Star Wars: 16 Art and Myth Influences That Inspired the Movies

Discover iconic and surprising Easter eggs and references in the saga's story, sets, costumes, and more

There is no denying the impact that the media franchise Star Wars has had on the world. It brought sci-fi into the mainstream, and gave us some of the most iconic movie quotes of all time. But though significant in itself, Star Wars is also a patchwork of influences from other art and media.

From books to films, to myth and religion, we look at sixteen Star Wars references and hidden Easter eggs, that reveal layers of meaning (okay, and some silly jokes) in this beloved series.

Books that influenced the Star Wars movies

1. The Hero with a Thousand Faces, by Joseph Cambell

This book theorizes that many global myths share a structure called the monomyth (a.k.a. the hero’s journey). The hero leaves their old life behind, finds a mentor, faces trials, earns a reward, and returns to their homeland or allies profoundly changed. This structure maps almost exactly onto the Star Wars films—especially Luke Skywalker’s journey.

Campbell’s book directly influenced Star Wars director George Lucas, and after the first trilogy was released the two became friends.

2. Dune, by Frank Herbert

In Herbert’s novel, a priceless drug called spice is harvested to facilitate interstellar travel. Throughout Star Wars, both Han Solo and Poe Dameron are separately revealed to have smuggled something called spice, and in A New Hope, C-3PO worries he’ll be sent to “the spice mines of Kessel”. Then, there are Dune’s sandworms and Star Wars’s Sarlaccs, which both emerge from the sand to consume their prey.

3. The Lord of the Rings, by J. R. R. Tolkien

A mentor, a “dark lord” figure, and friends transporting valuable items from one place to another: Star Wars has a lot in common with Tolkien’s stories. An early draft for the first script even had identical dialogue, where Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker perfectly mirrored Gandalf and Bilbo in The Hobbit!

4. The writings of E. E. Smith

When it comes to prop design and set design, there's no clearer literary reference for Star Wars than the “father of the space opera”. In Smith’s books, you’ll find spherical spaceships, light swords, heroes that use telepathy, epic space battles, and much more.

Films influences and Easter eggs

5. Akira Kurosawa’s films

Kurosawa was an influential Japanese filmmaker known for using dynamic scenes and cuts in period dramas about samurai and commoners alike. The Hidden Fortress (1953) is a favorite film of Lucas’s: in A New Hope, the way R2-D2 and C-3PO argue is based on the peasant protagonists in the film, and Vader force-chokes Admiral Motti before he can say the words “hidden fortress”. Even scene transitions are similar, with a "wipe" style used in both.

6. E.T. the Extra Terrestrial

This one’s a quick visual Easter egg in The Phantom Menace: look for the "Asogians" at the Galactic Senate, which appear to be the same species as Steven Spielberg’s famous alien.

Spielberg and Lucas agreed to feature each other’s characters in their films (a child dresses as Yoda in E.T.).

7. Flash Gordon

That iconic opening crawl in each Star Wars film is immediately recognizable: but the idea didn’t originate with Lucas. His inspiration came from the 1940s sci-fi story Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe, which was released in serial format and each episode had to remind the viewer what happened last time.

8. 2001: A Space Odyssey

Somehow, an EVA pod—a one-person craft from Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 movie—wound up in Watto’s junkyard in The Phantom Menace. Though no explanation is provided, it makes sense to link the two stories, as both are key pillars of sci-fi in the mid-1900s.

9. Blade Runner

Despite being a very different kind of sci-fi (with noir and thriller elements), 1982’s Blade Runner influenced Star Wars. The city of Coruscant in the prequel trilogy has the cybernetic high-rise feeling of Blade Runner’s Los Angeles.

10. The Matrix

In Attack of the Clones, Obi-Wan and Anakin visit a club and Obi-Wan is offered a weapon from a seller at the bar. This man is actually the same actor who played Mouse in The Matrix — designer of the woman in the red dress. And who’s standing behind them? The same actress who played her! Does this reference question the nature of reality in Star Wars?

11. Indiana Jones

It makes sense that Star Wars and Indiana Jones share references, as both are Lucas productions. Droids appear as temple carvings in Raiders of the Lost Ark, while Rey’s final defeat of Palpatine has a very familiar face-melting scene.

References to mythology, religion, and spirituality

Finally, as well as being a monomyth itself, Star Wars references actual religion and myth around the world...

12. Taoism

Taoism is an ancient Chinese religion and philosophy, and its main book is the Tao Te Ching, or "The Way and Its Power". In Taoist cosmology, the universe is pervaded by a life force: the qi or ch'i. Meanwhile two complementing elements, yin and yang, or the active and the receptive, exist in constant balance.

We see parallels in "the force" that Jedi can connect with, and though earlier Star Wars films suggest that the “dark side” ought to be defeated, at the end of Rey and Kylo Ren’s arcs in the sequel trilogy we see light and dark balance each other.

13. Buddhism

The Noble Eightfold Path in Buddhism is a guide towards enlightenment and away from the painful cycle of rebirth. It brings practitioners towards compassion, and letting go of material possessions. Many link the character Yoda to Buddhist ideas, and Jedi teachings seem to encourage a similar mindset through meditation and other spiritual practices.

Christianity

As a dualism of light versus dark, Star Wars has many biblical parallels. Not only do we see angelic and demonic contrasts in the costume designs of the Jedi and Sith, but Anakin Skywalker was born by virgin birth, relating him to Jesus Christ. Jedi legend also mentions a messiah—a “chosen one” who brings peace, which Anakin fits until he is “tempted” to the dark.

Arthurian Legend

The Arthurian legend is over a thousand years old and was clearly a guiding light for the Skywalker story. Camelot’s round table had twelve members, like the Jedi council. The mentor appears in the form of Merlin, parallel to Obi-Wan and Yoda. Finally, Anakin’s role as troubled father matches that of Uther Pendragon, King Arthur’s father.

All art draws on what has come before, and these are just some of the Easter eggs and references that weave through the Star Wars saga. Share your favorites in the comments!

Don’t go far, far away: check out these resources…

1. Hunt for more Easter eggs with this run-down of ten references in classic movies.

2. Learn more about sci-fi and speculative fiction as a genre, with this beginner’s guide.

3. Check out these ten Star Wars tribute projects for some artistic inspiration.

4. The creative force is strong: unleash yours with Domestika's course bundles to create your own sci-fi project.