Who is the *MAIN* Character from the Complete Saga?

Artoo, no doubt. It could have been Anakin, but the focus shifts from him at ANH. It isn't Threepio for the same reason; his mindwipe after ROTS does that. Artoo is the only character to be in all the films and to be at the forefront of all the films.

 

Anakin/Vader though i wish i had cared for him more in the begining-middle of the PT.

 

The guy who penned the opening scrolls

 

Now it is obviously Darth Vader, Lucas says as much in the "chosen one" documentary on the Episode 3 bonus disk. Before the prequels I think it was more about Luke.

 

It is overtly about the Skywalkers in general, Anakin, Padme, Luke, and Leia. It spans a personal family travesty that influences the whole galaxy around them. They were central people indeed. Each one shines in one way or another, all set in front of the backdrop of Anakin's life span. The films begin with Anakin's introduction and end with his death. That is pretty indicative about him being the main character. Even in the OT, it was about Confronting Vader.

 

Lucas himself has said that Anakin is the main character.
Doesn't that answer the question?

 

Anakin's the focus, but Luke's still the hero.

 

I am an O-OT guy, but the saga 1-6 is about Darth Vader now, and personally I don't like it, but it is what it is now. Lucas has crafted two arcs in the saga now:

1. Darth Vader- a young boy in TPM, to a cocky jedi in AOTC, to a jedi who turns to the darkside in ROTS, to a man working for the empire in ANH, to a man obsessed to find his son in ESB, to a man who redeems himself in ROTJ.

2. The Republic- a peaceful society in TPM, a society of corruption heading down a dark rode in AOTC, a society in war taken over by the Empire in ROTS, a society tyrannically ruled by the Empire in ANH & ESB, and a society that beats the empire by the rebels in ROTJ.

Whether anyone loves those stories or not, those are the main themes that reflect the saga overall now that Lucas wants the viewer to focus on, and the other characters just play a role in the character arc of Darth Vader, even Luke.

Han, Leia, and most of the OT characters are just bit players now who are only in half of the story, as Kenobi, Yoda, The Emperor, and Anakin get full character arc as you they appear in both trilogies, and each of their death is shown on screen. In a sense, the OT is just an extension of the character arcs of the PT in some ways instead of the PT being a backstory to the OT story which was always about Luke, Leia, and Han, and Vaders redemption was a just a side story. Very clever George.

 

I agree. The saga spans Anakin Skywalker's life but I wouldn't go so far as to call him the main character. The main character in the PT is Obi Wan, and Luke is the main character in the OT. If you were to pick the "hero" for the entire saga it would be Luke.

 

Obi-Wan is most definitely *not* the main character of the PT. Anakin is.

The thread isn't asking who the hero is, it's asking who the main character of the saga is.

I like what SEPARATESICKLEROOK2 said here:

It is overtly about the Skywalkers in general, Anakin, Padme, Luke, and Leia. It spans a personal family travesty that influences the whole galaxy around them. They were central people indeed. Each one shines in one way or another, all set in front of the backdrop of Anakin's life span. The films begin with Anakin's introduction and end with his death. That is pretty indicative about him being the main character. Even in the OT, it was about Confronting Vader.



I agree.

 

To be fair, The Phantom Menace begins with introducing Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon. Anakin's introduced in Episode 1, but it's long after Kenobi and Jinn are. The fact that they're confronting Vader also is irrelevant to if he's the main character considering that Superman Returns for example is about Luthor's plot alongside Superman's return and is constantly building towards the man of steel confronting Luthor. However, Superman is the main character irregardless. Films always build towards confronting the villain.

I however do agree that Anakin is the official main character. That said, I don't think that other interpretations are invalid.

 

So every main character in every movie ever made has to be introduced first or they're not the main character?
In ANH Luke is introduced after the droids, Leia, and Vader. I guess he's just a supporting character....

EDIT:
I saw your edit and I agree that Superman is the main character. I really don't see a comparable connection between Lex and Vader though. The Saga spans from the beginning of Anakin's life through his passing. There's no denying that.
Qui and Obi were introduced first because it was Qui who discovered Anakin and knew he was the Chosen one. Obi was his Padawan and obviously the one who would later train him.

 

He is, I was just saying that Episode 1 doesn't start with the introduction of Anakin. It was admittedly just a semantic thing.

Yes, and it's definitely the better decision to introduce them first because the adventures of Jedi would be more interesting than the life of a slave. I do think Anakin's the main character, I just don't think either reason I mentioned is why he is. I think what you both mentioned which is that the Saga spans his life is the reason that if there's a single main character it's Anakin.

 

So......does this mean ....we agree!?

There's a first time for everything.

 

Oh, I'm as shocked as you are.

 

By 'hero' I meant the protaganist, which is the main character in any story. Of the prequel films AotC was the only one where Anakin was the protaganist. In TPM he plays second bill to both Qui Gon and Obi Wan, , and becomes the antagonist in RotS. I would argue that Obi Wan was the protaganist of the PT, since a case can be made for him being the protaganist of two of the PT films.

Anakin/Vader remains a villian until the very end of the OT, and in the original films he is a minor character in comparison to Luke, Han, or Leia.

 

Shhhhhh! Lucas doesn't want people to know this now, he wants fans to see the OT now as the continuing story of Vader, yet Vader was just as you described in the OT, and that is why the story is so jarring now 1-6 when it is referred to as the 'Tragedy of Anakin Skywalker.'

So in that tragedy Episode IV, this main character Anakin or Darth Vader by then gets about 12 minutes of screentime?

 

Which is why I prefer Obi-Wan as the Protagonist of the Prequels and Luke as the Protagonist of the OT.

Exactly.

 

I'm with most when I say that the main character of the Saga is Anakin.

You could also say the secondary major players in each are Obi-Wan's interaction with Anakin in the Prequel Trilogy and Luke's interaction with the man who was Anakin, the dreaded Darth Vader in the Original Trilogy.

so in other words....i'm with everyone else

 

Lucas has made it so Anakin is the main character all around the whole six films. First it was Lukey, now it's orphaned Ani.

 

I still maintain that the saga has no one main character, despite what Lucas says. Vader is clearly not the main character in the OT.

The Saga is about the Skywalker family. Among other things of course.

 

Despite what Lucas, its creator says?


Now I'm like, all sad and stuff.

 

Yes. Well, it's obvious that he wants the saga to be about Anakin. But he didn't want this when he wrote the OT, that much is pretty clear. And now he's stuck with it so to speak. So the only way he can get his way would be to remake the whole thing.

So I really can't se that Anakin is the main character of the entire trilogy. But I am willing to compromise with Lucas and say that it is about the Skywalker family. Seeing as Lucas once said that the saga is about a man getting redeemed by his children, I don't think he would be that disapproving of that idea.

 

He's said it's about fathers and sons

"Yeah, I made a series of movies that was about one thing: Darth Vader. Originally, people thought it was all about Luke. The early films are about Luke redeeming his father, so Luke's the focus. But it's also about Princess Leia and her struggle to re-establish the Republic, which is what her mother was doing. So it's really about mothers and daughters and fathers and sons."

I wish he'd admit he changed his mind while working on the Prequels, but at least he's on record as saying it has a broader scope than just Anakin.

 

I see what George Lucas is getting at, but I do believe that what he thought about the OT and what he thinks now that all the movies have been written are two different things.

I believe the movies are about Anakin's rise and fall, but the main character, the catalyst for everything that happens, is Palpatine.

He engineers his election to Supreme Chancellor, ensuing his plan for complete domination (and the revenge of the Sith) can begin legally and swiftly.

It is Anakin's reaction to Palpatine's Sith persuasion that begins the boy's downfall, and eventually, his redemption as the Emperor dies at his hands.

It is the clones' reaction to Imperial Order 66 that ruins the Jedi.

Finally, it is the Emperor's misguided opinion that Luke can be turned that influences the final confrontation.

Without the Emperor and all he stands for, there would be no Rebel Alliance, no opposition, no story, basically.