| Star Wars character | |
| Obi-Wan Kenobi | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Portrayed by | Ewan McGregor (Episodes I-III) Sir Alec Guinness (Episodes IV-VI) |
| Position | Jedi Knight, Jedi Master, Jedi Council Member, Jedi High General |
| Homeworld | Unknown |
| Species | Human |
| Gender | Unknown |
| Affiliation | Unknown |
Obi-Wan Kenobi is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe. He is one of the protagonists in the Star Wars series; along with Anakin Skywalker, R2-D2, and C-3PO, he is one of the few major characters to appear (in some form or another) in each of the six Star Wars films. He is portrayed in the original trilogy by Sir Alec Guinness and in the prequel trilogy by Ewan McGregor.
Obi-Wan first appears in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, seemingly a mysterious hermit known as Ben Kenobi. He is revealed as a Jedi Knight, who then tutors Luke Skywalker to use the Force. In the prequel films, he appears as a young Jedi, progressing from apprentice to master.
Appearances[]
Obi Wan Kenobi appears in all six of the Star Wars films.
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace[]
In Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, 25-year-old Obi-Wan accompanies his master, Qui-Gon Jinn on a mission to Naboo, a planet ruled by Queen Padmé Amidala. After making an unscheduled landing on Tatooine, Qui-Gon meets Anakin Skywalker, a young slave who shows tremendous potential with the Force. Believing the boy to be the prophesied "Chosen One" who would bring balance to the Force by destroying the Sith, Qui-Gon asks the Jedi Council that the boy be trained as a Jedi. Obi-Wan is also amazed by Anakin's unprecedented Force potential, but initially believes the boy is too old and has too many emotional attachments to become a Jedi. The Jedi Council agrees, and forbids training for Anakin, in whom they see a great deal of fear.
During the film's climactic battle scene, Queen Amidala and her entourage of guards split up from her Jedi bodyguards when the Sith Lord Darth Maul arrives to eliminate the Queen. Wielding a double-bladed lightsaber, Maul simultaneously battles both Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan. After being separated from the duel via laser walls, Obi-Wan watches in horror as Maul impales his master. Obi-Wan engages Maul in a fierce duel, cutting Maul's lightsaber in half, but the Sith Lord knocks Obi-Wan into a reactor chasm and kicks his lightsaber into the depths below. Obi-Wan grabs onto an extending pole, breaking his fall. He then calms himself and reconnects with the Force, utilizing it to hurl himself into the air and simultaneously bring his master's lightsaber into his hand, startling Maul and giving him just enough time to slash the Sith Lord in half. The dying Qui-Gon tells Obi-Wan to train Anakin to be a Jedi, and Obi-Wan promises that he will.
For his heroics in defeating a Sith (making him the first Jedi in 1,000 years to do so), Yoda personally bestows the rank of Jedi Knight upon Obi-Wan, who then says that he would take it upon himself to train Anakin whether the Council allowed him to or not. Yoda reluctantly agrees, but warns Obi-Wan to be careful with the troubled boy.
Star Wars Episode II: Attack Of The Clones[]
In Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, set 10 years later, Obi-Wan has become an experienced Jedi Knight. By this time, his relationship with Anakin is strained; the young Padawan has grown powerful but arrogant, and believes that Obi-Wan is trying to hold him back.
He and Anakin are tasked with protecting Padmé, now a Senator, after an attempt is made on her life. Obi-Wan tracks the mysterious assassin to the planet Kamino, and learns about a massive clone army that the planet's inhabitants are building for the Galactic Republic. He then meets with the bounty hunter Jango Fett, the template for the clones, and figures out that he is the one responsible for the assassination attempts on Padmé. Obi-Wan attempts to apprehend Fett, who escapes to Geonosis with his unaltered clone Boba. Obi-Wan follows them by placing a homing beacon on Fett's ship, Slave I.
On Geonosis, Obi-Wan learns of the Confederacy of Independent Systems, also known as the Separatists, a conspiracy of star systems that wants to secede from the Republic. The renegades are led by former Jedi Count Dooku, who was once Qui-Gon's master. Obi-Wan is captured shortly after sending a message to Anakin. While Obi-Wan is in captivity, Dooku reveals that the Galactic Senate is under the control of a Sith Lord called Darth Sidious.
Later, Anakin and Padmé arrive on Geonosis to rescue Obi-Wan. They are themselves captured, however, and all three are sentenced to death by the Geonosians. The executions are prevented by the timely arrival of Jedi and clone reinforcements, led by Jedi Masters Mace Windu and Yoda. Obi-Wan and Anakin confront Dooku and engage him in a lightsaber duel. Dooku strikes Anakin with Force lightning, then turns the deadly barrage onto Obi-Wan, who easily blocks the attack with his lightsaber. The two duel and Dooku outmaneuvers Obi-Wan, wounding him on both his left arm and leg. Dooku is about to deliver a killing blow when Anakin recovers from the lightning and blocks Dooku's attack. Obi-Wan gives Anakin his lightsaber to help him in the duel. Dooku and Anakin fight a short duel, and Dooku cuts off Anakin's right lower arm (which is later replaced by a robotic prosthetic). Yoda arrives and fights Dooku as well, but the Sith escapes; he creates a distraction by nearly killing Obi-Wan and Anakin.
Revenge Of The Sith[]
In Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith, set three years after Clones, Obi-Wan is now a Jedi Master and a general in the Army of the Republic. Anakin, now a full-fledged Jedi Knight, remains his partner.
Obi-Wan and Anakin are sent on a mission to rescue Supreme Chancellor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid), who has been kidnapped by Dooku and Separatist leader General Grievous (Matthew Wood). When they find the captive Palpatine, Dooku engages them both in a duel. Obi-Wan is rendered unconscious by Dooku, but Anakin later defeats him. At Palpatine's urging, he executes the defenseless Count, in violation of the Jedi Code.
After returning to Coruscant, Obi-Wan is called away to Utapau to confront General Grievous by himself. Anakin meanwhile is troubled by visions of his secret and pregnant wife Padmé dying in childbirth. With Obi-wan away, Palpatine, who is secretly Darth Sidious, continues to tempts Anakin to the dark side of the force, promising that the power of the dark side can prevent death. Anakin eventually succumbs to Sidious and is takes him as his new master, becoming the Sith Lord Darth Vader.
After finding the Separatist encampment, Obi-Wan engages Grievous in combat and kills him with a blaster after a long, hard fought battle. Moments later, however, Obi-Wan's own clone forces turn on him. Unknown to Obi-Wan, Palpatine had issued Order 66, directing clone troopers to turn on their Jedi generals. Obi-Wan survives the attempt on his life and escapes by stealing Grievous' star fighter and rendezvousing with Senator Bail Organa and Yoda aboard Bail's ship, the Tantive IV.
Along with Yoda and Bail, Obi-Wan returns to Coruscant, where he and Yoda discover that every Jedi in the Jedi Temple has been murdered, even the younglings. Obi-Wan reprogrammes a beacon, which had been instructing all remaining Jedi to return to the Jedi Temple (where they surely would be killed), by instructing them to scatter across the galaxy and remain in hiding. A heartbroken Obi-Wan then watches a video showing Anakin leading the assault on the temple and accepting Darth Sidious as his master. Subsequently, Obi-Wan and Yoda split up to confront the two Sith Lords, Darth Vader and Darth Sidious. Obi-Wan wishes to fight Sidious, to avoid having to kill his friend and former pupil. Yoda, however, insists that Obi-Wan is not strong enough to fight Sidious, and would have to accept that Anakin had been "consumed by Darth Vader."
Unaware of his former Padawan's location, Obi-Wan visits Padmé and tells her what Anakin has done. He also reveals that he knows who is the father. A horrified Padmé refuses to accept what Obi-Wan tells her and refuses to help him find Anakin, knowing that Obi-wan will attempt to kill him. She sets out to confront Anakin herself, but Obi-Wan secretly stows away in her ship.
Padmé finds Vader at the volcanic planet Mustafar and confronts him. When Obi-wan emerges from Padmé's ship, however, Vader immediately suspects that Padmé has betrayed him, and uses the dark side to choke her into unconsciousness. Obi-Wan confronts Vader, briefly stopping to check on Padmé, and engages him in a long and epic duel, which ranges through the Mustafar mining complex, to the floating debris atop of lava rivers. When Obi-Wan gains a tactical advantage by securing higher ground away from the lava, he tries to persuade Vader to relent, but Vader ignores his warnings. Vader leaps forward, and Obi-Wan severs Vader's legs and remaining organic arm in mid-air. As Vader bursts into flame on the volcanic slope, Obi-Wan leaves him to die, taking his lightsaber. Vader survives long enough to be rescued by Palpatine, and is later placed in the iconic black body armor first seen in the original trilogy.
Obi-Wan assists in hiding Anakin's children after Padmé dies in childbirth. Luke is put on Tatooine with Owen Lars so that Obi-Wan can look after him in secret, while his twin sister Leia is put on Alderaan in Bail's care. Yoda, unsuccessful in his confrontation with Sidious, then tells Obi-Wan that he has more training for him: the spirit of Qui-Gon would teach him how to be a "Force ghost" – to be able to retain his identity through the Force and commune with the living after death.
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope[]
In Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope Obi-Wan is known to the inhabitants of Tatooine as Ben Kenobi, an eccentric hermit who lives in the Jundland Wastes (he had assumed this identity to hide from the Empire). He's first seen rescuing Luke Skywalker from Tusken Raiders while the boy looks for the droid R2-D2. Obi-Wan tells Luke about his father Anakin's past as a Jedi, and gives him the lightsaber of Luke's father, Anakin. When Luke asks Obi-Wan about his father's death, Obi-Wan says "a young Jedi named Darth Vader... betrayed and murdered your father." R2-D2 then plays the message from Princess Leia Organa asking for Obi-Wan's help in delivering the schematics of the Death Star to her foster father on Alderaan. Obi-Wan invites Luke to accompany him to Alderaan and aid the Rebellion against the Empire, but Luke initially refuses. However, when Luke discovers that Imperial troopers hunting down the stolen Death Star plans have killed his uncle and aunt and destroyed their home, he changes his mind. Obi-Wan takes young Luke under his wing in order to teach him the ways of the Force with the intention of fully training the boy later on Alderaan.
Obi-Wan and Luke buy passage to Alderaan on the Millennium Falcon, a freight ship owned by smuggler Han Solo and co-piloted by Chewbacca, a Wookiee. Before they can reach their destination, however, Alderaan is destroyed by the Death Star on the orders of Grand Moff Tarkin. The Millennium Falcon is captured by the Death Star's tractor beam. Princess Leia is on board, and her rescue is gallantly executed by Han and Luke. Obi-Wan, meanwhile, sets off to disable the tractor beam so that the Falcon can escape. Obi-Wan is aware of Vader's presence, and knows he isn't coming back. He deactivates the tractor beam and confronts Vader in a lightsaber duel. Just as Luke and the others are making a run for the Falcon, Obi-Wan allows Vader to strike him down to create a distraction. His body vanishes as he becomes one with the Force.
Although he does not make any further appearances in the film, he speaks to Luke via the Force in the film's climactic battle scene and states, "Use the force, Luke". Luke turns off his X-Wing fighter's targeting computer, and, trusting in the Force, he fires his proton torpedoes, which successfully enter the Death Star's exhaust port and destroy the battle station. Luke then hears Obi-Wan's voice telling him, "The Force will be with you, always".
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back[]
In Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, set three years later, Luke is lying barely conscious on the frozen plains of Hoth, when Obi-Wan's Force ghost appears telling Luke to go to the Dagobah system for further training with the Jedi Master Yoda. After Luke has been trained as a Jedi, Obi-Wan appears in Dagobah to try and dissuade him from going to Cloud City, where Vader holds Han and Leia hostage. He feels his young apprentice is not yet ready to face Vader one-on-one. After Luke insists on facing Vader, Obi-Wan warns Luke that he would not be able to interfere, and Luke would have to face him alone.
Luke is nearly killed in a lightsaber duel with Vader, who reveals to him that he is Luke's father and tries to entice Luke into learning the dark side of the Force. Luke escapes, but is haunted by the truth Obi-Wan withheld from him.
Star Wars Episode VI: Return Of The Jedi[]
In Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, set one year later, a dying Yoda confirms to Luke that Vader is indeed his father. After Yoda's death, Obi-Wan appears on Dagobah as a Force Ghost to explain to a heartbroken Luke why he did not tell him the truth about his father, and to confess that Leia is his sister. Obi-Wan admits that his own pride had been 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 tries to explain to Luke that killing Vader is the only way to destroy the Empire and save the galaxy.
At the end of the film, Obi-Wan's ghost appears alongside the ghosts of fellow Jedi Yoda and a redeemed Anakin on the forest moon of Endor, watching over Luke and his comrades as they celebrate the destruction of the second Death Star and, with it, the Empire.