10 things you don't know about Star Wars - and an 11th thing you don't want to know
4.5.2017
Translation: machine translated
The films from the "Star Wars" series have cult status and a broad universe in which a lot happens. To mark the saga's public holiday, I've put together ten facts on the topic that you may not have known.
The fourth of May, as "May the Fourth", has been declared a holiday by Jedis and Siths around the world, just like stoners have 20 April (i.e. 4/20) and pirates claim "Talk like a Pirate Day" on 19 September. So, let's celebrate with ten things about the Skywalker family saga that you may or may not have known.
1 May the Fourth
Why the fourth of May? Because the English pronunciation of the date is almost a homonym for the phrase from the saga. "May the Force be with you" means something like "May the Force be with you".
In the German-speaking world, this is probably even easier to understand, as many Swiss and Germans have difficulty with the voiced, dental fricative, the ð, or the "th" and - much to the displeasure of English speakers - simply make an "S" out of it. "Mey sö Fohs". I have goose bumps. Why don't you just make it an "F" if you can't get the ð right?
2. Yoda and Darth Vader are official characters in Soul Calibur IV
The fighting game series "Soul Calibur" has added Darth Vader and Yoda as fighters in its fourth instalment. Initially, Yoda was only available on the XBox 360 and Darth Vader on the PlayStation 3. The "Soul Calibur" series is known, among other things, for the frequent guest appearances of characters from other universes.
3. Lando Calrissian once dressed up as Captain Harlock
Star Wars is a piece of cultural heritage in the West. In Japan, one author and his works have joined the ranks of science fiction legends. Leiji Matsumoto has left a lasting mark on Japanese science fiction with stories such as "Space Pirate Captain Harlock" and "Galaxy Express 9999".
So it comes as no surprise that the smuggler and administrator of the cloud city Lando Calrissian disguised himself as Captain Harlock when he had to go undercover in Star Wars #79. The comic was published by Marvel Comics in 1984. The author was Mary Jo Duffy and the illustrator was Ron Frenz.
4. Star Wars should actually be called something completely different
Star Wars wasn't always Star Wars. When the first film went into production, it was still called "Adventures of Luke Starkiller, As Taken From the Journal of the Whills, Saga 1: The Star Wars" in German: "Abenteuer von Luke Starkiller, wie geschrieben im Buche der Whills, Saga 1: Der Krieg der Sterne". Incidentally, Luke Starkiller was the name Luke Skywalker had before he went from star slayer to Skywalker.
In "Star Wars - Episode VII: The Force Awakens", however, there is the Starkiller Base, as a tribute to Skywalker's original name.
5. the thing where brother and sister kiss
In the second part, Episode V, of the saga, "The Empire Strikes Back", Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) is in a bad way. He is attacked on the ice planet Hoth by a wampa, an ice creature similar to a yeti, and almost freezes to death. The Rebellion sends out snowspeeders to search for Luke. They find him and bring him back to the rebel base. After some mending, Princess Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher) comes into his hospital room and after a small argument with Han Solo (Harrison Ford), she kisses Luke.
The scene is particularly strange because Leia and Luke are both children of Anakin Skywalker aka. Darth Vader (David Prowse) and Padmé Amidala (Natalie Portmann). So they are siblings. Twins, even! Eh, incest?
As it later turned out, the author and director of the original trilogy, George Lucas, didn't have a plan for how his entire story would continue during the second film. According to rumours, he did not know at the time that Luke and Leia were siblings. George Lucas has never officially spoken about it, but maintains that he knew the story from the beginning. The whole story.
A look at the original script of "The Empire Strikes Back" reveals exactly how Lucas saw it at the time of filming. It includes a scene in which Luke meets his father's ghost and talks to the ghost of Anakin. Ghost Anakin mentions Luke's twin sister and that he separated the two for their own protection. Then comes this line of text:
If I were to tell you, Darth Vader could get that information from your mind and use her as a hostage. Not yet, Luke. When it's time...
In German:
If I told you [where your sister is], Darth Vader could pluck the information from your head and take her hostage. Not yet, Luke. When the time is right...
This points out that Anakin wasn't Luke's father at the time, Darth Vader is a completely different character and Leia isn't Luke's sister. The "Star Wars" saga, which reads like the story of the Skywalker family, didn't even have a family component yet.
6. The legend that contradicts physics
Han Solo is legendary. Not only is he a notorious smuggler, he is also an outstanding pilot. His most legendary exploit is the flight with the Millennium Falcon, during which he completed the Kessel Run in 12 parsecs. A record!
A little explanation: the Kessel Run is a smuggling route that is considered particularly dangerous in the galaxy. The route is so dangerous because it demands a lot from the pilots. Quick jumps in and out of the speed of light, extreme acceleration and daring braking manoeuvres, changes of direction and little time to unload the smuggled goods. That's why the Kessel Run is a topic smugglers brag about.
Han Solo holds the record. 12 parsecs.
The problem: the Kessel Run is a fixed route. Parsecs are a unit of length, not a unit of time. One parsec corresponds to 3,08567758149137×10^16 metres.
George Lucas probably didn't realise this when he first mentioned the record. Because "sec" sounds like "second" and "parsec" probably sounds a bit like outer space.
Nevertheless, the author of the legend has tried to explain himself. According to Lucas, spaceships travelling at faster-than-light speeds cannot fly in straight lines. Otherwise they would collide with comets, asteroids and other things in space. Therefore, the distance that a smuggling ship travels is crucial, as this also shortens the journey time. The Millennium Falcon managed the Kessel Run in under 12 parsecs because it not only had a 1A pilot, but also a great navigation computer.
7. the story of the purple lightsaber
Lightsabres are based on the use of kyber crystals. These crystals can be found on many planets in the galaxy, but Jedi younglings are sent to the crystal caves of the ice planet Ilum, where they must find a crystal and then mould it into a lightsaber. Jedi lightsabers are born from an understanding between Jedi and crystal. This is why they glow blue-white or green. However, as a Sith, i.e. the bad guys in the Star Wars universe, impose their will on the crystal, it starts to "bleed" and glows red.
The first exception was Mace Windu's (Samuel L. Jackson) lightsaber in "The Phantom Menace", which glows purple. The reason was that George Lucas let the actor have his way and Jackson thought purple was cool. However, the in-universe explanation is that Mace Windu is one of the greatest Jedi of all time and built his own lightsaber using a secret design. The result: purple blade.
8. the names of the galaxy
In the galaxy of Star Wars, there are all kinds of individuals with all kinds of names. Nute Gunray, Boba Fett and his father Jango, Mace Windu, Luke Skywalker, Bail Organa, Jar Jar Binks, Rey, Admiral Akhbar and others share screen time. But where do these names come from? Luke Skywalker could be the son of the hippy couple next door, whereas Nute Gunray sounds like nothing at all. But most of the names have one thing in common: they roll off the tongue extremely well.
"I developed the names phonetically," says George Lucas in an interview with the New York Times. "Obviously I wanted to describe the character to people in the name. I wanted the names to sound unusual but not "spacey". I wanted to avoid typical science fiction names like Zenon or Zorba. They should sound indigenous and be consistent between name and culture".
9. Lightsabers are not just for Jedi
Ranking seventh on this list, the Jedi younglings search for a kyber crystal in the crystal caves of the ice planet Ilum and use it to build a lightsaber. The lightsaber is the weapon par excellence for Jedi and Sith alike. Other characters rely on firearms or knives. Since both the Jedi and the Sith are Force-sensitive, they can use a lightsaber. The fallacy: Only Jedi and Sith can activate a lightsaber.
That's not quite true. In "The Empire Strikes Back", Han Solo uses a lightsaber on the ice planet Hoth to slash a tauntaun, a mount.
The explanation: The Force is everywhere. It's in every living being. It's just a question of how sensitive the creature is to the Force. In the new trilogy, episodes I-III, the strength of the Force was measured using a blood test. Those who have more of the microscopic creatures called midi-chlorians in their blood are more sensitive to the Force.
So, every Jedi has many midi-chlorians, but not everyone with midi-chlorians is a Jedi. Because a Jedi is like a monk: even though all monks are religious, not all religious people are monks.
Thus: If Han Solo had chosen a different career path, the smuggler might have become a Jedi.
This also explains how Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), son of Leia Organa and Han Solo, became such a powerful Sith.
10. Darth Sidious was a woman
Sheev Palpatine is better known in Sith circles as Darth Sidious. The man with the scarred face is Darth Vader's boss and the mastermind behind all manner of evil in the galaxy.
However, the boss was once a woman, even if she had the voice of a man, because Darth Sidious was once a woman. It worked like this: just like Darth Vader, whose voice is not that of the actor in the costume, Elaine Baker, ex-wife of make-up artist Rick Baker, stood in front of the camera as Darth Sidious during the first recordings. However, she never appears in the finished film. That's because another actress, Marjorie Eaton, was in front of the camera.
The man Clive Revill was then just so quickly the afterthought.
11. the Christmas special that was so bad George Lucas banned it
And you thought Episodes I-III were bad...
The world of entertainment recognised early on that Star Wars is a goldmine. This is why the US TV channel CBS endeavoured to produce a so-called holiday special in 1978, i.e. a special Christmas programme.
The result: dreadful.
The 90-minute film sprain is about Chewbacca and his family, who want to celebrate "Life Day". They were joined by Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa and all sorts of other characters from the first trilogy. The presence of bounty hunter Boba Fett stood out in particular. Although the character is extremely popular, he comes from this giant chunk of a film, or rather, the animated special after the special.
The film about Chewbacca's family celebration garnered such negative reviews that it was never aired again. The film was also never released on VHS, DVD or even BluRay. Harrison Ford, who plays Han Solo in the film, even publicly denied the film's existence.
Oh yes, Carrie Fisher aka Princess Leia sings.
So. done. Dear Jedi, Siths, Yuuzhan Vong and fans of the space saga: Enjoy your day! Have fun and we'll see you again for "The Last Jedi" at the very latest.
Journalist. Author. Hacker. A storyteller searching for boundaries, secrets and taboos – putting the world to paper. Not because I can but because I can’t not.
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