Ahsoka Tano and Luke Skywalker Have a Similar Character Trait at the Start, Which Is Why They’re ‘Star Wars’ Fan Favorites
Star Wars characters are just as iconic and well-known as the franchise itself. And for each fan, they have a favorite. One person within this galaxy far, far away that they identify with the most, or root for the loudest. For many, those characters are Luke Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano.
While both of their stories start decades apart from each other, they actually have a pretty similar character trait. They both started off as inexperienced, “clueless,” and a bit annoying because of their age. It not only allowed them to grow into the heroes they are now, but also gave each a lot of room to develop.
Mark Hamill purposely made Luke Skywalker ‘a clueless teenager’ so he had room to grow
While Luke had a far shorter time to grow and develop than Ahsoka did, it’s still there. And his development from A New Hope through Return of the Jedi is pretty profound.
On May the Fourth, Mark Hamill spoke with StarWars.com for Star Wars Day and the 40th anniversary of Empire Strikes Back. He also explained which line he gets “mocked a lot for.”
“‘But I was going to Tosche Station to pick up some power converters,’” Hamill admitted. However, he explains that he was purposefully whiny in that scene. “I did that intentionally to be able to grow and make him as much of a clueless teenager as possible because by the end of the film he has found his purpose in life and he’s so profoundly changed.”
Dave Filoni, the supervising director of The Clone Wars and much more within Lucasfilm, also recently talked about how that was a focus of George Lucas’ too.
“I think when people go and watch Luke Skywalker as a young man in A New Hope, a lot of people commented, ‘Oh, he sounds whiny,’” Filoni told Deadline on May 6. “George knew to begin with a character of inexperience, whether we like that or not, and grow them in a way that the audience came to respect them.”
Having such noticeable growth not only hooks the audience into liking the relatable character, but also leaves a path with somewhere to go. Luke was learning as he went, and even brushed off important lessons Yoda tried to teach him at first. But that lead him to be wise by the end of Return of the Jedi, and able to bring his father back from the Dark Side through love, not violence.
People thought Ahsoka was ‘too bratty’ in the beginning, too
When Ahsoka Tano first came on the scene, she was spunky and very assertive for a 14-year-old Padawan. She had something to prove and wanted to get in on any and all action when she could. She earned the nickname “Snips” from her master, Anakin Skywalker, for a reason: she was a bit too snippy for his taste.
“There was definitely resistance to Ahsoka,” Ashley Eckstein, the voice of Ahsoka, told Vanity Fair on April 24. “She had her haters in the beginning. People that thought that she was too bratty.”
There was definitely another layer to the hate Ahsoka received because she was a girl, however, she proved all the haters wrong. She became a skilled fighter and by Season 3 was leading her own missions without many mistakes and had some seriously powerful moments.
Even though her nickname stuck around well into her late teens, she grew out of that “snippy” demeanor pretty quickly. She became the seasoned Force wielder in we see in the final season, able to capture former Sith Lord, Maul.
Now they’re two of the most beloved characters in ‘Star Wars,’ with journeys
Looking at both of their journeys, it’s no wonder they have so many fans. Both Luke and Ahsoka grew up in front of the audience’s eyes and earned their right as powerful Jedi or Force wielders (in Ahsoka’s case).
Not only that, but they’re also two of the only characters that we see throughout their lives. For Luke, he’s an annoying teen and then a young Jedi Knight by Episode VI, and then in the sequel trilogy, he’s an older hermit. And we find out about how he got to that point.
For Ahsoka, she’s that bratty little Padawan who grows up into a powerful Force wielder in her late teens, taking on Maul. And then fans see her 15 years later as an adult, able to take on two Inquisotirs at once and win. Not to mention face off against Darth Vade, able to get some really good scrapes in.
