to be a constitutional monarchy.

The New Republic

Princess Organa is a founding member of the New Republic. Although most of her life is devoted to such matters of state, she engages in limited study of the Jedi arts, with Luke as her teacher. Notably, she wields a blue lightsaber that she built herself.

In the book Queen of the Empire by Paul Davids and Hollace Davids, she gets kidnapped by the “Prophets of the Dark Side” to try to get brainwashed and become loyal to the Empire and to also marry Trioculus but this plan failed to which Trioculus got tricked with a Leia droid which also killed him; this disrupted a planned wedding to Han which was later done in The Courtship of Princess Leia.

In the book Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn, Luke builds her a green lightsaber which she uses to help free the Noghri from their perceived debt to the Empire. Luke then gives her a red one to complement the weapon she had constructed earlier.

After a near-disastrous courtship in which Prince Isolder vies for Leia’s affections, she marries Han. As described in The Courtship of Princess Leia, Han kidnaps Leia and takes her to a planet he had won in a game of sabacc named Dathomir. There they encounter the Nightsisters, whose attempt to escape eventually leads to the demise of the Warlord Zsinj and his empire, equal rival at this time to both the Imperial Remnant and the New Republic.

At first, Leia does not want to have children, fearing they would succumb to the Dark Side as her father had done. In the novel Tatooine Ghost, however, she begins to understand what happened to her father to bring him to the Dark Side. When she and Han go on a mission to Tatooine to retrieve the Alderaanian moss-painting Killik Twilight and the Rebel code hidden within it, Leia discovers her grandmother Shmi Skywalker’s diary and, with the help of her father’s childhood friends Kitster and Wald, discovers her father wasn’t the evil man she thought he was. By the end of the book, she learns to forgive him.

In the Thrawn trilogy, Grand Admiral Thrawn, who had formed an alliance with Joruus C’Baoth, orders Noghri commandos to kidnap Leia, who is pregnant. C’Baoth intends to warp Leia and Luke to the Dark Side, and plans to corrupt also the two unborn twins. To avoid capture, she hides on the planet Kashyyyk, but her would-be kidnappers track her down. She later learns that Vader once landed on the Noghri home planet Honoghr and tricked the Noghri into serving the Empire by promising to help their planet recover from the ecological disaster that it suffered during the Clone Wars. Because of this, they are fiercely loyal to Vader. Leia is able to leverage her biological relationship to Vader to persuade a Noghri assassin to travel with her to Honoghr and help convince the Noghri of the Empire’s deception. Leia shows an assembly of Noghri matriarchs that the droids which the Empire demanded are actively poisoning the land and slowing down the reconstruction. They leave the service of the Empire after one of their assassins (and Thrawn’s personal bodyguard), Rukh, kills Thrawn during the Battle of Bilbringi and becomes allies of the New Republic. For her efforts, Leia is known as “Lady Vader” among the Noghri, and she and her family become revered figures in their society.

In The Last Command, Leia gives birth to the twins Jaina and Jacen on Coruscant during Thrawn’s siege.

Dark Empire

During the events of Dark Empire, the New Republic suffers severe setbacks, losing most of its worlds, as well as Luke Skywalker to the Dark Side. After her brother’s capture on Coruscant, subsequent transport to Byss, and temptation by the cloned Emperor, a pregnant Leia along with her husband, Han Solo, reach the Emperor’s new stronghold of Byss where she confronts the reincarnated Palpatine. At first Leia is unsuccessful in turning Luke away from the Dark Side, but does manage to take a Jedi Holocron away from the Emperor’s chambers. Leia boards the Emperor’s Eclipse-class Super Star Destroyer during its assault on the Pinnacle moon of Da Soocha. She appeals to the goodness inside Luke, redeeming him, and assaults Palpatine with the Light Side of the Force, cutting him off from the Dark Side and control of the titanic Force-storm he had exerted himself to the utmost to conjure, intending to obliterate the Rebel Alliance fleet. The Eclipse I and Palpatine are both destroyed.

In Empire’s End, Leia gives birth to a second son, whom she names Anakin in honor of her father’s redemption (See Solo family.) Along with a Jedi named Jen, she defeats Palpatine’s second-in-command, a Dark Jedi assassin. Palpatine is soon reborn in his last remaining clone body, which is quickly deteriorating, due to sabotage by Carnor Jax and one of the Emperor’s Hands. Leia is forced to flee to Onderon to hide Anakin from Palpatine, who intends to transfer his spirit into the young infant. The Emperor does eventually find her, but Han accidentally shoots him in the back just as he is about to possess the baby. A sacrifice by a dying Jedi named Empatojayos Brand saves them both from Palpatine’s wrath, and incapacitates Palpatine’s malignant spirit forever.

The Yuuzhan Vong War and beyond (25 ABY35 ABY)

After serving a second term, Leia resigns as Chief of State, and is replaced by Borsk Fey’lya. After the Yuuzhan Vong attack on Sernpidal, Leia goes before the Senate to bring attention to the threat posed by the approaching Yuuzhan Vong. Her pleas go unheeded, and the Vong legions swarm into the galaxy, destroying system after system and defeating the Jedi and the New Republic army in countless battles. Leia contributes to the war effort by joining SELCORE, a movement that aided refugees.

In Vector Prime, Chewbacca’s death sends Han into a deep depression, causing a large rift between him and Leia, culminating in his walking out of the marriage after an argument. They patch things up after Leia is gravely wounded by Tsavong Lah at the Battle of Duro. Their troubles are not yet over, however; when the Vong unleash the deadly voxyn, Leia is targeted by a Voxyn master slayer who had already killed many Jedi. With the help of her Noghri bodyguards, she eliminates the assassin with her lightsaber.

In Star By Star, Leia and Han lose their youngest son, Anakin, during the Myrkr mission and the fall of Coruscant.

After Coruscant’s fall, Han and Leia go to Hapes for Anakin’s funeral, then on several missions to restore HoloNet communications to the Unknown Regions, including foiling a second attempt of the Ssi-ruuk to invade Bakura in the process. Leia helps the Pwecks to rebel against their masters during her confrontation face to face with the Imperium; her stand allowing several traitors to ambush the Imperium.

Near the end of the Yuuzhan Vong war, she and Han rescue Thorsh, a prisoner from the internment camps of planet Selvaris. Later, they enter with Jedi Master Kyp Durron, a Bothan secret agent named Wraw, and a few more allies on the planet Callulla. They find that Alpha Red is released on this world. During the battle with the Yuuzhan Vong warriors, she destroys a few Slayers and a Commander before being captured. The commando is eventually rescued by Lando Calrissian, Talon Karrde and Tendra, Lando’s wife.

When Zonama Sekot makes its existence known near Coruscant in The Final Prophecy, Han and Leia travel there to be reunited with the rest of their family. While there, they meet Harrar, a Yuuzhan Vong priest. Leia, Han, and a few companions work with Harrar and a group of heretics to get inside the Well of the World Brain on Coruscant.

After the destruction of Shimrra and Supreme Overlord Onimi, Nom Anor travels with the Solo family across the labyrinth to escape the mighty war vessel of the Master Shaper. However, the executor turns on them and shoots his venom towards Han, but Jacen catches the poison, saving his father from certain death. Leia engages the Prefect before he can eliminate her husband and her elder son. She proves victorious and cuts off the rogue Nom Anor’s arm. The princess and the former smuggler allow the executor to die on the mighty war vessel but do not witness his certain death.

Leia then gives up politics and becomes Han’s copilot, a position she holds for the next five years.

The Dark Nest

In The Joiner King, Han and Leia follow various Jedi who had disappeared into the Unknown Regions, and discover Raynar Thul is alive and had been taken in by a nest of Killiks. To avoid a war with the Chiss, Leia suggests to “UnuThul” (as Raynar was now known) that the Killik nest be moved to a new planet, but makes him think it is his idea. At this time, Leia comes to terms with her heritage and asks Saba Sebatyne to train her as a Jedi Knight, as per a promise Luke had made to her during the Thrawn crisis.

In The Unseen Queen, R2-D2 suffers some severe malfunctions and shows Luke a holoclip of his father and a pregnant woman, whom Luke learns is his and Leia’s real mother. In the holoclips, Anakin and Padm are discussing a dream of Anakin’s in which Padm dies in childbirth. Before Luke can get more info out of R2, the droid has a meltdown, claiming he is protecting information. Frustrated, Luke contacts master slicer Ghent, who manages to recover one other holoclip from R2, this time featuring a scene in which Padm is talking to Obi-Wan Kenobi about Anakin, which is displayed to both Luke and Leia. In The Swarm War, Luke and Leia finally see their mother’s death. Also, Sebatyne tells Leia to construct a new lightsaber to show she is a true Jedi Knight.

Later on in the novel, she defeats the evil Joiner Alema Rar, a former Jedi Knight. She defeats her and assumes that she is dead, although Alema was in fact still alive, but severely injured.

Leia and Han unknowingly become grandparents to Allana, Jacen’s daughter, but they finally find out the truth as of Fury.

The Legacy Era or the Second Galactic Civil War

During the Legacy of the Force series, Leia supports Han Solo, her husband, who feels allegiance to Corellia, even though she remains a Jedi Knight in the Jedi Order. However, they soon break from Corellia following the Corellian plot to assassinate Queen Mother Tenel Ka. Her own son, Jacen Solo (aka Darth Caedus), gradually falls to the Dark Side, becoming the next of the new Dark Lords of the Sith under the tutelage of Lumiya.

Initial rough concept sketch of Princess Leia

Character development

In the rough draft of A New Hope, Leia was a 14-year-old princess (the same age as Queen Amidala in The Phantom Menace), the spoiled daughter of King Kayos and Queen Breha of Aquilae. In that draft, she had two brothers, Biggs and Windy, whose identities were substantially revised into their current form by the fourth draft (though they did not appear in intervening versions). The later story synopsis established her as Leia Antilles, the daughter of Bail Antilles from the peaceful world of Organa Major. In the fourth draft the names were turned around so that Leia Organa came instead from Alderaan.

Characteristics

In a memorable scene from The Empire Strikes Back, romance blossoms between Han Solo and Princess Leia once the two kiss.

Princess Leia Organa is a driven, dedicated individual with a forcefulf not sometimes abrasiveersonality. She is professional in all respects, but occasionally relaxes her guard to let her strong compassion and quirky sense of humor show. The “petite, fair-skinned human female” is known perhaps as the most beautiful and remembered woman in the Star Wars universe. Leia was loved by Luke Skywalker (before their sibling relationship was discovered), Han Solo, Prince Xizor, Prince Isolder (before he met Tenejiel Djo) and others. In the Shadows of the Empire novels, Leia was seduced by the Crime Lord Xizor. He had the chance to steal some kisses from the young princess: Having possessed her with pheromones, Xizor kissed her with passion-but Chewbacca managed to break the seduction, allowing Leia to defeat the Crime Lord. Fellow crime boss Jabba the Hutt also had a one-sided relationship with Leia, and made her his cruelly treated pleasure slave; Leia, in response, despised the Hutt and killed him in revenge.

Although she is depicted in the original Star Wars trilogy as having very little experience in the ways of the Force, Leia was actually very capable, both physically and spiritually, in her own right. A woman warrior, she frequently took part in combat operations. She was an excellent marksman, missing rarely, if ever, with a blaster. She killed, among other villainous characters, the infamous Jabba the Hutt, choking him with the very chain that bound her to him; Leia is also responsible for Grand Admiral Thrawn’s death, since she turned the Noghri against him. By redeeming her brother and disrupting the Dark Side of Palpatine, she also helped bring about the destruction of the Clone Emperor. She even killed a Dark Jedi named Kueller with a blaster rifle, right before he was about to deal a fatal blow to Luke.

Though initially hesitant about her Jedi training, Leia was later taught various Force techniques, and would become a very proficient Jedi Knight after finishing her training under Luke’s guidance in 36 ABY. She eventually became a full-fledged member of the New Jedi Order, developing her lightsaber skills to the point where she could deflect blaster bolts back at attackers. Being the daughter of Anakin Skywalker, Leia’s full Force potential could easily be the same as her brother Luke’s.

Princess Leia Organa in popular culture

The “Cinnamon Bun Hairstyle”

Princess Leia, sporting her trademark “cinnamon buns” hairstyle and sporting blaster.

Leia’s well-known hairdo in A New Hope has been affectionately dubbed the “doughnut hairstyle”, or “cinnamon buns”, by many science fiction fans. Carrie Fisher herself has now commented directly on her character’s hairstyle in the UK TV show Bring Back Star Wars where she said she hated it as she felt it made her face look more round, and it took 2 hours every day to style the hair. Miss Piggy of Jim Henson’s Muppet Babies copied the hairdo using doughnuts in a Star Wars-centric episode of the series. Also, in one scene from Mel Brooks’ Spaceballs, Princess Vespa also appears to have the hairstyle, but reveals that she is actually merely wearing a large pair of headphones. In addition, in the parody film Thumb Wars, the role of Leia was filled by a character named Princess Bunhead, who, as the name implies, had two cinnamon rolls for hair. Finally, preceding all the other parodies, the short film Hardware Wars shows Chewchilla, the Wookiee Monster actually eating one of Princess Ann-Droid’s cinnamon buns.

In reality, however, Leia’s hairdo may not be as unique as it first appears. Young marriageable Hopi Indian women wear a very elaborate “Squash Blossom” hairdo that superficially resembles Princess Leia’s. It takes a hairdresser nearly one hour to create. George Lucas has even admitted as such, saying: “In the 1977 film, I was working very hard to create something different that wasn’t fashion, so I went with a kind of Southwestern Pancho Villa woman revolutionary look, which is what that is. The buns are basically from turn-of-the-century Mexico.”.

In Europe, a similar hairstyle still persists in the Spanish region of Valencia, and can be seen during the Falles festival.

In an episode of Full House, to hide the fact she got her ears pierced without permission, Stephanie covers her ears with her hair. Her hair is in the same style as Leia.

In the Disney Channel Original Movie Under Wraps, Amy shows up at a Halloween party dressed as Leia, sporting Leia’s traditional hairstyle.

Leia’s signature hairdo also inspired a recurring freshman gag at the U.S. Naval Academy. Along with “wildmans” and “assassinations,” the “Princess Leia” is another popular method for freshmen (Plebes) to taunt their superiors. The freshman smears peanut butter on a pair of hamburger bun halves or English muffin halves, sneaks up behind an upperclassman in the dining hall, and sticks them on the upperclassman’s ears. These dining hall pranks, however, have been discouraged in recent years.

Padme Amidala (Leia’s mother) sports a similar hairstyle in her first appearance in Revenge of the Sith.

The “Metal Bikini”

Leia wearing her iconic golden “metal bikini” slave outfit at Jabba’s palace. Leia’s appearance has been voted one of the most memorable swimsuit moments of cinema history.

The term “Metal Bikini” refers to the iconic slave girl costume worn by Princess Leia when she was held captive in Jabba the Hutt’s palace, at the beginning of Return of the Jedi. The skimpy costume consisted of a brass brassiere fastened over the neck and behind the back with string, a brass thong g-string panty, a red silk loincloth, and leather high-heeled boots. There were other various adornments, including a hair fastener, a snake arm-wrap and two bracelets. Last, there was the chain and collar that bound her to Jabba which, ironically, she uses to strangle him in the film.

It was like steel, not steel, but hard plastic, and if you stood behind me you could see straight to Florida. You’ll have to ask Boba Fett about that.

arrie Fisher

After her appearance wearing the “golden metal bikini”, Carrie Fisher (and thus Leia herself) almost immediately became a cult sex symbol. Leia’s metallic bikini scenes were voted by Empire magazine as among the most memorable in movie history. This phenomenon is noted in an episode of the sitcom Friends (“The One with the Princess Leia Fantasy”) in which Ross tells Rachel about his interest in the “golden bikini”.

According to the Internet Movie Database, Fisher had said that her costumes in the previous two films had been so long that viewers could not tell “she was a woman”, resulting in the skimpy outfit for Return of the Jedi. Costume Designer Aggie Guerard Rodgers noted that the inspiration for Leia’s slave outfit came from the artwork of famed fantasy and science fiction illustrator Frank Frazetta. Rodgers had a “no lingerie in space” policy which prevented Fisher from wearing a brassiere; adhesive tape was used in its place.

As the metal framework of the top did not fit to Fisher’s skin especially well, before each take someone made sure the actress’ breasts were properly covered. Several scenes had to be re-shot when “wardrobe malfunctions” occurred. An alternate, rubber version of the costume was created and used for stunts.

Despite the immortal status it has given her, Fisher has admitted that she initially objected to the costume, believing it made her appear subordinate to the male characters: “When they took my clothes off, put me in a bikini and shut me up, I thought it was a strong indication of what the third film was.” One Wired magazine editor concurs, stating the only reason for the outfit’s fame is “no doubt that the sight of Carrie Fisher in the gold sci-fi swimsuit was burned into the sweaty subconscious of a generation of fanboys hitting puberty in the spring of 1983.”

The sexy Princess Leia Slave costume continues to be worn every year at Halloween. The iconic sex symbol associated with Princess Leia has continued through costume wear, with videos and pictures being posted across the Internet year after year.

See also

Skywalker family

Solo family

Woman warrior

References

^ a b c d Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (DVD, 20th Century Fox, 2005), disc 1.

^ a b c Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, (DVD, 20th Century Fox, 2005), disc 1.

^ a b c d e f g Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (DVD, 20th Century Fox, 2005), disc 1.

^ In a 2005 interview with MTV News, Lucas confirmed: “Han and Leia did get married. They settled down. She became a senator, and they got a nice little house with a white picket fence. Han Solo is out there cooking burgers on the grill. Is that a movie? I don’t think so.”

^ The Star Wars Holiday Special, original CBS airing, November 17, 1978. Steve Binder, George Lucas.

^ Star Wars Insider 97

^ Checklist: 10 Strange Star Wars Magazine Covers – StarWars.com

^ Queen of the Empire, paperback edition, 1993. Paul Davids and Hollace Davids, ISBN ISBN 0-553-15891-0

^ a b c Heir to the Empire, paperback edition, 1992. Timothy Zahn, ISBN 0-553-40471-7

^ a b The Last Command, Paperback edition, 1994. Timothy Zahn, ISBN 0-553-56492-7

^ The Annotated Screenplays, softcover, 1997. George Lucas, Leigh Brackett, Lawrence Kasdan, Laurent Bouzereau.

^ The Making of Star Wars: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film

^ a b Perry, Steve (1996). Shadows of the Empire. Spectra. 

^ Tom Veitch, Dark Empire anthology (Dark Horse Comics, 1993), ISBN 1-56971-073-2.

^ The “Squash Blossom” hairstyle

^ More on the Hopi Indian “Squash Blossom” hairstyle.

^ Waukegan Historical Society.org – “The Hopi”

^ “So, What’s the Deal with Leia’s Hair?” – TIME magazine

^ Academy Cancels Herndon

^ “Slave Leia Makes It on E! TV Countdown”

^ Illustration of costume front – Leia’s Metal Bikini fanbase

^ Image of costume back – Leia’s Metal Bikini fanbase

^ Slave Leia costume on Wookieepedia: a Star Wars Wiki

^ Star Wars Insider 68

^ a b “The Cult of Leia’s Bikini” – Wired.com

^ a b Return of the Jedi trivia at the Internet Movie Database

^ Friends: “The One with the Princess Leia Fantasy” at the Internet Movie Database

^ “Carrie Fisher and bikini-clad Leia”

^ “Princess Leia Slave Costume”

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Princess Leia Organa

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Princess Leia Organa

Princess Leia in the Star Wars Databank

Leia Organa Solo on Wookieepedia: a Star Wars Wiki

Princess Leia at The World of Star Wars (yahoo.com)

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Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

Characters

Obi-Wan Kenobi  Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader  Padm Amidala  Palpatine/Darth Sidious (The Emperor)  Mace Windu  Yoda  Count Dooku  General Grievous  C-3PO  R2-D2  Chewbacca  Bail Organa  Jar Jar Binks  Battle droid  Clone trooper  Nute Gunray  Mon Mothma  Boss Nass  Luke Skywalker  Princess Leia Organa  Poggle the Lesser  Grand Moff Tarkin 

Events

Creation of the Galactic Empire  Great Jedi Purge  Alliance to Restore the Republic  Births of Luke and Leia

Planets

Coruscant  Kashyyyk  Utapau  Mygeeto  Felucia  Cato Neimoidia  Saleucami  Mustafar  Polis Massa  Naboo  Dagobah  Alderaan  Tatooine

Starships

Droid Starfighter  Droid Tri-Fighter  Escape Pod  Imperial Theta-class Shuttle  Jedi Starfighter  Naboo Star Skiff  Neimoidian Shuttle  Republic Assault Ship  Tantive IV  Techno Union starfighter  Trade Federation Battleship  Trade Federation Cruiser  Trade Federation Landing Craft  V-Wing Starfighter

Vehicles

Airspeeder  AT-AP  AT-OT  AT-RT  AT-TE  BARC Speeder  Clone Turbo Tank  Corporate Alliance Tank Droid  Coruscant Air Taxi  Droid Gunship  Emergency Firespeeder  Republic Assault Gunboat  Republic Gunship (LAAT)  Swamp Speeder  Trade Federation MTT  UT-AT  Wheel Bike  Wookiee Flying Catamaran  Wookiee Ornithopter

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Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope

Characters

Darth Vader  Luke Skywalker  Princess Leia Organa  Han Solo  Obi-Wan Kenobi  C-3PO  R2-D2  Chewbacca  Wedge Antilles  General Jan Dodonna  Boba Fett  Greedo  Jabba the Hutt  Jawa  Beru Lars  Owen Lars  Tusken Raiders  Stormtrooper  Grand Moff Tarkin 

Planets

Tatooine  Alderaan  Yavin IV

Cities

Mos Eisley

Starships

Escape Pod  Death Star  Imperial Landing Craft  Imperial Star Destroyer  Millennium Falcon  Outrider  Tantive IV  TIE Advanced x1  TIE Fighter  X-wing  Y-wing

Vehicles

Flare-S Swoop  Sandcrawler  T-16 Skyhopper  V-35 Landspeeder  X-34 Landspeeder

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Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

Characters

Darth Vader  Luke Skywalker  Princess Leia Organa  Han Solo  Obi-Wan Kenobi  C-3PO  R2-D2  Chewbacca  Lando Calrissian  Palpatine/Darth Sidious  Yoda  Boba Fett  2-1B  4-LOM  Wedge Antilles  Bossk  IG-88  Lobot  Admiral Firmus Piett  General Carlist Rieekan  Stormtrooper  Wampa

Planets

Hoth  Dagobah  Bespin

Starships

Escort Frigate  Imperial Lambda-class Shuttle  Imperial Star Destroyer  Millennium Falcon  Slave I  Super Star Destroyer  TIE Bomber  TIE Fighter  TIE Shuttle  X-wing  Y-wing

Vehicles

AT-AT  AT-ST  Snowspeeder  Twin-Pod Cloud Car

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Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi

Characters

Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker  Luke Skywalker  Princess Leia Organa  Han Solo  Obi-Wan Kenobi  Palpatine/Darth Sidious  C-3PO  R2-D2  Chewbacca  Yoda  Ewok  8D8  Admiral Ackbar  Wedge Antilles  Lando Calrissian  Salacious Crumb  Emperor’s Royal Guard  Boba Fett  Bib Fortuna  Gamorrean Guard  Jabba the Hutt  Moff Jerjerrod  Max Rebo Band  Mon Mothma  Nien Nunb  Oola  Admiral Firmus Piett  Rancor  Sarlacc  Stormtrooper  Wicket W. Warrick

Planets

Tatooine  Dagobah  Endor  Bespin  Coruscant  Naboo

Cities

Coruscant  Mos Eisley  Theed

Starships

A-wing  B-wing  Death Star II  Escort Frigate  Imperial Lambda-class shuttle  Imperial Star Destroyer  Millennium Falcon  Mon Calamari cruiser  Super Star Destroyer  Tantive IV  TIE bomber  TIE fighter  TIE interceptor  X-wing  Y-wing

Vehicles

AT-AT  AT-ST  Coruscant air taxi  Imperial Speeder Bike  Sail barge  Skiff  T-16 Skyhopper  Twin-Pod Cloud Car

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Star Wars Jedi Prince series

Titles

The Glove of Darth Vader The Lost City of the Jedi Zorba the Hutt’s Revenge Mission from Mount Yoda Queen of the Empire Prophets of the Dark Side

Characters

Admiral Ackbar C-3PO Lando Calrissian CB-99 Chewbacca Captain Dunwell Grand Moff Bertroff Hissa Ken Obi-Wan Kenobi MD-5 Mon Mothma Princess Leia Organa Luke Skywalker Han Solo R2-D2 Triclops Trioculus Zorba the Hutt Commodore Zuggs

Planets

Bespin Dagobah Duro Kessel Mon Calamari Tatooine Yavin IV Z’trop

Starships

Millennium Falcon Y-wing

People

Paul Davids and Hollace Davids Drew Struzan

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Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

Projects

Video game Novel Video game sequel

Characters

Galen Marek Bail Organa Princess Leia Organa Palpatine R2-D2 Shaak Ti Darth Vader

Planets

Bespin Coruscant Felucia Kashyyyk Raxus Prime

Ships

Death Star Imperial Star Destroyer

People

George Lucas Matt Sloan Jimmy Smits Adrienne Wilkinson Samuel Witwer

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Star Wars

Main films

Original trilogy: IV: A New Hope  V: The Empire Strikes Back  VI: Return of the Jedi

Prequel trilogy: I: The Phantom Menace  II: Attack of the Clones  III: Revenge of the Sith

Sequel trilogy

Spin-off films

Holiday Special  Caravan of Courage  The Battle for Endor  The Great Heep  The Clone Wars  The Quest for R2-D2

Television series

Droids  Ewoks  Clone Wars  The Clone Wars  Live-action TV series

Other media

Books  Comics  Radio  Video games  Music  Expanded Universe  Shadows of the Empire  The Force Unleashed  Star Tours

Universe

Characters  Locations  Creatures  Vehicles  Conflicts  Dates

Categories: Fictional adoptees | Fictional diplomats | Fictional orphans | Fictional politicians | Fictional princesses | Fictional royalty | Fictional senators | Fictional slaves | Fictional twins | Fictional women soldiers and warriors | Star Wars characters | 1977 introductionsHidden categories: Articles that need to differentiate between fact and fiction from October 2008 | All articles that need to differentiate between fact and fiction | Articles needing additional references from January 2008 | All articles needing additional references | Articles lacking reliable references from September 2007 | All articles lacking reliable references

Originally published here.

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Maruti has retained the same suspension set-up for the Alto k10. However the Alto K10 rides on larger profile 155/60 R13″ rubber. The car absorbs road shock and undulations well at low speeds. But as the speed raises, it insulates less and put the passengers directly in the line of shocks. Wheelbas remains at 2360mm though the length has increased by 125mm. The cabin remains the same, however Maruti has intelligently gained space by shaving the back rest of front seats. Result, the rear passengers has 50mm more knee room. All the seats comes with integrated head rest.

Maruti Alto  K10 gets a new three-spoke steering wheel and comes with power steering. It is neither finger touch nor tight. Gear lever and steering wheel doesn’t transmit vibration even at high speeds. For this segment, Alto K10 sports commendable handling chracteristics. Out on the Bangalore highway, the superior flat out performance is complemented by stable handling. On the twisties and hairpin bends to Nandi hills, Alto K10 feels sure footed. We don’t expect an entry level car to behave like a Swift or punto. For this segment, Alto K10 boast commendable handling characteristics. Credit partly goes to lower body profile.

Maruti Alto K10

Features:

Power steering,internally adjustable ORVM, power windows for front passengers, stylish gear knob, key reminder, remote boot opener,central locking,accessory socket and remote fuel lid opener. Alto K10 instrument panel comes with amber illuminated speedometer, tachometer and an electronic trip meter. <Plastic quality remains the same. Yet, the vibrant blue colour upholstery and colour coordinated door trim fabric gives an upmarket feel. Storage space is decent — cup holders, twin glove boxes and door pockets. Boot comes with a nice parcel tray.  Build quality is also good. <Maruti Alto k10 will come in two variants — Alto k10 lxi and Alto k10 Vxi. Alto k10 comes in sunlight copper (new colour), white, black and ecru beige. Maruti will sell the Alto K10 along with the Alto 800cc. We expect a price increase between Rs30,000 — Rs40,000 for the new Alto k10.

Originally published here.

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