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Star Wars Trivia Quiz
Star Wars unfolds in a galaxy far, far away where the mystical Force separates the Jedi from the Sith. The original trilogy follows farm boy Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and smuggler Han Solo against the evil Galactic Empire and the masked Darth Vader, while the prequels and sequels widen the Skywalker saga across generations.
Q1. George Lucas created Star Wars after failing to get the rights to which property?
Answer: Flash Gordon. In 1971 he wanted to adapt the Flash Gordon serial but could not obtain the rights, so he began his own space opera. After making American Graffiti, he wrote a two-page synopsis that 20th Century Fox agreed to finance, and had a first screenplay draft by 1974.
Q2. When was the original Star Wars released?
Answer: 25 May 1977. Fox expected limited success and gave it a modest budget. Instead, within three weeks the studio's share price doubled, and Fox posted a record $79 million profit for 1977, more than double its previous best. Return of the Jedi was released on the same date in 1983.
Q3. Who composed the music for all nine Skywalker Saga films?
Answer: John Williams. Williams said The Rise of Skywalker would be his last, but he still wrote Han Solo's theme for Solo, a theme for the Obi-Wan Kenobi series and the main theme for the Galaxy's Edge theme park area. Michael Giacchino scored Rogue One and Ludwig Göransson The Mandalorian.
Q4. Which company bought Lucasfilm in 2012?
Answer: Disney. Lucas announced in January 2012 that he would make no more Star Wars films, and Disney agreed to buy Lucasfilm that October. Kathleen Kennedy became president. Lucas handed over sequel story treatments, but in 2015 it emerged they had been discarded.
Q5. Which company made the first Star Wars action figures?
Answer: Kenner. Kenner's figures came out with the original film and are now highly valuable; Hasbro has held the rights since the 1990s. Star Wars was also the first licensed property in Lego's history, and the first Topps trading cards appeared in 1977.
Q6. Where was the original film shot to keep costs down?
Answer: Elstree Studios in England. Because Fox expected only modest returns, production moved to England to save money. The film went on to help launch the science-fiction boom of the late 1970s and, with Jaws, the tradition of the summer blockbuster.
Q7. What did George Lucas give up in exchange for the merchandising rights?
Answer: A $500,000 cut to his director's fee. It proved one of the best deals in film history. The first three films had earned $2.6 billion in merchandising by 1987, and the first six about $20 billion by 2012. Star Wars showed that merchandise could make more money than the film itself.
Q8. How did George Lucas describe the first six episodic films?
Answer: "The tragedy of Darth Vader". Lucas has said the saga's theme is redemption: Anakin is set up as a messianic "Chosen One" but falls, remaining Vader until Return of the Jedi. Luke learning Vader is his father is regarded as one of the most influential plot twists in cinema.
Q9. The saga draws heavily on the "hero's journey" described by which scholar?
Answer: Joseph Campbell. Anakin, Luke and Rey each follow the comparative mythologist's cycle or its reversal. A key step is "Atonement with the Father", which is why fathers and father figures, from Obi-Wan to Han Solo and Kylo Ren, matter so much in the films.
Q10. Which character from Timothy Zahn's 1990s novels was brought back into canon in 2016?
Answer: Grand Admiral Thrawn. Zahn's Thrawn trilogy reignited interest in the franchise, and Heir to the Empire reached number one on The New York Times list. After Disney made older stories "Legends" in 2014, Thrawn returned in season three of Rebels and later faces the heroes in The Mandalorian's world and Ahsoka.
Q11. Where was the subtitle "Episode IV: A New Hope" first used?
Answer: The 1979 book The Art of Star Wars. The film's success led Lucas to turn it into an elaborate serial, planning a "trilogy of trilogies". In 1978 he even told Time he planned "10 sequels", before later insisting the series was meant to be six parts.
Q12. For how much did Lucas license the radio rights to KUSC-FM?
Answer: US$1. He was a fan of the station at his old university, USC. The 1981 NPR series, written by Brian Daley, adapted the first film into 13 episodes using John Williams' score and Ben Burtt's sound effects, with Mark Hamill and Anthony Daniels reprising their roles.
Q13. Darth Vader's design was first inspired by what?
Answer: Samurai armour. It also borrowed from a German military helmet. Lucas first imagined the Sith serving the Emperor the way the SS served Hitler, before condensing them into Vader, and stormtroopers took their name from First World War German shock troops.
Q14. The ice planet Hoth was named after what?
Answer: A German general on the Eastern Front. Several names came from the Second World War: Kessel refers to an encircled military force. The original film's space battles were modelled on WWI and WWII dogfights, and AT-AT viewscreen shots resemble tank interiors.
Q15. Which was the first video game to show lightsaber combat?
Answer: Star Wars: Jedi Arena. Parker Brothers released it for the Atari 2600 in 1983, a year after its first Star Wars console game. Atari's 1983 arcade game used vector graphics to recreate the Death Star trench run, and LucasArts' X-Wing in 1993 was the first self-published Star Wars game.
Q16. Why did the Obi-Wan Kenobi story become a TV series instead of a film?
Answer: Solo underperformed at the box office. The anthology films, described by Disney as origin stories, began with Rogue One in 2016, about the rebels who steal the Death Star plans. After Solo struggled in 2018, Obi-Wan's story moved to Disney+ as a 2022 miniseries.
Q17. Which fan costuming organisation was founded in 1997?
Answer: The 501st Legion. Its members build detailed costumes of stormtroopers, Sith, clone troopers and bounty hunters, and appear at conventions, charity events and volunteer work worldwide. Lucasfilm also ran official Fan Film Awards from 2002, at first only for parodies and documentaries.
Q18. In December 2025, a 1977 painting that introduced Star Wars to the world sold for a record sum. How much?
Answer: $3.875 million. It sold at Heritage Auctions and became the most expensive piece of memorabilia in the franchise's history. In 1989 the original film was among the works chosen for the US National Film Registry, followed by The Empire Strikes Back in 2010 and Return of the Jedi in 2021.
Q19. Which was the first Star Wars first-person shooter?
Answer: Dark Forces. Released in 1995, it ran on LucasArts' custom engine, called the Jedi. It introduced Kyle Katarn, a former stormtrooper who joins the Rebellion and becomes a Jedi, an arc later echoed by Finn in the sequel trilogy.
Q20. Why did Marvel lose out despite strong Star Wars comic sales in the late 1970s?
Answer: Sales beat a 100,000-copy quota so Lucasfilm could renegotiate royalties. Former editor-in-chief Jim Shooter said Star Wars comics saved Marvel financially in 1977 and 1978. The license later went to Dark Horse in the 1990s and returned to Marvel in 2015, after Disney had bought both Marvel and Lucasfilm.
Star Wars quiz answers and explanations
Every question from the quiz above with its correct answer, the story behind it, and where the fact comes from.
-
George Lucas created Star Wars after failing to get the rights to which property?
Answer: Flash Gordon. In 1971 he wanted to adapt the Flash Gordon serial but could not obtain the rights, so he began his own space opera. After making American Graffiti, he wrote a two-page synopsis that 20th Century Fox agreed to finance, and had a first screenplay draft by 1974.
Source: Wikipedia: Star Wars
-
When was the original Star Wars released?
Answer: 25 May 1977. Fox expected limited success and gave it a modest budget. Instead, within three weeks the studio's share price doubled, and Fox posted a record $79 million profit for 1977, more than double its previous best. Return of the Jedi was released on the same date in 1983.
Source: Wikipedia: Star Wars
-
Who composed the music for all nine Skywalker Saga films?
Answer: John Williams. Williams said The Rise of Skywalker would be his last, but he still wrote Han Solo's theme for Solo, a theme for the Obi-Wan Kenobi series and the main theme for the Galaxy's Edge theme park area. Michael Giacchino scored Rogue One and Ludwig Göransson The Mandalorian.
Source: Wikipedia: Star Wars
-
Which company bought Lucasfilm in 2012?
Answer: Disney. Lucas announced in January 2012 that he would make no more Star Wars films, and Disney agreed to buy Lucasfilm that October. Kathleen Kennedy became president. Lucas handed over sequel story treatments, but in 2015 it emerged they had been discarded.
Source: Wikipedia: Star Wars
-
Which company made the first Star Wars action figures?
Answer: Kenner. Kenner's figures came out with the original film and are now highly valuable; Hasbro has held the rights since the 1990s. Star Wars was also the first licensed property in Lego's history, and the first Topps trading cards appeared in 1977.
Source: Wikipedia: Star Wars
-
Where was the original film shot to keep costs down?
Answer: Elstree Studios in England. Because Fox expected only modest returns, production moved to England to save money. The film went on to help launch the science-fiction boom of the late 1970s and, with Jaws, the tradition of the summer blockbuster.
Source: Wikipedia: Star Wars
-
What did George Lucas give up in exchange for the merchandising rights?
Answer: A $500,000 cut to his director's fee. It proved one of the best deals in film history. The first three films had earned $2.6 billion in merchandising by 1987, and the first six about $20 billion by 2012. Star Wars showed that merchandise could make more money than the film itself.
Source: Wikipedia: Star Wars
-
How did George Lucas describe the first six episodic films?
Answer: "The tragedy of Darth Vader". Lucas has said the saga's theme is redemption: Anakin is set up as a messianic "Chosen One" but falls, remaining Vader until Return of the Jedi. Luke learning Vader is his father is regarded as one of the most influential plot twists in cinema.
Source: Wikipedia: Star Wars
-
The saga draws heavily on the "hero's journey" described by which scholar?
Answer: Joseph Campbell. Anakin, Luke and Rey each follow the comparative mythologist's cycle or its reversal. A key step is "Atonement with the Father", which is why fathers and father figures, from Obi-Wan to Han Solo and Kylo Ren, matter so much in the films.
Source: Wikipedia: Star Wars
-
Which character from Timothy Zahn's 1990s novels was brought back into canon in 2016?
Answer: Grand Admiral Thrawn. Zahn's Thrawn trilogy reignited interest in the franchise, and Heir to the Empire reached number one on The New York Times list. After Disney made older stories "Legends" in 2014, Thrawn returned in season three of Rebels and later faces the heroes in The Mandalorian's world and Ahsoka.
Source: Wikipedia: Star Wars
-
Where was the subtitle "Episode IV: A New Hope" first used?
Answer: The 1979 book The Art of Star Wars. The film's success led Lucas to turn it into an elaborate serial, planning a "trilogy of trilogies". In 1978 he even told Time he planned "10 sequels", before later insisting the series was meant to be six parts.
Source: Wikipedia: Star Wars
-
For how much did Lucas license the radio rights to KUSC-FM?
Answer: US$1. He was a fan of the station at his old university, USC. The 1981 NPR series, written by Brian Daley, adapted the first film into 13 episodes using John Williams' score and Ben Burtt's sound effects, with Mark Hamill and Anthony Daniels reprising their roles.
Source: Wikipedia: Star Wars
-
Darth Vader's design was first inspired by what?
Answer: Samurai armour. It also borrowed from a German military helmet. Lucas first imagined the Sith serving the Emperor the way the SS served Hitler, before condensing them into Vader, and stormtroopers took their name from First World War German shock troops.
Source: Wikipedia: Star Wars
-
The ice planet Hoth was named after what?
Answer: A German general on the Eastern Front. Several names came from the Second World War: Kessel refers to an encircled military force. The original film's space battles were modelled on WWI and WWII dogfights, and AT-AT viewscreen shots resemble tank interiors.
Source: Wikipedia: Star Wars
-
Which was the first video game to show lightsaber combat?
Answer: Star Wars: Jedi Arena. Parker Brothers released it for the Atari 2600 in 1983, a year after its first Star Wars console game. Atari's 1983 arcade game used vector graphics to recreate the Death Star trench run, and LucasArts' X-Wing in 1993 was the first self-published Star Wars game.
Source: Wikipedia: Star Wars
-
Why did the Obi-Wan Kenobi story become a TV series instead of a film?
Answer: Solo underperformed at the box office. The anthology films, described by Disney as origin stories, began with Rogue One in 2016, about the rebels who steal the Death Star plans. After Solo struggled in 2018, Obi-Wan's story moved to Disney+ as a 2022 miniseries.
Source: Wikipedia: Star Wars
-
Which fan costuming organisation was founded in 1997?
Answer: The 501st Legion. Its members build detailed costumes of stormtroopers, Sith, clone troopers and bounty hunters, and appear at conventions, charity events and volunteer work worldwide. Lucasfilm also ran official Fan Film Awards from 2002, at first only for parodies and documentaries.
Source: Wikipedia: Star Wars
-
In December 2025, a 1977 painting that introduced Star Wars to the world sold for a record sum. How much?
Answer: $3.875 million. It sold at Heritage Auctions and became the most expensive piece of memorabilia in the franchise's history. In 1989 the original film was among the works chosen for the US National Film Registry, followed by The Empire Strikes Back in 2010 and Return of the Jedi in 2021.
Source: Wikipedia: Star Wars
-
Which was the first Star Wars first-person shooter?
Answer: Dark Forces. Released in 1995, it ran on LucasArts' custom engine, called the Jedi. It introduced Kyle Katarn, a former stormtrooper who joins the Rebellion and becomes a Jedi, an arc later echoed by Finn in the sequel trilogy.
Source: Wikipedia: Star Wars
-
Why did Marvel lose out despite strong Star Wars comic sales in the late 1970s?
Answer: Sales beat a 100,000-copy quota so Lucasfilm could renegotiate royalties. Former editor-in-chief Jim Shooter said Star Wars comics saved Marvel financially in 1977 and 1978. The license later went to Dark Horse in the 1990s and returned to Marvel in 2015, after Disney had bought both Marvel and Lucasfilm.
Source: Wikipedia: Star Wars
Star Wars by the numbers
- Created by
- George Lucas
- First film
- 25 May 1977
- Skywalker Saga films
- 9
- Live-action box office
- over $10 billion
- Merchandising (first six films, to 2012)
- about $20 billion
- Lucasfilm sold to Disney
- 2012
- Lucas's director pay cut for merch rights
- $500,000
- Fox profit in 1977
- $79 million (record)
Source: Wikipedia: Star Wars
About the Star Wars quiz
Star Wars quizzes usually ask about the galaxy: planets, ships, who is whose father. The making of the films is a better story and a harder test. Lucas could not get the rights to Flash Gordon, shot cheaply in England, swapped part of his fee for merchandising rights nobody else wanted, and borrowed from history and mythology for the villains and planets. The franchise's fifty years since then add comics, games, radio and the sale to Disney.
Questions span the films and series — the Jedi and the Sith, the Skywalker family, droids like R2-D2 and C-3PO, ships like the Millennium Falcon, and the war between the Rebellion and the Empire.
What this Star Wars quiz covers
The quiz is about the real story of Star Wars more than the galaxy itself: the Flash Gordon rights Lucas could not get, the cheap English shoot, the merchandising deal, the history behind Vader, Hoth and the stormtroopers, the music, the radio drama, the books, comics and games, and what happened after Disney bought Lucasfilm. Each answer below explains the story behind it and links to the source.
How to play
Tap an answer to see the right one straight away, with the story behind it, and check your score at the end. Play Again resets the quiz.
Star Wars quiz — frequently asked questions
Which films and series does this cover?
All of them, in the sense that the quiz is about the franchise's history. Questions run from the 1977 film through the Disney era, including books, comics, games and the Obi-Wan series.
Do I need to know the planets and characters?
Only the famous ones. A few questions mention Vader, Hoth or Thrawn, but they ask where those ideas came from, not what happens to them on screen.
How hard is it?
The easy round suits anyone who has seen a Star Wars film. The expert round goes into records, games and comics that even long-time fans may not know.