In hockey they keep track of a player’s +/- by adding 1 when
the team scores with a player on the ice, and subtracting 1 if the other team
scores. This is a way to see how beneficial that player is to have on the ice.
I’m gonna do something similar for some main characters in Star Wars for each
episode. The scoring won’t only be +1 or -1. Depending on the good or bad
action they take, any number of points can be added or removed. I’m not gonna
explain in detail what happens between actions by each character, you can watch
the movie if you want to know that. The hardest part of this post was choosing which pics to use and which to save for the next one.
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Obi Wan Kenobi (Old Ben)
Old Ben saves Luke from the Tusken raiders because he knows they are
easily startled.
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+1 Overall +1
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Ben fudges the truth about Darth Vader, really setting Luke up for a
surprise.
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-1 Overall 0
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Ben doesn’t get Luke back in time to save his Aunt and Uncle, which
may not be his fault. But he’s not very sensitive about it either. Luke just
saw the burnt remains of his only known relatives and all Obi Wan says
is, “you’d have been killed too.”
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-1 Overall -1
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Uses a jedi mind trick on the storm troopers. "These aren't the droids you're looking for."
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+1 Overall 0
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Obi Wan shows he still has a little fight left in him by cutting a
dude’s arm off in the Cantina
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+1 Overall+1
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Obi Wan talks Han into flying them despite paying him very little up
front with the promise of a whole lot more later.
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+1 Overall +2
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He sneaks through the Death Star by himself and disables the tractor
beam.
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+1 Overall +3
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Sacrifices himself to become “more powerful than you can possibly
imagine.”
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+2 Overall +5
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Gives Luke advice a few times throughout the remainder of the movie.
He is especially helpful during the Death Star trench run.
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+1 Overall +6
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Final Thoughts: I’m only including Ben because if I do
scoring for the new trilogy, he will come out really high overall.
Darth Vader
Enters like a BAMF after capturing the Tantive IV Rebel Blockade
Runner. Lifts a guy off the ground with 1 hand, chokes him to death and
throws him against a wall.
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+1 Overall +1
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Fails to get any info from Princess Leia and listens to the guy who
doesn’t want to fire on the escape pods.
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-1 Overall 0
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Comes up with a pretty good scheme to hide his involvement in the
capture of this consulate ship, which was in clear violation of the imperial
senate rules. “Set a distress signal then inform the senate that all aboard
were killed.”
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+1 Overall +1
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At the Death Star meeting he uses the force to choke General Motti
for his “lack of faith.”
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+1 Overall +2
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Gets scolded by Grand Moff Tarkin and has to let go of Motti. In the
next 2 episodes (when Vader becomes a main character and his theme song is
introduced) he is the highest ranking officer and is free to kill anyone.
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-1 Overall +1
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Fails to get any information from Princess Leia again, then Grand
Moff Tarkin shows Vader how it’s done and gets her to talk with an
“alternative form of persuasion.”
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-1 Overall 0
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Comes up with a plan to track the rebels back to their actual
base. “You're sure the homing beacon
is secure aboard their ship? I'm taking an awful risk, Vader.”
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+1 Overall +1
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Talks trash to Obi Wan, then finishes him off with a chop.
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+1 Overall +2
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Opens up shop in the Death Star trench, destroying ship after ship.
He also has his own special TIE fighter. You can see throughout all the
movies, piloting is his greatest strength.
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+2 Overall +4
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Final Thoughts: Despite capturing the audience’s attention
throughout the movie, he doesn’t do much. He even gets talked down to by Grand
Moff Tarkin, who is “holding Vader’s leash.” Tarkin is the one who gives the
order to fire the Death Star’s beam at Alderaan. He is supposed to be the main
villain, but he’s not as captivating as Darth Vader, so he gets overlooked.
I almost took a point away for Vader's ship getting shot by Han Solo
at the end, but he doesn’t even get hit by Han. His own scrub teammate crashes
into him. The job of his wingmen is to absorb any attacks from behind so that
he can get off a clear shot. It's great strategy by Vader, but poor execution by his lackeys. One of them gets shot and the other just panics
immediately. If he had been watching his radar maybe he would’ve been prepared.
It’s not like the Falcon wasn’t on their radar, it’s widely known that no ship
that small has a cloaking device.
Luke observes the red droid has a bad motivator and after listening
to C3P0, suggests Uncle Owen consider “that blue one”.
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+1 Overall: +1
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Luke gets tricked by R2D2 into removing the restraining bolt. It
turns out to be a good thing cause he isn’t there to be burnt to death and he
meets Old Ben Kenobi, but still, being tricked and outrun by a droid that
can’t go up stairs is ridiculous.
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-1 Overall: 0
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Luke catches up with R2D2
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+1 Overall: +1
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Luke gets snuck up on and wooped by a sandperson, but is rescued by Obi Wan.
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-1 Overall: 0
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Luke is a shrewd bargainer. He tells Han straight up that his prices
are too high. He is ready to leave negotiations and fly a ship himself.
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+1 Overall: +1
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Luke learns to use the force and successfully completes the training
session onboard the Millennium Falcon.
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+1 Overall: +2
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Luke comes up with a plan to get into the detention area by using Chewbacca
as a prisoner.
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+1 Overall: +3
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Luke contacts C3P0 to save everyone from the trash compacter
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+1 Overall: +4
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Yelling “No!” at Darth Vader before making their escape is not a good
idea. Although it could be a hereditary trait. Stormtroopers begin firing in
their direction.
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-1 Overall: +3
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Luke destroys 2 TIE fighters while fleeing the Death Star.
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+1 Overall: +4
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Luke shows confidence in front of the other pilots. He can bullseye a
wamprat and is certain the Death Star trench run can be successful.
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+1 Overall: +5
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Luke’s callsign is Red 5 during the attack. Which means they consider
him the 5th most skilled pilot on the red squad. When Red Leader
is killed after his unsuccessful shot, Luke assumes command (even though Red
2 (Wedge) and 3 (Biggs) are still alive). He starts issuing commands and
developing plans for attack. “You worry about those fighters, I’ll worry
about towers.” Just before the attack Red Leader was asking Luke, “You sure you can handle this ship, Do you even lift?” Who’s laughing now?
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+1 Overall: +6
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Luke makes a 1 in a million shot, blowing up the deathstar. Receives
medal like a boss.
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+5 Overall: +11
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Final Thoughts: Luke is overlooked by a lot of people, but
he is actually one of the strongest characters. He has no fear from the
beginning. When he thinks there might be sandpeople, he goes for a look. When
it gets real in a battle, he doesn’t panic. He’s a quick learner, a quick
thinker and a natural leader. He’s quite clever for a human. His main downfall
is that he isn’t as handsome as Han Solo.
Princess Leia
Before she’s captured, she gets the Death Star plans hidden and
safely away from Darth Vader.
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+1 Overall: +1
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Her resistance to the mind probe is considerable.
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+1 Overall: +2
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Gives Grand Moff Tarkin a decoy rebel base (Dantooine), knowing that
it’s too remote to make an effective demonstration, instead of the actual
base (Yavin). Tarkin was going to destroy Alderaan no matter what answer she
gave, so I’m not deducting points for that.
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+1 Overall: +3
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Leia comes up with an escape plan when they are trapped in the
detention area. Someone’s got to save their skins.
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+1 Overall: +4
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She’s pretty good with the blaster, nails a couple enemies.
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+1 Overall: +5
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She leads the Empire to the actual Rebel Base even though she knows
they are being tracked. It’s the only explanation for the ease of their
escape.
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-1 Overall: +4
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Final thoughs: She gets it done, but the story doesn’t completely
depend on her. Still, she’s a strong female character who keeps her clothes on
(for now).
Han Solo
He gets a good bargain from Ben for simply flying them from one
planet to another. “Who’s gonna fly it, you?”
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+1 Overall +1
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Shoots Greedo and leaves him there, but does tip the bartender.
“Sorry about the mess.”
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+1 Overall +2
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Smooths things over with Jabba, even calls him a “wonderful human
being”, even though it’s not in the script. This scene was cut from the
original but added back in.
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+1 Overall +3
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Outruns the Imperial Star Destroyer with his maneuvers. “Don’t
everyone thank me at once.”
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+1 Overall +3
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Hides the crew in his smuggling compartments to avoid being caught on
the Death Star. He also forges the ship’s log to say they abandoned ship just
after takeoff.
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+1 Overall +4
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I love that he tells the
Imperial officer that the elevator is full and points to Chewbacca. He blasts everything in sight in the
detention area, then has a hilarious ad libbed conversation to buy Luke some
time. “Boring conversation anyway.”
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+1 Overall +5
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Charges a couple of storm troopers and sends them fleeing
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+1 Overall +6
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Realizes he was in way over his head when he runs into hundreds of
troops, then runs away
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-1 Overall +5
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Destroys 2 tie fighters while fleeing the Death Star
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+1 Overall +6
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Stays for the whole battle plan speech, then leaves right before the
battle like a dick
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-1 Overall +5
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Comes back at a critical time in the Death Star battle and saves Luke.
I knew there was more to him than money.
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+3 Overall +8
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Final Thoughts: He’s so cocky and self confident that he
quickly becomes your favorite. He can speak Wookiee, Huttese and whatever
language Greedo speaks. He has his own ship and is good in a firefight. He’s a
quick thinker, smooth talker and a good leader.
He holds the death star plans and gets into the escape pod.
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+1 Overall +1
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Gets zapped and captured by the Jawas
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-1 Overall 0
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Tricks Luke into removing the restraining bolt so he can go looking
for Obi Wan. “I’ve never seen such devotion in a droid before.”
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+1 Overall +1
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He cleverly hides when the Sand people attack, he is the only one
left unharmed. He plays the message for Obi Wan.
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+1 Overall +2
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As soon as he gets on the Imperial network he alerts everyone to
Princess Leia’s location.
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+1 Overall +3
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Artoo reminds C3P0 to check the comlink so he can rescue Han, Chewy,
Leia, and Luke from being crushed to death.
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+2 Overall +5
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Gives the plans to the Rebels and possibly is the one to provide the
location of the Death Star’s weakness.
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+1 Overall +6
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Locks down a stabilizer for Luke during the Death Star battle. Also
takes a shot to the back of the head during the battle.
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+2 Overall +8
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Final thoughts: R2D2 is a driving force throughout all the
episodes. He solves everyone’s problems and saves the day numerous times. Hardly ever making a mistake, I could argue
that the Force is as strong with him as with any other character.
