Chris and Luke-Lightsaber Training

In This Scene

Just some Star Wars fanart of my swashbuckling tyrannosaur Chris Carnovo and another lion character of mine, Luke King, practicing the art of the lightsaber in a galaxy far, far away. In the lore, there are seven classical styles or forms of lightsaber combat. Chris, the Jedi Battlemaster of his era, is a master of all seven forms, but his preferred form is the dueling-specialized Form II/Makashi, the same form as Count Dooku. Luke, meanwhile, is starting to explore Form VI/Niman, also known as “the diplomat’s form” due to its easy-to-learn, well-rounded bladework that makes it well-suited to learning dual-wielding.

Alt. Where Chris Ditches the Cape:

Behind the Scenes

I traced the poses from a screenshot of Anaking Skywalker dueling Count Dooku on Geonosis in Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones.

Chris exists in a couple different universes of mine, as do most of my characters. While his primary residence is my Disney fanfic WIP Swashbucklers of the Magic Kingdom, he takes on a guest role in the world of another WIP of mine, King of the Octagon, the story of my lion MMA fighter, Leo King. There, an older Chris is a history professor and part-time fencing coach who holds lessons at Ed’s Fight Club, which Leo manages for his father, Ed King. Chris is a mentor figure for Leo’s younger cousin, Luke, a teenage lion with an interest in fencing who’s just trying to survive the ups and downs of high school, so here I depicted them as Jedi Master and Padawan.

The Battlemaster

In This Scene…

In an alternate universe to my current fanfiction project Swashbucklers of the Magic Kingdom, the Disney characters live in a galaxy far, far away, and Chris Carnovo and André Caron are the Senior and Assistant Battlemasters of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. I’m not sure when this scene takes place, but it’s probably sometime during the Old Republic Era, when Jedi marriage wasn’t frowned upon (as much) and the Sith were numerous and powerful, and peace had to be kept by one’s skills with a lightsaber.

Simba, a high-ranking member of the Jedi Council, has introduced his son, Kopa (himself a new Jedi Padawan) to the Jedi Battlemaster to begin his studies in the art of lightsaber combat.

Chris Carnovo, an aficionado of Form II/Makashi, is impressed by the lion cub’s natural instincts—eager to learn and determined to overcome any challenge, Kopa cheers with excitement as he finally manages to leap over and parry a swipe at his legs. Though he has some criticisms of the style, the Battlemaster nevertheless notes in his mind that the young Padawan might have the makings of a talented Form IV/Ataru practitioner.

Simba, meanwhile, watches the lesson alongside André. The two Jedi masters both know all too well that lightsaber combat is more than a game. Simba himself achieved his Knighthood by defeating a Sith Lord who had taken control of his home planet—none other than his own uncle, Scar, who had secretly been the Sith Lord known as Darth Scath. His own relentless training in Form V/Djem So with Masters Chris and André had saved him at a key moment during the decisive duel, and he felt more at ease knowing his son would be taught by the galaxy’s best duelists.

André, however, is consumed by his memories of the Sith Wars. André saw too many valiant but untested Padawans felled at the hands of the ruthless Sith, especially one: the ruthless Jedi killer Darth Tristus. Though the Sith Lord met his end at André’s hand, André knows full well that the Dark Side is always ready to rise up again and wreck havoc on the galaxy, and even his formidable skill in Form V/Djem So may not be enough to protect the ones he cares about from the gathering darkness…

Behind the Scenes

I really need to finish and publish Swashbucklers of the Magic Kingdom so I can make a Star Wars AU out of it. No, I don't care how stupid that sounds, this is Tumblr, y'all should know what to expect here. I do actually have (concept) plans for an actual sequel series to Swashbucklers of the Magic Kingdom, which will see the Disney characters inventing lightsabers and discovering the Force. Simba's younger son, Kion, will have been born by that point in the timeline, ready to begin his training with the Swashbucklers of the Magic Kingdom. As for what Chris, Andre and Kopa will be doing--well, that would spoil the ending of Swashbucklers of the Magic Kingdom, now wouldn't it?

A few years back—2019, to be exact— I was in line for the Rise of the Resistance ride at Disneyland, which was awesome, by the way. Despite it being well-worth the wait, it was a 3-hour wait, but fortunately I was smart and brought a sketchbook and started doodling a Jedi character. This is that character.

I decided to name her Alethia Shan, which I later realized made her a possible descendant of Bastila Shan and Revan, some of my favorite characters in the Legends/old Expanded Universe continuity. I originally wanted her to be sone kind of detective who lived about a century before A New Hope, but I realized that since I love the idea of Star Wars stories set during the era when the Sith were more numerous, I decided to make her a contemporary of Darth Bane, fighting the Sith during the time when the Sith were organized as the Brotherhood of Darkness. I imagine that she is stationed on a small Republic colony planet, tasked with defending the small settlement against Sith troublemakers, and that she still solves some mysteries connected to Sith activity.

Also, because I love lightsaber combat, I imagine that Alethia primarily practices Form III/Soresu for lightsaber combat, while also having a basic knowledge of Form I/Shii Cho, Form II/Makashi, and Form IV/Ataru to supplement her defensive fencing style with a few offensive options.

Meanwhile, back in the real world, there was also a young lady who also had a sketchbook right behind me as I was drawing, and we ended up talking the entire 3 hours we were in line at Disneyland and eventually she gave me her number, which I promptly lost later that evening.

So if you are that person, just know that that was a great memory connecting as artists.

By the way, here’s the original sketch: