- 03/05/2025
This is the way.
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00:00The Star Wars universe is a place ruled by good and evil, heroes and villains, the light side
00:04and the dark. But this galaxy is also governed by regular old laws. Whether they are the sacred
00:10texts of the Jedi or the ways of the Sith, every race and culture have their own set of rules that
00:14they must abide by. With that in mind then, I'm Josh from WhatCulture.com and these are 10 crazy
00:19in-universe rules that Star Wars characters follow. Number 10, The Wookiee's Life Debt.
00:24If a person's life is owed to another, they can pledge to protect their saviour for the rest of
00:28their life. This custom, known as a life debt, is common amongst many cultures in the Star Wars
00:33universe. I mean, Jar Jar Binks owed a life debt to Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi after they
00:37rescued him in The Phantom Menace, and similarly, Chewbacca vowed to protect Han Solo after he came
00:43to the Wookiee's aid. As understandable as this decree may be, Wookiees in particular take it to
00:48a radical extreme. The hairy creatures from Kashyyyk are so willing to honour the custom that it's not
00:53rare for the recipient of the life debt to turn the Wookiee into a slave. Even if the Wookiee is able
00:58to fight back or flee from their so-called messiah, the fussball won't even try. Since it's devotion
01:03to, the life debt is too strong to break. And this is quite sadly ironic, as can be observed in Solo
01:09A Star Wars Story and Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic, as one of the more common reasons that
01:13Wookiees make life debts in the first place is because they're freed from slavery.
01:17Number 9, Stormtroopers Don't Have Names. To ensure the Stormtroopers are of the highest calibre,
01:22each soldier goes through painstaking reconditioning during their induction into the Empire. Not only,
01:28are they trained physically, but mentally. They are broken down on a psychological level to ensure
01:32that they are unequivocally obedient to their superiors, no matter how unreasonable their
01:37requests might be, which is almost always very, very unreasonable. Because the original Stormtroopers
01:43were clones who aged at double speed, there was little time for a personality to develop. Since
01:47each member didn't have any real personal traits to separate them from one another, it makes sense
01:52why they were designated by operating numbers rather than names. When the First Order abandoned the
01:57cloning program and hired, or forced, regular soldiers to serve as Stormtroopers, the higher-ups
02:02continued to refer to the Cadets by these operating numbers. By dehumanizing them like this, the First
02:07Order believed that their Cadets would function more mechanically, making them follow orders
02:12unconditionally. Hell, some Stormtroopers were taken into the First Order at such an early age that many
02:16of them have forgotten their name, if they ever even had one to begin with.
02:20Number 8, Jedi can kill, but never out of revenge. For generations, the Jedi have depicted themselves
02:26as peaceful monks. In the wise words of Mace Windu, we're keepers of the peace, not soldiers.
02:31However, this philosophy is a big fat lie, since Jedi do kill all the time. I mean, hell,
02:36Mace Windu himself didn't look particularly peaceful when he lopped off Django's head in Episode 2. Since
02:41Force wielders then are often in the thick of battle, one can only imagine how many lives they've taken.
02:46But according to the Jedi teachings, they are strictly forbidden to kill out of revenge.
02:51As Anakin Skywalker proved, a vengeance can easily lead one to the dark side. While Anakin may have
02:56been arrogant and childish in his youth, he was still mostly guided by morals. But when his mother
03:01was enslaved and killed by Tusken Raiders, he became consumed by revenge, resulting in him
03:06slaughtering the entire tribe. This was the first time Anakin tapped into the dark side, and is often
03:11regarded as his first real step to becoming Darth Vader.
03:147. Imperials can't hurt people without reason
03:17As hard as it is to believe, members of the Empire are, on paper anyway, forbidden from
03:22harming others unprovoked. To put it another way, the guys who blew up Alderaan are not supposed to
03:28hurt anybody. Because the Emperor pretends that he has the people's best interests at heart,
03:32he can't just have his subjects shoving blasters in front of citizens' faces with no rhyme or reason.
03:37So, he often just invents a reason, a really flimsy reason. Unless you've never seen a Star Wars movie,
03:42though, you should probably be well aware that every Empire employee under the sun has failed
03:47to abide by this rule. For as long as the Empire has existed, Stormtroopers have imprisoned,
03:52tortured, and shot anyone who had the misfortune of crossing their path. I mean,
03:55just because Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru found themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time,
03:59Stormtroopers had them burned to a crisp, through no fault of their own. Because the Empire is
04:04passionately prejudiced against aliens as well, Stormtroopers are known for being more ruthless with
04:08nonhumans, jailing and killing them for the most minor of crimes. Despite the fact that
04:13it's illegal for Imperials to harm civilians, history has proven that this law only exists on
04:18paper, not in practice. 6. Female Stormtroopers Must Train Harder
04:23Even though several Imperial officers have appeared throughout Star Wars, all the Stormtroopers initially
04:27were suggested to be male. However, there is no law restricting women from donning the white helmet
04:32and armour. Although they don't appear in the original trilogy, George Lucas did confirm that
04:36female Stormtroopers were stationed on the Death Star and other Empire control units.
04:40Because the female enlisted cadets are trained separately though, you would think that this
04:44is the main reason we rarely see them. But there is another factor why women are rarely spotted
04:49marching through Star Destroyers and Empire Sea stations. And that's because the Empire forced
04:53women to work much harder physically to match the male trainees. Because of this, one can only imagine
04:58the gruelling experience that Captain Phasma must have endured to work her way up the ranks to become
05:02the head Stormtrooper. 5. Bribes in the Empire are a no-no
05:06The Empire is a profoundly immoral dictatorship, populated by employees which will commit any
05:12atrocity to further their agenda. Since its creation, these fascists have enslaved millions
05:16of blown up planets and obliterated entire star systems. Despite the boundless evil they've committed
05:22though, there is one law which the Empire takes very, very seriously, and that's bribery. Even though
05:28payoffs are illegal in real life as well, it's baffling why this is the one crime that causes
05:33Imperials to suddenly take the moral high ground. After all, wouldn't accepting bribes be a really
05:38effective tactic to learn crucial information to smoke out vigilantes, say? Will Darth Vader really
05:43care if a scout trooper is bribed a few space credits if he learns the location of a rebel base?
05:49Considering the Empire has allied with scum like the Hutts and countless bounty hunters, it's genuinely
05:54bewildering that they act holier than thou when it comes to accepting a few kickbacks. I mean,
05:58I'm sure the paperwork for building three Death Stars wasn't legit, and a few palms were greased
06:03to get those battle stations up and running, right? Number 4, Elathadet keeps the Jabba away.
06:08Jabba the Hutt loves nothing more than to be surrounded by all manner of little freaks. His den is
06:13a hive of scum and villainy, and as you might expect from a demented crime boss, he runs a pretty
06:18tight and tough ship. He has all manner of rules that his subordinates have to abide by in order to win his
06:23respect, but none of his subjects live under quite as much fear as one salacious B. Crumb.
06:28Now, while you might not know this little rat by his real name, you will remember him from Return of
06:33the Jedi, where he essentially served as Jabba's hype man and jester. While that's not the worst job
06:38in the world to have, Crumb doesn't exactly perform it under ideal conditions. See, in a twisted way,
06:43Jabba saved Crumb from death. However, it wasn't out the goodness of his heart. Instead, Crumb lives under a
06:49tight contract whereby he has to justify his life by making Jabba laugh at least one time per day.
06:54And if he misses the mark, then, well, Jabba will just off him. So Crumb existed under this rule for
06:59a good while, only to end up dead in the end anyway. Number 3, Sith must respect each other,
07:05but can kill one another. As a student to a Sith Lord, one is expected to carry out every order without
07:11question or hesitation. Any form of defiance will be met with a punishment of the highest order,
07:15so as a result, an apprentice should be utterly obedient to their superior. However, the only
07:20way for an apprentice to complete their training as a Sith is to kill their master. Even though
07:25Sith Lords spend years or decades training their student, they know it's only a matter of time
07:29before the apprentice turns on them. In fact, Darth Vader has battled the Emperor in the comics,
07:33books, and video games on many occasions in a vain attempt to usurp his master's throne. If the
07:39apprentice wishes to challenge their mentor, they're expected to take part in a lightsaber duel. But
07:43since the Sith are, well, the Sith, they often rely on less direct methods to dispose of their rival.
07:48Sadly, Darth Plagueis learned this the hard way when Darth Sidious murdered him in his sleep. What
07:53makes the Sith's hypocritical code of honor more ridiculous though, is how the Darksiders would
07:57probably have succeeded at destroying the Jedi Order eons ago if they weren't so busy trying to
08:01kill each other. Number 2, some Mandalorians can't show their face. Of the multiple factions of the
08:06Mandalorians, the most well known is the Children of the Watch. Because these bounty hunters are not
08:10permitted to show their faces, the other tribes regard the Watch as a religious cult. Some children
08:15of the Watch take this rule so seriously, in fact, that they won't remove their helmet while eating
08:19alone or even sleeping. If a member shows their face to another person, they will be disowned by
08:23the entire tribe. Now, the lead character in The Mandalorian, Din Djarin, was so immersed in the
08:28Watch's way of life that he never even questioned his comrades. Nor did he realize that he was being
08:33raised by zealots. Until Bo-Katan set him straight, he had no idea that Mandos outside the Watch could
08:38whip their helmet off whenever they wanted. The divide between the Watch and the other tribes
08:41eventually led to a culture war, though, which concluded with Din Djarin's people locating to
08:46another planet. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as the Watch were off-world when
08:50Mandalore was decimated during the Night of a Thousand Tears. Ironically, the Children of the Watch
08:54were only spared because they were too stubborn to change. Number 1, Jedi cannot have attachments.
09:00To become a Jedi, being able to wield the Force isn't enough. If one is truly sincere about being
09:04inducted into the Order, they must give themselves to the light side completely. These monk-like
09:09warriors are expected to give up leisure, non-practical possessions, and family, all in
09:13the name of living up to being a Jedi. Likewise, Jedi are not allowed to give in to negative emotions,
09:18such as greed, envy, or hate, since such feelings can lead to the dark side. However, Jedi are also
09:22expected to never embrace love physically or mentally. If a Jedi is caught having a relationship
09:27with another, they will be excommunicated from the Order immediately. Even though Anakin Skywalker was
09:31fully aware of this, he was unable to control his feelings for Padme Amidala, and so married
09:36her in secret. At first, one might assume that this rule is put in place to ensure Jedi weren't
09:40impaired by distractions, but history in this world has proven that love is the most powerful as well
09:44as the most dangerous of all emotions. After all, it was not hate that brought about the collapse of
09:49the Republic and the Jedi Order, but love. Well, love and fear. When Anakin had a vision that he would
09:54lose Padme, he vowed to do anything that would save her, including turning to the dark side. Had Anakin never
09:59experienced mutual love, it could've prevented the Empire from ever taking over the galaxy
10:04in the first place. At least, on paper. So that's our list. I want to know what you guys think down
10:07in the comments below. What do you think about these rules? How many of them did you know? How
10:10many of them didn't you know? And are there any interesting ones I missed off here? While you're
10:14down there as well, could you please give us a like, share, subscribe, and head over to WhatCulture
10:16Star Wars for more lists like this on the regular. Even if you don't though, I've been Josh,
10:20thanks so much for watching, and I'll see you soon.
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