From simple farm boy to Jedi Knight, Luke Skywalker is one of the most enduring characters in all of the Star Wars mythos, and for good reason, too. A Jedi Knight in a time when there were no Jedi. A beacon of light in a galaxy filled with darkness. Luke used his father's lightsaber and then built one of his own, but there is much more to this iconic hero than just his laser sword.
A lightsaber is an elegant weapon for a more civilized time, but like the Jedi of the past knew, not every problem can be solved with one. A Jedi must be versatile, with a wide range of skills to call on when needed.
10 Impersonating A Stormtrooper To Save Princess Leia
In A New Hope, Luke has to infiltrate the Death Star with Han Solo and Chewbacca to rescue Princess Leia Organa. Captured at the beginning of the film trying to get the Death Star plans to Obi-Wan Kenobi, Leia has traded insults with Moff Tarkin and been interrogated by Darth Vader but she still hasn't cracked.
By impersonating one of the Emperor's loyal soldiers, Luke finds where she's being held and heads there to rescue her. Leia isn't fooled by the disguise for one second, and she calls him out by giving audiences one of the most iconic moments from the entire Skywalker saga.
9 Understanding R2-D2's Beeps And Whistles
Only a few characters in Star Wars have the uncanny ability to understand droidspeak, and Luke is one of them. The bond he forms with R2-D2 through his connection with Obi-Wan is undeniable and seeing the two together is one of the franchise's most enduring images — almost as iconic as the double act of R2-D2 and C-3PO themselves. Although he uses his X-Wing to translate for him in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, Luke also has the innate ability to intuitively know what R2 is saying and he can respond in kind, carrying out entire conversations with the feisty droid.
8 Using Force Jump To Escape Danger On Bespin
Luke is only seen using this ability once, in the Empire Strikes Back after he's reached Cloud City and been tricked into a carbonite freezing chamber. Darth Vader remarks "All too easy" as he activates the machine, but fortunately for Luke, his reflexes take over and he leaps to safety as the freezing mist surrounds him. This ability, something all Jedi are able to do, is also used by Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn in The Phantom Menace.
7 Moving Objects At Will Using The Force
Luke first uses this ability in an ice cave on Hoth to pull his lightsaber into his hand and save himself from the deadly wampa that's captured him. It's a difficult skill to master; on Dagobah, his sinking X-wing proved too much for Luke to lift, only for Yoda to carry out the feat easily and teach Luke that manipulating objects with the Force is all a matter of mind.
This is a lesson Luke has learned by the time of The Rise of Skywalker, when he demonstrates that this power is now well within his grasp by raising his X-wing from the ocean on Ahch-To effortlessly.
6 Sensing The Future Through The Force
When Luke is training on Dagobah, engaging in the ancient Jedi art of floating rocks, he receives a premonition of the future due to his strong connection with the Force. In many ways, this ability more of a burden than an advantage, because when Luke sees the future he is prematurely pushed into a conflict with Darth Vader to save his friends at great expense to himself.
Although admonished by Yoda for taking this impulsive course of action, it exemplifies Luke's selfless nature to throw himself in harm's way rather than let his friends suffer.
5 Becoming A Force Ghost And Returning After Death
Only the most skilled and powerful Jedi can reach out of the void and return to provide counsel and wisdom to the living in the form of Force ghosts. In his years of reflection on Ahch-To, Luke attained the ability to return from death.
A skill learned by only a select few, this technique was rediscovered by Qui-Gon Jinn after being lost for centuries and then passed on to Obi-Wan and Yoda. Both Obi-Wan and Master Yoda used this ability to return and inspire Luke to embrace the past without letting it define him, and to become the Jedi he was destined to be.
4 Surviving A Fight To The Death With A Rancor
In a return to Tatooine, while trying to free Leia from the vile gangster Jabba the Hutt in Return of the Jedi, Luke is unceremoniously dropped into a rancor pit after attempting negotiation. Without even a blaster in hand, he uses his wits and Jedi senses to defeat the hulking beast. In an impressive display of quick thinking and cunning, he lures the creature into position and drops the heavy door onto the rancor's head just as it lunges for the kill.
3 Using Force Projection To Defeat Kylo Ren
During his years of isolation on Ahch-To, Luke truly mastered his Force powers, and none are more impressive than Force projection. In The Last Jedi, this is used in one of the series' most visually-impressive battles. Kylo Ren orders his legion of AT-M6s to fire on Luke but the barrage of blaster fire doesn't leave a scratch on him. Kylo then goes out to face his former mentor in a duel, but no matter how hard he tries, the enraged Sith can't hit Luke.
It turns out this was all a ploy to delay and defeat Kylo Ren by not fighting him. Unfortunately, the act is so strenuous that it costs Luke his life and afterwards, he must become one with the Force itself.
2 Being An Ace Fighter Pilot And Destroying The First Death Star
Like his father, Luke is a talented fighter pilot after honing his abilities back on his homeworld of Tatooine by bulls-eyeing womp rats in Beggar's Canyon. Luke, like fellow Force users Anakin and Rey, can turn his hand to any craft and fly it with expert skill. These skills are shown to their fullest in his X-wing, aided by R2-D2 as he led the mission that destroyed the first Death Star and started him on his journey of toppling the entire Empire.
1 Bringing Vader Back To The Light Side And Defeating The Emperor
At the end of Return of the Jedi, Luke is faced with an impossible choice: die or serve under Emperor Palpatine, the mastermind behind the fall of the Republic, the downfall of Anakin Skywalker to the dark side of the Force, and the destruction of the entire Jedi Order.
Though tempted by Palpatine to raise his lightsaber and strike him down, Luke doesn't succumb to temptation and decides to be a Jedi like his father before him. Enraged, Palpatine attacks but is ultimately defeated — for a while — by the bond between father and son, something even the Emperor himself with all his dark side sorcery couldn't break.