Ben Solo Challenge

About

Ben Solo Challenge refers to a series of parody videos in which people mimic Ben Solo's shrug before fighting the Knights of Ren with Luke Skywalker's lightsaber in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. The social media challenge went viral soon after it was introduced to TikTok and Twitter in January 2020.

Origin

On December 20th, 2019, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker was released. In the film, before Ben Solo faces the Knights of Ren, he reveals Luke Skywalker's lightsaber from behind his back and shrugs (shown below).^[2]

On January 6th, 2020, TikToker @mikelovestheshrug uploaded the first video mimicking the Ben Solo scene but only received about 30 likes in a day (shown below). That same day, he shared his own video to Twitter using the account @testtube27^[1] and received over 11,400 likes and 1,600 retweets in a day.

https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/6778770187039640838

Spread

On January 6th, 2020, Twitter user @JakeFromYavin posted his version of of the challenge and attached the hashtag #BenSoloChallenge (shown below). The video gained over 15,700 likes and 2,300 retweets in a day.

#bensolochallenge This is so much fun! I want to see as many of these from as many people as possible! (Credit to testtube27 for starting this whole thing) pic.twitter.com/GLdmCafpR6

— Jundland Jake (JakeFromYavin) January 6, 2020

That same day, Twitter user @ObiwanxKannoli uploaded a video with the caption, "The #BenSoloChallenge from a tiny sick Ben Solo who wanted to join in" (shown below) which accumulated over 11,000 likes and 1,500 retweets in a day.

The #BenSoloChallenge from a tiny sick Ben Solo who wanted to join in. pic.twitter.com/9kISmcVdBR

— Ella (@ObiwanxKannoli) January 6, 2020

That day, Twitter user @KyloIsSad compared the scene to Han Solo performing the same shrug using a GIF and the caption "Wow this guy does a pretty good #BenSoloChallenge. Wrong weapon but great shrug!" (shown below). The tweet garnered over 1,500 likes and 200 retweets in a day.

Wow this guy does a pretty good #BenSoloChallenge. Wrong weapon but great shrug! pic.twitter.com/g2ltQy3osp

— Sad Kylo Ren (@KyloIsSad) January 7, 2020

Various Examples

I’m not Ben Swolo but whatever #BenSoloChallenge pic.twitter.com/M3rJc3Y3TT

— Steven (@stevenpistor) January 7, 2020

I think I nailed it #BenSoloChallenge pic.twitter.com/GKc7XAUaZ2

— georgia 🌙☀️ (@jonnybuckIand) January 7, 2020

So I just saw this #BenSoloChallenge trending, and what I saw was godlike impressions of Adam Driver's acting of a shrug. I started to do the same but it made me more like a moron. Hope you enjoy this short vid…😂😂#TheRiseOfSkywalker #starwars pic.twitter.com/VQBs8zhAhq

— Prince of August VIII-I (@PrinceAugustVII) January 6, 2020

Ben Solo of Asgard. #BenSoloChallenge

👏🏽 to testtube27 for its origin. pic.twitter.com/E1tJtYKEl9

— Matthew Bridges (MatthewBridges1) January 6, 2020

Screw it why not! #BenSoloChallenge pic.twitter.com/ULJlA8yHo4

— jess (@Imperial77Acade) January 7, 2020

I did the #BenSoloChallenge too y'all pic.twitter.com/inpMOffhNe

— w̶i̶t̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶f̶o̶l̶l̶y̶ 𝗧𝗬 (@black_tym) January 6, 2020

I showed Oldest some clips of the #BenSoloChallenge and he wanted in on it. pic.twitter.com/X9zffgjUAW

— sarah, from nowhere (@weddersins) January 6, 2020

Search Interest

External References