Fixing Jar Jar Binks
Okay, I know this is a weird thing to post on the Telltale community, but I don't know where else to post it, and surely there are some Star Wars fans on here. So I'm taking the novelizations and rewriting them into fanfiction, changing certain aspects I think could have been improved, and this is something I wanted to tackle: Jar Jar Binks. He's the most hated Star Wars character of all time, and whenever I see anyone's suggestions on how the prequels could have been improved, 99% of them say Jar Jar should be scrapped. This may seem like blasphemy, but I think Jar Jar Binks shouldn't be removed. He should be improved. HANG WITH ME! Taking him out is a wasted character opportunity.
Before I spend a long ass time trying to write my own version of the novelizations, I thought I would run it by some Star Wars fans to see what they would think. So here's my changes:
First and foremost, before we can get to any of the real changes, get rid of his stupid accent. You can have a little bit, but it's just annoying to listen to and it doesn't add anything to the character. Now we can talk about the character himself.
Now, the main problem over everything else with Jar Jar in the movies is that he is treated like a joke. He needs to be a serious character in order to land well and fit in with the rest of the characters. He doesn't need to be an uber badass with a blaster, we'll still be keeping most of his character traits. He can still crack jokes and be the comedic character of the group, there's nothing wrong with that, but he needs to not be the butt of every joke.
When they meet Jar Jar in the forest on Alderaan (Naboo), he's not just bumbling around, he's fishing with a spear. Now this spear is important, but we'll get to that later. Things go similarly until they get to Otoh Gunga (with Jar Jar speaking like a normal fucking human of course) and being greeted by Captain Tarpals and the gungans. He is then beaten up by the gungans and Obi-wan wants to help, but Qui-gon doesn't let him, saying it's not their place to interfere.
Then we get to the throne room, and it's revealed that Jar Jar is actually the son of Boss Nass, and the heir to the Bossship (lordship? kingdom?) and House Binks. He has four sisters, but he's the only boy, and the only one capable of inheriting the throne. So Boss Nass put a lot of pride into the boy from a young age. Nass himself was a Great War hero himself, but had gotten fat in his old age, so he raised his son to be the great hero that he could never be.
But Jar Jar was not a fighter. No amount of training or tactical counseling could change that. Jar Jar is a musician. We've never seen any form of artist in Star Wars and I think it's a much needed break from every single character being good in a fight. So Jar Jar's a musician and a pacifist. He hates fighting, but his father forces him to anyway.
He sent Jar Jar out with a squadron of his best fighters to declare war on a rival gungan house, but Jar Jar is a pacifist and terrible at making war, so he lost the battle horribly and got all of his men killed. The General of the other army takes Jar Jar captive, but realizes how worthless he is and sends him back as an insult. So Nass Binks is not happy about this, and casts Jar Jar out, never to come back, revoking his Binks name.
So when the Jedi meet Jar Jar at the beginning of PM, we're seeing a Jar Jar who has essentially lost everything, all because he was just a pacifist. So yes, Jar Jar is a coward, but now it's in an endearing way instead of an annoying way.
Throughout the movie, Jar Jar is the optimist of the group, never having a negative thought to say to anybody, but it's as a shield because he doesn't want to let anyone know how broken and hurt he is inside. At one point during the escape from Alderaan, Jar Jar accidentally gets one of the Alderaani soldiers killed and Queen Amidala shot in the shoulder, and Captain Panaka furiously locks him away in the hold of the ship. But he still stays positive the whole time, because he has nothing else to do.
Everyone will make fun of Jar Jar throughout the film, saying he's stupid and worthless, but it will all come to a head when at the end, he finally explodes and defends himself, telling his whole story, and even delivers a powerful monologue about how war is wrong (since he's a pacifist) and everyone sort of comes around to him after giving him a little space.
I also want to add that throughout the whole thing, Qui-gon has always been Jar Jar's only supporter, the only one who can actually see he's got a heart of gold.
At the end of the film, when the battle against the Trade Federation happens, Jar Jar isn't made a general for no reason, but he's still allowed to join the fight. The gungans protest, but that's when Padmé reveals herself as the queen, and insists that Jar Jar have a place among the gungan ranks because "They will need all the help they can get."
So Jar Jar is allowed to fight. He doesn't want to fight, but has just kind of stumbled into it. He goes out, and while terrible at fighting, and actually suffers several injuries, Jar Jar finally, by accident, fires the fatal shot that kills the Neimoidian Rune Haako (who was there on the planet commanding the droid army. If they need Grievous to command the droids later in the films, why don't they need a commander earlier?)
He's then hailed as a hero, since he fired the shot that ended the war. His father finally sees him as worth something, and allows him to come back to Otoh Gunga, but at this point he's so fed up that he just tells his father outright that he's not going back. He's going with the Jedi back to Coruscant because people actually treated him with respect there. And he reveals that the killing blow was an accident, thus highlighting how fickle their war-loving culture was.
So we end the first film with Jar Jar having faced his fears: not in the traditional way of having learned to fight, but having stood up to his abusive father. He's stronger now, and the better character for it.
I also have plans for what would happen to Jar Jar in episodes 2 and 3, since seeing as he's a better character now we don't have to cut him out of the narrative. But this has already gotten super long so I think I'll end it here. And no, he's not Darth Jar Jar.
What do you guys think? Could this work? Is it something you would be interested in seeing?
Comments
You can’t fix what’s already perfect
Damn u right
Jar Jar is not anymore the most hated SW character. Rose takes the cake for that one.
How about fixing the mess which is the sequel trilogy instead? They had literally no plan for the trilogy as evident in Last Jedi...
Tfw a thread about Jar Jar Binks turns into a thread about sequel trilogy hate propaganda
I agree.
I'll have to come back and read what all you have another time, though.
Uh...not really..?
At least Jar Jar isn't supposed to be taken very seriously. Rose on the other hand is just like Kate from TWD ANF. She saves Finn from sacrificing himself in such an impossible way, pushing his ship with hers could have gotten both killed, says it's not about killing your enemies but save the ones you love WHICH IS BASICALLY WHAT FINN WAS DOING and then she just kisses him, even Finn was like WTF when she did it.
As I said, I'm going through all of the novelizations and fixing all of them, and that includes the sequel trilogy. I'm starting at the beginning though.
Hm...I guess.
How dare you.
Yeah yeah, that movie has a number of questioning choices.
Could we fix Jake Skywalker instead pls?
YES! I am going to fix the entire Star Wars Saga in novel form and that includes everything in the sequel trilogy, it includes Jake Skywalker, but I am starting at the beginning because episode 1 comes before episode 8. Does anyone have any comments on what I actually proposed here?
Watch 0:06 to 0:17
Actually, I recall reading Abrams had an outline for the trilogy that he passed on to Rian Johnson, who decided he'd just do his own thing instead.
As for Jar Jar, my only fix is an airlock.
I had written what I thought could improve the character when I first saw the thread, but it'd entail Jar Jar being force sensitive and receiving Jedi training from the Council, and then I remembered he'd probably be too old to be accepted while writing it. I could post it anyways though if you'd like.
A ditched plot thread in the prequel trilogy was Jar Jar actually turning out to be somewhat evil. Not a sith lord obviously but someone actively playing a key role in creating the empire which he actually did in the prequels except by mistake. The voice actor for Jar Jar hinted that were very different plans for the character till George saw the reaction to him in Episode 1.