With Star Wars being the undisputed hype right now, I thought I’d take a moment to talk about it in relations to Night Hawk.

I often get asked what inspired Night Hawk and to be honest, there is an origin, but not Star Wars. In fact, Star Wars played a very small role in the inspiration/influence of Night Hawk. I do admit there is probably some subconscious connections since I was a Star Wars fan since I was four. (though I haven’t been as big a fan nowadays) However there are a few blatant similarities between the two series.

First, the genre. If you want to get technical, Night Hawk is a fantasy – same as Star Wars. What? Yes, fantasy. Fantasy plays to our myths and legends (think dream lands) usually within fantastic worlds. These can be ancient, modern or futuristic. Most people think of aliens, spaceships and other planets as science fiction, but a true science fiction means to have a theme based around a scientific principle. For example, Jurassic Park (DNA extraction, cloning) and Outbreak (viruses and pandemics). Yes, science fiction can go into outer space such as Gravity and The Martian. However, these are based on solid, known scientific fact. Star Wars and Night Hawk are based in other worlds with fantastic creatures whose stories are based around epic character journeys. While science “gadgets” are used, they are not the theme of the stories.

I know there are those who will argue this point of fantasy vs. science fiction. The truth is, genre is a loose term that is often changed on a whim depending on each individual’s perspective. Aliens and their highly developed, livable planets (which  are not scientifically proven – as of yet) are so commonly mistaken for science fiction that technicalities have fallen away. The term I hear more often is science fantasy, which I personally like better than describing clearly not science based stories as science fiction. So Star Wars and Night Hawk share the same genre – science fantasy.

There is another thing they share – world building. Over the decades, the fantasy/science fantasy series that have stood the test of time have often been rich with information about the worlds they are based in. People love going deeper into the stories they enjoy. In the case of Star Wars, the information appears endless, from encyclopedias, galactic maps, even blueprints on various ships and weapons used within the series. While Night Hawk is nowhere near the depth of detail as Star Wars… yet… it continually grows bigger and deeper. (After all, Star Wars has had decades to build and there are many people involved in the creation.) For Night Hawk, Telamier and its diverse cultures, languages, cities, landscapes, flora and fauna continually grow. For years I’ve developed what the Human region of Earthenia is like along with full Human population genealogies, city maps and businesses. Yes, whenever anyone in the stories mentions anything along these lines, there is a back story and/or logical explanation for them. There’s also a growing wildlife encyclopedia detailed straight down to scientific names (Human based, of course). This and more I hope to eventually have available to readers.

As for other connections to Star Wars? Movies, television, merchandise, games… why not? The sky – or in this case – the stars are the limit.