“[M]yths about twins…are rooted in [a] basic mystery of sameness and difference.”1
Twins are the subject of much fascination and attention in mythic stories. Their unique connectedness, from the moment of conception through the rests of their lives, separates them from other kinds of close siblings and family members. However, considering twins as one linked unit is an incomplete approach, as their differences – in looks for non-identical twins, in personality, and in the life paths they follow – make for equally interesting study, whether those differences are complementary or in opposition.
In storytelling, twins serve a wide variety of dramatic functions. Pairs featuring one "good" twin and one "evil" twin have been a staple of ancient tales and modern-day soap operas alike. Stories where identical twins "switch places" or where one takes over the other's life, unbeknownst to those around them, have long intrigued audiences. And the idea that twins form two halves of a whole -- that one is incomplete without the other, that their lives and destinies will always be intertwined -- is perhaps more prevalent with opposite-sex pairs, but often applies to all types of twins. These and other narrative devices give twins a special place in myth, and the Star Wars myth is no exception.
Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa are twins born of the mystical union between the Chosen One, Anakin Skywalker and his warrior queen, Padmé Amidala.2 Their birth allows the first half of the saga to end on a hopeful note despite the death and destruction that marks Revenge of the Sith; their arrival into adulthood is what sets the events of the saga's second half into motion. As they lead the way to restoring all that was lost during the prequel era, Luke and Leia serve a variety of functions: they are avatars of their parents, the next generation and last hope for the Jedi Order and the Galactic Republic, and representatives of a variety of archetypes the make up the mythical Hero's Journey. They are critical to the saga – inexorably linked to one another, and bound to the greater fate of the galaxy.
Many cultures offer tales of twins that echo through to the Star Wars films. Nut and Geb come from Ancient Egypt – Nut, a female, was the goddess of the sky, while Geb, a male, was the god of the earth. They are considered to be "complementary symbols -- meaning that the two complete each other, forming a whole." Depictions of the two often show Nut arched in the sky above an arched Geb as the Earth, creating a full circle.3 In the West African nation of Mali, "twinship represents completeness and perfection." The god Nummo is a set of twins and the only creature to contain the "divine completeness" of being both male and female."4 Mawu-Lisa, a god from the African country Benin, is a male-female pair of twins, where Mawu, the female, represents the moon, and Lisa, the male, represents the sun.5
Luke and Leia seem to invert the earth-sky connections of Nut and Geb. Luke, bearer of the Skywalker name, is obviously connected to the sky (and space) in the saga. Leia takes more of an earth-mother role, particularly when she is amongst the Ewoks on Endor during Return of the Jedi. Luke does match up with his male counterpart Lisa though – Lisa and Luke are both connected to the sun, Luke most prominently through his home planet of Tatooine, a desert planet in a binary sun system. Luke and Leia's relationship also has a slight romantic angle throughout the original trilogy – though much less so when compared to Nut and Geb, who were cast as lovers in addition to being twins.6 While Leia is clearly destined to be with Han, until all three main characters become aware of the twin-ship, Luke is occasionally cast as Han's rival for Leia's affections.
The Skywalker twins generally follow the thinking that twins are parts of a whole. First, they are male and female, representing both halves of humanity from a gender standpoint, much like the twin gods of ancient mythology mentioned earlier. This duality relates to the psychological and mythological concepts of the anima and animus. According to the Myths-Dreams-Symbols website, "The Anima is the personification of all feminine psychological tendencies within a man, the archetypal feminine symbolism within a man's unconscious. The Animus is the personification of all masculine psychological tendencies within a woman, the archetypal masculine symbolism within a woman's unconscious."7 Psychologist Carl Jung call these personifications "soul images" and "accept[ing] and integrat[ing] your soul-image… will make up deficiencies of your persona and help you become a fuller and more balanced person."8
In the original trilogy, Leia serves as Luke's anima, while he is her animus. The Myths website states plainly that “a man's anima may be represented in his dreams by his sister; a woman's animus by her brother” and that “a recurring theme is that of the hero rescuing a beautiful young woman.”9 In Episode IV, Luke’s call to action comes directly from Leia, whose message to Obi-Wan Kenobi sets him on the path to adventure. Once on the Death Star he sets saving her from death and imprisonment as his goal. Having accomplished that, it is later implied that at least part of Luke’s motivation in the final battle against Death Star is fighting for Leia and her cause. In The Empire Strikes Back, Luke defies his teachers and risks himself to save Leia (and Han) from Vader at Bespin, and it is Leia he calls to at his lowest point after defeat. In the final chapter, Luke’s desperate desire to protect his sister nearly drives him to the Dark Side. Rescuing a princess or damsel “means that the man has now lifted his femininity out of its dark imprisonment and welcomed it…as an indispensable factor in his life and happiness.”10 While Han fits more of the animus characteristics for Leia than Luke does, Luke still represents certain animus-related masculine personality traits, such as courage, initiative, and wisdom.11
As part of twins being considered pieces of a whole, they have long been thought to possess a special extrasensory bond. Everything from a full-blown psychic connection (where one can literally read the other’s mind) to vaguely shared feelings and responses (such as when one feels pain when the other is hurt, or is anxious when the other is in a dangerous or difficult situation) has been attributed twins.12 While science has never been able to prove the existence of such a bond, anecdotes abound, and people continue to believe it exists. While the existence of the Force in the Star Wars universe answers the general question of the reality of extrasensory perception in the films – and even unrelated people are able to sense each other depending on circumstance -- this form of ESP plays a role in establishing Luke and Leia as twins. As mentioned before, Luke calls to Leia at his most desperate moment following his loss to Darth Vader. Luke does so instinctively, as he has no reason at that point to think Leia would be able to hear him through the Force at all, or that she would be more likely to hear him than anyone else. Leia responds instinctively as well, not questioning how it is that she can hear Luke so clearly in her mind, or know with such certainty where he is. In Episode VI, when Han attempts to comfort Leia by saying that Luke was not on the Death Star when it was destroyed, she is calm and confident that her feeling that Luke is safe is correct. This psychic trait affected Luke and Leia before they knew they were brother and sister, and strengthened their closeness as the movies ended.
Taken together, the Skywalker twins also signify the rebirth of the galaxy through both the Jedi Order (through Luke, though Leia also has potential) and the Galactic Republic (through Leia), two institutions whose fates were tied together by the Sith Lord Palpatine, who used his strength in the Force and power with the government in order to destroy them both. Luke and Leia symbolize their parents' union, as they each possess different characteristics from their parents: they follow the same career paths and share some physical traits with the same-gender parent, Luke has Padmé's compassion, Leia has Anakin's impatience, they both share Anakin's anger and Padmé's sense of duty, and so on. Due to all of these factors, their fates are linked -- the period in between the Star Wars trilogies consists of little notable change for the galaxy or any of the characters from the prequels, and it is only when fate reunites Luke and Leia at the beginning of Episode IV that they are each put firmly on the path toward their particular destinies, and the movement toward revolutionary change begins for the rest of the galaxy.
As twins, Luke and Leia are in a unique position to capitalize on their central place in the Star Wars universe by drawing on the characteristics and talents common to this special kind of siblings. The mysteries of twinhood help propel the saga – especially its second half – toward its rewarding endings of redemption, peace, and reconciliation.
Works Cited
1 “Twins.” Encyclopedia of Myths website. 2007. <http://www.mythencyclopedia.com/Tr-Wa/Twins.html>
2 Star Wars: The Power of Myth. DK Publishing, 1999. pg. 19, 36.
3 Encyclopedia of Myth.
4 Seawright, Caroline. "Egyptology: Geb, God of the Earth, In the Earth and Under the Earth…" The K4W Foundation Home Site. December 10, 2001. < thekeep.org/~kunoichi/kunoichi/themestream/geb.html>
5 Encyclopedia of Myth.
6 Encyclopedia of Myth.
7 Ackroyd, Eric. "The Individuation Process." Myths-Dreams-Symbols website. November 30, 2004. <http://www.mythsdreamssymbols.com/animaanimus.html?>
8 Ackroyd.
9 Ackroyd.
10 Acroyd.
11 Miller, Mary C. “Individuation in Carl G. Jung's Theory of Analytical Psychology.” <http://www.scribd.com/doc/90089/Jung-Carl-Gustav-Theory-of-Analytical-Psychology>
12 Neer, Katherine. “How Twins Work: Shared Thoughts.” <http://science.howstuffworks.com/twin8.htm>
