Broom Kid is the Star Wars hero we all need
By Josh Hill
Heroes are littered throughout the Star Wars story, but few are as important as Broom Kid.
For all the shirts, lunch boxes, action figures, and plush toys that exist to celebrate the heroes (and villains) of Star Wars, one of the most important characters is missing.
Broom Kid is the underrated hero of the Star Wars universe that we don’t appreciate enough for what he represents. Luke saved the galaxy, Han and Leia led the Rebellion, Obi-Wan and Yoda rescued the Jedi, and Darth Vader defeated his inner demons to destroy
Meanwhile, Broom Kid did none of those things. He didn’t rescue anyone, he isn’t classically trained in the Jedi arts, nor does he have more than roughly two minutes of screentime in the entire Star Wars saga. To be brutally honest, he’s not even that great at sweeping, which appears to be his only job.
But he doesn’t need to do any of those things to be special. Broom Kid just is.
On the surface, there’s nothing traditionally special about him. He’s not performing high flying acrobatics with a lightsaber, or brooding in a metal suit of armor, or doing anything of significance to fight the First Order.
Snoke chastized Kylo for being “a child with a mask” but Broom Kid is literally just a child with a broom. We don’t even vent know his name, that’s how little he matters in the big picture.
But what was Luke Skywalker? When we met him in A New Hope, he was nothing more than Moisture Farm Boy, someone who looked to the stars and dreamed of something bigger.
That something bigger meant becoming the Michael Jordan of the Rebellion but not because Luke asked to be.
He didn’t join the Rebellion because it recruited him, wasn’t forced to go to Dagobah to train with Yoda, decided to not turn to the dark sides, and never sought to be a mythological figure. He became someone who mattered, and had an impact, because of the choices he made.
Nothing was predetermined.
Broom Kid is a powerful symbol precisely because he’s exactly what Luke was at the start of his journey but doesn’t need to be what he was at its end. We all strive to be great, but not everyone needs to be Michael Jordan to matter. Having the ability to use The Force doesn’t mean you’re somehow more special than anyone else. Maybe Broom Kid becomes the next great hero and saves the galaxy from whatever evil comes after The First Order.
Or maybe he doesn’t.
Maybe he just exists as another link that bonds us all together through The Force. Perhaps all he’ll be is a good person, who’s legacy is simply that when dies, he will be deeply missed by those who loved him throughout his life.
Broom Kid doesn’t have to become someone who changes the galaxy in some significant way, and that’s the point.
He’s special in his own way, and that’s all he has to be.