The Obi-Wan Kenobi that Star Wars fans knew before he went into self-imposed exile on Tatooine was brash, clever, and would always fight for what was right, no matter what the cost was to him. However, in losing Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan lost everything he believed in and everything he knew. Not only was his closest friend gone, but so was Padme, the Jedi Council, and the world he had once lived in.
With no other choice, Obi-Wan had to protect all that was left of that world: Luke and Leia, the children of Anakin and Padme. While Bail Organa adopted Leia, it was left to Obi-Wan to watch over Luke. Once he set foot on Tatooine, though, and changed his identity to that of Ben Kenobi, the hermit, he changed his own identity in the process.
10 He Left Luke And Leia Behind
The Obi-Wan that most audiences thought they knew would sooner die than leave his family behind. As Episode III — Revenge of the Sith came to a close, Obi-Wan lost his family, however. Anakin chose the Dark Side, leaving Obi-Wan no choice but to try and move past him. Padme dies as a result of Anakin’s actions, leaving Obi-Wan only with Luke and Leia. However, he allows Leia to be adopted by Bail Organa. He can no longer take care of Leia, but he does have Luke still. In deciding to give Luke to Owen Lars, though, he gives up on raising Luke too. Owen doesn’t want Ben Kenobi to have anything to do with Luke, and Ben just lets him dictate this choice.
9 He Didn’t Seek Out Anakin
Even if Anakin had completely snapped, it seemed that Obi-Wan would always go back to help him. After the events of Revenge of the Sith, Anakin is functionally dead to Ben Kenobi. However, he is not technically dead — Anakin Skywalker has become Darth Vader, and he still does exist.
He hasn’t died, and he’s out there still, committing atrocities with the Empire alongside Emperor Palpatine. Despite the fact that Obi-Wan probably would have gone after Anakin, Ben Kenobi does no such thing. He stays put on Tatooine, allowing the new Anakin to destroy half the galaxy in the process.
8 He Became Completely Inactive
Those who observe the old hermit Ben Kenobi comment that he seems to be duty-bound to one final task. While many don’t know that Ben is just trying to look after Luke, he’s not really doing anything else at all. Now and then, he tries to get involved in Luke’s life, only to be rebuffed at every opportunity. When he hears about atrocities around the galaxy, he doesn’t go to help. He just stays on Tatooine, keeping an eye on Luke, never pursuing the acts of goodness and justice that a Jedi is meant to follow. It clearly costs Ben at first but, the longer he’s on Tatooine, the more inactive he becomes.
7 He Stopped Using His Lightsaber
For Obi-Wan Kenobi, his lightsaber was like an extension of his arm. Once he becomes Ben Kenobi and isolates himself on Tatooine, however, he completely stops using it. He tries not to use the Force, either, and attempts to eschew all connections with the way he used to live.
Connecting with the Jedi Order, while it may still be something Ben wants, isn’t something he knows he can allow himself any longer. In stopping his use of his lightsaber, Ben Kenobi becomes somebody entirely different from Obi-Wan.
6 He Let Owen Lars Dictate His Life
The Obi-Wan Kenobi most audiences know would never let somebody else tell him how to live his life. However, he does exactly this with Owen Lars. Every time Ben wants to get involved in Luke’s life, even if Luke needs it or the family needs it to survive some ordeal, Owen Lars ends up berating Ben. Even after Ben saves both Owen and Luke, and it seems that Owen comes to an understanding about Ben’s place in Luke’s life, Ben still doesn’t have a place in raising Luke. The one thing that keeps Ben going is supposedly looking after Luke, and yet he has become so passive that he lets Owen Lars dictate his life and everything about it, including his most important relationship.
5 He Doesn’t Follow His Sense Of Duty
Obi-Wan does believe that Luke Skywalker is meant to bring peace and balance to the Force, and to the galaxy in doing so. However, he doesn’t make sure to fulfill that destiny. When he becomes Ben, he seems to give up on his sense of duty altogether. He loses everything that once gave him the drive and energy to be a powerful Jedi Master and instead becomes a hermit living in a hut far off from where Luke was living. He doesn’t return to the stars, he doesn’t follow Anakin, and he doesn’t fight for justice the way a Jedi should. Instead, he completely circumvents anything that might push him to his old life.
4 He Avoids His Enemies
Once, Obi-Wan would have hunted his enemies to the ends of the galaxy in order to stop them from causing more harm. He saw this as his responsibility and, as such, any harm his enemies caused felt like blood on his hands. After he becomes Ben Kenobi, though, he actively avoids his enemies.
He’s trying to keep Luke safe, in theory, but he’s really just avoiding anything and everything from his old life that isn’t Luke. This isn’t something Obi-Wan ever would have done, but it’s a trait that becomes characteristic of old Ben Kenobi.
3 He Became Much Calmer
Even while on Tatooine, when Darth Maul finally finds him, Ben can’t find it in himself to be the smooth-talking, clever, snappy fighter he once was. When Darth Maul finds him on Tatooine, he tries to instigate a fight between the two of them, but Ben isn’t willing to meet him beat for beat. The Ben that Darth Maul finds is exhausted and wants the fighting to stop. Darth Maul makes fun of him, mocks him and the life he leads, and still Ben just responds calmly, telling Darth Maul that he lives the way he chooses to live and that Darth Maul is the one who is lost. Even when they fight, and Ben Kenobi kills Darth Maul, he takes no joy in it as he may once have. Instead, he just holds Darth Maul as he dies.
2 He Mourned The Death Of Darth Maul
Ben Kenobi may be the one who killed Darth Maul, but he seems to take no pleasure in it. Obi-Wan Kenobi probably would have wanted to kill Darth Maul slowly, and he would have been happy when it was finally done, because the two of them were enemies for so long. As Darth Maul is dying, Ben Kenobi just holds him, comforting him with the knowledge that, someday, all of this will end. Ben even builds a funeral pyre for Darth Maul and burns him in the proper way in order to honor his death. This is something Obi-Wan may never have done, but something characteristic of Ben Kenobi.
1 He Gave Himself Up To Anakin
After all those years in exile, hiding away from the galaxy, supposedly helping protect Luke on his path to restoring peace and balance to the galaxy, Ben Kenobi accompanies Luke to help Leia. In the process, Ben confronts Darth Vader — once Anakin Skywalker — and fights against him. Obi-Wan Kenobi probably never would have lost a battle he knew he could win, but Ben is putting his life on the line to allow Luke and his friends the time to escape. In the end, Ben Kenobi does something Obi-Wan never could: he sacrifices himself.