Obi-Wan Kenobi


Obi-Wan Kenobi


Obi-Wan Kenobi () is a character in the Star Wars franchise created by George Lucas. In the original film trilogy, he is a Jedi Master who trains Luke Skywalker in the ways of the Force. In the prequel trilogy, he mentors Luke's father, Anakin Skywalker. Obi-Wan is portrayed by Alec Guinness in the original trilogy and by Ewan McGregor in the prequel films. McGregor also plays the character in the television series Obi-Wan Kenobi. Guinness's performance in Star Wars (1977) earned him the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor, as well as a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Creation and development

Various claims have been made about the origins of the character Obi-Wan Kenobi. In his book about the Star Wars franchise, Chris Taylor asserts that Obi-Wan was inspired by the J.R.R. Tolkien character Gandalf. Ben Sherlock of ScreenRant, meanwhile, claims that the Jedi Master was based on General Makabe Rokurōta, a character from the 1958 Akira Kurosawa film The Hidden Fortress.

Lucas created Obi-Wan Kenobi as a mentor for Luke, and originally planned for him to continue training Luke in the sequel, The Empire Strikes Back. Although Obi-Wan's death was not in the final version of the Star Wars script, Lucas decided during filming that Obi-Wan would die in the film. According to Alec Guinness, he begged Lucas to kill off his character because he hated Obi-Wan's dialogue. Lucas, however, claims he killed off Obi-Wan's because the character served no purpose after his duel with Vader. Lucas later reflected: "It would be much more powerful, satisfying and interesting if Darth Vader were to kill him and he were to go on to a different form."

In outlining The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Lucas wanted to bring back Obi-Wan as a ghost from "another dimension" to continue training Luke, while also considering that (due in part to Guinness's health) he would need to replace him with a new, but similar character. This new mentor would eventually take the form of Yoda.

Portrayals

When casting Star Wars, Lucas sought an established star for the role of Obi-Wan. He considered Peter Cushing for the part, but decided the actor's lean features would be better employed as the villainous Grand Moff Tarkin. The film's producer, Gary Kurtz, felt a strong character actor was required to convey the "stability and gravitas" of Obi-Wan. Before Guinness was cast, the Japanese actor Toshiro Mifune—who plays Makabe Rokurōta in The Hidden Fortress—was considered for the role. Mifune's daughter, Mika Kitagawa, said her father "had a lot of samurai pride" and turned down the roles of both Obi-Wan and Darth Vader because he thought Star Wars would employ cheap special effects and would therefore "cheapen the image of samurai". Once Guinness was selected and production was underway, Lucas credited the English actor with inspiring the cast and crew to work harder, which contributed significantly to the completion of filming. Harrison Ford, who plays Han Solo in the film, said he admired Guinness's preparation, professionalism and kindness towards the other actors.

Appearances in the official canon

Original trilogy

Obi-Wan is introduced in Star Wars (1977) as an elderly hermit living on Tatooine. When Luke and C-3PO travel the desert in search of the runaway droid R2-D2, Obi-Wan rescues them from Tusken Raiders. At Obi-Wan's home, R2-D2 plays a recording of Princess Leia explaining that R2-D2 contains architectural plans for the Galactic Empire's battle station, the Death Star. Leia asks Obi-Wan to deliver R2-D2 and the plans to Alderaan to aid the Rebel Alliance. Obi-Wan reveals to Luke that he is a Jedi, a peacekeeper from the days of the Republic. He explains that Luke's father was also a Jedi, and was killed by Darth Vader. Obi-Wan gives Luke his father's lightsaber and invites him to come to Alderaan and begin Jedi training. At first Luke declines, but changes his mind after finding that his aunt and uncle have been killed by Imperial stormtroopers.

As Obi-Wan and Luke approach Mos Eisley, Obi-Wan uses a Jedi mind trick to compel Imperial troops to let them through a checkpoint. Obi-Wan and Luke hire the smugglers Han Solo and Chewbacca to take them to Alderaan aboard Han's ship, the Millennium Falcon. During the journey, Obi-Wan begins instructing Luke in lightsaber combat. Obi-Wan suddenly feels "a great disturbance in the Force"; soon after, he and the others find that the Empire has obliterated Alderaan. The Falcon gets caught in the Death Star's tractor beam, but the group is able to avoid detection and infiltrate the station. Obi-Wan disables the tractor beam, then encounters Vader. They engage in a lightsaber duel as Luke, Leia, Han and Chewbacca escape. Obi-Wan allows Vader to strike him down, then vanishes into the Force. Later, Obi-Wan contacts Luke through the Force and helps him destroy the Death Star.

In The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Obi-Wan appears several times as a Force spirit. On the ice planet Hoth, he instructs Luke to travel to Dagobah to find the exiled Jedi Master Yoda. Yoda is reluctant to mentor Luke, but Obi-Wan convinces him to continue Luke's training. When Luke intends to leave Dagobah to rescue his friends in Cloud City, Obi-Wan beseeches him to stay, but Luke leaves anyway. In Return of the Jedi (1983), Obi-Wan appears to Luke after Yoda's death on Dagobah. Obi-Wan confirms that Vader is Luke's father, and reveals that Leia is Luke's twin sister. He urges Luke to confront and defeat Vader. After the Rebels destroy the second Death Star and defeat the Empire, Obi-Wan appears at the celebration on Endor alongside the Force spirits of Yoda and Anakin Skywalker.

Prequel trilogy

In The Phantom Menace (1999), set 32 years before A New Hope, a 25-year-old Obi-Wan Kenobi appears as the Padawan apprentice of Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson). He accompanies his master in negotiations with the corrupt Trade Federation, which is blockading the planet Naboo with a fleet of starships. They fight a swarm of battle droids and stow away on a landing craft en route to Naboo. Once on Naboo, Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon rescue Naboo's 14-year-old Queen Padmé Amidala (Natalie Portman), with help from native Gungan Jar Jar Binks (Ahmed Best), and escape in a spaceship toward the Republic capital of Coruscant. Their ship is damaged in the escape, causing the hyperdrive generator to malfunction, and they land on Tatooine for repairs, where they discover the nine-year-old slave Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd). Qui-Gon believes the boy is the "Chosen One" prophesied to bring balance to the Force. Anakin joins the group as they travel to Coruscant. While leaving Tatooine, they are attacked by Darth Maul (portrayed by Ray Park, voiced by Peter Serafinowicz), a member of the Sith, a cult of the dark side long thought to be extinct.

When Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan return to Naboo to defeat the Trade Federation, they are met again by Maul, who engages them both in lightsaber combat. When Maul mortally wounds Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan storms in to duel the Sith Lord, who nearly kills him. However, Obi-Wan manages to turn the tables and defeat Maul, cutting him in half. He promises to fulfill Qui-Gon's dying wish to train Anakin as a Jedi, with or without the council's blessing. Yoda proclaims Obi-Wan a Jedi Knight and reluctantly allows him to take Anakin on as his own Padawan.

In Attack of the Clones, set 10 years later, Obi-Wan is now a respected Jedi Knight and the master of Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen). Over the years, Anakin has grown powerful but arrogant, and believes that Obi-Wan is "holding him back". After they save Padmé, now a senator, from an assassination attempt, Obi-Wan goes on a solo mission to trace the would-be assassins involved to the planet Kamino. He learns of a massive clone army that the planet's inhabitants are building for the Republic. The clones' template is bounty hunter Jango Fett (Temuera Morrison), and he and Obi-Wan battle once the latter deduces Fett must be behind the attempted assassination. Fett escapes to the planet Geonosis with his clone son Boba (Daniel Logan), unaware that Obi-Wan has pursued them.

On Geonosis, Obi-Wan discovers that a conspiracy of star systems bent on revolution from the Republic is led by Jedi-turned-Sith Lord Count Dooku (Christopher Lee), Qui-Gon's old master. After sending a message to Anakin, Obi-Wan is captured, interrogated, and sentenced to death by Dooku. Anakin and Padmé arrive with a cadre of Jedi and the clone army, just in time to prevent the executions. Obi-Wan and Anakin confront Dooku, but the Sith Lord overpowers them both. Yoda intervenes and saves their lives, at the cost of Dooku's escape.

In Revenge of the Sith, set three years later, Obi-Wan is now a Jedi Master and a member of the Jedi Council, as well as a General in the Grand Army of the Republic. Anakin, by now a Jedi Knight, remains Obi-Wan's partner, and the two have become war heroes and best friends. The film opens with the two on a rescue mission to save the kidnapped Supreme Chancellor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) from cyborg Separatist commander General Grievous (Matthew Wood) on board his cruiser. Dooku duels the Jedi once again, knocking Obi-Wan unconscious; while Obi-Wan is out cold, Anakin defeats Dooku and kills him in cold blood on Palpatine's orders. Soon after returning to Coruscant, Obi-Wan travels to planet Utapau to track down Grievous.

After finding the Separatist encampment, Obi-Wan fights Grievous and kills him with Grievous' own blaster. When the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, who is revealed to be Supreme Chancellor Palpatine and the mastermind of the war—issues Order 66 to have the clone troopers turn on the Jedi, Obi-Wan survives the attempt on his life and escapes, rendezvousing with Yoda and Senator Bail Organa (Jimmy Smits) of Alderaan aboard Organa's ship, Tantive III. Returning to Coruscant, he and Yoda discover that every Jedi in the Jedi Temple has been murdered. After sending a beacon to all surviving Jedi to scatter across the galaxy and remain in hiding, a heartbroken Obi-Wan watches security footage revealing that it was Anakin—who is now Darth Sidious' Sith apprentice, Darth Vader—who led the chaos. Yoda says that he will confront Sidious, and he charges Obi-Wan with battling Vader. Obi-Wan is loath to fight his best friend, but reluctantly accepts when Yoda says that Anakin Skywalker no longer exists, having been “consumed” by Vader.

Obi-Wan visits Padmé to question of Anakin's whereabouts, and realizes that Anakin is her husband and the father of her unborn child. When Padmé sets out to the volcanic planet Mustafar to confront her husband herself, Obi-Wan secretly stows away aboard her ship. After they arrive on Mustafar, Obi-Wan reveals himself and confronts Vader, who accuses Padmé and Obi-Wan of conspiring against him and uses the dark side to choke Padmé into unconsciousness. A long and ferocious lightsaber duel occurs between Obi-Wan and Vader, ending with Obi-Wan severing Vader's legs and left arm. Obi-Wan watches in horror as Vader slides too close to a lava flow and catches fire; he then takes his former friend's lightsaber and leaves him to die. Unbeknownst to Obi-Wan, Vader is rescued by Sidious moments later and reconstructed into the cyborg as first seen in the original trilogy.

Obi-Wan takes Padmé to the asteroid Polis Massa, where she dies after giving birth to twins Luke and Leia. Afterwards, Obi-Wan assists in hiding Luke and Leia from the Empire. While Leia is adopted by Bail Organa and his wife, Yoda instructs Obi-Wan to deliver Luke to Anakin's stepbrother Owen Lars (Joel Edgerton) and his wife Beru (Bonnie Piesse) on Tatooine. Yoda then reveals that Qui-Gon's spirit will teach them both to become one with the Force after death. On Tatooine, Obi-Wan hands Luke off to his step-family and goes into exile to watch over the boy and wait until the time is right to challenge Sidious and the newly created Galactic Empire.

Sequel trilogy

In The Rise of Skywalker, Rey hears Obi-Wan's voice along with other Jedi from the past as she battles a resurrected Darth Sidious, revealed to be both her grandfather and the mastermind of the First Order. Obi-Wan says to her, "These are your final steps, Rey. Rise and take them... Rey... Rise." Both the voices of McGregor and Guinness are used, again with recording of Guinness saying "afraid" being repurposed to say "Rey".

Other films

A standalone film centered on Obi-Wan was previously in pre-production before being cancelled in favor of the live-action series Obi-Wan Kenobi. While the project was voted as the most wanted standalone film in a poll by The Hollywood Reporter, it was instead developed as a limited streaming series following the box office disappointment of Solo: A Star Wars Story. The film was to be directed and co-written by Stephen Daldry. According to TMZ, the movie would take place a few years after Revenge of the Sith, featuring marauding Tusken Raiders and an evil warlord, who bring Obi-Wan out of hiding to protect Luke.

Television

Clone Wars (2003) and The Clone Wars (2008–2014; 2020)

Obi-Wan Kenobi is a main character in the animated micro-series Star Wars: Clone Wars and the CGI animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, voiced by James Arnold Taylor. In both series, Obi-Wan is a general in the Clone Wars, and he and Anakin (voiced in each series respectively by Mat Lucas and Matt Lanter) have many adventures fighting the Separatists. During this time Obi-Wan's diplomatic skills earn him the appellation "The Negotiator" due to his reputation of preventing and stopping battles without the use of weapons. The latter series highlights his numerous confrontations with General Grievous, his adversarial relationship with Dark Jedi Asajj Ventress (voiced by Nika Futterman), his romance with Duchess Satine Kryze (voiced by Anna Graves), and the return of his old enemy Darth Maul.

Rebels (2014–2018)

In Star Wars Rebels, set five years before A New Hope, Obi-Wan appears as a hologram in the pilot episode, "Spark of Rebellion". In the Season 3 episode "Visions and Voices", protagonist Ezra Bridger (voiced by Taylor Gray) discovers that Obi-Wan is alive on Tatooine; Obi-Wan's old nemesis Darth Maul finds him as well. In the episode "Twin Suns", Obi-Wan finds Ezra while he is lost in the desert while letting him know Maul was intending to use him. At that moment, Maul attacks them, and Obi-Wan ushers Ezra to retreat. Obi-Wan mortally wounds Maul during a final lightsaber duel; with his dying breath, Maul asks Obi-Wan if he is protecting the "Chosen One", and Obi-Wan replies that he is. After Maul's death, Obi-Wan is seen watching over Luke Skywalker from a distance.

In Rebels, Obi-Wan was voiced by Stephen Stanton, who replaced James Arnold Taylor. Rebels creator Dave Filoni, who worked with the character during the full duration of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, said he considered asking McGregor to reprise and voice the role. However, a voice recording of the late Alec Guinness as Obi-Wan Kenobi was used in a 2018 episode.

Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022)

Ewan McGregor reprised his role as a Jedi master in Obi-Wan Kenobi, a live-action series for Disney+ set between the end of the prequel trilogy and the start of the original trilogy. It was officially announced on August 23, 2019, at the D23 Expo. McGregor expressed his relief at the project's announcement "because for four years, I've been having to lie to people about it", and stated that the series would consist of six one-hour episodes. Deborah Chow will direct the series and executive produce alongside Hossein Amini, who wrote the series. Other executive producers include McGregor, Kennedy, and Tracey Seaward. During Disney Investor Day 2020, it was announced that Hayden Christensen would return as Darth Vader in the series and that it would be set ten years after the events of Revenge of the Sith. In March 2021, it was announced that filming would begin in April, and that the cast would include Joel Edgerton, Bonnie Piesse, Kumail Nanjiani, Indira Varma, Rupert Friend, O'Shea Jackson Jr., Sung Kang, Simone Kessell and Benny Safdie. This series justified the reason Leia named her son after Ben Kenobi.

Novels and comics

Obi-Wan Kenobi appears briefly in the novel Dark Disciple (2015), based on unfinished episodes from The Clone Wars. It fleshes out the friendship between him and Rogue Jedi Quinlan Vos.

The five-issue Marvel Comics mini-series Obi-Wan and Anakin focuses on the title characters between The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones. In the 2015 Star Wars comic series, Luke Skywalker goes to Obi-Wan's abandoned house on Tatooine and finds his diary, from which stories of Obi-Wan's past are recounted.

Obi-Wan appears as a main character in the novel Master and Apprentice (2019) by Claudia Gray, set before the events of The Phantom Menace. The book details his relationship with his Jedi Master, Qui-Gon Jinn. He is also a main character in the novel Brotherhood (2022) by Mike Chen, set at the beginning of the Clone Wars. Obi-Wan is featured as the protagonist of the novel Star Wars Padawan (2022) by Kiersten White, in which the character's early years as an apprentice are explored.

Appearances in Star Wars Legends

In 2014, most of the licensed Star Wars novels and comics produced since 1977 were rebranded by Lucasfilm as Star Wars Legends and declared non-canon to the franchise. The Legends works comprise a separate narrative universe.

Novels

Obi-Wan's life prior to The Phantom Menace is portrayed mostly in Jude Watson's Jedi Apprentice series, which follows his adventures as Qui-Gon's apprentice. Notable events in the series include his battle with the Dark Jedi Xanatos and his first independent mission. Watson's Jedi Quest series details his adventures with Anakin in the years leading up to Attack of the Clones. Obi-Wan's heroism just before and during the Clone Wars is portrayed in novels such as Outbound Flight, The Approaching Storm, and The Cestus Deception. Obi-Wan's life between Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars is depicted in The Last of the Jedi series. Set roughly a year after the fall of the Republic, the series follows Obi-Wan as he seeks out possible survivors of the Great Jedi Purge, most notably Anakin's former rival, Ferus Olin. The novels also show Obi-Wan adjusting to life as a hermit on Tatooine while watching over Luke. He discovers that Vader is still alive after seeing him on the Holonet, the galaxy's official news source.

Obi-Wan appears in the final chapter of Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader, set just after the events in Revenge of the Sith. He learns with alarm that Vader survived their duel on Mustafar, but Qui-Gon assures him that Vader will not set foot on Tatooine for fear of reawakening Anakin Skywalker. Qui-Gon advises Obi-Wan not to reveal to Luke his true parentage until the time is right. In many novels set after Return of the Jedi, Obi-Wan appears as a Force spirit. In The Truce at Bakura, he warns Luke about the Ssi-ruuk; in The Lost City of the Jedi, he guides him to the eponymous city on Yavin 4; in Heir to the Empire, he bids farewell to Luke, explaining that he must abandon his spiritual form and ascend to a higher plane of consciousness. Before parting, Luke says that Obi-Wan was like a father to him, and Obi-Wan replies that he loved Luke like a son. The novel Kenobi (2013) tells the story of Obi-Wan's first days of exile on Tatooine.

Comics

Issue #24 of Marvel's 1977 Star Wars comic depicts Obi-Wan during the time of the Republic.

Various Dark Horse Comics works utilize Kenobi, including several set during the Clone Wars. In Star Wars: Republic (1998–2006), Obi-Wan fights the Separatists during the Clone Wars. Among other notable storylines, he is kidnapped and tortured by Asajj Ventress before being rescued by Anakin ("Hate & Fear"), and apprehends corrupted Jedi Master Quinlan Vos ("The Dreadnaughts of Rendili"). Throughout the series, he grows increasingly wary of Palpatine's designs on the Republic and his influence on Anakin.

In the story "Old Wounds", published in Star Wars: Visionaries (2005) and set a few years after the events of Revenge of the Sith, Obi-Wan confronts Darth Maul on Tatooine to protect Luke. The duel ends when Owen Lars shoots and kills Maul; he then warns Obi-Wan to stay away from his nephew. Through the Force, Obi-Wan reassures Luke that he will be there for him when needed.

Notes

Collection James Bond 007

References

Citations

Works Cited

  • Guinness, Alec (1986). Blessings in Disguise. New York: Knopf. ISBN 0-394-55237-7.
  • Rinzler, J.W. (2010). The Making of the Empire Strikes Back (eBook v3.1 ed.). London: Del Rey. ISBN 9780345543363.

External links

  • Obi-Wan Kenobi in the StarWars.com Databank

Text submitted to CC-BY-SA license. Source: Obi-Wan Kenobi by Wikipedia (Historical)



 




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