Star Wars Rebels Star Wars Rebels is an animated television series set two to five years before the events of the " Star Wars " original trilogy , during the time frame between the films and " " The series premiered worldwide as a one - hour television movie , " " , on Disney Channel on October 3 , 2014 . ( Regular episodes began airing on Disney XD on October 13 . ) " Star Wars Rebels " was the first new major " Star Wars " project to be released following The Walt Disney Company ' s acquisition of Lucasfilm Ltd . in 2012 . The series follows a motley group of rebels who live aboard the starship " Ghost " as they fight against the evil Galactic Empire . The rebels include Ezra Bridger , a young orphan from Lothal who learns he can use the Force ; Kanan Jarrus , a Jedi who survived Order 66 ; Hera Syndulla , a Twi ' lek pilot and veteran resistance fighter ; Sabine Wren , a Mandalorian explosives expert ; Garazeb " Zeb " Orrelios , a Lasat warrior ; and the cantankerous astromech droid C1 - 10P , also known as Chopper . The crew will eventually help give rise to the Rebel Alliance . Lucasfilm first announced " Star Wars Rebels " on May 20 , 2013 , following the news that the animated television series " " would be ending and that a new series would be produced . The series is created by Dave Filoni , Simon Kinberg , and Carrie Beck , and stars actors Taylor Gray , Freddie Prinze Jr . , Vanessa Marshall , Tiya Sircar , Steve Blum , David Oyelowo , James Earl Jones , Ashley Eckstein , Dee Bradley Baker , Philip Anthony - Rodriguez , Sarah Michelle Gellar , and Jason Isaacs . Plot summary . Premise . The series begins five years before , fourteen years into the reign of the Galactic Empire . The general premise is described as follows : " It is a dark time in the galaxy , as the evil Galactic Empire tightens its grip of power from world to world . As the series begins , Imperial forces have occupied a remote planet , ruling with an iron fist and ruining the lives of its people . But there are a select few who are brave enough to stand up against the endless Stormtrooper s and TIE fighters of the Empire : the clever and motley crew of the starship " Ghost " . Together , this ragtag group will face threatening new villains , have thrilling adventures , and become heroes . " Main characters . " Star Wars Rebels " focuses on six main characters , who crew the starship " Ghost " . They include the teenage con - artist Ezra Bridger , the former Jedi Kanan Jarrus , the " Ghost " pilot and owner , the Twi ' lek Hera Syndulla , the teenage Mandalorian explosives expert Sabine Wren , the Lasat " muscle " Garazeb " Zeb " Orrelios , the astromech droid C1 - 10P or " Chopper . " The series also features a number of diverse villains , including an Inquisitor . Ezra Bridger . Ezra Bridger is a 15 - year - old Force - sensitive Human male street urchin and con - artist on the Imperial - controlled planet Lothal , whose parents were imprisoned by Imperial forces for setting up public broadcasting transmissions speaking out against the Galactic Empire ' s harsh rule , leaving him to fend for himself for the next eight years before joining as the scout of the Rebel crew of a VCX - 100 light freighter called the " Ghost " , armed with an energy slingshot and later a double - barred guard shoto lightsaber with a built - in stun blaster . Bridger also begins learning the Jedi arts from Kanan Jarrus , and becomes best friends with Sabine Wren and Zeb Orrelios . Kanan Jarrus . Kanan Jarrus is a Force - sensitive Human male . Prior to the rise of the Empire , he was Padawan to Jedi Master Depa Billaba . He survived Order 66 and the extinction of the Jedi Order , compelling him to go into hiding from the Empire before joining the crew of the " Ghost " . He is armed with a two - piece dual phase lightsaber and a DL - 18 blaster pistol . He mentors Ezra Bridger in the use of the Force . Though Hera Syndulla is the " Ghost " pilot , Jarrus serves as the group ' s " de facto " leader . Hera Syndulla . Hera Syndulla is a Twi ' lek female who is the owner and pilot of the " Ghost " ( though she did not necessarily acquire the ship legally ) . Independent and strong - minded , Syndulla serves as the heart of the " Ghost " crew , keeping the group together and bringing the best out of them . She is a skilled pilot who fights against the Empire for reasons that she has yet to share with the others . Though she is not Force - sensitive , her skills as a pilot and gunner put her on par with Force - users , and she is determined to see her missions through to the end . Syndulla serves as a mother figure to Ezra Bridger and Sabine Wren , and helps Zeb Orellios manage his temper . Syndulla is fluent in binary . Sabine Wren . Sabine Wren is a 16 - year - old Mandalorian female graffiti artist , Imperial Academy dropout and former bounty hunter who specializes as the weapons expert of the crew of the " Ghost " . She personalizes her armor , hair , and cabin aboard the " Ghost " , and frequently leaves graffiti calling cards in the " Ghost " wake . Garazeb " Zeb " Orrelios . Garazeb " Zeb " Orrelios is a Lasat male honor guardsman whose people were one of the first species to rise up against the Empire in its early days , which responded with a massacre on his homeworld that has left him with a gruff demeanor , yet he remained loyal to the struggle against the Empire as the muscle of the crew of the " Ghost " . A trained and capable warrior , Zeb is highly educated and skilled despite his fearsome appearance . Orrelios begrudgingly becomes close friends with Ezra Bridger , though they both strongly dislike Chopper , a feeling that is reciprocated by the droid . Orrelios ' s favorite pastime is to beat up stormtrooper s ( whom he calls " bucket heads " ) , and he is an acrobatic fighter in combat . Chopper . C1 - 10P , more commonly known as Chopper , is the " Ghost " astromech droid . Built from spare parts , Chopper is irritable , cantankerous , stubborn and uninterested in gaining the affection of organics . Despite this , he is frequently essential in saving the rest of the group from dangerous situations . He and Zeb Orrelios dislike each other . Hera Syndulla is Chopper ' s owner . Development . Conception . " Star Wars Rebels " was created by Dave Filoni , Simon Kinberg , and Carrie Beck . The concept originated with Beck , who suggested it be about " this group that went around righting wrongs . " This reminded Filoni of his original concept for " " , which he described in " " : " My rough idea was to deal with a small number of characters [ a Jedi Master and Padawan , a smuggler and his girlfriend , and a Gungan " strongman " called Lunker ] , have them based on a " Millennium Falcon " - style smuggling ship , and involve them in black market trade , war espionage , and other stories that existed outside the giant galactic conflict going on in the background . " Discussion of where " Rebels " would fall in the " Star Wars " timeline led to the decision to center the series on the Rebel Alliance . Thus , the series was placed between and , during the reign of the Galactic Empire , though not so close to " A New Hope " that it would feel repetitive . In contrast to the galaxy - hopping structure of " The Clone Wars " , it was decided " Rebels " would depict the Rebellion from one group of characters ' point of view . According to Filoni , Kinberg likened it to imagining a show set during the " that was about five guys that were locked up in a farmhouse somewhere fighting against the local British military and without any real knowledge of the larger political movements . " He also noted how the original trilogy mentioned events like the dissolution of the Imperial Senate without depicting them . The development team set out to differentiate the series from " The Clone Wars " by basing much of the visuals on the designs of Ralph McQuarrie — the artist who developed concept art for much of the original trilogy of films . " Rebels " was influenced by ideas developed by George Lucas for " " . and much of the action in " Rebels " was influenced by the Indiana Jones franchise . Early in development , Disney wanted a more comedy - oriented series than Lucasfilm was interested in making . Kathleen Kennedy and the " Rebels " creative team had to make their case otherwise . Production . Lucasfilm Ltd . veteran sculptor Darren Marshall , who worked on " Star Wars : The Clone Wars " prior to its cancellation , developed sculpts for the core characters of " Star Wars Rebels " before leaving Lucasfilm in June 2013 . By December 2013 , the production crew had finished developing the series ' first season and had begun animating the first script . As of January 2014 , the scripts for Season One were halfway completed . Voice - recording had been finished for five episodes , with three more episodes undergoing storyboarding , two more undergoing animation , and the first episode undergoing lighting . Sound design was also underway , with a theme in place for the series . Greg Weisman joined the project as an executive producer in May 2013 , though the series had been under development well before then . On January 17 , animation supervisor Keith Kellogg announced that the production crew had wrapped up animation on the first episode of the series . To aid in animating the show , Lucasfilm developed a special tool for that emulates Ralph McQuarrie ' s artistic style ; the character Zeb Orrelios is based on McQuarie ' s original concept art for the Wookiee Chewbacca . The series ' look is also inspired by the work of — a favorite of Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy . Filoni requested that the animation crew look at the Disney film " " , for which 2D facial expressions were created using 3D animation . Simon Kinberg wrote the series ' s first two episodes , which serve as a short story arc to introduce the show ' s main characters . By March 2014 , the entire first season had been mapped out , and according to Greg Weisman , the series as a whole is organized as a three - act play . The first season serves as the first act of the overall series , while the second and third acts may take more than one season . " Star Wars Rebels " is overseen by three executive producers : Dave Filoni , Simon Kinberg , and Greg Weisman . In addition to Filoni , the " Rebels " production team includes several crew members returning from " Star Wars : The Clone Wars " : Athena Yvette Portillo as line producer , Kilian Plunkett as art director , Joel Aron as CG effects supervisor , Keith Kellogg as animation supervisor , and Steward Lee as episodic director . Lee , Filoni ' s longest - running episodic director from " The Clone Wars " , is joined in directorial duties by brother Steven G . Lee , a veteran of LucasArts . Kevin Kiner , who was previously the composer for " Star Wars : The Clone Wars " , returned as the new music composer for " Star Wars Rebels " . Lucasfilm hired music producer to remix Kiner ' s " Rebels " main theme . Other returning crew members from " The Clone Wars " include Amy Beth Christenson , Andre Kirk , Pat Presley , and Chris Glenn on the concept art team , managed by Liz Cummings , as well as Paul Zinnes on the development team . Pablo Hidalgo , a member of the Lucasfilm Story Group , also works with the team as a fact - checker . The crew aimed for an overall aesthetic similar to the original trilogy . As such , Joel Aron tried to give the visuals a " grainy look , " Matthew Wood used many of the original trilogy ' s sound effects for the series ' soundtrack , and the crew animated the lightsabers in such a way as to emulate the look of those in the original trilogy . Release . " Star Wars Rebels " was first announced on March 11 , 2013 , as an unnamed animated series set to replace " Star Wars : The Clone Wars " . Its name and fall 2014 premiere were announced in a press release on May 20 , 2013 . The first " Star Wars Rebels " teaser trailer debuted on the " Star Wars " YouTube channel on October 7 , 2013 . The series ' main characters were first revealed at the January 2014 , which showcased forthcoming " LEGO Star Wars Rebels " sets . The sets , which depict the " Ghost " and the attack shuttle " Phantom " , included minifigures for Ezra Bridger , Zeb Orrelios , Hera Syndulla , and a placeholder for Kanan Jarrus . The box originally identified Zeb ' s last name as " Orretios , " but the finalized boxes at the New York Toy Fair not long afterward corrected the name and included Jarrus ' s minifigure . On February 4 , 2014 , Lucasfilm distributed six original artwork pieces by Amy Beth Christenson exclusively to six select websites across the Internet — ET Online , TheForce . net , IGN , Mashable , Omelete , and Empire Online — to promote " Star Wars Rebels " . The artwork , presented in the form of Imperial propaganda posters , was part of an exclusive mailing campaign , in which limited - edition cards featuring the artwork were sent to 2 , 500 people around the world on February 5 . The mailings arrived in black - embossed envelopes addressed from the Commission for the Preservation of the New Order on Coruscant and included a letter urging citizens to proudly display the posters in support of the Imperial occupation of Lothal . The six card backs , when combined together , formed the " Rebels " phoenix logo . Starting with Chopper , the " grumpy astromech droid " on January 28 , a series of videos was released that introduced each of the crew members of the " Ghost " . Kanan was introduced as " the Cowboy Jedi " on February 12 , and " the Street - Smart Hero " Ezra Bridger followed on February 14 . Two " Rebels " teasers , entitled " Spark " and " Ignite , " were released on February 17 , and videos introducing Garazeb Orrelios , " the Muscle , " Sabine Wren , " the Explosive Artist , " and Hera Syndulla , " the Pilot , " were released on February 18 , 19 , and 20 respectively . The videos were released by independent news sources such as " TV Guide " , IGN , and " Entertainment Weekly " , and then were posted on the official " Star Wars " YouTube channel shortly afterwards . On April 16 , in conjunction with a following panel at , a clip featuring the character Hera Syndulla was released on the " Star Wars " YouTube channel . The first full - length trailer for " Rebels " was released on May 4 , 2014 . A thirty - second preview of the trailer aired on May 2 on , followed by the full trailer on May 4 , which aired throughout the day on various Disney networks and became available online at StarWars . com and Disney . com . On July 9 , 2014 , " Wednesday Night Baseball " game between the and the featured a " Star Wars " theme , including elements from " Star Wars Rebels " . On July 24 , 2014 , Lucasfilm hosted a panel at the 2014 . Known as " The Heroes of " Star Wars Rebels " , " the panel featured Dave Filoni , Simon Kinberg , and the series ' principal voice cast . Attendees were each given " HoloNet registration cards " that directed them to a re - launched version of HoloNetNews . com that features videos of Imperial propaganda . Around this time , several more promotional videos were released , including two more full - length trailers , two previews exclusive to San Diego Comic - Con , as well as videos that introduced Imperial Security Bureau Agent Kallus and The Inquisitor . August saw the release of a seven - minute preview , a four - minute preview , as well as three television spots . Beginning on August 11 , four three - minute prelude shorts were released consecutively ( on a weekly basis ) on Disney XD . In September , six more TV spots and another trailer were released . Also that month , the website began releasing a series of promotional videos called " Secrets of the Star Wars Rebels " that will run through October . On October 2 , 2014 , Disney announced that it had renewed " Star Wars Rebels " for a second season . The series debuted the next day on the Disney Channel with the TV movie " " . Two final TV spots were released prior to the debut of regular episodes on Disney XD on October 13 . Continuity . Lucasfilm ' s Pablo Hidalgo first provided a timeline for " Star Wars Rebels " of approximately fourteen years after the events of " Star Wars Episode III : Revenge of the Sith " , which corresponds to around five years prior to the events of " Star Wars Episode IV : A New Hope " . Although the official StarWars . com press release announcing the " Rebels " character Chopper later alternatively stated a timeline of four years prior to the events of " A New Hope " , Hidalgo quickly reaffirmed the original timeframe via Twitter . In reprinting portions of the original StarWars . com Chopper press release , the " Launch Pad " department from " Star Wars Insider " 148 also stated a series timeline of 4 BBY . Simon Kinberg told " Empire " magazine that the series would have strong connections to the overall saga : " [ I ' ve ] always felt [ " Star Wars Rebels " ] would lead into IV and potentially set up characters you might not meet until V , or VI , or even VII , but the notion was that this would stand alone from Episode VII . That doesn ' t mean that we can ' t introduce Easter eggs that will pay off in VII , VIII , IX . " Dave Filoni originally claimed that Zeb Orrelios was of a new species based on Ralph McQuarrie ' s concept art for the Wookiee Chewbacca , but a preexisting Expanded Universe species known as the Lasat had already been based on the concept art . " Star Wars Insider " 148 identified Orrelios as a Lasat , though it misspelled his last name as " Orrelious . " " Star Wars Insider " 149 issued an editorial apology for the misspelling but nonetheless misspelled the character ' s name again , this time as " Orrilios . " John Jackson Miller ' s novel " A New Dawn " , which serves as a prequel to " Star Wars Rebels " , is said to be the first narrative to be part of Lucasfilm ' s Story Group .