Star Wars sources and analogues

These include Hinduism, Buddhism, Qigong, philosophy, classical mythology, Roman history, Gnosticism, Zoroastrianism, parts of the other Abrahamic religions, Confucianism, Shintō and Taoism, and countless cinematic precursors.

[1][2][3][4] Lucas has also said that chivalry, knighthood, paladinism and related institutions in feudal societies inspired some concepts in the Star Wars movies, most notably the Jedi Knights.

The work of the mythologist Joseph Campbell, especially his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces, directly influenced Lucas,[5] and is what drove him to create the "modern myth" of Star Wars.

Featuring interviews from the likes of Stephen Colbert, Newt Gingrich, Nancy Pelosi, Tom Brokaw, Dan Rather, Peter Jackson, acclaimed scholars and others, the program delved further into the Heroic Epic concept and the influences of mythology and other motifs that were important in making Star Wars.

An early draft for the 1977 Star Wars film is said to have included an exchange of dialogue between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker taken directly from the conversation between Gandalf and Bilbo in Chapter 1 of The Hobbit, where Bilbo/Luke says "Good morning!"

[30] While doing a Star Wars animated series, Dave Filoni noted that Peter Jackson visited him and his mentor George Lucas to discuss Tolkien's works and to ask for advice.

According to the Star Wars website, Darth Vader is compared by Filoni to the Balrog rather than Sauron, and the Prancing Pony bar may have inspired the Mos Eisley cantina, with the introduction of Han Solo suggestively matching that of Strider (Aragorn).

Both feature mothers who died at child-birth (A Game of Thrones was written before the release of Revenge of the Sith), and arguably evil fathers (though Luke and Leia weren't raised by him).

[61] Lucas himself has drawn parallels between Palpatine and his rise to power to historical dictators such as Julius Caesar, Napoleon Bonaparte, and Adolf Hitler, saying the films exist as an examination of how democracies allow themselves to become dictatorships.

Abrams spoke of how several Nazis fled to Argentina after the war and he claims that the concept for the First Order came from conversations between the scriptwriters about what would have happened if they had started working together again (The Boys from Brazil).

[79] Ian McDiarmid, when recalling something Lucas told him during filming of Return of the Jedi, also implied that the Oval Office, and in particular, Nixon's presidency, played a role in the design of the Emperor's throne room.