Ri-Lee Howell was first mentioned in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker: The Visual Dictionary, a 2019 reference book written by Pablo Hidalgo that accompanied the film . The character was named after Riley Howell, a University of North Carolina at Charlotte student and long-time Star Wars fan who lost his life during the UNC Charlotte shooting on April 30, 2019 when he bravely stopped the perpetrator.
Following Riley's death, Lucasfilm Ltd. sent a letter to the Howell family informing them that the Lucasfilm Story Group had decided to create a character based on Riley as a small tribute, but they could not share the details until The Visual Dictionary was released. Once the book was released, Howell's girlfriend created a TikTok video that went viral and resulted in significant press coverage. News sites shared the circumstances of the story as well as recognizing that Riley had been canonized in Star Wars and that he had received his own entry on the free-to-edit, unofficial online Star Wars encyclopedia known as Wookieepedia.
The letter received by the Howell family from Lucasfilm
Ri-Lee Howell was first mentioned in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker: The Visual Dictionary, a 2019 reference book written by Pablo Hidalgo that accompanied the film . The character was named after Riley Howell, a University of North Carolina at Charlotte student and long-time Star Wars fan who lost his life during the UNC Charlotte shooting on April 30, 2019 when he bravely stopped the perpetrator.
Following Riley's death, Lucasfilm Ltd. sent a letter to the Howell family informing them that the Lucasfilm Story Group had decided to create a character based on Riley as a small tribute, but they could not share the details until The Visual Dictionary was released. Once the book was released, Howell's girlfriend created a TikTok video that went viral and resulted in significant press coverage. News sites shared the circumstances of the story as well as recognizing that Riley had been canonized in Star Wars and that he had received his own entry on the free-to-edit, unofficial online Star Wars encyclopedia known as Wookieepedia.
- Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker: The Visual Dictionary
- Star Wars: Fascinating Facts
- Star Wars 100 Objects