Like any fandom, Star Wars has its fair share of fan theories and headcanons. From the idea that Boba Fett was the one who set fire to the Lars Homestead, earning him the famous “No disintegrations!” warning from Darth Vader, to the popular — but misguided — concept of Grey Jedi, Star Wars fans have always taken what was on screen and added their own twist to it. While some of these theories might seem a little far-fetched to the casual viewer, there’s one so out there that it has even hardcore Star Wars fans scratching their heads. We’re referring, of course, to the “Bigger Luke” theory.
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There are fan theories, and then there is outright lunacy. Bigger Luke falls squarely in the second camp. The theory itself isn’t particularly complicated. Basically, the idea is that there are two Lukes appearing in the original Star Wars trilogy, with one being slightly taller than the other — slightly being the operative word here. We’re talking two or three centimeters at most.
Fans who subscribe to the Bigger Luke theory believe that throughout the original three Star Wars movies, any scene with Luke Skywalker either features the real Luke, “Luke Prime,” or the mysterious Bigger Luke. If that already sounds pretty wacky, just wait. We haven’t even scratched the surface of the Bigger Luke iceberg.
Bigger Luke came about when some fans noticed that throughout the original trilogy, Luke’s height fluctuates relative to Han Solo. These dedicated fans have combed through A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi scene by scene in order to find evidence of this height discrepancy. Star Wars: A New Hope is allegedly the film with the most “proof” of the Bigger Luke phenomenon, which makes sense given it’s the film where Luke and Han have the most scenes together. Oh, and in case you were wondering, the act of searching the movies for scenes featuring Bigger Luke is referred to as — and we promise we’re not making this up — “Luking.”
According to the Bigger Luke community, the inclusion of Han Solo in a given scene is usually crucial to figuring out which Luke is which, but not always. Sometimes, fans will use a different character to determine Luke’s relative height in a pinch. After Han, the second most popular character to measure Luke next to is Obi-Wan Kenobi, followed by Princess Leia. The Bigger Luke theory also considers Leia’s famous line, “Aren’t you a little short for a Stormtrooper?” confirmation of an inconsistently sized Luke, or at least one of the theories does…
The Bigger Luke Theory is Actually Two Theories
The Bigger Luke theory is actually two theories: the Canon Luke Hypothesis and the more meta, Hamill Hypothesis. The Canon Luke Hypothesis theorizes that within the actual Star Wars universe, there are two Luke Skywalkers, the aforementioned Luke Prime and his marginally taller doppelganger. If that sounds unbelievable, the Hamill Hypothesis ventures so far off the rails that it enters “Paul is Dead” territory.
The Hamill Hypothesis posits that Luke Skywalker actor Mark Hamill shared the screen with a taller, uncredited Mark Hamill look-alike for secret reasons never disclosed to the public. If you think about it for too long, the Hamill Hypothesis quickly goes from fun fan theory to the stuff of conspiracies. After all, for the Hamill Hypothesis to be correct, it would mean that Mark Hamill, George Lucas, and all the other actors and crew from the original Star Wars trilogy agreed to take this secret to the grave. Considering that Star Wars: A New Hope is almost 50 years old at this point, it’s inconceivable that out of the hundreds of people who worked on those films, none of them happened to let it slip that a second, slightly stretched, Mark Hamill is running around out in the world.
It’s much easier to believe in the Canon Luke Hypothesis. This is not only because it doesn’t require you to believe in some grand Hollywood conspiracy but also because there seems to be more evidence — even if it is flimsy — of Bigger Luke being an in-universe concept. One of the scenes fans point to in support of the Canon Luke Hypothesis is when Obi-Wan tells Luke in A New Hope, “You’ve taken your first step into a larger world.” Fans think this line is Kenobi’s acknowledgment that the galaxy contains a second, bigger Luke Skywalker. Some even go so far as to assume this Bigger Luke is a Force manifestation created by Obi-Wan to help protect Luke and intimidate any Imperial Stormtroopers he might encounter.
Other fans reject this idea in favor of a more tangible, physical clone. Of course, even this sub-sub-sub theory isn’t as simple as it sounds. Bigger Luke fans are further split on who actually created this clone of Luke, with some believing it was Owen Lars and others believing it was R2-D2’s handiwork. Oddly enough, the idea of a clone of Luke Skywalker has been brought up before, specifically in the Legends novel The Last Command. The book by popular Star Wars writer Timoty Zahn features the infamous Luuke — a clone of Skywalker made using the hand he lost in The Empire Strikes Back.
While the whole Bigger Luke concept is largely tongue-in-cheek, it’s a great example of the love Star Wars fans have for their fandom. Few franchises could inspire the level of devotion it takes for a fan to comb through a combined 6 hours and 24 minutes of footage frame by frame just to support an obscure fan theory.
What do you think of the Bigger Luke theory? Do you subscribe to the Canon Luke Hypothesis or the Hamill Hypothesis? Let us know in the comments, and as always, may the Force be with you!
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