The Star Wars space fantasy media franchise is acknowledged to have been inspired by multiple sources. These include Islam, Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Qigong, philosophy, classical mythology, Roman history, Gnosticism, Zoroastrianism, parts of the other Abrahamic religions, Confucianism, Shintō and Taoism, and countless cinematic precursors. Creator George Lucas stated "Most of the spiritual reality in the movie[s] is based on a synthesis of all religions. A synthesis through history; the way man has perceived the unknown and the great mystery and tried to deal with that or dealing with it".Science of Star Wars (2005 documentary)

Lucas has also said that chivalry, knighthood, paladinism and related institutions in feudal societies inspired some concepts in the Star Wars films, most notably the Jedi Knights. The work of the mythologist Joseph Campbell, especially his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces, directly influenced Lucas, and is what drove him to create the "modern myth" of Star Wars. The natural flow of energy known as the Force is believed to have originated from the concept of qi/chi/ki, "the all-pervading vital energy of the universe".

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Star Wars, The History Channel premiered a two-hour event covering the entire Star Wars saga entitled Star Wars: The Legacy Revealed. 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. Subjects include sins of the father and redeeming the father, coming of age, exiting the ordinary world and others.

Fictional works similarities and inspirations

Literature

Joseph Campbell's comparative mythology book The Hero with a Thousand Faces, directly influenced Lucas, and is what drove him to create the "modern myth" of Star Wars. E.E. 'Doc' Smith's writings contain elements central to the Star Wars universe. These elements include: Spherical, moon-sized spaceships. Smaller, spherical, jet-less fighters with accumulators for beamed power. Spacehounds of IPC includes light swords of slicing "blade of flame" and "planes of force" wielded by spherical ships, also attested in melee combat. Smith's Lensmen have the telepathic powers of the Jedi derived from crystalline lenses mirroring Kyber crystals in Star Wars. In Triplanetary, a "tractor beam" from an artificial planetoid captures another vessel and a damsel in distress adventure ensues. Space armor with a general focus on melee combat using space axes. Norlaminian worship of "the all-controlling Force" along with general use of "force" powers throughout. A Golden Meteor is the emblem and insignia of the galactic protectors. A galactic trade in drugs which are used as currency: Thionite in Smith, Spice in Star Wars. A galactic corps of heroes with telepathic powers. (Note: Lensman was written 10 years before the Silver Age edition of Green Lantern) Benevolent guardians seeking to fight evil. (Called Arisians in Lensman; Aquillian in the second draft script for Star Wars.) A dark, unseen enemy seeking galactic domination. (Called Boskone in Lensman; Bogan in the second draft script for Star Wars.) Special powers running down through family lines, with twins playing a significant role. Epic space battles involving fleets of ships. Large-scale weapons including a free-roaming planet-sized fortress and the sunbeam (capable of focusing the sun's rays, similar to Starkiller Base in The Force Awakens). Jettisoning a space lifeboat with a data spool containing secrets of the enemy's ultimate weapon, the 'Grand Base'. Training with a helmet with a blast shield, yet able to 'see' due to special powers. Passing a ship off as a chunk of loose metal. Numerous uses of the word coruscant, a term which had declined in use after the 19th century. The science fiction writer Isaac Asimov stated on several occasions that George Lucas's galaxy-wide Empire bore a close resemblance to the galaxy depicted in Asimov's Foundation Series. The greatest differences are that Asimov's Galaxy contains almost no robots and no non-human aliens. Asimov addressed both issues directly in the saga's later volumes, most notably Foundation's Edge and Foundation and Earth. Since Asimov's death in 1992, the Star Wars cinematic universe has gained new Asimovesque elements: The Phantom Menace introduced the planet Coruscant, which bears a close resemblance to Asimov's Trantor. The early Journal of the Whills draft of Star Wars from 1973 is based on the first chapter of the 1931 John Carter novel A Fighting Man of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Star Wars borrows significantly from Arthurian mythology; especially with respect to plot and main character development. The life and character development of Luke Skywalker resembles that of the legendary King Arthur. Both are orphans who later become heroes in their early adulthood. Both also have mentors who are much older and provide them with guidance and/or training. Arthur was mentored by Merlin; whereas Luke was mentored and trained by Obi-Wan Kenobi prior to continuing his training and mentorship with Yoda. The role of Anakin Skywalker as the father of the hero, Luke Skywalker, mirrors that of Uther Pendragon who is King Arthur's father. Qui Gon-Jinn, Master Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi's roles match that of Merlin during the era of Anakin Skywalker and Uther Pendragon respectively. Star Wars shares a number of similarities with Frank Herbert's Dune, including the desert planet setting with a moisture-based economy, spice smugglers, obese interstellar antagonists, and a mystical mind control-using sect with great influence over galactic politics — Herbert himself once enumerated 37 similarities. The influence was even more distinct in early Star Wars versions, with Princess Leia guarding a shipment of "aura spice" instead of the Death Star plans. The script for Jodorowsky's Dune was circulating in Hollywood at the time of Lucas' early work on Star Wars. The director of the 2021 film adaptation of Dune, Denis Villeneuve, said the new film would attempt to be Star Wars for adults. The day after The Phantom Menace came out in theaters, a number of fans and some journalists had already noticed that there were similarities between the city of Theed on Naboo and some settings in the fantasy book series Dinotopia. Specifically, Waterfall City, the Dinosaur Parade, and some of the submarine sequences. The creator of Dinotopia, James Gurney, stated on his website that he had no involvement and was in contact with George Lucas. Gurney stated in an interview that George Lucas was brought in by Columbia Pictures to see if he'd be interested in working on a film based on Gurney's books during its developmental phase because Gurney believed Lucas's Industrial Light & Magic could get the settings right. However, negotiations broke down and Lucas refused to do the movie. One storyboard artist who worked on Lucas's movie also did some work on the Dinotopia project. Gurney stated that Lucas called him the day after the movie was released in theaters and told Gurney that he was worried he might be afraid of the similarities. Gurney said that he was flattered that Lucas would be inspired by his work, and was only worried people might think his work was a rip-off of Star Wars. Lucas also said he reads the Dinotopia books to his kids.

Pulp heroes and comics Buck Rogers, another hero from pulp magazines from 1920s, and late comic strips (1929–67) and later a 1939 film serial and a 1950–51 TV series. Star Wars is also influenced from its tropes.

Flash Gordon is the pulp hero whose original property George Lucas had sought to license before making the first Star Wars film, A New Hope; the film includes multiple elements derived from the 1936 Universal serial Flash Gordon and its sequel, Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe. The basic plot involving the infiltration of a megalomaniacal outer-space Emperor's fortress by two heroes disguised in uniforms of soldiers of his army is drawn from Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe, with Luke Skywalker and Han Solo filling the roles of Flash Gordon and Prince Barin, respectively, and Ming the Merciless the Emperor. The Emperor's deadly, hostile planet (the Death Star/Mongo), a sometimes scantily-clad brunette space Princess whom the hero defends (Princess Leia/Princess Aura), a big, strong, hairy, animal-like ally (Chewbacca/Prince Thun of the Lion Men), a fearsome monster found underground and/or fought in an arena by the hero (the Rancor/the Gocko or Orangopoid), a city in the sky ruled by someone who originally works with the villains but later joins the heroes (Lando Calrissian of Cloud City), ray-guns, and dogfighting spaceships were all elements retained from the first Universal Flash Gordon serial. The opening text crawl of Star Wars is in the same style as the text openings of each chapter of the Flash Gordon Conquers The Universe serial. [From the 1940 series, not 1936, and the opening crawl is from the 1938 film Boys' School]. DC Comics and Jack Kirby. There has been a long debate among fans about the influence that comic book writer Jack Kirby had on the original Star Wars trilogy. Kirby's time at DC Comics between 1971 and 1975 was defined by his creation of the New Gods saga. This intergalactic story involved Orion of the planet New Genesis being prophesied by the Source as the warrior to defeat Darkseid - the tyrannical ruler of the planet Apokolips, and, by doing so, bring peace to the universe and end the conflict between the two planets. Parallels can thus be drawn between the nature of the relationships between Orion and Darkseid to Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader, as well as between the mythical Source and the Force. According to some accounts, Lucas met comic book writer and editor Roy Thomas at a dinner in 1972, during which Lucas described the plot of Star Wars, to which Thomas noticed the similarity between this and Kirby's New Gods, which was then already a published series. Marvel Comics: Lucas original trilogy co-writer Lawrence Kasdan noted that the spin-offs were expanding the franchise into more of a shared universe. Far beyond the previously linear saga, adding that one of the strengths of the franchise was how it all fell under the same continuity in comparison to other franchises. Kasdan also contrasted Star Wars to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, noting that Star Wars features less comedy than the latter, and adding that he felt a more comedic approach like Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy would "not be Star Wars" to him. Jon Favreau stated that he took what he learned from doing the Marvel adjacent Iron Man films into doing The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett in the Star Wars franchise. All there characters rely on metallic, high-tech armors that can fly and fire weapons.

J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings

+ Chris Taylor's comparison of Star Wars with The Lord of the Rings Element Star Wars 1977 The Lord of the Rings 1954–55 Wise old man Obi-Wan Kenobisacrifices himself fighting Darth Vader,then guides Luke through the Force Gandalfdies saving Fellowship from the Balrog,then guides Frodo telepathically Innocentprotagonists R2-D2 and C-3PO,carrying stolen data tapes,supported by the team Frodo and Sam,carrying the One Ring,supported by the Fellowship "Hellish war machine" Death Star Mordor Enemy troops Stormtroopers Orcs Evil wizard Grand Moff Tarkin Saruman Dark Lord Darth Vader Sauron