Han Solo

A New Hope
At the beginning of A New Hope, Solo and Chewbacca are notorious smugglers. However, during one Kessel Run, the Imperial Navy intercepts and boards their ship, forcing Solo to jettison his cargo to avoid arrest. This results in a large and mounting debt to his former employer, Jabba the Hutt, who places a bounty on Solo's capture. Desperate to pay off his debt to Jabba, Solo accepts a charter to transport Obi-Wan Kenobi, Luke Skywalker, and their two droids to the planet Alderaan. As a result, Solo reluctantly becomes involved in the Rebel Alliance and helps them rescue Princess Leia from Imperial custody, though he claims he is "only in it for the money," and parts ways with the rebels after delivering them to safety and receiving his payment. However, near the end, he has a change of heart, and helps Luke Skywalker destroy the Death Star at the Battle of Yavin. As a result, Solo is handsomely rewarded and given, along with Luke Skywalker, the Alderaanian Medal of Freedom.

The Empire Strikes Back
In The Empire Strikes Back, set three years later, Solo again attempts to leave the Rebel Alliance as he is still being relentlessly pursued by Jabba's minions. However, he is once again dragged back into action when he saves Skywalker from freezing to death and Princess Leia from an Imperial invasion of the rebel base on Hoth. It is likely that Solo's personal feelings toward the princess played a major role in his decision. He takes her to hide on the planet Bespin, but his old friend Lando Calrissian betrays him and turns them over to Darth Vader, who was informed of their location by Solo's nemesis, bounty hunter Boba Fett. After being tortured by Vader, Solo's body is frozen in carbonite and given to Fett as a reward, who then delivers the incapacitated Solo to Jabba.

Return of the Jedi
Six months later, during the events of Return of the Jedi, Skywalker, now a nearly full-fledged Jedi, rescues Solo from Jabba (with help from Leia, Chewbacca, and a penitent Calrissian). Upon rejoining the rebels, Solo, now promoted to general, accepts their offer to lead the commando raid on an Imperial shield generator facility on the forest moon of Endor. By destroying the shield generator, they allow rebel fighters to enter the Death Star's superstructure and destroy it in the ensuing Battle of Endor, permanently crippling the Empire.