7 Things You Didn't Know About Luke Skywalker
The man, the Master, the legend: Luke Skywalker. The Jedi has a long history, both in Legends and in Canon. Some things about him are pretty common knowledge, like what his lightsaber colors are and which hand he lost. Some things are a little less known, sometimes even obscure depending on how deep you dive into the lore. The following is a list of 7 things you may not know about the hero.
1. Luke Faced The Knights Of Ren While Ben Solo Was A Padawan (Canon)
Based on the sequel trilogy, we know Luke was collecting Jedi artifacts, and we know Kylo Ren was formally his apprentice Ben Solo. Luke took Ben with him on these outings to train the boy, and one of these outings took them to an old Jedi outpost. The Knights of Ren popped out while they were exploring, their leader claiming every artifact and holocron was theirs. Luke disagreed and engaged with the group, telling Ben to watch the third member of their party. The Jedi won the fight easily, but, before fleeing, the leader, Ren, warned that there was a shadow in Ben and offered the boy a place with them if he chose to turn in the future.
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2. He Worked With A Sith Lord Once (Legends)
Abeloth was a powerful creature corrupted by the Font of Power and Pool of Knowledge, nexus points of the dark side and light side respectively. She was triggering intense Force psychosis on Jedi and Sith alike. This spurred the Sith Lord Darth Krayt to approach Luke, seeing an opportunity to fill his own motivations and to end an extremely dangerous problem.
Like many powerful dark side beings, she didn’t fully die at first. The crew went on to pursue the creature and end the threat. In the end, he killed her for a final time with his elbow and was able to overpower Krayt when the Sith Lord attempted to betray the Jedi. Without the Sith’s help, the efforts could have easily failed, so it was worth it in the end.
3. Luke Skywalker Was Almost Luke Starkiller
George Lucas had originally named the famous protagonist Luke Starkiller, this was even his name going into production. Unfortunately, the movie was being shot while the Manson Family murders were fresh in the media and the public’s minds. These murders included high-profile people, so there was concern about a negative connotation with the character. To skirt these possible connotations, the name was changed and any scene referencing it was reshot.
Maybe this fact is a little more known now than it used to be, but did you know in Legends there is a mention of this name, too? Concern arose over some training Luke was going to go through. There was a fear that he would embrace his dark side persona and become known as Darth Starkiller. There is also a video game character with the name, as well as a base in The Force Awakens, so the name never really faded out of time.
4. His Child Was Named Ben (Legends)
We know Leia and Han’s kid in canon was Ben Solo, but in Legends Luke was the one to pay tribute to the deceased Jedi. Mara Jade Skywalker, Luke’s wife, had a son. To keep the boy safe, Luke sent him and many other children to a separate, distant location. This action drove a wedge between the parents and the child. He was trained for a while by Jacen Solo, who would become Darth Caedus and murder Mara Jade, and was pushed towards the dark side. Ben didn’t fall at that time, though, and ended up becoming his father’s Padawan instead.
5. Luke Once Stood Up To Jabba’s Thugs (Canon)
The Hutts had a hold on Tatooine for decades at the very least. Jabba was the crime lord in charge of the area, including the Lars moisture farm. During the Great Drought of 11 BBY, he enacted a water tax. This tax was crippling to moisture farmers in particular, which angered Luke. When the thugs came to their farm, Luke stood up to them. Whether it was brave or foolish can be debated, considering he got pretty badly injured in the process. He scraped by okay thanks to his secret guardian, Obi-Wan.
6. He Once Fell To The Dark Side (Legends)
In the Legends stories, Palpatine never really died when everyone thought he did. The Sith Lord had clone bodies he could transfer consciousness into, and Luke had made it his mission to destroy the potential hosts. He believed he could overcome the Sith influence and defeat the Emperor by taking it all down from the inside.
He underestimated what the dark side could do, though, and ended up falling over the edge. Leia managed to pull Luke back over in the end, aiding him in the finishing of his mission, though it took several more battles before the goal was achieved.
7. His Adoptive Family Was Aided By Obi-Wan Multiple Times During Childhood (Canon)
Episode IV makes it seem like the Lars/Skywalker family didn’t interact much with Obi-Wan, but Luke was actually saved multiple times by him during his childhood. We touched on it in this article, but without much detail. He was an antsy child, taking after his father, and got into trouble rather frequently. Sometimes that trouble required intervention to solve. The following are a few examples.
When Luke was 3, marauders attacked the farm. Obi-Wan intervenes before the boy can be hurt, and eventually, Owen comes out to help, chastising him for getting involved once Luke is inside. The previously mentioned water confrontation happened, and a year later the Wookie Krrsantan kidnapped Owen while Luke was away. Obi-Wan engaged and defeated the Wookie while Luke went in with his skyhopper to get Owen out.
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Source(s): Wookiepedia