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

I think that it can be argued that it is partly Palpatine's story... but since he doesn't even have a part in the 4th movie, and only shows up for a scene in the 5th, it cannot be his story. However, everything that happens is because of him... like how everything that happens in LOTR is because of Sauron. Yet, the story is not Sauron's. It is the hobbits who, in the end, defeat the engineer who own the story.

That is why, in the end, Star Wars is a Skywalker story. They are the hobbits of this story.

 

Well by the logic of the post above mine, the main character(s) of the story are good and evil. The dissection at this point has gone too far if you go by this logic, so we have to return to the motivations of the characters. Before Palpatine even hears of Anakin in TPM, we have Qui Gon beginning to recognise Anakin's relevance to the Force and ultimately to the galaxy. At the very same time we know of Anakin falling very hard for Padme, and at the same time fostering a very deep attachment to his mother. Further still we have a young Obi Wan (for all all his cautions towards Qui Gon) who is indeed reckless. Taking on an apprentice barely after becoming a full fledged knight... Well... It's late and I could go on with a huge essay, but I don't think any of my profs would accept an essay on the full Star Wars saga considering I don't have any classes that would even be relevant. But it's not good and evil, but the characters own motivations that are the main characters. What I love about Star Wars is that in most cases (and in some cases it's bad [PT Love Story]) it challenges the audience to guess and wonder at their motivations... And that's it right there... Who cares who found who (Qui Gon < Anakin) or who corrupted who (Palpatine < Anakin) or who redeemed who (Luke < Anakin) that's already the story it doesn't matter.... What we can however is wonder about what might motivate the characters, and afterall that requires the audience... So like everything that is subjective... The audience is the main character... And that's my take on the whole thing. We'll all see it differently no matter what, even if there are similarities, it's never the same between us all and that's what makes these forums fun... MTFBWYA

 

My thoughts and reasons are:

1.) Lucas called the PT the backstory, not THE story, but the backstory of why things are the way they are when we get to A New Hope, i.e. Luke. That to me means prolougue.

2.) As of the 1st several drafts of Jedi, Vader died and wasn't redeemed. That tells me redemption was an afterthought (albiet a cool one in my opinion).

3.) Where we see Anakin die, we actually see Luke born and then follow him as the main character and new hope all the way to Jedi knighthood and saving the galaxy.

4.) The main Star Wars theme is Luke's theme and nobody else's. Not Anakins, not Vader's. Watching them in order, the first time we hear the theme "in movie" is for baby Luke.

5.) Titles: TPM is about the Sith, AotC is about the army, RotS is about the Sith order, ANH is about Luke, TESB is about the Empire, RotJ is about the Jedi order. Luke is the only character that has a title for him directly.


I know retroactively Lucas claims it was always about Vader and his redemption, but that is definately not true.

I view the two trilogies similar to the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. Sure Bilbo was the main character of the Hobbit and found the ring, but it was Frodo that destroyed it and saved the world, eventhough he wasn't alive when the ring was found. I view the PT exactly as Lucas called them, backstory. For me it's about the Skywalkers, with special focus on father AND son in their respective trilogy, and son definately the main character overall.

 

It seems most people are of the opinion that the PT is primarily the story of Anakin Skywalker - and I guess according to some posters even GL himself says the PT is Anakins story. So why did the actors who played Anakin not get top billing in the credits? I think Jake Lloyd was 4th behind Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor and Natalie Portman and Hayden Christensen was 3rd behind Ewan McGregor and Natalie Portman. This order would almost seem to favor the idea of OB1 being the main character!

 

Anakin / Darth Vader is the main character. The prequels were purely made as a backstory for Vader, so that gives us a hint that Lucas was trying to focus our attention onto Anakin / Darth Vader.

 

I should have added that I agreed with those who say the PT was about Anakin and his fall. I was just making an observation.