Luke Skywalker
Luke Skywalker is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise. He was introduced in the original Star Wars film and its novelization. He is the main protagonist of the original trilogy, and also appears in the sequel trilogy. Raised as a moisture farmer on the desert planet Tatooine, Luke joins the Rebel Alliance and becomes a pivotal figure in its struggle against the Galactic Empire. He trains as a Jedi Knight under the Jedi Masters Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda, and eventually confronts his father, the Sith Lord Darth Vader. Years later, Luke trains his nephew Ben Solo and mentors the scavenger Rey. Luke is the twin brother of Leia Organa.
Mark Hamill portrays Luke in all the films of the original and sequel trilogies, as well as in the television series The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett. Hamill won the Saturn Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Luke in The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi and The Last Jedi. He was also nominated for the award for his performance in Star Wars. Luke also appears in novels, comics, and video games.
Creation and development
''Star Wars'' (1977)
, the creator of the Star Wars, considered various characterizations for the protagonist of the original Star Wars film. The possibilities included a 60-year-old grizzled war hero, a Jedi Master, a dwarf, and a woman. Luke's original surname was "Starkiller", and it remained in the script until a few months into filming. It was dropped due to what Lucas called "unpleasant connotations" with Charles Manson, who became a "star killer" in 1969 when he murdered the well-known actress Sharon Tate. Lucas replaced the problematic name "Starkiller" with "Skywalker".''Return of the Jedi'' (1983)
An alternate ending to the film reportedly featured Luke disappearing into the wilderness "like Clint Eastwood in the spaghetti Westerns."''The Force Awakens'' (2015)
During development of the sequel film The Force Awakens, the film's screenwriter Michael Arndt was concerned that Luke's presence would distract from the main protagonist Rey. Therefore, instead of being a major character in the film, Luke became a plot device. Hamill attended script readings, during which he read stage directions instead of dialogue. According to the film's director and co-writer, J. J. Abrams, this allowed Hamill to remain involved, and his presence enhanced the readings for everyone.Portrayal
was originally cast as Luke for Star Wars. Other actors who auditioned for the role include Robby Benson, William Katt, Kurt Russell, and Charles Martin Smith. In January 1977, after filming was completed, Hamill was injured in a car accident. He fractured his nose and cheekbone, which caused scarring on his face. Lucas justified the change in Hamill's appearance in The Empire Strikes Back by asserting that between the two films, Luke had been fighting for the Rebel Alliance and had sustained injuries. It was speculated that the wampa attack at the beginning of The Empire Strikes Back was created to explain Luke's facial scarring, but Lucas disputed this in the DVD commentary of the film.Appearances
Original trilogy
''Star Wars''
Luke was introduced in Star Wars, the first film of the original trilogy. He is portrayed by Mark Hamill in all three films of the trilogy. At the beginning of the film, Luke is living on a moisture farm on the desert planet Tatooine with his uncle Owen and aunt Beru. After his uncle purchases the droids and R2-D2, Luke finds a message from Princess Leia of Alderaan inside R2-D2. When R2-D2 goes missing, Luke goes out to search for the droid, and is saved from Tusken Raiders by Obi-Wan Kenobi, an elderly hermit. R2-D2 plays the message from Leia, in which she asks Obi-Wan to help her defeat the Galactic Empire. Obi-Wan says that he and Luke's father were once Jedi Knights, and that Luke's father was murdered by a traitorous Jedi named Darth Vader. Obi-Wan presents Luke with his father's lightsaber and offers to take him to Alderaan and train him in the ways of the Force. Luke declines his offer, feeling obligated to his family's farm.Luke changes his mind when he finds that Imperial stormtroopers have killed his aunt and uncle. He and Obi-Wan travel to Mos Eisley, where they meet the smugglers Han Solo and Chewbacca. They hire the duo to take them to Alderaan on the Millennium Falcon, only to discover that it has been destroyed by the Death Star, the Empire's battle station. The Falcon is brought to the Death Star via tractor beam, and Luke and Han disguise themselves as stormtroopers to infiltrate the station. When they discover Leia is being held captive, Luke persuades Han and Chewbacca to help rescue her. Obi-Wan deactivates the tractor beam, then sacrifices his life in a duel with Vader so the others can escape. Luke joins the Rebel Alliance and pilots an X-wing during the Battle of Yavin. He and other Rebels attempt to destroy the Death Star by launching torpedoes into an exhaust port. As he approaches the port, Luke hears Obi-Wan's voice, telling him to trust his feelings. He switches off his ship's missile guidance system, instead using the Force to guide the torpedoes. After destroying the Death Star, Luke receives a medal of honor from Leia.
''The Empire Strikes Back''
Luke returns in The Empire Strikes Back. Three years after the destruction of the Death Star, Luke is now a commander in the Rebel Alliance. While on the ice planet Hoth, he is captured by a wampa, but manages to escape. Obi-Wan appears to him as a Force spirit and urges him to complete his training with the Jedi Master Yoda. When the Empire discovers the Rebel base, Luke leads a squadron of snowspeeders against the opposing, but is forced to retreat. After escaping in his X-wing, he travels to Dagobah and meets Yoda. He undergoes rigorous Jedi training, quickly expanding his Force abilities.While on Dagobah, Luke has a vision of his friends in danger. Against the advice of both Obi-Wan and Yoda to stay and complete his training, he travels to Cloud City to help them, unwittingly falling into a trap set by Vader. He engages in a lightsaber duel with Vader, and is overpowered. After severing Luke's hand, Vader reveals that he is Luke's father, and invites him to join the dark side of the Force and rule the galaxy with him. Luke throws himself into a chasm, and finds himself on the underside of Cloud City. Hanging onto a slender rod, he uses the Force to contact Leia, who is leaving in the Falcon. She hears his plea, and Chewbacca turns the ship around to rescue him. After Luke returns to the Rebel fleet, his severed hand is replaced with a bio-mechanical one.
''Return of the Jedi''
A year later, Luke is a Jedi Knight and has constructed his own lightsaber. At the beginning of Return of the Jedi, he returns to Tatooine with Leia, Chewbacca and Lando Calrissian to rescue Han, who was frozen in carbonite and delivered to the crime lord Jabba the Hutt. Luke offers to negotiate with Jabba, who rejects his offer and imprisons him with a giant beast called a rancor. When Luke kills the rancor, Jabba decides to execute him, Han and Chewbacca by casting them into a Sarlacc pit. Luke escapes with R2-D2's help, saving his friends and destroying Jabba's sail barge. Luke returns to Dagobah, where he learns from a dying Yoda that Vader is indeed his father. Luke is then informed by Obi-Wan's spirit that he has a twin sister, whom he realizes is Leia. Both Yoda and Obi-Wan tell Luke that he must face Vader again to finish his training and save the galaxy, but he is disturbed by the idea of killing his father.While his companions undertake a mission on Endor, Luke surrenders to Vader in an attempt to bring him back from the dark side. Vader takes his son to the second Death Star and brings him before the Emperor, who attempts to seduce him to the dark side. Luke lashes out at the Emperor with his lightsaber, but Vader blocks his strike, and the two of them duel once again. As Luke regains control of his emotions, Vader senses that he has a sister, and threatens to turn her to the dark side if Luke will not submit. Enraged, Luke overpowers Vader and severs his hand. The Emperor then orders Luke to kill Vader and take his place, but Luke refuses. The Emperor begins torturing Luke with Force lightning, and Luke calls out to his father for help. Vader hesitates, then throws the Emperor down a reactor shaft to his death. Mortally wounded, Vader asks his son to remove his mask, which allows Luke to look upon the face of Anakin Skywalker for the first time. On Endor, Luke burns his father's body on a funeral pyre. As the Rebels celebrate the destruction of the Death Star and the fall of the Empire, Luke sees Anakin's spirit appear alongside the spirits of Obi-Wan and Yoda.
''Revenge of the Sith''
In the prequel film Revenge of the Sith, Padmé Amidala gives birth to the twins Luke and Leia and then dies. and Yoda agree to separate the twins in order to protect them from their father, Vader, and the newly created Galactic Empire. takes Luke to the desert planet Tatooine, where he is adopted by Vader's stepbrother, Owen Lars, and his wife Beru. Leia is adopted by Senator Bail Organa of Alderaan. Both infants are portrayed by Aidan Barton, the son of Roger Barton, an editor of the film.Sequel trilogy
The first film of the sequel trilogy, The Force Awakens, occurs thirty years after the destruction of the second Death Star. Hamill reprises his role as Luke in all three films. The opening crawl of The Force Awakens reveals that Luke disappeared after his nephew and Jedi apprentice, Ben Solo, turned to the dark side and became Kylo Ren, a warlord of the First Order. The Resistance, led by Leia, manage to locate Luke on the planet Ahch-To; the Force-sensitive scavenger Rey then travels to the planet and offers him his lightsaber. At the beginning of The Last Jedi, Luke tosses the lightsaber aside. He refuses to talk to Rey, but eventually inquires about his family. Rey tells him about Han Solo's death at the hands of his son Ren, and explains that the First Order now rules the galaxy. She asks Luke to train her in the ways of the Force, but he is reluctant. He tells her it is time for the Jedi Order to end.Luke eventually begins instructing Rey, but is afraid of her power. He tells her the history of the Jedi Order, and how Darth Sidious rose to power. He claims the Jedi were partly responsible for his father's fall to the dark side. Luke admits that he briefly considered killing his nephew after seeing a vision of the destruction he could cause; when Ben woke to see Luke with his lightsaber drawn, he felt betrayed and left his training. Rey urges Luke to help her redeem Ben, but he refuses. When Rey leaves, Luke tries to burn the Jedi temple, but fails. He is then visited by the spirit of Yoda, who assures him that he still has a purpose. Later, Luke appears on Crait, where the Resistance is besieged. He apologizes to Leia for allowing Ben to fall to the dark side, then steps in front of the First Order forces. He survives an onslaught of blaster fire, then engages Ren in lightsaber combat. Ren seemingly cuts through him, but Luke is unharmed; he is still on Ahch-To, having used the Force to project himself to Crait. He then collapses and becomes one with the Force. His battle with Ren gave the Resistance time to escape the planet.Luke returns in the final film of the trilogy, The Rise of Skywalker. After Rey defeats Ren in a lightsaber duel, she flies his TIE fighter to Ahch-To, then burns the ship. When she throws Luke's lightsaber into the flames, he appears as a Force spirit and catches it. He reprimands her for treating the weapon with disrespect, and admits he was wrong not to participate in the Resistance. He thanks Rey for helping him rediscover himself, and urges her to continue her battle against the Sith. He gives her Leia's lightsaber and his X-wing for her journey to Exegol. After Rey vanquishes Sidious, she visits the moisture farm where Luke was raised. When a passerby asks Rey who she is, she notices the spirits of Luke and Leia nearby, and replies "Rey Skywalker."