There are a lot of smart characters in Star Wars, which means that there are some that are...less so. Some would question Obi-Wan's choice to leave Luke on Darth Vader's home planet or the goons having a difficult time trying to catch a 10-year-old Leia in Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Reddit has made their voices known when suggesting the most exasperating characters in Star Wars. The majority of these characters' questionable choices often revolve around plot armor. There is no disrespect to the actors playing these characters, as the actors just wanted to bring the following characters to life.
Director Krennic Doesn't Consider Consequences
Orson Krennic is the Director of Advanced Weapons Research for the Empire and was in charge of the successful construction of the Death Star in Rogue One.
Redditor arcturusw00d brings up a valid point in why Krennic is lacking intelligence: "What kind of idiot kills someone's wife, expects that person to help build a massively powerful space station and not **** with it...". Krennic killed Galen Erso's wife Lyra and then demanded that Galen build the Death Star. Did he not think that Galen held ill will towards him? After all, Galen left the Empire to settle down with his family. Galen might've sabotaged the Death Star regardless, yet this didn't even cross Krennic's mind.
C-3PO Does Nothing But Complain
Just because C-3PO is one of the most well-known droids in all of Star Wars doesn't mean that he is a smart droid. While it's true that he's fluent in over six million forms of communication, that doesn't discourage SuperRadPsammead from labeling the protocol droid an idiot: "He always assumes the worst."
C-3PO seems to always be oblivious to what's going on around him. He offers virtually no help yet always has an opinion on things that don't concern him. He has become comic relief despite the fact that he is mostly a downer. Comic relief characters are often reduced to humor because they aren't smart enough to do anything else. In one of the many memes that describe C-3PO, the one about his annoying behavior is the most relevant.
Gunnery Captain Bolvan Forgets Droids Exist
Even though Captain Bolvan was a minor character with one line of dialogue, his decision was critical to the fate of the galaxy. In the very beginning of A New Hope, Leia jettisons the Death Star plans in an escape pod containing R2-D2 and C-3PO. Captain Bolvan was the officer that chose not to fire on the pod due to there not being any life forms aboard.
As droids have been around for a long time, ICTheAlchemist and Phasma18374 both agree that it was silly for Bolvan "not assume they had a droid on it" in reference to the escape pod. Noble7878 goes further, noting that Bolvan must've known that a droid "could have the plans on it." If he chose to fire, victory would've been ensured for the Empire.
Pe Makes Some Questionable Decisions
Pe is no doubt an important female figure in the Star Wars universe, both because of her influential political career and her relationship with Anakin. It's because of this relationship that Memes regarding Pe's character can help summarize her rocky relationship with Anakin.
The Redditor calls out Pe, calling her "...the only person in the world who could not see" all of Anakin's questionable actions (including him itting that he killed Tusken women and children). Despite knowing the troubling rage building inside of him and the vows he took as a member of the Jedi order, Pe still carries forward with the relationship. Aadarm goes a step further, arguing that she is indirectly responsible for the Battle on Geonosis, but directly responsible for appointing Jar-Jar Binks to a position of power. Ironically, these actions led to the fall of the Republic, which she worked so hard to preserve. Blaming Pe is a gross oversimplification of what was ultimately the fault of several people in Anakin's life (and, of course, his own), but she certainly could have taken a step back and realized the path Anakin was heading down.
Nute Gunray Doesn't Learn His Lesson
The Viceroy of the Trade Federation was just about as smart as the droids that he bossed around. It's not enough to be killed, but as Redditor ItsMitch47 points out, Gunray "got played twice."
Nute was betrayed in The Phantom Menace by Darth Sidious, yet came back in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith to align with Count Dooku and the Separatists. He didn't gain anything before, which begs the question as to why he would continue to be involved with them. He doesn't question why he is being sent to Mustafar and is later killed by Anakin by order of Sidious. Before he dies, Gunray tells Anakin "Lord Sidious promised us peace." It's baffling that someone who believed their betrayer a second time was in charge of an organization as large as the Trade Federation.
Jar-Jar Binks Can Speak, But He Isn't Intelligent
The Gungan is one of the most hated characters in Star Wars lore, and it's because of his lack of intelligence. While some of Jar-Jar's antics can be summed up as being clumsy and naive, that doesn't mean he isn't stupid.
Jar-Jar is almost single-handedly responsible for the rise of the Empire. "He's literally the reason as of how Palpatine's plan became do-able by giving him emergency powers," states Grand_Clanka. Palpatine was counting on this and knew that because of Jar-Jar's lack of intelligence, he could manipulate Binks into giving him these powers. Even the way Jar-Jar talked led Qui-Gon Jinn to remark, "The ability to speak does not make you intelligent."
Vice-iral Holdo Doesn't Communicate Well
Among the many flaws in the sequel trilogy was Amilyn Holdo, who took over leadership duties after Leia became temporarily incapacitated. Needless to say, her "plan" led many to question her intelligence as she thought she was being smart.
Holdo's plan was to get the remaining of the Resistance to Crait, yet for some reason, she neglected to tell Poe this. Redditor amazing scenes in the Star Wars sequels, her unintelligent actions certainly cost many lives.
Rose Causes More Trouble Than She Prevents
Rose Tico was so unlikeable in The Last Jedi she was barely in The Rise of Skywalker. Perhaps one of the reasons for this is that she isn't very smart. Fan backlash towards Jar-Jar Binks actor Ahmed Best was unfair, and similar backlash forced Rose actress Kelly Marie Tran to quit social media, per CinemaBlend, which is obviously embarrassing and unacceptable. Criticisms of the character, however, are at least partially fair.
WayneSpren explains the "plot armor and lazy writing." In a moment that would've defined Finn's character, Rose purposely crashes her speeder into Finn's, keeping him from sacrificing himself. She didn't think that the crash could've killed both of them. She then attempts to kiss Finn while the First Order is advancing on them. Rose utters a line that makes no sense, then falls unconscious, forcing Finn to drag her all the way back to the base.
Anakin Is Too Easily Manipulated
Since Anakin is the Chosen One, it's very interesting that some Redditors, like contributed to Anakin's transformation into Darth Vader.
Anakin missed all the warning signs from Chancellor Palpatine. Much like Jar-Jar Binks, he got played. Anakin wasn't suspicious of Palpatine's motives, especially after the Darth Plageus story. Even the audience knew that it was Palpatine that murdered Plageus in his sleep. Even after becoming Darth Vader, he blindly believes Palpatine when he's told that Pe is dead, despite remarking that he felt she was alive.
The Jedi Council Is Confusingly Oblivious
In this case, it isn't one character that is being stupid. As Redditors juliuspepperwoodchi and ThisIsTheNewSleeve point out, it's the collective Jedi Council as the council "didn't sense ANY of [Palpatine's plot]" and "did nothing."
No one on the council figured out that Palpatine was behind everything, even after saying the Dark Side surrounds the Chancellor. They sense a plot to destroy the Jedi, yet choose to do nothing about it. Mace Windu chose to take on Palpatine when he could've just waited for Obi-Wan and Yoda to return. Seeing as Yoda was the Grandmaster, most of this foolishness falls on him. At least he realized that he messed up and went into exile because of it.
