Lit Ben Skywalker and Luke Skywalker–The Baby Bird and the Nest

So. I've heard many, many complaints about how Ben Skywalker is a) just a carbon-copy of his father, b) he's boring, and c) he is too busy being in his father's shadow to be his own person. I, personally, do not find any of these to be true (though I can see those people's points, to a degree), but I will here post suggestions about ways he could better be differentiated as a person from his father, or about ways he is or isn't similar to Luke. (Note that most anything I post below I will be doing as devil's advocate–most of these are not my personal opinions and just ways I could see people would be happy with Ben being improved.)

I. Physical Appearance

This is a minor quibble, but in every appearance has made post-LOTF, he has been drawn as having a hairstyle very similar to that of Luke's in ANH. Apparently, shoulder-length hair for men, possibly curly, never goes out of style:







However, does Ben's have to be exactly like Luke's. You don't see Jaina wearing the two-bun hairstyle, or Jacen with the same haircut as Han had, and so on. My suggestion: more artists need to draw Ben more like he was done here:



And less like here:



(Again, not my personal opinion. Personally, the image directly above is my favorite depiction of Ben.)

One thing I will applaud author and artist alike for is the fact that he has red hair. It proves that not all Skywalkers need to be blond-haired, and it gave Ben a connection to his mother. However, some artists seem to forget he's supposed to be a redhead from time to time:





As to his blue eyes–that doesn't bother me. He needs to physically resemble a Skywalker in some way or another, and I don't really pay attention to eye color that much. The fact that he has the same eye color as his father is genetics, nothing more.

Suggestion: give Ben a haircut, and as he gets older maybe have him grow a goatee.

II. To Jedi or Not to Jedi?

When Ben was first born, in Greg Keyes' novel, Luke was worried that if he named his son "Obi-Wan" then he'd feel the need to become a Jedi to fulfill the legacy of his name, and he did not want to force his son to be a Jedi. However, in the Dark Nest Trilogy, he practically does this–fearing Ben will never be a Jedi because he's afraid of the Force, and almost despairing at the thought. Doesn't sound like the same Luke to me.

Traviss did a great job with Ben, she really did. A Skywalker being a police officer/special investigation agent was a great idea. The fact that he was fourteen years old at the time? Maybe not so much. I thought Jacen was supposed to be reluctantly going dark...but only a maniac would give a 14-year-old a sniper rifle and tell him to shoot a man. However, I did greatly enjoy Ben using his skills in Revelation. And admit it: "Lieutenant Skywalker" just sounds cool.




Now, in FOTJ, I found Ben to be great fun (more on that later). But they almost completely dropped his investigation skills (personal opinion? Denning didn't like anything Traviss did so he ignored it). However, they did give Ben something else: advancement in his Jedi training. And I'll say that I found him being able to take on multiple Lost Tribe members at 17 insanely cool (probably because I'm 17 and I'd love to be able to do that). Also, the fact that he can muster up a Force push powerful enough to knock a frigate out of orbit? Yes.

Suggestion: Keep him as a Jedi Knight, but have him start an advanced training division of the Jedi that focuses solely on interrogation and/or investigation. This would separate his "job" from dad without taking him out of the Jedi Temple.

III. Personality

As far as personality goes, Ben is almost a polar opposite of his father. Whereas Luke was a naïve but well-intentioned farmboy who, for the most part, was very quiet but friendly, Ben is almost extravagantly friendly and humorous, and anything but quiet. He can still be said to be quite naïve in LOTF, though–but then, what teenage boy isn't at some point? He also has another difference: he asks a lot of questions. Luke, as a young man, was the one with all the answers. He knew what was right and he did it. Ben questions things, makes sure he's doing right before he does it.

Suggestion: Keep this the way it is. This is the biggest difference between Ben and Luke.

IV. The Dark Side

Ben's experiences with the dark side were far different from Luke's. Ben was almost turned to the dark side by Jacen, but it was not due to Ben's willingness. On the contrary, once Ben realized Jacen was trying to turn him to the dark side, he did a complete 180 and went right back to the light (with a little help from dad). After this, Ben was one of the Jedi Order's biggest opponents of the dark side, to the point that Gavar Khai's temptations toward him just made him fight harder.

Suggestion: Nothing they can really change here; keep as is.

V. Relationships



This is where he needs the most work, I think. Luke got an apprentice of Palpatine's for a wife, so the authors hook up Ben with a Sith. Too much. No, I was actually glad when Vestara turned back to the Sith (not because she turned back; I was hoping she wouldn't), because it meant Ben's relationship wouldn't be a carbon copy of Luke and Mara's. Oh, he can redeem the Sith girl through love! I did not like the Ben/Ves relationship hardly at all (though there were a few parts, mostly in Golden's and Allston's books, that were all right). I don't mind if Ves is eventually redeemed, as long as it doesn't mean she and Ben get back together. She betrayed him once; can he trust her enough again to have another relationship with her?

Suggestion: Hook Ben up with either Seha Dorvald or Myri Antilles (preferrably Seha). Ben and Seha already hit it off in LOTF, but since then they've never been in the same room again. And I think Ben and Myri might work well together if Denning doesn't get his hands on them.

Well that's all for now. Comments and input will be welcome; I am eager to discuss this, with Ben fans and Ben haters alike.

 

The problem is that a lot of people wanted a young eager Jedi to replace Luke after Luke grew too old for the role.

Ben is the only one left after they massacred the Solo Brothers.

It's a Star Wars archetype, to really have a guy go. "I want to learn the ways of the Force and become a Jedi like my father." Old Luke isn't Luke anymore so we want some New Luke. Unfortunately, that means one of the next generation is going to have to be New Luke. That fell to the Solo twins, Anakin, and now Ben.

This isn't a bad thing.

Cade also illustrated how a lot of fans REALLY wanted this and were mad when everyone wasn't turning out that way.

They WANTED a legacy where the son wanted to be like the father.

P.S.

GOD, Revan looks horrible. I know he's been tortured for 300 years but the guy needs to see a Doctor stat. Get some treatment for his Space Cholera. Eat a sandwich. Something.

 

Right? Those scars on his face are from where Force lightning fused his mask to his face and then it was removed. That's gotta hurt...

 

People say Ben's a carbon-copy of Luke?! Granted the Dark Side female love interest was a bit on the nose, but beyond that I don't see it. He is indeed boring though. Beyond that however, in terms of being in his father's shadow, it's because Del Rey hasn't done enough to get him out of it. Todd the Jedi hit the nail on the head with Ben's lack of friends, and I was going to point out that we all call him a friendly and open person, but what friends does he actually have? Compare this to Anakin who had Tahiri at the least, and Jacen and Jaina who had Lowie, Tenel Ka, Raynar, Lusa, etc. And let's keep in mind this is the next Grand Master of the NJO here, but he really has no type of relationship with anyone in the Order he's going to be leading one day. I hate to keep saying it, but a YJK series would've done wonders for the boy.

 

I can definitely see your point. If my computer hadn't been as laggy as all get out due to such a long post, I probably would've included that, too.

The lack of friends is definitely annoying, especially after, as Todd said, Shevu and Lekauf died. But I guess it's really because no one bothered to write Kyle Katarn, Kam and Tionne, or Kyp Durron as having kids. Without those, Denning wasn't clever enough to come up with Ben's friends on his own, I guess.

 

I haven't read any books with Ben, and still I'll weigh in.

-The random fusion of "Jedi" and "police officer/special investigation agent" = Corran Horn

-Kinda hoping that the new movie makes a girl Skywalker protag. In my opinion, Luke's character could have worked flawlessly as a female in the first place. Further evidence of awesome female sw protag is Ahsoka in TCW. (Once she stopped being annoying in that first season).

-How different are Anakin and Luke as characters? (Very) That is how different I want Luke and his offspring to be. I want the connections to be sparse and vague- only if you're thinking about them instead of being hit by them over the head.
That would mean different appearance - even hairstyle. They're probably likely to have the Pilot/Mechanic and Jedi job (Maybe different proficiency levels- like how Anakin started as a gifted Jedi, Luke had to learn late in life, etc.) However, unique personalities and relationships are a given.

 

The problem is that they don't show him interacting with friends! If it's not shown, and it's never even told, how can we know it? How can it inform his character? I'd love to believe that he's not some kind of social outcast and he has actual contact outside his immediate family . . . so please, please show it to me, books!

 

Allston: "Hey...remind me why we didn't write in any friends for Ben?"
Karen: "Yes, it seems a bit silly a boy that age has no friends."
Denning: "Ah, I grew up with no friends and I turned out fine...forget Ben, let's just write EVAL JACEN!!!1!!!"



I hope (assuming EU continues) that the authors keep Omad around to be Ben's buddy and (maybe) Tahiri's new boyfriend. They could be the new Luke/Han/Leia or Anakin/Obi-Wan/Padme dynamic.

 

His friends aren't at the Jedi temple so they're not in the story. There's no story outside the Jedi temple.

 

I need confirmation that Ben's best friend is the son of Talon Karrde and Shada D'ukal. Right now.

 

Hahahahahaha really? That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

Anyway Team Vestara all the way! Really want to see the Power of Love redeem her now that she's apparently the unrepentant murderer of thousands.

 

Ain't happenin', it's in her nature to be evil. Can't redeem that!

 

What's so dumb about it?

I'd like to see her redeemed...but she and Ben never really clicked in my head. I hope if it happens that they can make me like it, but as I said, I'd prefer he be with Seha.

A Denning quote, I assume?

 

It's in the nature of the Sith to be evil. In order to balance the Force together, the Jedi and the Sith need to act from their natures.

 

Oh. Apocalypse. Blech.

 

It's just goofy.



I'm picturing the Sith Emperor trying to pry it off with a crowbar.

 

LOL, now I can't get that out of my face head.

Seriously, though. Metal + the intense heat of Force lightning + flesh = sticky mask. This would result in a mass of pussy, enflamed skin when the mask was removed, which would then scar badly–hence the ugly scar that traces the shape of a mask on his face. Oh. And that weird split lip. Why he has a split lip after 300 years in stasis...I have no explanation for.

 

There was even a line somewhere in FOTJ where Luke made fun of Ben for not having any friends.

Seriously. That was their solution to the Ben-has-no-friends problem. Have his father make fun of him for it.

 

I think the novelized Legacy era has just been a giant troll job TBH.

 

I think Allston has given up trying with Denning, Denning really doesn't understand what he's doing wrong, and Golden's too new to the franchise to understand.

Honestly, I wish I could give Denning that much credit.

 

People accused Traviss of putting stuff in her novels to inflame her detractors back in the day -- I think Denning does the same exact thing.

 

Fair's fair. It's perfectly possible.

 

I sometimes wonder about childhood upbringing in general in Star Wars spacer culture, as in how much contact with friends does the average kid, and particularly the average upper class kid - which covers Skywalkers and Solos both - actually have? Much like aristocratic children of the past, these kids don't seem to attend joint schools. Instead, they are tutored by droids, a replacement for the professional tutors and governesses of ages past. However, unlike traditionally aristocratic children, they aren't part of large households on communal estates, there are no servants or tenants children about, and the nearly continual series of social gatherings that constituted that lifestyle also seems largely absent.

So perhaps Ben and Allana's situations are actually kind of normal for children of their social status in Star Wars?

In Ben's case specifically though, among the Jedi, the people he is actually in a position to bond with, he actually is something of a social outcast. LotF does make mention of this - it has something to do with the slight age difference between him and the rest of the Shelter Jedi and his subsequent hiding in the Force as a result, a trait that distanced him from his peers (though it did save him from Abeloth possession).