Mara Jade Skywalker is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise. She appears in the Legends continuity as the wife of Luke Skywalker and mother of Ben Skywalker. She has been voiced by Heidi Shannon, Edie Mirman and Kath Soucie in various Star Wars video games.
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Concept and development
Her first appearance was in Timothy Zahn's Heir to the Empire (1991). Zahn imagined Mara Jade as a strong, complex female character, somebody he thought lacking in the Star Wars universe. While competent, she is flawed. When the Thrawn trilogy ended in 1993 with The Last Command, Zahn thought it was the last book for which he would develop the character. Asked to write another novel, he established two goals: "to end the war between the New Republic and the Empire, and to get Luke Skywalker and Mara together." Although Lucasfilm resisted the idea of Luke marrying Mara, they eventually acquiesced.
In 2018, Zahn said Lucasfilm gave him some creative control over the character of Mara Jade: any appearance of Mara in new works requires Zahn's approval. Zahn also explained that Lucasfilm Story Group held the authority to prevent him from incorporating Mara back into the canon, so any appearance of the character must be approved by both parties. Zahn said he would only allow her to appear if she plays an important role in the plot, and he would block any kind of cameo appearance. Previously, the character of Grand Admiral Thrawn, another Zahn creation, made the jump from Legends to canon, albeit with a slightly-reworked story. Subsequently, Zahn said he hoped to find a way to bring Mara into the canon, stating "If there was a generic, or organic, spot for her to fit into a story... I promise people, I will pitch it to the Lucasfilm story group, and then, it's their decision whether to allow it or not."