Luke Skywalker Concept and creation How was Luke Skywalker created? went through multiple design changes. Who created him? George Lucas What year was he created? I don't know. Are there any other interesting aspects about this article? Luke's lack of screen time in The Force Awakens was due to concerns by screenwriter Michael Arndt Who played Luke Skywalker? Hamill What was the concept of Luke Skywalker? Luke Skywalker was initially called "Luke Starkiller
Why did they change his name from Starkiller to Skywalker?
What led to changing Luke's name from Starkiller to Starwalker?
Luke Skywalker was initially called "Luke Starkiller", and went through multiple design changes. The character was at one point designed as a 60-year-old grizzled war hero, later as a Jedi Master, and as a woman. The last name "Starkiller" remained for the first few months of production, Hamill on-camera used the name 'Luke Starkiller" the sole time he referred to himself during filming. "Starkiller" was dropped due to what Lucas called "unpleasant connotations".  An alternative ending pitched by George Lucas for Return of the Jedi was Luke assuming his father's role as Darth Vader after the latter's death and intending to rule in his place. Though Lawrence Kasdan favored the idea, Lucas ultimately declined, since the films were made for children. Another conclusion to the film featured the character disappearing into the wilderness akin to "Clint Eastwood in the spaghetti westerns".  During the filming of the original Star Wars trilogy, George Lucas informed Hamill that he would be needed to reprise the role when he was middle aged. Lucas further explained that his role as Luke would be handing "Excalibur to the next generation". Hamill had no reaction at the time, as he thought of making Star Wars films decades in the future as an abstract concept. Hamill learned of the sequel trilogy over the summer of 2012 at a Star Wars celebration during lunch where Lucas told him one was in development. Hamill recalled shaving his beard to portray The Trickster in The Flash, then letting it grow back for the filming of his scenes.  Luke's lack of screen time in The Force Awakens was due to concerns by screenwriter Michael Arndt that his presence would mean the audience would have less interest in protagonist Rey, leading to an agreement that he be removed from the plot and instead become a plot device. Hamill attended meetings for script readings, and helped conceal Luke's role in the film; instead of dialogue, he read stage directions. Abrams said it allowed him to remain involved and that his reading helped make a "better experience for everyone." CANNOTANSWER
Starkiller" was dropped due to what Lucas called "unpleasant connotations".
{{Infobox character
| name = Luke Skywalker
| series = Star Wars
| image = Luke Skywalker.png
| image_upright = 
| alt = 
| caption = Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker inStar Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977)
| first = Star Wars (1977)
| last = 
| creator = George Lucas
| portrayer = Mark Hamill

| voice = 
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| full_name = Luke Skywalker
| nickname = Wormie  
| alias =
| species = Human
| gender = Male
| occupation = 
| affiliation = ''Canon: Rebel Alliance
 Rogue Squadron
 Jedi
 New Republic
 New Jedi Order
 ResistanceLegends: Galactic Alliance
 Jedi Council
| title = 
| family = {{Plainlist|
 Shmi Skywalker (paternal grandmother)
 Cliegg Lars (paternal step-grandfather)
 Padmé Amidala (mother)
 Anakin Skywalker (father)
 Owen Lars  (paternal step-uncle)
 Beru Lars (paternal step-aunt)
 Leia Organa (sister)
 Han Solo (brother-in-law)
 Ben Solo (nephew)Legends:Jacen Solo (nephew)
Jaina Solo (niece)
Anakin Solo (nephew)
Cade Skywalker (descendant)
Luuke Skywalker (clone)
}}
| spouse = Mara Jade (Legends)
| significant_others = {{Plainlist|
Nakari Kelen
Tula MarkonaLegends:Dani
Mary
Shira Brie
Tanith Shire
Teneniel Djo
Jem Ysanna
Callista Ming
Gaeriel Captison
Alexandra Winger
Akanah Norand Goss Pell
}}
| children = Ben Skywalker (Legends)
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| lbl21 = Master
| data21 = Obi-Wan KenobiYoda
| lbl22 = Apprentice
| data22 = Leia OrganaNew Jedi Order studentsGroguBen SoloRey
| lbl23 = Homeworld
|data23 = Tatooine (homeworld)Polis Massa (birthplace)
}}Luke Skywalker is a fictional character and the protagonist of the original film trilogy of the Star Wars franchise created by George Lucas. Portrayed by Mark Hamill, Luke first appeared in Star Wars (1977), and he returned in The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983). Over three decades later, Hamill returned as Luke in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, cameoing in The Force Awakens (2015) before playing a major role in The Last Jedi (2017) and The Rise of Skywalker (2019). He later played a digitally de-aged version of the character in the Disney+ series The Mandalorian, appearing in the second-season finale, which premiered in 2020, and The Book of Boba Fett, in the sixth episode, released in 2022.

Originally a farmer on Tatooine living with his uncle and aunt, Luke becomes a pivotal figure in the Rebel Alliance's struggle against the Galactic Empire. The son of fallen Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker (turned Sith Lord Darth Vader) and Padmé Amidala, Luke is the twin brother of Rebellion leader Princess Leia and eventual brother-in-law of the smuggler Han Solo. Luke trains to be a Jedi under Jedi Masters Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda and rebuilds the Jedi Order. He later trains his nephew Ben Solo and mentors Rey. Though Luke dies at the end of The Last Jedi, he returns as a Force spirit in The Rise of Skywalker, encouraging Rey to face her grandfather, the resurrected Emperor Palpatine. At the end of the film, the spirits of Luke and Leia give Rey their blessing to adopt the Skywalker surname and continue their family's legacy.

The character also briefly appears in the prequel film Episode III – Revenge of the Sith as an infant. In the de-canonized Star Wars Expanded Universe (renamed Legends), Luke is a main character in many stories set after Return of the Jedi, which depict him as a powerful Jedi Master, the husband of Mara Jade, father of Ben Skywalker, and maternal uncle of Jaina, Jacen and Anakin Solo.

Concept and creation
Series creator George Lucas considered various characterizations for the protagonist of the original Star Wars film. This included a 60-year-old grizzled war hero, a Jedi master, a dwarf, and a woman.<ref>Lucas, George (2004). The Characters of 'Star Wars, Star Wars Trilogy DVD. 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. Event occurs at 3:45.</ref> In an interview about his early drafts, Lucas said:
The first [version] talked about a princess and an old general. The second version involved a father, his son, and his daughter; the daughter was the heroine of the film. Now the daughter has become Luke, Mark Hamill's character. There was also the story of two brothers where I transformed one of them into a sister. The older brother was imprisoned, and the young sister had to rescue him and bring him back to their dad.

Though Luke's surname was "Skywalker" in Lucas's 1973 treatment of The Star Wars, it was changed to "Starkiller" in subsequent drafts, at one point featuring in the title (The Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Starkiller). The "Starkiller" surname remained for the first few months of production; Hamill used the name "Luke Starkiller" the sole time he referred to himself during filming, in a scene during which a stormtrooper helmet obscures his mouth; this was dubbed "Skywalker" in the film. "Starkiller" was dropped due to what Lucas called "unpleasant connotations" with Charles Manson.

In an alternative ending pitched by Lucas for the Star Wars trilogy's final film, Return of the Jedi (1983), Luke assumed his father's role as Darth Vader after the latter's death and intending to rule in his place. Though Lawrence Kasdan favored the idea, Lucas ultimately declined, since the films were made for children. Another conclusion to the film featured the character disappearing into the wilderness akin to "Clint Eastwood in the spaghetti westerns."

According to Mark Hamill, during the filming of the original film, Lucas asked him if he would reprise the role for a cameo when he was in his 60s to pass the torch to the next generation. In 1983, Hamill stated that his return to the franchise would be "either be another plane of existence or not the same character". Hamill learned of the sequel trilogy in mid-2012 at a Star Wars Celebration during lunch when Lucas told him one was in development.

Luke's lack of screen time in The Force Awakens was due to concerns by screenwriter Michael Arndt that his presence would mean the audience would have less interest in protagonist Rey, leading to an agreement that he be removed from the screen and instead become a plot device. Hamill attended meetings for script readings, and helped conceal Luke's role in the film; instead of dialogue, he read stage directions. According to director and co-writer J. J. Abrams, this allowed Hamill to remain involved and his reading helped make a "better experience for everyone".

After filming The Force Awakens, Hamill shaved his beard to portray the Trickster in The Flash, then let it grow back to film The Last Jedi. According to concept designer Christian Alzmann, Luke's appearance in that film was partly inspired by that of Colonel Kurtz in Apocalypse Now (1979).

Appearances
Skywalker saga

Original trilogy

In the original Star Wars trilogy, Luke Skywalker represents the hero archetype of "the young man, called to adventure, the hero going out facing the trials and ordeals, and coming back after his victory with a boon for the community".

A New Hope (1977) 

In a deleted scene preceding the character's first appearance in the film (preserved in the film's radio dramatization), Luke says goodbye to his best friend Biggs Darklighter, who has just joined the Imperial Academy. His childhood friends disparagingly call him "Wormie".

In the original 1977 film (later having the extended title, A New Hope), Luke lives at a moisture farm on the desert planet of Tatooine with his uncle Owen and aunt Beru. Luke takes his first steps toward his destiny when he purchases the droids and R2-D2. While examining R2-D2, he sees a message from Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan. When R2-D2 goes missing, Luke goes out to search for the droid, and is saved from a band of Tusken Raiders by Obi-Wan Kenobi, an old hermit. Luke and Obi-Wan retreat to the latter's home, and R2-D2 plays the full message for Obi-Wan from Leia, beseeching him to help her defeat the Galactic Empire. Obi-Wan says that he and Luke's father were once Jedi Knights, and that his father was murdered by a traitorous Jedi named Darth Vader. Obi-Wan presents Luke with his father's lightsaber and offers to take him to Alderaan and train him in the ways of the Force, but Luke declines his offer, feeling obligated to his family's farm.

Luke changes his mind when he returns home to find out that Imperial stormtroopers have raided the moisture farm, killing his aunt and uncle. He and Obi-Wan then travel to Mos Eisley, where they meet smugglers Han Solo and Chewbacca at a cantina. They team up and travel on the Millennium Falcon to Alderaan, only to find out that it has been destroyed by the Death Star, the Empire's battle station. The Falcon is brought into the Death Star's hangar bay via tractor beam, where Luke and Han disguise themselves as stormtroopers and infiltrate the station. When they discover Princess Leia is there, Luke persuades a reluctant Han and Chewbacca to help rescue her. Obi-Wan deactivates the tractor beam, and he later sacrifices his life in a duel with Vader, so that Luke and his friends can board the Falcon and escape.

During the Battle of Yavin, Luke joins the Rebel Alliance in attacking the Death Star. In the trench leading to the Death Star's exhaust port, Luke hears Obi-Wan's voice, telling him to "trust his feelings"; he takes Obi-Wan's advice and switches off his X-wing's missile guidance system, instead using the Force to guide the missiles and destroy the Death Star. In the film's final scene, he joins Han and Chewbacca in receiving a medal of honor for his heroism.

The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

Three years after the destruction of the Death Star, Luke is now the commander of the Rebel Alliance's Rogue Squadron. While on a mission on the ice planet Hoth, he is captured by a wampa, but manages to escape using his lightsaber. In the frozen wasteland, he sees Obi-Wan's Force ghost, who tells him to travel to the planet Dagobah and complete his training with the Jedi Master Yoda. Luke collapses but is later rescued by Han. When the Empire discovers the Rebel base on Hoth, Luke leads his squadron of Snowspeeders to battle the enemy's , but he is forced to retreat when his wingmen are overwhelmed. Escaping in his X-wing, he travels to Dagobah and meets Yoda. He undergoes rigorous Jedi training, quickly increasing his power in the Force.

During his training, Luke sees a vision of his friends in danger. Against both Obi-Wan and Yoda's advice to stay and complete his training, he travels to Bespin to save them, unwittingly falling into a trap set by Vader. He engages in a lightsaber duel with Vader. As his mentors warned, Luke proves to be no match for Vader; the Sith Lord easily overpowers Luke and severs his right hand. Vader then reveals that he is Luke's father, and offers him the chance to turn to the dark side of the Force and rule the galaxy at his side. Resolving that he would rather die than become an agent of evil, Luke throws himself into a deep reactor chasm. He survives, but is pulled into a garbage chute to the underside of Cloud City, and left hanging perilously onto a vane rod. Leia, flying away from Cloud City in the Millennium Falcon, senses Luke's call out to her with the Force, and turns the ship around to save him. Aboard the ship, he hears Vader telepathically telling him that it is his destiny to join the dark side. Luke's severed hand is replaced with a bio-mechanical one.

Return of the Jedi (1983)

One year later, Luke is a Jedi Knight, and has constructed his own lightsaber. He returns to Tatooine with Leia, the droids, and Lando Calrissian to save Han, frozen in carbonite, from the crime lord Jabba the Hutt. Luke offers to negotiate with Jabba, who rejects his offer and casts him into a pit to battle a rancor. When Luke kills the rancor, he, Han, and Chewbacca are sentenced to death in the sarlacc pit. Luke escapes with R2-D2's help, saving his friends and destroying Jabba's sail barge.

Luke returns to Dagobah, and learns from a dying Yoda that Vader is indeed his father. Luke then learns from Obi-Wan's spirit that he has a twin sister, whom he immediately realizes is princess Leia. Both Jedi Masters tell Luke that he must face Vader again to finish his training and save the galaxy, but he is disturbed by the idea of killing his own father.

Arriving on Endor as part of a Rebel commando squad, Luke surrenders to Vader in an attempt to bring his father back from the dark side of the Force. Vader brings Luke to the second Death Star orbiting around Endor, where his master, Emperor Palpatine, tries to tempt Luke to the dark side, revealing his plan to destroy the Rebel fleet. Luke lashes out at the Emperor with his lightsaber, but Vader blocks his strike, and father and son once again duel with each other. Luke regains control of his emotions until Vader senses that Luke has a sister, and threatens to turn her to the dark side if Luke will not submit. Luke snaps and overpowers Vader, severing his father's mechanical right hand. The Emperor orders Luke to kill Vader and take his place. Luke looks at his own bionic hand and realizes that he is on the verge of suffering his father's fate. He casts his lightsaber aside, declaring himself a Jedi.

Furious, the Emperor tortures Luke with Force lightning. In agony, Luke calls out to his father for help; unwilling to let his son die, Vader throws the Emperor down a reactor shaft to his death, but is mortally wounded by the Emperor's Force lightning in the process. As Rebel fighters head toward the second Death Star's main reactor, Luke removes Vader's mask and looks upon his father's real face for the first and last time. The redeemed Anakin Skywalker reassures Luke that there was good in him after all, and to tell his sister that he was right about him, before dying peacefully. On Endor, Luke burns his father's body on a funeral pyre, giving him a proper Jedi funeral. During the Rebels' victory celebrations on Endor, Luke sees his father's spirit appear alongside those of Obi-Wan and Yoda.

Prequel trilogy

Revenge of the Sith (2005)
In the prequel film Revenge of the Sith (2005), during the waning days of the Clone Wars between the Galactic Republic and the Separatists, Senator Padmé Amidala, wife of Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, becomes pregnant with Luke and Leia. Anakin has a prophetic vision of Padmé dying in childbirth, and allows Chancellor Palpatine –  secretly the Sith lord Darth Sidious – to corrupt him to the dark side as Darth Vader. 

After Vader uses the dark side to choke her, Padmé is taken to Polis Massa, where she gives birth to Luke and Leia and dies, having lost the will to live after Vader'a betrayal. Obi-Wan and Yoda agree to separate the twins in order to protect them from the Sith and the newly created Galactic Empire. Obi-Wan takes Luke to the desert planet Tatooine, where he is adopted by Vader's stepbrother, Owen Lars, and his wife, Beru, while Leia is adopted by Senator Bail Organa of Alderaan. The infant Luke is portrayed by Aidan Barton, the son of Roger Barton, an editor of the film.

Sequel trilogy

The Force Awakens (2015)

In the first installment of the sequel trilogy, The Force Awakens (2015), the opening crawl reveals that Luke Skywalker had mysteriously vanished some time in the 30 years after the destruction of the second Death Star. Luke went into hiding after his nephew and apprentice, Ben Solo, turned to the dark side and became Kylo Ren, chief enforcer of the tyrannical First Order and its leader, Snoke. When Ren killed all of his fellow apprentices and ushered in the fall of the New Republic, Luke felt responsible, and disappeared. At the end of the film, the Resistance, led by Leia, manage to reconstruct a map, which traces the location of the temple from the Empire's archives to his location, and he is subsequently found on the planet Ahch-To by the young scavenger, Rey, who presents him with the lightsaber previously wielded by both Luke and his father.

The Art of Star Wars: The Last Jedi notes that Luke's exile is a reversal from his decision to help his friends in The Empire Strikes Back.

The Last Jedi (2017)
In The Last Jedi (2017), Luke throws the lightsaber away after Rey gives it to him. He then seals himself in his home, refusing to talk to Rey. However, when he sees Chewbacca without Han and that Rey came on the Millennium Falcon, he inquires about what has gone on with his family. Rey informs Luke about Solo's death at the hands of Kylo Ren and that the First Order has risen to rule the galaxy. Rey asks Luke to train her in the ways of the Force. Luke is initially reluctant to train Rey, telling her that it is time for the Jedi Order to end.

After some persuasion from R2-D2, however, Luke starts training Rey, but grows increasingly afraid of her power. Luke then tells Rey the history of the Jedi Order, how Darth Sidious rose to power and how the Jedi were partly responsible for his father's fall to the dark side. Luke also initially tells Rey that Ben was corrupted by Snoke, and destroyed the Jedi Temple he confronted his treasonous nephew. Ultimately, however, Luke tells Rey the truth: He had briefly considered killing the sleeping Ben after seeing a vision of the destruction he could cause, but immediately relented; Ben woke to see Luke with his lightsaber drawn and turned to the dark side because he felt betrayed. Upon learning this, Rey urges Luke to help her redeem Ben, but he refuses to participate in this nor help the Resistance. When Rey leaves, an embittered Luke tries to burn the Jedi temple, but fails. He is then visited by the spirit of Yoda, who assures Luke that he still has a purpose.

Luke appears on the planet Crait, as the Resistance are staging a standoff against the First Order, and he apologizes to Leia for allowing Ben to fall to the dark side. Luke steps in front of the First Order's artillery, and unexpectedly survives an onslaught of blaster fire ordered by Ren. Ren charges at Luke in hand-to-hand combat, seemingly bisecting him with his lightsaber, but Luke remains unscathed; still on Ahch-To, Luke has sent a projection of himself to Crait, using the Force. This distraction allows the Resistance to escape the planet. Luke tells Kylo that he will not be the last Jedi before his projection disappears. On Ahch-To, Luke collapses then looks off in the horizon to see the planet's two suns setting before he becomes one with the Force and vanishes.

The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
Luke appears briefly in The Rise of Skywalker, the ninth and final chapter of the main series. When Rey discovers her lineage as the resurrected Palpatine's granddaughter, she exiles herself on Ahch-To, just as Luke had. Meaning to isolate herself, she throws Luke's lightsaber towards the burning wreckage of Ren's TIE whisper, in which she had traveled to her new home. Luke appears as a Force spirit, and reprimands Rey for treating the lightsaber with disrespect. Luke then admits that he was wrong not to participate in the Resistance, and thanks Rey for helping him rediscover himself. Luke convinces Rey to not view herself as a Palpatine, but as the good person Leia saw her as when training her, and not to give up on her battle against the Sith. Luke lends Rey his old T-65B X-wing and tells Rey to combine his father's lightsaber with Leia's in her battle on Exegol.

After Rey vanquishes Palpatine once and for all, she visits the moisture farm on Tatooine where Luke was raised. She buries Luke and Leia's lightsabers, revealing that she has constructed her own. A local asks Rey who she is. As Leia, who died earlier, and Luke appear as Force spirits, Rey names herself Rey Skywalker.

Television series
At the end of the Star Wars Rebels episode "Twin Suns", the silhouette of a young Luke Skywalker is seen from afar by Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Luke appears in the animated Disney micro-series Star Wars Forces of Destiny (with Hamill reprising his role). The episode "The Path Ahead" details him training with Yoda on Dagobah. He also appears in the episode "Traps and Tribulations", which takes place shortly after the Battle of Endor and shows him and Leia assisting the Ewoks in stopping a rampaging monster known as a Gorax.

Luke appears in "Chapter 16: The Rescue", the season two finale of The Mandalorian, after Grogu contacted him via the Force in a previous episode. Luke arrives on Moff Gideon's cruiser and destroys all of the Dark Troopers, saving Grogu and his guardian, Din Djarin, as well as their companions. Luke then takes Grogu with him to train him as a Jedi, with Djarin's permission. 

Luke appears in the sixth episode, "Chapter 6: From the Desert Comes a Stranger", of the spin-off series The Book of Boba Fett. While training Grogu, he helps him remember some of his past, including his home at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant and the events of the Great Jedi Purge. Djarin comes to visit Grogu, but decides against it after speaking with Ahsoka Tano, not wanting to hinder his training; however, he gives Ahsoka a gift to deliver to Grogu: beskar chain mail forged by the Armorer. Ahsoka gives the chain mail to Luke, who confesses that he is unsure whether Grogu is fully committed to the Jedi path and that he does not know how to handle the matter. Following Ahsoka's advice to listen to his instincts, Luke decides to let Grogu choose his own destiny by asking him to choose between the chain mail and the lightsaber of his old master, Yoda. In the seventh episode, "Chapter 7: In The Name of Honour", it is revealed that Grogu chose the chain mail, leading Luke to send him back to Djarin. He places him in his X-wing starfighter, which is then flown to Tatooine by R2-D2, where Grogu and Djarin are eventually reunited.

Video games
Luke is a playable character in Star Wars Battlefront II, and in the online multiplayer of Star Wars Battlefront.

He is a playable character in every Lego Star Wars video game to date, except for Lego Star Wars: The Video Game. He will also be a playable character in the upcoming Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga.

An older and wiser Luke Skywalker also appears in the Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast and Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy video games at the rank of Jedi Master. In Jedi Outcast, Luke helps Kyle Katarn in his fight against Desann and Empire Reborn by driving them away from the Valley of the Jedi. Luke appears in the game Star Wars: The Force Unleashed in a downloadable alternate storyline where Starkiller duels Luke. He also appears in the Disney Lucasfilm video game Star Wars Commander. Luke is also a playable character in Disney Infinity 3.0.

Literature
Luke is the main character of the novel Heir to the Jedi and the junior novel The Legends of Luke Skywalker (the latter of which was adapted as a manga). He is also a main character of the 2015 comic Star Wars, which takes place between the films of the original trilogy.

 Heir to the Jedi Star Wars: Heir to the Jedi was announced as one of the first four canon novels to be released in 2014 and 2015. Set between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, Heir to the Jedi chronicles the adventures of Luke as he continues to battle the Empire with his Rebel friends, grows close with fellow Rebel Nakari Kelen, and begins to develop his Force abilities. The novel is written from the first-person perspective of Luke, and is only the second Star Wars novel to attempt this type of narrative voice.

Legends

In April 2014, most of the licensed Star Wars novels and comics produced since the originating 1977 film Star Wars were rebranded by Lucasfilm as Star Wars Legends and declared non-canon to the franchise. The Legends-branded novels, comic books and video games detail Luke's exploits following Return of the Jedi.

Novels
In the novel The Truce at Bakura, set one day after the battle of Endor, Luke and his friend Wedge Antilles recover a message droid from the titular planet, which was being invaded by the Ssi-Ruuk. Luke commands a task force, turning back the enemy army. He also meets Dev Sibwarra, a Force-sensitive human who had been captured by the Ssi-Ruuk, who is killed in the battle after turning against his captors.

In the novel The Courtship of Princess Leia, set four years after the Battle of Endor, Luke travels to the planet Dathomir. There, he discovers a group of Force-sensitive witches called the Witches of Dathomir, banded into two separate groups: a collective of benign, matriarchal clans; the one he is in contact with being the Singing Mountain Clan, and the witches who have turned to the dark side, called the Nightsisters. Discovering a prophecy in which it was told a Jedi would change the way of life on the land, Luke eventually realizes truly what the Force is for the first time in his life. While there, he destroys most of the Nightsisters (including their powerful leader, Gethzirion, and the galaxy's most powerful remaining warlord, Warlord Zsinj). Thanks to the help of the prophecy and witches, Luke recovers old Jedi records left by Yoda about 400 years prior. He decides to start a new Jedi Academy, something he has been trying to do for six months before the start of the novel by finding old Jedi records and archives.

In The Thrawn Trilogy, Luke meets former Emperor's Hand Mara Jade, who is bound by Palpatine's disembodied voice that repeatedly commands "You will kill Luke Skywalker". Mara Jade is working with her boss, a fringe-of-the-galaxy smuggler named Talon Karrde, who also plays a crucial role in this era. Although she was ready to fulfill that order to stop the voice, circumstances force her to keep him alive long enough to have him help escape a mutual danger. Despite her threats, Luke learns of Mara's curse and vows to free her from it. Meanwhile, the rest of the New Republic is fighting against Grand Admiral Thrawn, and thanks to Leia's help, he is eventually defeated, although Luke tried several times to get near him and his ally, Joruus C'baoth. Eventually, the desperate pair fights against Luke's clone, Luuke Skywalker, C'baoth's apprentice. During the fight, Mara Jade destroys the clone and, with Leia's help, destroys C'baoth. This entire time, C'baoth has been obsessed with "molding" Luke and Mara to serve him, perhaps due to the fact that the Spaarti cloning cylinders he was made from have a reputation of turning people insane later in life. Nonetheless, C'baoth is defeated along with Luuke, and Mara's sacrifice silences her curse and completes her reconciliation with the Jedi, whom she later joins.

In the Jedi Academy trilogy, Luke resigns his commission in the New Republic's starfighter corps to pursue his Jedi studies and rebuild the Jedi Order in the Massassi Temple on Yavin 4, a decision some anti-Jedi politicians use against him. Luke becomes the New Jedi Order's leader. His students in the ways of the Force include; Gantoris, Kam Solusar, Tionne, Streen, Cilghal, Kirana Ti and others. He is forced to contend with the spirit of ancient Sith Lord Exar Kun, who lures one of his most powerful students, Kyp Durron, to the dark side.

In the Hand of Thrawn Duology, Luke, now a Jedi Master, works again with Mara Jade, who has learned to better her Force knowledge since her training at Luke's Jedi Academy. He falls in love with her and they eventually marry. Later, in Edge of Victory: Rebirth, they have a son whom they name Ben, after Obi-Wan Kenobi's pseudonym.

In the New Jedi Order series, Luke creates a New Jedi Council. He idealises a new conclave, made up of Jedi, politicians and military officers. In Force Heretic: Remnant, he spearheads the mission into the Unknown Regions during the Yuuzhan Vong invasion to find the mysterious planet of Zonama Sekot, a planet that creates living starships. After the invasion is defeated with the help of the new Mandalorian Warriors, a Sekotian fleet and a Galactic Alliance-Imperial Remnant fleet, Luke leads the New Jedi Order on Denon, the temporary capital of the Galactic Alliance and the site of the newly rebuilt Jedi Temple on Coruscant. In The Swarm War, the New Jedi Order moves to Ossus, the site of Jedi temples and libraries that were mostly destroyed 4,000 years prior. Upon the Killik's invasion of Chiss space and the transformation of most of the Myrkr mission survivors into Killik Joiners, Luke determines that the Killik's collective mind is being unconsciously controlled by a hive called the Dark Nest. The Dark Nest is controlled by a former Nightsister named Lomi Plo, who became their Unseen Queen with her ability to become invisible by exploiting the doubts of inferiors. 

One of the Myrkr mission survivors, Alema Rar, attempts to plant seeds of doubt in Luke's mind by suggesting that his wife, Mara, may be somehow responsible for the death of his mother, Padmé Amidala, which he almost believes because of Mara's previous role as the Emperor's Hand. This allows Lomi to escape from Luke, who discovers recordings of his father Force-choking his mother on Mustafar, his own birth, and his mother's death hidden inside R2-D2's memory drive. Because of this, he is able to overcome his doubts about Mara and defeat Lomi Plo in the final battle of the Swarm War, cutting her into four pieces. 

Luke creates a New Jedi Council, and becomes the Grand Master of the New Jedi Order. He tells the Jedi to either follow his leadership, make the order their priority, or leave. Luke is also forced to exile the Padawans Tahiri, Lowbacca, and Tesar Sebatayne to Dagobah for divulging secret information to people outside the order.

In the Legacy of the Force series, Luke begins having visions of a figure cloaked in darkness destroying the galaxy and the Jedi. Luke is troubled that he has been unable to discern the identity of this figure, who seems to be much like Darth Vader. Complicating matters even more is the recent schism that has developed between Luke and his nephew, Jacen Solo. Already a tremendously powerful Jedi Knight, Jacen has begun adopting radical interpretations of the Force, causing a dramatic change in his personality. Luke fears that Jacen is pursuing the same path that ultimately led to Anakin Skywalker's fall to the dark side. 

In Bloodlines, the situation worsens when Luke's son, Ben, becomes Jacen's apprentice. Luke must also battle his wife, who refuses to confront Jacen for fear of alienating Ben. In Tempest, Luke determines that the dark figure from his dreams is Lumiya, a former Emperor's Hand now known as the "Dark Lady of the Sith". When Mara is murdered in Sacrifice, Lumiya deceives Luke into believing that she killed her. They battle again, and Luke saves a weaponless Lumiya from falling to her death simply so that he can kill her himself. Luke returns to Coruscant where he is found by Ben, standing guard over Mara's body; upon speaking with his son, he realizes that Lumiya could not have killed her. Later in his private cabin, Luke breaks down over the death of his wife, knowing that her murderer is still at large. He does not realize that the killer is his own nephew, Jacen, who has now taken the Sith name Darth Caedus. In Revelation, Ben proves that Jacen killed Mara, but Luke is now reluctant to kill Jacen out of fear that he or his son will fall to the dark side in the process. The decision is taken out of his hands in Invincible, when Jaina kills Jacen in a final lightsaber duel.

In Fate of the Jedi novels, set about 40 years after the first film, Luke Skywalker, now in his early sixties, is deposed by the government from his position as Grand Master, and exiled from Coruscant. However, if he finds the reason of why Jacen Solo fell to the dark side, he can be allowed to return. Ben insists on coming with him. Together, father and son explore dangerous and little-known portions of the galaxy. Luke and Ben learn much about each other, about the Force, and about the great dangers threatening the Jedi. The great love the two surviving Skywalkers have for each other grows even greater as they repeatedly save each other's lives and explore the limits and powers and mysteries of the Force.

Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor
Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor is a standalone novel that chronicles the Battle of Mindor, a fictional event in the Star Wars expanded universe. The novel was written by Matthew Stover and released in December 2008.

The novel is set shortly after Return of the Jedi and the novel Prophets of the Dark Side, with Luke Skywalker and the Rebel Alliance attempting to stop Lord Shadowspawn and his "shadow stormtroopers", culminating in the Battle of Mindor. Matthew Stover has said on his personal weblog, 

Comic books
Luke Skywalker appears in the Marvel-published Star Wars comics adaptations of the original trilogy, as well as an ongoing series that ran from 1977 to 1986. When Dark Horse acquired the license two years later, he appeared in numerous projects based on the franchise as well. In Star Wars: Legacy, set 125 years after the events of the original films, Luke appears as a spirit in the Force to his descendant Cade Skywalker and persuades him to once again become a Jedi in order to defeat the evil Darth Krayt and his burgeoning Sith empire.

 Characterization 

 Psychoanalytic 
Each of the Star Wars characters instantiates one of the archetypes in Joseph Campbell's hero's journey, with Luke Skywalker filling the hero archetype. As such, he is a relatable protagonist who encounters the basic struggle between good and evil in the same way as other heroic figures such as Harry Potter, Bilbo Baggins, and Jesus Christ. Luke's central dilemma is the ongoing war between good and evil, both externally and internally.

 Religious 
Some argue that Luke mirrors fundamental values of Christianity and Abrahamic religion; Luke's journey is often compared to that of Jesus Christ. Scholars argue that Luke is a Christ-like figure, while Yoda represents a god, and Darth Vader represents the temptations of evil. Luke's struggle between good and evil is contrasted with that of his father, Anakin Skywalker, in a way that represents the story of the Prodigal Son.

Reception
In 2015, Luke Skywalker was selected by Empire magazine as the 50th-greatest movie character of all time. Empire also ranked him as the third greatest Star Wars character. Luke was also on the ballot for the American Film Institute's 100 Years...100 Heroes and Villains. On their list of the 100 Greatest Fictional Characters, Fandomania.com ranked Luke at number 14. IGN listed Luke as their 4th top Star Wars character, and he was chosen twice by IGN's readers as one of their favorite Star Wars characters. IGN's Jesse Schedeen also picked Luke Skywalker as one of the characters they most wanted to appear on the Wii, as well as listing Skywalker as one of their favorite Star Wars heroes. Schedeen also listed the character as one of the Star Wars characters they wanted to see in Soulcalibur. IGN also called the fight between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader in Return of the Jedi one of the ultimate movie "boss battles". In a feature on speeches made by Luke Skywalker, IGN's Todd Gilchrist said that his favorite of Luke's speeches is "I am a Jedi, like my father before me". UGO Networks listed Luke as one of their best heroes of all time, and he was voted as one of the coolest Star Wars characters by UGO's readers. Inventor Dean Kamen has also code-named his new prosthetic arm system "Luke" in honor of the character. One indication of the character's impact on fans is an elaborate fan theory, developed on the Internet since 2015, that there are actually two different Lukes in the original trilogy: the normal one and a "bigger Luke" of a slightly larger build who appears in some scenes.

Mark Hamill was nominated a Saturn Award for Best Actor in for his portrayal of Luke Skywalker in Star Wars, and won the award for his portrayal in The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, and The Last Jedi.

In 1976, Hamill was in a serious car accident after filming Star Wars, which involved an operation on his face. It was speculated that the Wampa attack at the beginning of The Empire Strikes Back was written in to explain his facial injuries, but George Lucas specifically disputed this in the DVD commentary of The Empire Strikes Back.

In regards to Luke's portrayal in The Last Jedi, many fans expressed disappointment in how he was depicted "as a grumpy old man whose failures had driven him into hiding" and the actions the character takes in contributing to Kylo Ren's backstory, a stark departure in how Luke was characterized in the original trilogy. Hamill originally stated that he "pretty much fundamentally [disagreed] with every choice [The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson] made for this character," but that he had the utmost respect for Johnson and was willing to do his part to realize Johnson's vision. While regarding the possibility of a younger actor playing the role, Hamill expressed support towards Sebastian Stan, whose physical resemblance to a young Hamill went viral. However he noted that child actor Jacob Tremblay would be his top choice if the story were to be focused on a very young Luke.

In 2016, when asked about the character's sexual orientation and if Luke could be gay, Hamill said Luke's sexual orientation "is meant to be interpreted by the viewer." He added, "if you think Luke is gay, of course he is. You should not be ashamed of it. Judge Luke by his character, not by who he loves." Hamill later said that he considered the possibility that Luke could have found love between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens.

Cultural impact
Luke Skywalker remains an American cultural icon. In fact, he is often used by child psychotherapists to help children to project their thoughts and state of being in a way that is understandable to both the child and their therapist. Another way that therapists utilize Star Wars in sessions is to teach their patients that the Force represents the self-understanding that they achieve in therapy. Children are taught that they are Luke and their therapist is Obi-Wan, in that eventually, as Luke no longer needed his mentor, they will one day no longer need their therapist.

Star Wars has been related back to cultural events of its time, such as the Cold War and Nixon-era politics. The severing of Luke's hand and Darth Vader's bionic presence supposedly, according to space.com, symbolize the unity of the military and amputees.

Relationships
Family tree

Mentorship tree

ReferencesFootnotesCitations'''

Further reading

External links

 Luke Skywalker on IMDb

Notes 

Adoptee characters in films
Characters created by George Lucas
Fictional amputees
Extraterrestrial superheroes
Fictional characters with precognition
Fictional commanders
Fictional farmers
Fictional fighter pilots
Fictional generals
Fictional ghosts
Fictional hermits
Fictional military lieutenants
Fictional revolutionaries
Fictional space pilots
Fictional twins
Fictional war veterans
Film characters introduced in 1977
Male characters in film
Soldiers in science fiction
Star Wars comics characters
Star Wars literary characters
Star Wars Jedi characters
Star Wars Skywalker Saga characters
Star Wars television characters
Star Wars video game characters
The Mandalorian characters
Darth Starkiller, born Galen Marek and also known as The Apprentice or simply Starkiller, is the fictional protagonist of the Star Wars: The Force Unleashed video games and literature, part of the Star Wars expanded (Legends) universe.

The son of a fugitive Jedi, Marek is kidnapped, raised, and apprenticed by Darth Vader after the death of his father at Vader's hands. Given the Sith name "Starkiller" for his unmatched potency with the Force, Marek is used for destructive purposes. His annihilative nature gains him the description of a "Force wrecking ball". The character's name is taken from Luke Skywalker's original name, "Luke Starkiller". The character's likeness and voice were provided by Samuel Witwer, who would later voice Darth Maul in Star Wars expanded media.

Starkiller also appears as a crossover character, along with Darth Vader and Yoda, in the fighting video game Soulcalibur IV, which was released before The Force Unleashed and included the character as a contemporary tie-in. Starkiller has mostly received positive reviews from critics.

Concept and creation

George Lucas motivated the team working on Star Wars: The Force Unleashed to make a brand-new character. Before deciding on Starkiller's character, other ideas for the main character included a Han Solo-like smuggler, a superheroic Rebel Wookiee, "the last Skywalker" and a gadget-wielding mercenary. The developers used feedback from focus test respondents and executives at LucasArts in order to make Starkiller. The developers consciously decided not to give him a name in the game, but as the novel's author Sean Williams said he needed a name, "Galen Marek" was given in the novel.

Starkiller was designed as Luke Skywalker's photo-negative, and is named after "Annikin Starkiller" (Luke or Anakin Skywalker's original name in the early Star Wars scripts). The developers tried to avoid making Starkiller too rigidly defined while keeping the character developed. The developers also wanted to avoid making Starkiller seem irredeemably evil, and used elements of his backstory and his relationships with other characters to balance it, while trying not to explain too much of his backstory. In order to avoid the character being over emotional, they tried to let short pieces of dialogue and looks carry scenes so that the player could interpret how Starkiller felt. They attempted to make Starkiller feel like he would belong in the classic Star Wars trilogy by making his actions faster and more intense. During an interview to Haden Blackman by The Guardian, he claimed that most of the testing players wanted the character to be ultimately redeemed by the end of the game.

Starkiller was voiced by and given the likeness of Samuel Witwer. According to Blackman, the staff were very hard on Witwer when casting him, but claimed he was far above the other candidates and that "he was already inhabiting the mind of this character". Starkiller's expressions are based on Witwer's, which Blackman described as "a new approach for LucasArts", noting that it "affected the way we handled casting for The Force Unleashed" and comparing it to how people see Bill Nighy as Davy Jones in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Blackman noted that Witwer brought new ideas and a sense of humanity to Starkiller. Sam Witwer has said that Starkiller would be a character he wouldn't mind revisiting.

During the concept stages of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II, the developers considered replacing the character with either a new Force wielder or a previously named Star Wars character; however, they decided to keep Starkiller as the player character as they were fond of and attached to him. Also, the development team felt that there was more story that he could supply, and that a franchise could be built around him. Blackman commented that after deciding how to have Starkiller return, he felt "it all made sense and fell into place". Developers tried to make The Force Unleashed more personal to Starkiller, with the game focusing on Starkiller's search for the truth of his identity.

Characterization

Witwer compared him as being "two parts Han Solo, one part Darth Maul, one part Indiana Jones [...] and then one essential part Luke Skywalker", noting that in the character's development "behind it all, there had to be this wide-eyed kid who was trying to figure out what the hell to do". According to Witwer, Starkiller's characteristics and personality depended on who he was talking to and what circumstances he is in. Witwer called him "a really interesting guy, speaking of layered characters". Although acting as a villain in the beginning of the first game, Blackman has commented how Starkiller is "really just this damaged kid."

Haden Blackman noted that in the first Starkiller was a hunter, while in the second Starkiller is more a fugitive. Matt Filbrandt, one of the producers of The Force Unleashed II, said that the Starkiller in the second game is trying to find out "who he is" and "what it means to be human".

Fictional history

In Star Wars series

The Force Unleashed
In the Star Wars: The Force Unleashed video game, Darth Vader dispatches Starkiller to kill the Jedi who survived the Great Jedi Purge. Starkiller is initially kept in secret. But after Starkiller is discovered by Emperor Palpatine, Vader sends Starkiller to find the Galactic Empire's enemies and unite them. Vader later betrays Starkiller and attempts to kill those he united, but Starkiller sacrifices himself for the Rebel Alliance and becomes a martyr for the rebels. During the game, he falls in love with Captain Juno Eclipse, an ex-Imperial Shuttle Pilot and his own ship's pilot. If Starkiller chooses to kill Vader rather than the Emperor at the end of the game, Starkiller becomes a minion of the Emperor and is put into a suit similar to Vader's. Starkiller reappears in this suit in the game's Ultimate Sith Edition, which continues the dark-side path as a "what if" story. However, the light-side ending is the canon ending, and is used in the novel adaption and sequels.

The Force Unleashed II
In the Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II video game and comic, as well as the novel, Starkiller is cloned by Darth Vader. Starkiller's clone is haunted by visions of the original Starkiller's life. After escaping Kamino, Starkiller goes on a quest to find out who he is and to find Juno Eclipse who has been kidnapped by Vader. At the end of the game, if the player chooses the light-side ending, Starkiller spares Vader, capturing him, and rescues Juno. But in the dark side ending, Starkiller is stabbed just before he can kill Vader by the Dark Apprentice (another successful clone) trained by Vader. Starkiller's dark side clone reappeared in downloadable content for the video game, which takes place on Endor. The light side ending is also used in the novel adaptation, though the dark side ending is used as a vision Starkiller sees on Juno's ship, the Salvation.

Attempted canon reintroduction
After the Unleashed franchise was discontinued following Disney's decision to reboot the Star Wars canon in favor of producing a sequel trilogy, Sam Witwer, Marek's voice actor, revealed that Dave Filoni, the creator of the Star Wars Rebels animated series, considered bringing Marek back into the new canon and having him appear in that series as a member of the Sith Inquisitorius, but ultimately decided against it because he could not find a way to do so without compromising either the new canon's quality or the character's unique distinctions.

In novel
Sean Williams' novelization was released in the United States on 19 August 2008. It spent one week as #1 on both Publishers Weeklys and The New York Times hardcover fiction bestsellers lists, slipping to #7 and #9, respectively, the following week. It also reached #15 on USA Todays bestsellers list.

Williams took on the writing project in part because of the "catchy description" of The Force Unleashed being "Episode 3.5" of the Star Wars saga. The novel focuses on the dark side of the Force and its practitioners; Williams found it "interesting" to portray the Jedi as "bad guys." The author most enjoyed developing the character of Juno Eclipse, exploring the "feminine" side of The Force Unleashed in a way the video game does not. Williams also said that while the game allows the player to "do" Starkiller's actions, the novel allows readers to experience Starkiller's thoughts about those actions, adding another dimension to the story.

Dark Horse's The Force Unleashed graphic novel was published 18 August 2008. Newsarama called the graphic novel a "solid story" that matches the video game source material in both structure and plot. IGN gave the graphic novel a score of 6.9/10 (6.4/10 for art, 7.5/10 for the writing), praising the overall story but faulting inconsistency in the art and questioning whether the comic medium was the best way to convey the story.

Other appearances
Outside of Star Wars. Starkiller has debuted in Soulcalibur IV as a fighter, alongside Darth Vader and Yoda. In Soulcalibur IV he is known as "The Apprentice". After Vader sends him to investigate a dimensional rift that seems to be growing, he passes through to the Soulcalibur universe. The Apprentice defeats Algol and returns to Vader without either the Soul Edge or the Soul Calibur, due to perceiving them as worthless. Vader Force Chokes the Apprentice for disobeying him, causing the Apprentice to draw his lightsaber and prepare to fight Vader. Starkiller also appears in Star Wars: Visions of the Blade, an Infinities comic focusing on the Soulcalibur and Star Wars crossover.  Starkiller was also added as a playable character in Electronic Arts' free-to-play mobile turn-based role-playing game Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes, along with several other memorable characters from the now non-canon Star Wars expanded universe, to celebrate Lucasfilm's 50th anniversary in 2021.. He also appears as a secret playable character in Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars, and can only be obtained by collecting all ten Minikits in the level “Defenders of Peace”, and is the only “Classic” character to not be from the movies, while tying both alts of Darth Vader, Darth Maul and Emperor Palpatine for being the most expensive character in the game, costing a total of 275,000 studs.

Reception

Promotion
Various types of merchandising have been released based on Starkiller. Hasbro has made multiple action figures of Starkiller, along with the rest of the characters in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. A Lego version of Starkiller was released as one of the three figures in the Rogue Shadow Lego set. At Toy Fair 2007, Hasbro also showed seven figures from their action figure line based on the game. Lego released a model of the main character's ship, the Rogue Shadow.

Critical response
Overall, critics and fans have generally praised the character. GamesRadar staff ranked Starkiller 60th place in a list of the 100 best heroes in video games, published in 2013. UGO Networks chose the character as the 50th top Star Wars Expanded Universe character. IGNs Jesse Schedeen called Starkiller's appearance in Soulcalibur IV the second best bonus character in the series, complementing his inclusion from a story standpoint as "[Soulcalibur IV] is about the dichotomy between good and evil, corruption and redemption, [...] Starkiller is a Dark Jedi who finds himself at a crossroads. He can either follow his master and take control of the galaxy, or break away and seek out his own destiny", with Schedeen later including Starkiller in a list of characters that would make up their idea of the ultimate fighting game. Chris Buffa also put the character as the 24th top gaming hunk, saying that "nothing compares to a bad boy". Jesse Schedeen called Starkiller one of the most promising player characters to be released during fall 2008. After the release of The Force Unleashed, Robert Workman, also from GameDaily, put the character as one of his favorite Star Wars video game characters. Buffa chose Starkiller as one of the top double-crossing characters. Jesse Schedeen of IGN has listed Starkiller as one of the best video game entertainers of 2008, commenting that "Starkiller unleashed the Force in ways the movies never showed us". Some publications and critics have labelled Starkiller as "comically" and "ridiculously" overpowered due to his extraordinary prowess as a Force wielder. TheGamer wrote how the character was able to achieve "crushing AT-STs into balls like tin foil", while Polygon highlighted that he "survives a Vader stab-wound and being hurled into the vacuum of space before pulling a Star Destroyer to the ground with his Force mojo."

UGO Networks listed Sam Witwer's performance as Starkiller as one of their top 11 celebrity voice actors in video games. Chris Buffa put Starkiller as the 19th top anti-hero, commenting that  "the thought of cutting through good guys as a Sith filled us with murderous joy", also praising his eventual turn to good. Jesse Schedeen also thought that it would be best if the character was not revisited in the upcoming live-action TV series after the first The Force Unleashed as "his story arc was nice and complete". Starkiller was voted the top 10th Star Wars character by IGNs readers. IGN later claimed Starkiller as the 34th top Star Wars character. GameSpot listed Starkiller, as "The Apprentice", in a vote for the all-time greatest video game character. Starkiller was eliminated in the first round after being put against Niko Bellic, a character from Grand Theft Auto IV, with Starkiller garnering 44.9% of the votes. Starkiller was also voted as the 17th top video game character by Game Informer's readers. Game Informer listed him sixth on their list of the "Top 10 Dorks", saying "The words "jedi" and "dork" rarely go together, but Starkiller is the Chosen One to unite them".

See also

HK-47, a major supporting character in the Knights of the Old Republic video game series.
Kyle Katarn, the main character of the Jedi Knight video game series.
Revan, another character in the Knights of the Old Republic series and the main character of the first game.

References

External links

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Video game characters with electric or magnetic abilities Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is an action-adventure game developed by LucasArts and part of The Force Unleashed  multimedia project. It was initially developed for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii, and Xbox 360 consoles and on iOS, second-generation N-Gage, Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable, and Java-equipped mobile phone handhelds. The game was released in North America on September 16, 2008, in Australia and Southeast Asia on September 17, and in Europe on September 19. LucasArts released downloadable content for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles. An Ultimate Sith Edition of the game, containing both new and previously released downloadable content, was released in November 2009, and later ported to the macOS and Microsoft Windows. An enhanced remaster of the Wii version, developed by Aspyr, is set to be released on Nintendo Switch on April 20, 2022.

The project bridges the first two Star Wars trilogies, acting as an origin story for both the united Rebel Alliance and the Galactic Civil War depicted in the original trilogy. The game introduces a new protagonist named "Starkiller", a powerful Force user trained as Darth Vader's secret apprentice, who is tasked with hunting down Jedi survivors of the Great Jedi Purge while trying to keep his existence a secret. However, after he is tasked with planting the seeds of what would become the Rebel Alliance, which Vader plans to take advantage of to overthrow the Emperor, Starkiller begins to question his own morality and to slowly redeem himself. Following Disney's acquisition of Lucasfilm in 2012, the game became part of the non-canonical Star Wars Expanded Universe (also known as Star Wars Legends), and an alternative origin for the Rebel Alliance and the Galactic Civil War was given in other pieces of Star Wars media, such as Star Wars Rebels.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed received generally mixed to positive reviews from critics, with praise for its story, voice acting, physics, art and soundtrack, but criticism for its linear gameplay and technical issues. The game was a bestseller in the United States and Australia, with over one million copies sold its debut month. , the game had sold over seven million copies, and was the fastest-selling Star Wars video game of its time.  A sequel, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II, was released in October 2010.

Gameplay
The Force Unleashed is a third-person action game in which the player's character's weapons are the Force and a lightsaber. Developers treated the main character's lightsaber like another Force power, and wanted to ensure "something visceral and cool" happened with each button-push. The game has a combo system for stringing lightsaber attacks and for combining lightsaber attacks with Force powers. Experience points earned by killing enemies and finding artifacts can be used to increase Starkiller's powers and traits. The gameplay is intended to be easy to learn; the development team included "horrible" gamers to help ensure the game's accessibility. Players can casually run and gun through the game, but the game rewards those who take a stealthy, more tactical approach. The game includes enemies that are easy to overcome; game difficulty arises from presenting these enemies in large numbers that can wear down the player's character. Additionally, enemies learn from the player's character's attacks; using the same attack on different characters can sometimes lead to the player's character doing less damage. The enemies, which number over 50, have various strengths and weaknesses; developers faced the difficulty of effectively placing them throughout the game's varied environments.

Version differences
The Force Unleashed has different features across platforms.  The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions, powered by the Ronin engine, utilize high-definition graphics and advanced dynamic destruction effects.  These versions also support downloadable content in the form of two expansions that expand upon the game's plot.    The Nintendo versions use motion controls to implement Starkiller's attacks, with the Wii version using the Wii Remote to execute lightsaber attacks and the Nunchuk to wield Force powers, while the Nintendo DS version utilizes the touchscreen to execute attacks, where single actions can be executed by tapping a certain region of the screen (with each region corresponding to a particular action, such as jumping or Force pushing), while more advanced attacks can be performed by dragging the stylus across neighboring regions of the screen.

The PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable versions are identical in content to the Wii version, which is different than the PS3 and Xbox 360 version due to these three systems lacking their horsepower.  Since these versions do not support or use downloadable content, they exclusively intersperse certain levels with three of the five Jedi trials that Starkiller completes at the Jedi temple in Coruscant to further hone his abilities, which are all included in a DLC pack for the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions.  The PSP version also exclusively features five additional "historical" bonus levels that re-enact pivotal scenes and duels throughout the Star Wars saga, as well as special scenarios that can be played with as different Star Wars characters who have the same abilities in the standard single-player mode.  The Nintendo DS version utilizes 3-D graphics like all other major versions, but lacks voice acting.

The Wii and handheld versions support multiplayer.  Two players duel against each other as famous Jedi and Sith in the Star Wars saga in the Wii version, while the handheld versions utilize wireless multiplayer for a four-player battle mode.

Plot
Shortly into the Galactic Empire's rule, Imperial spies locate a Jedi survivor of the Great Purge named Kento Marek on Kashyyyk. Darth Vader arrives and defeats Marek in battle, shortly before Marek's son Galen grabs Vader's lightsaber with the Force. Realizing the boy's strong connection to the Force, Vader kills Marek and leaves with Galen, raising him to become his apprentice in secret.

Years later, an adult Galen (given the alias "Starkiller") completes his training. He is sent by Vader to eliminate several Jedi survivors across the galaxy in preparation for assassinating the Emperor so that the two of them can rule the galaxy together. Starkiller travels aboard his personal ship, the Rogue Shadow, alongside training droid PROXY (who is programmed to try and kill Starkiller) and Imperial pilot Juno Eclipse. Starkiller's targets include Rahm Kota, a Clone Wars veteran and leader of a militia; Kazdan Paratus, insane after years of isolation on Raxus Prime; and Shaak Ti, who is hiding on Felucia. Before she dies, Shaak Ti warns Starkiller that he will eventually be betrayed by Vader. His final mission complete, Starkiller is summoned by Vader as the Emperor arrives. Vader then swiftly impales Starkiller, and at the Emperor's insistence, hurls his apprentice through a window into space to prove his loyalty.

Unbeknownst to the Emperor, Vader has Starkiller recovered and resuscitated. Vader sends Starkiller to foster a rebellion among the Empire's enemies, as part of his plan to create the proper conditions to overthrow the Emperor. Starkiller rescues Juno, who had been arrested and branded a traitor to the Empire, and escapes with her and PROXY. Looking for allies to aid his mission, Starkiller finds an alive Kota on Cloud City, rendered blind and reduced to alcoholism, and rescues him from Imperial forces.

The group travels to Kashyyyk to locate Kota's contact, senator Bail Organa. Starkiller discovers his old home and meets his father's spirit, who expresses remorse for Starkiller's upbringing under Vader. To gain Bail's trust, Starkiller rescues his captive daughter Princess Leia Organa, and liberates the enslaved Wookiees at her request. Starkiller learns from Kota that Bail went missing on Felucia, after searching for Shaak Ti in the hope she would rescue Leia. Starkiller travels to Felucia to find Bail, discovering he had been captured by Shaak Ti's former apprentice Maris Brood, who succumbed to the Dark Side after her master's death. Starkiller defeats Brood but spares her life, and convinces Bail to join the rebellion.

To convince more dissidents to do the same, Vader suggests that Starkiller attack a Star Destroyer facility on Raxus Prime to show that the Empire is vulnerable. Juno learns Starkiller is still serving Vader and chastises him, but agrees to keep silent. On Raxus Prime, Starkiller is attacked by PROXY, who attempts to fulfill his programming by killing him, but Starkiller defeats him, destroys the facility, and pulls a falling Star Destroyer out of the sky using the Force. Bail meets with fellow senators Mon Mothma and Garm Bel Iblis on Corellia to formally organize a rebellion, only for Vader to arrive and arrest them and Kota. After overpowering Starkiller, Vader reveals that he was merely a tool to lure out the Empire's enemies, and had never intended to use him to overthrow the Emperor. Starkiller escapes after PROXY sacrifices himself by attacking Vader.

Juno rescues Starkiller, who uses the Force to see that Kota and the senators are being held on the Death Star. After bidding farewell to Juno, Starkiller battles his way through the station to reach the Emperor's throne room. Vader confronts him, but Starkiller defeats his former master and faces the Emperor, who tries to goad him into killing Vader so Starkiller can take his place. Kota tries to attack the Emperor, but is subdued with Force lightning. At this point, the player must choose between saving Kota (Light Side) or killing Vader (Dark Side).

 If the player chooses the Light Side, Starkiller defeats the Emperor, but spares him at Kota's urging. The Emperor unleashes Force lightning at Kota, but Starkiller absorbs it, sacrificing himself to allow Kota and the senators to escape on the Rogue Shadow. The Emperor and Vader become concerned that Starkiller has become a martyr to inspire the newly-formed Rebel Alliance. On Kashyyyk, the senators proceed with the rebellion and Leia chooses Starkiller's family crest as their symbol. Kota tells Juno that among Starkiller's dark thoughts, Juno herself was one bright spot that he held onto right until his death.
 If the player chooses the Dark Side, Starkiller kills Vader and is congratulated by the Emperor, who commands him to kill Kota to sever his ties to the Jedi and become a Sith Lord. Starkiller instead attacks the Emperor, who foils his attempt and then crushes him with the Rogue Shadow, severely injuring Starkiller and killing Juno, Kota, and the senators. Starkiller later awakens to find his body being grafted with armor to continue serving the Emperor, though he assures Starkiller that he will be replaced once he finds a new apprentice.

Downloadable content 
Three downloadable content (DLC) levels for the game were released. The first one is set during the events of the main story and explores more of Starkiller's background, while the second and third ones expand upon the non-canonical Dark Side ending of the game, taking place in their own alternate timeline.

The Coruscant DLC depicts Starkiller, at some point before traveling to Kashyyyk, deciding to visit the abandoned Jedi Temple to learn more about his identity and connection to the Force. After fighting his way past the Imperial security forces, he reaches the old Council Chambers, where he meets Kento Marek's spirit who tells him that he needs to pass three Jedi trials. Upon doing so, Starkiller is faced with a mysterious Sith warrior, revealed to be a dark reflection of himself created by his own fear. Following his defeat, Starkiller finds a holocron left by Marek, who reveals himself as his father and implores him to return to the light side. Starkiller then returns to the Rogue Shadow to resume his current mission.

The Tatooine and Hoth DLC's are set during alternate depictions of A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, respectively, and present Starkiller as the Emperor's trusted assassin, referred to as "Lord Starkiller". In the Tatooine DLC, he is tasked with retrieving the Death Star plans stolen by the Rebel Alliance, which have been tracked to Tatooine. He visits Jabba the Hutt, who has knowledge on the plans' whereabouts, revealing they are in the possession of two droids at Mos Eisley. When Starkiller refuses to work for him, Jabba attempts to have Starkiller eaten by his rancor. Killing the beast, Starkiller escapes from Jabba's palace after massacring Jabba's mercenaries, including Boba Fett. At Mos Eisley, Starkiller kills Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi after a duel which allows the droids to board the Millennium Falcon, though Starkiller manages to place a tracking device on the ship before it takes off. In the Hoth DLC, Starkiller partakes in the Battle of Hoth, where the Empire attacks the weakened Rebel Alliance's base. During the battle, Starkiller infiltrates the base with orders to capture Luke Skywalker, who had begun training as a Jedi. Starkiller finds and defeats Skywalker in the base's hangar, severing his right hand. When the Falcon tries to take off, Starkiller seizes the ship with the Force while goading Skywalker to give into the Dark Side to rescue his friends. Skywalker attacks Starkiller with Force lightning, causing him to let go of the ship and congratulate Skywalker for embracing the Dark Side, planning to make him his apprentice the same way Vader did to him.

Cast and characters
 Sam Witwer as Galen Marek/Starkiller — The forbidden child of a Jedi, Starkiller was adopted by his father's killer, Darth Vader, who, aware of his strong connection to the Force, raised him to be his secret apprentice. Once his training is complete, Starkiller is dispatched by his master to kill several prominent Jedi who survived the Great Jedi Purge. Although initially acting as a villain, Starkiller is "really just [a] damaged kid." Developers decided not to give Starkiller a name in the game, but the novelization reveals his real name as "Galen Marek". Although Starkiller starts as Vader's apprentice, a focus of the game is to allow the character to evolve into "something more heroic, something greater." Audio director David Collins saw a resemblance between Starkiller concept art and his friend, Witwer; Collins asked for Witwer's headshot and an audition reel, and a few weeks later Witwer sat for a 45-minute audition. Witwer secured the role by demonstrating to developers his deep understanding of the character; in portraying Starkiller, Witwer brought many new ideas about the character and imbued him with a sense of humanity. Developers tried not to make Starkiller so evil that players would have difficulty connecting to him, aiming to strike a balance between loyalty to his master and his growing sense of disillusionment with the Empire. The character's name is an homage to "Anakin Starkiller," the original name of the character that eventually became Luke Skywalker.
 Matt Sloan as Darth Vader — A powerful Dark Lord of the Sith, high-ranking enforcer of the Empire, and Starkiller's master, who discovers Starkiller as a child and trains him. In training Starkiller by having him hunt the few remaining Jedi survivors, Vader intends to prepare him to overthrow the Emperor, although there are "twists and turns" in this scheme. The events depicted in The Force Unleashed are pivotal to Darth Vader's history and development, depicting him as being largely responsible for the events leading to the Galactic Civil War, depicted in the original Star Wars trilogy.
 Nathalie Cox as Juno Eclipse — Rogue Shadow’s pilot and Starkiller's love interest. Eclipse was not originally part of the game; early concepts had the apprentice as an older character who develops a connection with a young Princess Leia. Star Wars creator George Lucas, uncomfortable with this idea, encouraged the developers to create a love interest. The apprentice, who has had limited interaction with women when the game begins, does not at first know how to act around her. Her introduction early in the game allows the relationship with Starkiller to develop, and her inclusion helps "recapture that rich ensemble feel of the original Star Wars". According to Sean Williams, who wrote the novelization, the romantic storyline is the key to The Force Unleashed. The name "Juno Eclipse" was originally proposed as a name for the character eventually called "Asajj Ventress" — it was ultimately rejected as insufficiently villainous. The Force Unleashed project lead Haden Blackman brought the name back for the mythic quality of the name "Juno" and the duality suggested by an "eclipse." Cox, in addition to strongly resembling the character's concept art, had "integrity and poise" appropriate to Juno Eclipse that helped the actor secure the role.
 Cully Fredricksen as General Rahm Kota — A Jedi Master and Clone Wars veteran who provides Starkiller with additional insight into the Force and helps connect him to his Jedi heritage. Developers realized early that Starkiller would require insight into the Force from someone other than Darth Vader; after rejecting the idea of this coming from the spirit of Qui-Gon Jinn or some version of Darth Plagueis, they decided to fill this role with one of Starkiller's Jedi opponents. The character was conceived as a "tough-as-nails" contrast to the more traditional image of a Jedi represented by Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi. Senior concept artist Amy Beth Christianson drew upon samurai influences for Kota's appearance. The character changed little after being conceived; Fredricksen's own traits made the character tougher. Fredricksen was the first actor cast for the project.
 Adrienne Wilkinson as Maris Brood — A Zabrak survivor of the Jedi Purge and Shaak Ti's apprentice. After her master's death at Starkiller's hands, Brood falls to the dark side and uses Felucia's inhabitants to wage war on the Imperial forces trying to occupy the planet. The character was originally conceived as a pirate captain, and Christianson's early art included Brood's distinctive lightsaber tonfas. Wilkinson brought strength to her performance, leading to an expansion of the role with more dialogue.
 David W. Collins as PROXY — Starkiller's droid sidekick, designed to constantly test his lightsaber and Force abilities, as well as deliver important messages through holographic projection. Collins said PROXY has C-3PO's innocence but also is "really dangerous." The companion trade paperback describes the conflict between PROXY's primary programming to kill Starkiller and its self-imposed desire to help him; PROXY is eager to please Starkiller, but does not know how dangerous it can be or that there is a conflict between its programming and Starkiller's wishes. Trying to avoid having PROXY's dialogue become too reminiscent of either C-3PO or the villainous HK-47 of Knights of the Old Republic, developers focused on PROXY's friendly naïvety.
 Jimmy Smits as Bail Organa — The Emmy Award-winning Smits voices the character he played in the Star Wars prequels: a Galactic Senator from Alderaan and Princess Leia's adoptive father who becomes a founding member of the Rebel Alliance.

Other performances include Tom Kane as Kento Marek and Captain Ozzik Sturn, Larry Drake as Kazdan Paratus, Susan Eisenberg as Shaak Ti, and Catherine Taber as Princess Leia Organa. In addition to voicing Starkiller, Witwer also provided the voice of Emperor Palpatine. R2-D2 also makes an appearance in the game alongside Leia. The game's downloadable content features David W. Collins as Jabba the Hutt, Dee Bradley Baker as Boba Fett, Rob Rackstraw as Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Lloyd Floyd as Luke Skywalker.

Development

Concept

Game planning began in summer 2004. Initially, about six developers started with a "clean slate" to conceptualize a new Star Wars game; the small group of engineers, artists, and designers spent more than a year brainstorming ideas for what might make a good game. Over 100 initial concepts were whittled down to 20 to 25 that included making the game the third entry in the Knights of the Old Republic series or having the protagonist be a Wookiee "superhero", Darth Maul, a bounty hunter, a smuggler, a mercenary, or the last member of the Skywalker family. The decision to focus on the largely unexplored period between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope helped energize the design team. Consumer feedback helped the developers narrow in on seven concepts, and elements from those seven went into The Force Unleasheds overall concept.

Production was greatly aided by concept art, which was intended to visually bridge the two Star Wars trilogies, convey the impression of a "lived-in" universe, show how the galaxy changes under Imperial rule, and to seem familiar yet new. An off-hand comment about the Force in the game being powerful enough "to pull a Star Destroyer out of the sky" inspired an image by senior concept artist Amy Beth Christenson that became an important part of the developers' idea pitches and evolved into a major moment in the game. These illustrations also inspired the creation of dozens of simple, three-dimensional animations. Eventually, a one-minute previsualization video highlighting the idea of "kicking someone's ass with the Force" helped convince the designers that The Force Unleashed would be "a great game"; George Lucas, upon seeing the one-minute video, told the designers to "go make that game". Once the concept was solidified, the development team grew from ten to twenty people. The idea of "reimagining" the Force as "amped up" in The Force Unleashed aligned with LucasArts' overall goal of harnessing the power of the latest video game consoles to "dramatically" change gaming, specifically through the use of simulation-based gameplay.

Story
In April 2005, after several months of planning, the LucasArts team received Lucas' encouragement to create a game centered on Darth Vader's secret apprentice in the largely unexplored period between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope,  drawing the two trilogies together. LucasArts spent six months developing the story. Lucas spent hours discussing with the developers the relationship between Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine and provided feedback on what Vader would want out of and how he would motivate an apprentice. Lucas Licensing reviewed many game details to ensure they fit into canon. Focus group feedback indicated that, while hunting down Jedi at Vader's order would be fun, the character should be redeemed, in keeping with a major Star Wars motif. Although the game introduces new characters, developers felt the presence of characters already part of Star Wars would help anchor the game within the official continuity. Before the game's release, Lucasfilm claimed it would "unveil new revelations about the Star Wars galaxy" with a "redemption" motif. The story progresses through a combination of scripted events, in-game cinematics, cutscenes, and dialogue.

Technology

During pre-production, about 30 people were on the project team. LucasArts spent several years developing the tools and technology to create The Force Unleashed. Prototyping, level construction, marketing, and public relations took about a year. Until late 2006, the production team was ascertaining "how many polygons, lights, [and] characters" next-generation platforms supported; a year of full production began in early 2007. A series of quickly-produced "play blast" videos helped the developers focus on mechanics, the user interface, and finishing moves. Development of the Xbox 360 version came first; PlayStation 3 development started when the production team had enough development kits. Making the game run on both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 was "a monumental task".

The game is based on LucasArts' proprietary "Ronin" game engine but also integrates third-party technology: Havok for rigid body physics, Pixelux Entertainment's "Digital Molecular Matter" (DMM) for dynamically destructible objects, and NaturalMotion's Euphoria for realistic non-player character artificial intelligence. LucasArts' programmers had to overcome technical hurdles to get Havok-, DMM- and Euphoria-coded components to interact. Developers also had to strike a balance between realistic and entertaining physics. LucasArts initially opted not to release a personal computer version of The Force Unleashed, stating that doing the game well would be too processor-intensive for typical PCs and that scaling down the game's procedural physics for the PC platform would "fundamentally" change The Force Unleasheds gameplay. However, LucasArts later announced Windows and Mac versions of the game, developed in conjunction with Aspyr Media, for release in Fall 2009.

Lacking Havok, Euphoria, and DMM, Krome's Wii version relies on the company's in-house physics engine. Some character animations may be ragdoll while others are preset; in developing the game, Krome tried to blur the distinction between the two. The lighting system in the Wii version is more advanced than that in the PS2 version, which Krome also built; the PS2 includes more graphic details than their PSP version.

ILM collaboration and cast performance
The Force Unleashed is intended to make players think they are "actually, finally, in a Star Wars movie". It is the first game on which LucasArts and Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) collaborated since they both relocated to the Letterman Digital Arts Center in San Francisco, California. This collaboration allowed the companies to co-develop tools to make film-quality effects. LucasArts worked with ILM's Zeno tool framework and helped ILM build its Zed game editor. Lucas said having the two companies working together in the same building was "a great collaboration".

It took Senior Manager of Voice and Audio Darragh O'Farrell four months to cast The Force Unleashed. ILM's face- and motion-capture "CloneCam" technology recorded actors' voice and physical performances. This led to a change in LucasArts' casting process: for the first time, actors needed to match characters' age and gender. Actors performed their lines together, rather than in isolation, to better get the sense of their characters interacting with each other. Consequently, the script's dialogue was reduced while reliance on characters' expressions — captured through the CloneCam — increased. CloneCam technology had previously been used in producing the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.

Music
LucasArts music supervisor Jesse Harlin said the music matches the game's motif of redemption and goal of bridging the gap between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope:

The game's soundtrack includes material composed by John Williams for the films in addition to material created specifically for The Force Unleashed. Jesse Harlin composed the game's main theme, while Mark Griskey composed the score. Griskey made use of several motifs from the film scores as well as Harlin's main theme. The 90-minute soundtrack was recorded by the Skywalker Symphony Orchestra and mixed at Skywalker Sound in Lucas Valley in September and October 2007. During gameplay, a proprietary engine combines "musical elements according to the pace, plot, and environment of the game at any given moment", resulting in a unique musical experience. A promotional soundtrack album was made available online through Tracksounds.com in 2008.

Expansion
Two weeks after the game's release, LucasArts announced development on two downloadable expansion packs for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game. The first expansion added "skins" that allow the player's character to appear as Star Wars figures other than Starkiller, such as Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, Qui-Gon Jinn, Jango Fett, C-3PO, Luke Skywalker, Darth Maul, Darth Sion, Mace Windu, Plo Koon, Kit Fisto and Ki-Adi-Mundi. The skins chosen to be part of the expansion were based in part on fans' feedback. The second expansion pack added a new mission that expands on Starkiller's background. Although a moment in the game's main story was considered as a "jumping off point" for the expansion, LucasArts decided instead to make the new mission instantly accessible to players. The mission's location — the Jedi Temple on Coruscant — appears in the Wii, PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable versions of The Force Unleashed, but was cut during planning from the PS3 and Xbox 360 platforms.

The Tatooine Downloadable Content, released August 27, 2009, is the first of two expansions that occur in an "Infinities" storyline, an alternate history in which Starkiller kills Vader and becomes Palpatine's assassin. The second Infinities expansion, which takes place on Hoth, was originally only available as part of the Ultimate Sith Edition, which also includes all previous downloadable content. However, the Hoth expansion was later made available for download on the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live.

Reception

1.738 million unit sales of The Force Unleashed across all platforms made it the third best-selling game globally in the third quarter of 2008; as of July 2009, it had sold six million copies. The Force Unleashed was both the fastest-selling Star Wars game and LucasArts' fastest-selling game. The Force Unleashed won a Writers Guild of America award for Best Video Game Writing.

PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC
The Force Unleashed received mixed to fairly positive reviews. Electronic Gaming Monthly said the game is "ambitious--yet dissatisfying"; however, GameSpot said the game "gets more right than it does wrong". GameSpot said the PC port of the game retained all of the game's strengths and weaknesses, but that the port failed to take advantage of the PC platform.

GameSpot called the game's story "more intimate and more powerful" than the Star Wars franchise's prequel trilogy; X-Play identified the game's story as one of the game's "few bright spots" and said the game's visuals successfully convey Star Wars "classic used universe" feel. GamePro and GameSpot praised the game's art and physics, and GamePro also commended Starkiller's "cool powers". IGN praised the game's voice acting, particularly Witwer's performance as Starkiller. The Washington Times identified Mark Griskey's soundtrack as "another star" of the game, and Tracksounds called it "the most entertaining Star Wars score since Return of the Jedi". Time called The Force Unleashed the seventh best video game of 2008. The game received GameSpot's 2008 award for Best Use of a Creative License and was nominated for Best Voice Acting. Gaming Target selected the game as one of their "40 Games We'll Still Be Playing From 2008".

Conversely, Entertainment Weekly called The Force Unleashed the second-worst game of 2008 and GameTrailers called it the most disappointing game that year; it was also a nominee for GameSpot's Most Disappointing Game recognition. Official Xbox Magazine cited the game's linear gameplay and lack of multiplayer as reasons the game falls short of being "an all-engrossing Star Wars experience". gamesTM suggested that allowing players to take a hack-and-slash approach means many "will never view the title's full potential". IGN and X-Play criticized some boss battles and enemies' behavior; GamePro also faulted "disappointing" boss battles and the game's "uneven" combat. Rather than feeling more powerful as the game progresses, GamePro felt that increases in Starkiller's powers were dampened by increasingly difficult enemy abilities and positions; X-Play commented that despite a good level-up system, Starkiller and his enemies are "pretty much on even ground most of the time". Wired.com, X-Play, and GameSpot criticized the game's third-person camera and the sequence that requires the player to make Starkiller pull a Star Destroyer out of the sky. Wired.com speculated that LucasArts could have recognized the frustration of the Star Destroyer sequence and removed it, but left it in because they hyped the sequence before the game's release. Wired.com and GameSpot further criticized the load times and abrupt gameplay-cinematic transitions. GameSpot also faulted "loose" targeting and some visual and audio glitches. IGN, which also identified problems with targeting, speculated that DMM's processor intensiveness limited its use throughout the game, detracting from players' ability to feel immersed. GameTrailers and IGN were disappointed with the lack of variety within and between levels. X-Play, pointing to "Default Text" as the bonus objective description in the Xbox 360 version's final mission and other glitches, said it seems the developers one day "just stopped working on the game". GameSpot cited the port's lack of visual options and poor framerate as evidence the PC edition had been rushed.

IGN described the Jedi Academy expansion as "pretty decent". GameSpot said LucasArts seems to have acknowledged some of the game's criticisms in developing the Tatooine expansion, but IGN called the  level's boss fights "a joke" in light of the player's high Force powers. IGN found the level design in The Ultimate Sith Editions Hoth scenario uninteresting, and called the boss fight against Luke Skywalker tough but "not nearly as fun" as it could have been.

The demo was the fourth most-played Xbox Live game during the week of August 25, trailing Grand Theft Auto IV, Halo 3, and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare; it was the ninth most-played Xbox Live title throughout all of 2008. The week it was released, The Force Unleashed was the sixth most-played game on Xbox Live, and it rose to fifth the following week. In its first week on sale in Australia, the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of The Force Unleashed were the top and second-best sellers, respectively. In the United States, the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 version sold 325,000 and 610,000 copies, respectively, in September 2008; that month, the Xbox 360 version was the best-selling game and the PlayStation 3 version was the fifth best-selling game for their respective consoles.

Other platforms
Nintendo Power praised the story and the number of lightsaber combos but criticized the game's easiness and hack-and-slash gameplay. It also praised the Wii version for its story and Force powers, but criticized the game's lightsaber controls and linear gameplay. GameSpot noticed visual glitches and problematic audio compression that detracted from the Wii version's "mature and exciting" story, adding that the reduced number of Force-manipulable objects helps mitigate the targeting problems experienced on other platforms. Referring to the Wii remote and nunchuck controls, GameSpot also speculated that The Force Unleashed is "possibly the most waggle-heavy" Wii game. Zero Punctuation criticized the Wii version's graphics and compared lightsaber combat to "trying to follow an aerobics routine with both your arms tied to different windmills". The ability to upgrade Starkiller's abilities in the PS2 version, according to IGN, is not as "robust" as it should be, and the game's targeting system is sometimes frustrating. IGN said the PS2's real-time cutscene rendering made Starkiller seem emotionless, and that pre-rendered cutscenes would have been better. GameSpot found the DS version's plot interesting but the storytelling itself "lackluster". While the DS version is easy, with Starkiller killing enemies "like a hot knife through butter", GameSpot said the player's sense of power is not matched by a sense of freedom. GameSpot called the PSP version's camera "unwieldy", but added that smaller and less cluttered environments make the targeting system less frustrating than on other platforms.  The Wii version was a nominee for multiple Wii-specific awards from IGN in its 2008 video game awards, including Best Story and Best Voice Acting.

In the week of its release, the Wii version was the sixth bestselling game in Australia and was second to Wii Fit among games for that platform. The PS2 version was the eighth bestseller in Australia, and both the PS2 and PSP versions were the top sellers on their respective platforms. The DS version was eighth most sold among DS games in Australia. In the United States, the Wii version sold 223,000 copies in September 2008, making it the ninth best-selling game that month. In the United States, the PlayStation 2 version was the 14th best-selling game in September 2008, selling over 100,000 copies.

Further reading

Notes

References

External links

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