George Lucas Revealed The Main Character Of Star Wars & It's Not Luke Skywalker
The original "Star Wars" trilogy follows Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) as he becomes a Jedi and saves the galaxy, so it's understandable that fans assumed that he was the story's main character. But while he might be the most obvious protagonist, creator George Lucas considers someone else to be the central figure in his space opera. During a 2005 interview with Rolling Stone, Lucas insisted that the true main character of "Star Wars" isn't Luke Skywalker; it's Darth Vader (James Earl Jones, David Prowse).
"I made a series of movies that was about one thing: Darth Vader. Originally, people thought it was all about Luke. The early films are about Luke redeeming his father, so Luke's the focus," explained Lucas. "But it's also about Princess Leia and her struggle to reestablish the Republic, which is what her mother was doing. So it's really about mothers and daughters and fathers and sons ... The first three episodes are a tragedy, and the second three go slightly goofy, but they're inspirational: Even the worst, most evil people find compassion."
"Star Wars" is Lucas' invention, which means that his take on the tale carries significant weight, but the franchise has grown since 2005. There's a sequel trilogy now, as well as several series that chronicle stories well beyond Darth Vader's. Does that mean Luke Skywalker is back in the spotlight? Well, no, not exactly. It depends on who's asking and who's answering.
Star Wars is the story of the Skywalker family
In 2011, "Star Wars" blogger Rod Hilton created the Machete Order as an alternative viewing experience for those who consider Luke Skywalker to be the central character of George Lucas' galactic fantasy. Hilton believes that the strongest narrative is achieved by excising "Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace" and by watching the remaining installments in the following order: IV, V, II, III, and then VI. By placing Episodes II and III between V and VI, Darth Vader's condensed backstory serves as an extended flashback. The Machete Order gained even more steam when Luke Skywalker returned in the sequel trilogy, so much so that a USA Today article slotted all three new episodes onto the end of Hilton's fan-canon.
The Machete Order's popularity, however, doesn't prove that Luke Skywalker is a more logical contender for the title of main character than Darth Vader. It ignores an entire film, frames two others as a flashback, and there's no pretending that Episodes VII, VIII, and IX are about the man who fought his father. Those stories belong to Rey Skywalker (Daisy Ridley). The most reasonable explanation is that Episodes I through IX lack a central figure. Instead, they feature a central bloodline.
In the same breath that George Lucas used to call Darth Vader the main character, he admitted that "Star Wars" is about family. That theme is present in all nine films, far longer than any single Skywalker retains narrative focus. Besides, LucasFilm already calls them the "Skywalker Saga," anyway, so why not allow that to serve as an answer?