House of Head Canon
Nov. 17th, 2010 10:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lazypadawanSome f-listers have been posting their headcanon about various SW characters, little known facts about characters they write about in their fan fics. Some have very elaborate and very specific ideas on these things.
I tend to keep stuff like that close to my chest and I also don’t get terribly invested in them because when it comes to SW, things can change at a moment’s notice. Who knew six years ago that Anakin would ever have an apprentice? Who knew until last week that Sy Snootles was capable of cold-blooded murder? Who knew in 1982 that Leia was Luke’s twin sister? Who would have guessed in 1977 that Darth Vader was Luke’s father?
Still, I have a few ideas big and small about the SW universe that have yet to be shattered by real canon that do affect what I write in my fics:
1. Obi-Wan as a kid asks the crèche master one day who his real parents were. He is told his mother was a courtesan and his father was some functionary in the diplomatic corps. They were unmarried and the courtesan offered up her son because the Jedi could provide a better life for her talented tot. When Obi-Wan’s a little older, he realizes other younglings and padawans are told similar tales. When Obi-Wan is about 20 years older, he recognizes the value of the Little White Lie. Though the crèche master was truthful about the guy in the diplomatic corps. Obi-Wan’s surname was chosen from a directory on his home world.
2. Qui-Gon is an ethnic Corellian. For sure. Since the Jedi Order scooped him up, he is not one of those wackadoodle Corellian We Can Do Whatever We Want Jedi from the EU.
3. Shmi Skywalker is Force-sensitive. Maybe it’s my Catholic bias showing, but only someone with midichlorian mojo in her own blood could handle carrying The Chosen One. Unfortunately, her talents are modest and fading by the time Qui-Gon shows up and she is long since past the time where she could be trained.
4. Palpatine believes he is the Sith’ari, kind of the Sith version of the Messiah. His accomplishment in destroying the Jedi Order, turning the Chosen One into his apprentice, and ruling the galaxy pretty much confirms that belief.
5. I know this one is precarious, but I think Cad Bane ultimately trains Boba Fett. Aurra Sing taught him how to be merciless. Bane will finish up the rest of his education. (Plz, Dave, make this come true!)
6. Luke and Leia are gifted with all kinds of oddball powers no known Jedi was able to possess, and with Palpatine a goner and the Dark Side’s shadow abated, these powers start to become more obvious (EU notwithstanding).
7. Leia in particular is gifted with an extremely high IQ.
8. For years, the Naberries refuse to publicly discuss Padme’s death or her mysterious pregnancy. Privately, they believe she was involved with Anakin and think that perhaps she was murdered for that reason. By who, they’re not sure. Ruwee dies too soon, still broken-hearted by his daughter’s death. Eventually Sola tries to investigate on her own what really happened, only to be told by Bail Organa that she was playing with fire. Since her daughter exhibits an interest in the Imperial Senate, she backs off.
9. Darth Vader and the Imperial officer corps have a mutual loathing society thing happening. Vader thinks many of them are there because they’re good at kissing @$$, came from the right families, or got moved up because they screwed up (*cough*Ozzel*cough*). The Imperial officers believe Vader is some kind of creepy caped weirdo and don’t like him second-guessing them. One of the few exceptions is Piett. He and Vader get each other.
10. Vader however, has a different relationship with his troops and pilots. He genuinely respects them and looks out for them, and in return they are extremely loyal. It’s an honor among stormies and TIE pilots to serve alongside him. This goes back to Anakin’s relationship with the clonetroopers during the Clone Wars.
11. Vader and Tarkin haaate each other’s guts. Vader so doesn’t miss Tarkin after that little mishap at the end of ANH. He tells Palpatine that he will never serve alongside a systems governor ever again. Vader hates those guys even more than he hates the Imperial officer corps.
12. Vader thinks the Empire is a huge disappointment but it’s a preferable alternative to the chaos of the Rebellion and the return of a corrupt galactic Republic. He still thinks democracy doesn’t work. You just need the right person in charge.
Of course, there's more...
I tend to keep stuff like that close to my chest and I also don’t get terribly invested in them because when it comes to SW, things can change at a moment’s notice. Who knew six years ago that Anakin would ever have an apprentice? Who knew until last week that Sy Snootles was capable of cold-blooded murder? Who knew in 1982 that Leia was Luke’s twin sister? Who would have guessed in 1977 that Darth Vader was Luke’s father?
Still, I have a few ideas big and small about the SW universe that have yet to be shattered by real canon that do affect what I write in my fics:
1. Obi-Wan as a kid asks the crèche master one day who his real parents were. He is told his mother was a courtesan and his father was some functionary in the diplomatic corps. They were unmarried and the courtesan offered up her son because the Jedi could provide a better life for her talented tot. When Obi-Wan’s a little older, he realizes other younglings and padawans are told similar tales. When Obi-Wan is about 20 years older, he recognizes the value of the Little White Lie. Though the crèche master was truthful about the guy in the diplomatic corps. Obi-Wan’s surname was chosen from a directory on his home world.
2. Qui-Gon is an ethnic Corellian. For sure. Since the Jedi Order scooped him up, he is not one of those wackadoodle Corellian We Can Do Whatever We Want Jedi from the EU.
3. Shmi Skywalker is Force-sensitive. Maybe it’s my Catholic bias showing, but only someone with midichlorian mojo in her own blood could handle carrying The Chosen One. Unfortunately, her talents are modest and fading by the time Qui-Gon shows up and she is long since past the time where she could be trained.
4. Palpatine believes he is the Sith’ari, kind of the Sith version of the Messiah. His accomplishment in destroying the Jedi Order, turning the Chosen One into his apprentice, and ruling the galaxy pretty much confirms that belief.
5. I know this one is precarious, but I think Cad Bane ultimately trains Boba Fett. Aurra Sing taught him how to be merciless. Bane will finish up the rest of his education. (Plz, Dave, make this come true!)
6. Luke and Leia are gifted with all kinds of oddball powers no known Jedi was able to possess, and with Palpatine a goner and the Dark Side’s shadow abated, these powers start to become more obvious (EU notwithstanding).
7. Leia in particular is gifted with an extremely high IQ.
8. For years, the Naberries refuse to publicly discuss Padme’s death or her mysterious pregnancy. Privately, they believe she was involved with Anakin and think that perhaps she was murdered for that reason. By who, they’re not sure. Ruwee dies too soon, still broken-hearted by his daughter’s death. Eventually Sola tries to investigate on her own what really happened, only to be told by Bail Organa that she was playing with fire. Since her daughter exhibits an interest in the Imperial Senate, she backs off.
9. Darth Vader and the Imperial officer corps have a mutual loathing society thing happening. Vader thinks many of them are there because they’re good at kissing @$$, came from the right families, or got moved up because they screwed up (*cough*Ozzel*cough*). The Imperial officers believe Vader is some kind of creepy caped weirdo and don’t like him second-guessing them. One of the few exceptions is Piett. He and Vader get each other.
10. Vader however, has a different relationship with his troops and pilots. He genuinely respects them and looks out for them, and in return they are extremely loyal. It’s an honor among stormies and TIE pilots to serve alongside him. This goes back to Anakin’s relationship with the clonetroopers during the Clone Wars.
11. Vader and Tarkin haaate each other’s guts. Vader so doesn’t miss Tarkin after that little mishap at the end of ANH. He tells Palpatine that he will never serve alongside a systems governor ever again. Vader hates those guys even more than he hates the Imperial officer corps.
12. Vader thinks the Empire is a huge disappointment but it’s a preferable alternative to the chaos of the Rebellion and the return of a corrupt galactic Republic. He still thinks democracy doesn’t work. You just need the right person in charge.
Of course, there's more...
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no subject
Date: 2010-11-18 07:20 am (UTC)Please post more of these! :)
no subject
Date: 2010-11-18 08:40 am (UTC)6. Luke and Leia are gifted with all kinds of oddball powers no known Jedi was able to possess,
That's been my biggest problem with the EU - we didn't get to see Luke & Leia being awesome Jedi TOGETHER.
no subject
Date: 2010-11-18 03:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-18 08:25 pm (UTC)LOL ahout #11. There's no doubt in my mind that Vader and Tarkin hated each other. I wouldn't be surprised if Vader said, "Good riddance to bad rubbish" after Tarkin was atomized along with DS1. I have a feeling that Vader finds smug overconfidence well-nigh unbearable. He was, after all, shrewd enough not to underestimate the Rebels, which is why he led a squadron to destroy them ship-to-ship, whereas Tarkin refused to evacuate DS1 "in their moment of triumph." Vader lived, Tarkin croaked. 'Nuff said.
Well, maybe a little more. Much has been made of the scene where Vader Force-chokes Motti, but then promptly obeys when Tarkin says (after watching it go on for almost ten seconds), "Vader! Release him!" By that I mean: it's sparked plenty of debate as to who, exactly, was on charge aboard DS1 and whether Tarkin had authority over Vader.
My "headcanon" that Tarkin was in charge, but his authority over Vader was more or less nominal...hence the bored, sarcastic tone in Vader's voice when he said, "As you wish."
no subject
Date: 2010-11-19 04:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-18 11:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-19 04:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-19 12:25 pm (UTC)I also think it would do Leia good to see her father un-Vaderized, and that he really was a nice guy when he was dating their mother. A little closure for her, if you will.
no subject
Date: 2010-11-26 07:22 pm (UTC)(1) The Rebel Alliance began as a whole bunch of rival political factions, with the poles being the pacifist members of the Senate who want to restore the Republic via slow and steady democratic processes, and the militant wing that's out to topple the Empire by any means necessary. For a while, that more violent portion is so extremist that sympathizers in the Senate have to distance themselves-- think Sinn Fein and the IRA. For years the Rebels are a bit like the Weathermen or the Red Army Faction, with genuine "Battle of Algiers"-style terrorist activity targetting civilians on core planets like Coruscant giving a bad name to the rest of the movement. It's only later when a younger genration comes of age that the Rebels are able to become savvy enough to marry militant activism with political discipline. Later on, there are even rumblings that many acts of so-called "Rebel Terrorism" may have been false-flag actions by the Empire itself.
(2) Padme was rumored to occasionally be romantically involved with her handmaidens, especially her decoys, who even wrote love-poems about dying in her service. In fact, those rumors help turn her into a sort of GFFA equivalent of Sapho, with "Amidalanism" being their term for the "love which dare not speak its name". On this point, Mon Mothma herself carried a flame for Padme while they served in the Senate, but never had the courage to do anything about it.
(3) Ironically, Padme was able to cover-up a few near discoveries of her relationship with Anakin by posing as her own decoy, and making everyone believe that young Skywalker was romancing them, instead of the Senator (which people were willing to stay hush-hush about more than the tabloid-perfect political scandal their actual marriage would've been). Threepio was very confused by this.
(4) Amongst their many adventures together during their time on the Tantive IV (a ship that was literally designed to run blockades after the Invasion of Naboo), Artoo had a tendency to get Threepio into trouble by gambling with the members of the crew, or even at various ports. That holo-chess game he played with Chewie? He knew what he was doing. There's a couple of places where he might've even been as notorious as Han or Lando, or at the very least as well-known.
(5) When Palpatine offered to let Luke strike him down, he was only half bluffing. His master plan had always involved the expectation that his apprentice would one day try to kill him, and he more or less welcomed that idea. What better way to continue the legacy of the Dark Side than to ensure that the most powerful and vibrant Sith Lord possible succeeded him? It certainly made more sense than his Plan B to keep cloning himself. His biggest regret, in fact, was that Vader had to go and get himself burned to a crisp and rendered useless as a successor, forcing him to actually rule the damn galaxy for decades (something he actually found rather boring).
(6) Before the Republic's Army was commissioned, the cloners on Kamino had never actually created any military force that large before-- some low-scale elite special forces, occasionally, but nothing that could be used in a galactic-scaled conflict. One of the reasons they said yes to the whole operation was to bankroll a massive upgrade of their facilities-- previously, they'd really only been a relatively small-scale production, with most of their clients using their services for cheap labor or illicit sexual purposes. Creating an entire slave-race of soldiers was morally a breath of fresh air for them.
no subject
Date: 2010-12-02 05:51 pm (UTC)#3 I figured that Shmi had Force potential, but that she was just too old to be trained. :( Not sure how the Force potential could fade? Also, just how old is she? Luke didn't get any training until he was in his late teens, and the Jedi Temple thought that young Anakin was too old for training.
A common theme in fantasy fic is the idea that an untrained wizard is a danger to himself and everyone around him. I guess the Jedi saw that differently.
#7 I would agree, and Luke is no dumb kid, but is smarter in the street smarts way. I suspect that they both through the Force have intuition working over-time for them as well.
#8 So you think that they don't know, along with most everyone else, that Padme had the kids? I would like to think that the Force Ghosts help Luke and Leia to connect with Padme's family. I also like to think that Bail kept the memory of the past alive and taught it to Leia.