Obi-Wan Kenobi/Legends

General Obi-Wan "Ben" Kenobi (57 - 0 BBY) was a Jedi Master of legendary status. He taught both Anakin and Luke Skywalker in the ways of the Force.

Kenobi was born in 57 BBY and was trained as Jedi Knight from a young age. Little is known of his birth family, though asome sources indicate that Obi-Wan does remember a brother named Owen. (No relation to Owen Lars.)

Early Years
From around 44 BBY to 32 BBY, beginning when Obi-Wan was twelve, he met many Jedi who would later be important friends during his adventures with his master Qui-Gon Jinn, including Bant Eerin, Siri Tachi and Quinlan Vos.

The Battle of Naboo


At the start of the events leading to the Battle of Naboo, he was apprentice to Jedi Knight Qui-Gon Jinn, whom he accompanied to Naboo, the planet ruled by Queen Padmé Amidala. His master stumbled upon Anakin Skywalker, a young boy who showed tremendous potential with the Force, and wished for him to be trained as a Jedi. Obi-Wan disagrees, believing the boy is already too old and too emotional to become a Jedi.

However, upon the death of his master at the hands of Darth Maul, Kenobi honoured his master's final wish to train young Skywalker and the Jedi Council named Kenobi a Jedi Knight and reluctantly approved his request to take Anakin on as his Padawan. Apparently, the Jedi Council had been impressed that Kenobi bested a Sith, an enemy that had not surfaced in a millennium. Obi-Wan was drawn into calling on the Dark Side during his battle, but it would not consume him as it would his Padawan.

The Clone Wars
Shortly before the Battle of Geonosis, Kenobi and Skywalker were tasked with protecting Padmé Amidala after an attempt on her life. Kenobi tracked a mysterious assassin to Kamino and learned about a massive clone army that the Kaminoans were building for the Republic. He attempted to apprehend bounty hunter Jango Fett, but Fett escaped to Geonosis with his son Boba. Kenobi followed them.

On Geonosis, Kenobi uncovered a conspiracy of star systems that wanted to secede from the Republic, led by Count Dooku. Kenobi was captured shortly after sending a message to Anakin. Anakin and Padmé arrived on Geonosis, but they too were captured, and all three were sentenced to death by the Geonosians. The executions were prevented by the timely arrival of Jedi and clone reinforcements, led by Jedi Masters Mace Windu and Yoda. Kenobi and Skywalker confronted Count Dooku and fight him, but he escapes.



Obi-Wan became a general in the Clone Wars. He also sat on the twilight Jedi Council as one of the last Jedi Masters during the rise of the Galactic Empire and before the Great Jedi Purge.

The Jedi Purge
As Anakin became increasingly enchanted with the Dark Side (with thanks, in no small part, to Palpatine), Obi-Wan was forced to face his former apprentice. The two dueled on the planet Mustafar, eventually leading to Obi-Wan defeating his ex-pupil. As Anakin begged for help, Obi-Wan replied, "You were my brother, Anakin. I love you, but I won't help you." Thinking Vader dead, Kenobi leaves the planet as Palpatine and his clone escorts arrived.

However, this clash did not halt the rise of the Empire and Kenobi was forced into hiding on the remote desert planet Tatooine where he went by the name of Ben. He also hid Anakin's children: Luke on Tatooine with Owen Lars and Leia on Alderaan with Bail Organa.

The Battle of Yavin
Some thirty-two years after the Battle of Naboo, Kenobi rescued Anakin's son, Luke Skywalker, from Tusken Raiders, while Luke tracked the errant R2-D2, who insisted he had a message for an 'Obi-Wan Kenobi'. Kenobi eventually heared R2-D2's message from Princess Leia Organa asking for his assistance in delivering the schematics of the Death Star to Alderaan. Kenobi was willing to help, and took young Luke Skywalker under his wing in order to teach him the ways of the Force with the intention of fully training the boy later, on Alderaan.

Kenobi, Luke, and the droids C-3PO and R2-D2 bought passage to Alderaan on smuggler Han Solo's ship, the Millennium Falcon. Before they could reach their destination, Alderaan was destroyed by the Death Star. The Millennium Falcon was captured by the Death Star, however Kenobi managed to deactivate the tractor beam to allow the ship to escape. Unfortunately for him, his return to the ship was cut off by Darth Vader who challenged Kenobi to combat. Kenobi distracts Vader and his stormtroopers allowing Luke and the rest of the crew to reach the Falcon. Sacrificing his hope for escape, Kenobi concentrated for a moment and vanished in an apparent form of ascension, his body disappearing entirely just as Vader's lightsaber, instead of severing his body, passes through his empty robe.

Postmortem
As it turns out, Kenobi does not vanish entirely. Rather, he become a spirit who advised Luke as a mentor that the Sith cannot touch. Most importantly, he tells Luke to use the Force to destroy the Death Star.

On Hoth, Kenobi told Luke to go to the Dagobah system for further training with Yoda. He reappeared after the death of Yoda to explain why he did not tell Luke the truth about his father and confess that Leia is Luke's sister. Kenobi was seen shortly after the Battle of Endor, standing next to the spirits of Anakin and Yoda as they watched Luke.

Kenobi spoke to Luke again in The Truce at Bakura immediately after the Battle of Endor, warning him of the threat posed by the invading Ssi-ruuvi Imperium.

Obi-Wan, Yoda, and Anakin again appeared to Luke in spirit form a few months later to warn him of the dangers presented by the Dark Lord Flint, apprentice of Lady Lumiya, heir to the Sith legacy. Because of their warning, Luke was able to redeem Flint, leaving the reigning Sith Master without an apprentice. This was the last known time Luke saw his father and Yoda, though Anakin Skywalker spoke to Luke's nephew, Jacen Solo, decades later in the New Jedi Order novels Balance Point and The Unifying Force.

Obi-Wan appeared to Luke again 5 years ABY to alert him to the presence of the Jedi Prince Ken, the grandson of Emperor Palpatine, who soon became a pawn in a coup orchestrated by a group of false Prophets of the Dark Side set up by Imperial Intelligence.

In Timothy Zahn's novel Heir to the Empire, which takes place in 9 ABY, Kenobi, still a spirit, visits Luke for the last time in a dream. Kenobi tells Luke that he must move on from his spirit form to another realm. As Kenobi explained it, from the time of his death until the time of the novel, Kenobi's spirit had been in an intermediate stage between life and the afterlife. This is Kenobi's final appearance in the timeline of the Star Wars universe. His final words are: "Not the last of the old Jedi, Luke. The first of the new." However, for reasons unknown, Kenobi twice spoke to Luke in the NJO, once in The Unifying Force, and once in Edge of Victory:Rebirth. The first time was to speak about his son Bens future, and in TUF to tell Luke "Shes leaving" referring to Zonama Sekot. In case one wonders what happened to Obi-Wan's lightsaber after he was killed by Darth Vader, in Kenobi's Blade, a young reader novel featuring Anakin Solo, Anakin Skywalker's grandson, it is revealed that Vader hid it in a retreat on Vjun. Unsurprisingly, Solo and company recover the lightsaber from Vader's palace.

Personality
In his youth (circa The Phantom Menace), the loyal and dedicated Obi-Wan Kenobi possessed a dry sense of humor and sarcastic wit. Yoda said that he sensed Qui-Gon's defiance in him, nonetheless, he spoke very highly of him. Qui-Gon himself reflected upon Obi-Wan's considerable knowledge. As a Jedi Knight, he was cynical, though wise beyond his years. His humble and soft-spoken demeanor belied his warrior prowess. Kenobi carefully measured his actions in any situation, giving him the nickname "The Negotiator" during the Clone Wars. In the original trilogy, he appeared as a kindly and eccentric old hermit of the Jundland Wastes and wizard to those not familiar with the ways of the Jedi. Obi-Wan retained his traits of patience and foresight as well as gained the quality of boldness reminiscent of his youth - perhaps a characteristic acquired this time from his brash apprentice, Anakin.

It is interesting to note that Kenobi loses some of his youthful audacity that was seen in Episode I and assumes the role of a more cautious and conservative mentor in Episode II.

Behind the Scenes
In the Return of the Jedi novelization, Obi-Wan refers to Owen Lars as his brother, but nothing depicted in the films or novelizations of TPM or AOTC reference this. In fact, AOTC introduces Owen Lars as the stepson of Shmi Skywalker, Anakin's mother, who is married to Owen's father Cliegg Lars for a short period before her own death. Episode I implied that Kenobi had never been to or heard of Tatooine before, so it seems unlikely that he is "really" Owen's brother in any meaningful way. Most fans hold this plot point to be one that has been superceded, much like several others before.