Subscribe by EmailFrom Luke Skywalker To Darth Vader: The Evolution of Cool
April 6, 2009 by Shéa Bennett | 14 comments
By Shea Bennett
Contributing Writer, [GAS]
When we’re very young, certainly before we hit our teenage years, our favorite characters from our favorite movies and TV shows tend to reflect our nature during this period of our lives. They’re often innocents, like us. Possibly naïve and often untrained in the ways of life, our icons at this time almost have a virginal status about them.
As we mature – certainly as we enter and move through puberty – we tend to look for increasingly darker characters for inspiration. These new icons, while rarely all bad or certainly evil, are significantly less good, clean and wholesome than the folk we used to appreciate. They’re mostly heroic, but have an unsavoury edge that is enormously appealing.
Once we are well into our teenage years, and certainly as we approach adulthood, even those guys aren’t dark enough. They’ll always be somewhat cool, but as we age and the demands of life weigh heavily upon us, we become more cynical and appreciative of darkness. Often we will find ourselves, consciously or otherwise, thinking that the mostly bad or downright evil creations are the epitome of style and sophistication.
I present to you, then, four examples of this evolution of cool.
Star Wars (IV-VI)
Stage 1: Luke Skywalker
Stage 2: Han Solo
Stage 3: Boba Fett
Stage 4: Darth Vader
(Indeed, one can argue that Luke became far more appealing as he himself became a darker character. But he’s no Vader.)
Star Trek (TNG)
Stage 1: Commander Data
Stage 2: Jean Luc Picard
Stage 3: Q
Stage 4: The Borg
(It’s worth observing that Picard himself became significantly cooler when Borgified into Locutus in The Best of Both Worlds.)
Marvel
Stage 1: Spider-Man
Stage 2: Wolverine
Stage 3: Magneto
Stage 4: Venom
(Magneto in the movies is cooler than Magneto in the comics, and vice versa for Venom.)
DC
Stage 1: Superman
Stage 2: Batman
Stage 3: Lex Luthor
Stage 4: The Joker
I’m sure you have your own favorites and your personal order might differ slightly from the above. I urge you to hit the comments and list your own evolutionary cool timelines.
- Jedi Beware: Darth Vader Wall Clock
- Introducing the “Luke Skywalker” Prosthetic Arm
- Jedi attacked by Darth Vader and a metal crutch
- Darth Vader escapes prison sentence for assault
Remus Lupin – Severus Snape – Lucius Malfoy – Voldemort?
I’m not sure I followed this particular progression but I know people who have. :) (And along the same lines as yours, I would note that Voldemort got much cooler when Ralph Fiennes er, slithered into his skin.)
I think if we start with Harry himself you’re on to something. I’m not as familiar with the books as most but my expected order (assuming a reader’s maturity from child-to-adulthood) would be something like Harry/Sirius Black/Snape/Voldemort, with the last two or three being fairly interchangable. :)
You might be on to something – I remember finding Superman the unflappable epitome of cool, but as time progressed I found his sense of justice a major limitation. Not sure I’d gravitate towards Lex Luthor though.
And Harry Potter…well he suffers from Frodo Syndrome – most of his success is derived from the intervention of his friends.
Re: LOTR, I wonder if the natural progression towards coolness is Frodo (or any other one of the Hobbitsiz), on to Gandalf and then Aragorn, with perhaps Sauron scooping in at the last second to take the prize? I mean, come on, in that flashback clip in Fellowship he was totally the man.
Well, that’s clearly the exception that proves the rule….Gandalf’s always been the coolest.
Frodo -> Aragorn -> Saruman -> Sauron
Most innocent -> good-hearted but is still ruthless -> extremely misguided and bad -> all-out evil
I think that’s a much better LOTR progression, myself…
Yeah, he looked totally badass in that huge spiked armor :)
I guess someone should attempt one for the girls. How about… (although this might be showing my age a bit!)
Wonder Woman – Wednesday Addams – Catwoman – O-Ren Ishi
Is O-Ren cooler than The Bride? Or Gogo? Hmmmmm… dunno. :)
It’s also worth observing how Princess Leia became a lot more appealing when she went all badass and killed Jabba*. Indeed, she got hotter as the OT progressed, from all white and (yes) virginal in A New Hope, to tainted by the filth that was Han Solo in Empire and then Jedi. They never really did that with Amidala; if anything, she kind of became more of a drip.
* The bikini helped.
You think the reverse is true with music?
You start off liking Slayer and Marylin Manson and then a bit of Tom Waits and Bonnie Prince Billy creep in and before you know where you are you’re in the bath with Kenny G…..
Well, that’s the dream!
1. Spiderman
2. Ghost Rider
3. Spawn
4. hellblazer
About comics reading
Shea, evil is not cool. Reading this people might assume that’s what you are saying, from superman to the joker? The joker is really high on the cool meter(right now) but that’s because of Heath Ledger. The superman started out strong with Christopher Reeve and has remained a favorite for decades. superman, is really archetype as is batman and the joker. I would agree that batman has an edge on superman, he’s human and therefor slightly more cool for his deeds but cool is about heroic efforts for good, even if they are misunderstood. Which might apply to the joker, but it’s not really his gig. Good article :)
Dragonball Z: Krillin -> Goku -> Vegeta -> Frieza