The evolution of Star Wars

[DigiFluid]

I've been spending a lot of time on Wookieepedia lately, and the last little while I've been reading about the origins of the original film. It's....at times truly bizarre, but I think it's kind of an interesting window into both the creative process and what Star Wars might have been had George Lucas had more clout than a newcomer nobody had heard of. Anyway, much of this straight out of WP:


May 1974 - The Star Wars (rough draft)


Opening Crawl:

Until the recent GREAT REBELLION,
the JEDI BENDU were the most
feared warriors in the universe.
For one hundred thousand years,
generations of JEDI perfected their
art as the personal bodyguards of
the emperor. They were the chief
architects of the invincible
IMPERIAL SPACE FORCE which expanded
the EMPIRE across the galaxy,
from the celestial equator
to the farthest reaches of the GREAT RIFT.

Now these legendary warriors are
all but extinct. One by one they have
been hunted down and destroyed as
enemies of the NEW EMPIRE by a ferocious
and sinister rival warrior sect,
THE KNIGHTS OF SITH.

Synopsis (note: quite clearly a rough draft)

Spoiler:

The Jedi Kane Starkiller and his two sons, Deak and Annikin Starkiller live on the Fourth Moon of Utapau. Their seclusion from the forces of the Galactic Empire is interrupted by the arrival of a Sith flying a Banta Four starfighter. The Jedi and his sons go to investigate, but the Sith gets a jump on them, killing Deak with a single blow. Their foe is no match, however, for a Jedi Master, and Kane avenges his apprentice. It is clear that the exiles must flee the Kissel system and they leave for their homeworld of Aquilae. Aquilae, a planet not yet controlled by the Empire, is ruled by the wise King Kayos and Queen Breha. Unfortunately, even as the Jedi arrive in system, the Galactic Emperor, Cos Da****, plots with his advisors to annex it, one of the last of the Independent Systems. Spies on Alderaan, the gas giant capital of the Empire, leave to bring news of this to Aquilae's leadership.

Kane and his sons arrive at Aquilae and contact the royal government at their Underground Fortress. Kane reunites with a fellow Jedi, Luke Skywalker, now a General in the Aquilaean military. Kane reveals to his friend the extent of his cybernetic replacements-- only his head and arm remain flesh. Because of this, he believes that he cannot adequately train his remaining son, and asks Skywalker to train him as a padawaan learner. Not long after princess Leia, Kayos's daughter, leaves for Yuell to study at the Chatos Academy, a huge space fortress enters the Aquilaean system. The king leaves for Amsel to meet with his Senate and determine whether to go to war with the Empire. Kane goes to Gordon, a seedy starport, to meet with his friend Han Solo, a Ureallian. When the wounded Clieg Whitsun, one of the spies from Alderaan, arrives to warn the Aquilaeans of the Empire's plans of conquest, a decision is quickly made to resist. Annikin is sent to the Academy to secure the princess. The fortress is assaulted and damaged, and two droids aboard, C-3PO and R2-D2 prematurely evacuate, landing their lifepod in the Jundland Wastes.

It transpires that the real reason for the invasion is the Aquilaean facility with genetics and biology, including cloning. Hoedaack tells Darth Vader that it is crucial to capture one of the royal family in order to control the planet, since its people have been ruled by them for 10,000 years. Without a puppet ruler, he explains, the Empire would get no cooperation stealing the biotic secrets of Aquilae. Simultaneously, King Kayos is killed by an Imperial ambush and the Senate of Aquilae sues for peace. The two droids encounter Annikin and Leia returning from the Academy in the desert. They regroup at a hidden entrance to the royal fortress and the Queen decides to send for help from the Ophuchi system. Luke, Annikin, and the royal children, including Leia's younger brothers Biggs and Windy, disguise themselves and leave for Gordon. At Gordon, the heroes are embroiled in a fracas in a cantina. Outside the cantina, they encounter Han Solo, and in the slums, Kane. It is decided to that to leave Aquilae they will have to escape on a Baltarian freighter, but a power source is needed for the microcases that will hold the young princes in hibernation to avoid detection. Kane sacrifices one from his own mechanical chest, giving up his life.

The freighter, however, is a trap. The captain is none other than Valorum, one of the Sith Knights. The heroes are subdued and taken prisoner, and they are thrown into a cell. This proves as only a minor setback, as they succeed in overpowering their guards, leaving the ship and taking an Imperial starship. They take off, but are pursued by Imperial craft. The ship eludes the enemy by entering an asteroid field, and passing through into one of the Forbidden Systems. Unfortunately, their ship is critically damaged. Everyone climbs into life pods and they eject the wreck. The pods fall into the jungle planet of Yavin, home of the Wookees. Artwo and Annikin set out from their pod, looking for the others. They find a group of Yourellian trappers trying to capture Wookees. The trappers are routed, and one of the Wookees, Chewbacca, carries Annikin, who has been wounded in the fight, to his tribe's settlement. Artwo follows. As this is going on, everyone but Leia has gathered at the home of two anthropologists named Owen and Beru Lars. Meanwhile, after fighting Jommillia, Annikin is accepted by the tribe. Han and Skywalker take jetsticks and locate Annikin, Artwo and the Wookees. Because Han is able to speak the Wookee language, the heroes learn that Leia is imprisoned at the Mavassi outpost, an Imperial camp. Han, Skywalker, Annikin and the Wookees attack the Imperial base, but find that Leia has already been sent to Aquilae. A group of Imperial troops find Biggs and Windy, but are defeated.

Annikin and Artwo fly an Imperial ship to the fortress, and Artwo accesses the computer. They find the location of the princess's cell. Annikin disables a stormtrooper and takes his armor. He is trapped by Imperial troops, and gassed into unconsciousness, and Vader ordered Valorum to execute him. Simultaneously, Skywalker commands a group of fighters piloted by Wookees, and the nine vessels head toward the fortress. Valorum has a last minute change of heart. He cannot kill his prisoner, and releases him. Together they find the princess and let her out of her cell. The power fails as a barrage of hits from the Wookees damages the space station. The heroes, including Valorum, boarded life pods and escape as it explodes. The new Queen of Aquilae, Leia, rewards the heroes in the Palace of Lite. The droids are upgraded to class A-4, and Annikin is appointed Lord Protector of Aquilae.

Interesting to see the earliest genesis of Star Wars ideas. Lots of names and ideas there that survived even into the prequel movies three decades later, albeit obviously modified.

The "First Draft" of The Star Wars followed in July 1974. It was mostly juggling names of character, but included a new opening crawl:

Until the recent GREAT REBELLION,
the DAI NOGAS were the most
feared warriors in the universe.
For one hundred thousand years,
generations of DAI perfected their art
as the personal bodyguards of the King.
They were the chief architects of the
invincible ROYAL SPACE FORCE,
which expanded the King's power across
the galaxy, from the celestial equator
to the farthest stars.

Now these legendary warriors
are all but extinct. One by one,
they have been hunted down
and destroyed as enemies of
the NEW GALACTIC KINGDOM by a
ferocious and sinister rival
warrior sect, THE LEGIONS OF LETTOW.

[DigiFluid]

And then in 1975, came the next evolution of the story. It seems a bit closer to ANH as we know it, but boy does it ever get strange at times:



Jan 1975 - Adventures of the Starkiller, Episode I: The Star Wars


Opening Crawl:

The REPUBLIC GALACTICA is dead.
Ruthless trader barons,
driven by greed and the
lust for power, have replaced
enlightenment with oppression,
and "rule by the people"
with the FIRST GALACTIC EMPIRE.

Until the tragic Holy Rebellion of "06",
the respected JEDI BENDU OF ASHLA
were the most powerful warriors
in the Universe.
For a hundred thousand years,
generations of Jedi Bendu knights
learned the ways of the mysterious
FORCE OF OTHERS, and acted as the
guardians of peace and justice
in the REPUBLIC. Now these legendary
warriors are all but extinct.
One by one they have been hunted down
and destroyed by a ferocious
rival sect of mercenary warriors:
THE BLACK KNIGHTS OF THE SITH.

It is a period of civil wars.
The EMPIRE is crumbling into
lawless barbarism throughout
the million worlds of the galaxy.
From the celestial equator to
the farthest reaches of the GREAT RIFT,
seventy small solar systems have
united in a common war against
the tyranny of the Empire.
Under the command of a mighty
Jedi warrior known as THE STARKILLER,
the REBEL ALLIANCE has won a crushing
victory over the deadly Imperial Star Fleet.
The Empire knows that one more such defeat
will bring a thousand more solar systems
into the rebellion, and Imperial control
of the Outlands could be lost forever...

Synopsis

Spoiler:

Above the planet Utapau and its five moons, a rebel starfighter fled three pursuing Imperial Stardestroyers. One of the Imperial cruisers exploded, but the Rebel craft was damaged .

Within the damaged Rebel ship were two droids, Threepio and Artwo. The smaller droid led his counterpart toward a corridor. A barrage from one of the Stardestroyers blew a hole in the ship, and Threepio was covered in debris. The Captain, Deak Starkiller, an Aquillian Ranger and a Jedi, arrived and checked on the hapless robots. He informed his officers that to expect a boarding party, and that a Sith knight was with them. Deak sensed him in the Force.

Deak ordered a group of R2 units into the ship's lifepods to seek help from his younger brother, Luke Starkiller. One of those sent was Artoo, who took Threepio along. Stormtroopers swarmed onto the Rebel ship, and started attacking the crew. After a firefight, Darth Vader, clad in an armored spacesuit, entered the vessel. He flung objects and fragments of the ship at Deak using the Force, battering the young Ranger. Finally, Vader drained Deak of his life force and the Rebel passed into unconsciousness. Vader believed he had captured the Son of the Suns and had averted defeat for the Bogan.

Meanwhile, on Utapau, Artoo and Threepio are captured by Jawas and imprisoned inside a sandcrawler. After a prison break, the droids escape, and get directions to the Lars homestead from a local. The same local, however, reports the droids to an Imperial spy, called a Gray Tusken.

At the Lars moisture farm, the droids encountered Biggs Starkiller and his twin brother Windy. Also residing there were the Jedi Owen and his wife Beru Lars, the Starkiller brothers' guardians. Leia Lars was the 16-year old cousin of Luke, Biggs and Windy. When he was given the code word Angel Blue, Luke, who is practicing with his laser sword, stops his exercises and introduces himself to the droids as "The Skywalker", his Jedi title, though he was still an apprentice.

Artoo projected a hologram from Deak explaining that Luke must take the Kaiburr Crystal, which was under the care of Owen Lars, to Ogana Major, where the Empire was attacking the world. The Starkiller, father of all four Starkiller brothers, was defending Ogana, but they needed the Crystal to protect against the Bogan and its minions. Owen believed that Deak would have been taken to the Imperial capital of Alderaan. Though Luke's training was incomplete, and his heart was set on becoming an archaeologist, he took up the mission. He visited his mother's grave site that evening, and explained to his younger brothers the history of the Jedi and the rise of the Empire.

With the Kaiburr Crystal, Luke and the droids took a landspeeder to Mos Eisley. As they made their way there, Luke scoped out a pursuer, the Tusken, with his binoculars.

In Mos Eisley, Luke made contact with Han Solo, a young space pirate. Solo came to his aid when a fight breaks out in the Mos Eisley Cantina, though Luke's laser sword was more effective than Solo's laser pistol. In exchange for a million credits on delivery, Solo would get Luke to Ogana Major. As it transpired, Solo was deeply in debt to Oxus, the captain of a TDF104 docked there.

Faking a reactor malfunction, Solo hijacked Oxus's ship. Only three other crewmembers stayed with them: Montross Holdaack, the science officer, a cyborg, and Chewbacca, the Wookiee. The ship blasted off from Mos Eisley and headed into hyper-skip to Ogana Major.

But their destination was no more: Ogana Major had been destroyed by the Empire. How, was yet a mystery. Luke directed Han to pilot the ship to Alderaan, in hopes of rescuing Deak. The ship docked on the floating city and Luke and Han stole stormtrooper armor as a disguise. Chewbacca would be their "prisoner". They found Deak, now dying from his torture, and carried him off, escaping both the garrison and strange Dai Noga creatures. As they blast out of the Imperial capital, four TIE fighters followed them. Luke used the Kaiburr Crystal to keep Deak alive.

As they arrived at their destination, the moon Yavin 4, site of the secret rebel base, they found that an immense space station had tracked and followed them. Ejecting from the pirate ship, the heroes landed on Yavin in lifepods. On Yavin is the Massassi outpost, where they were debriefed. General Dodana explained the dangers and weaknesses of the Death Star.

Miraculously, The Starkiller, Luke's father, survived the destruction of Ogana Major. With the Crystal, the ancient Jedi is revived. He explained that Luke would complete his training with him.

Luke joined the strike force assembled to attack the Death Star, but despite a payment of 8 million credits, Han declined to help. With Bail Antilles, Artoo and Threepio, and the Crystal, Luke flew his fighter toward the space station. Other Rebel pilots targeted the station's poles.

Darth Vader, however, sensed the Crystal, and pursued Luke with his personal starfighter. He was about to destroy Luke and his crew, but unexpectedly, Han, Montross and Chewbacca attacked him, saving the young Jedi. Vader piloted his ship into the pirates' craft, dying, but seriously damaging the larger vessel.

Luke was able to maneuver the Rebel ship into position, and Antilles and Threepio fire the turrets into the exhaust port. The Death Star exploded as Luke's ship flew past a lifepod from the pirate ship; Han and his crewmates had survived.

The Empire had suffered a serious defeat.

Closing Crawl:

...And a thousand new systems
joined the rebellion,
causing a significant crack
in the great wall of the
powerful Galactic Empire.
The Starkiller would once
again spark fear in the
hearts of the Sith knights,
but not before his sons
were put to many tests...
the most daring of which was
the kidnapping of the Lars
family, and the perilous
search for:
"THE PRINCESS OF ONDOS."

This one seems to be more closely resembling the original film that we all know and love, but at least for me I find this one a lot more bizarre. I wonder how much acid factored into this draft

[LtColCarter]

Thanks for posting this!

[Teddybrown]

Wow, how the story changed but the ideas and characters mostly stayed the same.

[Amann]

Wow, that was.....crack.....so glad they changed that. Reminds me of Turkish Star Wars or something.