How would you go about telling the story of Star Wars, if you were to change the setting of the story from the Star Wars universe to the historical Earth?

To be clear: historical fantasy. People can still have Force powers. But no lightsabers or high technology.

I can think of a few different avenues:

- The Jedi (probably would change the name) as a Holy Order of the Catholic Church. They are dedicated to peace and diplomacy but are also warriors of extreme skill, capable of performing miracles. The Papacy takes the role of the Republic and the Crusades take the role of the Clone Wars.

- Alternatively, you could lean on the "child stealing" part of the Jedi and base them around the Janissaries within the Ottoman empire.

- A further alternative, shifting the eras a bit, would be to have the story take place in the colonial era. The problem here is that guns are around but lightsabers are not, which makes things tricky (as you don't have the "deflect blaster bolts with lightsaber" solution to projectile weapons vs Jedi). Perhaps you could have Jedi capable of redirecting projectiles around them as an alternative solution.

 

While I generally really like this AUs, this is so far removed from the original as to be almost impossible. Changing as much as you say is 99% removed from Star Wars.

 

I could see some kind of steampunk version of Star Wars; blimps instead of starships, colonies all over the world instead of planets, radio instead of holograms. Lightsabers would still be just fine.

 

Set it in Japan or the Wild West. Anything else is going too far away.

The Americas once had a group of shamans that called themselves Jedi, but they met their end at the hands of the European colonisers. Luke Skywalker is the son of a pioneer, tired of living on what was once the frontier but is now a sleepy backwater. He wants to sign up as a hired gun with Palpatine Railroad as the company makes the final push to the Pacific, but his plans are derailed when word gets out that notorious folk hero and robber baroness Leia Organa has been captured and is to be executed, and he has words with a local sheriff and company man. His neighbour, who he always thought of a little more than a tobacco chewing hermit, rescues him and reveals himself as one of the fastest guns in the West, long thought dead, and takes him on a journey to save Organa so that she can lead them to the proof she has of Palpatine Railroad planning to betray the agreement it has with the local tribes.

Boom.

 

You really wouldn't have to change much at all if you go the Je'daii route, except taking out the aliens aspect.

Some strange "force" pulled together a bunch of people from all over the earth to a place where they were trained. Could be pyramids or ancient crystal caves or hidden mountain enclaves whatever. The "force" spoke to them or there were written tables, etc. Lightsabers are replaced with Forced blades, and eventually they trained and became knights, masters, etc.

Insert your favorite plot line here in whatever timeline you want.

 

Similarities are much more than "child stealing"

• Like Jedi, Jannissaries were members of a specific religious order.
• They were not allowed to marry
• They used a very specific sword called "yatağan" which became their symbol just like lightsaber and jedi. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yatagan

Spoiler: Yatağan Example

• One of the reasons of decline of jannissaries was accepting unfit children to order. (Does it sound familiar?)
• Like Jedi order, Jannisaries were actually purged by an emperor in a sudden move. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auspicious_Incident

Finally, here have a miniature art

 

I'd probably make them a holy order, perhaps with a more ancient root - an ancient pagan order which was folded into the catholic church as a matter of practicality.

The child stealing thing is easy enough to build into that idea, I think I'd write it as the Order having a decent sized number of "recruiters" permanently travelling around the Christian world and looking for recruits. Probably mostly recruiting from monastic schools, but occasionally finding a random talented peasant who they pull out of poverty.

To mimic the lightsabers, I'd say they maybe have a secret method of making swords that results in stronger, sharper blades than those used by the rest of society. That, combined with rigorous martial arts training and heightened senses and reflexes from the Force, allow them to be a major force despite their limited numbers.

I think the interesting thing to explore in that set up would be the push and pull over who controls them - the Pope or the Emperor.

 

The Jedi/Janissary parallel would only fit if the Jedi eventually lost touch with their warrior roots and became a corrupt self-dealing elite that owned land, businesses and overthrew the government multiple times. So for Jedi to be doing that would be really falling far. Hell, for them to be warriors first and not keepers of the peace who happen to be good at fighting is already a departure.

I think it would be best if they were a monastic/military order that arises during the decline and fall of the Western Roman Empire, protecting their local communities from raiders, with local branches eventually banding together under one umbrella in cooperation with the Church. By 1000 or so, they've succeeded in keeping the peace to the point where the people of Western Europe no longer have to fear Vikings or Avars or Magyars or Vandals, which leaves the Order grasping about for a purpose, when Pope Palpatine Stand-In calls upon the governments of Europe to take up arms to liberate the Holy Land, and the Jedi feel obligated to participate, and then the story proper begins.

Hm. Maybe the Mongols become the Yuuzhan Vong analogues further down the line.

 

Easy as pie, just have the Force be real and able to create Fire-Swords and Force-Golems (instead of Droids)

EARTH WARS

EPISODE 1 - THE PHANTOM MENACE

"Turmoil has engulfed the Global Republic. The taxation of trade routes to outlying territories is in dispute.

Hoping to resolve the matter with a blockade of ships, the greedy Trade Federation has stopped all shipping to the small island of Hawaii.

While the Congress of the Republic endlessly debates this alarming chain of events, the Supreme Chancellor has secretly dispatched two Jedi Knights, the guardians of peace and justice in the world, to settle the conflict...."

EPISODE 2 - ATTACK OF THE CLONES

"There is unrest in the Global Senate. Several thousand districts have declared their intentions to leave the Republic.

This separatist movement, under the leadership of the mysterious Count Dooku, has made it difficult for the limited number of Jedi Knights to maintain peace and order in the world.

Senator Amidala, the former Queen of Hawaii, is returning to the Global Senate to vote on the critical issue of creating an ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC to assist the overwhelmed Jedi...."

EPISODE 3 - REVENGE OF THE SITH

"War! The Republic is crumbling under attacks by the ruthless Sith Lord, Count Dooku. There are heroes on both sides. Evil is everywhere.

In a stunning move, the fiendish Golem leader, General Grievous, has swept into the Republic capital and kidnapped Chancellor Palpatine, leader of the Global Senate.

As the Separatist Golem Army attempts to flee the besieged capital with their valuable hostage, two Jedi Knights lead a desperate mission to rescue the captive Chancellor...."

EPISODE 4 - A NEW HOPE

"It is a period of civil war. Rebel ships, striking from a hidden base, have won their first victory against the evil Global Empire.

During the battle, Rebel spies managed to steal secret plans to the Empire's ultimate weapon, the DEATH STAR, a magical weapon with enough power to destroy an entire nation.

Pursued by the Empire's sinister agents, Princess Leia races home aboard her private ship, custodian of the stolen plans that can save her people and restore freedom to the world...."

EPISODE 5 - THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK

"It is a dark time for the Rebellion. Although the Death Star has been destroyed, Imperial troops have driven the Rebel forces from their hidden base and pursued them across the globe.

Evading the dreaded Imperial Fleet, a group of freedom fighters led by Luke Skywalker has established a new secret base on the remote ice planes of Antarctica.

The evil lord Darth Vader, obsessed with finding young Skywalker, has dispatched hundreds of spies into the far reaches of the world...."

EPISODE 6 - RETURN OF THE JEDI

"Luke Skywalker has returned to his home country of Afghanistan in an attempt to rescue his friend Han Solo from the clutches of the vile gangster Jabba the Hutt.

Little does Luke know that the Global Empire has secretly begun construction on a new magical weapon even more powerful than the first dreaded Death Star.

When completed, this ultimate weapon will spell certain doom for the small band of rebels struggling to restore freedom to the world..."
​

 

I mean you could have multiple Jedi orders throughout the world, understanding the same fundamental concepts through different lenses. In Europe it's a secret monastic order of the Catholic Church, in the Far East they're a monestary of Zen Buddhists, and eventually the discipline could be regained organically in the Wild West with the help of shamans or something. Without a Jedi order or a Jedi temple somewhere around, force-sensitive people would probably be seen as street magicians or something.

 

Have Gilgamesh be an outlaw instead of a king, and you have a better Solo.

 

That's a good point. The Force would have to be a universal presence, so it would be understood and channeled by a variety of different cultures in different ways. Granted, those people wouldn't have to be called Jedi any more than all Star Wars Force users are called Jedi/Sith.

I dunno, I'm pretty sure he's supposed to fight by telekinetically hurling a thousand lightsabers at his enemies until they're all dead, and that's not a Han thing.

 

Forced Imbued Weapons were actually a thing Jedi used before the early models of Light Sabers, so these historical Jedi could easily have something like them.

I agree with that, if Jedi were a purely christian thing then other regions of the world would definetly use their own force sensitives to create their own organisations. Honestly I could still see their being some of the more obscure groups similar to the night sisters being spread out over the world.

 

The obvious thing here would be for the Knights Templar to have Force powers during the Crusades. Such an order would be drastically different however, as the canonical Star Wars Force stuff is heavily based in Buddhist and Taoist thought. Any sort of European Force order would be all about submitting to the Will of God (the Force), rather than inner harmony being expressed externally. They'd be a lot more focused on actions, and so while there couldn't really be a scenario like the canonical decline where the Jedi are paralyzed by doctrine, someone like Palpatine would have a much easier time manipulating them into taking action that would doom their public image and casting them as the villains. Especially if he can futz with what the Templar Jedi here can sense from the Force/God at large.

Probably the clearest example of the changes in such a Jedi Order would be in their equivalent of the Jedi Code, which I would imagine goes something like this:

Where there is sin, we bring forgiveness
Where there is doubt, we bring faith
Where there is chaos, we bring peace
Where there is evil, we enact His Will
Deus Vult

The whole order would be big on both personal acts as well as submission to the will of the Force, and would likely be small groups, or maybe even individuals, who travel around the countryside acting as they feel the Force pushes them to. Protecting travelers, smiting bandits, keeping the roads safe, etc.

 

I wonder if it would be better, in fact, to ditch Christianity and Islam entirely, and instead write an AU Earth where the religions are different because of the existence of the Force. Because like Agayek says, the Jedi philosophy/code doesn't sit well with Christianity, and I feel like it's the Jedi philosophy which is one of the big draws of the Jedi. Their powers are not particularly unique within fantasy/sci-fi - it's the combination of those powers with the mythology/metaphysics behind them which gives the Force/the Jedi their unique character. So I wouldn't want to keep the powers but replace the philosophy with some sect of Christianity.

So you would have a Europe which matches the real historical Europe in geopolitical terms, but you would replace the religions with different belief systems surrounding the Force.

With this in mind, I wonder if the 1700s work best, because then you get Star Wars naval combat that actually makes sense.