Long time, no post. Well, at least when it comes to this meme. But today, you’re getting a twofer! Why? Because you won’t find a more powerful and iconic Slytherin duo than these two.
Characters
Han Solo & Leia Organa
Source
Star Wars
Why Han Solo is a Slytherin
You may look at Han and see nothing more than a scruffy-looking nerfherder. But those who look deeper see a cunning schemer, an ambitious pilot, and a self-serving neutral. Han is not your typical action hero— he’s an antihero and proud of it.
For starters, Han is a professional smuggler. You can’t just smuggle contraband under a totalitarian regime and not be one clever motherfucker. Otherwise, you’d get caught immediately. Even when his back’s up against the wall, he finds a way through it. He escapes from Lady Proxima by exploiting her one weakness— sunlight. By shooting a hole through the cave wall, he incapacitates Lady Proxima and her ilk and facilitates his own escape.
He’s also ridiculously charming. Though charm isn’t inherently a Slytherin trait, the way Han uses it sure is. He’s able to convince Jabba the Hutt to give him an extension in paying him back, promising far more than he can guarantee. Charm and swagger are how Han is able to manipulate others into doing what he wants. You can’t help but trust him because he seems so sure of himself— and confidence is catching.
Han’s ambition is largely geared toward his skills as a pilot. After all, it is he who made the Kessel Run in twelve parsecs. Sure, he attributes this to the Millennium Falcon… but does he really? He’s defending his beloved ship after Luke insults it, but that cocky grin indicates he believes it was a team effort.
This is further confirmed in Solo when he actually makes the Kessel Run. Everyone else insists it can’t be done, but Mr. “Never Tell Me the Odds” is certain he can do it. And, naturally, he does.
Speaking of “Never tell me the odds,” Han successfully navigates an asteroid field even after C-3PO tells him it’s nearly impossible. Han wouldn’t be half the pilot he is if he didn’t take the ambitious risks he does.
I would argue that killing Greedo is also a sign of Han’s ambition. His options are either be taken to Jabba by Greedo or neutralize the threat and he opts for the latter— in a crowded bar, no less. He’s essentially daring the other patrons to cross him and showing them what the consequences of doing so would be.
It’s self-preservation at its finest. In that moment, his life matters far more than Greedo’s. That’s how he’s able to kill the bounty hunter without batting an eye. He’s utterly ruthless in the way only hardened street rats can be.
Han spends a good portion of his young adult life looking out for no one except himself (and his partner-in-crime, Chewbacca). He never bothers to have an opinion on the Empire because he doesn’t want to fight for or against them. Sure, he was an Empire soldier for a brief period in his youth, but it was merely a means to an end. Once he desserts the army, he never looks back.
This is what frustrates do-gooder Luke so much in A New Hope. Han only helps rescue Leia for the reward— he’s not about to sign up for the rebel cause. He doesn’t care about doing what’s right. He only cares about doing what will benefit him most.
Why does this change? Only because he grows to like Luke and care about his opinion. When someone like Jabba or Lando Calrissian thinks he’s a no-good scumbag, why should he care? They’re just people he can use. But Luke is different. (Obviously, he grows to like Leia too but it’s Luke that brings him back.) By the end of the film, Han has joined the rebel cause. But if he has to choose between his friends and the rebellion, he’s choosing his friends every time (hence why he risks his life to save Luke in Empire Strikes Back).
Han Solo isn’t in this for altruism— he doesn’t even know the meaning of the word. He is a cunning and ambitious smuggler out to protect he and his own. Everything and everyone else is just background noise. And if you get in his way, you might as well be a bug under his shoe.
Why Leia Organa is a Slytherin
Whether a princess, a rebel organizer, or a general, Leia Organa Skywalker Solo stands as an example of a Slytherin who fights for what’s right. In the Harry Potter universe, she would’ve been one of the Slytherins who returned to fight in the Battle of Hogwarts. But how does this Alderaanian ambassador belong to the Serpent House? The question is: how doesn’t she?
I mean, we’re talking about the girl who lies to Darth Vader’s face. Vader and his Stormtrooper army have just followed her ship from Jedha from where the Death Star plans have been stolen. It is nearly impossible for those plans to not be in Leia’s possession. And yet she puts on a brilliant act as an innocent princess on a diplomatic mission from Alderaan. Leia has an unparalleled gift for lying.
Moreover, Leia is incredibly shrewd. She always has multiple plans and fail-safes in place. When Vader and the Stormtroopers begin boarding her ship, Leia knows her goose is cooked. Except, she has this little droid she can use to send a message to Obi-Wan Kenobi. Then he can save her and the stolen Death Star plans. She has R2-D2 off and running before she and Vader even lay eyes on each other. And she’s not worried because she knows help is on the way.
She’s quick on her feet, coming up with solutions in mere seconds. After Luke frees her from her jail cell, she helps them avoid capture by sliding down a garbage shoot. While the men around her stand clueless, she takes action.
Her cunning extends to battle schematics. Not only is Leia able to come up with plans that win, she also knows when to cut her losses. She does just this in The Last Jedi. She knows if the resistance engages the First Order in battle, they will lose. Instead, she opts to flee and get to a resistance hideout to regroup and plan their next course of action. Though it would be advantageous to take down a dreadnaught, it’s not plausible at this time.
Leia is particularly skilled at finding the exact right buttons to push to manipulate someone. She kisses Luke because she knows it will make Han jealous. She plays dumb regarding the Death Star plans because she knows Vader will waste time focusing on her, thereby keeping the focus off Obi-Wan and R2-D2. It’s a classic misdirection.
She’s also remarkably ambitious. You’d have to be to become a leader of both a rebellion and then a resistance twenty years later. She also killed Jabba the second she got the chance, biding her time and playing the docile slave until then. You couldn’t have even guessed at the seething hatred within her— she’s that good. Her ambition makes sure she takes out the threat— the man (or giant male slug) who degraded her— before anyone else does. Combined with her ability to manipulate with ease, her ambition turns her into who she needs to be to take out an enemy.
Leia also has a rare Slytherin trait— the ability to compartmentalize like nobody’s business. She witnesses her home planet blown to smithereens, everyone she’s ever known and loved dead in an instant. But she puts that trauma in a little box and focuses on the task at hand. It’s clear it drives her, further cementing her hatred for the Empire. This is her method of self-preservation. She can’t bring Alderaan back, but she can dedicate herself to the cause they believed in so strongly.
Leia Organa is a stone cold Slytherin. She’s an actor and a leader— a fucking force to be reckoned with. There’s a reason she’s the only surviving member of the original trio. In that galaxy far, far away, there is no badder bitch.
Like I said, Han and Leia are the most powerful Slytherin duo in existence. You may think you know of one stronger, but you’d be wrong. In fact, they have such powerful Slytherin energy, there isn’t any left for their son. I’m not sure what he is, but he’s not a Slytherin.
What character would you like me to do a Slytherin profile on next? Leave me some suggestions in the comments!
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Strange Storyteller 
This was a hella fun read! I never thought about them being Slytherins before but as a Slytherin myself I totally see it now lol! 😄
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I had never considered it myself, but someone suggested Leia for a Slytherin Greatness post and I got to thinking and realized both she and Han are great examples.
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