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Jaina Solo is a fictional character from the Star Wars Expanded Universe, the eldest child of Han Solo and Leia Organa Solo. She is also the elder twin of Jacen by five minutes and the sister of Anakin.

Creation and development (out-of-universe history)

The characters of Jaina Solo and her twin brother Jacen were created by author Timothy Zahn for the novel The Last Command, which was published in 1994. The young twins played a small role in Kevin J. Anderson's Jedi Academy trilogy, and a larger supporting role in Vonda McIntyre's The Crystal Star. Not until the dawn of the Young Jedi Knights series in 1995 that Jaina Solo and her friends became major characters in their own right.

Biography (in-universe history)

Pre-birth

Even before she and her brother are born, their uncle Luke Skywalker can sense their strong presence in the Force and the two share an almost inseparable bond. Jaina is characterised as a brilliant pilot and mechanic with a fiery personality.

Childhood

The older Solo twin is born five minutes before her brother Jacen in The Thrawn Trilogy. She is named after Han's mother. The twins, and eventually their younger brother, are sent to live at various safe havens for their first few years, under the protection of Leia's handmaiden Winter. A majority of their time is spent on New Alderaan and Anoth.

In the Young Jedi Knights series, the twins return to Coruscant and have many (mis)adventures there. They once get lost in the underworld of Imperial City with C-3PO but are quickly rescued and returned to their mother, by now the Chief of State of the New Republic. In Dark Apprentice, Jaina helps her brother defend their unconscious uncle from the spirit of Sith Lord Exar Kun. In The Crystal Star, Jaina is kidnapped by Lord Hethrir, the Imperial Procurator of Justice, and used along with her siblings in a plot to take advantage of their Force powers. Their parents and uncle eventually arrive to rescue them. Not long afterward, Jaina is again kidnapped, this time by Corellian insurrectionist Thrackan Sal-Solo, her father's cousin. Jaina leads the escape this time, freeing herself and her siblings from their cells before Thracken can barter with his hostages.

Jedi Academy Years (21-22 ABY – 24 ABY)

In the Jedi Academy series, Jaina travels to Yavin 4 with her brother to begin her Jedi training. Jaina is an exceptional pilot and enjoys building things, especially working on ships. She and her brother befriend Lowbacca the Wookiee and the warrior princess Tenel Ka, learning Jedi techniques quickly and going through many trials.

In Heirs of the Force, Jacen and Jaina discover a crashed TIE Fighter from the Battle of Yavin. Jaina fixes the ship and installs a hyperdrive which had been given to her as a gift by her father. She begins working on the damaged fighter with help from Jacen, Lowbacca, and Tenel Ka. The TIE's original pilot, Qorl, is still alive, however, and had lived the last 23 years in Yavin 4's jungles. Qorl kidnaps the twins and forces them to finish repairing his ship so he can escape his exile. The twins eventually escape, but so does Qorl, leaving the jungle moon behind and searching for any remnants of the Galactic Empire.

Qorl discovers the Shadow Academy, a training ground for Dark Jedi under the command of one of Luke Skywalker's fallen students, Brakiss, and the remains of the Dathomiri Nightsisters. These elements of the so-called Second Imperium kidnap Jaina, but she, Jacen, and Lowbacca prove resistant to the temptations of the dark side. They are rescued by Luke Skywalker and Tenel Ka.

The friends return to Coruscant for a short vacation, and are reunited with the twins' childhood friend, Zekk. They are happy to see Zekk, but the boy is soon recruited by the Shadow Academy, who discovers before the twins that the boy has Force potential. They force Zekk to fight Jacen and Jaina several times; this is especially troubling for Jaina, who harbors romantic feelings for him. She tries to bring Zekk to the light side, to no avail. Jaina and her friends finally progress far enough to be tasked with building their first lightsabers.

Not long afterward, the Jedi trainees and the Shadow Academy have their final confrontation on Yavin 4. Jaina and Jacen bring down the Shadow Academy and the Second Imperium forever.

Throughout the series, Jacen and Jaina continue their Jedi training on Yavin 4, meeting new friends like Raynar Thul. They cannot convince Zekk to stay at the academy with them, but they remain his friends. With his and Raynar's help, they run into their first discovery of a new threat to the New Republic, the Diversity Alliance, and alien anti-human group that is building up massive support among peoples that had been oppressed by the Empire. They are led by a Twi'lek Nolaa Tarkona, the sister of Oola, who was murdered by Jabba the Hutt in Return of the Jedi.

When Lowbacca misguidedly joins the Diversity Alliance, Jaina is kidnapped and held captive along with her friends on the planet Ryloth. They all eventually escape to its harsh surface, however.

The Jedi padawans catch up with Raynar's father, Bornan, to race the Diversity Alliance fleet to an Imperial storehouse hidden in the Deep Core. There is hidden a supply of diseases created by General Evir Derricote almost two decades before. Tarkona wishes to unleash a plague against humans and wipe them all out, but Jaina stops him with help from her fellow Jedi, as well as traitorous members of the Diversity Alliance. In the end, the plague is destroyed, and Tarkona herself succumbs to one of the diseases on a faraway planet.

Yuuzhan Vong War (25 ABY – 30 ABY)

"I name you the Sword of the Jedi… Yours is a restless life, and never shall you know peace, though you shall be blessed for the peace that you bring to others. Take comfort in the fact that, though you stand tall and alone, others take shelter in the shadow you cast." — Luke Skywalker

Throughout the New Jedi Order series, Jaina begins to have a separate life from her twin brother, and becomes her aunt Mara Jade Skywalker's apprentice. Jaina grows very close to Mara, and sometimes even makes her mother wish that they had spent more time together while Jaina was a child. Jaina progresses quickly as a Jedi and a pilot, travelling on missions with her aunt and even being given opportunities to fly Mara's beloved starship, Jade Shadow.

Her skills behind the controls of an X-wing earn her a position in Rogue Squadron during the war with the Yuuzhan Vong. Flying as Rogue Eleven, Jaina goes by the nickname "Sticks." While at Ithor, Jaina meets a fellow pilot named Jagged Fel, an ally of the New Republic flying with the Chiss Expansionary Defense Force. She develops feelings for him, struck by his piloting skill and icy cool demeanor.

Though Jaina does not always agree with her twin, she tends to be the balance between Jacen and their younger brother, Anakin. Their mother considers Jaina the most pragmatic of her children, not being crippled with indecision like Jacen or plunging rashly into action like Anakin. This serves her well during the Yuuzhan Vong War, helping her survive and escape the Jedi strike team mission to Myrkr in Star by Star. Her brothers are not so fortunate: Anakin is killed and Jacen is captured.

Jaina briefly turns to the Dark Side after the disastrous Myrkr mission and becomes the apprentice of fallen Jedi Kyp Durron. Though she is attracted to the older Jedi Master, she does not agree with his methods and leaves his tutelage to return to the Jedi. She and Kyp nevertheless remain very close friends.

In Dark Journey, Jaina steals a Yuuzhan Vong vessel, the Ksstarr. With Coruscant conquered by the Yuuzhan Vong, she leads the remnants of the Jedi strike force to the Hapes Cluster. On Hapes, Jaina is embroiled in court intrigue, as the scheming former Queen Mother Ta'a Chume tries to orchestrate a marriage between her son, Prince Isolder, and Jaina, in a failed bid to replace the current Queen Mother Teneniel Djo. Jaina is pleased with the outcome of the situation, however, when her friend Tenel Ka becomes the new Queen Mother.

By closely examining the Ksstarr, Jaina realizes a fundamental underpinning of Yuuzhan Vong spacefaring technology: bodies in space are recognized by their unique gravitic signature. She explores plans to use that knowledge against the Yuuzhan Vong. Her risky tests prove successful, and her deceptive tactics wreak havoc with the Yuuzhan Vong's ability to identify friends and foes, prompting her to rename the vessel Trickster. Jaina gains a reputation as a ruthless warrior thanks to crafty disinformation spread by New Republic agents. The Yuuzhan Vong associate Jaina with their trickster goddess, something New Republic commanders wholeheartedly encourage by referring to her as "Goddess," "Great One," and similar mockingly grandiose nicknames.

Jaina fights tirelessly through campaigns at Borleias, Obroa-skai and Ebaq 9, flying alongside Jag Fel. The two tentatively explore their feelings for one another, risking love against a backdrop of war. She achieves the rank of lieutenant colonel, and is assigned flying escort for her parents' mission of reuniting the fragments of the former New Republic under the new banner of the Galactic Alliance.

While her uncle, aunt, and brother mount a search for the legendary living planet of Zonama Sekot, Jaina travels with her parents to various regions of the galaxy that had lost contact with the Core as a result of the war. She is present on Bakura during the surprise resurgence of the Ssi-ruuk Imperium, where she is kidnapped by the treacherous Bakuran Deputy Prime Minister Blaine Harris. She eventually escapes, and was instrumental in foiling Ssi-ruuk's attempt to conquer the planet.

Jaina later flies under the command of Wedge Antilles during his disastrous campaign to retake the Bilbringi shipyards from the Yuuzhan Vong. During the battle, Jaina's squadron discovers a cloaked battle station manned by pirates who survived the Yuuzhan Vong's initial assault on the system. The pirates kidnap Jaina and hold her hostage as they plan their escape, but she uses the Force to trick them into fleeing in the wrong direction: into the thick of the battle itself. Jaina is eventually rescued when Han Solo boards the station and frees her.

Jaina also plays a key role during the final battle of the Yuuzhan Vong War as the Galactic Alliance fights to retake Coruscant. She, Jacen, and Luke besiege the Supreme Overlord Shimrra's citadel, breaching its defense and cutting their way through the legions of Yuuzhan Vong warriors in their way. Though Jaina finds herself outmatched by Shimrra's elite "slayers" when she and her fellow Jedi reach the Supreme Overlord's throne room, she realizes the hidden threat posed by Onimi, Shimrra's unassuming court jester. As her brother and uncle battle Shimrra and his guards, she pursues the crippled clown, only to find herself paralyzed and kidnapped as Onimi turns the tables on her and reveals himself to be the true Supreme Overlord. Holding Jaina hostage in the citadel's escape ship, Supreme Overlord Onimi is on the verge of fleeing when Jacen appears and, using the power of the Force in a way no one had before him, defeats Onimi and rescues his sister. After the deaths of Onimi and Shimrra, the rest of the Yuuzhan Vong force at Coruscant surrenders to the Galactic Alliance, bringing the war to an end.

Despite Jag's admission of his love for her, Jaina decides that it is not yet time for her to settle down. She tells Jag that she has to ensure that the galaxy becomes a better place for future generations, especially her own children. They share one final, passionate kiss before going their separate ways.

Dark Nest Crisis (35 ABY – 36 ABY)

In The Joiner King, she, along with her brother and a group of Jedi, return to the Unknown Regions after being called by the Force. There they discover that Raynar Thul had survived, and had been joined to a Killik hive. Jaina and Zekk also join the Killiks and become Joiners — non-Killiks absorbed into the Killik hive mind. Their actions during the Battle of Qoribu get them expelled from the Taat nest.

In The Swarm War, Jaina and Zekk — still Joined with each other — are tricked by Jacen into attacking a Chiss base to provoke a war between the Chiss and the Killiks. Jaina is furious, and vows that she would never fly with Jacen again.

By the end of the series, she and Zekk are partially un-Joined.

Legacy of the Force 40 ABY+

Jaina appears in the beginning of the Legacy of the Force series at Corellia. In Tempest, Jaina ends Zekk's hopes of a potential relationship. Around the same time, Jagged Fel, her old flame, reappears. Jaina fights on Corellia with several other Jedi, trying to capture Thrackan Sal-Solo and Aidel Saxan. The attempt fails, and Jaina later fights in the Battle of Tralus, where she is pitted against her father, who retreats without her knowledge.

A few days thereafter, her brother Jacen is given command of her wing during the blockade of Corellia. He orders her to fire on a transport that had tried to break the blockade and had fired upon them. Jaina refuses to destroy the frigate, saying that the vessel was crippled and no longer poses a threat while her brother continues to order her to finish the job to make an example for the Corellians. She refuses again and Jacen destroys the vessel himself, stripping Jaina of her rank and having her thrown out of the Galactic Alliance Navy.

After this incident, she confides in her father that she can feel a growing darkness in Jacen through their Force bond.

In Exile, she is 'reunited' with Jag Fel, who is embittered at her because she had shot him down and was indirectly involved with his expulsion from the Academy. Luke agrees to help Jag try to reclaim his honor by reigning in Alema Rar. Luke assigns Jaina and Zekk to help Jag. A love triangle develops as Jag and Zekk compete for Jaina.

See also

• Solo family
• Skywalker family
• Han Solo
• Leia Organa
• Jacen Solo
• Luke Skywalker
• Padmé Amidala
• Anakin Skywalker
• Darth Vader

References

1. Casting Call - Jaina Solo
2. Jaina Solo Behind the Scenes on Star Wars: Databank

External links

• Jaina Solo on the Star Wars Databank
• Jaina Solo on Wookieepedia, a Star Wars wiki

• Articles lacking sources from September 2007
• Misplaced Pages articles with plot summary needing attention from January 2008
• Star Wars New Republic characters
• Jedi
• Fictional aviators
• Fictional twins