Obi-Wan Kenobi

Obi-Wan "Ben" Kenobi (57 BBY - 0 BBY) is a fictional character in the Star Wars galaxy, a Jedi Master of legendary status. He teaches both Anakin and Luke Skywalker in the ways of the Force.

Appearances

The Phantom Menace

At the beginning of ' he was the Padawan (pupil) of Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn, whom he accompanied to Naboo, the planet ruled by Queen Padmé Amidala. After making an unscheduled landing on Tatooine, his master stumbled upon Anakin Skywalker, a young slave who showed tremendous potential with the Force. Master Jinn wanted the boy to be trained as a Jedi. Kenobi disagreed, believing the boy is already too old and too emotional to become a Jedi.

Related Topics:
Padawan - Naboo - Padmé Amidala - Tatooine - Anakin Skywalker - Slave - Force

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After helping Queen Amidala regain Naboo, Kenobi and Jinn found themselves face-to-face with the Sith Lord Darth Maul. Wielding a double-bladed lightsaber, Maul separated Kenobi from the duel and fatally stabbed Jinn. Enraged, Kenobi charged at Maul and cut the latter's lightsaber in half. Maul still overcame the young Jedi, however, and pushed him down a chasm, kicking his lightsaber down the chasm. Luckily, Jinn's lightsaber was still nearby, and, after launching himself out of the chasm, Kenobi called it into his hand and cut Maul in half.

Related Topics:
Sith Lord - Darth Maul

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Kenobi honored Jinn's last wish to train young Skywalker, and the Jedi Council named him a Jedi Knight, reluctantly approving his request to take the boy on as his Padawan. Apparently, the Jedi Council was impressed that Kenobi bested a Sith, an enemy that had not surfaced in a millennia.

Related Topics:
Jedi Council - Sith

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Attack of the Clones

Ten years later, in Attack of the Clones, Kenobi and Skywalker were tasked with protecting now-Senator Amidala, after an attempt was made on her life. Kenobi tracked a mysterious assassin to Kamino, and learned about a massive clone army that the Kaminoans are building for the Republic.

Related Topics:
Attack of the Clones - Kamino - Kaminoans

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The situation was further complicated by Kenobi's tumultuous relationship with his young Padawan: by now a headstrong, arrogant teenager, Skywalker was beginning to chafe under his leadership and, more dangerously, to ignore his teachings in favor of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine's flattery and subtle denunciations of the old Jedi ways. Anakin and Padmé had also fallen in love, an emotional attachment forbidden to Jedi Knights.

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Kenobi attempted to apprehend bounty hunter Jango Fett, but Fett escaped to Geonosis with his son Boba. Kenobi followed them.

Related Topics:
Jango Fett - Geonosis - Boba

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On Geonosis, Kenobi uncovered a conspiracy of star systems that wanted to secede from the Republic, led by Count Dooku. Kenobi was captured shortly after sending a message to Skywalker. Skywalker and Padmé arrived on Geonosis, but they too were captured, and all three were sentenced to death by the Geonosians. The executions were prevented by the timely arrival of Jedi and clone reinforcements, led by Jedi Masters Mace Windu and Yoda. Kenobi and Skywalker confroned Count Dooku and fought him. Count Dooku defeated both of them and cut off Skywalker's right arm (which was later replaced by a robotic prosthetic). Yoda arrived and fought Dooku as well, but the Sith Lord managed to escape.

Related Topics:
Secede - Count Dooku - Geonosians - Mace Windu - Robot - Prosthetic

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Revenge of the Sith

By this time, Kenobi was a storied general, a galaxy-renowned hero of the Republic, who had won many battles while in charge of Republic Clone forces. Additionally, Kenobi had been given the rank of Jedi Master, as well as a seat on the Jedi Council. He was also known as one of the greatest swordsmen the order had ever seen, and the definitive master of lightsaber combat.

Related Topics:
Galaxy - Jedi Master - Jedi Council

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Shortly prior to the Battle of Coruscant, Kenobi and Skywalker had been leading a regiment of clones in the Outer Rim sieges, battling the forces of the Separatists far away from the core worlds. Because of this, they were far from Coruscant when General Grievous swept in and kidnapped Palpatine; however, the Council recalled them to rescue the Chancellor when battle erupted in orbit above Coruscant.

Related Topics:
Battle of Coruscant - Separatists - General Grievous - Kidnap

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In an audacious move, the pair of Jedi boarded Grievous' flagship, the Invisible Hand, and fought their way to the Chancellor. In the process, the two fought with Dooku, who managed to render Kenobi unconscious during the fight before being slain by Skywalker. Unfortunately, Grievous was able to escape.

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At Chancellor Palpatine's urging, Skywalker was accepted by the Jedi Council—but denied the rank of Jedi Master. Kenobi then unintentionally made things worse by asking Skywalker, already angered by the perceived snub, to spy on Palpatine, whom he considered a friend and mentor. Already alienated from his teacher, Skywalker became more and more influenced by Palpatine, who told him the Dark Side of the Force held great power that the Jedi envied. He also manipulated Skywalker into believing that the Dark Side of the Force was the only way he could save Padmé (now his wife and pregnant) from dying in childbirth. Skywalker discovered the Chancellor was in fact the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, and alerted Windu to arrest him. During a heated lightsaber duel between Windu and Palpatine, however, Skywalker panicked at the thought that his only hope of saving his wife and child would die with Palpatine, and cut Windu's hand off, allowing Palpatine to kill him. Skywalker then betrayed the Jedi and became Palpatine's apprentice: Darth Vader.

Related Topics:
Dark Side of the Force - Pregnant - Darth Sidious - Darth Vader

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After General Grievous' location on the planet Utapau was discovered, the Council dispatched Kenobi and his regiment of clones to kill or capture General Grievous and attack the Separatist droids on the planet. After a prolonged fight, Kenobi killed Grievous, only to be attacked by his own clone forces shortly afterwards, who were acting under Order 66 to kill their Jedi Generals. Kenobi escaped by stealing Grievous' starfighter and rendezvousing with Senator Organa and Yoda aboard Organa's ship, the Tantive IV.

Related Topics:
Utapau - Order 66 - Senator Organa - Tantive IV

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Along with Yoda and Organa, Kenobi returned to Coruscant, where he and Yoda discovered, to their horror, that every Jedi in the Jedi Temple had been murdered, even the children. They killed the clones remaining at the Temple from the attack there led by none other than Kenobi's former partner and apprentice, Anakin Skywalker, now a Sith Lord. Kenobi reprogrammed a beacon which had been instructing all remaining Jedi to return to Coruscant (where they surely would be slain) to instruct them to scatter across the galaxy and remain in hiding. After completing this task, Kenobi felt compelled to look at security footage from the Jedi temple, although Master Yoda warned that he would find only pain there. It is upon watching footage of Anakin murdering younglings that Kenobi learned that his beloved pupil had betrayed the Jedi Order.

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Subsequently, Kenobi and Yoda split up to confront the two Sith Lords, Darth Vader and Palpatine respectively. Kenobi hated the thought of having to fight his beloved pupil, but Yoda insisted, saying, "Powerful enough to defeat Sidious, you are not... Twisted by the Dark Side, young Skywalker has become. The boy you trained, gone he is . . . consumed by Darth Vader."

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Kenobi later found Vader at the volcanic moon of Mustafar. He attempted to reason with his former student and to pull him away of the dark side. That was not to be, however, as Vader revealed himself to be mad with power and corrupted (seemingly) beyond redemption, leaving the Jedi Master no choice but to engage in a long and epic duel with his former apprentice. While the lightsaber duel spanned through the Mustafar mining complex, the lava rivers, and finally the black sand, Kenobi tried desperately to persuade Vader to relent. Vader ignored his warnings and leapt forward to deliver the killing blow, leaving him open for Kenobi to carve off his legs and remaining arm with one swift flash. Kenobi refused to inflict the killing blow to his former apprentice, partner, and friend, and so left Vader burning on the volcanic slopes, carrying his lightsaber with him. Vader, though he sustained near-fatal third-degree burns and severe lung damage, survived and was later saved by Palpatine via extensive medical prosthetics and a fearsome breath-mask.

Related Topics:
Volcanic - Moon - Mustafar - Mining - Lava - Third-degree burns - Prosthetics

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This fight not only failed to halt the rise of the Galactic Empire, it actually strengthened it. Kenobi and Yoda were forced into hiding and go their separate ways in remote and hostile planets. Kenobi fled to Tatooine, where he went by the name of Ben Kenobi, while Yoda disappeared to the swamp-filled Dagobah. In accordance with a secret counsel with Senator Bail Organa and Yoda, Kenobi assisted in hiding Skywalker's children after Padmé died in childbirth. Luke was put on Tatooine with Owen Lars, so that Kenobi could look after him in secret, and his twin Leia was put on Alderaan with Organa. During this time, Yoda told Obi-Wan that he had more training for him: that the spirit of Qui-Gon would teach him how to learn to become one with the Force after death.

Related Topics:
Galactic Empire - Swamp - Dagobah - Owen Lars - Leia - Alderaan

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In the original novelization of Return of the Jedi, Kenobi refers to Owen Lars as his brother, but nothing depicted in the films or novelizations of The Phantom Menace or Attack of the Clones reference this. In fact, Attack of the Clones introduces Owen Lars as the stepson of Shmi Skywalker, Anakin's mother, who is married to Owen's father Cliegg Lars for a short period before her death. Episode I implies that Kenobi has never been to or heard of Tatooine before, so it seems unlikely that he is "really" Owen's brother in any meaningful way. Most fans hold this plot point to be one that has been superseded, much like several others before.

Related Topics:
Return of the Jedi - Shmi Skywalker - Cliegg Lars

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A New Hope

Nineteen years after the events of Episode III, Kenobi rescued Anakin's son, Luke, from Tusken Raiders while Luke was in the wilderness of Tatooine looking for a droid named R2-D2 that had an important message for the old Jedi Knight, as chronicled in '. Kenobi eventually heard R2-D2's message from Princess Leia Organa asking for his assistance in delivering the schematics of the Death Star to Alderaan. Kenobi was willing to help, and took young Luke Skywalker under his wing in order to teach him the ways of the Force with the intention of fully training the boy later, on Alderaan. When Luke asked Kenobi about his father, Kenobi disguised the truth from him and said that: "A young Jedi named Darth Vader... betrayed and murdered your father." In Kenobi's way of thinking, this was not entirely untrue: Anakin Skywalker died the moment he betrayed the Jedi, completely becoming Darth Vader.

Related Topics:
Tusken Raiders - R2-D2 - Death Star

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Throughout Episode IV, Kenobi is constantly referred to as "old man", and Grand Moff Tarkin states that "surely, he must be dead by now", despite being only 57 years old. It may be that Tarkin thought he was killed in the Great Jedi Purge or in the epic Mustafar fight of Episode III.

Related Topics:
Grand Moff Tarkin - Great Jedi Purge

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Kenobi and Luke bought passage to Alderaan on smuggler Han Solo's ship, the Millennium Falcon. Before they could reach their destination, however, Alderaan was destroyed by the Death Star by Tarkin's orders. The Millennium Falcon was captured by the Death Star's tractor beam. Fate would have it that Princess Leia Organa was onboard, and her rescue was gallantly executed by Han and Luke. Kenobi, meanwhile, fully aware of the importance of the stolen plans hidden inside R2-D2, set off to disable the tractor beam so that escape could be possible. The old Jedi was probably aware of Vader's presence, and knew he wasn't coming back, as he told Luke that "Your destiny lies upon a different path from mine", and bravely went forward. He did manage to deactivate the tractor beam, but en route to his own escape he was confronted by Darth Vader, his former pupil, and they engaged in a lightsaber duel. Upon seeing Luke about to be caught by Stormtroopers, Kenobi sacrificed himself by allowing Vader to destroy his physical body, creating a distraction and allowing Luke to escape. When Vader's lightsaber cut him in half, Kenobi became one with the Force and vanished in an apparent form of ascension, his body disappearing entirely.

Related Topics:
Han Solo - Millennium Falcon - Fate - Destiny - Ascension

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The Empire Strikes Back (postmortem)

As it turns out, Kenobi did not vanish entirely. Rather, he became a supernatural figure (known as a blue ghost in the Star Wars universe) who advised Luke as a mentor whom the Sith could not touch. Most importantly, he told Luke to use the Force to destroy the Death Star.

Related Topics:
Supernatural - Blue ghost - Mentor

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Kenobi learned how to use the Force to overcome death from his old master, Qui-Gon Jinn, who began advising him from beyond the grave after the Great Jedi Purge.

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In ', Kenobi told Luke to go to the Dagobah system for further training with Yoda. After Luke had been trained as a Jedi, Kenobi appeared in Dagobah to try and dissuade him from going to Cloud City, where Vader was holding Han and Leia hostage, as he felt his young apprentice was not yet ready to face Vader one-on-one. After Luke insisted on facing Vader, Kenobi said sadly that he couldn't help him.

Related Topics:
Dagobah - Cloud City

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Luke was nearly killed in a lightsaber duel with Vader, who revealed to him that he was his father and tried to enlist him into the dark side. Luke escaped, but was haunted by the truth Kenobi withheld from him.

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Return of the Jedi (postmortem)

After Yoda died in ', Kenobi appeared on Dagobah to explain to a heartbroken, troubled Luke why he did not tell him the truth about his father, and to confess that Leia was his sister. Kenobi admitted that his own pride was partly to blame for Anakin Skywalker's fall from grace:"I thought I could instruct him just as well as Yoda. I was wrong.". He then tried to explain to Luke that killing Vader was the only way to destroy the Empire and save the galaxy, even if it meant committing patricide.

Related Topics:
Pride - Grace - Patricide

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Luke tried to persuade Vader to return from the dark side, but Vader and Palpatine nearly succeeded in converting him by appealing to his anger and fear for his friends' lives. At the last minute, when an out-of-control Luke was about to kill Vader (which would turn him to the dark side and make him Palpatine's apprentice), Kenobi's teachings returned to him and he refused, proudly proclaiming himself a Jedi. Palpatine then tried to kill him with Force lightning. As Luke cried out to his father to help him, Vader returned to his old, pre-corrupted self, giving him the strength to destroy Palpatine and return to the light side of the Force as he died in his son's arms.

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Kenobi appeared alongside the souls of fellow Jedi Yoda and a redeemed Anakin Skywalker on Endor, watching over Luke and his comrades as they celebrated the destruction of the second Death Star.

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In an early draft of Return of the Jedi, Kenobi returned from his existence in the Force to become a living human being again. http://www.starwarz.com/starkiller/scripts/revenge_revised_rough_draft.htm

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Expanded Universe

Living appearances

• The Jedi Apprentice series of young reader novels by Jude Watson chronicles Kenobi's exploits with Qui-Gon Jinn. The books span from approximately 44 BBY to 32 BBY; Kenobi is twelve years old at the beginning of this series. During this time he met many Jedi who would later be important friends, including Bant Eerin, Siri Tachi and Quinlan Vos.
• Obi-Wan appeared as a playable character in the game at the same age, 25, as he was in '.
• The Jedi Quest series of young reader novels by Jude Watson takes place between the events of The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones and explores the relationship between Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker.
• Kenobi became a general in the Clone Wars as chronicled in the cartoon series ' and several books and comics of the Expanded Universe. It was during this time that he earned himself the nickname "The Negotiator" for his skill at resolving conflicts without resorting to violence.

Postmortem appearances

• Obi-Wan appeared briefly in the 1978 made-for-TV movie, The Star Wars Holiday Special. He was shown in flashbacks that Chewbacca was having during the Life Day ceremonies, of his former adventures that involved Kenobi from the film, '.
• Kenobi spoke to Luke again in The Truce at Bakura immediately after the Battle of Endor, warning him of the threat posed by the invading Ssi-Ruuvi Imperium.
• Kenobi, Yoda, and Anakin again appeared to Luke in spirit form a few months later to warn him of the dangers presented by the Dark Lord Flint, apprentice of Lady Lumiya, heir to the Sith legacy. Because of their warning, Luke was able to redeem Flint, leaving the reigning Sith Master without an apprentice. This is the last known time Luke saw his father and Yoda, though Anakin Skywalker spoke to Luke's nephew, Jacen Solo, decades later in the New Jedi Order novels Balance Point and The Unifying Force.
• Kenobi appeared to Luke again in 5 ABY to alert him to the presence of the Jedi Prince Ken, the grandson of Emperor Palpatine, who soon became a pawn in a coup orchestrated by a group of false Prophets of the Dark Side set up by Imperial Intelligence.
• In Timothy Zahn's novel Heir to the Empire, which takes place in 9 ABY, Kenobi, still a spirit, visited Luke for the last time in a dream. Kenobi told Luke that he must move on from his spirit form to another realm. As Kenobi explained it, from the time of his death until the time of the novel, his spirit had been in an intermediate stage between life and the afterlife. This was Kenobi's final appearance in the timeline of the Star Wars universe. His final words are: "Not the last of the old Jedi, Luke. The first of the new."
• In case one wonders what happened to Obi-Wan's third lightsaber (as the first from Episode I was kicked down a reactor shaft by Darth Maul and his second from Episode II was confiscated by Count Dooku before the Battle of Geonosis) after he was killed by Darth Vader, in Kenobi's Blade, a young reader novel featuring Anakin Solo, Anakin Skywalker's grandson, it is revealed that Vader hid it in a retreat on Vjun. Unsurprisingly, Solo and company recover the lightsaber from Vader's palace.
• In , Luke Skywalker's son is born and is given the name Ben, after the name Luke had always known the older man by.

Outside of Star Wars

On the BBC's radio and television show Dead Ringers, Kenobi was portrayed by Jon Culshaw, getting himself into all sorts of trouble and dueling against Vader with lightsabers or baguettes. He often employed Jedi mind tricks on other celebrities like Kirsty Wark in different skits. In one scene he is revealed to be the chief spin doctor of Tony Blair during the Hutton inquiry. In another scene, Kenobi is at a car dealership, trying to buy an automobile/fast ship that would take him to Aldershot, but later Vader appears and the two duel against each other with baguettes, much to the enjoyment of the car salesmen ("Darth Vader: Your bread is weak, old man", "Obi Wan: You can't win Darth. If you strike me down, you will lose your No-Claims Bonus.").

Related Topics:
Dead Ringers - Jon Culshaw - Baguette - Kirsty Wark - Spin doctor - Tony Blair - Hutton inquiry

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Kenobi became the "main character" of the "Weird Al" Yankovic spoof of "American Pie", "The Saga Begins", that retells The Phantom Menaces story.

Related Topics:
"Weird Al" Yankovic - Spoof - American Pie - The Saga Begins - The Phantom Menace

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