Facial Scars in Star Wars

Kurgan · Post by **Kurgan** » 2005-08-20 08:29pm

Well, we've all discussed the issue of Anakin's unhealed facial scar in ROTS, but, and this should have been obvious to me, we have another g-level example of non-healing scars.. Jango Fett!

The guy wears a helmet most of the time, and yet he hasn't bothered to heal the multiple scars on his face! So maybe he's some kind of tough guy who wears them like a badge of honor (even though he rarely shows his face), but there you go.

There was also that weird pink Yoda-esque alien on the Jedi Council that has some kind of scar over his eye.

It could be they have the tech to fix these things but for whatever reason people don't always avail themselves of it. And of course we can't forget the example of Luke's face in ESB. But I guess you could argue the Rebels just don't have the best face healing tech available due to cost, parts, etc.

Anyway, that may or may not be of interest to anyone, I just figured I'd jot it down just in case.

SpacedTeddyBear · Post by **SpacedTeddyBear** » 2005-08-20 08:52pm

And of course we can't forget the example of Luke's face in ESB. But I guess you could argue the Rebels just don't have the best face healing tech available due to cost, parts, etc.

If I remember correctly, Mark Hamill got into a pretty serious car accident before the filming of ESB. But as for in story goes, I'm gonna have to agree with you as per the cost of parts,supplies, bacta and such. It's mainly cosmetic purposes so it's not a priority to make one of your pilots look pretty, even if he is one of their best pilots.

Darth Fanboy · Post by **Darth Fanboy** » 2005-08-20 08:55pm

Some people are allergic to bacta also, or perhaps in the case of serious injuries the healing properties are sufficient enough to heal the body properly but still leaves a scar.

Lord Revan · Post by **Lord Revan** » 2005-08-20 09:19pm

We that what ever injuries Luke sustained between ANH and TESB didn't heal fully (Mark Hamill's accident caused his face to a bit different in TESB and ROTJ then in ANH) and refence in ANH novelization of Imperial with scars so bad that no healing tech would help to remove them. After only Anakin, Jango and the Clones have visible minor scaring all other characters have rather major scars (like that one Jedi master).

The Jazz Intern · Post by **The Jazz Intern** » 2005-08-20 10:08pm

Maybe jango fett is afraid a rival will poison him during the procedure or some thing.

Drooling Iguana · Post by **Drooling Iguana** » 2005-08-20 11:13pm

Maybe it just costs a nontrivial amount of money to heal scars with Star Wars tech, so those who don't care too much about their appearance sometimes don't bother.

Alyeska · Post by **Alyeska** » 2005-08-20 11:14pm

Some people keep the scars as a sign of combat prowess.

Kurgan · Post by **Kurgan** » 2005-08-20 11:20pm

Oh, like the account of "Jabba the Hut" in the Star Wars novelisation?

Lord Revan · Post by **Lord Revan** » 2005-08-20 11:24pm

OK Anakin treats his cybernetic arm as badge of prowess, so it's not that big of a leap to think he treat the facial scar the same way. As for Jango he probaly didn't bother for something that just cosmetic.

Darwin · Post by **Darwin** » 2005-08-21 01:56am

As far as Jango goes, Mandalorians probably don't want to remove scars.

anakin probably hasn't had the oppurtunity.. and removing cosmetic scars is a luxury, one that the Jedi might not indulge in.

Adrian Laguna · Post by **Adrian Laguna** » 2005-08-21 02:06am

Drooling Iguana wrote:Maybe it just costs a nontrivial amount of money to heal scars with Star Wars tech, so those who don't care too much about their appearance sometimes don't bother.

I like that theory, or variations of it. It makes sense, after all in the real world it is very expensive and a pain in the ass to remove scars, if it is even possible (IIRC - it isn't for certain scars). So in Star Wars despite tremendous advancements in medical science, removing scars is still expensive and a pain in the neck. So those that are short on spare time/money, and don't care that much about their appearace are likely not to bother.

Spiritbw · Post by **Spiritbw** » 2005-08-21 03:01am

I seem to rember in one of the old Han Solo books that the scars didn't go away unless treated with bacta in some form. This was sort of an in charcter explination for Harrison Ford's chin scar, incidently also recieved in a car crash. In one of the X-wing books it is mentioned in relation to Face that there is a minor bacta treatment that can remove scars but it's rather costly.

Just my two cents.

Eidted for spelling

Anarchist Bunny · Post by **Anarchist Bunny** » 2005-08-21 03:04am

I remember one of the EU books taked about Han having synthyflesh to cover up his scars.

Quadlok · Post by **Quadlok** » 2005-08-21 03:07am

Spiritbw wrote:I seem to rember in one of the old Han Solo books that the scars didn't go away unless treated with bacta in some form. This was sort of an in charcter explination for Harrison Ford's chin scar, incidently also recieved in a car crash. In one of the X-wing books it is mentioned in relation to Face that there is a minor bacta treatment that can remove scars but it's rather costly.

Just my two cents.

Eidted for spelling

I think there are at least three in-canon explanations for Ford's chin scar, and they all basicly boil down to Han getting cut and being to far out in the boonies or to busy trying not to get killed to bother with it. I'm assuming he kept it because he decided it looked cool.

Lord Poe · Post by **Lord Poe** » 2005-08-21 04:08am

Quadlok wrote:I think there are at least three in-canon explanations for Ford's chin scar, and they all basicly boil down to Han getting cut and being to far out in the boonies or to busy trying not to get killed to bother with it. I'm assuming he kept it because he decided it looked cool.

There's only one that counts, and that happened in "Han Solo and the Lost Legacy." He got it by being hit with a boat oar. Han used to be known as "Slick", but with the scar, a female told him the name doesn't fit anymore.

Lord Pounder · Post by **Lord Pounder** » 2005-08-21 07:30am

There was Face in the Wraith Squadron books. When Dr Phanan(sp?) dies he leaves him quite a sum of money on the promise that he used a large part of it to have his facial scar removed.

Quadlok · Post by **Quadlok** » 2005-08-21 12:26pm

Lord Poe wrote: There's only one that counts, and that happened in "Han Solo and the Lost Legacy." He got it by being hit with a boat oar. Han used to be known as "Slick", but with the scar, a female told him the name doesn't fit anymore.

Why does that take precedence over the incident in "Han Solo's Revenge," of the same trilogy, in which his chin gets knicked by a vibroblade? Not trying to start a debate or anything, just curious.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2005-08-21 01:23pm

There have been some cultures in Earth's past where horrible scarring was considered a badge of honour and even regarded as sexually attractive by some. Wealthy aristocratic women in ancient Rome used to pay money for a few hours with a slave gladiator, some of whom were quite severely scarred.

Patrick Ogaard · Post by **Patrick Ogaard** » 2005-08-21 01:45pm

Darth Wong wrote:There have been some cultures in Earth's past where horrible scarring was considered a badge of honour and even regarded as sexually attractive by some. Wealthy aristocratic women in ancient Rome used to pay money for a few hours with a slave gladiator, some of whom were quite severely scarred.

You don't even have to go back that far. Facial scars were, and in some extremely conservative circles still are, considered to be a badge of honor among the alumni of German fighting university fraternities. The scars were so much a part of a proper German gentleman's or officer's appearance, well into the 1960s, that those who hadn't faced another on the fraternity house's fighting floor sabre to sabre but wanted the image would pay plastic surgeons to painlessly scar their faces. (It's also the background reason why hardbitten German WW1 and WW2 military officer characters in movies and on TV almost invariably sport one or two facial scars.)

Kurgan · Post by **Kurgan** » 2005-08-21 03:41pm

Quadlok wrote:
Lord Poe wrote: There's only one that counts, and that happened in "Han Solo and the Lost Legacy." He got it by being hit with a boat oar. Han used to be known as "Slick", but with the scar, a female told him the name doesn't fit anymore.
Why does that take precedence over the incident in "Han Solo's Revenge," of the same trilogy, in which his chin gets knicked by a vibroblade? Not trying to start a debate or anything, just curious.

Here I thought he got the scare during that incident with the whip and the lion in a boxcar. Oh wait, that was Indiana Jones...

Publius · Post by **Publius** » 2005-08-22 02:33am

In Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker, the conference room scene is slightly different from that seen in the film; part of Admiral Motti's dialogue is given instead to General Tagge -- Motti himself is entirely absent from the scene -- and the other part given to a different character, Romodi, who is described as "an older officer, with facial scars so deeply engraved that even the best cosmetic surgery could not fully repair them."

Zwinmar · Post by **Zwinmar** » 2005-08-22 11:51am

People keep scars for a mirade of reasons, such as:
Honor
Sham (in Face's case)
Expensive
etc..

It matters not if the technology can heal it, rather if the person wishes to keep the scar for whatever reason

Dakarne · Post by **Dakarne** » 2005-08-22 12:04pm

I wouldn't deliberately scar myself, but if I were scarred by an accident or something. I'd keep the scars, they serve purpose as both a reminder to be cautious and actually look badass in some cases.