the Hutt's palace as a dancing girl to assassinate Luke Skywalker under orders of the Emperor, but misses her chance after Jabba drops him into the Rancor's lair then escapes. Mara was portrayed by model Shannon McRandle (as Shannon Baksa) on several cards in the Star Wars Customizable Card Game. She is a playable character in Star Wars: Masters of Teräs Käsi,. Star Wars Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith, Star Wars: Empire at War and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (Wii version). Meeting her was also a mission objective in the defunct massively multiplayer online game Star Wars Galaxies. She also narrates the Imperial campaign in Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds. She was portrayed by Denise Donovan in the Team Starkid musical parody Ani. Canonicity In 2008, when franchise creator George Lucas said there would be no sequel trilogy, he explained that plot elements from the Expanded Universe were not part of his story, saying, "Luke doesn't get married". With the 2012 acquisition of Lucasfilm by The Walt Disney Company, most of the licensed Star Wars novels and comics produced since the originating 1977 film Star Wars were re-branded as Star Wars Legends and declared non-canon to the franchise in April 2014. Reception Mara Jade was chosen by IGN as the 19th top Star Wars character. IGNs Jesse Schedeen also listed the character as the top 10th Star Wars hero, noting she "entered the Expanded Universe early, and she stuck around for so long because she's just a great character". UGO Networks called the character the seventh top Star Wars Expanded Universe character, calling her complex. In a 1998 Star Wars Insider poll of fans' favorite Star Wars characters, Mara was the only expanded universe character to break the top 20. In 2006, Zahn called Mara and Grand Admiral Thrawn his favorite characters out of those he created, saying "Mara, with her attitude and her Jedi skills, is just plain fun to write, especially in opposition—or in partnership—with Luke." References External links Literary characters introduced in 1991 Female characters in literature Star Wars Legends characters Star Wars literary characters Star Wars Jedi characters Fictional female assassins Fictional space pilots Fictional secret agents and spies Fictional super soldiers Fictional women soldiers and warriors Fictional special forces personnel Fictional soldiers Fictional smugglers Space pirates Fictional regents Fictional female martial artists Fictional waiting staff Fictional dancers Fictional information brokers Fictional defectors