Full Series Do you like Ahsoka or not?

I like Ahsoka's character when she isn't made to be Super-Soka. I can let quite a bit slide - she is the apprentice of the Chosen One after all - but sometimes they went too far, I feel.

As for her actual personality, I hated her in the film and the first half of the first season. Then they changed her character from an 8-year old speaking in a 14-year old's body to an actual 14-year old. Artooie? Filoni, children make nicknames for everything, not teenagers. The only nicknames teenagers make up are offensive in some way.

I was sad to see her departure from the show. I didn't tear up, but I was definitely solemn.

Do I want her to be the lynchpin of the Rebellion? No. Her story has been told, and while I'm not adverse to an appearance (even a major one for a couple of episodes), I don't want her to be a main character. She's already been made Anakin's apprentice, a very important role that didn't exist prior to 2008 (in the Clone Wars ). Making her also be a core part of the Rebellion would be too much.

 

But here's the thing: I think the weight of her role as a lynchpin would really depend on the overall importance of the various rebel factions at the time. If they're small pockets who only serve as a real threat to local occupying troops, then being a major player within one of those small pockets really isn't that hard to believe (*ahem* Onderon, just sayin', it's obvious).

But I dunno. I guess I don't dwell too much on realism, or relative theoretical power between the characters, because I'm always aware of the fact that I'm watching a heavily-romanticized fantasy world. On my own, watching the series, I never once got the impression that Ahsoka was superpowered... just, yunno, that she was a lead character, and pulled off feats which were appropriately impressive for that narrative position. Nothing worse than Starkiller, that's for sure. I guess I just don't speak the language of theoretical fantasy logic.

 

Yeah, your point is solid. When I wrote, "the Rebellion", I was referring to the ultimate Rebel Alliance that ended up winning the Galactic Civil War. That Ahsoka would be a leader of a small pocket of resistance is much less far-fetched. I'd even enjoy the idea if executed well. As long as she never becomes a key member of THE Rebel Alliance.

Ahsoka and Starkiller are similar in many ways - both being Anakin's apprentice, and both arguably being more powerful than they should be. You're correct in that there's technically no wrong way to empower a character in a fictional world. It's the investment you put into it, there are these boundaries that are set up in the story, and it feels... just, wrong, when those boundaries are broken or overlooked.

It's also world consistency, in that you just don't expect a padawan to be more powerful than a Jedi Grand Master.

It's interesting to me that you don't feel this, as I certainly feel this in every narrative I immerse myself in. I wonder what the key difference is between us that makes that distinction.

 

I HATED Ahsoka in the beginning. She was an annoying brat.

But over the past 5 years we watched her grow up and I really respect her as a character. When she left the order it all made sense to me. We watched he go from child to young adult.

Also unlike the typical dismal sad world of Star Wars, I always saw her as a "ray of hope" in the gloomy, sad "Empire". So many people want her to DIE. Die by Vaders hands, for some epic turn of events. But I personally want her to be one of those few characters that beat the odds and has a long meaningful life. For gods sake she's only 17, lets give her a little more life...

 

I didn't like her at the start, I thought she was another Jar-Jar and so she would remain. But she rapidly improved and became a solid character, and I came round to her.

I wasn't really bothered by her being quite powerful as padawans go... it's kinda implied early on that she is about the most advanced/powerful padawan-ready youngling they had at the time, and that is specifically why she was picked to be apprenticed to the Chosen One. They didn't just pull her name out of a hat.

As for "Anakin having a padawan is dumb because she's never mentioned elsewhere" I thought that was kinda addressed with the whole Anakin-does-not-talk-about-his-painful-past thing. With the way TCW ended, Ahsoka falls into that category, along with his slave past, his mother etc.

 

Impartial. Sometimes I can enjoy her character, other times I can't stand her.

 

Yes, I very much do like Ahsoka. She used to be a character that I didn't feel strongly for one way or the other, mainly speaking about TCW movie. Now? Wow, I loved watching grow as a character, and it felt horrible watching her leave the Jedi Order (mainly leaving Anakin as his padawan). Still, I felt she made the right decision, and I was incredibly proud of her.

From the TCW movie to the season five finale, Ahsoka has not only dominated both Padme and Leia as my favorite female Star Wars character, but she is now one of my top three favorite characters: Qui-Gon Jinn, Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader, Ahsoka Tano. Neither Padme or Leia are even in my top ten.

How great would it be if Ahsoka ends up being in Star Wars: Rebels? If she's in it, I'll be 100% behind the project. As of now, I am only about 90% behind it. Come on guys, step up your game!

 

I suppose, in a way, that I get a bit of a high just from watching a Star Wars TV show, and I keep telling myself, "Man, if I had this when I was a kid, I would've absolutely **** my pants with joy every Friday night." So when Ahsoka takes out four Mandos with a spin attack, I'm not thinking, "Eh, I don't buy it..." but more along the lines of, "THAT WAS AWESOOOOOOOOME."

But as I think about, when I first started watching, I remember feeling like the show upped the ante all around. I don't really see anyone complaining about Cad Bane's seemingly-superhuman reflexes, so that's something that jumps out at me as unrealistic... but the fights are so cool, I can't help but love 'em. I guess another part of it is, I see a certain balance in the way things that are minimized in one area and amplified in another, and the result is almost like "Kurosawa for tweens..." Very simple dialogue, and action dialed up just because they can. So, to me, Dooku's chin isn't the only stylized thing about TCW.

And I suppose my in-universe idea about the relative power levels between the two, is that Ahsoka just doesn't hold back. Her dueling style and Force-use is almost so fast and furious that it has a Dark Side feel to it. I mean, they say Yoda's so powerful, but so many people imply that they've never seen anything to prove it (because they didn't see the duel with Dooku, or the forthcoming duel with Sidious). That means he's holding back, thinking out every step, while Ahsoka's just going for it. I bet TCW also had some requests from Cartoon Network to tone down the "religiousness" of the Jedi Order, so you probably don't get to see the monastic training disciplines that we all originally pictured, and they put it down to wartime.

 

I've liked her since she first appeared and have liked her even more as TCW has gone on.

 

I don't mind Anakin having an apprentice but she can be annoying sometimes.

 

When I first watched TCW theatrical film, I thought she was just shoehorned in to appeal to the younger audience members and didn't like the fact that she ended up as Skywalker's padawan. But once the show got underway, her character matured and from around mid season 3, I started to like her character and by the time of the final (so far) episode of season 5, I really warmed to her and felt great sadness when she chose to leave the Jedi. Also it answered the question as to why she was never mentioned during ROTS (as opposed to not being created when the movie was released), she was still alive, longer attached to the Jedi and getting involved in new adventures. I think she'll show up in this new show.

 

I disliked her before the show even started.

 

Seeing as she highjacked the show, no, I am not a fan. From her ear grating voice (not as bad as Taber mind you), to her continuously changing attitude that adapts to serve the storyline rather than upholding consistency, I just cannot recommend her. There are definitely episodes with her that I like, but other times I want to put her in a smelting pot slowly filling with molten metal.

 

Do I like Ahsoka? Yes. She's the main reason I was curious enough to see the film when it came out.

Do I accept that there are people who don't like her? Of course. To each, his or her own.

 

*made

 

Not at all. Why would I like a grossly-overpowered obvious creator's pet who, through truly inane contrivances, keeping surviving opponents infinitely above her weight class (Grievous, Ventress, Cade Bane) and has a personality that does nothing but grate me?

 

This whole poll spawned from an argument about the fanbase's general opinions of her, regarding whether it was fair to put her in the new series. Apparently, approval ratings needed to be polled in order to justify the inclusion of one of the era's still-living lead characters.

I have a feeling the best compromise would be for her to be grown up, less plucky, and limited to a specific faction, assuming the show never centered on any one group for too long. However, I'd be perfectly happy to see her as a major character who travels around, trying to unite certain smaller rebel paramilitaries. This is the era where all her suspicions were proven right, not to mention that she has connections to the loyalist Senators through her friendship with Padme, so it just makes complete sense. You can despise the course of the story which got her to this conclusion, but that's how it went, so that continuation just makes sense, whether you like her or not.

The other thing about Ahsoka is that she serves as an audience proxy for the people whom this show was primarily intended for: kids. The generation who have grown up with this show learned about the Jedi Code and the war (and its failings) through her. If you break this down into its component-Joseph-Campbell-mythological-storytelling-101 parts, that's just the position she's in; she's the only one whom we've known only through this series, and while the other characters have their own pre-established stories, she was the blank canvas needed to make the show something more than glorified fan fiction. It's fine if those storytelling components aren't a part of your purview, and it's fine that the answer doesn't provide any satisfaction, but it is a huge part of the reason for her inclusion and accused "shoehorning" into the series. I don't think anyone could ever understand her presence without at least acknowledging those traditional mythological storytelling components, regardless of whether you find it to be a satisfying answer or not.

 

Uh, you're welcome?

Honestly, I was just saying what I think. Filoni practically worships her, it really shows, and it really gets on my nerves. She's survived when she should be dead time and time again, thanks entirely to contrivance rather than skill. The most obvious example I can think of is when Grievous grabs hold of her head in his clawed foot. Just squeeze, and she's dead. But no, Filoni has him randomly backflip her over his head for no goddamned reason, because she's little miss invincible and thus can't be put down.

 

Yeah, I'd say I like her. Having seen her evolve and develop as a character throughout the series has been one of the aspects I've enjoyed the most of it; I admit I wasn't the biggest fan of her in the movie and the first season when she was all cocky & sassy but she got better afterwards as she passed that phase and started growing as a character. After the timeskip I started enjoying her character more, with her having turned more mature and serious, but still learning stuff. She's experienced a lot, almost like we TCW watchers have watching the series, and her final scene the S5 finale is definitely a quite sad and memorable exit out of the show for the character. She has been a staple of TCW practically from the start and for anyone who dislikes her, there's someone who likes her so she's definitely one of the more polarizing SW characters.

 

I don't think anyone loves her more than Dave Filoni.

 

judging by my user name, I think we all know what my opinion is

 

She is alright now, but she was terrible at the beginning.