Star Wars Fan Theories Explained: Obi-Wan & Anakin Are Really Clones 0B-1 & NKN
Since the blockbuster franchise launched in 1977, fan theories about the "Star Wars" universe have made the rounds in fan circles. Some were so outlandish that it's no surprise they weren't true, while others came close to or perfectly hit the nail on the head, correctly predicting a story element. Then there's one about fan favorites Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi that dates back to before the release of the prequel trilogy. Trying to piece together their pre-"Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope" history, some folks believed that Obi-Wan and Anakin were actually clones called 0B-1 and NKN.
As recalled by Redditor u/DarkAlman, the theory ponders the meaning of the Clone Wars mentioned in "A New Hope." It theorizes that the Republic cloned Jedi to defend itself from an unspecified threat, with 0B-1 and NKN being created from the genes of the original Ben Kenobi. After falling in love with an unspecified person, NKN turned to the dark side and killed Ben as well as most of the other Jedi. 0B-1 then became possessed by Ben's ghost, allowing him to defeat NKN — now Darth Vader — during their duel on Mustafar. Assuming Ben's identity, 0B-1 destroyed the cloning facility on the lava planet and took Vader's children, Luke and Leia.
No matter how you slice it, it's a wild theory that's made even more so by the release of the prequel trilogy and its surrounding media. Then again, there are some elements of it that make it less weird than it may seem.
How Rise of Skywalker made weird Star Wars fan theories not that weird
There's an interesting tidbit within the 0B-1 and NKN fan theory that has seeped its way into "Star Wars" canon. The theory proposes that cloning Force-sensitive beings is incredibly difficult and that only a mere few of the Jedi clones could actually wield the Force — 0B-1 and NKN being two of them. Having perfected Jedi cloning, the Emperor hoped to use the technology to create a Force-sensitive army to take over the galaxy. The Emperor's cloning exploits became a focal point of the non-canon print story "Star Wars: Dark Empire" from the 1990s before making it to screens big and small.
The Emperor's fascination with cloning is a central element of "Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker," which reached the silver screen two decades after the prequel trilogy began. After his death in "Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi," it's revealed that he survived in secret on Exegol using an imperfect clone body. As "Star Wars: The Bad Batch" and "The Mandalorian" further explained, the Emperor and his scientists had been working on cloning Force-sensitive beings since the end of the Clone Wars era, further tying this decades-old theory to the modern "Star Wars" canon.
At the end of the day, this theory may seem a bit far-fetched given what we know about the Clone Wars and the younger years of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker. Then again, as "Dark Empire," "The Rise of Skywalker," and other pieces of media have shown, elements of some fan theories — no matter how weird — can indeed make it into the official canon.