Attention soldiers, time to man your battle stations! For today’s training drill,
we’ll be looking at the many faces of The Bad Batch, and ranking them from the most heroic
to the vilest. Star Wars is a galaxy full of memorable heroes and villains,
and that’s true even for a show whose main cast is literally all clones of each other!
But while this show’s predecessor, The Clone Wars, primarily featured clones as heroes,
this series's clone troopers walk different paths. Some are heroes, others are villainous,
and a few find themselves in the middle. But who will end up where? Begun, this countdown has!
I’m Kifinosi with WickedBinge, and this is The Bad Batch: Good to Evil
Like always, we’ll be kicking this video off by looking at the best characters,
and then work our way down all the way to the despicable. These characters are good.
First up is the earner of our Gold Medal of Good, Omega! A female clone of Jango Fett,
Omega has spent her entire life inside the cloning facilities on Kamino until the Bad Batch helps her
escape from the newly formed Empire, which wishes to use her for their own twisted purposes. While
she’s the youngest member of both the crew and the entire show’s cast of characters,
Omega displays a level of optimism and hope that no other character comes even close to matching.
Omega is helpful to a fault, and while that has led her into trouble in a few instances,
it has also been a great source of strength for her. She sees the best in everyone, and
she’s always willing to help those in need, even if others try to discourage her from doing so.
Omega is sure to offer a helping hand no matter the circumstance, and it is this element of her
character that gets her the top spot on our list. In an era full of shades of grey and distrust,
Omega remains a shining beacon of light in the dark, and that’s why she gets first place!
Coming into second place and earning the Silver Medal of Good is senator Riyo Chuchi! While the
senate in the Star Wars universe has earned a reputation for being home to many greedy and
squabbling individuals, Senator Chuchi has all the elements that make up a good politician. She
puts the well-being of those who need help before anything else, and this is a major plot point in
the episodes she appears in. When it starts to look more and more like a bill will be passed
that will discharge clone troopers from service, Riyo Chuchi comes to their aid, and becomes one
of the few senators to fight against the bill. She’s one of the only characters in the show,
politician or otherwise, to see clone troopers as real people, and not just cogs in a military
machine. Though her plan backfires, she continues to be a strong supporter of the clones, helping
Captain Rex’s underground network that aids clones in need. A compassionate and selfless individual,
Riyo Chuchi is an excellent senator, and an even better ally to the clones in their darkest days.
Third place brings us to our Bronze Medal of Good recipient, Captain Rex! A clone trooper who fought
through the entirety of the Clone Wars, Rex is one of the best soldiers the Star Wars galaxy has
ever seen. He’s fought alongside numerous Jedi, helped win many battles, and managed to survive
Order 66 with his personality intact. With the war now over, Captain Rex works to fight against
the tyranny of the Empire. He’s the head of his own resistance network, becoming one of the first
rebel leaders in the process. In addition to his efforts to stamp out the Empire, he remains caring
of his brothers, and tries tirelessly to get as many of them out of the Empire’s crosshairs
as possible. He helped the Bad Batch discard their inhibitor chips, warned other clones of the chips,
and his network primarily focuses on saving clones who might be in danger. No matter how
bad the going gets, Captain Rex remains committed to his friends and brothers, showing a level of
compassion few others in the series can match. Needless to say, if you’re in a sticky situation
and need a clone trooper to come to your rescue, few will do better than Captain Rex!
Up next is a clone trooper who’s been everything from an ARC trooper to a Bad
Batch member, Echo! Following his apparent death during a rescue mission during the Clone Wars,
Echo was kept alive by the Separatists, who used him to analyze Republic battle
strategies. Eventually, the Bad Batch freed him from captivity, and he became their newest member.
Echo ranks higher than his Bad Batch brethren not only because we know more about his exploits,
but also because he’s by far the most heroic of the group. While the other members are
unsure of how to proceed in this post-war galaxy, Echo strives to continue fighting
for everything the Republic and Jedi stood for. This leads him to depart from Clone Force 99,
and join Rex’s resistance movement. Echo is a lot like Rex in many ways, and that’s another reason
he’s placed just a notch below him. Echo cares for all of his comrades, from his fellow members
of the Bad Batch to those who serve the Empire, and he’ll do anything to secure a better future
for all of them. A soldier who’s seen far more than most of his siblings, Echo embodies all
the best elements of a clone trooper, and that’s why he gets this spot on the list!
We’ve finally reached our first original member of Clone Force 99, and who else could come first
other than their leader, Hunter? A clone who was altered to have enhanced senses,
Hunter leads the Bad Batch on every mission, and that in and of itself is a testament to
his strength. If you can lead a group as off-color and unbalanced as the Bad Batch,
you most certainly are a good leader! Hunter also feels like the most practical member of the group,
which makes sense since he is their commander. He has a more levelheaded approach to things
than say, the know-it-all Tech, or the burly Wrecker. And, as their commander, he has led
them on more than a few daring missions. On his orders, the group was able to save Omega,
aid Jedi in danger, and help many of their clone brothers when necessary. Hunter’s levelheaded
nature also allows him to have a better moral compass than many clones. He doesn’t just blindly
follow orders like some do. If he thinks an order is wrong, he will not follow it. While Hunter is
brave and helpful more often than not, Hunter does suffer from a feeling of confusion in an
era of uncertainty. Hunter is cautious about taking a more open stand against the Empire,
and while this is a more practical approach, it’s hardly the heroic one to choose. This makes him
lose out on a better position on our list, but don’t get it twisted. Hunter is an appropriate
leader for Clone Force 99, and one of the best soldiers the entire clone army has ever seen!
Our next member of the batch is their brains, Tech! Tech is easily the smartest character in
the show’s main cast, and he may very well be one of the smartest clone troopers in general.
If there’s a security terminal that needs hacking or an alien language that needs to be deciphered,
Tech is your man. Unfortunately, you could also say that Tech is intelligent to a fault. He often
believes everyone to be on the same wavelength as him, which can lead to some communication issues
between him and the other characters. If something requires his attention, he often becomes sucked
into it, often to the detriment of everything around him. Things that he believes to be obvious
are also anything but to many of his allies. While he thought the inhibitor chip found inside
the brains of every clone was an obvious fact, it caught the other Bad Batch members by surprise.
Despite some language barriers, Tech remains an invaluable part of his team. Without him, it’s
safe to say The Bad Batch would’ve been a much shorter show! Beyond his intelligence, Tech also
embodies the classic clone elements of dedication and valor. He’s protective of all his teammates,
most of all Omega, to who he has slowly found himself becoming a teacher. Tech even willingly
sacrificed himself to allow his teammates to escape, truly showing he’d do anything for the
group. Tech might process things a bit differently from other characters in the show, but he’s just
as brave and dedicated as the greatest of clones, earning him this spot on the list!
As the “good” tier comes to a close, we have one more member of Clone Force 99 to look at,
and that is Wrecker! The muscle of the Bad Batch, Wrecker might not be the sharpest clone in the
gunship, but he’s still an important member of the team. He acts as their demolitions expert,
and there are few things in the world he loves more than blowing stuff up!
With all that being said, there are a few elements that make Wrecker probably
the weakest member of the current Bad Batch lineup. For one, he has a tough time working
with regular clones. While the Bad Batch in general isn’t exactly popular around them,
Wrecker in particular likes to start conflict with them, showing once again that brains aren’t
his strong spot. Wrecker was also the member of the group who suffered the most from his inhibitor
chip. What starts as mere headaches slowly start to turn darker and darker, soon culminating in
an attack on his fellow members when they try to extract the chip from his head. Though he
does get it removed in the end and apologizes for his actions, it remains the darkest moment any of
the main characters have gone through. Despite all of that, Wrecker is an excellent member of
Clone Force 99. He gets along with them all well, especially Omega, and is willing to do
whatever it takes to make sure a mission goes well. Not so bad for the ol’ lunkhead, huh?
We’re calling it quits on the good guys! Now, it’s time to look at the characters
who are neither good nor evil, but instead walk right down the middle. This is the Grey Area.
Up first in this area of the list is clone Captain Howzer! Howzer is without a doubt one of the
most conflicted characters in the whole show, and that’s a big reason why we place him here. Though
he serves the Empire and follows their command, he does often question their actions, and soon begins
to defy their orders. When we first meet him, he goes through with the majority of orders his
superiors give him, even if they create tension with his allies. After the freedom fighter Cham
Syndulla attacks an Imperial shipment, Howzer turns against him and apprehends him, leaving the
captain to feel a great deal of guilt. Though he continues to follow orders, he eventually
reaches his breaking point, and stands against the Empire’s occupation of Ryloth. While he
has loyalties to the new Empire, he finds himself caring more for the people of Ryloth, and he sides
with them even at the cost of his freedom. Much later, Howzer is freed from captivity by Rex’s
clone rebellion, and he quickly allies himself with them. Though Howzer does ultimately end up
on the side of good, the amount of inner conflict he goes through to get there gives us pause in
putting him on the good list. Nevertheless, Howzer is as selfless as a soldier could be, and it is
that trait more than anything else that keeps him from getting a lower position on the list.
Going from a soldier to a scoundrel, our next character is the pirate Phee Genoa! Although
she’s an acquaintance of the untrustworthy Cid, Phee is anything but deceitful! Genoa is a much
more faithful ally to the Bad Batch than Cid ever was, and that’s quite a feat considering
she’s been in far fewer episodes! She’s always helpful to the Bad Batch members, and maintains
a pretty good relationship with all of them. She gets along particularly well with Tech,
and if you can get along with someone as smart as him, it’s safe to say you’re willing to put
up with just about anyone. That being said, Phee isn’t exactly a perfect character. She
is a pirate, after all, so it seems fair to assume that she’s swindled and stolen
from at least a few individuals. Still, for someone who refers to themself as a pirate,
Phee Genoa is a reliable ally, and that’s not something you can say about most outlaws!
We’re heading back to the clones for our next character, Commander Cody! In a lot of ways,
Cody is something of a foil to Captain Rex. While Rex served alongside Anakin Skywalker during
the Clone Wars, Cody fought with his master, Obi-Wan Kenobi. And while Rex got his inhibitor
chip removed, Cody never did, and went through with Order 66 like so many of his brothers. By
the time we meet him in The Bad Batch, Cody is starting to question the new order, not unlike
Howzer before him. He is sent alongside Crosshair to take care of a Separatist holdout, but while
Cody seeks to settle the dispute peacefully, the planet’s Imperial governor orders the prior,
Separatist governor to be executed, and Crosshair goes through with the order. The event shocks Cody
greatly, and is the final straw that leads him to abandon the Empire. While this does show that
Cody has a conscience that other followers of the Empire lack, it doesn’t necessarily
erase his complacency in Order 66, or any of the other atrocities the Empire has been involved in
thus far. Though Cody’s abandonment of the Empire prevents him from descending lower on this list,
his prior actions cause him to lose out on a more positive position. Perhaps future episodes
will exonerate Cody’s character, but at the moment, it is the grey area he finds himself.
Up next is an informant that is as shady as she is scaly, Ciddarin Scaleback! Better
known simply as “Cid”, This Trandoshan was an ally of the Jedi during the Clone Wars,
and now acts as a regular employer for the Bad Batch. She’s the one who puts them up to the
majority of missions they undertake throughout the series, though she’s far from being the best at
sharing necessary information. Take the time they had to secure a rancor for instance. While the
crew carried out the mission successfully, they didn’t even have a clue about what the mission
fully entailed! Cid sees the Bad Batch more as clients who can help her than genuine allies,
and it is this viewpoint that causes her to sink so low on the list. While she does get
along with them on a few occasions, it would be a bit disingenuous to call them friends of hers,
or vice versa. Cid is also an opportunistic individual. If there’s money to be made, she
will gladly sell the Bad Batch out. She does this exact thing in the finale of the second season,
where she rats them out to the Empire to save her skin. Still, there are a few bright spots in her
rather greedy personality. After all, if you were considered an ally to the Jedi, you’ve got to have
at least a semblance of a good heart! Overall, Cid is most definitely the wildcard of the show’s core
characters, and with that in mind, there really is no better place for her than right here!
Finishing up the grey area is the bounty hunter Fennec Shand! Relatively a newcomer to the scene,
Fennec Shand is ordered by one of the cloners on Kamino to retrieve Omega from the Bad Batch.
Though Fennec finds herself against the Bad Batch during this pursuit, she does remain
rather friendly with Omega, showing that she’s a lot more approachable than most other bounty
hunters. Fennec is later recruited again to stop another bounty hunter, Cad Bane, from apprehending
Omega. While she once again fails to bring Omega to her client, she does at the very
least stop Bane from capturing her, who would have undoubtedly led Omega into far worse hands. While
Fennec might look like just another bounty hunter on the surface, she has a far better conscience
and heart than most others in her field, making her the last addition to the grey area.
With the grey area over and done with, it’s time to move on to the faces you
wouldn’t want to be caught dead being in the same parsec as! These characters are evil.
First up is also the last member of the Bad Batch to discuss, Crosshair! The marksman of Clone Force
99, Crosshair was both the only member of the squad to not have his chip go off, and the only
one to continue serving the Empire. That alone tells you a lot about Crosshair’s character.
Crosshair, unlike his siblings, truly believes the Empire is making the galaxy a better place,
and he will do anything his superiors ask him to do. From taking down an insurgency to hunting
down Jedi fugitives, Crosshair's loyalty to the Empire is seemingly infinite. That being said,
Crosshair does start to see the horrors of the Empire. Though he tries his best to hide it,
he does show compassion for his brothers. When the clone trooper Mayday requires medical attention,
Crosshair begs his commander to help, and kills him when he refuses. Crosshair also refuses to
discuss the whereabouts of his fellow Bad Batch members, even if refusal leads him to torture. But
even then, Crosshair is far from heroic in these moments. When he tries to escape his prison cell,
he has no qualms about killing all the troopers guarding the facility. In most cases,
the Bad Batch would’ve simply stunned them. While Crosshair does have his own code and morals,
he’s far from a heroic soldier, and even if he does defect from the Empire,
it’s unlikely he’ll ever be fighting alongside his brothers again. Who knows what the future
has in store for this sharpshooter, but if we had to guess, it’ll be anything but heroic!
Our next character is a new face to the show, but he’s easily one of the creepiest yet! It is Dr.
Hemlock! A high-ranking member of the Empire’s science division, Royce Hemlock is brought in
to help with their new cloning program, and he quickly takes an interest in the mysterious clone
Omega. When he tries to get information about her whereabouts from Crosshair,
he has no problem resorting to torture if he thinks it will help his cause. From a
dangerous toxin to electrocution, Hemlock will try anything up his sleeve to get what he wants.
Indeed, it was this trait of persistence that led Hemlock to be expelled from the
Republic’s science division. If that doesn’t tell you something about how scary this guy is,
we don’t know what will! An unfeeling and ruthless scientist, Royce Hemlock shows that you don’t have
to be constantly carrying around weapons to be considered one of the evilest men in the galaxy!
Getting the Bronze Medal of Evil is the notorious bounty hunter Cad Bane! While bounty hunters are
focused only on getting paid and little else, Bane truly has no boundaries he won’t cross
if it means making money. He’ll arrange deals with everyone from Sith to the Empire, as long
as there is something in it for him. Unlike a lot of others on this list thus far, there is nothing
Cad Bane won’t do. If you ask him to capture a child, he has no issue going through with it.
In fact, this series isn’t even the first time he’s kidnapped kids! Bane is also one
of the few characters in the show to truly pose a threat to the Bad Batch,
easily defeating Hunter in a stand-off when he arrived to capture Omega. While
Fennec might’ve been a bounty hunter with a moral compass, Bane is an example of one
who has no such thing. A mercenary who has killed countless Jedi, clones, and other bounty hunters,
Cad Bane is one of the vilest characters featured in the series, and not to be trifled with!
In second place and earning the Silver Medal of Evil is Vice Admiral Rampart! The overseer of
the Empire’s new recruitment program, Rampart is eager to prove himself to the new order,
and he’s willing to do anything to make a name for himself. From selecting new troops
to carrying out attacks on insurgencies, Rampart remains loyal and committed to the Empire, no
matter the cost. Although he genuinely thinks the Empire will be a beacon of peace to the galaxy,
he’s not above serving his own interests, too. When a clone captain discovered that
the Bad Batch was indeed still active, Rampart ordered him to falsify a report that would
ignore this turn of events. When the captain refused, Rampart killed him without a hint of
remorse. But inarguably Rampart’s most devious act came at the end of the first season when
he ordered the destruction of Kamino’s cloning facilities. This act was so evil it gave even
the officials of the Empire pause! Now, what does that tell you? Despite having faded from
the show’s storyline following his arrest, Rampart remains one of the more despicable
adversaries the Bad Batch has come across, and few will ever match up to his villainy.
Last but most certainly not least, our Gold Medal of Evil goes to Grand Moff Tarkin! Of
all the show’s recurring villains, Tarkin is easily the biggest of the bunch,
both in terms of command hierarchy and offenses. Though it falls on Rampart’s behalf to phase out
the clone troopers, it was Tarkin more than anyone else who pushed for this. He believed
the clones were no longer needed in the galaxy, and an army made up of recruited
individuals would be far more efficient to the Empire. Thus, much of the conflict in the show
is his doing. Tarkin also planned on carrying out punishment towards the Bad Batch members
after they refused to wipe out a rebel group on Onderon. Had they not escaped alongside Omega,
it’s likely they would not have lived to tell the tale. An authoritative follower of the Empire who
is as pragmatic as he is cold, Tarkin is the most dangerous foe the Bad Batch have come up against,
and given what the future has in store for his character, that’s unlikely to change anytime soon!
Before we wrap up this mission briefing,
how about we hand out a few medals to the brave soldiers who deserve them the most?
First, let’s give the Darwin Medal to Wrecker! His body may be strong, but his mind? Not so much!
Second, we’re giving the Greed Medal to Cad Bane! As we said earlier,
there’s nothing Bane won’t do for a few credits, making him the ideal candidate for this award!
The Pride Medal goes to Tarkin himself,
who always thinks of himself as being above everyone else in the room.
Last up, the Wrath Medal goes to Crosshair! He’s easily one
of the more dangerous troopers in this show, so he’s perfect for this medal!
But let us know in the comment section if you agree with our ranking. And tell us what we should
cover next. Remember to hit that notification bell and binge our Good to Evil playlist,
where we break down the morality of the characters in your favorite cartoons,
shows, and movies. But most importantly, stay wicked.