The Force is strong with you all...
Much like Princess Leia called on Obi-Wan Kenobi for help in Star Wars: A New Hope,
we recently put out a similar plea to all of you to aid us in the search for Ireland's most beloved Star Wars character of all time, a decision harder than the casing of Han Solo's carbonite block.
https://twitter.com/JOEdotie/status/807150472003981312
https://twitter.com/JOEdotie/status/807150671460007936
Needless to say, just like old Ben Kenobi, you didn't let us down and, over the course of the past week, THOUSANDS of you took to the polls to decide, once and for all, Ireland's favourite ever Star Wars character.
As promised, Jar Jar Binks was nowhere to be seen.
Starting off with 16 of the Star Wars saga's most cherished heroes and villains, here's how the voting for the top spot in the galaxy panned out...
Quarterfinal 1
Luke Skywalker raced into an early lead, while Boba Fett scraped through with Darth Maul breathing down his cloned neck.
Poor Finn, however, might as well have stayed home to watch The Force Awakens for the 375th time.
https://twitter.com/JOEdotie/status/807151372433059840
Quarterfinal 2
This round saw Emperor Palpatine take a bigger beating here than he did from Darth Vader at the end of Return Of The Jedi (33 YEAR OLD SPOILER ALERT), while Rey didn't fare much better.
An easy victory for Han Solo and Yoda.
https://twitter.com/JOEdotie/status/807513344647303168
Quarterfinal 3
Darth Vader clearly scared everyone into voting for him, while Lando Calrissian and Kylo Ren just couldn't hack it against R2-D2; the littlest droid who could.
https://twitter.com/JOEdotie/status/807873588246278145
Quarterfinal 4
Unfortunately for the aforementioned Princess Leia though, it seems the people of Ireland didn't quite love her as much as some other iconic Star Wars characters, as both Obi-Wan Kenobi and Chewbacca left her and Anakin Skywalker eating more dust than a desert sand storm on Tatooine.
https://twitter.com/JOEdotie/status/808248962411069440
Semifinal 1
On to the first of the semifinals, where Han the man romped home to yet another convincing victory, with Luke and Boba left trailing far behind.
Fared well, Yoda also did, in this poll.
https://twitter.com/JOEdotie/status/808599022307078144
Semifinal 2
This round, however, was a tighter affair, with the galaxy's worst dad yet again Force-choking his way to the top.
Everyone's favourite walking carpet made it to second place, while it was bye bye Ben and beep beep R2.
https://twitter.com/JOEdotie/status/808960872383152128
The Final
And so, to the Grand (Moff) Final where the competition was tighter than a tight squeeze in a trash compactor on the Death Star.
While Yoda (20%) and Chewbacca (22%) did their best to take the title, it was Darth Vader (28%) and Han Solo (30%) who were neck and neck the whole way, until the galaxy's scruffiest-looking scoundrel pipped the Dark Lord of the Sith to the coveted position of Ireland's favourite ever Star Wars character.
Is it any surprise really? Women want him and men want to be him... and other men also want him. And some women want to be him as well.
He's just that kind of guy.
https://twitter.com/JOEdotie/status/809335076580454400
Thanks to everyone who voted and remember,
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is in Irish cinemas right now, but here's the trailer one more time for luck, as if you don't know it all off by heart already...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sC9abcLLQpI
Clip via Star Wars
