One of the most wonderful aspects of being a fan of Star Wars is just how sprawling the franchise truly is. There are so many aspects to Star Wars— comic books, movies, novels, video games, board games, costumes, television shows, toys, and so much more. As a result, there’s a lot of fan theories that can be based on tiny amounts of evidence.
Even moreso, some fan theories accumulate a great deal of evidence— and get accepted as fan canon eventually, or fanon. While some of these Star Wars fan theories are completely unbelievable, some fans come up with convincing arguments for even the most ridiculous concepts. There are some headcanons that, while totally far-fetched, might just be out-there enough to be true.
10 Anakin Did Bring Balance To The Force
In the prequel trilogy, Anakin Skywalker, who would later become Darth Vader, is given a great deal of backstory that he didn’t previously have. One of these details is that there is a destiny for Anakin Skywalker, and that face plays a role in the Force and in the lives of those living in the galaxy. Qui-Gon Jinn finds Anakin Skywalker and is quickly convinced that Anakin is the chosen one, fated by the Jedi to eventually bring balance to the Force.
Anakin’s eventual collapse and turn to the Dark Side made the Jedi Council believe this made destiny incorrect, but many fans argue the opposite. Anakin is not only Darth Vader, but his children are Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa: it seems that, in the end, Anakin may just have been the one who ended up bringing balance to the Force.
9 The Ewoks Are Vicious Beasts
When Star Wars is creating merchandise and working on marketing tactics, Ewoks are most often depicted as cute, cuddly little teddy bear creatures. Characters like Han Solo in the Star Wars universe know better, and many fans have noticed more details, too.
Ewoks may be small and cute, but, when they captured Han, Luke Skywalker, and their group, they proved how vicious they can be, too. When the Ewoks strung up the team, many fans took this as evidence that the Ewoks were going to torture the group before inevitably consuming them. Some fans still see Ewoks as adorable little aliens, but many fans know better and believe that the theory that Ewoks are bloodthirsty beasts holds water.
8 Obi-Wan Kenobi Remembers R2-D2
Because George Lucas didn’t quite anticipate how huge Star Wars would eventually become when he released Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope in 1977 there are some details that don’t line up. Of course, inconsistencies and breaks in continuity are perfect places to breed fan theories. In A New Hope, Obi-Wan Kenobi comments to Luke Skywalker that he doesn’t recognize the droids R2-D2 and C-3PO.
However, in the prequel trilogy, fans saw this wasn’t true. It’s likely that Obi-Wan does remember the droids, evidenced by comments like the one he makes in the Star Wars novel A New Hope: The Princess, the Scoundrel, and the Farm Boy, written by Alexandra Bracken with illustrations by Iain McCaig. This novel shows that Obi-Wan makes a quiet comment to R2 that implies that he still remembers his old friend.
7 Boba Fett Killed Uncle Owen And Aunt Beru
Luke Skywalker’s only family— or so he thinks— are his Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru. After they’re killed at the beginning of A New Hope, Luke has nothing tying him to Tatooine anymore, and elects to leave the planet behind with Obi-Wan Kenobi and Han Solo. While it is implied, to Luke and Obi-Wan, that Stormtroopers are responsible for the deaths of Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru, as well as the destruction of Luke’s home, some fans disagree.
Because Boba Fett was on Tatooine at the time, and because Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru’s deaths happen off-screen, there are fans who believe Boba Fett was responsible for killing them, possibly as a bounty. While other fans find this unlikely, fans of Boba Fett always love to seek places where the character can appear again in canon.
6 Snoke Was Actually Darth Plagueis The Wise
When the character of Snoke first appeared in the sequel trilogy, there was a great deal of secrecy and mystery shrouding him. While he’s slightly less of an intriguing figure now, there is still a great deal of fan speculation about who Snoke was and what his history may have possibly been, before his first appearances.
Some even think that Snoke may be a later form of Darth Plagueis the Wise. Darth Plagueis is brought up by Emperor Palpatine to Anakin Skywalker in order to lure him to the Dark Side. Recalling this story that Palpatine once told, fans put together puzzle pieces combining his history with Snoke’s later appearances, combining the two separate characters into— potentially— one character overall.
5 Palpatine Is Anakin Skywalker’s Real Father
There are actually a great deal of theories surrounding Palpatine, and even more now that Star Wars: Episode IX — The Rise of Skywalker came out, revealing to audiences that Rey was biologically Palpatine’s granddaughter. Fans started to explore other places in canon that Palpatine could have possibly fathered children, and came up with multiple options.
Though it’s unlikely that Anakin is Rey’s father, as there’s too much lore that wouldn’t help that line up, it’s possible that Anakin was Palpatine’s son. The Midichlorians are responsible for Shmi’s pregnancy, and Palpatine was responsible for them, so it’s possible that Palpatine just is Anakin’s father, and there’s no more to it— or so fans believe.
4 Leia Has Powerful Force Abilities Like Luke
As Leia Organa and Luke Skywalker are twins, born to Padme Amidala and Anakin Skywalker within moments of one another, it wouldn’t be surprising if they possessed similar powers. Though there are many differences between the siblings, both by nature and by nurture as a result of their separation at birth and differing childhoods, they have many similarities, too.
It’s clear, throughout their lives, that both twins are skilled in the Force. Luke is seen to be the more powerful of the two, but Leia is also Force sensitive. It’s possible that Leia is just as powerful as Luke, and some fans even speculate that she’s more powerful and was intended to be the chosen one, not Luke, and that Luke was merely meant to be bait while Leia achieved their true objectives.
3 Jar Jar Binks Is A Sith Lord
There have been many, many theories surrounding the character of Jar Jar Binks over the years. Some fans love him, and some fans hate him, but either way, everybody knows who Jar Jar Binks is. Because he’s become something of a meme since his original unfortunate introduction, fans are constantly revisiting the character and trying out different theories.
Each theory is increasingly wild, though fans are able to come up with evidence for some really out there ideas. One of the most popular fan theories about Jar Jar Binks is that he’s actually a Sith Lord— and enough people have theorized it at this point that many fans (either ironically or unironically, on a case-by-case basis) have accepted this as "fanon."
2 Kylo Ren Didn’t Kill Han Solo
After Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens came out, and Han Solo was taken down by Kylo Ren, fans were, in a word, shocked. Ben Solo was the son of Han Solo and Princess— now General— Leia Organa, and so nobody expected him to be the one to kill Han Solo.
However, when Han was killed, sure enough, Kylo Ren was the one on the other end of the lightsaber that dealt the final blow. Some fans theorize, though, that Kylo Ren wasn’t the one that activated the lightsaber. Instead, these fans believe that Han Solo was the one who activated the lightsaber, to spare his son the inevitable decision and give him more time to resist the Dark Side.
1 Emperor Palpatine Helped The Rebellion To Help Himself
There can be no light without darkness and, similarly, there can be no darkness if there is no light to oppose it. Emperor Palpatine knows this better than anyone, and some fans believe that he even fostered good in the galaxy simply so he could oppose it.
There’s a fan theory that says that Palpatine supported the Rebellion so that he could then crush the Rebellion and prove his abilities. Still, some fans believe this went even further— they believe that Palpatine created the Rebellion just to oppose him, so that he could have an ongoing conflict that he would, of course, inevitably win, thus proving his power. Not only that, he would prove that he earned this power. While evidence for this is scarce, this fan theory is not impossible.