George Lucas created the epic space opera saga Star Wars, which has no shortage of compelling characters. Throughout the franchise’s several eras, multiple characters have emerged as fan-favorites, including one character specifically created to teach Anakin Skywalker one important lesson.
During an interview, Lucas talked about the addition of Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano in The Clone Wars animated series. The acclaimed filmmaker revealed that the character was crafted to make Anakin more responsible between the events of the second and third prequel trilogy installments. Here is what Lucas had to say about the creation of Ahsoka.
George Lucas revealed the importance of introducing Ahsoka Tano in Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Star Wars: The Clone Wars premiered in 2008 and served as a bridge between the second and third installments of the prequel trilogy. It was created by George Lucas, with Dave Filoni serving as the supervising director. Following the show’s premiere, the duo sat down for a chat with Gizmodo.
In the interview, Lucas was asked about the introduction of Ahsoka Tano, a Jedi Padawan assigned under the tutelage of Anakin Skywalker. Lucas explained that Ahsoka was added to the mix to make Anakin grow as a character and make him more responsible.
I wanted to force Anakin into that role of responsibility, into that juxtaposition. I have a couple of daughters so I have experience with that situation.
Lucas made the above comment, underlining Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin’s contentious relationship as one of the factors the latter was given a Padawan of his own.
Furthermore, the acclaimed filmmaker felt that teenage girls were also difficult to deal with, which would’ve posed an extra challenge to Anakin. Therefore, he decided to make the character a female instead of male, with Ahsoka emerging as a true fan-favorite over the years despite her absence from the mainline films.
Dave Filoni underlined why apprentices are important to The Clone Wars
In the same interview, supervising director Dave Filoni also shed some light on creating a counterpart for Ahsoka in the form of Asajj Ventress, the Sith apprentice working under Count Dooku.
Filoni revealed that the character was originally set to debut in Attack of the Clones but was later revived for the animated series.
So now you have these two new women coming into the story at the same time — one is Anakin’s apprentice, and the other is Dooku’s. That worked out very nicely for the story we wanted to tell.
Filoni made the above comment, explaining that the introduction of two apprentice characters was crucial to the story they were trying to tell with the series.
Both characters serve as audience proxies into the world of the Jedi and Sith and are more appropriate for a child audience. Furthermore, as the story progresses, both Ahsoka and Ventress become disillusioned about their faith in their respective orders, leading to some of the best and most complex characterizations in the franchise.
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