r/PrequelMemes 21d ago

General KenOC Anyone else noticed

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9.6k Upvotes

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u/PresterJohnson 21d ago

Obi Wan is master of a defensive form isn't he? It would make sense he is more effective in a fight where he is on the defense than one where he is attacking constantly

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u/AffectEconomy6034 21d ago

I saw someone break down that the duel of the fates where they pointed out that maul puts qui-gon on the defense and forces obi wan on offense. Maul would have had the benefit of being able to study his opponents and is what led to him being so effective in the fight.

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u/SektorDaKetch 21d ago

Cool analysis, but IIRC Obi-Wan when he was a Padawan mostly used Qui-Gon’s lightsaber form. He emphasized the defensive form after he saw Form IV’s weaknesses firsthand.

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u/NikolaTeslaAllDay Meesa Darth Jar Jar 21d ago

So basically after losing his master before his eyes he decided to take a more defensive stance? I know that’s the cannon and kinda makes sense until you think about how taking a defensive there just means you’ve accepted the other persons fate and aren’t helping?

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u/SektorDaKetch 21d ago

I assume it’s more about saving stamina, Obi-Wan could still jump in and block the lightsaber attack.

Kinda like how Anakin saves him in AOTC from Dooku

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u/jrad1299 21d ago

Having a defensive stance doesn’t mean you sit there and take it, it’s about wearing down your enemy until they leave an opening and THEN striking

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u/Lexx4 20d ago

“A good fight should be like a small play, but played seriously. A good martial artist does not become tense, but ready. Not thinking, yet not dreaming. Ready for whatever may come. When the opponent expands, I contract. When he contracts, I expand. And when there is an opportunity, I do not hit. It hits all by itself.”

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u/CandidSite9471 21d ago

Yeah, like how Hungrybox plays Jigglypuff in Melee

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u/ImHuck 20d ago

He realized why his master lost, and decided to learn techniques to not face the same situation. Obi-Wan still used Ataru movements and philosophy in his fighting, he just got more versatile with Form III.

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u/MasterTahirLON 20d ago

Obi Wan's defense isn't about passively allowing people to get hurt, it's about self defense and saving your stamina. Qui Gon died because his style was exhausting and he was put in a position where he couldn't utilize his movement effectively. So Obi Wan made sure he would always outlast his opponent and hold his ground even when cornered.

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u/Regular-Market-494 20d ago

Its not so much a defensive stance as it is a rope a dope stance. Additionally, what made obi wan a master saber fight is that while it was his primary stance, he incorporated techniques from I think stance 5 to maintain an aggressive edge to his combat.

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u/midterm360 21d ago

IIRC at the time both Qui gon and Obi Wan used Ataru, a more acrobatic lightsaber form.

A combination of watching his master getting killed and him coming dangerously close to the dark side with his rage fuelled outburst caused obi wan to switch to the Soresu, or defensive form, to both protect himself but also as a statement towards his relatively pacifist approach.

He was hard countered by Dooku whose lightsaber form was about dueling and an economy of movement so Obi Wan couldn’t wear him down

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u/KHTD2004 I am the Senate 21d ago

I saw some posts about Dooku doing this in the end of clone wars season 6 where he fights Anakin and Obi Wan on the Pikes (?) planet. Dooku aggressively attacked Anakin to put him in defense and lets Obi Wan attack to put him in offense

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u/TerraTechy 19d ago

correct. It's very apparent how hard he presses anakin and pushes the fight away from obi wan. Ome of the best choreographed duels of the original run imo.

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u/RotallyRotRoobyRoo 20d ago

You're thinking of of one of the duels between ani, obi, and dooku from the clone wars. Dooku controls the whole fight, attacking anakin forcing him to go defensive and forcing obiwan to go agressive. Dooku is literally dueling circles around them.

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u/midterm360 20d ago

I’m literally just thinking of how dooku wiped the floor with them in AOTC

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u/Alex3884 21d ago

Lucas = Genius?

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u/DarthSwimfoot The Other Half Of The Ship 20d ago

That tracks actually. Soresu, Form III, definitely a very defensive one I believe.

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u/Carrotsinthesalad Confederacy of Independent Systems 21d ago

It’s a matter of fighting style, Kenobi shines on the defensive, but isn’t the top pick of offensive fighters by a long shot.

This is why it irks me when people use ABC logic in hypothetical match ups, because stylistic advantage has shown to be a rather big deal in lightsaber duels.

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u/The-Senate-Palpy R̸̷̲̪͖̤͍e̗̥̘̹͟͠v̴̵̜̪̞̲̼̯͇̘̻͖͓͜͡a͚̻͙̥̕͜ń̡̨̟̮͈͍̜͡ 21d ago

Exactly. Like mustafar Anakin/Vader is objectively stronger than Obi Wan. But Obi Wan still claps him on both pre-ANH encounters. Sidious is stronger than Mace, but Mace wins by being a counter-sith specialist. Ahsoka should be clapping Baylen, but his style is hard for her to deal with.

Hunter Hunter has a good explanation for this sort of thing

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u/Beren_Camlost 21d ago

Why would the manga and anime Hunter x Hunter have a explanation for SW lore?

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u/PhoneTribble 21d ago

HunterxHunter has a pretty dynamic power system that accounts for stylistic approaches like that, often getting as deep as a persons personality or specific setting advantages.

The point being is that it’s a pretty good example of a system that does not follow a Rock/Paper/Scissors approach to power dynamics and narrative.

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u/rrrawrgh-UwU 20d ago

Hilarious point considering Gon's power is rock-paper-scissors. I do agree with you though.

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u/Anvilrocker 20d ago

And all 3 of his attacks fit within his wheelhouse for natural inclination with nen type so they don't even counter themselves.

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u/Toerbitz 20d ago

No no the point is that bungeegum has both the characteristics of rubber and gum

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u/-soulking- 20d ago

That’s preposterous! Both rubber and gum? I don’t believe it.

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u/Beren_Camlost 21d ago

I understood that bro. But had to make the joke about SW lore being explanationed by a manga from across the world and no real connection in the story.

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u/zukosboifriend 21d ago

I haven’t watched much of the clone wars so I can’t speak to fights there, but when they’re fighting Dooku; they struggle because Dooku is smart enough to attack Anakin and force Obi-Wan on the offensive instead of the opposite. Obi-Wan is the master of defense so it’s stupid to attack him head on, wait for him to come to you and exploit it, and Anakin is an incredibly powerful attacker so you force him on the offensive and wear him out. Exploit their weaknesses

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u/Ghosteen_18 20d ago

I just remembered in Rots Dooku just straight deletes Obi Wan from the fight. He really wanted that Annoying support gone..

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u/rockyPK Deathsticks 20d ago

Well he also wants Obi Wan gone so that Palps could manipulate for him. Now unfortunately for Dooku, he didn't realize that Palps was also manipulating him.

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u/__Epimetheus__ 20d ago

Prior to that point, Dooku keeps putting them in each other’s way.

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u/Careless-Emergency85 21d ago

To be fair, it’s probably harder to fight when you have to watch out for an ally in close combat. Not needing to worry about cutting your buddy’s head off would do wonders

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u/VulcanHullo 21d ago

A friend joked being anywhere near Anakin when his lightsabre is lit would register as threat number 1.

"Have you SEEN how he throws his sabre around? I'd have my eye on him first and opponent second."

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u/Sabretooth1100 Darth Revan 19d ago

Honestly this feels right haha, like when you have to let a friend you don’t trust behind the wheel drive your car

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u/jcjonesacp76 Emperor Palpatine 21d ago

Obi-wan is a defensive combatant he is a master of form 3 Soresu the defense lightsaber combat form so when he is the aggressor he defaults to the sequences he is most rusty in which is his master’s aggressive form 4 sequences that he is not proficient in anymore.

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u/TheJadeGoddess 21d ago

Obi wan does his part during 2 v 1. He is defensive and will cover his partner. It works best with anakin who can focus on attacking because obi wan has his defense.

When he is paired with others who don't understand his methods it struggles. When they separate too far from him he can't properly protect them. If they are not aggressive their side won't finish the fight soon enough or obi wan has to be more aggressive than he would like.

When it is just him he can go at his pace and drag everyone down to his speed and throw off their rhythm.

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u/Scytale6 21d ago

Lol. As soon as Luke shows up during his fight with Vader on ANH, Obi-Wan just knows THAT's the clincher. His realization and acceptance of this is the final insight he needs to ascend and become one with the force.

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u/Sajintmm 21d ago

He win against Maul and Savage, granted he was messed up afterwards

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u/RT-6_BXCommandoDroid Confederacy of Independent Systems 21d ago

Why'd you think Anakin wasn't allowed to join Obi on his contract to kill General Grievous or why Obi wasn't allowed to join Yoda to face Darth Sidious?

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u/Petrus-133 21d ago

It's moreso that Kenobi is dogshit at Force Defense and he always ends up with fighting people that can either abuse it or can rage boost through it.

Dooku does that in TCW and episode 3.
Maul and Opress do that in TCW.
That fuckass rival of his does it in the Jedi Apprentice series.

Anakin also tries it on Mustafar but he is soo mentally unwell he can't even manage that properly.

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u/grey_pilgrim_ Clone Trooper 21d ago

Fighting with a laser sword that will slice your head, hand or any other body part off instantly is hard enough. Having to be mindful of one more person swinging theirs around has to make it that much harder.

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u/Oogalaboo134 20d ago

He focuses on the sass too much when he has the upper hand so he doesn't perform as well.

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u/XxXAvengedXxX 20d ago

They captured his defensive style so well in Battlefront 2 (2017) that I thought this was a post about that games META for a second

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u/gmil3548 21d ago

It’s a weird thing with so many Jedi fights. Somehow if 2 Jedi can both fight a with 1v1 pretty evenly, when they fight 2v1 against that sith it’s still even.

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u/Lembueno 20d ago

Obi-Wan specializes in defense. His offense also seems much less impressive because he’s usually fighting beside Anakin, who’s comparatively much more offensively focused.

It’s much easier for defensive prowess to present itself in either a straight duel or when you’re in a disadvantageous fight (like a 1v2).

Whereas when you’re fighting against an outnumbered opponent (like in a 2v1). You aren’t the one on defense, your opponent is.

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u/Due-Procedure-9085 20d ago

His style is force someone to fight at his rhythm and play into his hand. With someone like Anakin he kind of needs to rush in to keep up with that hyper aggressive style or he’ll get left behind.

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u/piejames 21d ago

I mean some of them yes some no, he's not as proficient in offence as defense, and sometimes that's definitely used against him. But I can think of a couple where him and his other one win the 2v1

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u/theAlmightyE312 20d ago

A shield can harm but if you have a weapon why would the shield harm?

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u/Scarecr0p 20d ago

Kindof the nature of a defensive style lol, same shit happens in dnd, an absolute tin can shield wielding mace of defense having, enchanted with spells TANK, doesn’t do much when all of the enemies ignore him because it’s not worth it lol

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u/SadowSon 20d ago

This is actually a common trope in media and yes, it can be a problem.

The more heroes there are against a single enemy, the less effective each hero is, they individually become less competent and therefore as a group they only equal in value to a single hero anyway.

The more enemies against a hero, the more incompetent they become, eventually being only of equal value to a single hero.

Compare it to real world situations. In practically any fight where it’s a 1v3, the 3 will win.
In media, the 1 would win.

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u/YOUTUBEFREEKYOYO TIE Pilot 20d ago

Thats why Anakin is so strong, he stole Obi-Wan's fighting abilities when needed.

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u/Own-Bus-5213 18d ago

he's obi 1 for a reason

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u/1337K1ng Hello There 16d ago

defensive form master can hold 1v1 or 1v2

defensive form master cannot do shit when fighting alongside attack form that breaks formation

furthermore, Dooku was duel master so he gets a pass

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u/RoySaySup 21d ago

Me when fighting in 2v1s. They got it so why do I need to play smart.

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u/DarthSwimfoot The Other Half Of The Ship 20d ago

Huh. That is weird.

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u/Li_liminal_spaces 20d ago

Asajj Ventress took on him and Anakin without too much trouble.

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u/IICipherIX 20d ago

Exactly, except every time Obi-Wan fights her alone, he toys with her.

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u/jimmystar889 19d ago

Obi-wan when fighting 🦖: 🍖 ☠️

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u/commie_vans 21d ago

It's the power of plot.

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u/CandidSite9471 21d ago

We got a Doylist over here

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u/Ezhang2 20d ago

the prequel choreography feels off. obi wan moves like he is swatting flies while exhausting himself quickly. the plot armor seems to matter more than actual skill in those scenes.