Lego | STARWARS ACTION FIGURES

26Sep/110

Grievous Star Wars

Grievous Star Wars

A Crash Course on Star Wars

Some of us never really got into Star Wars. For the True Believers out there, yes, yes, it sounds crazy. Who doesn’t like Star Wars? But you know, different strokes for different folks.

Of course, most of today’s parents grew up in the 1970’s and 1980’s, truly the Star Wars Generation. It’s like our own personal mythology. The story of Luke taking down the Death Star and coming face to face with his own father, it’s a permanent, iconic part of our lives. Not just as a great work of adventure fiction, it goes a little deeper. It touches on something about humanity in general. The way the heroes are always smiling, joking, and laughing, in the face of certain doom, the way Han Solo can still crack wise at Princess Leia seconds before being frozen in carbonite. Even with a soul crushing empire rampaging through the galaxy, blowing up entire planets and enslaving the inhabitants of others, we can still look on the bright side and appreciate the fun and adventure life has to offer. That’s what makes these adventures more than just movies, more than just stories, but something we’ve actually learned from and lived by.

But… as close as those first three films were to our hearts, keeping track of the new ones, the animated series, the latest CGI movie, and the new Clone Wars TV show… it’s practically like trying to memorize the dictionary, word for word. There are about a billion new characters and story developments, and geez, we do have jobs, you know! We can’t sit around memorizing Star Wars trivia all day (as much as we might like to).

So with that in mind, here’s what you need to know about Star Wars in the 21st Century. You’ll thank us once you’re ready to fill out that Christmas shopping list…

The Clone Wars

Okay this is the big new thing in Star Wars. There was an animated series with the same name awhile ago, but that one was 2D, and this new one is computer animated. This is also the one that throws a lot of parents for a loop, even if they grew up knowing every line of dialog in The Empire Strikes Back by heart. Here’s what you need to know about the characters in this show…

The Heroes

Anakin Skywalker

Old school Star Wars fans know that this is the guy who grew up to become Darth Vader. The Clone Wars takes place before the first Star Wars, so Anakin is still a young man, and he’s still the hero for now. He’s pretty much the main good guy of the series, so this guy will be at the top of the list if you’re buying Star Wars action figures for the kids.

Ahsoka Tano

Anakin Skywalker’s apprentice. She has tan skin, white face paint, and some weird looking hairdo that looks like a racoon’s tail. Basically the secondary hero of the new story, so she’ll be a requisite for any major action figure battle scenes.

The Baddies

Asajj Ventress

One of the “Dark Jedis” of the Star Wars Universe. She sports a bald head, pale skin, and white eyes with no pupils. She’s not really the main antagonist of The Clone Wars, but she serves as Anakin’s primary rival, so she’ll be needed for any one on one lightsaber duels.

General Grievous

You could call Grievous the “Darth Vader” of the new series. He was once a human being, but he came down with some kind of space virus, so they took what they could salvage of his old body and stuffed it into a robot with four arms and a terrible cough (why does a robot cough? Who knows, it’s kind of cool, though).

Beyond that, you’ve got Clone Troopers (they look like Storm Troopers with slightly different outfits), Palpatine (the Emperor, before he got all crazy looking and become the Emperor), Yoda and Jabba the Hutt are still around, but they have a relatively small place in the story, then there’s Mace Windu (the Samuel L. Jackson character from the new movies), you’ve got Jabba’s son Rotta the Huttlet, then there’s Aayla Secura and… Okay, you know what? I’m getting a headache! Just grab a few Star Wars MIGHTY MUGGS at random, you’ll probably get a character your kid loves!