Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi tapped into the dark side seven times in Star Wars canon, both in the movies and in the TV shows. Obi-Wan Kenobi is one of the most popular characters. From a wise Jedi sage in the original trilogy to a wise and often sassy Jedi general during the Clone Wars, Obi-Wan has been through a lot in his life. While he maintained his cool through much of it, there were a few times when the pressure got to him.
While Anakin Skywalker’s dark side tendencies are often discussed, Obi-Wan’s struggle to stay on the path of the light side is rarely talked about. Since he seems to be more together than Anakin, it’s easy to think that Obi-Wan was never tempted. However, the dark side is a powerful draw. Even Grandmaster Yoda had to fight the dark side within himself. A Force-user’s emotions can easily take control and throw off the balance within themselves, causing them to fall into the grip of the dark side – and here are 7 times it happened to Obi-Wan Kenobi.
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7 Obi-Wan Used The Dark Side To Defeat Darth Maul In The Phantom Menace
Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace
Obi-Wan was far from calm the first time he fought Darth Maul. Even before Maul murdered his master, Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan was already showing signs of agitation. He was attacking aggressively, and when he was separated from Maul and Qui-Gon by ray shields, he paced angrily rather than centering himself. Once Qui-Gon was killed, he truly became enraged, losing control and tapping into the dark side to kill Maul.
6 Obi-Wan Used The Dark Side To Defeat Anakin Skywalker In Revenge Of The Sith
Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge Of The Sith
Obi-Wan was devastated when Anakin fell to the dark side, and he yells at Anakin that he loved him and saw him as a brother before leaving his former apprentice to burn on Mustafar. The Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith novelization – written in coordination with George Lucas himself – expands on this moment, stating that, while Obi-Wan knew the merciful thing to do would be to kill Anakin as he lay burning on the lava beach, he “was not feeling merciful.” This battle was two wounded people lashing out and connecting with the dark side.
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5 Obi-Wan Used The Dark Side When Fighting General Grievous In The Clone Wars
Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season 5, Episode 8 “Bound For Rescue”
In “Bound for Rescue,” General Grievous boards Obi-Wan’s ship and overwhelms his forces with the droid army. He crushes a clone soldier under his robotic foot in front of Obi-Wan, who looks disgusted. He then says, “You’ll regret that,” and violently attacks Grievous.
However, he is outnumbered and retreats with his men to the escape pods, resolving to activate the ship’s self-destruct with Grievous on board. However, in his anger, he makes a tactical error. He sends Grievous a snarky message, telling him that he’s blowing up the ship. This gives Grievous enough time to escape.
4 Destroy Malevolence’s Grievous Duel Also Hints At The Dark Side
Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season 1, Episode 4 “Destroy Malevolence”
In “Destroy Malevolence,” Obi-Wan fights General Grievous. While doing so, he makes snarky comments about how unimpressed he is with Grievous’ abilities. A Jedi who is in touch with the light side should be calm and centered when fighting; Obi-Wan, however, is no such thing. He can’t help but insult Grievous as he fights him and his droid army.
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3 Obi-Wan’s Battle Against Darth Maul & Savage Opress Showed His Anger
Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season 4, Episode 22 “Revenge”
Darth Maul was a thorn in Obi-Wan’s side after his resurrection in The Clone Wars. Maul hated Obi-Wan for cutting him in half and did everything he could to get revenge. In “Revenge,” Obi-Wan and Asajj Ventress team up to fight Darth Maul and Savage Opress.
While they are fighting, Maul taunts Obi-Wan, reminding Obi-Wan how he killed his master. This causes Obi-Wan to tap into the dark side and lash out in anger. Even Maul notices, mockingly telling him that his anger has unbalanced him and that he’s straying from the Jedi way. During this episode, Obi-Wan also says one of his most chilling lines ever: “When I cut you in half, I should’ve aimed for your neck.”
2 Obi-Wan Used The Dark Side To Fight Pre Vizsla & Death Watch
Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season 2, Episode 12 “The Mandalore Plot”
In “The Mandalore Plot,” Death Watch attacks Obi-Wan’s lover, Duchess Satine Kryze, in an attempt to overthrow the pacifist and restore the warrior ways to Mandalore. As Pre Vizsla steps out with the Darksaber, he tells Obi-Wan that it was stolen from the Jedi Temple, had been used to kill many Jedi, and would now be used to kill him and Satine. Enraged, Obi-Wan battles Pre Vizsla. The expression on his face as he fights for Satine’s life shows clear anger and disgust for his opponent. He is giving into his anger and tumultuous emotions as he duels.
1 Obi-Wan Tapped Into The Dark Side To Play Rako Hardeen
Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Season 4, Episodes 15-18
When Chancellor Palpatine’s life is threatened, Obi-Wan fakes his death and takes on the appearance of a cruel mercenary, Rako Hardeen, to uncover and thwart the plot. To act the part, Obi-Wan taps into the dark side. For example, when he is verbally harassed in prison, he stabs the man’s hand with a fork and casually threatens to eat him. Even though he was acting, the fact that Obi-Wan Kenobi himself was able to come up with such an extreme threat so easily shows how deep he was in the role.
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Obi-Wan Kenobi
- Created By
- George Lucas
- Cast
- Alec Guinness , Ewan McGregor
- First Appearance
- Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope
- Died
- Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope
- Alias
- Ben, Rako Hardeen
- Alliance
- Jedi
- Race
- Human
- Franchise
- Star Wars
- Description
- Qui-Gon Jinn (Master), Anakin Skywalker (Padawan), Luke Skywalker (Padawan)
