#that was always Luke Skywalker's big character flaw even in the 80s

[artist-issues]

you guys it's possible for an actor to be disappointed in his character's new direction without that character's new direction actually being bad

[thewriterowl]

who is the best written character in star wars?

Oh man...I am going to be bias and say #1 is Luke Skywalker--BUT I do feel like there are good reasons for him to be in this slot.

I have a Masters in Creative Writing, I have taken a lot of writing courses and read a lot of stuff, I used to be super into anime and fantasy fiction, I have gone through so many series with male main characters and let me tell you: Luke Skywalker is one of the best written male protagonists I have seen.

Does he need some work that is usually explored with more depth with Legends and fanfiction? Yes. But, the thing is, Luke just feels like an current anime protagonist but so much better.

He's kind. We do see this in a lot of other series but the kindness of these characters can fall more into the level of niceness...where it's all they are to separate them from others. Like they want to go down the Soft Boy Aesthetics but can't quite commit or can't then give them any more personality than that other than carbon copying the characteristics from the other characters similar to them. But Luke is truly kind. It is a foundation of his self but it is not his only quality nor is it just being nice. His movements, even the mistakes, can come from a sense of trying to help others.

Luke is punished for his mistakes. Luke has consequences. Luke will do things he thinks is for the right cause but was actually because he wanted to be a hero. He does things wrong. Unlike so many others who make "cute" mistakes or are just wrapped up in someone else doing something more "ugly", Luke actually does things impulsively and wrong and it hurts him (nearly hurting others). He realizes it and learns from it and does his best to become better for it.

He has a well balanced dark side and flaws. He has a bit of a temper, he can be whiny, he can be emotionally clumsy, he is impulsive, he needs to be a hero, he needs to be in the action, he thinks himself better than others at times and knows more...you don't always see these things in heroes. They're given "nice" flaws or weaknesses to try and make sure nothing about them is truly upsetting or their flaws are presented as funny. Or they are just made to be physically weak or they cry. They just fall flat to me. Luke can be a mess who truly matures and learns.

He is "feminine". 100% Luke is not a masculine male lead. In a series that is fantasy/SCI-FI/western that is so odd. He is pretty looking, he is small, he wears softer clothing, he needs rescued a lot, he smiles and laughs and comes off more grumpy and huffy than intimidating (for the first two episodes at least). This is not a standard high masculine hero we can see...really up until the last few years. For him to be provided in the 70s/80s right before the 90s and 2000s era of masculine heroes, that is a choice I love.

He doesn't get the girl. He can be read as gay/bi/ace. He appears romantic on a level but it is not his pursuit in life. He is just this guy who wants to have purpose and friends and a family and adventure. I like how he finds reward and completion through that, rather than getting a romantic partner he scoops up and kisses at the end. From where we see him in the OT-movies, he is happy having his family and we never feel like he needs to be rewarded a girlfriend for what he has done.

He didn't save the galaxy in a fight! He didn't kill the bad guy! He was built up to be the hero and he doesn't do it. He is not the one to take the bad-guy down. His sister and friend destroy the shields in a big fight, another friend leads the charge and takes the final shot on the ultimate weapon, and Vader is the one who kills Palpatine. Luke doesn't. He is does not save the day in a typical fashion. He saves it by how he has saved and supported others. By putting faith in people he loves. By forgiving a monster and loving him. That is gorgeous to me.

Back to kindness--Luke isn't just kind naturally. The man makes deliberate choices throughout his life. He is tempted by the dark side. He has real human reaction and emotions. He knows what is easier and he could do what most everyone does (in the series and what people do today and now) but instead he always makes a choice to be kind. He is deliberately doing it. "Because you asked." He has said. He wants to be like this so he chooses to be like it. It takes hard work and dedication to be more than nice and just be a bare minimum of kind. Luke is so much more than that.

So yeah, I could probably write a whole paper on him--but these are some of the reasons I find him as one of the better written characters. Anakin and Obi-Wan are close seconds tho!

And man, was it hard not to say names of the anime-guys i was thinking off and wanted to shred XD

[rpmemesbyarat]

Piggybacking of THIS RANT on capable villains, I also think a good rule of thumb is that the more powerful, intelligent, capable, etc your hero is, the more so their antagonist should be. I’m going to be talking about character vs character antagonists here, but this can apply as well to “protagonist vs their own flaws” and “protagonist vs their environment/situation” If your protag is a pretty regular kid, a normal school bully makes for a decent antagonist most of the time. But if the kid is ACTUALLY an incredible fighter, has magical powers, or can call on powerful allies at any time for anything, then that’s no longer the case. Even if the kid is held back from actually using any of these advantages for some reason---they have to keep it a secret, they don’t want their bully to be seriously hurt, etc---the bully really registers to the audience more as an annoyance at that point. Which is why school bullies are indeed usually merely annoyances in media with such a protagonist, while the actual villains are beings far more capable of giving our protag a run for their money. Here’s a few more good examples: Sailor Moon is a Chosen One heroine whose attacks can instantly kill her Monster of the Day opponents, and she has the single most powerful object in the universe, The Silver Crystal, which has allowed her to defeat all her foes. But she’s unable to access its power except in truly dire straits, and the Big Bad of each season is always just on the cusp of what she can survive. It always truly appears to be an effort for her, and even in her day to day fights with normal monsters, she still frequently gets hit, scared, humiliated, and often relies on her friends to soften a monster up before she eliminates it. Her friends also lend her their strength during the Big Bad battles. Luke Skywalker is a prodigy with The Force, another Chosen One, and his pals Han, Leia, and Chewie are all badasses in their own right. They’re still up against a LITERAL Empire, headed by a Big Bad who is also a Force wielder with incredible power PLUS years more experience at wielding it. The men in “Predator” are an elite paramilitary team who are introduced as the epitome of 80s action movie badasses. . . only to find themselves outmatched by the Predator, a far more skilled soldier who possesses advanced technology and the element of surprise. Only one of them survives. How absurd would it have been if instead of the Predator, they’d been facing some regular workplace bully, right?  Now, does this need to go the other way around? Do you have to make your protagonist stronger and smarter and more capable the more you make your antagonist those things? Not necessarily. You certainly can, of course; watching two very evenly matched opponents go at it can be a great dynamic, and a very enjoyable story with a lot of tension and suspense. But the same can apply when the protagonist is seemingly hopelessly outmatched. Frodo and Bilbo are both the humblest of creatures, with no special abilities or chosen lineage, up against a Dark Lord and all his forces, to say nothing of the corruptive influence of The One Ring they must also combat against themselves. They’re far from what most people imagine when they think “typical fantasy hero” and yet are the protagonists from what is widely considered the best fantasy series of all time. So, you can go the Frodo route. Or you can go The Predator route. Or anything in between. Just remember that however badass/powerful/etc you make your hero, the villain has to follow suite. They can equally match the hero, or far outstrip them, but they have to at least match them. Otherwise, what’s the challenge? I’d also note that in all the examples I gave, the hero has friends and allies without whom they couldn’t succeed or even survive, but that’s a rant for another day.