Obi-Wan Kenobi

Obi-Wan Kenobi (later known as Ben Kenobi) is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe, played by Sir Alec Guinness and Ewan McGregor. In the original trilogy, he is a mentor to the protagonist Luke Skywalker to whom he teaches the ways of the Jedi. In the prequel trilogy, he is a master and friend to Anakin Skywalker. In the sequel trilogy, he appears to Rey as a voice in a dream-like-flashback in Maz Kanata's castle. He is frequently featured as a main character in various other Star Wars media.

Lucas borrowed liberally from the films of Akira Kurosawa. Kenob is the name, incidentally, of the son of Tokuemon's mistress in Yojimbo.

Appearances

Original trilogy

Obi-Wan Kenobi is introduced in Star Wars living as the hermit "Ben Kenobi" on the planet Tatooine. When Luke Skywalker and the droid C-3PO wander off in search of the lost droid R2-D2, Ben rescues them from a band of native Tusken Raiders. At his home, R2-D2 plays Ben a recording of Princess Leia Organa which explains that R2-D2 has the battle plans for a super weapon of the evil Galactic Empire within the robot. Leia asks Ben to deliver the droid and the plans safely to the planet Alderaan.

Star Wars

Star Wars is an American epic space opera franchise, centered on a film series created by George Lucas. It depicts the adventures of various characters "a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away".

The first film in the series, Star Wars (later subtitled Episode IV: A New Hope), was released on May 25, 1977 by 20th Century Fox and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon. It was followed by the similarly successful sequels The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983); these three films constitute the original Star Wars trilogy. A prequel trilogy was later released between 1999 and 2005, which received a more mixed reaction from critics and fans, compared to the original trilogy. All seven films were nominated for or won Academy Awards, and were commercial successes, with a combined box office revenue of $4.38 billion, making Star Wars the fourth highest-grossing film series. The series has spawned an extensive media franchise—the Star Wars expanded universe—including books, television series, computer and video games, and comic books, resulting in significant development of the series's fictional universe. Star Wars also holds a Guinness World Records title for the "Most successful film merchandising franchise." In 2012, the total value of the Star Wars franchise was estimated at USD $30.7 billion, including box-office receipts as well as profits from their video games and DVD sales.

20th century

The 20th century was a century that began on January 1, 1901 and ended on December 31, 2000. It was the tenth and final century of the 2nd millennium. It is distinct from the century known as the 1900s (sometimes written as 19XX), which began on January 1, 1900 and ended on December 31, 1999.

Dubbed the "short twentieth century", this century in human history was dominated by chain of events that heralded significant changes in world history as to redefine the era: World War I and World War II, nationalism and decolonization, the Cold War and Post-Cold War conflicts, cultural homogenization through developments in transportation and communications technology, world population growth, awareness of environmental degradation, ecological extinction and the birth of the Digital Revolution. It saw great advances in communication and medical technology that by the late 1980s allowed for near-instantaneous worldwide computer communication and genetic modification of life.

Overview

The century had the first global-scale total wars between world powers across continents and oceans in World War I and World War II. Nationalism became a major political issue in the world in the 20th century, acknowledged in international law along with the right of nations to self-determination, official decolonization in the mid-century, and nationalist-influenced armed regional-conflicts.

20th Century Fox

The Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation (spelled as Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation with hyphen used from its inception until 1985, stylized as 20th Century Fox and also known as 20th Century Fox Pictures, TCF, Fox 2000 Pictures or simply Fox) is an American film studio, distributor and one of the six major American film studios. Located in the Century City area of Los Angeles, just west of Beverly Hills, the studio is currently owned by 21st Century Fox and is formerly owned by News Corporation.

20th Century Fox has distributed famous film series, including the first two Star Wars trilogies, Ice Age, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Maze Runner, X-Men, Die Hard, Home Alone, Planet of the Apes, Independence Day, Night at the Museum, Power Rangers, Percy Jackson, Taken, Fantastic Four, The Omen, Alien, Predator, Rio, and Alvin and the Chipmunks. The studio is also credited for distributing James Cameron's Avatar and Titanic, the highest and second highest grossing films respectively at the box-office not adjusted for inflation (though Paramount Pictures owns the US rights to the latter). Television series produced by Fox include The Simpsons, Family Guy, M*A*S*H, The X-Files, Bob's Burgers, Bones, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Futurama, American Dad!, How I Met Your Mother, Archer, Glee, Modern Family, Empire, Malcolm in the Middle, New Girl, King of the Hill, and 24. Among the most famous actresses to come out of this studio were Shirley Temple, who was 20th Century Fox's first film star, Alice Faye, Betty Grable, Gene Tierney, Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield. The studio also contracted the first African-American cinema star, Dorothy Dandridge.

Darth Vader

Darth Vader, also known as Anakin Skywalker, is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe. Vader appears in the original trilogy as the primary antagonist, while his past as Anakin Skywalker is central to the plot of the prequel trilogy.

The character was created by George Lucas and has been portrayed by numerous actors. His appearances span the first six Star Wars films, and his character is heavily referenced in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. He is also an important character in the Star Wars expanded universe of television series, video games, novels, literature and comic books. Originally a Jedi prophesied to bring balance to the Force, he falls to the dark side of the Force and serves the evil Galactic Empire at the right hand of his Sith master, Emperor Palpatine (also known as Darth Sidious). He is also the father of Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia Organa, grandfather of Kylo Ren, and secret husband of Padmé Amidala.

The American Film Institute listed him as the third greatest movie villain in cinema history on 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains, behind Hannibal Lecter and Norman Bates.