On the 4th of July while I was driving to Idaho with my family, my seven-year-old son asked all of us to name our three favorite Star Wars characters. It was such a simple question, but it led to a lot of fun discussion. He was the first to answer and said his three favorites are the Inquisitor, Darth Vader, and Darth Maul. Three evil, murderous characters with definite anger problems. He also tries to Force choke me occasionally. Should I be worried? My three-year-old son was the next to answer and he only had one favorite: “Woda”. I’m pretty sure he meant Yoda, but he may have also meant Rotta the Hutt. Who knows? He is about as tall as either of them and speaks almost as clearly so he may have an affinity for both. My nine-year-old son’s favorites are the puffer pig from Star Wars Rebels, the cow-like shaaks from Attack of the Clones, and General Grievous. He loves animals and unique characters, and he may be the only person to ever say a shaak is one of his favorite characters.

After our kids were done answering they wanted to know my wife’s and my favorites. My top three are Darth Vader, Han Solo, and Obi-Wan Kenobi or Luke Skywalker depending on my mood, and my moods can change as fast as Anakin’s at a Tusken Raider camp. My wife’s favorite character of all is Emperor Palpatine, and her other two favorites were Han Solo and Chewbacca. So she likes two rebellious scoundrel smugglers and the ultimate bad guy? I’m a geeky redhead who talks a lot about Star Wars, loves the Utah Jazz, and looks in mouths all day. Not exactly the prototypical bad boy. But this lead me to a bigger question: Who are my three favorite redheads in Star Wars?

If you know anything about redheads, you know we are rare. In fact, only 2% of the world’s population has red hair. And we may be getting rarer. As recently as 2007 there was a bad rumor that we redheads could be extinct 100 years from now. That rumor wasn’t true (that’s one reason we don’t like rumors here at CWK), but it is true that the world’s largest sperm bank, Cryos International, no longer accepts donations from redheaded men! The supply outweighs the demand. Ouch! But I think there is an argument to be made that the world needs more redheads.

Some of the most famous and successful redheads include Thomas Jefferson, Mark Twain, Vincent Van Gogh, Winston Churchill, Queen Elizabeth I, and Robert Redford. Who doesn’t want more of those types of people around? Also, even though there is no mention in scriptures, many artists depicted Mary Magdelene as a redhead. However, Judas Iscariot is also believed to have been a redhead, so I guess we’ll call it even.

There are some great benefits to being a redhead. Studies have shown we have a higher pain threshold, we have higher vitamin D production (goodbye rickets), our red hair is thicker than other colors, and rather than go gray we go straight to white. Gandalf would be jealous. Also, red hair and blue eyes is the rarest color combination in the world, so basically I’m like a unicorn. On the other hand, we have a higher risk of melanoma and Parkinson’s disease, anesthesia doesn’t work as well on us, and we have higher incidences of dental phobias. Dentists are awful people anyway so can you really blame redheads for that?

Anyway, back to my three favorite redheads in Star Wars. Mon Mothma is at the top of my list. She helped start the Rebel Alliance, and she is a smart, confident, and natural leader.

Second would be Aurra Sing. Bounty hunters are cool in general, but Sing dares to take on the Jedi in The Clone Wars and was also a mentor to Boba Fett. And even though she has extremely pale skin (another great redhead trait) and is likely prone to sunburns she dares go to Tatooine. I barely dare go outside on a sunny day.

And third on my list would have to be….hmm….redheads may be even more rare in the Star Wars galaxy than they are in our galaxy, because I can’t think of any others. Obi-Wan, Kanan, and Chewbacca have a tint of red, but aren’t full-fledged gingers. I guess Domnhall Gleeson will be number three since he is in The Force Awakens, even though we don’t know which character he’ll be playing yet. I loved him in the Harry Potter movies and I’m sure he’ll be great in The Force Awakens. If he has the stereotypical redhead temper he’d make a good Sith Lord.

Am I missing anyone? Who are your three favorite Star Wars characters? Who are your favorite redheads in Star Wars and elsewhere? Thanks so much for reading my blog! I really do appreciate it. If you haven’t had enough of me yet listen to the Idiot’s Array podcast.

-Guest Blog featuring Ryder Waldron, Connect with Ryder on Twitter @ryderwaldrondds