When you watch the Original Trilogy, you will notice that Luke Skywalker’s attire changes. In A New Hope, he wore light colors, before he switched to a beige color in The Empire Strikes Back. Finally, he wore black robes in Return of the Jedi.
Because Luke’s costume changed across the Original Trilogy, you may wonder why he chose to eventually wear black.
Luke Skywalker wore black because it symbolized his struggle with anger and hate in his temptation to embrace the dark side. We saw this occur in Return of the Jedi when he attacked Emperor Palpatine out of anger before he ultimately dueled and defeated Darth Vader.
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What Motivated Luke Skywalker to Wear Black Robes?
Luke Skywalker had one of the most compelling character arcs in Star Wars. He started off as a farm boy who knew little about his heritage and ended up restoring the Jedi Order.
But throughout the Original Trilogy, we see Luke change from wearing white robes to brown and, finally, to black. As is the case in many stories, attire can symbolize something, and Luke’s style of dress was no different.
Luke, whose character arc involved him inching into an internal struggle between the light and dark side, wore black robes in Return of the Jedi to symbolize that struggle.
We know how close he got to falling to the dark side, given his actions in Return of the Jedi when he confronted Palpatine and Darth Vader.
When Palpatine revealed that the Second Death Star was fully functional when it destroyed a Rebel ship, Luke grew angry. This gave Palpatine the opportunity to coerce Luke into letting his anger overtake him.
Luke attacked, but Vader stopped him, prompting the duo into a lightsaber duel. During the fight, Vader taunted Luke repeatedly, stating that if Luke would not join the dark side, then his twin sister Leia would.
This caused Luke to slice off Vader’s prosthetic hand, and when he was about to deliver a death blow, he came to his senses, realizing the dark side was consuming him.
This encounter wasn’t the only factor that led to Luke’s near downfall.
Luke Suffered Emotionally in the Original Trilogy
Before Palpatine’s plan for Luke to turn nearly succeeded, Luke’s suffering began in A New Hope, when he discovered stormtroopers had killed his aunt and uncle while searching for C-3PO and R2-D2.
Luke also discovered Obi-Wan Kenobi wasn’t entirely truthful with him regarding his family heritage. Obi-Wan made it sound as though Darth Vader killed Luke’s father, when in reality, Darth Vader was Luke’s father.
While this revelation made Luke feel uneasy, Obi-Wan, however, could use redemption here. His Force ghost clarified the matter with Luke, stating that the dark side seduced Anakin. Here, he stopped being Anakin, and instead, became Darth Vader.
We get further clarification in the miniseries, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Following his duel with Vader in 9 BBY, Obi-Wan stated, “then my friend truly is dead,” after Vader said, “You didn’t kill Anakin Skywalker. I did. The same way, I will destroy you.”
Luke leaned toward the dark side more than some may realize. He used the Force choke multiple times, and he had a lot of built-in fear. He was also afraid for his friends’ lives.
Despite all the angst he suffered, Luke still found enough strength to refuse Palpatine’s offer, which explained the white fold under his black tunic. This revealed that, under all the darkness and Luke’s temptation to join the dark side, he remained the good guy.
Do Any Jedi Wear Robes Other Than Earth Colors?
While Jedi usually wear robes that correspond with earth tones, there is nothing in the Jedi Code restricting them from wearing other colors. For three years before he turned to the dark side, Anakin, like Luke, wore black robes.
While this could have symbolized his future fall to the Sith, it is also important to note that Anakin was not an outlier in Jedi who wore black robes. In Anakin’s case, his character also wore black robes to better resemble Luke, something that came at the movie producers’ discretion.
It has been speculated that the reason Luke Skywalker continued to wear black robes following Return of the Jedi stemmed from grief over losing Anakin. Luke eventually returned to wearing the traditional white, beige, and brown robes in The Force Awakens.
Other Jedi have worn colors like red, which was the case of Vrook Lamar, while Zhar Lestin and Vandar Tokare wore blue robes. Ahsoka Tano also wore darker colors in The Clone Wars and during her appearances after the Galactic Civil War.
Why Does Luke Skywalker Wear a Black Glove?
Dark robes are not the only pieces of clothing Luke Skywalker wore in Return of the Jedi. Luke also wore a black glove. In The Empire Strikes Back, Luke lost a lightsaber duel in Cloud City when Darth Vader severed his hand and uttered arguably the saga’s most famous line.
While Luke escaped, he also needed to be fitted with a prosthetic if he planned on wielding a lightsaber with both hands. He wore a black glove to cover the prosthetic in Return of the Jedi, and the look is brought back in The Last Jedi.
However, when Rey traveled to Ach-To and found Luke at the end of The Force Awakens, he was not wearing a glove, and you could fully see his prosthetic when he took his lightsaber from Rey.
Conclusion
Luke Skywalker’s black costume symbolized his internal struggle of choosing between embracing the light side or the dark side. This symbolism became more pronounced when his underfold was revealed to be white. He also wore a black glove to cover his prosthetic hand.
Luke is no outlier in wearing black, as his father, Anakin, also wore black robes before he fell to the Sith. Jedi tend to traditionally wear brown, beige, and white, but there is nothing in the Code forbidding them from choosing other colors.
Sion Fawkes has been covering Star Wars since January 2022, expanding his expertise in Star Wars Canon, Legends, and MCU. When not writing, you can find Sion in the gym or running trails. He also likes watching sports and listening to audiobooks.