Obi-Wan Kenobi

Obi-Wan Kenobi was a Force-sensitive human male Jedi Master who lived through the final years of the Galactic Republic, the Clone Wars, and the rise of the Galactic Empire. The Padawan of Qui-Gon Jinn and master of Anakin Skywalker, he became one of the most respected Jedi Generals of his age before the fall of the Jedi Order forced him into exile on Tatooine. There he watched over Luke Skywalker for nearly two decades, and at the end of his life he set the young man on the path to becoming a Jedi.

Padawan and Knight#

Discovered to be strong in the Force, Kenobi was taken from his homeworld to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, where he trained under Grand Master Yoda in the basic forms of lightsaber combat. As a youngling he gained a reputation for a rebellious streak. At the age of thirteen he was chosen as the Padawan learner of Qui-Gon Jinn, and though the two struggled at first to find a workable rhythm, they came to share a deep bond. Among their assignments was a year spent on Mandalore protecting Duchess Satine Kryze, who first called him by the nickname Ben.

When Qui-Gon Jinn was killed, Kenobi took it upon himself to train the young Anakin Skywalker, fulfilling a promise to his fallen master. He was a careful and principled teacher, instructing his apprentice in meditation and in the discipline of letting go of attachment, though Anakin's restless nature often strained the relationship between them.

General of the Clone Wars#

By the time war broke out between the Republic and the Separatists, Kenobi was a respected member of the Jedi Order. He was captured and sentenced to execution in the arena on Geonosis, where he fought off an acklay before a Jedi task force arrived. The battle that followed opened the Clone Wars, and Kenobi was raised to the rank of Jedi General.

Through the war he held the rank of High Jedi General, leading the 7th Sky Corps and personally commanding the 212th Attack Battalion alongside the Clone Marshal Commander Cody. His campaigns, often fought beside the newly knighted Anakin Skywalker, won him fame across the Republic. He became the mortal enemy of the Separatist commander General Grievous, whom he fought many times over the course of the conflict.

Order 66 and the duel on Mustafar#

The war ended in betrayal. When the clone troopers turned on their Jedi commanders under Order 66, Kenobi survived and returned to the ruined Jedi Temple, where security recordings revealed that Anakin Skywalker had led the slaughter of the Jedi and pledged himself to the new Emperor as Darth Vader. Though he protested that Anakin was like a brother to him and that he had not the heart to kill him, Yoda charged him with confronting his former apprentice.

Kenobi found Vader on the volcanic world of Mustafar and defeated him in a brutal duel, leaving him grievously burned. He believed Vader dead, unaware that the Emperor had recovered his apprentice and sealed him in a suit of life-support armor. Kenobi then carried the infant Luke to the Lars family on Tatooine, agreeing at Owen Lars's insistence to keep his distance from the boy's upbringing.

Exile on Tatooine#

For nearly two decades Kenobi lived as a hermit in the Dune Sea under the name Ben, watching over Luke from afar while the boy's twin sister Leia was raised on Alderaan. He meditated deeply on the Force and was counseled by the spirit of Qui-Gon Jinn. He was drawn briefly from his exile when the young Leia Organa was kidnapped, rescuing her and once more crossing blades with Vader before returning to his solitary watch, having confirmed for himself that Anakin Skywalker was truly gone.

In his final years he wrote in his journals of small acts of protection for the people of Tatooine, including keeping Jabba the Hutt's enforcers from extorting the moisture farmers. Shortly before the outbreak of open war, his old friend Bail Organa sought to recruit him to the Rebel Alliance.

The path to the Rebellion#

When Luke Skywalker came of age and sought out the droid R2-D2, which carried a message addressed to Kenobi, the old Jedi rescued him from Tusken Raiders and brought him home. There he revealed that Luke's father had been a Jedi Knight and gave the young man Anakin's lightsaber, beginning his instruction in the Force. Hiring Han Solo and Chewbacca to reach Alderaan, the group was drawn aboard the Death Star.

Aboard the station Kenobi disabled the tractor beam to allow his companions to escape, and met Darth Vader for the last time. Choosing to fall rather than fight on, he let Vader strike him down, vanishing into the Force as his body disappeared. His spirit guided Luke during the Battle of Yavin and afterward, and his name became legend. Han Solo and Leia later named their son Ben Solo in his honor.