Luke Skywalker is one of the most well known characters in all of Star Wars, but there are many facts about him that many fans do not know. A great deal of his story has been covered on screen, as Luke was the main character of the original trilogy. Since then, he has appeared at different points in the franchise timeline in the media, such as the sequel trilogy and the television series The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, and Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Despite the fact that he was the main character of the Star Wars original trilogy, so much of his life has been covered in off-screen media. There are countless novels and comic books that feature Luke Skywalker as a character, their stories often completely centered around him. Some of these moments are incredibly important to his general timeline and fundamental to understanding Luke as a whole, adding context to many movie moments.
When Luke makes his appearance in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, he already knows a great deal about the Jedi’s past. He speaks at length about their rise and fall, discussing the fact that it was they themselves that allowed for their own destruction. From this scene alone, it is easy to assume that Luke might have learned this from Yoda when the two trained together on the swamp planet of Dagobah sometime around The Empire Strikes Back.
However, this is not the case as seen in Star Wars: The Last Jedi: The Visual Dictionary. After the Empire was finally defeated, Luke went on a journey in order to unearth various artifacts that the Jedi left behind. He visited planets such as the ancient Sith planet Moraband and the old Jedi temple on Tython, locating artifacts including the Sacred Jedi Texts.
Though he might have seemed somewhat passive when he first appeared in the first Star Wars movie (later retitled A New Hope), Luke Skywalker always had a strong desire to help people. This was no different in his childhood on Tatooine before he discovered his power in the ways of the Force. During this time, he found himself standing up to Jabba the Hutt and his enforcers.
This can be seen in Jason Aaron and Simone Bianchi’s Star Wars #7, where Luke stood up to a group of thugs imposing a water tax on Luke’s family and the other moisture farmers on the planet. Despite his passion, he failed in his attempt to take the water back, and likely would have been killed if not for Obi-Wan Kenobi. Even as a youth, Luke was ready and willing to stand up for what is right even if it was beyond his means to do so, setting up his eventual showdown against Jabba in Return of the Jedi.
There is actually quite a bit of time between the original trilogy movies, with The Empire Strikes Back taking place three years after A New Hope. There are many comics and novels covering the time between. One such comic series is Star Wars (2015), which takes place during this time period.
Luke Skywalker returned to Tatooine several times, and even had an early clash with the bounty hunter Boba Fett. His most notable reason for returning was to try to learn more about Obi-Wan Kenobi, and he even found a journal left behind. This allowed Luke to learn more about Obi-Wan and the Jedi.
Luke Skywalker is best known for wielding two very specific lightsabers, those being his father Anakin’s lightsaber and the lightsaber he builds for himself as seen in Return of the Jedi. His father’s lightsaber was blue, while Luke’s own lightsaber was green. However, in recent comics he’s used a third lightsaber, using it in the period between losing his father’s lightsaber in The Empire Strikes Back and building his own.
This lightsaber was a yellow lightsaber, one that he found in an abandoned Jedi encampment on the planet Tempes. It was a unique lightsaber pike with a single blade, originally used by the Jedi Temple Guards that had once lived on the planet. He used this lightsaber to fight against many iconic enemies, including Inquisitors and even Boba Fett.
One thing that has been consistent in the Star Wars films and television shows is that Luke Skywalker has been left without a love interest. Storylines like these have been left for characters such as his sister, Leia Organa, and her love Han Solo. This is not the case in the comics, as Luke has seen several different love interests over the years, and in Star Wars Legends he even had a wife and a family.
Mara Jade is one of the most famous characters in all of Star Wars Legends, once the hand of the Emperor who was tasked with hunting Luke down. She would eventually turn back to the light, then falling in love with Luke. Many viewers hope Disney will eventually bring Mara Jade back into canon, but in the meantime, they have introduced characters such as Nakari Kelen in Kevin Hearne’s Heir to the Jedi and Tula Markona in Star Wars comics.
When Star Wars: The Last Jedi finally released, it came with the reveal that Leia was also able to use the Force. She is later shown training with Luke in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, showing that at some point after the original trilogy, Luke taught his sister the ways of the Jedi. Comics such as Charles Soule and Steven Cummings’ Hidden Empire miniseries cover this period of time to a degree, showing in detail just how deep this training went.
The two went on many adventures together, even locating a holocron with information detailing the life of Qi’ra and the Crimson Dawn. Leia only stopped going down this Jedi path when she had a vision given to her from the Force, one that revealed that it would somehow lead to the death of her then unborn son. This son would go on to become Ben Solo, who would later train with Luke and fall to the dark side as seen in the sequel series.
Exegol is a very important part of The Rise of Skywalker, but before the release of the film there was no mention of the Sith planet. It was as if the planet was dropped into the franchise out of nowhere, then serving as the crux of the film’s plot. The lore of Exegol was fleshed out with the release Adam Christopher’s Shadow of the Sith, which details Luke’s adventure with Lando Calrissian in order to find Lando’s daughter.
The novel follows the two as they hunt down a Sith named Ochi of Bestoon, an assassin affiliated with the Sith. Not only does this adventure serve to explain the puzzle pieces that Ochi left behind, ones that Rey later found, but it also serves to further push the mysticism of the planet Exegol. Luke even finds himself inextricably transported to the planet, where he is greeted by the Force ghost of his father, Anakin.
Because the Star Wars (2015) comic series so often focuses on Obi-Wan Kenobi’s time on Tatooine, either keeping Luke safe or otherwise, much more of Luke’s childhood is featured. Even as a young boy, Luke was always a very talented pilot. This can be seen from his skills shown in the films, including when he destroys the Death Star in A New Hope, and it is made even more clear in the comics.
In Jason Aaron and Mike Mayhew’s Star Wars #15, Luke puts these skills to the test after his uncle, Owen Lars, was kidnapped by the Wookiee bounty hunter, Krrsantan. In a scuffle between Krrsantan and Obi-Wan Kenobi, Owen was thrown from a cliff. This would have been where he died were it not for Luke, who flew his T-16 skyhopper down to catch him before he could hit the ground.
One of the most enigmatic characters to come out of the sequel trilogy was the once Supreme Leader, Snoke. The Rise of Skywalker eventually revealed that he was a failed clone of Darth Sidious, created as a part of his Contingency plan in order to bring the dark lord back to life. However, aside from this, the films reveal little about the Sith clone.
More is revealed about Snoke in the comics, including his relationship to Luke Skywalker. In Charles Soule and Will Sliney’s The Rise of Kylo Ren #2,Ben is shocked to see Snoke’s injuries and asks what his uncle did to him. Nothing is known about the nature of this encounter between Snoke and Luke; hopefully the story will eventually be told.