10 Important Cyborgs Of 'Star Wars'

Star Wars

Feb 5

Cybernetic augmentation is a common feature in the Star Wars galaxy. It allows those with debilitating injuries to restore a great part of their movement or other functions impacted by their missing limb, organ, or other features. Some are criminals, others are heroes, and many more blur the line. Today on CultureSlate, we look at ten important cyborgs in the Star Wars galaxy.

10. Dr. Mkampa

Fans of The High Republic will remember the villainous Dr. Mkampa from her last-minute introduction into Phase 1 of the initiative, though she has also played a role in Phase 3. A woman driven to pursue all types of science, at any cost, the results of that drive have led to extensive cybernetics across her entire body. Capable of great speed and physical exertion, Mkampa is also a downright evil genius with enormous scientific and technological skills even if she is outmatched against characters like Avon Sunvale. Regardless, she is one of the Nihil’s allies who seems steadfast in her loyalty, no doubt driven by how supporting such an unscrupulous force gives her the ability to follow her unscrupulous research paths.

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9. Magna Tolvan

Introduced nearly a decade ago in 2017’s Doctor Aphra, Magna Tolvan was a rising star within the Empire’s military and was once a protege of Imperial Inspector Thanoth. Her run-ins with Aphra (and later, romance) weakened her connection with the Empire, and made her a traitor, causing her to leave and join the Rebel Alliance instead. She is fastidious and devoted, while her cybernetics are extensive and visible at all times. A complete list of these enhancements is not currently available, but we can suspect her limbs are the main recipient of her enhancements given the gleaming bodysuit of metal that covers them, while some neutral component also likely exists given the lights or sensors located at the edge of the suit located on her head.

8. KB

One of the newest cyborgs to Star Wars canon, KB was a girl from the mysterious world of At Attin who suffered a terrible accident at some point in her past that resulted in extensive cybernetics being implanted inside of her head. KB was friends with Fern, and the two girls worked well together despite KB keeping silent about some of her struggles due to her implants. Her unexpected adventure into the wider galaxy left her implants vulnerable to degradation though, and on the world of Lanupa, fellow At Attiner Wim just barely saved her life when she needed emergency repairs. She functioned perfectly well after this point and ultimately helped save the day by contacting the New Republic.

7. Lobot

Lobot has a long history with both his cybernetics and Lando Calrissian. Hired by the Empire to run simulations for them, he chose to be installed with the AJ^6 cyborg construct, the headband design his appearance in The Empire Strikes Back introduced to Star Wars, but which later appeared in Rebels on several characters and in The Bad Batch through our next entry to this list. Much like the characters in Rebels though, Lobot’s implants eventually changed him for the worse. His original personality was suppressed after he sustained grievous damage in a mission with Lando, and only through complex events in Marvel’s Star Wars (2020) comic run did he regain that part of himself again. Lobot remained at Lando’s side through it all though, and his future after the Battle of Jakku is another chapter yet to be written for this secondary, though notable, background character.

6. Echo

One of the most prominent figures on this list, Echo, was a Clone Star Wars fans got to know well through The Clone Wars due to his appearance across several seasons of the show. He supposedly died in Season 4 but was later revealed to have been captured and given to the Techno Union for experimentation. Through extensive cybernetic augmentation related to his arm and brain, they extracted battlefield strategies they supplied to the Separatists. These terrible circumstances came to an end when Echo was rescued, but he had been greatly changed by his experience. Now a member of the Bad Batch, Echo remained with the group after the rise of the Empire, using his ability to connect to data ports and more, before he later left to help Captain Rex’s efforts to save Clone Troopers being detained and experimented on by the Empire. He remained in contact with the Batch and Omega, but his fate is currently unknown.

5. Beilert Valance

One of the longest-existing cyborgs in the Star Wars universe, Beilert Valance was a character created by Marvel Comics decades ago who had since returned to canon and has received a lot of focus over the years. Originally just a poor miner’s son, he joined the Imperial Military where he became a squadmate to Han Solo. The two butted heads, but when Beilert was left for dead by the rest of the Empire, Han, and the squad risked everything to come and save him. Beilert’s injuries were extensive, to the point of requiring facial reconstruction, with half of his body replaced by cybernetic parts. He was drummed out of the Imperial Military following these events, but Beilert never forgot what Solo had done for him while he transitioned his life to that of a bounty hunter. By The Empire Strikes Back, Beilert had become active in the galaxy, looking to repay Han for their age-old debt and rescue him from carbonite. Almost entirely a machine by that point, he was rescued from the control of Darth Vader and went on to keep helping the heroes, and is set to appear in the new main comic run from Star Wars in 2025. We’ll have to see what is next for Valance.

4. Fennec Shand

Fennec represents one of the few on-screen depictions of cybernetics being installed into a main character of the Star Wars franchise. A peerless bounty hunter over two decades before she first appeared in The Mandalorian, Fennec crossed paths with the Bad Batch, before later on going to become an assassin wanted by even the ISB by the time of the era post-Endor. While hiding out on Tatooine to escape a bounty placed on her, Din Djarin and Toro Calican tracked her down and were initially set to bring her in alive. However, Fennec’s attempt to manipulate Calican went wrong, and he shot her, leaving her for dead and pursuing a different prize. It was then that the nomad Boba Fett found her, and brought the woman to the Mods of Mos Espa, intent on saving her life. The gut shot Calican delivered to her required extensive surgery to her midsection, but she pulled through. Choosing to remain with Boba, Fennec became his ally in recovering his ship, recovering his armor, and helping Din Djarin, before becoming his number two when he sought to set up leadership over Tatooine. That is where we last saw her, and like a few other cyborgs on this list, there is surely more to tell of her story soon.

3. Count Vidian

Only appearing in one novel, but with a reputation and dark impact that puts him near the top of this list, Count Denetrius Vidian was once a simple safety inspector. But after suffering horribly due to a degenerative disease that laid him low, he was reborn, with a burning hatred for the corruption he saw within the business sector. He clawed his way to the top using savvy investments before the rise of the Galactic Empire and translated his reputation into a role within the administration on matters of manufacturing and resource extraction. His expertise made him valued, but he was also now callous, focused on his own goals, and manipulated his data to ensure his recommendations were accepted. He ultimately ran afoul of not just Hera Syndulla and Kanan Jarrus, but then-Captain Rae Sloane. His efforts to destroy an entire moon in orbit of the world of Gorse, where he’d contracted his disease many years ago, failed, and he perished in an explosion set by a veteran of the Clone Wars who had been trying to save the moon alongside Hera and Kanan. Vidian’s cybernetic suite was significant, his body sheathed in a steel layer interlaced with cortosis, an electronic voice box, comlinks in his ears, eye implants to access data streams and camera feeds, and obviously, significant strength to boot.

2. General Grievous

One of the most infamous generals of the Clone Wars, General Grievous hardly needs an introduction. A Kaleesh warrior who “improved” his body to the point of having lost almost all of his organic components, Grievous was trained by Count Dooku in lightsaber combat and claimed many as trophies across countless fields of battle throughout the war. Able to scuttle on all fours, separate his two arms into four, and in possession of a few other enhancements, Grievous was a Jedi-killing weapon that was also a competent enough general if he had the right resources. In the end, though, he was shot and killed by Obi-Wan Kenobi after the Battle of Coruscant during the Battle of Utapau, and not felled in some glorious lightsaber engagement as he no doubt might have preferred.

1. Darth Vader

He needs no introduction, no spiel. Darth Vader is one of the most fearsome beings in Star Wars, equal parts tragic and monstrous. Sealed into a suit of armor created by a cadre of experts under Sidious’ control, they repaired his broken form with artificial limbs and helped him breathe after the intense damage of Mustafar ruined his lungs. In subsequent years, Vader would rebuild himself countless times, his existing knowledge of technology helping him in these efforts and eventually overcoming technological failsafes secretly added into his enhancements. In the end, his cybernetics proved no hindrance to him over the 23 years he terrorized the galaxy.

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