The Essential Guide to Characters is a reference book published by Del Rey in November 1995. It was written by Andy Mangels and illustrated by Michael Butkus.

The book provides biographical information on characters from throughout the Star Wars saga, drawn from sources both well-known and obscure.

The New Essential Guide to Characters, an updated version of the book, was published in 2002 to include characters from Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace, Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones, the New Jedi Order novel series, and other sources.

At Celebration V, Pablo Hidalgo announced a third edition of Characters, authored by Daniel Wallace, and gave a release date of 2013 at Celebration VI. However, this book was eventually canceled.