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obi wans name in ANH

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why was it ben? its never been explained regardless of the prequels. it still doesnt make any sense
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He was going by the name of Ben Kenobi because he was hiding, and didn't want Luke to know too much about him - Luke knew him, but as Ben, not as Obi-Wan. Which dosen't make much sense, because it dosen't take too much brainpower to know that Ben Kenobi = Obi-Wan Kenobi. Although it took a while for Luke to figure it out:

"Oh, he's not dead. Not yet."

"Do you know him?"

"Of course I know him, you stupid bastard! It's me!"


Which also brings another interesting question: why didn't Owen rename Luke as Luke Lars, instead of going by the name Skywalker? I mean, Bail Organa named Leia as Leia Organa, right? Maybe because Leia had some brief contact with Vader, and if she was called Leia Skywalker, he would see something fishy there?
“Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.” — Nazi Reich Marshal Hermann Goering
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see ANH is just as stupid as the prequels, even though i hate the prequels
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The answer is because when ANH was made, Lucas didn't have the idea that vader was really Anakin skywalker yet, so there was no need fopr Owen to give Luke a new name because there was no threat. Then, between ANH and ESB, Lucas had this idea of Vader being Luke's dad, which created the question of why Luke's uncle never thought to change Luke's surname. As for ObiWan's piss poor alias, I have no explanation. Personally, I believe that Ben was his real name and ObiWan was a name given to him by the Jedi. Of course, that idea has been destroyed by the prequels, but I don't watch the prequels so it's ok.

War does not make one great.

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For the "Ben" name, I find it has sense. You say that "it dosen't take too much brainpower to know that Ben Kenobi = Obi-Wan Kenobi". Yes, for us, cause "Kenobi" name seems "exotic" to us, but maybe it's a usual name in the Star Wars universe.
If you take "Connor" for example in the real life, how can you guess that "John Connor" and "James Connor" are the same person?
So, "Ben" was just a name for his hiding.

For Luke, I agree with "Yoda Is Your Father", and if we really want a explanation, I think that Leia has a different name, cause the Organa family is famous and has a political importance in the galaxy. Keep her real "Skywalker" name would be too risky...
For Luke, he lives now in a outer rim territory, far from Coruscant and all the political plot of the galaxy. And as for Obi-Wan, "Skywalker" is surely a usual name in the Star Wars galaxy.
After all, there are 3 years between ANH and ESB, and Vader understands that Luke is his son only in ESB, and Luke seems to be famous in the galaxy since he's destroyed the first Death Star.
Again, "Skywalker", in the SW universe, is maybe as usual as "Ford" in our real world.
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You've got to understand that not everything has to be explaned in black and white. Obi-Wan simply started going by "Ben" around the time of Luke and Leia's birth. His statement of "I haven't gone by Obi-Wan since, oh before you were born." makes perfect sense. You've just got to understand that he started calling himself that after their birth, which is what he implies anyway.
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Originally posted by: Adamwankenobi
You've got to understand that not everything has to be explaned in black and white. Obi-Wan simply started going by "Ben" around the time of Luke and Leia's birth. His statement of "I haven't gone by Obi-Wan since, oh before you were born." makes perfect sense. You've just got to understand that he started calling himself that after their birth, which is what he implies anyway.


Make sure you copy & paste that once the "How does Leia remember her mother?" debate comes up again.
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Originally posted by: HotRod
Leia was adopted...so she would have the name Organa.
Luke wasn't adopted, so went by Skywalker.

See, simple as that!


Luke WAS adopted. How do you call that, when persons who are not the real parents take responsabilty of a child?
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Originally posted by: TheCassidy
Originally posted by: Adamwankenobi
You've got to understand that not everything has to be explaned in black and white. Obi-Wan simply started going by "Ben" around the time of Luke and Leia's birth. His statement of "I haven't gone by Obi-Wan since, oh before you were born." makes perfect sense. You've just got to understand that he started calling himself that after their birth, which is what he implies anyway.


Make sure you copy & paste that once the "How does Leia remember her mother?" debate comes up again.


And what's wrong with my explanation? It makes perfect sense.
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To me why he is called Ben in ANH probably didnt need any explaining, nor did why Luke kept his Skywalker name, i take it he never gave his surname out, or it was probably popular name though the reasons may appear in EU or some spinoff.
Its all the issues that have been brought up, some of which i would have problems with. Why didnt Lucas cover these all throughly,which could be done without him needing to dumb it down, instead of leaving it up to peoples intereptation and having people explain for him, and what they think the answers are...
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Luke WAS adopted. How do you call that, when persons who are not the real parents take responsabilty of a child?


Guardianship. Luke wasn't officially adopted, just taken in. If they'd adopted him, Luke would call them "Mom and Dad" instead of "Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen."

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Originally posted by: Kaal-Jhyy
Originally posted by: HotRod
Leia was adopted...so she would have the name Organa.
Luke wasn't adopted, so went by Skywalker.

See, simple as that!


Luke WAS adopted. How do you call that, when persons who are not the real parents take responsabilty of a child?


Err, dunno mate...foster parents...or just become their leagal gaurdians.
Luke was not adopted in the same legal way as Leia.
Owen and Beru never became Lukes mother and father, the way they would have been if he was adopted.
So, to sum up...Luke was NOT adopted and Leia was. That's why Leia has the surname of Organa and not Skywalker.

Jesus, does there have to be an argument about every small bloody thing.

http://www.facebook.com/DirtyWookie

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Originally posted by: HotRod
Jesus, does there have to be an argument about every small bloody thing.
Apparently yes. Man, Star Wars has been turned into a bunch of geeks arguing about the stupidest shit. it's sad what's happened.

War does not make one great.

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Originally posted by: battlewars
why was it ben? its never been explained regardless of the prequels. it still doesnt make any sense


I was always thinking that Ben Kenobi was his real name and then Obi-Wan was his "Jedi" name. Looking at Qui-Gon Jinn, you sort of see the same thing. Qui-Gon is his "Jedi" name, but we never knew his real name. All the Jedi get special names when they get to be Jedi or a certain Jedi rank.

But alas.....Yoda is just called Master Yoda....no strange "Jedi" name for him, so the theory doesn't hold up too well, I guess.


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Did Luke know Obi-wan's last name?

Its actually been a while since I saw it, but I remember Luke calling him "Old Ben"....was there a point he said Ben Kenobi? I don't remember.
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Originally posted by: Yoda Is Your Father
The answer is because when ANH was made, Lucas didn't have the idea that vader was really Anakin skywalker yet...Then, between ANH and ESB, Lucas had this idea of Vader being Luke's dad...Personally, I believe that Ben was his real name and ObiWan was a name given to him by the Jedi. Of course, that idea has been destroyed by the prequels, but I don't watch the prequels so it's ok.

+1


In fact, in the original draft of the script, they're two separate characters....

"Annikin Starkiller, a tall, heavy-set boy of eighteen..."

"Darth Vader, a tall, grim-looking general"

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Originally posted by: maddog00
Did Luke know Obi-wan's last name?

Its actually been a while since I saw it, but I remember Luke calling him "Old Ben"....was there a point he said Ben Kenobi? I don't remember.


Yes. He says to Owen, "Maybe he means old Ben Kenobi."
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Originally posted by: maddog00
Did Luke know Obi-wan's last name?

I remember Luke calling him "Old Ben"....was there a point he said Ben Kenobi? I don't remember.

When he first sees the princess, he tells her;

"I'm here to rescue you. I've got your R2 unit. I'm here with Ben Kenobi."
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Which raises the question if Leia new of his alias, why didn't Vader and the rest of the Empire?

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who knows maybe obi wan was called ben by someone on tatooine and it just stuck
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Actually, I believe he begins going by the name of Ben in the first book of the "Last of the Jedi" series. If I remember correctly, only his closest and most trusted allies called him Ben. The others weren't even told his name at all.
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that doesnt really answer why he still used the ben name
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I suppose he wanted the Obi-Wan name to never be known by anyone, even those he was aquainted with.
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but his last name is still kenobi, i dont get it