CT Before the prequels, was Kenobi mainly referred to as Ben?

I was born in the mid 90s, so I wouldn't really know. The character is certainly far better known as Obi-Wan more than anything nowadays, but given that Luke refers to him as Ben all the time in the original trilogy, I would imagine the character was better known to the general public as Ben Kenobi.

 

I don't know about the rest of the public, but I've always referred to him as Obi-Wan.

 

In Episode VI, Luke calls him Obi-Wan, when he appears as a ghost on Dagobah.

 

And both Yoda and Vader refer to him as Obi-Wan all the time.

Besides, "help me, obi-wan kenobi, you're my only hope" is a well-known phrase.

 

Obi-Wan says to Luke " I haven't gone by the name Obi-Wan since, oh, since before you were born". Luke has grown up his whole life knowing Obi-Wan as "Ben" the crazy old wizard who lives out in the wastes. Obi-Wan kind of gave up his name and went by Ben and there's no reason for Luke to call him any different.

 

I think that OP might not be referring to characters calling him Ben, but rather fans and the public who came to SW during the OT and Intertrilogy periods. I'm not sure if I have any clear memories of whether those people did use 'Ben' more, but for some reason I think maybe they did/do.

 

Yea, this is exactly what I'm talking about. He's mainly referred to as Ben throughout the trilogy (by everyone except Vader and Leia one time), but "Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi" being a well known quote is a good point.

 

From what I remember back in the day,most media referred to him as "Ben (Obi Wan) Kenobi". Ben always seemed prominent.

 

Luke varies in what he calls him, though. If I recall correctly, he says, "Obi-Wan" when his ghost first appears, then "Ben, tell him I'm ready!" in Yoda's hut, then "Ben, why didn't you tell me?" when he's hanging below Cloud City. But he addresses him as Obi-Wan the second time he's on Dagobah and his spirit appears. It's almost as if Ben is a familiar nickname he uses when the situation is more personal (which makes sense, since Luke always knew him as Ben), rather than a pseudonym.

Vader always refers to him formally of course: "Obi-Wan has taught you well." "Obi-Wan never told you the truth about your father."

I always thought of him as Obi-Wan before the prequels released. Some of it came from the quote from Leia that oierem pointed out. It's well-known outside the fandom.

 

Pretty much. In interviews with GL, the cast and so on, they tended to call him Ben, IIRC. As, of course, did one of the most influential aspects on young fans:



So yeah, I'd say he was better known as Ben Kenobi by the general public. I started referring to him more often as Obi-Wan after the PT was confirmed in the early to mid-1990s, as I figured it was his real name.
The character as we now know it first appeared in Draft 3 of SW, and he's solely called Ben Kenobi - there's no 'Obi-Wan' name ever mentioned. Personally, I've always found it a bit clumsy and somewhat confusing why GL bothered with the dual names - it's a pretty poor alias, and there's no explanation in the PT.
In a discussion a while back, I think the best explanation put forward was that he just adopted the simpler name to blend in better on Tatooine.

 

Ben was just an alias. Even before the PT in ROTJ it is made clear the Obi-Wan is his true name. When Luke "comes of age" after Yoda's death on Dagobah and finally learns to accept the truth, he refers to Kenobi as "Obi-Wan." Just as he refers to Vader as "Anakin" and "Father", at that point he is done with aliases and hidden truths, he simply refers to things as they are.

In Vader's defense, I doubt he knew Obi-Wan went by the name Ben. Remember Obi-Wan had been in hiding since the Purge.

 

I was born in 1970, and I first saw Star Wars in June 1977. My friends and I most typically called him "Kenobi". We also called him "Ben" or "old Ben". We occasionally called him "Obi-wan Kenobi". If we ever called him just "Obi-Wan", it must have been very rare.

I remember after the release of TPM thinking it strange for people to call him "Obi-Wan". It still doesn't sound right to me.

 

It's odd that you found it strange since his identity as Obi-Wan is firmly established by ROTJ..16 years prior to TPM.

 

I believe Obi-Wan says Satine used to call him, "Ben" in the novel, Kenobi.

 

On Dagobah in ROTJ, Luke still refers to him as Ben ("I can't do it, Ben"). So I don't think Luke ever made a conscious decision to ever stop referring to him as Ben.

I'm always curious as to how Leia knew him as Ben. ("Ben Kenobi? Where is he?") Did Ben tell Bail his new name? Did Leia ever actually meet Ben at some point? If there is a solo Obi-Wan movie/s it would be interesting to explore.

 

I always preferred to call him Obi-Wan (this was in all the years between RotJ and TPM and beyond). I liked the Star Wars "feel" of the name Obi-Wan over the more pedestrian "Ben."

(It could also be because I have a younger brother named Ben, born in 1985…. Hmmmm…)

 

To my knowledge, it's never been explained, either in or out of universe.

'Ben' might be a sort of informal abbreviation of the name Obi-Wan (there's some slight phonetic similarity, with the 'B' and 'N' sounds), or a rough translation for the Outer Rim. Despite the lack of explanation, it sort of works in the OT - when the name Obi-Wan is used, it indicates a more formal reference to the character, best illustrated by Luke's first line to him in ROTJ (Luke then reverts to calling him Ben during their conversation). Vader, Yoda and Tarkin only ever use 'Obi-Wan' - clearly because they only know him as the former Jedi Knight.
Personally, I always thought it was something like a title, a name he acquired when he became a Jedi.

As far as Leia's concerned, yeah, Bail may have said he might be using the more informal name 'Ben', or perhaps she's just reacting to the name 'Kenobi'.

 

It's interesting to read these as I've basically always thought his name was Obi-Wan and that his "fake name" (probably how I would've put it at six years old, when I first saw ANH) was Ben. I just assumed that from the first movie.

Admittedly, though, that was around the time AOTC was released. ANH was the first one that I saw, but at six I may have already heard his name used in pop culture.

So I guess people born in the 1990-2000 time period probably never called him Ben.

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In my experience those who saw Star Wars in 1977 called him Ben. Right after ROTJ it was about 50/50, with those most familiar with ANH primarily using the name Ben. By the Special Editions Obi-Wan was overtaking because merchandising and what-not since the early 80s used the name. So, Ben is very much an original film thing.

 

As a kid I always assumed Obi-Wan was his "Jedi Name" given him upon achieving the status of Jedi Knight. And that "Ben Kenobi" was his "Real Name" that his parents gave him.

 

I've always called him Obi Wan. Sounds cooler, plus Ben is obviously just an alias.

I think the public mainly refers to him as Obi Wan as well. One of the most famous lines in movie history is "help me Obi Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope."

People who don't even like SW can quote that one. He's only really Ben for about 20 minutes of the OT anyway.

 

Luke refers to him as "Ben" a few times in TESB as well as in ANH. The blizzard scene, and the "dangling off Cloud City's weather vane" scene.

 

They were interchangeable. Luke would mostly call him "Ben" because that's how he knew him growing up, but would occasionally call him Obi-Wan as well. No wrong answer.

 

Old eu novel Kenobi by john jackson miller states that he choose it because duchess satine nicknamed him it during the year he and quigon protected her.

Now while the book is not canon anymore his relationship with satine and him protecting her for a year are canon as the clone wars cartoon is canon per the story group.

It is possible we will get a new official explanation eventually or they may declare the Kenobi novel canon as it does not conflict with anything in the new canon,being set just after Rots when he is settling in to tattoine and being confined to that one planet.

 

Going back to this for a moment, I remember wondering as a kid why Yoda didn't give Luke his own "Jedi Name" like Obi-Wan in ROTJ.

Ironically,it turned out that the Sith's masters are the ones to choose new names for their disciples.