The thing about Han Solo that separates him from Indiana Jones is his ability to fly a spacecraft—I mean, come one, he can fly the Kessel Run in 12 parsecs, and his self modified, rebuilt Millennium Falcon can make .5 past light speed. Nothing that Indiana Jones has ever conceived of can move that fast—expect for the absurd, interdimensional aliens from “The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.” Maybe. The fact is that when it comes to awesomeness and badassery—displayed by their fighting ability, panache and nonchalant attitudes—Han Solo and Indiana Jones are more or less equal. But it is Han Solo who saved the galaxy; Indiana Jones only saved the world.

You can talk a lot about Indiana Jones’s education—his Ph. D. does seem pretty badass—but Han attended the intergalactic school of hard fucking knocks. He learned to be a champion from birth: he grew up fending for himself on a slave ship by pickpocketing and swindling until he was adopted by wookies. I mean come on—how can you compete with that? 

Or one could talk about Indie’s incredible skill with his whip, which is totally true; in fact, using a whip is more badass than a blaster—it’s true. But Indie’s whip isn’t the same thing as Han’s blaster; a better comparison is between Indie’s whip and the Millennium Falcon—and we know who wins that fight. Han and the Falcoln are as inseparable as Indie and his hat and whip, except that Han’s handmade ship can go .5 past lightspeed, and saved the galaxy. Twice. 

In terms of their characters, though, they’re both two of the most badass people in the history of film (along with Clint Eastwood and Paul Newman in anything)—they both can kill almost anything, face down insurmountable odds, and do all of that while spouting quick-witted, cocky one-liners (“Don’t get cocky!” comes to mind). The sheer scale of their accomplishments, though, shows just how impressive Han Solo really is—I mean come the fuck on, the guy saved the entire galaxy! Show some respect.