Every Osculation in the Star Wars Cinematic Universe, Ranked

Nosotros studied the myriad appreciating embraces and meaning touches of the nine trilogy films and two stand-lone movies. Here's what we institute. Photo: Lucasfilm

To brand life marginally less terrible (and perhaps to encourage responsible social distancing during a global pandemic), Disney has added Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker to its streaming platform, a whole two months before than expected. Now, on May 4, the moving picture is officially bachelor to stream on Disney+, and there is zip stopping united states of america from setting aside almost 25 sequent hours to binge every single moving-picture show in the Star Wars universe — with appropriate pauses to wash our hands, of grade.

And while physical touch on has speedily become taboo on coronavirus-infected World, the characters in a galaxy far, far away remain as touchy as ever. Amidst all the light saber twirling, Star Wars has always leaned heavily into the gushy stuff. From the cardinal trio of the original trilogy, to Anakin and Padmé, to Rey, Finn, Poe, et al., the Star Wars films are near every bit full of hugs, kisses, and kisses that probably should've been hugs equally they are force battles and other infinite magic. Which brings me to the truly important job at hand: a ranking of the myriad affectionate embraces and significant touches of the Star Wars cinematic universe.

While I attempted to make this ranking as comprehensive as possible, I also decided to attach to some restrictions: All hugs absolutely count. Same for kisses, even the ones where no one is wrapping their arms around anyone else. Yet, most manus-belongings, shoulder-squeezing, friendly patting of heads, and other less meaningful body contact failed to make the cutting. Likewise, I've excluded all the times when one grapheme tenderly cradles the body of another graphic symbol equally they die (which happens … a lot). I've too consolidated some occurrences into single entries, considering no ane wants to read about the 11 split up times Anakin and Padmé hugged and/or kissed. Or, at to the lowest degree, I don't want to write well-nigh them.

Behold, the all-time kisses, hugs, and pregnant embraces in the Star Wars universe, ranked.

We all remember the scene where Leia kisses Luke to make Han jealous, but there are really two cringeworthy kisses in Empire, the 2d taking place after the Millennium Falcon rescues Luke from Deject City, and mere minutes (hours? does it affair?) after Leia has told the now-frozen Han that she loves him. (Leia then gain to make all of this even weirder in Return of the Jedi past claiming she's "always known" they were siblings.) Star Wars movies accept never been planned; Star Wars knows but anarchy.

Obi-Wan Kenobi, disguised gem of the prequel trilogy, gets exactly one (ane) hug in the entirety of the Skywalker saga and it is from a iv-armed diner owner named Dexter Jettster. I'm sure Dexter Jettster is very nice, but the fact that no one else gave this magnificent, hooded desert magician a hug in six movies is a criminal offence.

Who is Vanden Willard? A New Hope doesn't seem to care, and neither do I.

There is absolutely zilch wrong with kissing your brother on the cheek, so an embrace like this would be higher on the list if not for the escalation of kissing in the motion-picture show that follows (see above).

This is a solid parent-kid hug, but at that place are ameliorate parent-child hugs in Star Wars, featuring characters who accept actual names and/or plotlines.

This hug betwixt a teenage Padmé Amidala and a 9-year-old Anakin Skywalker after he wins his pod race is totally fine, if entirely unmemorable. But when you remember that these two spend the very next movie constantly making sleeping room eyes at one some other and stealing steamy kisses, it feels a trivial weird, hence its low placement.

Why Solo decided to requite immature Han a love interest instead of a all-time friend is beyond me. Emilia Clarke did everything she could to sell u.s.a. on Qi'ra (who is bang-up!), but at the end of the twenty-four hours, we all know Leia is the one, which makes it impossible to root for this pairing, no thing how likable Qi'ra is. Turn these kisses into hugs and this romance into a friendship that could've come back into play in later Star Wars movies, and this entry would have rocketed up the list.

Han and Chewie really don't want to be hugged by adorable little murder-bears when they are welcomed into the Ewok tribe, only the Ewoks really want to give hugs, so they make information technology happen. Star Wars has lots more emotionally resonant embraces in its movies and those all outrank this one, but few are cuter.

Lyra Erso barely gets more than development than Rey's mom, but she at least gets a name and a principled and emotional death, which is why her good-bye hug with her daughter ranks a few slots higher on the listing.

Despite receiving significantly more screen fourth dimension than other Star Wars moms, Shmi Skywalker spends the entirety of her time in Star Wars looking similar someone but kicked her puppy. (I practice not blame her; she's had a very hard life.) It is too bad that she had to say skillful-farewell to her phenomenon Strength baby and his wealth of midi-chlorians in The Phantom Menace, though.

Look, the happy parts of Anakin and Padmé's relationship are fine, if you lot forget almost their inevitable terminate. Unfortunately, I cannot, which means that every time the ii of them kiss (or inexplicably curl around on the ground together, every bit they practice in Attack of the Clones), I'm thinking nigh how he's ultimately going to Strength-asphyxiate her until she passes out (while she's pregnant, no less), and then she'south going to dice of sadness. I realize there would be no Star Wars if these two never hooked up, simply information technology probably would have been better for both of them if they hadn't.

Information technology's difficult to know where to rank this tender moment between Chewbacca and a freed Wookiee slave he meets for just a few seconds at the Kessel spice mines. On the ane hand, it'south the only interaction we go between Chewie and another member of his species over ten films, which gives it automatic weight. On the other, nosotros don't ever learn anything at all most this other Wookiee, or fifty-fifty what they say to one another before departing ways, making this moment more about the significance of Chewie choosing to go with Han over his own people, rather than any sort of personal relationship.

It brings me absolutely no pleasure that Rose Tico appears only once on this list, and toward the bottom at that, but sadly, this is all Star Wars has given me to work with. My girl Rose put herself out there in a large style at the stop of The Last Jedi, with her amazing line to Finn about "non fighting what we hate, [but] saving what nosotros love," then throwing circumspection to the wind and kissing him, because she idea she was going to die and wanted to get out swinging for the fences.

But then she spends the balance of the movie unconscious, and in the side by side one Finn is like, "Hey, wanna come hang out as friends?" and Rose is similar, "Nah, information technology's absurd, I've got some stuff to do around here anyway," which is admittedly the thing you lot do if you've confessed your feelings to your major beat and he then turns around and pretends it never happened.

However, she then goes on to do zippo of real significance always again. I'm sure nosotros've all felt like our life was over after suffering a major embarrassment, merely the fact that Rose'south moment with Finn effectively functions as the end of her Star Wars arc is just exceedingly uncool. Finn didn't owe Rose a romantic relationship, but Star Wars definitely owes her some closure — or better yet, a solo take a chance all her ain.

As one-off characters confined to the okay-est moving-picture show in the Star Wars cinematic canon, Beckett and Val also accept one of the okay-est kisses on this list. It's not particularly memorable or meaning, nor is it objectionable in whatever fashion (other than in how it involves Val, and therefore reminds me that Val deserved so much meliorate than her fate in Solo). Information technology is merely pleasant and fine, then it merits a pleasant and fine place on this list.

Information technology'due south kind of clunky in its endeavour to channel Han and Lando'south original hug in Empire — one of them is angry! The other is nervous! Only await, he'south non actually angry, he's just kidding! At present they're hugging! But fifty-fifty though it'due south definitely pandering, information technology'south the sort of pandering that I tin get behind.

Galen Erso hugs with his whole self, not in a creepy way, merely in a loving dad style, and information technology's great.

Photo: David James/Copyright: 2017 Lucasfilm Ltd. & ™, All Rights Reserved.

I'thou making an exception to the "hand-holding doesn't count as an embrace" rule for this truly first-class paw clasp between 2 of Star Wars' well-nigh powerful and dignified ladies. They both knew what was about to go downwardly — with Leia going on to pb the scraps of the Resistance in a Hail Mary play confronting the Outset Order, and Holdo doing everything in her power to requite them time to escape — and both handled their monumental burdens with grace and aplomb. A hug would've worked hither, but the hand squeeze felt more fitting to the station of two women who each had Important Work To Do and needed to become on with it, while still recognizing the contribution of the other.

The commemoration aboard the Millennium Falcon after the Battle of Crait is pretty mild as Star Wars after-parties go. Leia gets a hug from Chewie, and Poe hugs *checks notes* C'ai Threnalli, whom nosotros don't really see interact with anyone anywhere else in the films, but it notwithstanding totally tracks with the established canon that Poe Is a Hugger. Between there existence only i hug between key characters, and the more often than not dire state of the Resistance at the terminate of The Final Jedi, these hugs rank the lowest of the Star Wars post-battle hugfests.

While Luke gets multiple practiced-luck kisses from Leia in A New Hope, Han gets a hug while dressed as a Stormtrooper and standing knee-deep in liquid garbage. (Why is it liquid? Do I even want to know?) Equally gross as information technology is, and as bad as Han says information technology smells, this is still a genuinely Good Hug, the first of many Adept Embraces to come.

The hug that the Solo hug wished information technology could be, the magic of this hug rests entirely on Han'due south bewildered expression and Lando's gleeful laugh.

At first, Chewie stands at a respectful altitude when Leia appears in The Force Awakens, assuasive Han to get the initial greeting. But when it becomes articulate that the erstwhile lovebirds are only going to make pocket-size talk most each other's hair and clothing from ten feet abroad, Chewie decides he's had enough and brushes past Han for a big, furry hug. And based on his cheeky grunt toward Han as they break apart, he would like Han and Leia to get over their awkwardness and hug already.

There's a lot of hugging before and after the Resistance makes their concluding stand against the Final Order, virtually of them betwixt unnamed Resistance fighters, and one between Charlie from Lost and a behemothic yellowish slug. It's overnice in the way that watching strangers reunite at the airport is overnice, where we intendance, but non in a personal style. We practice go a Poe-Finn hug, which is always a care for, and Chewie picks up Rose and swings her effectually like she's five, which is both the best Rose moment in the whole movie and also speaks to how there aren't nearly enough Rose moments in the movie.

And then there's that kiss between — checks notes again — Resistance Commander Larma D'Acy and pilot Wrobie Tyce, who receive all of ii seconds of screen time, which it turns out is just enough time to displease literally the unabridged audience. For anyone hoping to finally see meaningful LGBTQ representation in a Star Wars flick, information technology felt tremendously like tokenism, simply marginally better than nada.

Taken as a whole, though, this collection of hugs is however by and large heartwarming and adept, jubilant a hard-won victory afterward ten films of conflict. It had a staggering amount of unrealized potential, which keeps information technology from advancing higher in the rankings, but information technology'due south nonetheless a significant enough moment in Star Wars to earn a spot in the meridian half of this list.

Star Wars never quite figured out what information technology wanted Finn and Rey'southward relationship to be: Are they best friends? Are they a slow-burn, volition-they, won't-they romance? Are they an bad-mannered workplace crush? Still, their human relationship amounted to some really skillful hugs, even if I withal have no thought what they're supposed to hateful.

The style Chewie excitedly elbows people out of his way and then he can go hug Lando is so pure that it enables me to overlook the fact that in the previous movies, Chewie and Lando were, at all-time, fond acquaintances.

Have you always noticed that Jabba the Hutt'due south unabridged retinue is just … hanging out behind a curtain, waiting to jump out and surprise Leia and Han the moment he's defrosted? How long have they been back there? And why does Jabba'south fortress even have those lilliputian curtained alcoves — is this a regular affair, or does Jabba just similar to throw a lot of surprise parties? None of this has anything to do with Han and Leia'south kiss, which is very romantic and prissy.

The incredulous smile. The run. The meaningful eye contact. The way Poe calls Finn "buddy" and then tells him to keep his jacket and bites his lip. There's just a lot going on here, and all of it is good.

The start hug betwixt Rey and Leia happens after Han dies, which Rey witnessed and Leia felt. The next time they encounter i some other, they both just become information technology, and it's sad and beautiful and powerful. Their second hug occurs when Rey is leaving to lead a mission to Pasaana, which is considerably less poignant, but considering that all of Carrie Fisher'due south footage in The Ascent of Skywalker is actually unused Strength Awakens footage, these hugs are probably really the same hug, warranting equal placement on this list.

Poor Han was just defrosted after being frozen for a year, he nevertheless can't see, and then he'due south of a sudden aggressively cuddled past a distraught Wookiee, who does not care 1 single bit that Han is not in a particularly huggy mood. I honey this hug.

Okay, hear me out. There is nowhere on this listing where this kiss could hang out entirely without controversy, but placing it up hither, just shy of the tiptop 10, is probably specially contentious. After all, Kylo Ren spent two and a one-half movies being terrible to Rey. Even if we tin put aside all of the murder (which we actually shouldn't), we're all the same left with all of his gaslighting and emotional manipulation and attempts to kill her. "You're nothing, but not to me," is still a thing he actually said once, out loud, on purpose.

Only — But! — Star Wars has ever been an exaggerated story about the power of redemption, far beyond what we may disregard in real life. Darth Vader committed literal genocide, but he withal gets to be a Jedi Force Ghost at the end of Render of the Jedi because he was a non-terrible dad for similar ten seconds. In the timeless words of John Mulaney, nosotros don't have time to unpack all of that, but it's at least consistent that the Skywalker saga ends with the redemption of Anakin Skywalker'due south grandson. Similar his grandfather earlier him, the newly self-actualized Ben Solo gets to do One Practiced and Noble Thing before he dies.

And and then Rey kisses him, finally acting on the mutual attraction that, permit'south be existent, has been at that place for a while now, fifty-fifty though it has always been decidedly unhealthy. Possibly she realizes he's about to die and wants to make it one adept smooch earlier the end, or maybe she doesn't realize he's about to dice and is just carpe-ing that diem. Either way, in that location are ii factors that play into ranking this kiss so high on this list: The first is that he dies immediately subsequently, meaning we never have to deal with the discordant mess of Ben Solo'southward Redemption playing out alongside Kylo Ren'south War Crimes. He and Rey go exactly 1 nice moment together, and then he gets absorbed into the Force earlier all the horrific things he'due south done can come crashing down on both their heads. And the 2d is that gosh-darn adorable Ben Solo grin. If that kiss is what was necessary to go us to that smile, then for my money, it was worth information technology.

You lot may exist thinking, "Uh, Han is literally murdered in the first moment you mention here, right?" And yep, you're right. The truth is, these moments are not on the listing because of Kylo Ren, but because of Han Solo. Han made his entrance into Star Wars shooting kickoff, and scoffing at the idea that he should ever care about anything more than he cares well-nigh himself. Yet when faced with his fallen son in The Force Awakens, he chooses to put himself directly in damage's way, even if it means his death. Then, when he does die, his terminal human activity is to tenderly touch his son's face, communicating that even after beingness stabbed with a light saber, he still loves him. That touch is worth a 1000 hugs, even if, at the time, Kylo Ren isn't willing to face what it means.

It comes back effectually in The Rise of Skywalker, when Ben visualizes the conversation he wishes he could have with his father. This time, when Han touches his face, Ben is ready to have what his male parent was offer, uttering a choked upward, "Dad," to which Han answers, "I know." The kickoff time Han touches Kylo Ren's confront, it is an human action of unconditional beloved, showing merely how far Han has come since nosotros first met him. The 2nd time, the touch is merely in Ben's memory, but it shows that Han ultimately succeeded in his terminal mission, fulfilling the promise he made to Leia to bring their son dwelling.

We accept reached the elevation ten, and what better pairing to kick off our finalists for Best Star Wars Embraces than our favorite Force twins, Luke and Leia? None of their individual hugs in the original trilogy feel particularly meaningful, only collectively, they help solidify the close relationship between the two Skywalker siblings, and drive dwelling house the theme of family — both institute and biological — that runs throughout all of Star Wars.

Much like Luke and Leia'south hugs, Han and Leia'due south little hugs and kisses help solidify one of the core relationships in Star Wars, only without the icky "nosotros thought it would exist cool to put them in a dearest triangle until we decided it would be libation if they were siblings" undertones. None of these individual embraces (aside from the ones that are singled out elsewhere on this list) are particularly globe-shattering on their ain, but equally a whole, it'south but right and proper that the small romantic moments brindled throughout Han and Leia's human relationship go a spot in the top x.

The original central trio of Star Wars never gets a truthful group hug, simply this is the one that comes closest. Luke start hugs Leia, then Luke hugs Han, then Han and Leia hug, then the iii of them walk out of the hangar with their arms looped around one another's shoulders like they're the Monkees. It's sugariness and goofy and marks the start of what would turn out to be many Star Wars celebratory postal service-battle hugfests, so it deserves a identify of honor.

Photograph: Lucasfilm/Lucasfilm

The nostalgia is stiff with this one. The affectionate banter, the undeniable attraction, the flippancy belying defiant promise and bravery — these are the things that take e'er defined Han and Leia for generations of Star Wars fans. We didn't go to see them reunited for long in The Forcefulness Awakens, but this one hug felt similar it contained decades of memories.

Different the hug political party at the end of The Rise of Skywalker, the group celebration at the end of Return of the Jedi gives most of its hugs to pairings of recognizable characters: Han and Lando, Chewie and Lando, Luke and Leia, Luke and Han, Han and Leia, Luke and Wedge. Actually being emotionally invested in all the people we see hugging is a definite plus when it comes to the effectiveness of the scene every bit a whole. Plus, Forcefulness Ghost Obi-Wan pats Strength Ghost Yoda on the head like he's a small child, which feels at least hug-side by side, and adds to the overall awesomeness of this hug cluster.

There are some issues with the last celebration scene in The Rise of Skywalker to be sure (come across item No. xix), simply this hug is not one of them. Finn and Rey have some good Star Wars hugs, and Finn and Poe have some good Star Wars hugs, but the 3 of them together have a truly great Star Wars hug. The fashion Rey and Poe hold easily around Finn'south dorsum, the way they all first crying, the way it feels like it lasts forever because none of them are willing to let get. Complete and utter hug bliss.

The tension edifice up to this kiss is only scrumptious. It makes me desire to reach into my Television set screen and jam their faces together like dolls, screeching "JUST KISS ALREADY."

This hug is a legit Star Wars miracle, because Star Wars likes to go for the kiss — and Cassian and Jyn had plenty chemical science to put Walter White out of business — and yet they don't kiss. Instead, they go for the hug, and information technology is sheer perfection. If I didn't feel beholden to several decades of nostalgia, leading me to believe I am simply not allowed to pick a Rogue One moment every bit my top choice for this ranking, this could've easily been number 1. At the very to the lowest degree, information technology is the best hug in the Star Wars films.

The only Luke and Leia kiss that counts. All the other ones need to go home and think about what they've done.

"I love you."
"I know."

Was there e'er whatsoever question about which moment would take the No. 1 spot on this list? Yous knew information technology had to exist this ane. Somehow, you've always known.

Every Kiss in the Star Wars Cinematic Universe, Ranked