Introduced in the original Star Wars film[x] in 1977, Leia is a princess of the planet Alderaan, a member of the Imperial Senate, and an agent of the Rebel Alliance.

In Return of the Jedi (1983), she helps to rescue Han from the crime lord Jabba the Hutt, and is revealed to be Vader's daughter and the twin sister of Luke Skywalker.

She has appeared in many derivative works and merchandising, including the now-noncanonical Star Wars Expanded Universe, and has been referenced or parodied in several TV shows and films.

Leia was created by Star Wars creator George Lucas, who in 1999 explained his early development of the main characters: The first [version] talked about a princess and an old general.

[10] She was cast over Karen Allen, Glenn Close, Farrah Fawcett, Anjelica Huston, Amy Irving, Jessica Lange, Terri Nunn, Linda Purl, Meryl Streep and Cindy Williams.

She is captured when Darth Vader boards her ship, demanding that she reveal the location of stolen architectural plans for the Death Star, the Galactic Empire's battle station.

[25] Fisher told Rolling Stone in 1980 that in the original script, when Luke and Han arrive to rescue Leia, she is unconscious, her eyes are yellow and she is hanging upside down, imagery which alludes to the 1973 horror film The Exorcist.

[ab] Fisher's daughter Billie Lourd, who portrays Lieutenant Connix in all three sequel trilogy films, stepped in as Leia for a brief flashback scene.

[47] Foster's 1978 novel Splinter of the Mind's Eye was commissioned by Lucas as the basis for a potential low-budget sequel to Star Wars should the film prove unsuccessful.

[66] In Dark Force Rising (1992), Leia realizes that Darth Vader and the Empire deceived the Noghri to secure their allegiance, and by revealing the truth she turns the alien race to the side of the New Republic.

In The Crystal Star (1994) by Vonda McIntyre, young Jacen, Jaina and their three-year-old brother Anakin are kidnapped in a plot to restore the Empire, but are rescued by Leia and Chewbacca.

In the two Hand of Thrawn novels by Timothy Zahn (1997's Specter of the Past and 1998's Vision of the Future), Leia tries to hold the New Republic together as Moff Disra conspires for its volatile factions to destroy each other.

[70][71][72][73] In The Truce at Bakura (1993) by Kathy Tyers, set one day after the ending of Return of the Jedi, Leia establishes New Alderaan, a sanctuary for the destroyed planet's surviving inhabitants.

A jealous Han abducts Leia and takes her to the planet Dathomir; Luke and Isolder follow, and there they all find the hidden forces of the Imperial warlord Zsinj.

Razor's Edge (2013) by Martha Wells and Honor Among Thieves (2014) by James S. A. Corey take place in the same time period and also chronicle the adventures of Leia and Han.

In the New Jedi Order series (1999–2003), Leia resigns as Chief of State, and on the heels of her warnings before the Senate, the alien Yuuzhan Vong invade the galaxy.

[70][71][72][73] In Betrayal (2006) by Aaron Allston, Jacen turns to the dark side, believing that it is the only way to save the galaxy from the chaos brewing among the member systems of the Galactic Alliance.

Jacen realizes in Bloodlines (2006) by Karen Traviss that the Sith discipline will require him to kill one of his loved ones, which he decides is an acceptable sacrifice to save the galaxy.

At Tenel Ka's request, Leia and Han adopt Allana, disguised with the name "Amelia" to protect her from any future vengeance against Cadeus or the Hapes Consortium.

Troy Denning's Crucible (2013), set after Fate of the Jedi and the last novel to date in the Star Wars Legends chronology, reunites Leia, Han and Luke with Lando as they aid him to thwart a vast criminal enterprise threatening his asteroid mineral refinery in the Chilean Rift nebula.

Leia has also been used in a wide range of Star Wars merchandise,[93] including statuettes, action figures and other toys, household items and clothing,[94] office supplies, food products,[95] and bubble bath and shampoo in Leia-shaped bottles with her head as the cap.

[89] When asked in a 2002 interview about the origins of Leia's hairstyle, Lucas said he was aiming for "a kind of Southwestern Pancho Villa woman revolutionary look" from "turn-of-the-century Mexico.

[110] In the 1987 Mel Brooks comedy film Spaceballs, Princess Vespa (Daphne Zuniga) appears to have the hairstyle, which is soon revealed to in fact be a large pair of headphones.

In 2015, Fisher's daughter Billie Lourd's character in the horror-comedy TV series Scream Queens, a rich and disaffected sorority girl known as Chanel No.

David Bushman, television curator at the Paley Center for Media, said in 2012, "From the male perspective ... Princess Leia was a very creditable character for her time—not perfect, but certainly defiant, assertive, and strong.

"[25] In her 2007 article "Feminism and the Force: Empowerment and Disillusionment in a Galaxy Far, Far Away", Diana Dominguez cited Leia as a welcome change from the previous portrayals of women in film and TV.

She isn't a flirty sex-pot, tossing her hair around seductively to distract the enemy ... She doesn't play the role of "Maternal caretaker", although she does display caring and compassion, or "the sweet innocent damsel" who stands passively by while the men do all the work, but does step aside to let them do what they're good at when it is wise to do so ... Leia is a hero without losing her gendered status; she does not have to play the cute, helpless sex kitten or become sexless and androgynous to get what she wants.

"[25] Leia herself, singularly dedicated to her political movement against the Empire, "finds a partner in Han, acknowledging that personal happiness can help her sustain her commitment to building a better galactic order".

[86][94][95][121] Philip Chien of Wired wrote in 2006, "There's no doubt that the sight of Carrie Fisher in the gold sci-fi swimsuit was burned into the sweaty subconscious of a generation of fanboys hitting puberty in the spring of 1983.

[125] Noah Berlatsky argued in The Guardian for a deeper significance to the costume beyond its function as a sex symbol, stating that the outfit represents an important stage in Princess Leia's complicated relationship with Han Solo.