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Elan: Will I ever see you again?
Julio Scoundrél: Well, as an older mentor figure, the most likely scenario is that I'd return only to be randomly killed by an enemy of yours so that you can cradle my dying body while swearing revenge - so don't take it personally if I say I sincerely hope we never cross paths again.
There is someone else in a work -- a friend or mentor -- who is better, faster and more experienced than the protagonist. However, that someone else isn't The Hero -- the lights don't dim and the music doesn't swell when they enter the room. They are the Obi-Wan.
The goal of the Obi-Wan is to pass the torch to the protagonist, before dying. Which they almost always do. Afterwards, they'll then become a Spirit Advisor, either as a literal "spirit" or in flashbacks. If they don't die, they will stick around giving advice, but not actively adventuring (unless Gondor Calls For Aid).
The mentor role can also play Mr Exposition.
In film, the Obi-Wan typically bites it at the end of Act 2 in an Obi Wan Moment, passing the torch to the young hero who then goes on to avenge his death.
The Obi-Wan is an Archetypal Character. The Big Brother Mentor is a subtrope that happens when the Obi Wan is older, but not too much older, than the protagonist.
For more information concerning "The Mentor" and other narrative archetypes, see Vladmir Propp's theory of narrative .
See also Old Master, The Dumbledore, Cool Old Guy.
Examples:
Film
- Obviously, the Trope Namer is Obi-Wan Kenobi of Star Wars, who mentored Luke until he died at the end of Act 2 of the original film -- and a while after that.
- The prequels give us Qui-Gon Jinn, who was, ironically, The Obi Wan to Obi-Wan himself.
- Avoided in the Matrix trilogy, in which Morpheus (who in most respects fills the role of the Obi-Wan) is the only one of the three regulars to survive to the end.
- Fr. Merrin in The Exorcist is The Obi Wan to Fr. Karras, showing up with a wealth of experience and skill and then dying in time for Karras to finish the demon all on his own.
- In the Highlander movie, Connor MacLeod's Obi-Wan was Ramirez, played by Sean Connery. He's killed by the Kurgan, leaving Connor himself to face him more than five hundred years later.
- In The Mask Of Zorro, the original Zorro, Don Diego de la Vega, plays the Obi-Wan to his chosen successor, Alejandro Murrieta.
Live Action TV
- Master Po in the flashbacks in Kung Fu.
- It doesn't get much more obvious than the character of Mentor on the Filmation live-action Shazam! series, though "the Elders" (Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, and Mercury) also acted in this role to a lesser extent. In the comics, however, the role is filled by the wizard Shazam (who dies literally right after giving Billy his powers, but whose spirit can be summoned by lighting a brazier at the Rock of Eternity), except for an era of the comic where it was deliberately imitating the television show, and Uncle Dudley, normally a lazy and incompetent bumbler, became Mentor.
- A possible Obi-Wan on TV would be Methos, from Highlander. He was certainly smarter and more experienced than the hero, though not stronger or faster, and usually dispensed various bits of wisdom. He was somewhat odd in that he didn't appear until several years into the series, but he definitely served an Obi-Wan function once he appeared. His character was added to the show not long after Darius, a more traditional Obi-Wan, was killed off.
- Buffy The Vampire Slayer did a funny one-liner on this topic when the younger vampire Spike encounters the vampire who created him, Angel, and blurts out, "You were my Yoda, man!"
- The dad's ghostly role in Six Feet Under.
- For most of Happy Days' (literal) pre-Shark Jump episodes, The Fonz was The Obi Wan to Richie Cunningham and the gang.
Western Animation
- Master Splinter, of the various Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles incarnations, is very much the Obi-Wan.
- Grandpa Max, in Ben 10, was an MIB when he was younger, and retired to have some peace and quiet, spend time with his grandkids... Of course, once the Imported Alien Phlebotinum the show revolves around latches onto his grandson's wrist, Max's experience is indispensible. Alien Force has Max go to the Obi-Wan's inevitable fate.
- Jaga from Thundercats.
- Magi Lune is pretty much The Obi Wan to Crysta in FernGully: The Last Rainforest.
- When composing the song "Son of Man" for Disney's Tarzan, Phil Collins said that he thought of Tarzan's (human, birth) father watching over him as if he were Obi-Wan and the song was about all the things Lord Greystoke (that's his name in Burroughs's books) would've liked to say to him.
- In Kung Fu Panda, Master Oogway fills this character trope, being the Old Master to Shifu. He seems addle minded until he dies, but the heroes realize at the end he knew exactly what he was doing.
Anime and Manga
- Balgus in Vision of Escaflowne is Van's Obi-Wan.
- Roy Focker from Robotech/Macross is one of the most famous examples of a classic variation of this trope - the "Veteran Ace Pilot".
- Gai Daigouji in Martian Successor Nadesico.
- Subversion: Shion, Aya's primary mentor in the Weiss Kreuz Radio Drama Endless Rain, serves the role of The Obi Wan including his death protecting Aya during a mission gone wrong... but in the subsequent Radio Drama Dramatic Precious, it turns out he'd faked his death and has become a Nietszche Wannabe Big Bad.
- Kikyou from Endless Rain also qualifies as The Obi Wan for Aya, down to playing Spirit Advisor in Aya's dreams following his death... which was at Aya's hands, Kikyou also having performed a Face Heel Turn and gone Ax Crazy. His visitations in Aya's dreams tend to involve him expressing pleasure that Aya is becoming like him and will be joining him in Hell.
- Kamina in Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, who would probably have jostled Simon out of the main character spot if he'd stuck around much longer.
- Baron Zepellin in the first part of Jojos Bizarre Adventure not only dies, but admits he knew it would happen, because You Cant Fight Fate.
- Gennai from Digimon Adventure acts as the mentor and Mr Exposition. In his younger days (and post-revitalization in Digimon Adventure 02), Gennai also bears a striking resemblance to Obi-Wan Kenobi in Episode I.
- In fact, young Gennai's robes are quite like that of a Jedi, to the point of he and his people being referred to by the fandom as the Jedi Knights.
- Also in Digimon Adventure, but to a limited extent, Wizardmon plays the Obi-Wan. It's his friendship and wisdom that results in Gatomon's Heel Face Turn. Oh, and then he dies. Heroic Sacrifice. And comes back as a spirit in Season 2 to warn the protagonists.
- Gundam Franchise gives some examples as well...
- Mobile Suit Gundam had Ryu who didn't teach Amuro how to pilote a Gundam but how to be a man and soldier and therefore had to die a Haroic Sacrifice.
- Zeta Gundam has Quattro Bajeena aka Char Aznable as the main character's mentor. Though, he neither dies nor holds back kicking asses himself.
- Gundam 00's Lockon Stratos was some kind of advisor to not only Setsuna but the most of CB. Even if he's dead he'll probably return as a spiritual advisor.
- Naruto has the recently lost Jiraya and now Naruto's learning with his teacher, a frog, how to become as powerful as him.
- Miyu (and later Mai) from Mai-Otome serve as Obi-Wans to Arika, but both characters ultimately survive.
- In Samurai Deeper Kyo, Muramasa acts as Kyo's Obi-Wan.
- Kaito briefly acts as one in the first chapter/episode of Hunterx Hunter, then fully endorses this role at the beginning of the Chimera Ant Arc, biting it about halfway.
Video Games
- Mia Fey from Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney is a rare female example. She dies in the second case of the first game, only to return as a spirit, channeled by either Maya or Pearl, who gives advice in later chapters and installments.
- Dr. Light to X in the Mega Man X games (amusingly enough, he's got the whole "force ghost" thing happening via hologram messages). Zero acted like this until X became more of an equal, and it came full circle in the Zero series, where X is Zero's Obi-Wan.
- Auron from Final Fantasy X may qualify, since his dispensing of advice is his whole purpose in the party. He's been there, done that, and now he's back to make sure Tidus and Yuna save the world properly, when Auron and their fathers couldn't. Being the only known survivor of a successful pilgrimage, he certainly counts as experienced, his superior badassery over the hero and others is plain, and he definitely fits the bill of a spirit guide, since he's been dead for ten years already when the story begins.
- Brenner in Advance Wars Days of Ruin.
- Peppy from Star Fox. Not only does he play the Obi-Wan trope, there are also some... similarities... with Kenobi himself.
- Arguably Uther the Lightbringer from Warcraft III. Massively subverted when the hero he's The Obi Wan to kills him.
Literature
- Polk the teamster, in the novels White Plume Mountain, Descent Into The Depths Of The Earth, and Queen Of The Demonweb Pits is both a literary example and a rare subversion of the trope -- a drunken porter who follows the grim, hardened Justicar around under the delusion that he can pass on the wisdom of the ages. He dies in the second book -- not making a heroic last stand, but reloading the crossbow for the character who is -- and is promptly reincarnated as a badger, his ego even further inflated by the experience.
- Harry Potter: Dumbledore, the wise wizard who who usually dispenses 2-3 pieces of advice just before the hero needs it, then shows up in the epilogue to tie up any loose ends. This has started to be called the "Dumbledore Explains It All" scene. Dumbledore dies at the end of book 6 in a 7 book series, leaving one final story for the hero to avenge his death.
- In an unintentionally amusing scene near the end of Deathly Hallows, Dumbledore gets to explain it all one last time, as he and Harry have a chat in an afterlife train station. Talk about sticking to the trope.
- In Christopher Paolini's Inheritance Cycle, Brom (an obvious clone of Obi-Wan Kenobi) fills this role until his death midway through Eragon; in Eldest, Oromis takes over the role.
- Gandalf gets a bit of this, apparently dying in Fellowship of the Ring, and staying dead just long enough for the heroes to get scattered and divided. In a pre-trope subversion, he is FAR FAR more active AFTER he dies then before!
- Father Zosima in The Brothers Karamazov is a mix of The Obi Wan and the Messianic Archetype. He mentors Alyosha Karamazov for the first third of the book before his death.
- Osip Bazdeev mentors Pierre Bezukhov and turns him on to becoming a Freemason in War And Peace.
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