50 influential fictional women in nerd history

Padmé Amidala

Without her, we wouldn’t have Luke Skywalker or Leia Organa, so really, we owe quite a lot to Padmé. But more than being their mother, she continually proves herself as an awesome addition to Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi’s team during the prequel movies.

Maybe she is the best thing we got out of the prequels — other than Ewan McGregor — but also maybe she is just an incredible character in general. The Queen of Naboo, Padme is already ready to take on the nascent Empire and the Trade Federation at the age of 14.

From there, she makes sure to keep herself in a seat of power to fight the rise of Palpatine in whatever way she could. Much like her daughter, Padmé sticks with politics as her way of contributing to the fight, and she proved that a woman can do whatever she sets her mind to.

We’ll forget that she dies of a “broken heart,” because sometimes George Lucas is a little out of his mind (hence why he’s no longer in charge of Star Wars … although the sale certainly helped, too). But even as she’s facing her death, Padme makes sure her children were safe and ready to fight against the evils that are taking over the galaxy, and that makes her pretty incredible.