Luke Skywalker is the central hero of the original Star Wars trilogy, and has become
an iconic part of cinema and popular culture.
We recently caught a glimpse of him in the Force Awakens, and Star Wars Episode 8 will
no doubt feature him more extensively.
With Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm, much of the old canon is out the window, taking
with it the many stories and adventures of Luke Skywalker (I’m looking at you Dark
Empire), but I’ll do my best to keep the following facts canon …the new canon.
So without waiting any longer, let’s begin…
1.
His original name was Anakin Starkiller Luke was originally named Anakin Starkiller
in the early drafts of A New Hope.
While Anakin was changed to Luke before filming began, Mark Hamill has revealed that his name
was Luke Starkiller four months into the production.
But it was later decided that the name “Starkiller”, sounded too violent for a hero.
Lucas even stated that he was concerned audiences might connect “Starkiller” with serial
killer Charles Manson.
As is Star Wars custom, the name Anakin was recycled for another character we know and
Starkiller has become the name of multiple Star Wars Legends characters, including Han
and Leia’s third child, Anakin Solo.
The name was also used for the protagonist of The Force Unleashed, Galen “Starkiller”
Malek, and there’s Starkiller Base in The Force Awakens.
2.
He was almost played by a monkey…I’m messing…but he was almost female
Long before Luke Skywalker was an unassuming farm boy, the character was intended to be
a chick called Starkiller, who was searching the galaxy for her love Han Solo...let’s
hope it was the human Solo and not the green slimy alien version….
Anyway, in this early incarnation of Star Wars, Han Solo had a beard and actually used
a lightsaber.
Lucas later made the swap when he realised that Luke being a girl didn't fit the story
he wanted to tell (and 20th Century Fox didn't like the idea much either, and insisted on
a male protagonist).
The rest, as they say, is history.
3.
Luke met Obi Wan, before Episode 4 Luke Skywalker’s life growing up on Tatooine
is explored in the new canon novelization of Episode IV, called A New Hope: The Princess,
The Scoundrel, and The Farm Boy, and much of the story revolves around Luke’s childhood.
While uncle Owen tried to discourage Luke’s adventurous nature from a young age, aunt
Beru secretly encouraged him, taking him to the HoloNet to witness different kinds of
planets and climates.
By the time Luke was a teenager, he was piloting a T-16 Skyhopper and shooting womp rats with
great aim.
When Luke’s eight years old, he tries to stand up to thugs sent by Jabba the Hutt,
and is beaten unconscious.
However, in a familiar scenario, he is saved by the mysterious Ben Kenobi, who’s been
watching over him and Ben returns Luke safely to his bed.
Luke doesn’t seem to remember anything the next day.
4.
Tosche station
Fans will remember Luke’s whiny complaint to his Uncle Owen: “But I was going into
Tosche Station to pick up some power converters!”
But Tosche Station wasn’t originally going to be a throwaway line.
In fact, Tosche Station is the setting of a deleted scene from A New Hope in which Luke
does indeed “waste time with his friends,” as his uncle predicts.
In this scene, Biggs Darklighter tells Luke that he is going to run away to join the Rebel
Alliance, which could have been Luke’s inspiration to help Obi Wan and Leia later on.
The scene also reveals that Luke, like Biggs, already has sympathy for the Rebellion, even
though he wants to enrol in the Imperial academy as a pilot.
While the scene at Tosche Station didn’t make the final cut, Biggs does appear to greet
Luke, before the assault on the Death Star.
Unfortunately, Biggs dies in the battle, so their reunion is bittersweet.
5.
The reason for the wampa attack scene is Mark Hamill’s car accident
Like many pieces of Star Wars lore, the story of how the wampa scene came to be depends
on who you talk to.
Some facts are not disputed: Mark Hamill was in a car accident around the time that A New
Hope was finishing up production.
This accident caused him to badly fracture his nose and left cheekbone.
The injury was so severe that cartilage from his ear was used to patch up his nose.
Carrie Fisher claims that the wampa scene was moved to the beginning of the movie in
order to explain Hamill’s facial scarring.
The make-up department actually worked from Hamill’s existing scars in order to create
the wounds the wampa left on his face…
However, George Lucas claims that while the scene helped to give an explanation, it was
not created for the sole purpose of explaining Hamill’s changed appearance.
He states that multiple years have passed between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes
Back, and that Luke could have been injured during his time between these two episodes…
But Lucas often likes to give the impression that everything was pre-planned, when it probably
wasn’t….so it’s tough to call this one…
6.
A self-taught Jedi
Anakin was considered too old to train at just nine years old, so it makes you wonder
how on earth Luke managed to pull it off, as he’s at least a decade older when he
meets Obi Wan in A New Hope.
Luke’s training, due to circumstances out of his control, is highly unorthodox.
After a brief period of time with Obi-Wan, learning the basic principles and ideology
of the Force, Luke is suddenly left on his own following Kenobi’s death.
While it seems like Luke’s abilities evolve overnight, it is important to remember that
there is a three-year period between the events of A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back.
During that time, Luke becomes a self-taught Jedi.
He learns about Jedi history from Taneetch Soonta, visits and trains at the Jedi Temples
on Vrogas Vas, finds and reads Kenobi’s journals from Tatooine, and experiments with
his own Force abilities through trial-and-error.
7.
Luke’s time on Dagobah is up for debate Following the previously mentioned episode
of self-teaching, Luke travels to Dagobah to be trained by Yoda…and it’s not necessarily
clear how long he spends there.
Because his training happens at the same time with Han and Leia’s run from the Empire
and later capture in Cloud City, it doesn’t seem to be a long period of time, but there
are no clear markers that indicate how much time has passed.
The writers of the West End Games Style Guide for the creation of Star Wars: The Roleplaying
Game estimate that Luke spent around six months on Dagobah training, which seems to balance
the seemingly short amount of time that has passed for Han and Leia with the growth of
Luke from his long and gruelling training.
However, Pablo Hidalgo, the creative executive of the Lucasfilm Story Group, tweeted that
it might be possible that Dagobah, as a Force-strong location, exists outside of normal time.
He cites the novelization of The Empire Strikes Back, which describes descending into Dagobah
as entering a dream that is separate from the rest of the galaxy.
So, 1 week on Dagobah could be 1 day to the outside world…
8.
Luke is younger than you might think Luke Skywalker’s age was unclear until Revenge
of the Sith established the exact time of his birth, making him nineteen years old at
the beginning of A New Hope.
Given the time gaps between films, this means that he is twenty-two in The Empire Strikes
Back, twenty-three in Return of the Jedi, and around fifty-three in The Force Awakens.
Mark Hamill is about a decade older in real life, but it works nicely…
9.
Luke’s lightsabers Fans will know that Luke used his father Anakin
Skywalker’s lightsaber, until he gets his hand chopped off on cloud city, ironically
by his own dad.
However, details of the lightsaber he constructed between The Empire Strikes Back and The Return
of the Jedi have just emerged with the new canon retelling of Episode VI for children,
Return of the Jedi: Beware the Power of the Dark Side.
Luke spends the months between Cloud City and Jabba’s Palace gathering pieces for
a new lightsaber, but he is not able to finish it until he visits Ben Kenobi’s old hut
on Tatooine.
There, he finds the last pieces that he needs, right before he goes to save Han from Jabba
the Hutt.
Luke hasn’t had much practice with his new lightsaber before he duels Vader for a second
time, even if he has clearly grown as a Jedi in the time between their fights.
10.
Luke Skywalker originally turned to the dark side
When George Lucas and his co-writer, Lawrence Kasdan, were brainstorming ideas regarding
the ending of Return of The Jedi, Lucas pitched a potential climax that saw Luke Skywalker
picking up the deceased Vader’s helmet and declaring his allegiance to the Dark Side.
This would have been one hell of a twist, but This idea was ultimately scrapped, despite
Kasdan's insisting that it was a great and unpredictable note to finish the story on.
But Lucas didn't want to alienate children, who he ultimately believed to be Star Wars'
target market.
Still, nobody would have expected for Luke to change sides at the end of the trilogy;
and said twist would have been shocking enough to rival the one in The Empire Strikes Back…
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I’ll see you later.