Skywalker not a galactic surname, but a Force user moniker?

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker has people picking apart the title left and right. Although the surname is tied to Luke and Anakin, will it be a generalized moniker given unto force users?

Star Wars’ final title in the saga has people talking and with it, comes the dissection of The Rise of Skywalker sub-title. Or, should it be “the rise of the force users”?

There has been a ton of buzz online regarding the title with the common thread regarding the word’s origins. Earlier publications have already talked about the naming convention of the Star Wars universe.

Skywalker wasn’t at first Skywalker

In fact, when choosing names back in the day, the early development of Luke’s character was left out due to a serial killer of the time by the name of Charles Manson. Manson had killed an actress and back then it was an unintended pun.

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According to an older Yahoo article, Luke’s surname was meant to be “Starkiller,” a moniker that ties into the current destructive base seen in The Force Awakens and helmed by the First Order. It would seem apropos to the Dark Side to name this device of mass destruction after a serial killer instead at a later time. Of course, you have to wonder why the protagonist, a hero, would initially have been named “Starkiller” in Lucas’ earlier writings.

Skywalker to be a Star Wars universe household name?

YouTuber and entertainment connoisseur John Campea mentioned that the earlier drafts of George Lucas has the name “Skywalker” referring to a bunch of force users.

"“Skywalkers were what the force users were called”."

That said, this could mean that anyone who uses the Force would be deemed with the Skywalker moniker. John’s cohort, Robert Meyer Burnett, felt this theory of many was on the mark as well. That this could be an ideal for the rest of the franchise. Considering that the family line was responsible for a life changing series of events, this would make sense on how the name would evolve to a general term for a Force user. Burnett thought the name was more of an “idea”. He also thinks that there will not be either a Jedi or Sith label in the future.

George Lucas’ earlier writings

However, I did what I could to research John’s statement and I didn’t spot what he claimed were Lucas’ earlier drafts deemed “Skywalker” as a force user moniker. There was a 1997 Washington Post article which talked about George Lucas’ naming conventions for the franchise and all I could find was that Skywalker was in reference to Loki, the Norse god of fire and mischief. That’s kind of interesting considering Disney’s acquisition of Marvel Studios.

There is a lengthy website referencing Lucas’ earlier drafts. Even though I didn’t read it all word-for-word, (it was quite long) I did a search for “Skywalker” in the text on StarWarz.com and saw nothing referencing the name to Force users. Of course, the Internet is a big place, so it could be out there somewhere.

“Skywalker” a good reason for franchise expansion?

I couldn’t help but think that in order for Disney/Lucasfilm to further expand the franchise that they’d go this direction. At the end of The Last Jedi, you saw a little kid using the Force to grab a broom. This could be indicative of a NON-Jedi/Sith demonstrating his ability. With Disney Plus’ spin-off shows, it’s no wonder they’d want to do this.

So it would seem that Skywalker would be given heroic recognition and any one Force user would be given unto them that moniker. I personally theorize Lucasfilm did this in order to expand the franchise. This is not much different from when someone is given an award that’s a Pulitzer Prize recipient or scholarship winner. I can surmise that the name made so much of an impact regarding the Skywalker involvement in the rebellion/resistance that the label would wind up being a galactic household name.

George Lucas’ consulted for Skywalker lore?

Collider reported a few days ago via the Chicago’s Star Wars Celebration event that George Lucas was sought after by Abrams to consult the helmer on the conclusionary portion of the saga. When Disney took over, Collider mentioned that Kennedy and Abrams had “reportedly threw out much of what Lucas handed over (much to the Star Wars director’s chagrin) in favor of charting their own path, and Lucas has been pretty mum on the new direction of Star Wars under Disney thus far”.

Now, I’m guessing they needed his consult after-all as switching gears in Hollywood in the creative process is sometime inevitable. I couldn’t help but think that his older writings may indeed come into play in the creative process now. Which indeed leads us to yet another theory to tack on to the other numerous theories regarding the film’s new sub-heading.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is slated for this December. Do you think that “Skywalker” has evolved into a moniker given unto Force users in general? Do you think the name will influence the rest of the Star Wars universe?