Darth Vader: "Don't be too proud of this technological terror you've constructed. The ability to destroy a planet is
insignificant next to the power of the Meme."
Admiral Motti: "Don't try to frighten us with your
sorcerer's ways, Lord Vader. Your
sad devotion to that
ancient religion has not helped you
conjure up more memes —"
Darth Vader: "
...I find your lack of faith disturbing."
Memes for A New Hope. Return to the main Star Wars meme page here.
Please add entries in the following format:
- The meme. [[labelnote:Explanation]]The explanation behind the meme.[[/labelnote]]Explanation Like this.
- Further mutations and successor memes, if any.
- Luke on the farm, whining about wanting to go to Tosche Station to pick up some power converters.
- "I have you now!"Explanation Darth Vader's Pre-Mortem One-Liner before he attempts to destroy Luke's fighter.
- "Stay on target..." Explanation One Y-Wing pilot attempts to go through the trench to deploy the torpedo, as the TIE Fighters close in on him, his co-pilot tells him these words.
- "Great shot, kid! That was one in a million!"Explanation Han congratulating Luke on successfully firing the torpedoes in the exhaust port of the Death Star. Usually used in response to something very unlikely occurring.
- "Cover me, Porkins."Explanation Porkins is one of the X-Wing pilots in the attack on the Death Star. This pilot is well known due to the name that fits with his overweight body.
- "Who's the more foolish: the fool or the fool who follows him?" Explanation A line from Obi-Wan that's typically used as a Take That! to a person/work and its followers, or whenever someone makes of fool of themselves.
- "This bickering is pointless!" An excellent line to use if there's a Fandom Rivalry between two or more fanbases, but you're part of all those fanbases and you feel there's no need to bicker against each other.
- "You may fire when ready."Explanation When the Death Star is about to destroy the planet, Tarkin tells them that they can fire when they are ready.
- "You are a part of the Rebel Alliance and a traitor. Take her away!"Explanation When Leia confronts Darth Vader, she makes an excuse that she was on a diplomatic mission but Vader saw through her lies and called her a traitor. The image of Vader pointing his finger during this scene has been edited and captioned several times. The phrase itself is also used in response to people who fit Vader's description (with "Rebel Alliance" sometimes being substituted for an opposing party in a given situation).
- "You fought in the Clone Wars?" "Yes, I was a cartoon character, the same as your father."Explanation Star Wars: The Clone Wars, a series that tells the story of the aforementioned Clone Wars, was an animated cartoon, while A New Hope is quite clearly a live-action film. As a result, memes popped up poking fun at Obi-Wan and Anakin having once been cartoon characters.
- "I sense...a presence I've not felt since..." (Vader remembers being left for dead on Mustafar). note Often used whenever something or someone returns after being absent.
- Never forget that on the 25th of May 1977, over a million Imperial officers, pilots, crewers, stormtroopers, and janitors lost their lives in the massacre.Explanation A logical extreme of Rooting for the Empire fans who mourn the death of Imperials in the Death Star when it exploded. These people also tend to forget or ignore the billions of lives in Alderaan killed by Death Star.
- For all his flaws, at least Tarkin reduced unemployment in Alderaan to zero. Explanation A Skewed Priorities response from Rooting for the Empire fans who justify destruction of Alderaan by the Empire.
- "You'll never find a more Wretched Hive of scum and villainy."Explanation Obi-Wan's remark on arriving at a viewpoint looking down upon Mos Eisley, only replacing the spaceport with whatever you want to bash.
- "Only Imperial Stormtroopers are so precise."Explanation After the Stormtroopers shoot up the sandcrawler, Obi-Wan makes a point of how accurate their shots are. These are the same Stormtroopers that are famous for never being able to hit the heroes, even at point-blank range. Needless to say, this line has elevated their Memetic Loser status even further.
- This is not the X/These are not the X you are looking for. Explanation Based on Obi-Wan's Jedi Mind Trick which he used to get R2-D2 and C-3PO by the Stormtroopers: "These are not the droids you are looking for." One place this is really loved is reviews for Android devices, for obvious reasons. It's also referenced by GitHub's desktop 404 page, which features a vaguely familiar desert background and a character saying, "This is not the web page you are looking for."
- Those were the droids I was looking for...Explanation A meme of a Stormtrooper who's supposed to be one of the ones from the above mentioned scene realizing later that he was tricked.
- The Force can have a strong influence on the weak-minded. Explanation Jedi can seemingly wave their hands and make anyone believe whatever. This has become a massively Deconstructed Trope in the fandom and Nerfed in the canon.
- Han shot first. Explanation Just one of the many things George Lucas changed about subsequent releases, to the great dismay of fans. In the first rerelease, the cantina shootout scene is edited so that Greedo shoots at Han and somehow misses him at point-blank range, and Han shoots back and kills him in self-defense. This was ostensibly a bowdlerization done so that Han wouldn't have to be seen murdering someone in cold blood (though legal experts have clarified that Han was still acting in self-defense regardless given that Greedo quite obviously intended to kill him, with a gun pointed directly at him point-blank). Lucas may have been forced to change it to avoid a PG-13 rating, but he isn't always consistent with that explanation, and his infamous attempt to explain that the movie was always scripted with Greedo shooting first became the subject of further jokes when evidence emerged against this claim. Most fans explain the derision for the change with the fact that Han shooting first tied in better with his initial portrayal as a morally gray and only dubiously trustworthy outlaw, and better accompanies his character development into a more obstinately heroic character by the end of the film.
- And because fans have dirty minds and/or Rule 34, the saying has also been given an entirely different meaning with images of a heavily pregnant Leia accompanying the phrase.
- After The Force Awakens came out, this mutated into Han dies first.
- Han Shot. Period.Explanation Some fans don't even like how 'first' had to be stated, because it suggested Greedo shot at all when he really didn't in the original.
- [X] shot first.Explanation There have been many snowclones of this phrase, such as "Greedo shot first" which is often used to take a contrarian position or poke fun at fans too invested in the controversy. There's also "Alderaan shot first", which serves as a parody of malicious historical revisionism by claiming the Empire acted in self-defense during Moff Tarkin's infamous decision to blow up an entire planet.
- "That's good. You've taken your first step into a larger world." Explanation Obi-Wan's congratulations to Luke when he first instinctively uses the Force during his training exercises. Often used by fans to welcome newcomers who have watched Star Wars for the first time, especially if they started with A New Hope.
- "It's as if a million [x] cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced." Explanation Occasionally used to refer to internet backlash in which case [x] would be fangirls/fanboys/nerds. Sometimes a word other than "terror" is also used.
- That's No Moon it's a space station.Explanation When the Millennium Falcon approaches the Death Star it is initially mistaken as a small moon. This film is the Trope Namer of That's No Moon, and because of this, the line is often used whenever something illustrates that trope.
- I find your lack of [x] disturbing. Explanation It started as "faith", said by Vader to Admiral Motti, but has since been snowcloned far out of context.
- Red Leader standing by Explanation Said by Red Leader before the final battle of A New Hope, this has become a major snowclone for just about anything red
- Use the Force, Luke! Explanation Said by Obi-Wan to Luke as Luke prepares to aim the proton torpedo. The sheer vagueness of it has spawned all manner of uses out of the original context.
- The Force Is Strong with This One Explanation This phrase has the vagueness of "use the Force" and the snowclone potential of "lack of faith".
- If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.Explanation During Obi-Wan's duel with Vader, he warns him that he will become more powerful if Vader defeats him. It's used whenever someone is killed, fired, or removed from something, in a situation where they can potentially come back with a vengeance (or back from the dead in the case of killing). For some reason, this phrase is often used in relation to political figures.
- Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope.Explanation When Luke accidentally plays a hologram when cleaning R2 he sees Leia requesting help from Obi-Wan. This has been also parodied when a user calls for help from someone.
- R2D2, where are you?Explanation C-3PO says this at one point
- When I left you I was but the learner. Now I am the master.Explanation Vader says this in his duel with Obi-Wan
- The scene where Obi-Wan starts up his lightsaber right before the fight with Vader is also a well-known scene.
- Many Rebels died to bring us this information.Explanation After the release of Rogue One, fans take a note at the lack of recognition for the "rebel spies" who stole the Death Star plans (at the cost of their lives). So they make a quote based on the quote said by Mon Mothma from Return of the Jedi ("Many Bothans died to bring us this information.") to reflect the Heroic Sacrifice of the Rogue One team.
- Well, of course, I know him, he's me. Explanation Ben Kenobi says this when Luke asks him if he knew Obi-Wan. People use this quote to respond to something that would describe them in real life, such a phrase describing them or an action they'd do.
- "MACLUNKEY!" Explanation In the 4K prints of A New Hope, Greedo loudly proclaims this bizarre untranslated word (which some super fans managed to trace back to
The Phantom Menace, where it was stated to be Huttese for "This will be the end of you!") before he tries to kill Han. This was added in by George Lucas so that Greedo could get the last word in before his death. - The Millennium Falcon entering light speed has become a constantly parodied scene over the years.
- "Look, sir! Droids!" Explanation At one point, a Stormtrooper holds up a round scrap of metal and says this line; it's commonly quoted whenever something resembles a Stormtrooper or when someone is seen holding a something round or metallic.
- Tarkin's slippers.Explanation The costuming department gave Peter Cushing shoes that didn't fit properly as part of his uniform. Due to the discomfort this caused in his old age, Cushing refused to wear them, walking around set in slippers instead. This is why Tarkin is only ever filmed from the waist up, and has caused general Fanon that Tarkin did, in fact, wear slippers with his uniform
- After the Prequel Trilogy, people noticed that Obi-wan made his house Anakin-proof: built on the high ground, surrounded by sand.
- Hello there!Explanation Obi-Wan says this when (re)introducing himself to R2-D2. It became more popular when he surprised General Grievous with it on Utapau. Some memes play off this by having Grievous either return or Artoo say "General Kenobi!" and ignite the four lightsabers.
- "Now that's a name I haven't heard in a long time." Explanation Ben Kenobi's response when Luke mentions his real name, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Used when something irrelevant at the time becomes relevant again or is mentioned.
- "And he was a good friend." Explanation Said by Obi-Wan while describing Anakin to Luke (who at the time didn't know he was his father), emphasis on "was" since he later became Darth Vader. Used to cap off descriptions of characters doing immoral, rude or villainous acts, or characters who have changed from good to evil.
- Cerveza Cristal Explanation in early 2024, a Twitter user posted a clip of a broadcast of the original trilogy on Chilean TV that made a very odd production choice. Instead of cutting to commercial breaks, the ads would be edited seamlessly into the film, adding Product Placement to a film universe in which none of the brands advertised even exist. The clip is from the scene where Obi-Wan gives Luke his father's lightsaber. When he opens the trunk, it cuts to an ice chest of Cristal beer being opened and hands resembling Obi-Wan's removing one of the bottles, complete with the Cerveza jingle. Fans quickly made it a meme, baffled by the sheer absurdity of Star Wars being turned into a vehicle to hawk Chilean pilsner beer.
"The Memes will be with you. Always"
—Obi-Wan Kenobi
