Playable characters are from the Original Trilogy of the Star Wars saga (Episodes IV, V, and VI), including Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, Ben Kenobi, Yoda, Chewbacca, Boba Fett, Princess Leia, C-3PO, R2-D2, Darth Vader, and Emperor Palpatine. If a player has a saved game from Lego Star Wars: The Video Game, then 46 of the characters from the last game will be available, excluding those unlocked in the bonus level (Darth Vader, Princess Leia, Stormtrooper, and Rebel Trooper) but C-3PO, R2-D2, Yoda, Chewbacca, Darth Sidious, and Gonk Droid, as they are characters that also appear in the Original Trilogy time frame, and must be unlocked conventionally. However, this ability must be purchased first. When a player unlocks a character from the standard game, they also unlock its Lego Bricks which can be used to make custom characters. According to LucasArts, this adds up to 1,000,000 character combinations. During E3 2006, it was confirmed that 50 characters can be unlocked by playing through story mode. The rest have to be purchased using studs, the game's currency. All of these characters can be used to create a custom character which is made up of a combination of nine pieces (hat, head, body, cape, arms, hands, weapon, hip and legs). Some characters have a limited amount of pieces usable in Customization Mode, such as those with an irregular head (such as Yoda or Greedo). In those cases, the character cannot wear a hat or helmet. The only humanoid character whose parts you can not use in the game is Lando Calrissian.
Custom characters
The last two characters in the character selection screen are custom characters that can be assembled in the Mos Eisley Cantina. Parts from some standard characters, as well as pieces not otherwise seen, can be used to customise two player-built minifigures (Three in the Nintendo DS version.) Head, weapon and headgear parts dictate the custom character's abilities, and may affect posture as well. Giving a custom character one ability will often shut them off from another- for example, a character with a lightsaber can manipulate the force, but are unable to use a blaster-wielding character's zipline ability. The customisable categories are: headgear, head, cape, torso, arms, hands, weapon, hips, and legs.
The Nintendo DS version of the game is the only one to deviate from these rules, featuring nearly every single character's pieces. Torso, arm and hand pieces are all combined into one category, as are hips and legs. Furthermore, every weapon used by every character appearing is usable, including some completely original ones such as black and rainbow colored lightsabers. Jet packs, short legs, and other functional extras not included in the console versions also appear.
Extra Toggle
Extra Toggle simply means when one plays a level in Free Play mode, characters unobtainable by other means are playable (such as a Womp Rat and Han Solo in Carbonite). However Old Save characters, Extra Toggle characters, custom characters and vehicles are not available for playability in the cantina.
Use Old Save
The Use Old Save feature is an extra which enables the player to import all of the characters from Lego Star Wars: The Video Game (with the exception of the Emperor, Chewbacca and Yoda, since they appear in Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy) and use them in free play. In order to use this feature, the Lego Star Wars save game must be present on the same memory card as is being used for Lego Star Wars II. On a PC, Lego Star Wars must be installed in its default location, or else its save game folder must be copied into Lego Star Wars II's save game folder (typically, "C:\Documents and Settings\your name\Application Data\Lucasarts\LEGO Star Wars II").
The many characters exclusive to Lego Star Wars: The Video Game are added to the character select screen; however, due to changed abilities in the second game, some characters--such as Jar Jar Binks, whose high-jump ability was eliminated--are rendered useless.
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