Star Wars’ animated series have expanded the saga in so many ways, chief of which has been a more nuanced depiction of clone troopers. Across seven great seasons, The Clone Wars strived to humanize a corps of identical men, recontextualizing their role in the Jedi Purge and offering them autonomy and personality. Spin-offs like The Bad Batch took this further by introducing soldiers who totally diverged from the classic clone look. Though these clones were regarded as defective, they still had plenty of value to the Empire and each other.
The Bad Batch was seminal in its depiction of clones, but the most surprising update to clone canon came in the novel Queen’s Hope. Written by longtime Star Wars author E.K. Johnston, it explores Senator Padmé Amidala’s shifting role in the galaxy, along with her marriage to Jedi Anakin Skywalker. As it takes place during the Clone Wars, Johnston also had the opportunity to showcase a new side to the clones. She did so by introducing Sister, a trans clone trooper. She only appears briefly in the novel, but a short conversation with Anakin reveals much about how trans characters fit into the Star Wars galaxy.
