I hate to start a thread just for this, but I didn't see another appropriate place... Has Chewie ever held a rank? Doesn't it seem weird that Han and Lando were both made generals in the rebellion, but Chewie was just, well, Chewie? He didn't even get a medal at the end of ANH. I've never really delved into the EU, but does anyone know if it was addressed there? It only seems right that he be given a rank in a show of appreciation for his fighting and leadership.
I tried to look for a rank insignia in the final "wizard-of-oz-like medal scene" but since I loaded the 4:3 aspect version by accident, I can't really answer the question. ... you know why.
Grand Muff Chewbacca No, not that. The furry hand warmer, you pervs. No wait, phrasing... The thing women used to put their hands in to feel better. Nailed it. There's no mention in any canon or old EU/Legends sources of Chewbacca holding a rank. He may have held a Wookiee rank since he served in the King's Guard and in the Kashyyyk resistance to the Separatist invasion, but no rank is stated. As to why he doesn't have a rank in the Rebel Alliance military, taking one might have required him to leave Han's side and thus violate his Life Debt, so he may have turned down any offers. Or Wookiees may have some kind of cultural or religious objection to swearing an oath to an outside organization. Or the Rebel Alliance may discriminate against Wookiees (still bitter about that medal ), but that seems unlikely given the status of other high-ranking non-humans and the egalitarian goals of the organization. In fact, if he refused to swear an oath to the Alliance, that may be the reason he wasn't given the medal. Once Han rose in the Rebel ranks, I guess Chewiee would officially be considered his adjutant or aide-de-camp of sorts. But regardless, if he orders anyone around, who's going to refuse?
Isn't Wookie very hard in universe to understand ? and thus giving him a command rank where his soldiers have no idea what orders he's barking would cause a serious problem. Maybe that's why ?
In my Star Wars headcanon, those aren't medals that Han and Luke receive, they are commissions as officers in the Rebel Fleet. Which is why they have ranks in ESB.
"The Mighty Chewbacca" - seriously,do you want to upset him? He might have a Wookiee rank from his days in the Clone Wars, but the wookiee seems fairly humble and most comfortable being simply "First Mate" under Han Solo. Chewie got his medal after the main ceremony because Leia's so short that she hat to stand on a table to put it over his head in a reasonable manner (covered in the comics). Both he and Han were already trying to figure out if they could sell them.
I always find it curious why some (licenced material writers included) keep revisiting this as if it's some oversight, when Lucas gave his reasoning back in '77: Wookiees are not materialistic and don't put any stock in medals. Leia didn't leave him out, she was respecting his culture. You'd think someone would have bothered to look it up by now.
Oh, that's really cool. I wish they had put it in the movie, though, but I can understand that such exposition might have felt out of place.
Chewie was reconnected to have been given a medal in the new canon, in one of the comics (or was it a novel?) it was too small to fit over his head so he was holding it in his hand.
For the sake of clarity, this is what Lucas said back in '77. It's part of a larger document that was sent out to licencees that gave background information on the various character and lore. It should be noted however that this was pretty much all dictated off the top of his head and for some of it at least may have been the first time he'd thought about it in any detail. But from this and things Dave Filloni has said about the Wookiee/Bad Batch episodes of The Clone Wars that they had in the pipeline when they were cancelled, it seems Lucas put a lot of thought into Wookiee lore. In earlier drafts of the script, the final space battle is flown by Wookiee pilots. Indeed, it seems that whole section of the script seems to have been recycled (conceptually, at least) in RotJ with Endor and the Ewoks. Making the pirate ship's first mate a Wookiee was something he decided later on because in his (paraphrased) words "I just had to get a Wookiee in there somewhere!" So yeah, Lucas: big Wookiee fan. Did not discriminate against Chewbacca. Quite the opposite.
I wonder what a Wookiee would look like if xe kept xyr hair trim (~1") or shaved and then wore humanoid clothing. A Wookiee could even have L.A.S.E.R. hair removal or be covered in scar tissue. Just because we've only seen shaggy Wookiees (AFAIK), it is a big galaxy....