About

Obi-Wan Kenobi, also known as Ben Kenobi, is a fictional character from the Star Wars series of films, television shows, comic books and other forms of media. In the films, Kenobi portrays the Jedi master or trainer of Anakin and Luke Skywalker, the protagonists of the original Star Wars trilogy and prequel trilogy, respectively. Online, Obi-Wan as portrayed by Ewan McGregor has been the inspiration for numerous Prequel Memes, which focus on the Star Wars prequel trilogy of films.

Origin

On May 25th, 1977, Star Wars (later retitled Star Wars: Episode IV -- A New Hope premiered in the United States. In the film, Luke Skywalker (played by actor Mark Hamill) received a message to meet Obi-Wan Kenobi (played by actor Sir Alec Guiness), whom he knows as Ben Kenobi. Obi-Wan trains Luke in the ways of the force.^[1]

Spread

Since the release of Star Wars, Obi-Wan has appeared in seven Star Wars films, as well as becoming a character on the Star Wars: Clone Wars animated series.

/r/PrequelMemes Bans Ewan McGregor Images

On June 1st, 2018, Redditor^[4] stevethecow, a mod on the /r/PrequelMemes subreddit, amended the rules on the subreddit. They wrote:

"Rule 3: Post must be memes and related to something that happens before ANH. Ewan McGregor’s career is not part of the star wars universe. Pictures of Ewan McGregor are not memes. Also, screenshots of conversations, comment threads, etc are not memes. We get it, prequel memes are in comment threads all over reddit.

"Basically what this boils down to is meta shitposting is displacing actual prequel meme content. As such, asking for upvotes will be a bannable offense going forward, and any post that is not obviously about something that happened in the star wars universe is going to be removed."

The following day, Redditor^[5] DeathPro posted a gif of "How to legalize a Ewan McGregor photo." The post (shown below) received more than 53,000 points (88% upvoted) and 230 comments.

On June 3rd, 2018, Redditor^[2] Clunton asked the /r/OutOfTheLoop subreddit, "Why is Ewan McGregor blacked out of images as if it is illegal to show an image of him online?" The post received more than 2,900 points (92% upvoted) and 130 comments.

That day, Redditor^[3] StudentMathematician responded:

"I've not seen the blacked out images. But r/prequelmemes just banned images of ewan mcgregor (specifically out of context of the prequel trilogy) as being irrelevant to the sub.

"So blacking out Ewan is way to get around the don't post pictures of Ewan rule. Or if it's on another sub, it's making fun of the new rule that you can't post pictures of Ewan."

Related Memes

I Have The High Ground

I Have the High Ground is a catchphrase based on a line said by Obi-Wan Kenobi in the 2005 film Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith . Online, the phrase is often used in Prequel Memes, i.e. jokes regarding Star Wars: Episodes I, II and III.

You Were the Chosen One

You were the chosen one! is a quote from the 2005 science fiction film Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith that is used to express disappointment in someone or something that was once previously seen as promising. On the web, the quote is often referenced in the form of an image macro based on a still shot of Obi-Wan Kenobi from the corresponding scene in the film.

Another Happy Landing

Another Happy Landing refers to a quote uttered by the character Obi-Wan Kenobi in the film Star Wars: Episode III-- Revenge of the Sith. This piece of dialogue has been the frequent subject of jokes via image macros and YouTube remixes, emphasizing actor Ewan McGregor's speedy line reading.

Impossible. Perhaps the Archives Are Incomplete.

Impossible. Perhaps the Archives Are Incomplete is a memorable line from the 2002 science fiction film Star Wars: Episode II -- Attack of the Clones. In the film, the character Obi-Wan Kenobi searches the Jedi archives for a mysterious planet, which appears to have been removed from the database. Online, people have used the moment as the punchline to a joke about incorrect history books.

Well, Of Course I Know Him. He's Me

Well, Of Course I Know Him. He's Me is a memorable quote from the film Star Wars: Episode IV -- A New Hope said by the character Obi-Wan Kenobi, which has become a popular punchline for image macros. Online, the line is used to punctuate a joke in which one person admits to something humorous, absurd or offensive.

"These Aren't the Droids You Are Looking For"

These Are Not the Droids You Are Looking For is a catchphrase often used to humorously assert that an object/statement is is not representing what it appears to represent. The catchphrase has inspired the phrasal template "These Aren't the X You're Looking For".

General Reposti

General Reposti is a commonly used comment on the /r/PrequelMemes subreddit, meaning that the post in question has already been posted, or "reposted". The phrase is a parody of the scene from Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith in which the character Obi-Wan Kenobi (played by Ewan McGregor) surprises the character General Grievous by saying "Hello there." Grievous turns around and says, "General Kenobi, you are a bold one."

Search Interest

External Refereces