Jar Jar Binks is Still George Lucas' Favorite 'Star Wars' Character

George Lucas created Star Wars, including all of the series' many characters. So with a long list of characters--some more popular than others--you'd assume that Lucas' favorite character would be one of the most important, such as Luke, Han, Leia, Chewie or even Darth Vader. That's not exactly the case, though. Lucas' favorite character just happens to be fans' most hated: Jar Jar Binks.

Lucas is not backing down from his answer that Jar Jar is his favorite, despite fans slamming him for it. Jar Jar is probably the least favorite character in the whole Star Wars franchise, and even contributed to fans strongly disliking the prequel trilogy.

The claim was reiterated in a pre-recorded message from Lucas that was played at last week's Star Wars Celebration, before the 20th anniversary panel for The Phantom Menace.

“Thank you for coming to the Celebration,” Lucas said in the video. “[The Phantom Menace] is one of my favorite movies and of course Jar Jar is my favorite character. Ahmed [Best], you did a fantastic job. It was very, very hard.”

The actor behind Jar Jar, Ahmed Best, made history portraying the role, who was the first fully CGI character in a live-action movie.

But to this day, fans still show their hatred for the character online. One fan recently wrote on Twitter that it would be best if Lucas released a version of The Phantom Menace that removed Jar Jar all together. Another one wrote, “I think the Star Wars prequels would have been better received by fans and critics if George Lucas had written Mr Blobby as the lead Gungan over Jar Jar Binks."

Despite what Lucas' preferences are towards the character, he did give us Star Wars, so we should respect his opinions.

[h/t: NME]