So I was watching Episode V the other day and noticed some new ships that have never been explored really. I suppose they may have been "added" somewhere, or perhaps they are just background fodder, but since they appear on the ESB Blu Ray, they are officially Canon.
You can see these in this youtube clip, at the 4 second mark, up until somewhere around the 6 second mark, when they start to get covered up.
Id imagine that they were just 'throwaway models' to add depth and scale to the scene and not intended for any real 'analysis'
Pre 'EU' not everything was stupidly over explained. The problem being that , to me, in the years between films various writers just over explored to death anything and everything seen in the films to the point where , to a degree, it destroys any mystery about the 'great huge universe of star wars'
I like it when films let you make your own ideas up about things
A classic example is 'mad max two'. Loads of people never even get a name, let alone a backstory teased out. Like lord humoungous had a wooden case with a scoped revolver, something he obviously cares about, in the case are some old metal insignia and a picture of a man in uniform... is it a family heirloom, is it his? Has he stole it, why does he care about it?
Never explained but doesnt have to be.
In short though, no idea what they are.
Yeah but Star Wars will never have "Mystery ships" - people always overanalyze everything. Tales from the Cantina, for example, had a story about virtually every single alien in the cantina bar in Episode IV. Everyone, and everything, seems to need a backstory and full fledged technical diagram in Star Wars - so naturally this is why I'm so surprised to find these two ships on film, and with no idea of their story.
PS the top one looks like a podracer almost. Cue Anakin saying "Now THIS is Podracing!"
Edited by CrabbokThere's another thread on this, from many moons ago.
https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/topic/128859-identify-rebel-ship-from-tesb/
Yeah but Star Wars will never have "Mystery ships" - people always overanalyze everything. Tales from the Cantina, for example, had a story about virtually every single alien in the cantina bar in Episode IV. Everyone, and everything, seems to need a backstory and full fledged technical diagram in Star Wars - so naturally this is why I'm so surprised to find these two ships on film, and with no idea of their story.
PS the top one looks like a podracer almost. Cue Anakin saying "Now THIS is Podracing!"
Exactly. I bought 'tales of the cantina' years ago and at first i thought 'this is ok' then it made me think... hang on if the hammerhead guy is a total rebel agent then surely he'd recognise kenobi etc
As i got older i just felt that the way the EU deconstructed every bit of mystique sucked big time.
Yeah but Star Wars will never have "Mystery ships" - people always overanalyze everything. Tales from the Cantina, for example, had a story about virtually every single alien in the cantina bar in Episode IV. Everyone, and everything, seems to need a backstory and full fledged technical diagram in Star Wars - so naturally this is why I'm so surprised to find these two ships on film, and with no idea of their story.
PS the top one looks like a podracer almost. Cue Anakin saying "Now THIS is Podracing!"
Exactly. I bought 'tales of the cantina' years ago and at first i thought 'this is ok' then it made me think... hang on if the hammerhead guy is a total rebel agent then surely he'd recognise kenobi etc
As i got older i just felt that the way the EU deconstructed every bit of mystique sucked big time.
What's cool is every extra you see in SW has a little backstory. If you are careful, you can spot Tarn Mison, Fel's Wrath, and Tycho Celchu. Then there's the stuff that goes over board like in Tales of the Cantina where from what I understand, pretty much every person there is a rebel agent or ex-imperial.
You see i dont think thats actually cool. I think its the opposite.
Like 'bo shek' was much cooler when he was just 'greasy looking dude in the cantina', absolutely no need to make him into some character that everyone knows. it's just lazy character creation.
To give you an example, back when i was with GW there was a list of space marine legions. And in the orginal list it says somehting like 'legion 7 and 13, deleted from imperial records'
For *decades* people have been claiming to know the identity of the two legions but the truth of the matter is there was never any.
Rick Preistly used to be an archeologist, he based that bit of colour text on a surviving record of imperial rome where two legions were 'deleted from records' for failing in battle, there never were any legions to name it was just supposed to be some mystery to make the 41st millenium this huge nebulous place but fanboys of 40k seem to want *everything* to have an answer now and can't stand the idea that some things are listed as 'secret x' with no intention of ever revealing it because the writer never knew what the secret was to start with.
I personally think the EU over diluted the films a lot, creating tenuous back stories for bit part and cameo roles in the movies.
To me mos eisley is a more threatening and grim place if the psycho at the bar is just a drunk mentalist.. not some plastic surgeon on the run from the law.
You see i dont think thats actually cool. I think its the opposite.
Like 'bo shek' was much cooler when he was just 'greasy looking dude in the cantina', absolutely no need to make him into some character that everyone knows. it's just lazy character creation.
To give you an example, back when i was with GW there was a list of space marine legions. And in the orginal list it says somehting like 'legion 7 and 13, deleted from imperial records'
For *decades* people have been claiming to know the identity of the two legions but the truth of the matter is there was never any.
Rick Preistly used to be an archeologist, he based that bit of colour text on a surviving record of imperial rome where two legions were 'deleted from records' for failing in battle, there never were any legions to name it was just supposed to be some mystery to make the 41st millenium this huge nebulous place but fanboys of 40k seem to want *everything* to have an answer now and can't stand the idea that some things are listed as 'secret x' with no intention of ever revealing it because the writer never knew what the secret was to start with.
I personally think the EU over diluted the films a lot, creating tenuous back stories for bit part and cameo roles in the movies.
To me mos eisley is a more threatening and grim place if the psycho at the bar is just a drunk mentalist.. not some plastic surgeon on the run from the law.
I was kind of agreeing with you that that was overboard. But I think it's cool to be able to point out the TIE Pilot that Wedge vapes and be able to say, "Hey that guy's nickname was Dark Curse"
Yep i can see that.
I think though for me a lot of the menace of the empire is that past the high command its 'faceless evil', you know one tie pilot is much like another, a cog in the imperial machine.
Im sure that was Lucas's intent as well rather than giving the bad guys personalities and names past the main players.
I did read somewhere that the xwing pilots originally had full head helmets like tie pilots but it was changed so you could make out the personalities so you could root for the good guys and identify with them , whereas if they all had the same helmet and the face was obscured its less personal.
Yep i can see that.
I think though for me a lot of the menace of the empire is that past the high command its 'faceless evil', you know one tie pilot is much like another, a cog in the imperial machine.
Im sure that was Lucas's intent as well rather than giving the bad guys personalities and names past the main players.
I did read somewhere that the xwing pilots originally had full head helmets like tie pilots but it was changed so you could make out the personalities so you could root for the good guys and identify with them , whereas if they all had the same helmet and the face was obscured its less personal.
Yea, in the EU, they generally wear full helmets so they can eject or perform EV repairs.
II always assumed the film helmets had a face mask that sealed the front like wwii fighter pilots if they ejected
I don't mind characters with little or no details in a setting but why shouldn't a scifi franchise with healthy novel, TableTop RPG, and video/PC game (Ignoring my own doubts about the health of the Star Wars Video/PC game division) bases have all the ships from the movies detailed? Yeah its great when the novels, RPG, and games introduce all new ships, or in the case of Star Wars re-canonize Legends ones but that's no reason not to detail all of the movie ship models as well
EVERYTHING in Star Wars has a story.
Case in point: Willrow Hood. yeah. That's a thing.
I don't mind everyone and everything seen on screen getting a backstory, I mind when they are BAD back stories that are created just to shoe horn the character into the primary story arc.
I don't mind the hammerhead in the cantina getting a name and being developed, but just make his story some random scum with nothing particular to do with either the rebellion or the empire. he's just some guy running an illegal chop shop for underground pod racer parts or something.
Wave 9 confirmed. 'Rag-tag Aces'
I do like Jedi Master Bayts though:
Soon Bayts was created by Randy Stradley, and first appeared in the comic mini-series Jedi Council: Acts of War. In it, the character appears in a minor supporting role. Bayts' name was intended as a pun on the term "masturbates"; a pun later illustrated by Haden Blackman in Star Wars: Obsession. Stradley had initially planned to use the name as a practical joke on Comic Editor at Lucas Licensing Sue Rostoni, who would often put the word "Master" in front of any Jedi's name. Stradley created Bayts as an unimportant tertiary character simply to play a joke on Rostoni, but the character made it through to publication.
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Soon_Bayts
Edited by YwingAce