Who Trained Luke Skywalker? Every Jedi Master Ranked by Influence

Luke Skywalker is one of the most well-known and influential characters in Star Wars. His path to becoming a Jedi Grand Master was tumultuous and included training under several incredibly powerful Jedi Masters. So, who trained Luke Skywalker, and how much influence did every one of his Masters have on him as a Jedi?

Luke’s two formal Masters in Star Wars canon were Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda. Both had a major influence on who Luke Skywalker eventually became, but both’s time as his mentors were cut short before he truly completed his training.

That being said, most of Luke Skywalker’s training came from – himself. He was self-taught in the ways and the skills of a Jedi through experimenting, trial, and error. In Legends, though, Kenobi and Yoda weren’t the only teachers Luke had. Here’s a list of every Jedi Master that ever trained Luke Skywalker in Canon and Legends.

5. Joruus C’baoth

Joruus C’baoth is a Star Wars Legends character who briefly trained Luke Skywalker during Dark Force Rising. Skywalker believed that Joruus was a survivor of the Jedi Purge and that he would help him restore the Order and save the Jedi.

However, Joruus C’baoth turned out to be not a Jedi Master but rather an insane, power-hungry, dark-side-driven clone of another Jedi, who died even before the Clone Wars. Luckily for Luke, their tenure together was short-lived, and C’baoth’s evil intentions were soon revealed.

4. Palpatine

Yes, you’ve read that right – there’s a period of Luke Skywalker’s history where Emperor Palpatine was his Master. It happened in Star Wars Legends comic, during the Dark Empire storyline. In the storyline, Palpatine had been reborn, as powerful as ever, and Luke Skywalker had fallen to the Dark Side, just like his father.

Well, not quite. As it turns out, Luke never really turned to the Dark Side – it was all a ploy for him to become Palpatine’s apprentice to get close and then destroy the Sith from within. It was a bold, brave move, but one that turned out to be epic.

Although it’s only a Legends story, and Luke wasn’t really corrupted, I remember reading this and being utterly shocked to see the reborn Palpatine actually serve as Luke Skywalker’s Master – even though the reveal came quite quickly.

3. Self-training

It’s hard to say that Luke Skywalker had an influence on himself, but the reality is that he had a lot to do with his own training. After his first Jedi Master passed away at the hands of Darth Vader, Luke was left on his own, without a Master to guide him. Still, he kept pushing and training on his own.

Skywalker experimented with lightsaber techniques and tried as hard as possible to master the use of Force with what his former Master had taught him so far. Not many people realize that, by Jedi standards, Luke actually received very little formal training.

Now, you can’t say he had an “influence” on himself. What you can say is that Luke trained hard on his own, experimented, and learned from his own mistakes – sometimes the hard way. Those mistakes without guidance made Luke the person he was. 

And, had he not gone through that self-training phase to become the person he is, Luke would probably listen to his former Masters telling him he should kill Darth Vader. Then, Vader would never get the chance to do the right thing and redeem himself to the Light Side. 

On the other hand, Luke would probably never forgive himself and get corrupted by the Dark Side, just like his father before him.

2. Yoda

Master Yoda gave young Luke Skywalker the most rigorous, formal Jedi training of all. After Obi-Wan Kenobi became one with the Force, Luke spent several years training himself. When he first discovered Master Yoda with the help of Kenobi’s Force ghost, Yoda was very reluctant to accept Luke as his apprentice.

He saw much of the same anger, rage, and recklessness in Luke as he saw in Anakin Skywalker before him – and we all know how that turned out. However, with some encouragement from Obi-Wan, Yoda eventually took young Luke under his wing. 

Their training happened on Dagobah and was very straightforward, with Master Yoda giving Skywalker advanced lightsaber lessons, as well as teaching him how to use the Force properly. The Force was strong in Luke, as he had a natural ability to harness it incredibly well, just like his father.

Still, even after beginning training, Luke and Yoda butted heads quite often. Luke was borderline arrogant, claiming he was ready, while Yoda disagreed. It resulted in Skywalker cutting their training short to confront Darth Vader, only to realize Yoda was right – he got his hand chopped off as he learned Vader was, indeed, his father.

Upon his return to Dagobah, Yoda was already old and weak, almost becoming one with the Force. Their training was complete with a few final words of wisdom. Even after Yoda became a Force ghost, he had a big influence on Skywalker. He taught Luke a lot, especially about not making the same mistakes Obi-Wan and himself did in the past.

In Legends, Luke takes it a step further and listens to Yoda’s words quite literally. When he creates the New Jedi Order, Luke changes the rules so as not to repeat those before-mentioned mistakes. Jedi lived closer to the community and could have lives outside of the Order – fall in love, have families, and live a normal life.

1. Obi-Wan Kenobi

Despite Yoda giving him the most formal training, I don’t think there was any doubt about who influenced Luke Skywalker the most. Obi-Wan was his first master, the guy that took Luke under his wing and showed him the first steps and lessons on how to become a Jedi.

Their training started quite late despite Kenobi’s desire to begin much earlier. They both lived on Tatooine, and Obi-Wan offered to train young Luke several times. However, Skywalker’s aunt and uncle refused, worrying that Jedi training would lead Luke down the same path as his father, Anakin.

However, after their untimely death, Skywalker finally accepted Obi-Wan’s offer and started training to become a Jedi. Kenobi showed him the first steps on how to use the Force and some basic lightsaber techniques. The two had formed a great bond, but unfortunately, after only a few formal lessons, Obi-Wan’s life had been cut short by Darth Vader.

After Obi-Wan’s death, Luke continued to train on his own for a few years, using what Kenobi taught him and continued to experiment and teach himself how to use the Force. Obi-Wan further influenced him as a Force ghost. In Legends, Ben’s influence on Luke was even larger.

After Obi-Wan had died, Luke lived in his hut on Tatooine for several years. There, he found numerous diaries and notes that Obi-wan left for Luke, teaching him more about the Jedi, as well as some crucial steps to become one. For instance, how to build his own lightsaber – a crucial part of training for every Jedi.

If all that wasn’t enough to show how much Old Ben influenced his padawan, Luke eventually named his son Ben Skywalker after his first and most influential Jedi Master.