Introduction

‘Obi Wan Kenobi explains the Force to Luke’ - a 3+ minute Dailymotion video by oojason (using Harmy’s Despecialized Edition).
 

^ The scene that caught so many of our imaginations. The scene that not only explained the Force, but the main characters’ backstory, the history and context of the setting, and the characters within being asked to answer the call to adventure. The scene that left us wanting to know so much more about this mysterious and compelling universe, and what had come before…

Despite George understandably making the Prequel era “off limits” to other writers and creatives before the PT films were released, we were given some snippets and answers on this era through officially released material. Content such as the early Star Wars novels, OT film novelisations, draft scripts, the EU; novels, comics, and video games (notably Veitch & Zahn’s work). The guidebooks, WEG sourcebooks, ‘Art Of’ books etc, trading cards, CD-ROMs, radio plays, and any other licensed material… Although the release of the PT would see much of this “pre-Prequel era life & lore” change, retconned, or simply be discarded.

This is a thread attempting to chronicle that pre-Prequel era lore and history from official Lucasfilm material & products.
 

From a time when Jedi had attachments; marriage, relationships, and children. Even different coloured lightsabers - including red! The Force being an energy field. No ill-explained midichlorians or vague ‘Chosen One’ prophecies. Palpatine wasn’t a Sith, nor yet a force user, and didn’t take control of the Republic until years after the Clone Wars ended. Vader was the Sith supremo. The Clone Wars were fought by the Republic & Jedi against the Mandalorians, geneticists & cloners from the “dark worlds”…

Any help with this incomplete scrapbook is very much appreciated. Anyone is welcome and encouraged to post up any pre-Prequel era content or subject matter; articles, videos, screenshots, images, interviews, or links to books, comics & games (with sources or citations) to be added to the index categories in here.

Please post any fond memories based on material from the pre-Prequel era too. Hopefully this will grow into a useful resource.

I loved the pre-Prequel era of Star Wars; the OT and EU lore associated with it. It was a great time, a fun era. For some it was a part of our childhood or adolescence. For others it fired the imagination, expectations, and hopes. The PT itself turning out to be so disappointing for many, doesn’t take any of that away or diminish that pre-Prequel era lore - nor does George, Lucasfilm, or GL-zealots & PT defenders edicts & decrees on ‘canon’, ‘GL’s vision’, or that ‘Star Wars is his - he can do whatever he wants’.

Those are some of the oft-used excuses for ‘justifying’ the retconning and deletion of pre-PT era lore material from official sources by The Keepers of The Holocron - in attempting to reconcile any such continuity issues. (and who do put much inventive work into that, ranging from clever & imaginative, through to feats of mental gymnastics.) Yet in removing the original content, and no longer acknowledging it, early Star Wars history becomes obfuscated over time… an all-too familiar occurrence in the GFFA.

This thread is just simply an attempt to highlight that road not fully travelled. It was that road for some 20+ years, but then it forked off. So this is more of a ‘what was’, ‘what if’, a ‘what could have been’, or ‘what was going to be’; instead of what we eventually got with the disparate Prequels films, and the retconned lore & history that came with it; at that time, and since…
 

A Thread Index:

• Introduction (this post)
• A quick note on ‘Canon’ (yep, I know…)
• Timelines: Story Events and Alterations
• Settings, Planets and Systems | Organisations and Governments
• The Jedi (as an Order Of Knights; their Way Of Life, the Force, Robes, Lightsabers etc)
• Characters and Biographies | Protagonists and Allies (including changes of persona or origin story)
• Characters and Biographies | Antagonists, Adversaries and their Allies (including changes of persona or origin story)
• Miscellaneous
• Blank Post (a spare post for possible future use; if ever required)
• A list of ‘Suggestions, Claims, Memories, and Posts’ on more pre-PT era material: to be checked and confirmed
• Index of Relevant OriginalTrilogy.com Threads
• Credits

A few OT threads that feature some comprehensive information on the more widely known facets of Pre-Prequel era lore:

1. Wars, organizations, relationships, and galactic history before the Prequels
2. Putting The Original-Original Trilogy’s Prequel Story together
3. The Prequels as Envisioned by the (Pre-PT) Expanded Universe
4. What if The Prequels were based on the Pre-PT EU and were more “OT Accurate”
5. Implied starting date of the Empire from OT dialogue (+ character ages + when certain events take place)
6. What did you think the Clone Wars were gonna be?
7. The Jedi Purge | a general discussion
8. Were the Jedi supposed to not be allowed to get married, have children or any possessions when the OT was made?
9. On Jedi and Attachment
10. At what point did Tatooine robes become Jedi uniforms?
11. OT lightsaber colours; (and some waffling on about the various colours used across the OT & Expanded Universe)
12. Did G. Lucas ever intend to portray the Jedi as a flawed institution in the Prequels? Or was it added later in the EU?
13. What Luke’s father and Darth Vader would have been like had Lucas kept them as separate characters?
14. Original Trilogy vs The Prequels: inconsistencies, retcons, plot holes and discrepancies… (a ‘50+ issues’ list)

 
• Some OT film drafts and character threads for the OT era can be found in An Index for Original Trilogy Discussion

• Some EU material covering the Pre-Prequel era (before the PT films) can be found in An Index for the Expanded Universe