Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi (SW 1978-9)

Ah, the mentor of the original trilogy, the wise man, the old fossil, Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi. While he was only alive during the first movie, he somehow retained acting parts in all three movies. Where else but the Star Wars universe?

Ben came with a built-in blue lightsaber that popped out of his right arm. His hair and beard came in both white and gray variations, and he came on SW, ESB, ROTJ, and POTF cards. There were two ROTJ cards, one with the original background picture, and one with a closer picture with his hood up. This was the same picture on the POTF card. Also, technically, there was another ESB card that has an "ASST #" under the number in the upper left-hand corner. I am not that choosy - others are. Ben also came in a vinyl cape, and other than his hair changing color, he underwent no physical changes for the entire line.

Why should you get this figure? Five reasons:

1. The mentor - other than Yoda of course.

2. Kicked ass in the prequels. Give him props for defeating a cyborg armed with 4 lightsabers.

3. Re-enact the unspoken lines in the original movie between him and Vader:

"So, you remember those flips and cool tricks we did in our last lightsaber battle?"

"Yeah."

"Let's not do any of that."

"Agreed."

4. Luke needs someone riding shotgun in the Landspeeder.

5. There were only three figures from the first movie who came with lightsabers. Only two of them actually fought with them. He's one.

Backstory:

Obi-Wan was born about 57 years before the first movie, and had a brother named Owen (some early histories said that Owen Lars was his brother, which we now know to be untrue). He was taken for Jedi training very young, and eventually came under the tutelage of Yoda and Qui-Gon Jinn. Before being taken up as an apprentice, he almost did not become a Jedi at all do to him being seen as reckless.

He and Qui-Gon had many adventures around the galaxy, even meeting the likes of a young Chewbacca. Eventually, one of their adventures led them to Tatooine where they met Anakin, and the rest is history. Between Episode III and IV, Obi-Wan hid in seclusion on tatooine, keeping a watch over Anakin's offspring, Luke. During his "exile" he did journey off-world once or twice to take care of some Jedi matters, despite the fact he was being hunted by the Empire and bounty hunters alike. During his time he learned how to become one with the Force when he was struck down, which is exactly what he did when Vader struck him down in the first movie.

Full story? His Wookieepedia article

20th in alphabetical order