The Force is strong with this one, or maybe they had too much to drink that night and came up with a ridiculous fan theory. Okay, I’m probably being too harsh, but sometimes, no matter how much you love a franchise, your convoluted, left-field theories can be, well, convoluted left-field theories. And from savage Ewoks to Jar Jar’s fictional stint as a Sith Lord, there’s no shortage of them for “Star Wars.”
Here are the top 10 outlandish Star Wars fan theories.
Related: 10 Awesome Fan Theories About Extremely Popular Series
10 Jar Jar Binks Is the True Villain of “Star Wars”
All Lumpawarroo, a Redditor, wanted to do was justify Jar Jar Binks’s character. I mean, how much crap can a character take? The Gungan is awkward, clumsy, kind of racist, an outcast; he is so obviously flawed it’s not even funny (I mean, it is, but…). Anyway, Lumpawarroo believed that Binks is the way he is because he’s actually the true villain of Star Wars. If his flaws are resolved, so too will the universe be made right.
9 Mace Windu Is Grumpy Because He’s Jealous
Mace Windu is the pissant of Star Wars. He ticks people off, he’s not the friendliest of people, and he presents himself as the frowning old grandpa who is constantly belittling the younger generations. Still, he’s a unique character with an awesome saber and successfully plays both Jedi and Dark Side.
Granted that his less than gracious attitude toward Anakin is seemingly founded in the evil he feels emanating from Anakin, one fan theory suggests that Windu is a grump all the time because he was supposed to be the Chosen One. The Chosen One is the prophesized individual who is supposed to destroy the Sith and return the balance to the Force. Why say this? Well, for one, Windu doesn’t believe in Anakin’s abilities. But Windu is arrogant, so that’s not too much of a stretch.
The main argument, though, is that Windu did try to assassinate Palpatine to balance the Force himself. Once Anakin finds out that Palpatine is a Sith Lord, Windu takes Palpatine into his own hands. However, since he’s not the Chosen One, he fails.
But wouldn’t this just make Windu a superior character? He is more talented than most of the OG characters and astute enough to realize that Palpatine needs to go, like, immediately. Sure, it may have been arrogance that led to Windu’s outcome, but Windu’s not jealous; he’s just right (and better than everyone else).
8 Lucas Pokes at Spielberg in “The Phantom Menace”
This one isn’t so outlandish as creators and directors place easter eggs in things all the time. But perhaps this one is a case of mistaken identity. In The Phantom Menace, some fans believe they see E.T. (as in, “E.T. phone home,” E.T.). If you skip to the scene where alien races attempt to dismiss Chancellor Velorum, you can see a group of aliens that look just like the guy! Since Spielberg and Lucas have a history together, people believe this is an easter egg to their directorial alliance.
7 Just Because They Look Alike…
Jumping to one of the more recent Star Wars films, there’s a fan theory that states that Jyn Erso is Rey’s mother. Unfortunately, there are some major timeline discrepancies that disprove this theory.
Erso first appears in Rogue One, which, in the ‘verse, puts it before A New Hope (oBBY). Okay, so, if Erso were Rey’s mother, that would mean that Rey was 34 in The Force Awakens, which she isn’t. Yeah, I know the two actresses look alike, but it’s a coincidence. Erso is not Rey’s mother. Believe me.
In The Rise of Skywalker, British actress Jodie Comer makes a cameo as Rey’s mother, who, it turns out, is a veritable nobody. Rey’s father, on the other hand, is Palpatine’s son. Her parents abandoned her to protect her from her grandfather, but of course, Rey doesn’t find this out until much later.
6 Snoke Is Vader
Uh, no, Snoke is not Vader. Snoke, for those who need a refresher, is the Supreme Leader of the First Order. He’s the guy who convinced Kylo to join the dark side. But as outlandish as the theory may seem, it did start within the Star Wars universe itself.
The fan theory arose out of the idea that Palpatine’s spirit was transferred to Vader’s body, which in turn became Snoke. Too bad we see Luke burning Vader’s body… Thanks for not confirming this one, Star Wars.
5 Snoke Is Luke’s Wife?
Would people drop the Snoke speculation already? This one is really pushing the boundaries of what is possible. But I guess when you don’t really have anything to go on for an origin story, you’ll cling to whatever sounds good (even though we have an origin story for Snoke at this point.)
YouTuber Crazy Kahzmoh suggested that Snoke is Luke’s wife (or husband) and Rey is their daughter. Another similar theory states that Rey is their adopted daughter. It’s not Luke’s sexuality that brings issue with this theory; it’s the fact that we know this isn’t true. Hey, we’re all about shipping Snoke and Luke, but if you keep believing this one after what we know, you’re ridic.
4 Snoke Is Jar Jar Binks
This is similar to our first theory, but different.
In this Snoke theory, Jar Jar Binks, who is actually a proficient and talented Force user, collaborates with the Sith and eventually becomes Snoke. This fan theory produced some sweet Darth Binks fan art but doesn’t really hold any water. Sometimes, we just need to accept that Binks is a fool with no other purpose than to be a fool. He wasn’t tricking anyone as to how intelligent he was as Yoda did in Empire; there wasn’t anything deep to Palpatine’s hologram fakeout in The Force Awakens.
Snoke was created by Palpatine to rule in his absence.
3 Luke Didn’t Blow Up the Death Star
We know that Luke blew up the Death Star. Trusting the Force, he fired two proton torpedos into the reactor core and bye-bye Death Star! But one Redditor claims to have heard a theory that argues otherwise. For this one, the Stormtroopers are the ones who did it.
Like their inability to hit a target, they also can’t press a button. This refers to the scene right before the explosion when they say, “Standby.” So yup! Stormtroopers blew up the Death Star. Maybe it’s the one who hit his head against the door frame.
2 The Jedi Aren’t as “Good” as You’d Like to Believe
Sometimes, the theories we think are the most impossible are actually spot on, and this has happened a lot in Star Wars. For instance, Palpatine created Snoke, Rey is a Palpatine, Boba Fett survives the pit, etc. One theory, however, is a bit more philosophical and blurs the lines of right and wrong in the franchise.
When we think of Jedi versus Sith, we immediately think of good versus evil. That’s because our protagonists are usually Jedi, and we want to believe that the main character of an adventure film is the good guy. We want to cheer for the good guys! But think about it. Jedi aren’t as heroic as they seem (thank you, Anakin). And who can blame him?
First of all, the Jedi are essentially a Star Wars mafia. They offer “protection” but with some heavy political influence attached. They don’t like people opposing the Republic and want the Jedi Order to remain the political system. Follow the Jedi, or leave. Second, their practices are kind of extreme. They take children from their families and subject them to intense and dangerous training. Qui-Gon essentially enters a young (child status) Anakin in a deadly pod race for materials.
Third, and probably the strongest argument for the theory, comes from the lips of Luke Skywalker. In The Last Jedi he tells Rey that a Jedi’s vanity is their downfall and that they need to die off.
1 Darth Maul Is Still Alive
I like Darth Maul because he is seemingly so one-off, so cool, and—personally—underrated. Plus his face. Who else has a face like that? Anyway, this theory suggests that Darth Maul, the vengeful Sith Lord, is still alive simply because of his impact in The Phantom Menace. In other words, he was just too badass to die.
I mean, he did take down Qui-Gon Jinn. If anyone is going to take down the maverick Jedi, it better be someone equally as cool. But obviously, Obi-Wan and Owen Lars killed Darth Maul, so how is there any chance of him being able to survive that blast to the head?
Hatred. Yes, let the hate flow through you.
Darth Maul was shown alive in The Clone Wars after his brother found him sporting some mechanical spider legs. Design choices aside, this was definitely a shock to audiences and a win for the theorists out there. Maul’s hatred for Obi-Wan is what kept this guy kickin’, even though he is half spider now.