2y ago

is Luke Skywalker a superhero?

Wikipedia says

A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses superpowers, abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their powers to help the world become a better place, or dedicating themselves to protecting the public and fighting crime.

So yes, he is definitely dedicated to protecting the public, but it feels wrong to call him a super hero. What do you think?

48 comments

He's a radicalized terrorist, technically.
- Radicalized terrorist superhero.
  
  From my point of view the Jedi are evil.
  
  Homelander, "super terrorist" is the company's preferred nomenclature.
- He even abandoned his military duties to train at his sleeper cell.
- Is there a /c/theempiredidnothingwrong?
  
  I don’t really get that point of view. The empire literally committed genocide. How is that not wrong?
Yes, in the same way a tomato is a fruit.
Star Wars is a mash-up of Sci-Fi and Fantasy - Luke isn't a superhero, he's a wizard (in the same you wouldn't call Gandalf a superhero).
- Sorcerer, technically
- Gandalf isn't a superhero because he's more like an angel. He played a part in the creation of the world, and is entirely inhuman. He's a primordial spirit masquerading in a corporeal form.
  Luke Skywalker is much closer to a superhero because he's a mortal man who was inadvertently blessed with incredibly rare powers and chooses to use them for good.
  
  Batman is a mortal man whose only super power is an obscene amount of money, and yet he's still categorized as a superhero.
- I always referred to them as space wizards.
  
  Uncle Owen literally calls Obi-Wan a wizard — “That wizard’s a crazy old man” — so canonically that is how Jedi are seen by (at least some of) the population.
It's literally this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TheHerowithaThousandFaces
The vast majority of stories with a heroic protagonist will be a variation of this idea.
- Seriously, Star Wars is about the best Joseph Campbell textbook you could ask for.
No, he's more like a wizard. Other force-users exist in his universe, he just happens to be an especially good one.
- The Marvel and DC universes have loads of people with abilities, yet we call them superheroes.
  
  Yes, but they all have different abilities. or at the very least don't have the same ones often. Captain America can't turn into a giant green monster, and so on.
  I'm not so sure the definition provided is sufficiently narrow, but Luke Skywalker specifically doesn't fit into it as given.
- Are there any superheroes in Star Wars? Leia?
  
  That's where you reach the limit of my knowledge, at least.
It's just a step removed. He's from an order of space wizards basically, similarly to how Harry Potter hails from an order for regular wizards. Both groups tend to qualify as superheroes for the most part, but are usually referred to by the subgroup, as opposed to the more general categorization.
Another more traditional, yet similar example, would be the Green Lanterns or Marvel's wizards. Space wizards and regular wizards respectively, but clearly superheroes due to hailing from well-known purveyors of superhero media. Structurally and mechanically similar, though.
- Green Lanterns are space paladins. They aren't magical themselves but are selected by, dedicated to, and empowered by godlike being that predate the current multiverse.
Superhero? To us, sure. No doubt at all, no one in our reality has those powers and they're quite novel to us.
To the people from his own fictional universe? Not really a superhero at all... part of the superhero mythos is defined by a use of ultra-rare, exceptional powers.
But at points in the SW timeline before the time in which the movies were set, there were tens of thousands of Jedi running around and doing similar things. They were not exactly "unicorn rare."
I would say no, only because he does it all in his own name. One of the key features of a superhero is the idea of separation of identity, which Grandmaster Skywalker does not do. Not all superheroes wear masks, but even the ones that don't usually have some form of alternate identity. (Reed Richards, for example; everybody knows who he is, but it would be weird to call him by his real name while he's in costume.) I would say that Luke Skywalker is a hero, but not a superhero, specifically because he does not present himself as such.
Grandmaster Skywalker, founder of the Yavin IV Praxeum, etc. etc. Fuck MouseWars.
The question is if Jesus is a superhero, since Luke is basically Space Jesus
- I think Anakin was space Jesus. There was an ancient prophecy that foretold his immaculate conception and the things he would do to save everyone.
  
  Virgin birth =! immaculate conception
He does not have a fancy logo nor a secret identity. Well. By this definition you cannot call Tony Stark a Superhero, neither Thor.
I would say, Jedi are wizards, in a way where Star Wars is more fantasy than SciFi.
Sure he is. The Jedi posses powers normal people don't.
Is a Lensman a superhero?
- I read the article but is not clear to me what exactly a lensman is. Some sort of super soldier? Thanks for bringing it up though maybe I'll listen to the audiobook(s).
Why wouldn't he be?
I feel like superheroes have a plot constancy that forces them to stay superheroes. Their superpowers may lapse, but they generally get them back and feel justified in using them. Their main villains may fall or seemingly reform in one episode or series, but usually return as bad as ever. In Legends, Luke's fight with the Empire is almost over before it has begun. Cleaning up the Remnant and warlords falls to regular X-wing pilots and commandos in the New Republic era. Luke is more of a mediator than a fighter and mostly withdraws from heavy use of the Force by the New Jedi Order era. Even the new enemies of that era don't stay enemies forever. Instead of forcing constancy, Legends allows conflicts in these eras to be "solved" and to permanently change characters.
I mean, he doesn't follow the trappings of a comic book super hero (don't @ me about Star Wars comics). He has all the powers and motivations of a super hero though. At the end of the day, Iron Man is just a rich guy, what makes him a super hero is the framing of his media.
Nope.
Super-creeps exist in a specific universe where super-creeps make sense... ie, a world in which a billionaire can dress up in over-priced BDSM gear, beat marginalized people to death and be considered a "hero" for doing so. It's a very Randian universe... and it stinks.
Green Lantern isn't a superhero then?
I do think there's a good amount of characters who you don't think of as "superheroes" but really are...but I don't think Skywalker is one of them. His skills aren't rare, he's just one of the best, and his motivations are more that of a freedom fighter/terrorist (the difference is perspective) than a peacekeeper (I actually would argue that a superhero could be a freedom fighter, but most are peacekeepers.)
Green Lantern isn't a superhero then?

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