The Road to Episode Infinity: The Polls that Define Us

Expanded Universe Polls

Happy “Revenge of the Sixth” Star Wars fans. Today I roll out my final Star Wars poll results and today I focus on the Expanded Universe. The Expanded Universe of Star Wars is such a vast world. Nobody has the time to explore every aspect of it. Personally, I try to keep up with the TV Shows, the Comics, and the Books, but there are big gaps in my knowledge. So what are the most popular aspects of the Expanded Universe? And which aspects are more obscure?

Televsion

Let’s tackle television first. There have only really been seven animated Star Wars television shows and fans were asked to pick any that they enjoyed watching. It is no surprise that “The Clone Wars” and “Rebels” were the top picks. Fans of all ages loved “The Clone Wars” during its run and “Rebels” was an extension of that storyline. Fans also selected the traditionally animated “Clone Wars” as one of their favorites (although it’s easy to get the two Clone Wars series confused). The more obscure series were “Forces of Destiny”, “The Freemaker Adventures” and the oldest cartoons in the franchise, “Droids” and “Ewoks”.

“Ewoks” is probably the weakest Star Wars TV show, but many people in their 30s and 40s must have fond memories of watching it when they were younger.

“Forces of Destiny” is a current show aimed at young children, but its appeal is apparently pretty extensive. Fans ages 21 – 77 professed to enjoying the show, but curiously no teenagers picked it.

“The Freemaker Adventures” is the lowest rated show on my poll, but I believe that it is a hidden gem. This is a really fun series that more fans need to check out. In my polls it was enjoyed by fans 7 – 47.

EU Characters

Moving on to Expanded Universe characters, it is no surprise that Ahsoka was chosen by the most fans. Many fans, young and old, also picked Thrawn. No surprise there. Thrawn was popular when I was a child and has been brought back into canon with “Rebels”. I am also not surprise that Mara Jade winds up at the third most popular character. Though, it is a surprise that many teens picked Mara. Before this poll I assumed that 14 or 15 year old kids would hardly be aware of the Old Expanded Universe, but I guess one should never underestimate a Star Wars fan. More surprising is teens choosing Dash Rendar and Prince Xizor. How are these characters still popular? The “Shadows of the Empire” craze was 22 years ago. I understand fans in their 30s still having a soft spot in their hearts for “Shadows” but so many fans of so many ages still choosing these characters is pretty astounding.

Among the most underrated characters on this poll is Doctor Aphra. I would have assumed that in today’s fandom the character would have been massively relevant (especially compared to Dash Rendar and Prince Xizor). But maybe the comics are just not as popular as the books or TV shows.

Books

The final query on my poll was an open-ended question about books. Fans could input any book that they had enjoyed reading and as many books as they wanted. A full 20% of the fans that took my polls (young and old alike) chose the Thrawn Trilogy. First published in 1991 – 1993, Timothy Zahn’s trilogy still has a massive appeal among fandom. Zahn’s trilogy laid the groundwork for the Old Expanded Universe and elements from the books are leaking into the New Expanded Universe as well. Thrawn has returned, the Noghri have returned, and there are even rumors of Mara Jade returning in some form. Zahn’s new 2017 “Thrawn” book was also mentioned frequently as a favorite.

Another popular author on this list is Claudia Grey. Her books “Lost Stars”, “Bloodline” and “Leia: Princess of Alderaan” are all featured in the Top 7 books on the poll. Grey’s books are enjoyed by young and old, male and female and also by the general public. My wife, who I would not describe as a Star Wars fan, picked up "Lost Stars" and read it from cover to cover.

Though many of these entries are enjoyed by the young and the old alike, the oldest Star Wars book on the list “Splinter of the Mind’s Eye” (released in 1978) was chosen by a few fans in their 50s who would have been in their 20s when the book first released.

Polls can be useful to many people. Knowing what others enjoy can help us explore new areas of Star Wars that we might never have considered exploring. The differences in our tastes can define entire generations of fandom and even spark debates (sometimes friendly, other times not so much). Polls can be fun and surprising as well. We can discover that sometimes there aren’t that many differences between our ages and between our genders. Sometimes fans are just fans.

Happy "May", Star Wars fans. May the Force be with you.

May the 4th Specials

2020 - 40 Ways to Strike Back

https://roadto7.blogspot.com/2020/05/40-ways-to-strike-back.html

2019 - 151 Star Wars Aliens

https://roadto7.blogspot.com/2019/05/151-aliens-how-many-do-you-know.html

2018 - Star Wars Polls

Movie Polls -https://roadto7.blogspot.com/2018/05/star-wars-polls.html

Character Polls - https://roadto7.blogspot.com/2018/05/more-polls-characters.html

Expanded Universe Polls- https://roadto7.blogspot.com/2018/05/the-polls-that-define-us.html

2017 - 40 Years of Fandom https://roadto7.blogspot.com/2017/05/40-years-of-fandom.html

2015 -Genre-Bending the Original Trilogy