Star Wars Art Breaks Down George Lucas’ Universe Into A Family Tree And A Periodic Table
This article is more than 2 years old
Given how much time, passion, and enthusiasm has been focused on George Lucas’ Star Wars universe over the years, you’ve got a galaxy’s worth of content to dive into. Even if you started now, there’s a slim chance you could ever get through it all before you died. All the more so since the upcoming new Star Wars films will inevitably kick the franchise merchandise machine into an even higher gear. With all that content out there, it’s genuinely surprising when somebody figures out a creative new way to put a spin on the Star Wars universe, or a way to come at it from a different angle. Today we’ve got two of those: a minimalist family tree noting the interconnectedness of the Star Wars saga’s most important characters, and a periodic table that breaks down the saga’s most important…well, elements. (You can click each of the images in this story for larger versions.
First up, the above family tree poster, created by artist Joe Stone. The tree begins with Darth Sidious/Palpatine and Yoda, then expands outwards from there. Family is obviously a huge part of the Star Wars stories, beginning with young Anakin and continuing forward in his offspring, Luke and Leia. But it should only take a quick glance for any true Star Wars fan to determine that this family tree isn’t limited only to family. Instead, Stone has expanded beyond the familial linkages of romance and offspring, also including significant battles, apprentice/master relationships, friendships, and the all-purpose “other.” Stone says he might someday make a version that incorporates the Expanded Universe as well. We wish him luck, ‘cause that’s a daunting job, to say the least.
Speaking of spending ridiculous amounts of time creating a Star Wars-related thing, check out the Periodic Table of Star Wars Elements. Like the family tree above, the table breaks elements of the Star Wars movies — specifically the original trilogy — down into a representational visual form. It’s just a tad more complex than the family tree, however. And by “a tad,” I mean “a ridiculous amount.”
Created by the folks at etckt, the Star Wars periodic table has each “element” associated with a specific character from the saga. Unlike Stone’s family tree, however, digs into the deep cuts. Sure, you’ve got Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader, but further down the list you’ll find obscure characters such as “Major Marquand, AT-ST Driver” and “Karie Neth” and a bunch of other people I’ve never heard of.
It would have been clever enough just to create a Star Wars periodic table in the first place, but they’ve included more information than just an element-style abbreviation for each entry. They also include the initials of the actor who played the role and which episode they were first seen in, all translated into Star Wars’ Aurebesh language. The Force is strong with them. Although that might just be OCD actually.
They then further divided everything but color-coding each entry to denote which film the characters first appeared in — shades of green for the Rebellion characters, shades of red for the Empire.
Honestly, just looking at this thing makes me want to lie down for a long nap, and I’m sure it must have been a time-intensive project. Apparently the etckt folks are serious workaholics, though, because they eventually put together another, even more complex version for the prequel trilogy.
At least they’ve got a few years before the new trilogy is finished…
