Breaking Down Time Travel AU’s: feat. the Star Wars Universe
Most of these involve Obi-Wan weirdly enough (probably has something to do with traversing all three trilogies...)
If not Obi-Wan, then it’s Anakin (probably has something to do with how much regret he has on his actions)
(I know I’ve seen some with Ahsoka involved or Rex and Cody involved. A few Star Wars Rebels with Ezra or Kanan are also out there. But mostly, it’s Anakin and Obi-Wan)
Now there’s a few main starting points so let’s run through them.
Obi-Wan after leaving Anakin to die on Mustafar
Obi-Wan on Tatooine after a few years of just watching Luke and he’s depressed and wants to fix the past
Obi-Wan’s death in A New Hope (most common/main starting point)
When he’s a ghost and decides he’s had enough of the univere’s kriffing mistakes.
Anakin after he’s left to die on Mustafar
Anakin when he’s been Vader for a little while and is regretting his life decisions
Anakin after he kills the Emperor and then dies (most common/main starting point)
Just as important as where they start from is where they end up and this applies to both Anakin and Obi-Wan (and pretty much anyone who does the “time travel fix-it au” with a character)
Episode I. There’s a lot of spots in the movie where the time traveler will pop up so I’m clumping them together. We got the meeting with the trade federation, on Naboo, on Tatooine, back on Naboo a little before Maul shows up and I think there’s a few that are after Maul (most of those are in Anakin’s case, though) (Also, this is a very common starting place)
During Anakin’s apprenticeship. After Qui-Gon’s death, just at any point. This can be either Obi-Wan or Anakin.
Before Episode I. Most of these involve Anakin time-traveling and it’s before he fell to the dark side. He goes back, with his body (so he’s older Anakin) and has interactions with padawan!Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon to learn a lesson or something.
Before the Clone Wars or during the Clone Wars.
Right after Order 66 (this one is kind of rare but I think I’ve seen one with Obi-Wan deciding to raise Luke instead of leaving him with his uncle and aunt... or maybe that was an AU)
The goals of the characters usually come down to one main point: Make sure Anakin doesn’t ruin the entire galaxy.
Yes, these also involve overthrowing Palpatine, removing the chips from the clones, preventing the Jedi Temple bombing so Ahsoka doesn’t leave the Order, etc. But it can be narrowed down to that point right there. ((This is for EVERYONE who travels through time. Heck, most Luke time travel adventures is him trying to keep his Dad on the lightside.))
How they travel through time is also brought to one point: The Force. Enough said.
The Method of Time travel:
Travel backwards with their current state (their bodies, minds, memories, skills, etc.) Eg: Obi-Wan jumping back to Naboo, but not in his old self. This makes it so there is two Obi-Wan’s running around (padawan!Obi-Wan and master!Obi-Wan)
Travel back with only their mind and memories. Eg. Anakin being put back in his Padawan!Anakin body so he can’t do those cool flips he could when he is older, but he does know what to do to change some things from happening.
Travel back with mind, memories, skills, but still in their old body. Eg. padawan!Obi-Wan taking on Maul but with the experience and skills of someone fighting in the Clone Wars and fighting Sith Lords (in other words, Maul is dead before he even has a chance).
Other random points that come up often:
Telling the council vs. not telling the council
Trying to fix relationships between people (Obi-Wan trying to be a better Master to Anakin and vice versa)
Random pairings (By the Force, there are too many to list and some of them just make me gag-- sorry but I don’t see the appeal in having Master!Obi-Wan dating Qui-Gon Jinn while Padawan!Obi-Wan is standing right there.)
Fixing the Jedi Code
Fixing the Jedi Order
Fixing the Senate
Overthrowing Palpatine through various means
Removing the clone’s inhibitor chips
Changing people’s occupations/roles (eg.- ”The Senate recognizes Senator Skywalker of Tatooine”)
Trying to redeem Anakin
You get the picture
The result of most of these Time-Travel AU’s are as follows:
sometimes being a biology student that really only payed attention to the digestive system part of bio while writing a vore fic where a character has slightly different anatomy than a human...really pays off
