Darth Jar Jar

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About

Darth Jar Jar or Jar Jar Binks Is a Sith Lord is a Star Wars fan theory that suggests the comic relief character Jar Jar Binks is secretly a powerful Sith Lord. Spawned by a viral Reddit post in October 2015, the theory has since inspired analysis videos, memes, fan art and other fan labor.

Origin

On October 30th, 2015, Redditor Lumpawarroo made a fan theory post in the /r/StarWars^[1] subreddit in which they theorized that Jar Jar Binks, a Gungan character who serves primarily as comic relief in the 1999 film Star Wars Episode I –The Phantom Menace, was actually "a trained Force user" and "knowing Sith collaborator," and suggested that the character would play a central role in then-upcoming film Star Wars Episode VII –The Force Awakens. The post brought the following arguments supporting the theory:

Jar Jar Binks is a skilled warrior, based on physical feats shown in the film and him constantly surviving fights due to "luck";
Jar Jar is also master of Jedi Mind control, based on the character influencing major plot points of the Star Wars prequels, and him seemingly hand-waving near characters when important decisions are made;
Jar Jar and Palpatine being co-conspirators, with Jar Jar becoming a senator and facilitating Palpatine's rise to power;
Considering that George Lucas intended for the prequel films to "rhyme" and mirror the original trilogy, Jar Jar Binks was supposed to "mirror" Yoda, a character who initially seems insignificant and not very important, but is secretly a master;

George Lucas "chickening out" out of making Jar Jar Binks a major villain and rewriting the script after the character was poorly received by fans.

The post received over 72,000 upvotes in the /r/StarWars subreddit and went viral in the following weeks, with multiple publications making articles about the fan theory.^[2]^[3]

The Reddit post also inspired videos about the fan theory. For example, on November 7th, 2015, YouTube^[4] user Vincent Vendetta posted a video that received over 9.3 million views in nine years (shown below, left). On November 11th, YouTube^[5] user Lone Star made another video about the theory that garnered over 2.8 million views in the same period (shown below, right).

Spread

Since 2015, the theory, often referred to as "Darth Jar Jar theory" or "Jar Jar Binks Sith Lord theory," has remained an inspiration for memes, fan art and other fan labor, with the theory achieving particular popularity in the /r/PrequelMemes subreddit.

For example, on March 1st, 2020, Redditor butAnotherIsTaken made a post about the theory that received over 27,000 upvotes in /r/PrequelMemes^[6] in four years (shown below, left). On August 21st, Redditor NotScaRPG posted an Unsettled Tom meme that received over 65,000 upvotes in the subreddit^[7] in four years (shown below, right).

On February 1st, 2021, 3D artist @Kevin_Cassidy posted several renders of a 3D model of Darth Jar Jar to X^[8] / Twitter and ArtStation.^[9] The X post garnered over 8,300 reposts and 50,000 likes in three years (shown below, left). On September 16th, DeviantArt^[10] user Landylachs posted an artwork that gained over 3,300 views and 60 favorites in three years and was widely circulated online (shown below, right).

Recognition by Lucasfilm

On May 6th, 2024, a teaser trailer for an upcoming TV special LEGO Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy was released.^[11] The trailer, which teases the premise "villains are now heroes, heroes are now villains," ends with a scene in which Darth Jar Jar wields a red lightsaber.

Meesa going to hurt yousa!

The trailer was followed by memes and viral reactions on social media. For example, on May 6th, X^[12] user @keldorjedii wrote, "Darth Jar Jar being officially recognized by Lucasfilm was not on my 2024 bingo card," with the post gaining over 190 reposts and 2,700 likes in three days (shown below, left).

On the same day, Redditor BeskorJake posted a meme that received over 6,600 upvotes in the /r/PrequelMemes^[13] subreddit in three days (shown below, right).