It's been 42 years (and 350 titles including films, books, TV shows, comics and videogames) from the first film of the saga, but Star Wars has not yet exhausted its appeal on millions of fans. Not everyone who goes to the cinema to see Skywalker's Rise (800 copies since December 18), however, have seen the entire saga or are avid fans aware of all the details. So here is that Babbel has put together for those who need a review a list of the most important characters and figures.
Great themes like good versus bad, light against dark and nature versus technology permeate all the details of the Star Wars universe, in particular the names of the characters: Origin of names
Luke Skywalker
The origin of the name "Luke" can be traced back to the Latin "Lucas" or the Greek "Loukas": both Lucas and Loukas mean "coming from Lucania". There are no mythological substrates, therefore, in this case. However, the name also resembles another Greek word: "leukos", meaning light. Interestingly enough, since we're talking about fighting the dark side, right? And what about the assonance with the name of the director himself? Perhaps George Lucas wanted to put some of himself in the personality of the main hero of the saga. In the first drafts of the script, Luke's surname was "Skykiller" ... fortunately the director opted for the most poetic and evocative "Skywalker".
Princess Leila Organa (Leia Organa in the original version)
The name in the original version of the film is Leia Organa and sounds very similar to "Princess Dejah Thoris", star of "John Carter of Mars", written by Edgar Rice Burroughs in the 1930s. And this is probably not a coincidence, given the already mentioned passion of George Lucas for science fiction novels.
Finally, the surname Organa clearly reflects the role played by the princess in the conflict between the natural world and the technological and mechanized world of the Galactic Empire.
Jan Solo (Han Solo in the original version)
To continue on the mythological trail, "Jan" is an archaic form of John (or Hans, Jan, Jean ...) and "Solo" is probably a tribute to Napoleon Solo, a fascinating spy protagonist of the American series of the '60s "The man from UNCLE ".
Chewbecca (Chewbacca in the original version)
The inspiration for Jan Solo's right-hand man, a two-meter tall Wookie alien, comes from George Lucas's dog, an Alaskan Malamute named Indiana (yes, of course, he also inspired that character). And the name where it comes from? We do not know for sure ... what is certain is that the sound is very reminiscent of the Russian word meaning "dog".
Jedi
The name of the order of knights that protects the galaxy from evil probably has more than one origin. Science fiction fans will surely claim that the word was inspired by the Lords of Barsoom of the so-called "Cycle of Mars" which was addressed with the honor "Jed" or "Jeddak".
On the other hand, it is thought that "Jedi" is a tribute to the Japanese director Akira Kurosawa and in particular to his samurai films: in fact, the Japanese word used to refer to this particular genus is "jidai-keki". We could consider it a coincidence if it weren't for the fact that Lucas repeatedly mentioned Kurosawa as his own source of inspiration and even said that the quarrelsome villagers of "The Hidden Fortress" inspired R2-D2 and C-3PO.
Obi Wan Kenobi
Here too we find a tribute to Akira Kurosawa's samurai films and Japanese culture. "Obi" is the name of the band used to close the kimono, "ken" is the Japanese translation of the sword and finally "wan" recalls the Japanese honor "san".
Still not convinced that even here there is a hand of Kurosawa? You will change your mind as soon as you hear this anecdote: during the casting, before offering the part to Sir Alec Guinness, Lucas had contacted the Japanese superstar Toshiro Mifune (already protagonist of numerous works by Kurosawa such as "The hidden fortress" and "The seven samurai") . After his refusal, Lucas offered him again the part of Darth Vader but the actor ... he simply wasn't interested in acting in a "children's movie".
Dart Fener (Darth Vader in the original version)
The most common belief about this name is that it derives from the Dutch translation of "dark father". This would still sound like "donker vader" which, let's face it, is not exactly a scary name for the Dark Lord of the Sith. Lucas revealed that the name would be a combination of the two sentences "death water" and "dark father" ("mortal water" and "dark father"). Was this connection actually a premonition? Absolutely not: in the first draft of "The Empire Strikes Back", Fener was not Luke's father. Consequently, the choice of the name cannot be considered as planned.
Another theory is based on the choice of the names of the other Sith who, in the original version, are very evocative: Sidious (which reminds Insidious, that is Insidious), Maul (wound caused by a ferocious animal), Grievous (pain, mourning). Following this theory, the name "Vader" should remember "Invader", that is invader.
Yoda
The origin of the name "Yoda" is shrouded in mystery but there are also two possibilities: "yoddha", a Sanskrit word meaning "warrior", or "yodea", a Hebrew word that means "one who knows". Both interesting theories, right?
R2-D2
The name comes from the movie "American Graffiti", also by George Lucas: the director, in fact, would have heard his sound engineer Walter Murch ask an assistant for the "Reel 2, Dialog Track 2" (reel 2, track 2). Murch shortened it all in R-2-D-2. Lucas thought it was a very interesting name and inserted it into the Star Wars script.
Languages
The languages created for Star Wars (unlike other sagas like "The Lord of the Rings" and "Star Trek") do not have a functional grammar, vocabulary and syntax. The sound engineer who worked on the film, Ben Burtt, tackled the invention of alien languages in exactly the same way used for all the other sound effects: they are all evocative, create atmosphere and are absolutely far from any invented language.
Huttese
The most widely spoken in the film, it is inspired by the Inca Quechua language. Burtt only appropriated word sounds, although some words are present in the Huttese (with unknown meaning, however, since Burtt did not know it). This language is spoken mainly by Tatooine and by many characters, including Greedo the young, Jabba the Hutt and his entourage.
Jawaese
The Jawaese is inspired by the Zulu language and other African languages. After recording the actors reciting sentences and words, Burtt speeded up the tape to get the high voices of the Jawas.
Ewokese
Mixture of Mongolian, Tibetan, Nepalese and Kalmyc languages.