As a truly special film franchise, since it first made its debut in 1977, people have really invested their time in everything Star Wars. Fantastic because it featured a simple story of good versus evil, it had incredible special effects, and was spiritual in nature, there are a good number of things to love about this series.
Despite everything great about Star Wars, whenever you present an overarching story, and have so many moving parts, there are bound to be inconsistencies. When you then consider the almost obsessive level of love that some people have for this series, they are bound to bring attention to some of these problem areas.
For the purposes of this list, we define a meme as a single image or a series of them that tell the viewer something simple and easily digestible. Due to the subject we are tackling, we only looked at memes that are related to the Star Wars franchise and point out things about it that make no sense. We then graded them on how enlightening and amusing we think they are.
Our love of Star Wars allowed us to put together this list of 20 Star Wars Memes That Prove The Movies Make No Sense.
Trying
Star Wars has often been quoted, which makes it all the more surprising that a line Yoda uttered passes the test of time. Despite his backwards way of speaking, people love to parrot him by saying “Do or do not, there is no try.” However, if you really think about what that means, it simply isn’t true at all.
We get what he was going for: Luke should stop trying to use the force and just do it.
Although, considering how he said it, Yoda spoke like he was saying something profound that could be applied to everything. An easy way to discourage people from trying something new, we sometimes think that if Yoda had worded this in a more traditional way people would have forgotten it by now.
Royalty And Farmer
Leia begins the series as a princess and leader in the Resistance, while Luke is just a measly moisture farmer. We then learn that they have more in common than a desire for adventure and the destruction of the Empire: they’re twins separated at birth.
Not only did Luke not have the life of luxury his sister did, but he was also adopted by an uncle that his evil father knew existed, and would likely go to if he felt he wanted to get rid of a son. Of course, Padmé never said the things written in this meme, but it does draw attention to the unfairness of the two different ways her kids were treated.
Redemption Comes Easy
Return of the Jedi had a lot of things going for it, but it was no Empire Strikes Back. Most often criticized for putting a major spotlight on the family-friendly Ewoks, we are more irritated by its treatment of Anakin Skywalker.
Cast as the principal villain in the previous two films, even when this movie came out, we knew he was responsible for endless casualties both by his own hand, and through his involvement in the rise of the Empire.
He saves Luke while he was in the clutches of The Emperor and all is supposed to be forgiven.
His son wanting to see the best in him is something we can go along with, but Obi-Wan and Yoda embracing his presence is going too far for us.
Force Carry
Speaking of the passing away of Anakin Skywalker, the moment where Luke sees his father in the flesh has always stuck with us. Known as Darth Vader in the rest of the movies, one of the most distinctive aspects of the character was the breathing apparatus that allowed him to live. As this piece of machinery could be quite heavy, we totally understand why Luke has such a hard time dragging his father to his spacecraft for that reason.
In retrospect, we have no idea why he doesn’t use the force to help move him. While we’re on the subject, why exactly was Luke willing to risk his life to transport his suffering old man? That is even more nonsensical when we remember he then chooses to incinerate the remains, something the explosion would do in an instant.
Your Father’s Lightsaber
People have jumped through endless hoops in an attempt to pretend like Darth Vader was always intended to be Luke’s dad, but that clearly wasn’t the case. One of the most impactful retcons in movie history, finding out about daddy Darth made the things Obi-Wan had previously said to Luke about his father obviously false.
Turning Obi-Wan into a liar on the face of things, he later explains that away by saying the creation of Vader disposed of all the good that was left within Anakin.
There was never any explanation given as to why Obi-Wan tells Luke his father wanted him to have his lightsaber.
More than that, prior to becoming Vader, Luke’s dad became a rage monster who likely wouldn’t have wanted to pass the weapon on had he known.
Odd Standards
As we already touched on, Luke’s father did some extremely horrific and unforgivable things during his time as Darth Vader. Yet somehow, Luke was never able to let go of the fact that Vader was his dad, which led him to fight against all odds to bring out the good in him. Which he successfully does, shortly before Darth Vader’s demise.
Somehow in the years to come, he finds out that his nephew Ben Solo has a dark side, which he clearly is still fighting with even years later, and Luke responds by trying to end his life. Sure, he didn’t go through with it, but the fact that he almost did is pretty nonsensical given his past.
Balance
As a franchise always steeped in spiritualism, when Qui-Gon Jinn spoke about the prophecy of a hero bringing balance to the force, it fit Star Wars to perfection. Arguing that Anakin would be the person that was foretold, at the time we watched it, we thought he was way off.
Brought back to the forefront in the closing moments of the fight at the core of Revenge of the Sith, Obi-Wan screams at Anakin that he was supposed to be the chosen one.
A sorrowful moment for Obi-Wan, this meme points out that Darth Vader actually did bring the balance that was expected.
Leading the Empire as they dispatched all of the Jedis but Yoda and Obi-Wan - leaving only two of them to exist - we can’t help but remember there are also only two remaining Sith Lords, Vader and Palpatine.
Off Button
A fantastic example of pointing out the obvious, combining two things we know about Star Wars makes for a hilarious time. Lightsabers turn on and off through some sort of button mechanism, and those that can use the force are able to manipulate things without touching them.
When you think about it, there really is no good way to explain why Jedi and Sith warriors wouldn’t just turn off each other’s weapons in order to stay safe. Extrapolating that, it is hilarious to imagine their fights breaking down to lightsabers shutting on and off. Regardless of how serious the tone of the Star Wars franchise is, this would turn any epic battle into nothing more than squabbling kids.
High Ground
The moment that the prequels were always building towards, we knew Obi-Wan and Anakin were going to battle one another. Able to exceed our expectations in some ways, we never guessed that moment would get as brutal as it did.
Leaving Anakin badly hurt, the way the scene is laid out we walk away thinking his fate is sealed.
We come to that conclusion because a sad Obi-Wan pleads with his old friend to stand down, as fighting is futile once you lose the high ground. The problem with this is that Obi-Wan, in one of the most important moments of the series, should not have been so confident as he did away with Darth Maul even though he had the high ground.
So Many Complaints
Arguably the most polarizing Star Wars film that has been released to date, the biggest problem a lot of people had with The Last Jedi was its portrayal of Luke. A character that trained his nephew in the ways of the Force only to see him turn away towards the dark side, he almost tried to end Ben Solo which led him to become the Sith Lord known as Kylo Ren.
Horrified by what he’d unleashed, Luke decides to disappear and live by himself. Seemingly fans felt this was a betrayal to the character and Jedis. Not exactly what we would expect either, this meme perfectly points out we should have since Obi-Wan and Yoda before him went into hiding after they were unable to stop the rise of a Sith Lord.
Where’s His Medal?
The ultimate heroes in the first Star Wars film, every member of the ragtag group at the core of the movie played an integral role in the destruction of the Death Star and the Resistance’s survival. Deciding to reward the efforts of her new allies, Leia who was a leader in the Resistance, leads a ceremony in which the new heroes receive medals - but only Luke and Han receive the award.
We do get why droids like R2-D2 and C-3PO were not included.
However, Chewbacca is a living and breathing being that made the choice to risk his life for the betterment of the galaxy. If anything, his large size should have meant he received a more grandiose medal.
Death Star Force Field
When the first Death Star was destroyed by the Resistance, it was a massive blow to the Empire. The most destructive weapon ever seen in the Star Wars universe at the time, had it remained intact they likely would have been able to crush any semblance of a Resistance. As such, they wasted no time in their effort to rebuild their master weapon, and this time around they added a force field to its defenses.
Reliant on a base that was built on a moon that orbited the new Death Star, if they wanted to make sure the force field remained, it should have been the best-guarded building in the universe. Instead, they never even bothered to clear out the forest for visibility, and left such a meager defensive force that even the Ewoks were able to overcome it with a little aid.
“Armor”
Throughout the Star Wars movies, we are introduced to powerful villains like General Snoke, Darth Vader, The Emperor, Kylo Ren, and many more. However, if you added up all of the villains we know by name, and compared them to how many stormtroopers there are in a pie chart, the fraction would be too small to even make out.
As such, in order for the Empire to continue their rule, they should have made sure that their army was highly destructive and extremely difficult to defeat.
Instead, it seems that stormtroopers were meant to be cannon fodder, destined for instant destruction in any battle.
That seems to be the case given that a single shot from a blaster does away with them over and over again, and even when they are attacked with sticks and stones by Ewoks, they are defeated.
Odd Attraction
When it comes to the prequels, there are imperative relationships to the Star Wars universe as we know it: those between Palpatine, Padmé, and Obi-Wan with Anakin. Out of these, we think it is pretty easy to argue that his love affair with Padmé is the most impactful as it drives him away from Obi-Wan, and into the waiting arms of Palpatine.
As such, everyone involved in the crafting of those films needed to ensure that fans really invested in the two of them, but many of their moments were so awful they left us cringing. Downright creepy over and over again, some of the things Anakin says, like this line about dreaming of Padmé, are so off-putting that we can’t buy into the idea that she would like him at all. Let alone the idea that she would enter into a forbidden relationship with him.
No Life Forms
One of the best opening sequences in film history, when we see a ship followed and then boarded by Empire forces in search of plans, we get dropped right into the action of Star Wars. Plans that are eventually revealed to be the blueprints to the Death Star, if the Empire had recovered them, all would have been lost.
When the plans are sent off inside R2-D2, the stakes are huge.
Thankfully, when R2-D2 and C-3PO blast off in an escape pod monitored by the Empire, they have no reaction because they scan it and find no life forms. Except that makes no sense, as they are looking for a transmission instead of a person, plus they know droids could easily be instructed to take the plans to the Resistance.
Accuracy
An army of warriors that are constantly thrust into battles for The Empire, we’ve already touched on the fact that they should have made sure that the Stormtroopers were as fearsome as possible. Saddled with armor that serves no defensive purpose and must be hard to see in, it is imperative that they are powerful before their swift demises.
This also couldn’t be further from the truth as they are so inept with their blasters that they never even wounded any of the recognizable heroes throughout the films. A meme that takes a half-moment to understand and is a pitch-perfect display of how useless Stormtroopers are, it makes no sense at all that The Empire wouldn’t rethink these soldiers.
Emperor Blindsided
A character that we see remake the Star Wars universe to his liking, appointing himself as the leader of the ruling class, Emperor Palpatine is proven to be a master strategist.
On top of that, he kept several other powerful Sith Lords under his thumb.
Also able to use Force Lightning, something few people have been seen doing, it should be a given that he would be incredible at the less impressive Force feats.
For instance, we’ve seen Leia, who is mostly untrained in the use of the Force, use it to sense those around her, and we know that masters can sense the emotions of those around them. Still, Palpatine somehow doesn’t see being betrayed by Vader, leading up to the point he is taken completely by surprise when he is picked up and thrown.
Evil Jedi
Star Wars movies have a lot of flaws. For instance, even fans of these movies will likely admit that there have been some extremely clunky lines in each film. One of the best examples of dialogue that just doesn’t work at all is when Anakin tells Obi-Wan “from my point of view the Jedi are evil” - the stupidity of this statement is mind-numbing.
Uttered in the midst of the lightsaber duel the two of them have, by that point we’ve seen the Emperor send Anakin to literally destroy a group of young Padawans. The type of thing that is inherently evil, we know he went through with it to save the woman he loved, which is incredibly hard to swallow, but there is no way he’d still think he is on the good side at this point.
Horrible Path to Follow
A character with a still-unfolding backstory, one thing that we quickly knew about Kylo Ren is that he has a great deal of admiration for what his grandfather accomplished during his Darth Vader days. Going so far as to sit and speak to the burnt out husk of the mask Vader wore, he also swears to finish what his grandfather started.
Everything in Vader’s life was destroyed by the road he walked.
This all resulted in him following an awful person, his kids hating him, and the demise of both him and his wife. With all of that in mind, we have no idea why Ren thinks so highly of Vader, especially since it seems safe to assume that his parents and uncle told him about the fight to redeem him.
Padmé’s Gone
Undoubtedly one of the most nebulous and frustrating story points in the Star Wars films, one of the main characters in the prequels ends up perishing from a broken heart. Devastated by Anakin turning to the dark side, we are supposed to believe his choice crushed Padmé so severely that her body gave out.
Hard to stomach due to how little chemistry these two characters had, the way they juxtapose her demise and his recreation into the Darth Vader we know, makes it all the more head-scratching. After all, we see him defeated, but the technology in the Star Wars universe keeps him alive. Meanwhile, they cut back to Padmé who is sad and being treated by a droid that apparently can’t do anything for her.
Which Star Wars meme made you laugh out loud the most? Let us know in the comments!
