Over the course of the seven Star Wars films , an intergalactic tarradiddle full of bright , mythic characters has played out , each with their own complex backstories . This rich detail means that even die - hard fans can have trouble making sense of it all . With this in mind , a group of researchers at Ecole Polytechnique Federale De Lausanne ( EPFL ) in Switzerland , leave by Ph.D. studentKirell Benzi , decided to attempt to categorize this forest of info by develop a serial publication of new algorithms .
The algorithmic program , have it away as “ World Wide Web scrapers , ” were designed to nibble up on unique character within the contents ofWookipedia , a Star Wars variant of Wikipedia . Information about when they lived during the history of the saga , and any major events that happened throughout their lives , was absorbed .
By place this entropy into graph frame , the researcher uncovered a wealth of novel data that was antecedently hidden . importantly , WWW scrapers carefully appear for all the times when two or more characters crossed paths , either directly or indirectly . Considering the saga spans 36,000 years of time , this was no easy task .
The most spectacular species within the Star Wars universe . Kirell Benzi
unmistakably , there are 21,647 character , with 19,612 of them having name and some level of backstory at the very least . Out of these eccentric , it appears , perhaps unsurprisingly , that 78 percent of them are human . Twi’Leks , Rodians and Wookiees make up the first , 2d and 3rd most populous astronomic minorities .
All of these lifeforms are spread over 294 major planet , over which 1,367 Jedi and 724 Sith have at some point go . For much of the young part of the timeline , there were only two Sith simultaneously alive – a victor and an apprentice – so it ’s not surprising that , overall , they ’re outnumbered .
Marking the connections between all the various factions within the Star Wars universe . The larger the node , the more character that belonged to it . Kirell Benzi
Some of the characters do not have a designated timeline , but as the algorithmic rule are able to influence out who they most likely interact with , they can be placed at theirprobable pointswithin the saga ’s history . Out of all these characters , 7,500 play an “ significant role , ” in that they are highly connected to the lives of others .
Anakin Skywalker , the future Darth Vader , is the most machine-accessible character , having cross paths or influenced the lives of over 1,600 other theatrical role . His headmaster , Emperor Palpatine , comes in a close-fitting second , with the now - elusive Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker come in third .
Left : chromosome mapping link between those in the Rebellion Era ( blue ) , the Rise of the Galactic Empire earned run average ( red ) , and those that belong to both ( green ) . shameful leaf node are characters with uncertain timeline . Right : The black client have been placed into various timeline based on their impregnable connection . Kirell Benzi
On a more serious note , the researchers wanted to use this study to establish how their algorithmic rule could quickly extract and psychoanalyse data , while at the same time finding all the possible connection between the information tip . Although Wookipedia contains 125,455 highly detailed article , the major part of this analysis tookonly two daysto utter .
As Benzi tell IFLScience , using this technique is already providing real - world applications . “ We are working with neuroscientists to apply these [ algorithmic rule ] to name disease and to well translate how the brain run , ” he said .
Xavier Bresson , another project appendage , allege in astatementthat “ once enough documents and archive have been digitize , this method could be useful in occupy knowledge gaps that stay on in historical and sociological enquiry , and in numerous scientific fields as well . ”
