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Obi Wan (Ben) Kenobi

Obi Wan Kenobi had a number of Jedi Masters as teachers amongst them, Qui Gon Jinn and Yoda.

As a Padawan, or Jedi apprentice, Obi Wan helped Qui Gon Jinn aid Queen Amidala of the Naboo to free her people from an illegal blockade by the Trade Federation.

He became a Jedi Knight and took it upon himself to train the young Anakin Skywalker. He believed that he could teach Anakin as well as Yoda could. Unfortuneately this was not the case. When Emperor Palpatine turned Anakin to the Dark Side of the Force, Kenobi battled his former student and friend. Anakin, by this time calling himself Darth Vader, fell into a molten pit and being seriously injured.

Anakin, who had married Queen Amidala, left and was unaware that he had fathered a set of twins. These twins were hidden from the Emperor as hey would have been a threat to his rule.

Kenobi, left to start a life as a hermit on the planet Tatooine, taking with him Anakin's son Luke. He turned Luke over to Owen and Beru Lars to be raised as their nephew.

Kenobi had little contact with the boy until Luke was a teenager. Luke's twin sister Leia, who had been raised initially by her mother was adopted on her mother's death by Bail Organa of Alderaan. Leia became an Imperial Senator and a leader of the Rebel Alliance. On a mission for the Rebels, her ship came under attack over Tatooine and she was caught. Prior to her capture, she instructed the astromech droid R2D2 to use one of the personnel escape pods and find Kenobi.

As fate would have it, R2D2 and his counterpart, a protocol droid named C3P0 that had been created by Luke's father Anakin, ened up in the hands of the Lars family. Luke accidentally came across part of Leia's plea for Obi Wan's help in getting the plans to her adopted father on Alderaan.

Luke and the droids eventually made contact with Obi Wan who had been calling himself Ben since arriving and setting up house on Tatooine. He told Luke a version of the history of his father Anakin, telling Luke that one of Kenobi's former pupils, Darth Vader had betrayed and murdered Luke's father. Up until this point Luke had been told by his adopted uncle, that Anakin had been a navigator on a spice freighter.

Persuading Luke to join him in his quest Kenobi left for the spaceport of Mos Eisley. There Luke was to get a first hand demonstration of the elderly Jedi's powers. Obi Wan used the Force to get past the weak-minded Imperial stormtroopers, searching for the droids. Kenobi also had to intervene when an arrogant patron of a cantina tried to pick a fight with the naive Luke. The drunk patron and his alien friend were cut down by Kenobi's lightsaber when the attempted to fire their blasters at the old man.

Kenobi had been in discussion with the Wookie co-pilot of the Millenium Falcon about gaining passage off-planet. The Wookie, Chewbacca introduced them to his friend and the Captain of the Millenium Falcon, Han Solo. Solo accepted the charter with a downpayment of 2,000 credits with a further 17,000 to be paid on arrival at Alderaan.

Having to leave Mos Eisley in a hurry, they set a course for Alderaan. During the trip, Kenobi gave Luke his first lessons in using the Force. Suddenly Kenobi sensed a great disturbance in the Force, caused by the destruction of the planet Alderaan at the hands of the Death Star.

On reaching their destination, they discovered Alderaan's fate and the ship was caught in the Death Star's tractor beam. Unable to escape, Kenobi suggested to Solo that were alternatives to fighting when the younger man stated that he would not give up his ship without a fight.

Darth Vader who arrived to take charge of the situation sensed Kenobi's presence and ordered that a scanning crew search the captured vessel. Hiding in the ship's smuggling compartments, the crew of the Millenium Falcon emerged to shoot both the scanning crew, the stormtroopers guarding the ship and the control booth of the hanger.

Kenobi then set out alone to disable the tractor beam of the massive space station. On his way back to the ship, he was confronted by Darth Vader. The two men fought until Obi Wan noticed Luke, Han, Chewbacca and Leia preparing to baord the Falcon. The elderly Jedi Knight smiled before sacrificing himself and becoming one with the Force. As Vader's lightsaber struck the older man, Kenobi disappeared and his clothes fell to the floor puzzling Vader.

Luke in shock at this turn of events opened fire on the stormtroopers until advised to retreat by the spirit of Kenobi.

Kenobi's spirit also aided Luke at the battle of Yavin imploring the young man to use the Force to target a small thermal exaust port, ensuring the Death Star's destruction.

Kenobi's spirit again appeared to Luke Skywalker on the planet of Hoth, instructing the young man to seek out Kenobi's former Jedi Master, Yoda on the planet Dagobah.

Kenobi's spirit helped convince the Jedi Master to train Luke as a Jedi. He also gave Luke advice if he decided to face Darth Vader at Cloud City in the Bespine system. He warned the young Jedi apprentice that he also would not e able to interfere in such a battle.

Kenobi's spirit had a long discussion with Luke upon the death of the Jedi Master Yoda. He finally admitted the truth about Luke's father Anakin and told the young man that what he'd said was true from a certain point of view. He also praised the young man when Luke realised that Leia Organa was actually his sister and advised him to bury his feelings deep down.

Kenobi appeared with Yoda and Anakin to Luke one more time at the celebrations to comemorate the second Death Star's destruction and the victory of the Rebel Alliance over the Galactic Empire.

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