Do a quick Google search for “first female ‘Star Wars’ villain,” and almost all the references are to Captain Phasma from “Episode VII: The Force Awakens.” This is because actress Gwendoline Christie referred to her character – a member of the movie’s villainous First Order – in this way throughout the press junkets.
It’s unclear if she was honestly mistaken or if she was repeating what Disney told her (or both), but it’s clear that Disney never bothered to correct her. All of the mainstream media repeated the description, unquestioningly.
For longtime “Star Wars” fans, the Phasma debacle is a prime example of how a lie can become “truth” if pushed by propaganda and unchallenged by lazy media. But it also raises an interesting question: Who really is the first female “Star Wars” villain? It depends on what qualifiers we use.
Yet it’s clear at a casual glance that at least 10 characters can stake the claim to “first female ‘Star Wars’ villain” more so than Captain Phasma can. Here’s a closer look at the candidates:
1. First female “Star Wars” villain in any media: Jolli
Marvel Issue 7 (“New Planets, New Perils!”), October 1977 on-sale date
To determine the first female villain to appear in any “Star Wars” fiction, we have to go through the earliest releases. The 1977 film didn’t feature any female villains. In October 1977, the first spin-off fiction appeared: Marvel Issue 7 (following the six-issue movie adaptation) and Pizzazz Issue 1 (featuring a serialized “Star Wars” comic). The latter doesn’t feature any female villains.
But Marvel Issue 7 does: Jolli, a member of Crimson Jack’s pirate team, pulls a gun on Han and Chewie just five pages into the story. Jolli’s primary trait – an inexplicable hatred of men – is shallow, but she does undergo somewhat of an arc in Issues 11-15 as she realizes she hates her boss just as much as she hates other men. Created by Roy Thomas and Howard Chaykin, and given more characterization by Archie Goodwin, Jolli is not a particularly great character, but she is – strictly speaking — the first female “Star Wars” villain, beating Phasma by 38 years.
2. First female “Star Wars” villain associated with the Empire: Thalassa Tarkin
Russ Manning’s newspaper strips, November 1979
One thing that Captain Phasma has on Jolli is that she’s a member of the Empire (or technically, the First Order, which seems to have spun off from the Empire). That raises the question: “Who was the first female Imperial?” Before we get to that, though, in late 1979 we were introduced to a couple of female villains who were associated with the Empire but not strictly members of the Empire.
Thalassa Tarkin, widow of Grand Moff Tarkin, harasses our heroes in Russ Manning’s newspaper strip, “Princess Leia, Imperial Servant,” in November 1979, slightly before Domina Tagge is introduced in Marvel Issue 35 (“Dark Lord’s Gambit,” February 1980 on-sale date). The House of Tagge is a corporation in bed with the Empire but not strictly part of the Empire.
3. First female “Star Wars” villain directly employed by the Empire: Captain Zeta Traal
Marvel Issue 49 (“The Last Jedi”), April 1981 on-sale date
“The Empire Strikes Back” didn’t feature any female Imperials, nor did the first four Expanded Universe novels (“Splinter of the Mind’s Eye” and the “Han Solo Adventures” trilogy), nor did Russ Manning’s newspaper strips or the first Goodwin/Williamson newspaper strip. Marvel finally came through by introducing Captain Zeta Traal, an Imperial officer in the classic self-serving, power-hungry mold. This issue marks Traal’s only appearance, though.
4. First female “Star Wars” villain to have a substantial character arc: Shira Brie/Lumiya
Marvel Issue 56 (“Coffin in the Clouds”), November 1981 on-sale date
When we first meet her, Shira appears to be a Rebel who has a thing for Luke. But it turns out she is actually a loyal servant of the Empire – and specifically Darth Vader – who has infiltrated the Rebellion and plotted to discredit Luke. Shira – who later re-emerges as Lumiya, Dark Lady of the Sith, in both the Marvel comics and the “Legacy of the Force” novels — is the first female “Star Wars” villain to have a Wookieepedia entry that can’t be absorbed at a mere glance.
5. First female “Star Wars” villain in a movie: EV-9D9
“Return of the Jedi,” May 1983
By the time the third movie rolled around, “Star Wars” finally delivered a big-screen female villain — sort of. EV-9D9 is a droid with female programming. Although voiced by director Richard Marquand, it seems she was always intended to be female, as James Kahn’s novelization describes her as such. Yeardley Smith (Lisa on “The Simpsons”) voiced EV-9D9 in the 1996 radio drama and she is again portrayed as female in “Tales from Jabba’s Palace.”
Granted, this is a sketchy entry, because someone could legitimately claim that droids aren’t “male” or “female,” they are machines. It’s not much more legitimate than determining that the Rancor is a female and declaring that to by the first female screen villain. Admittedly, we can do better (and we will).
6. First female “Star Wars” villain performed by an actress: Morag
“Ewoks,” September 1985
The first “Ewoks” movie, 1984’s “Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure,” didn’t feature a female villain, but the “Ewoks” cartoon featured one in its first episode, “The Cries of the Trees.” Morag, a longtime enemy of Logray, is in fact the major villain of the show’s first season. Morag is voiced by Jackie Burroughs in each of her four appearances, making her the first actress in any medium to play a “Star Wars” villain.
7. First female “Star Wars” villain in a movie (who isn’t a droid): Charal
“Ewoks: The Battle for Endor,” November 1985
Finally, Charal, the second-in-command to Marauder leader Terak, is the first unambiguously female villain in a live-action role. Charal was later retconned to be a Nightsister, just like “The Clone Wars” villains Asajj Ventress and Mother Talzin. Sian Phillips plays Charal, so she has a clear claim to being the first female villain in a “Star Wars” movie, beating Christie by more than three decades.
8. First female “Star Wars” villain in an episodic movie (the ones with roman numerals in the title) (who isn’t a droid): Aurra Sing
“Episode I: The Phantom Menace,” May 1999
Aurra Sing makes a brief cameo, watching the podrace through binoculars. There’s no indication in the movie itself that she’s a villain, but she was always intended to be one, as she was first sketched as “Babe Fett” by Lucasfilm’s Doug Chiang. The “Republic” comics soon delved into her villainy, later followed by “The Clone Wars.” In the movie, Aurra is played by Michonne Bourriague, who can legitimately claim to be the first female villain in an episodic “Star Wars” film, beating Christie by 16 years. Jamie King then voiced the character in “The Clone Wars” TV series.
9. First female “Star Wars” villain in an episodic movie (the ones with roman numerals in the title) (who isn’t a droid) (and who is clearly portrayed as a villain): Zam Wesell
“Episode II: Attack of the Clones,” May 2002
While Aurra Sing doesn’t have an on-screen villainous arc, Zam Wesell certainly does, as she tries to kill Padme, then leads Anakin and Obi-Wan on a chase around the skylanes of Coruscant before being killed by rival bounty hunter Jango Fett. Although Zam is a changeling, and not human, she is consistently portrayed as female and usually prefers her human form.
Leeanna Walsman plays Zam, and she has a good claim to being the first female villain in an episodic “Star Wars” film to have a substantial arc. Indeed, her arc is at least of equal significance to that of Captain Phasma. Really, the only difference between the two characters’ significance is that Phasma was hyped up in press junkets, whereas Zam was not. Still, Walsman beat Christie to a role as a “Star Wars” villain by 13 years.
10. First female “Star Wars” villain in canonical Disney materials to have a substantial character arc: Asajj Ventress
“The Clone Wars,” August 2008
While Disney declared most non-episodic-movie materials non-canon in 2014, “The Clone Wars” TV series (and its introductory movie) did make the cut. As such, Nika Futterman’s turn as Dathomiri Nightsister Asajj Ventress – apprentice of Dooku, enemy of Obi-Wan, and ultimately an ally-by-circumstance of the Jedi – is the most significant canonical arc for a female villain, beating out Aurra Sing (who has a lesser role in the series) and blowing away Zam Wesell and (so far) Captain Phasma.
Clearly, Christie’s and Disney’s repeated claim that Captain Phasma is the first female “Star Wars” villain is false, and it remains false even when several qualifiers are added. If Phasma returns in “Episode VIII” – and one has to assume she will, given the amount of hype for a character with a relatively small role in “The Force Awakens” – then Christie will be able to make a legitimate claim: Phasma will be the first female “Star Wars” villain to appear in multiple films.
But until then, I think she should show a little more respect to Walsman, Phillips, Burroughs, Futterman, King, Bourriague and all the other performers, writers and artists who paved the way for the so-called “first” female “Star Wars” villain.