Why Luke Skywalker is Actually a Terrible Hero
Before you get out the pitchforks and torches, hear me out.
A long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, Luke Skywalker saved the rebellion from the grips of the dreaded Emperor and his Imperial forces. Or so we are led to believe. Unfortunately, throughout the entire saga, Luke’s actions have been inflated to epic proportions leading all of us to believe he is a much greater hero than he really is. Below, I’ve picked out several reasons from Episodes IV-VI that illustrate that Luke is actually not the man we all believe him to be.
Episode IV: A New Hope
When we first meet Luke, he is a mere farmer on Tatooine, tending to the droids his uncle procures from the Jawas. After one of the droids suffers a malfunction from a bad motivator, whatever that is, he selects R2-D2 to join the already purchased C-3PO. What a great choice to make, considering all the good R2 will go on to accomplish. However, Luke only suggests R2 to his uncle at the recommendation of C-3PO, minimalizing his own contributions to the matter.
[pullquote-right]Even after death, Luke’s mentor has to look after him.[/pullquote-right]Furthermore, in the Mos Eisley Cantina, he meets some devilish rogues who threaten his well-being. At this point, he’s basically shoved aside so Obi-Wan Kenobi can fight Luke’s battles for him, once again proving that Luke is only a mere recipient of everyone else’s good will.
Once on the Death Star, he manages to nearly drown in a waste container, destroy a bridge’s control panel, and even alert the Stormtroopers watching his master be defeated by Darth Vader to his and his allies’ presence via girlish scream.
Fast-forwarding to the end of the movie where (spoiler alert) Luke fires a torpedo into the exhaust port of the Death Star, thus destroying it, Luke is only able to focus on this task when Darth Vader is blasted off Luke’s tail by Han Solo and Chewbacca in the Millennium Falcon. Han and Chewie return to aid his friend after taking his payment and fleeing, presumably because he assumed Luke would probably die without his help.
Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
In the middle entry of the trilogy, we find Luke taking actions to become a Jedi like his father before him and his mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi and rescue his friends from Cloud City, only to pretty much fail at every turn.
Starting with the beginning of the movie, we find Luke and Han out patrolling on the frigid planet Hoth. After they both confer that pretty much nothing has happened, Luke states that he will stay out to check on something. Han heads back in, and Luke promptly gets his tauntaun murdered and himself captured by a Hoth monster. Later Han investigates Luke’s whereabouts while Luke awakens upside down in a cave. He manages to draw his saber toward him to escape, severing the monster’s arm, but all for naught. He is still going to do a horrible death out in the freezing cold on the ice planet. That is until Han shows up with his tauntaun to rescue his friend from certain death yet again.
[pullquote-left]At the end of the movie, Luke is left on a small rebel station, watching his friends jet off without him, I assume because they’re tired of having to look out for him all the time.[/pullquote-left]After the Hoth battle, where Luke admittedly downs one Imperial Walker single-handedly (although the rebels are still forced to evacuate), he takes R2 and his X-Wing fighter to seek out Yoda on Dagobah for his Jedi training. When he arrives on Dagobah, he immediately crashes his fighter into a swamp, rendering it like 95% submerged. When he finally meets Yoda, Yoda basically refuses to train him, until the ghost of Obi-Wan steps in. Even after death, Luke’s mentor has to look after him. While training, Luke struggles to maintain focus, instead showing too much concern for his allies on the Falcon. He is chided by Yoda for this. He also directly disobeys Yoda during training, proving that not only is he a bad hero, he’s also a bad student. Luke senses something in the jungles of Dagobah and begins to strap on his weapon belt. Yoda tells him he will not need his weapons, but Luke takes them anyways because he doesn’t listen. Finally, in another act of insubordination, Luke packs up to rescue his friends whom he senses are in trouble on Cloud City, to the protest both Yoda and Obi-Wan. This is, of course, after Luke fails to raise his own X-Wing out of the swamp in which he dumped it, needing Yoda to do it for him.
Finally, in Empire, Luke rushes to Cloud City to rescue his friends. Once there, it becomes evident that this was all a trap meant to lure Luke to Darth Vader. After a battle that is crazily one-sided, Luke gets his hand lopped off and jumps down a seemingly endless pit. He winds up dangling from the bottom of the city, and needs the friends he was trying to save in the first place to save him instead. At the end of the movie, Luke is left on a small rebel station, watching his friends jet off without him, I assume because they’re tired of having to look out for him all the time.
Episode VI: The Return of the Jedi
When we first see our “hero” at the beginning of the last entry of the original trilogy, he is decked out in all black, quietly walking his way through the lonely entrance to Jabba the Hutt’s palace to seek audience with Jabba himself. This is a man who has grown since the last time we saw, gained more skill and quiet self-assurance. When he gains audience with Jabba and attempts to free Han Solo, he fails to be aware of his surroundings and plummets through a trap door into the Rancor pit. Once he kills the Rancor, he is taken prisoner, to be executed at the Sarlacc pit alongside Chewie and Han. He gives Jabba one last chance to free them, who laughs off the proposal, and enacts a seemingly brave rescue plan that frees his friends and ruins Jabba the Hutt. We are meant to believe that all this was Luke’s plan in the first place, but it doesn’t quite add up. His goal was to rescue allies. He could have easily done that without murdering everyone. This would imply that Luke intended to be dropped into the Rancor pit and taken prisoner. But watching the scene in which he battles the giant monster, the panic on Luke’s face is startlingly clear. His quick thinking is the only thing that aids in his defeat of the monster. If anything, Luke’s daring rescue is credited to his allies already on the scene, except for the blind Han Solo, who is just as baffled as I am.
Towards the end of the movie, while his friends are fighting in the Battle of Endor alongside the Ewoks, in order to take down the shield generator protecting the new Death Star that the Rebels are gearing up to take down, Luke has been quietly escorted to said Death Star to meet the Emperor. While Rebels and Ewoks are dying left and right, Luke is having a conversation. During this conversation, Luke’s anger gets the best of him and he strikes out at Darth Vader; the two engage in a lightsaber duel that ends with Luke anger-hacking at Darth’s saber until Darth’s hand falls off. Luke then throws his weapon aside and confronts the Emperor, who proceeds to electrocute the bejeezus out of him for an uncomfortably long time. And once again, just as Luke is about to die, someone comes to his aid. Darth Vader, who is confronted with a difficult choice, opts to dump the Emperor over the edge of a long, long drop, thus fighting Luke’s battle for him.
Over the entire trilogy, Luke has many ambitions. He wants to fight in the rebellion for the good of the galaxy. He desperately wants to become a Jedi Knight like his father Darth Vader and his mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi. Unfortunately, he pretty much fails each of these ambitions, or at least vaguely succeeds at them through an over-dependence on those around him. These are the facts as I am able to discern them throughout the fantastic original trilogy, and through an objective lens, I am determined that Luke Skywalker is not all he is cracked up to be. I hope he can do something at least a little bit productive in the upcoming Episode VII – The Force Awakens.
Great write-up Jeff!
But wait, what about Joseph Campbell? As a former English teacher, surely you must address that!
Joseph Campbell can suck it. There, I addressed it.
Addressed, stamped, signed, sealed, and delivered! I have no further questions.
Entertaining as usual. :)
Entertaining and fun read, lol, when you put it in perspective like that.
Fair enough. One could say that the sum of the parts is what counts and he did choose the parts, “your faith in your friends is yours” He did commit himself to turning his father from the darkside and he did accomplish that with no help. I do have to give you credit where credit is due . You are 98% correct and win the argument thus. You also made me laugh .Thank you .
I guess. But I think the Idea of what sets Luke apart from other Jedi is his ability to use the force to “out think” rather than “out fight” evil. If all the prequel episodes tell us anything, Jedi’s can die pretty easily, when put in a situation where they have to “out fight” their opponent (a sith lord) or enemy (say a platoon of clone with blasters) I think Luke plays chess using the force. To steal a line from LOTR, Luke is never “late” or “early”. He precisley where he wants to be WHEN he wants to be. IE showing weakness to make a companion grow in to a stronger individual or weakness to draw out an enemy. Something he would learned from Obi won that Anakin didn’t remember.Anakin – “This feels like a trap”. Obi wan – “Then let’s spring the trap”. As far as Luke knows, he is the last. Unless he can turn Vader back to good, which he did. If Luke died evil reigns forever in the galaxy. So from episode 4 forward,using tact and guile NOT force was the best way to advance the JEDI agenda. He must live above all else.
I see your point, but I think you overestimate our good friend Luke. I don’t think he was intentionally showing weakness in order to allow his allies to grow; rather, I think he was just a weak character. I also don’t think he was using tact and guile – the way he is portrayed makes it seem like he is trying to turn his father out of a need to make a connection with his father emotionally. Just thinking about the duel in the throne room, Luke allows his emotions to get the best of him – that is not tactful at all.
Lombardi, you’ve got no idea what you’re writing about. Think about story telling and how characters connect with the audience. Luke is the greatest hero because he doubts himself all along yet he succeeds in those inner struggles. Luke counts on his friends because that is how life works. He ain’t no Superman. Luke incarnates the audience: flawed and hopeful.
I am not refuting that Luke has a connection with the audience. The audience shares Luke’s wonder, uncertainty and even sometimes fear throughout the entire saga. I also am not refuting that he is able to overcome his inner struggles, just as the audience has to overcome daily struggles in their own lives. While Luke is overcoming his inner struggles in the throne room, his allies are taking down the shield generator on Ender and destroying both the second Death Star and the Super Star Destroyer. Luke doesn’t really succeed in much throughout the saga that is quantifiable in terms of progress in the Rebellion’s efforst against the Empire, at least not without a great deal of reliance on other people.
looking at it from that perspective, I totally agree with you, nothing he did accomplished much except for his lucky shot to destroy the Death Star. Everything that happened to actually win the battles was accomplished by others.
It wasn’t a lucky shot, though, it was the Force. Of all the people in the Galaxy, only Luke or Leia could have made the shot without relying on very unlikely random chance. Even people who can bullseye womp-rats would have had a damn hard time.
This is a load of _bantha pudu._ When Luke disobeyed Yoda, he arguably saved his friends from death by torture or a life of slavery. And he did it–impulsively or not–knowing he was at great risk. I suspect he would have done it even had he known he would lose a hand, and nearly his life, in the process. He showed loyalty to his friends and compassion–things two of the wisest Jedi masters were all too insensitive to, if you ask me! Similarly, Luke is the only person who believes his father is not beyond redemption. He saves his father instead of murdering him as his mentors want him to do (!), and gets the Emperor killed in the process. So his father helped him–so what? How does this diminish his accomplishments? He showed faith in the Force and faith in the power of Good to conquer Evil.
You think having a Force Spirit mentor diminishes Luke’s accomplishments? How many people can even sense the Force? Do you think Han could have made the shot that destroyed the Death Star, or that Ben could have guided him? Yes, Luke was impulsive in the first two movies, but he grows over the course of the story. And what makes you think that he “could have freed his friends without murdering anyone”? He tried that; Jabba wouldn’t play ball (and wasn’t susceptible to the Mind Trick). Leaving his lightsaber hidden inside R2 and planting allies in Jabba’s lair was the result of foresight and excellent planning. And in turning Vader back to the Light, he achieved more than his own teachers thought was even possible.
You, sir, are a very harsh critic–and in my view, a blind one as well.
I’m going to be honest. I didn’t read all of that. I stopped at bantha pudu because I don’t know what that means and I blacked out, regaining consciousness at that last sentence. So I guess I’m a harsh critic, blind and also susceptible to the Jedi mind trick.
Jeff Lombardi claims not to have read the above comment yet still feels compelled to respond to it. Also, if he honestly doesn’t recognize the term “bantha pudu” then he didn’t see the above films. What I make from both these points is that he has an enormous ego and is essentially a lazy op ed contributor. One would suggest that better writers and thinkers are common and should be sought to replace this column.
Dear Anonymous. You’re right. I read it. Well, enough to get the gist. I also know what bantha pudu is – context clues (I was an English teacher, blah, blah, blah). I was attempting something called “snark.” I don’t know what that translates to in the Star Wars Universe. And yes, of course I’ve seen them all. I do, after all, have a heart capable of human emotions. Finally, I agree that my ego is enormous. That is surely the only explanation here that you have so bravely pointed out. I say brave because you posted your comment with your name and picture and everything. So long, I’m off to sit on the couch for the rest of the night and use a rag on a stick to swab under my lazy stomach folds.
I’m not a huge Luke Skywalker fan but it’s amazing how you can see every obstacle in Luke’s path and not understand why they are there or what they represent to the hero’s journey. More than anything else, Luke is a hero for simply not turning back. This is the entire point as paraphrased by both Lucas and Campbell. I understand that this is a humorous article but basically nothing in it is more than superficially accurate. By the same logic, Captain Kirk and Indiana Jones are both awful heroes who managed more harm than good during their tenure. Also, Luke was supposed to be tempted, tested and in the end able to refuse the call to the dark side. This is more than a mere detail, it’s the underlying premise of his arc.
So Luke’s big accomplishment is not throwing in the towel? Listen, my major point here is that compared to his allies, he affects little actual change in the galaxy they all inhabit. The Emperor is dead, yes, but mainly because Vader dead-lifted him and tossed him down the exhaust pipe or whatever chasm that was supposed to be. If Vader hadn’t done that, Luke would be as dead as moths that fly toward the light.
And to your second point, Kirk is nothing more than a poon hound who is constantly reeled in by Spock, et al, and Indiana Jones basically destroys every foreign land he enters in pursuit of his own goals – just like America!
Lastly, and I believe I pointed this out in an earlier reply to a comment, Campbell can suck it.
FINALLY. I’ve been saying this since watching the original trilogy as a child. I was always mocked and beaten up for it. Thank you for finally putting together an argument and validating my bullied childhood.
Next, please put together an argument on why Harry Potter is a sucky hero. Thank you.
You’re welcome! And as for Harry Potter, I imagine that post would read very similarly to this one – everyone fought his battles for him. Except I would get torn to shreds by comments that start with “Well, in the books…”
I’m pretty sure Harry Potter was a whiny brat and a beneficiary of his friends in the books too.
I’ll take your word for it. Too long; didn’t read.