History Trivia / TheEmpireStrikesBack

** When they just couldn't get Han's response to Leia in their last scene right (the original line was "I love you, too"), Irvin finally just told Harrison to get in character and they would just run the scene without him being given a line to see how he would react, and he just blurted out "I know." Ford argued that this improved the original, as Han Solo [[OutOfCharacterMoment would never such a thing]] directly, much less repeat someone. Lucas and Kershner agreed, though Carrie Fisher was pissed at Harrison for changing the line without running it by her first.

* IronyAsSheIsCast: Admiral Pitt's actor Creator/KennethColley is a stutterer who only gets to speak perfectly while acting. In this film, he plays a character whose most memorable scenes have him (rightfully) terrified and shaking.

** General Veers was originally supposed to die when a damaged snowspeeder (the one piloted by Luke's wingman Derek "Hobbie" Klivian) [[TakingYouWithMe crashed head-on into his walker's cockpit]]. This was kept in the {{novelization}}; however, later ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'' sources stated that Veers survived the collision with [[CareerEndingInjury injuries that ended his battlefield career]].

** When they just couldn't get Han's response to Leia in their last scene right, Irvin finally just told Harrison to get in character and they would just run the scene without him being given a line to see how he would react, and he just blurted out "I know." The original line was "I love you, too." Ford argued that Han Solo [[OutOfCharacterMoment would never say such a thing]] directly, much less repeat someone. Lucas and Kershner agreed, though Carrie Fisher was ''pissed'' at Harrison for changing the line without running it by her first.

* CommonKnowledge: Most of the bounty hunters who Vader sent after the ''Falcon'' only got [[OneSceneWonder a minute or so of screentime]], [[NoNameGiven no individual introductions]], and [[TheVoiceless almost no dialogue]]; this, of course, didn't stop toy companies from [[TheMerch making action figures]] out of all of them, [[AllThereInTheManual which was how fans learned the characters' names]]. Unfortunately, no action figure was initially made for the [[InsectoidAlien bug-like]] [[https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Zuckuss Zuckuss]], and to make matters worse, the action figure for the [[KillerRobot droid bounty hunter]] [[https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/4-LOM 4-LOM]] was given Zuckuss's name due to a mixup. The confusion was propounded when a 4-LOM figure was released later with Zuckuss's appearance. Most knowledgeable ''Star Wars'' fans know the difference now, but for many years there was quite a bit of confusion as to who was who out of the two bounty hunters.

* PlayingWithCharacterType: Prior to this film, Creator/FrankOz was best known for playing goofy and lighthearted characters in ''Series/TheMuppets'' and ''Series/SesameStreet'' such as Fozzie Bear, Miss Piggy, Grover, and the Cookie Monster. When Yoda first appears onscreen, he is depicted as a goofy, eccentric hermit who seems to have wandered off from a ''The Muppet Show'' set. But once he reveals himself to be the Jedi Master Luke was searching for, Yoda drops his goofy demeanor and showcases a serious, no-nonsense but wise personality that is almost PlayingAgainstTheType.

* PlayingWithCharacterType: Prior to this film, Creator/FrankOz was best known for playing goofy and lighthearted characters in ''Series/TheMuppets'' and ''Series/SesameStreet'' such as Fozzie Bear, Miss Piggy, Grover, and the Cookie Monster. When Yoda first appears onscreen, he is depicted as a goofy, eccentric hermit who seems to have wandered off from a ''The Muppet Show'' set. But once he reveals himself to be the Jedi Master Luke was searching for, Yoda drops his goofy demeanor and reveal his true personality is a serious, no-nonsense but wise person.

** Not to mention a completely different shot of Luke and Leia making out. Notably, they appear to be alone in this scene, as opposed to the one in the film proper which was in front of the regular gang. Maybe the filmmakers were just [[ShipTease shipteasing]], or (less likely, considering how we know the writing process went) they were trying to throw off the scent of the twist in the next film.

* TropeNamer for:
** DontMakeMeDestroyYou
** LukeIAmYourFather ([[BeamMeUpScotty a misquote]])
** NeverTellMeTheOdds
** ThereIsAnother
** ThereIsNoTry
** YouAreInCommandNow
** YouHaveFailedMe

** Creator/MarkHamill didn't like the scene where Luke cut off the Wumpa's arm. He was under the impression during filming that Luke would only scare the Wumpa away and felt Luke maiming a predator only trying to eat was OutOfCharacter and too cruel.

** The voice actor who dubbed Darth Vader for the French version of ''Film/ANewHope'', François Chaumette, did not come back for ''The Empire Strikes Back''. He was replaced by Creator/GeorgesAminel, whose voice sounded much deeper than Chaumette's and much closer to that of Creator/JamesEarlJones. Aminel would voice Vader again for ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'' and ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'', and passed away in 2007.

* UncreditedRole: Creator/JamesEarlJones was uncredited for the voice of Darth Vader.

** In the French dub, Palpatine's most prominent actor since ''Film/ThePhantomMenace'', Georges Claisse, replaced Jean Claudio for the scene where Palpatine talks to Vader.

* OrphanedReference: While discussing the Imperial probe droid, Leia asks whether the object detect on radar could be "one of those creatures", which is the only remaining reference to a deleted subplot in which Echo Base was dealing with attempted break-ins by Wampas. Even without that scene, though, Luke must have told everyone about the Wampa who caught him.

** Boba Fett originally wore white armor and a poncho, but was changed to the current muted color scheme to contrast with the white Stormtroopers and black Darth Vader.

** Creator/DavidProwse, while pleased with the film overall (as noted below), was furious at Lucas and Kershner for keeping him in the dark about the big reveal because he would have acted out the scene completely different had he known the real twist.

** Creator/MarkHamill suffered a motorcycle crash in January 1977 that left him facial scars, and Lucas considered making them a WrittenInInfirmity. Also, had Hamill died in the accident, Lucas would have replaced Luke with an entirely new protagonist.

* LoopingLines: In the film's original release, Elaine Baker played the Emperor on-set, then Creator/CliveRevill re-recorded the character's dialogue in post-production.

* RealLifeRelative: Elaine Baker, who physically portrayed the Emperor in the original release, was married to make-up effects artist Rick Baker at the time of production.

* FoilerFootage: Before the movie's premiere, the number of people who knew about TheReveal could be counted on one hand: George Lucas, Irvin Kershner, Gary Kurtz, James Earl Jones, Mark Hamill and whatever editors Lucas trusted to see the scene. Even Creator/DavidProwse, who had to say ''something'' during filming, was given the fake line "Obi-Wan killed your father." {{Urban Legend}}s now abound of Creator/HarrisonFord turning to Hamill ''in the middle of the premiere'' and giving a BigWhat, as well as David Prowse leaning forward and telling George Lucas "Why didn't you tell me? I would have said it." [[https://youtu.be/OsSKFlk8oEo?t=130 Mark Hamill himself recalled that]], when the moment came on screen, Harrison Ford turned to him and said "Hey kid, you didn't [[PrecisionFStrike fucking]] tell me that."

* CrossCastRole: In the original version of the film Emperor Palpatine was portrayed by actress Marjorie Eaton but voiced by male actor Clive Revill, this was adverted in the 2004 rerelease with Creator/IanMcDiarmid portraying him.

* CrossCastRole: In the original version of the film Emperor Palpatine was portrayed by actress Marjorie Eaton but voiced by male actor Clive Revill, this was adverted in the 2004 rerelease with IanMcDiarmid portraying him.

* CrossCastRole: In the original version of the film Emperor Palpatine was portrayed by actress Marjorie Eaton but voiced by male actor Clive Revill, this was adverted in the 2004 rerelease with Ian McDiarmid portraying him.

-->"I, Luke Skywalker, do swear on my honor, and on the faith of the brotherhood of knights, to use the Force only for good, denying, turning always from the Dark Side; to dedicate my life to the cause of freedom, and justice. If I should fail of this vow, my life shall be forfeit, here and hereafter."

* TheOtherMarty:
** In the original release of ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'', Palpatine was portrayed by Marjorie Eaton (sort of: Her appearance was superimposed with that of a Chimpanzee's eyes, and her voice, similar to that of Darth Vader's actor, would be dubbed over by Clive Revill). The DVD and Blu-Ray releases of ''The Empire Strikes Back'' would replace her with Ian [=McDiarmid=].
** Likewise, Boba Fett's voice was changed from Jason Wingreen's voice to Temuera Morrison's voice in the Original Trilogy's first DVD release to reflect Boba's status as a clone of his father, Jango Fett.

** General Veers was originally supposed to die when a damaged snowspeeder crashes head-on into his Walker. This was kept in the {{novelization}}.