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Man, I really didn't want this to turn into a multiple page debate, and I think I've let myself get off focus from my original point. I don't find Ben to be an engaging character because he doesn't do anything to distinguish himself as one. Even when he's conflicting with Luke in LOTF, he's doing so following Jacen, rather than anything of his own accord. He's always been a follower, either of Jacen or Luke. And Ben has never had a foil, that is, "a character who contrasts with another character (usually the protagonist) in order to highlight various features of that other character's personality, throwing these characteristics into sharper focus."
Putting Ben with Luke is pretty much pointless from a character development or even storytelling standpoint, in this regard. Whereas with Luke and Han, or Anakin and Obi-Wan, or Anakin (or Ganner) and Jacen, they all have differing personalities and play off of one another and highlight each other's personalities through their distinctions, having Ben alone with Luke on the Jade Shadow for half the series doesn't do this for Ben at all. Hence why I said they should have some sort of fundamental conflict in personality. Maybe everyone else is right, and that wouldn't work. But if that's the case, then it was a mistake to put Luke and Ben in that situation because it's really boring (IMO) and does nothing to develop Ben as a character.
It could be argued that Vestara has been introduced as Ben's foil. But I don't think that this has been done very effectively because she didn't interact with Ben socially until book 4 of the series and didn't truly become part of the group until the end of that book, and even so, I don't think that a villainous character necessarily makes for an effective foil because moreso than contrasting the differences in the characters' personalities and highlighting the unique aspects of Ben, it serves to highlight Ben as a heroic character in contrast with Vestara as a villainous character. We already knew Ben was a heroic character, and it still doesn't do much to distinguish him from Luke. Ben and Vestara's differences aren't any different than Luke and Vestara's differences in that regard, so having Luke with Ben also compromises Vestara's impact as a foil. I'll admit it makes Luke more of a foil for Ben, however, by virtue of Luke's treatment of Vestara compared to Ben's, but by making Vestara a romantic interest of Ben -- which she obviously isn't for Luke -- that is mitigated because it's not so much a difference between Ben and Luke's personalities as it is a difference in their feelings toward the character.
So my main point is that Ben isn't an engaging character, and the above is why I think that, and I got off-focus with my belief that putting Luke and Ben together on the Jade Shadow alone for half the series was a bad move, not only because it does nothing to make Ben engaging as a character, but also because their father-son relationship didn't need development, since as most everyone has been arguing with me, they're apparently just fine and dandy in that regard. And personally, I prefer my stories to have conflict in them, rather than reading about perfect relationships without speed bumps or issues. By putting Luke and Ben alone on the Jade Shadow, it brings that father-son relationship into sharp focus, and if there's no story there, it's a wasted opportunity and a bad decision.
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