13 Star Wars Facts Everyone Gets Wrong
Updated: Oct. 03, 2018You may think Ewoks are cute and that you know when Boba Fett first turns up, but you’re wrong. Check your faith in the Force with these facts.
1. Stormtroopers Are Good Shots
At times their aim may seem suspect, but there are countless examples to suggest the Stormtroopers may be the best fighters in the universe. Take, for example, the fact that they slaughtered the Jedi when Order 66 was executed, and their repeated ability to defeat the rebels. And don’t forget the time Stormtroopers kill Luke’s Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen and a group of Jawas while framing the Sand People: Obi-Wan explains to Luke that it couldn’t have been Sand People who attacked because “only Imperial stormtroopers are so precise.”
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2. Luke Could Have Joined the Empire
It’s a quick moment in A New Hope, but Luke Skywalker mentions to Uncle Owen that he might “transfer my application to the Academy.” At that time, he could have only meant the Imperial Academy, which is why some critics and fans argue that Luke could have joined the Dark Side, despite his good intentions. However, it’s entirely plausible that he would have defected just as many other rebels did.
3. Parsecs Are a Real Thing
Many Star Wars fans thought George Lucas made a mistake when he had Han boast that his ship made the Kessel in “under 12 parsecs.” Parsecs are real, but they’re a measure of distance and not time. (It would be like saying you made it to the airport in 12 kilometres instead of 18.) However, Lucas had an explanation based on hyperspace: Ships can’t travel in a straight line during hyperspeed or they’d run into stars, planets, etc. An onboard computer must plot a safe route, and the Kessel run took 18 parsecs. By shaving off six parsecs, the Millennium Falcon’s superior onboard computer pulled off an impressive feat. (Of course, Obi-Wan’s wry look suggests he doesn’t buy Han’s boast.)
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4. Ewoks Are Neither Cute Nor Cuddly
Listen up: Ewoks hunt and eat other living creatures, which is what they planned to do with Han. C3PO even tells Han that the smuggler will be “the main course at a banquet in my honour.” What’s more, Lucas revealed in the commentary to the 2004 re-release of the Star Wars movies that the Ewoks and their guerrilla fighting are modelled after the Viet Cong.
5. Vader Never Said, “Luke, I Am Your Father.”
Seems ridiculous, right? Not so: Despite being one of the most iconic lines to come out of the series—in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back—the actual wording was, “No, I am your father.”
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6. CP30 Wasn’t Always Pure Gold
Despite being everyone’s favourite golden robot, CP30 wasn’t all gold the entire series. According to USA Today, if you look very closely at the stills from the original trilogy, you will see that the protocol droid has a silver leg.
7. Boba Fett First Appeared in a Christmas Special
Boba Fett has become an icon—and a meme—for Star Wars fanatics. But most still don’t realize that the beloved Boba originally turned up came in an ill-received, barely watched holiday special; apparently, Christmas miracles are possible in space, too.
8. Jedi Can (and Do) Have Sex
During a 2002 interview in London with the news organization BBC, Lucas clarified the typical understanding that Jedi are sexless warrior monks by pointing out, “Jedi Knights aren’t celibate—the thing that is forbidden is attachments—and possessive relationships.”
9. Luke Was Always Able to Fly an X-Wing
When the Rebels get set to attack the Death Star, Luke joins right in with the trained pilots and ends up—spoiler alert—saving the day. How could he be so competent as a fighter pilot? Earlier, Luke is seen with a model of a T-16, which according to Star Wars canon was manufactured by Incom, the same company responsible for X-wings. So he was already familiar with the control system… right? OK, that’s a stretch, but you can regain belief with these awesome Star Wars filming locations.
10. Having a Wampa Attack Luke Wasn’t a Cover-Up for Mark Hamill’s Scar
Despite the fact that Hamill got into a scar-inducing car accident in 1977 between the first two movies, the wampa attack wasn’t Lucas’s attempt to explain the facial damage, according to a report in Business Insider.
11. The First Film Wasn’t Planned as Part of a Longer Series
Diehard Star Wars fans swear Lucas only approved the original trio of films, but in December 2017 it became official that was not the case. According to an interview in Deadline, Rian Johnson, the director of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, says that Lucasfilm had no overarching story in place for the trilogy; this also meant Johnson had creative freedom.
12. Phasma Wasn’t the First-Ever Female Stormtrooper
While actress Gwendolyn Christie, who played the stormtrooper Phasma, was the first-ever on-screen female stormtrooper, she wasn’t the first female ever: Several female characters played roles in the literary series that preceded the films, and it’s likely we’ll see many more female stormtroopers in the future.
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13. We’re Rooting for the Wrong Side
As the Washington Post notes, on one side you have a mostly benevolent dictatorship that is bringing order to the galaxy. “On the other, you have a band of religious terrorists whose leaders include a drug smuggler in the pocket of slavers and a pair of incestuous twins working to restore a broken republic held hostage by special interests that tolerated its citizens being treated as chattel.” Makes you think, huh?
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