Do we like them?

Do we like Obi-Wan Kenobi?

A character from Star Wars (1977–2005)

Our score: 9 out of 10. Yes. He's patient, brave, funny and loyal, and he keeps trying to do right when it costs him. His one big blind spot is that he trusts too much and talks too little.

Obi-Wan Kenobi is a Jedi Master, a member of an order of peacekeepers who use the mystical Force. He is raised in the Jedi Temple and trained by the maverick Qui-Gon Jinn. In his first story, as a young Padawan, he learns to trust his own judgment. He is also more devoted to the Jedi Code than his own master. He becomes a Jedi Knight and soon takes on a gifted, headstrong apprentice, Anakin Skywalker.

Across the prequel films and The Clone Wars, he is the steady one. He's a skilled swordsman and a very capable tactician, known as "the Negotiator" for talking his way out of trouble, with a dry wit to match. He gets promoted to general in the Republic's army. He is a loyal friend and a demanding teacher, and he sticks with his reckless apprentice through war after war. His flaw is that he doesn't always stand up to the Jedi Council or say what's bothering him. That is part of why he's lovable and also why he sometimes fails the people he cares about.

That blind spot proves costly. Anakin falls to the dark side and becomes Darth Vader, and the Jedi are all but wiped out. Obi-Wan survives and spends years in hiding on Tatooine, quietly watching over Luke Skywalker. When the time comes he steps up as Luke's mentor, and in A New Hope he sacrifices himself so Luke and his friends can escape. He keeps guiding Luke afterwards.

Our score is a 9. He's brave, kind, funny and endlessly patient, and he carries his failures without turning bitter. We lose a point because his silences and hesitation let a lot of trouble grow.