TOP 10 STAR WARS VILLAINS WHO BECAME HEROES

I love a good redemption story, and Star Wars has had a lot of them. There's something incredibly satisfying about watching a villain betraying the evil they once served and teaming up with the good guys. I'll be looking at characters that had the most emotional impact on me in their change and how well it was executed. (If you're wondering why Revan isn't on this list, I actually haven't played KOTOR.) 
Honourable mentions: Finn, Del Meeko, General Hux.

10. Lord Scourge

Scourge was a powerful foe to face in The Old Republic. As a high ranking Sith, you wouldn't expect him to change sides, but when the Hero of Tython defeated Scourge something inside of him clicked, and he realised he was on the wrong side. He ended up joining the hero on his journey, eventually even helping him defeat the all-powerful Sith leader - Emperor Vitiate. For his help he even received a high honour medal from the Grand Master of the Jedi Order herself, Satele Shan.

9. Doctor Aphra

Love her or hate her, there's no denying that Doctor Aphra is incredibly crafty. She was never really a true villain or hero, but looking at where she was at the start of her journey, she's definitely come a long way and ended up doing some truly good deeds. She even betrayed and defeated Darth Vader to save her friends and the Rebellion, which is something that hardly anyone would ever attempt.

8. Hondo Ohnaka

As one of the most entertaining characters in The Clone Wars, it was hard not to love Hondo, even while he was fighting our beloved heroes and double-crossing everyone he came into contact with. But what took his character to entirely different level was when we started to see that he had a conscience and was actually a good man deep down. It may have taken a while for him to realise this, but with the help of Jedi Youngling Katooni, his character ended up changing for the better, and he even became the sidekick to our heroes across multiple eras.

7. Iden Versio

Battlefront II may not have been the best game at launch, but I really enjoyed the single player campaign. I feel it needed to be longer to further flesh out all of the great ideas in the story, however I was really happy with the characters, especially the lead, Iden Versio. I found it really interesting to play as her, as she starts off as an incredibly loyal servant to the Empire, and you as the player have to fight and even kill Rebels, which felt very wrong. But after she realises that she is in fact fighting for evil, she joins the Rebellion spends the rest of the game fighting the Empire. If Iden were a film or TV character then she may not have been this high on the list, but since you actually get to play as her from a first hand perspective, it gave her character an extra depth that no other form of media could achieve.

6. Bo-Katan Kryze

As one of the top ranking members of Death Watch under Pre Vizsla's leadership, Bo-Katan was an incredibly fierce warrior who never showed any sign of sympathy or regret. But that all changed once Maul took control of her homeworld, Mandalore, and then murdered her sister, Duchess Satine Kryze. These tragic events made Bo-Katan abandon the evil group in the blink of an eye. She then teamed up with Obi-Wan Kenobi and has been helping the Republic and Rebellion ever since. As a villain she was a minor character, but switching sides brought her into the spotlight, making her a standout during the final seasons of The Clone Wars.

5. Galen Marek / Starkiller

The Force Unleashed games were great, and Galen Marek was a solid lead character. He was extremely powerful and pretty much unbeatable in a fight, making him a lot of fun to play as. He beat Darth Vader and he even went one on one with Emperor Palpatine, which only few can ever say they've done. After being betrayed by his master, Galen decided to leave his former life behind and seek the help of the Jedi to take down the Empire that he once served. Similar to Iden Versio, it was really interesting playing the first game as a villain and then the second game as a hero.

4. Asajj Ventress

Out of all the characters that changed sides, Asajj Ventress surprised me the most. She was one of the most evil and sadistic Star Wars characters there's ever been, but after being betrayed by her former master Count Dooku, she decided to pursue her own path in life as a bounty hunter that had no allegiance to either the Sith or the Jedi. However, that didn't stop her from helping the Jedi out from time to time, like Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ahsoka Tano, even if they had previously tried to kill each other on multiple occasions. She even ended up forming a relationship with the Jedi Master Quinlan Vos, and died saving his life.

3. Alexsandr Kallus

I wasn't a big fan of Kallus when he was working with the Empire, but that quickly changed once he became an ally to the Rebellion. After being stranded with his enemy, Zeb Orellios, they were forced to work together to escape certain death and ended up forming an unexpected bond. After seeing how kind the Rebels actually were, Kallus started doubting the Empire and eventually decided to betray them. His betrayal of the Empire was a really nice twist that gave a satisfying end to his character arc.

2. Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader

Darth Vader's turn may be the most famous in cinema history. After being portrayed as a menacing villain with absolutely no sign of goodness for an entire trilogy, it was an incredibly shocking and satisfying twist to see him give up the dark side. His son, Luke Skywalker, was the only person in the galaxy that saw good in him, and was willing to die to prove this. It was the strength and belief that Luke showed during his confrontation with Emperor Palpatine, that gave Vader the final push he needed to destroy the Emperor and save the very galaxy he once helped rule. Vader sadly died saving his son, making this a very emotional turn.

1. Ben Solo / Kylo Ren

What could possibly be better than Darth Vader's iconic turn to the light side? Kylo Ren's. This was not even a tough choice for me, as I thought it was done to perfection. From the first film in the sequel trilogy, it was made clear that Kylo Ren was conflicted and fighting off the light side. Because of his constant showing of emotion and vulnerability, he stood out among every other Sith to date, who were all seen as unstoppable forces of evil without weaknesses. I would even go as far to say that he is the most complex character in the Star Wars universe. What strengthened his character even further was the incredible perfromance from Adam Driver. I highly doubt any other actor could've played Kylo the way that he did. His turn was also the most emotional and beautiful out of them all. It took the combination of Rey's kindness, Leia's death, and a vision of Han Solo to finally push him back to the light side, where his heart has always truly been. I may have had a tear roll down my face as Ben told his father that he loved him followed by his lightsaber being thrown into the ocean.