#(Luke Skywalker is a magical boy and I have this essay to prove it 2k23.)

[soundlesslament]

Ok, listen here. I have before said that Luke Skywalker fits the "magical boy" anime trope. I have used that exact terminology because yes, the power of friendship and love is how he thrives!

This means I am permanently frustrated by a part of the fandom who seems insistent on changing Luke into a typical adventure hero type. I have seen one too many a post and comment and article complaining about how the new movies or whatever other material don't portray Luke as the greatest Jedi master he supposedly is.

Except Luke was never portrayed as the strongest, best-est Jedi around. He is strong in the Force and has great potential, but ultimately succeeds only by being kind and trying to help everyone.

He didn't manage to destroy the Death Star by being the best pilot around. He did it by being a good pilot and because he had specifically made friends with some guy he hired at a sketchy cantina, who came back to help him.

He chose his friends over his Jedi training. He valued them over learning better skills. Of course, this ends up being the correct choice, because later on he could not have made it through without them, but he made the choice only out of friendship.

Luke doesn't defeat the Emperor by being stronger than him. He wasn't stronger than Emperor. But he loved his father and believed in him, and that alone made all the difference, and the Emperor lost - and lost because he was powerful but could not conceive that perhaps there are more valuable things than power. Palpatine, the antithesis of Luke, was the strongest but in the end he was alone, and that was his downfall.

At every turn, Luke Skywalker succeeds through the power of friendship and love. Ignoring this and acting like he is a typical hero who wins by being the strongest and most skilled is missing the point of the story.

It is also a disservice to the creativity of the movie and writers, who decided on an original protagonist rather than on tired tropes. There are not a lot of protagonists like Luke in the genre, especially not male ones, and I'm guessing this was many times as true back when the first Star Wars movie came out.

I guess I had the advantage of not watching the Original Trilogy until I was an adult; I have no nostalgia about it, and maybe that allows for a more accurate critical eye. Also, I am sure it's just a coincidence, but Luke Skywalker in the Sequel Trilogy fits the "disgruntled old mentor whose spirit is renewed after meeting the new young hero" trope, which is also very common in the Magical Girl genre.

Luke skywalker is so magical girl coded I can imagine him going hyaah! Through the power🌈 of friendship 💫 and love!💓 I will defeat you✨️ and he does the sailor moon transformation sequence and then does a LOVE💖 BEAM⚡️! through palpatine's chest and palpy bursts into a mess of bloody pulp