How often have you wondered whether Luke could have defeated Anakin in his prime? How many other such never-possible Star Wars match-ups have you played out in your head, trying to determine how certain characters or creatures would fare against one another? Well, Pablo Hidalgo has written a book that will satisfy some of those ponderings of combat superiority: Star Wars: Head-to-Head, due out this May from Scholastic. In his book, Pablo takes a meticulous look at the various strengths and weaknesses of Star Wars characters, creatures, and vehicles to determine who would come out on top if they ever had to fight. In the following extremely geeky chat, Pablo and I discuss the Star Wars universe, the writing of his book, and the methodology of determining characters' combat abilities.

The Sci-Fi Block: Pablo, before I get to my real questions, I have a question that’s bothered me ever since I was a boy, and I think you’re the guy who can answer it most definitively. If someone built a gigantic lightsaber that was as wide as the Death Star’s laser, and they placed it exactly in the path of a Death Star blast, would it repel the blast?

Pablo Hidalgo: That’s a tough one. Well, I think given that the blast creates some sort of kinetic impact on the blade before it reflects back, I think the challenge might be not only blocking the entirety of the beam, but also finding someone big enough to hold the lightsaber still.

SFB: So, you’re saying Jedi space slugs are the best Death Star defense.

Hidalgo: A big enough space slug with a tight enough grip on a mega-lightsaber in its mouth … That would be a sight worth seeing!

SFB: Indeed.

I’m sure we’ve all been sitting with our friends and said, “Who would win in a fight, Anakin in his prime or Luke?” or other similar scenarios. Where did you get the idea to make a book based on this? Were you having an argument with a friend and decided “I’m gonna make it official!”?

Hidalgo: I’m not sure where the idea came from, as the publisher had the concept fully formed before I was invited to expand on it. I’m certain it comes from the same spot in the brain that speculates whether or not Superman can outrun the Flash. I hope the book is a mix of showdowns that people have wondered about as well as ones that catch readers by surprise, like Jar Jar versus Jabba.

SFB: I was going to ask you about Jar Jar versus Jabba. There are some match-ups that you included in Star Wars: Head-to-Head that I’ve played out in my head before reading this and wondered, Oh, who would win if this character fought this character? But, the Jar Jar vs. Jabba match-up, one that most people probably haven’t thought of, really made me smile. Did you have any ideas that your editor thought were too outlandish for inclusion in your book?

Hidalgo: I was encouraged to come up with match-ups that would not likely be resolved in any upcoming stories, ones that really couldn’t happen, because of where characters lived in the timeline, like Jedi Anakin and Jedi Luke. So, in that regard, I was given a lot of leeway, and nothing was struck down conceptually. We knew we wanted a mix of character versus character, creature versus creature, and vehicle versus vehicle. It ultimately came down to space. Poor C-3PO didn’t make the cut.

SFB: Who would you like to see him face off against? Or are you saving that for another book?

Hidalgo: [Laughs] There are always more match possibilities, so Threepio could definitely get a moment to shine. But, my first inclination would be to send him against something non-combative and ridiculous, like Nute Gunray! Or Jira, the fruit stand vendor from Episode I.

SFB: I’d like to see Salacious Crumb versus Max Rebo, myself.

Hidalgo: Would Max avoid punching because he makes a living off those fingers? These are important questions.

One side of one of the book's nastier (and cooler) match-ups.

SFB: You think these things out thoroughly.

You include numerical stats on the characters and spacecraft that you pit against each other in Star Wars: Head-to-Head, but as opposed to arbitrarily deciding what those stats should look like, you actually work for Lucasfilm, as Internet Content Developer, so you have more access to all of this data than the average Star Wars fan. I’m guessing this wasn’t a particularly exhaustive project, but how much research did you put into the book?

Hidalgo: Well, as much as we could present this as a fun book for young readers, we knew it would get scrutiny from the many Star Wars fan scholars out there, so we didn’t want to be arbirtrary in the delineation of stats. Thankfully, over the years, many of these characters and vehicles have been translated into RPG stats, card game stats, and video games. So, there were these precedents, and I took those into account. In some cases, I even broke out old rule systems to play a round or two of combat to check assumptions on how certain fighters would perform. Your mileage may vary, of course.

SFB: Interesting. Out of all the battles that have taken place in the Star Wars films, which do you think is the best, and why?

Hidalgo: As an old school fan, my heart tends to go to Empire -- and it’s top-of-mind these days, what with the 30th anniversary being this year. The duel between Vader and Luke has a lot going on in it. There’s little things that you keep discovering as you watch it: Vader starts the fight one-handed, like he’s toying with Luke, but when he switches to a two-handed grip, you know he means business. I love details like that.

In terms of more modern fare, I was thoroughly enterained by the R2 unit fight between R2-D2 and Goldie that happened in Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

SFB: Who, according to your opinion and your knowledge of the Star Wars universe, is the single most powerful character?

Hidalgo: This comes down to opinion, of course, because in the Star Wars mythos, fate has a way of dealing you lousy cards no matter how good a player you are. But, given that Anakin/Vader has got lightsaber skills, technical skills, and piloting skills, he’s definitely the most formidable of combatants whe it comes to raw power. The best use of judgment when wielding those powers, not so much. I’m certain he still thinks to himself, Man, why did I try jumping over Obi-Wan that one time?

Don't even try outrunning one of these.

SFB: Pablo, do you have any other projects in the works or planned for the future that you can tell us about?

Hidalgo: Later in the summer is Star Wars: Year by Year coming from DK, which is a nonfiction look at the chronological history of the franchise. It was a collaborative project with fellow writers Ryder Windham and Daniel Wallace, along with Gus Lopez. I focused mainly on the prequel years and beyond, from 1997 through today. Anyone who has the Marvel Chronicle book has a rough idea of what this book will be like.

There’s a few other projects in the works, too, but they’ve yet to be announced. I’ll keep people posted on my Facebook page as to their schedule.

SFB: Final question: In an all-out, no-holds-barred fight to the death, who wins? George Lucas or John Williams?

Hidalgo: Depends on the weapon of choice! John Williams can work miracles with that baton, but George can summon the power of an entire galaxy at his command, so, for numerous reasons, I’d have to side with my boss. But, I think you’ve stumbled upon an extension to this series: Star Wars: Head-to-Head – The Cast and Crew Edition.

SFB: [Laughs] Well, I’ll be looking forward to it, and you know who you can turn to for ideas.

Thank you for your time, Pablo.

Hidalgo: My pleasure!