Star Wars: 15 of the best character introductions

Photo Credit:[Star Wars: A New Hope] Lucasfilm

10. “Old Ben” Kenobi – Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope

Cracking into the top-10 character introductions now, and we have our very first character from the original Star Wars trilogy to make the list. Obi-Wan “Old Ben” Kenobi from Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.

The first ever Jedi Knight to be introduced in Star Wars, Old Ben served the Galactic Republic and was a general during the Clone Wars. After the fall of the Republic and rise of the Empire, Old Ben (although technically just Obi-Wan at the time) went into exile on the planet of Tatooine with the intention of watching over Luke Skywalker.

However, ignore all that for now because we never knew any of Old Ben’s background when we were first introduced to him.

When we first met him in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, we knew absolutely nothing about the character. We know a lot about him now, his fight against Darth Maul, training Anakin, the Clone Wars, why he went into exile, etc., etc. So now, whenever we see Old Ben in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, we associate of all of this knowledge with the character.

But when we first met him it was different. And it is why he takes the No. 10 spot on the list.

Old Ben had been described as some crackpot, crazy guy who lived by himself; a crazy hermit. And when he showed up, frightening off the sand people, we couldn’t see his face or anything. We couldn’t tell if he was friend or foe.

Then the hood flipped back and revealed a wizened, yet kind, man. But we still didn’t let our guard down at that point; we still knew very little about this person, he could still be off his rocker. It took time to realize who he was, not a foe, not crazy, but someone who was the best of all the Jedi.