Why Does Anakin Call Ahsoka Snips In The Star Wars Saga?
Anakin Skywalker is arguably the most important character in all of "Star Wars," the guy who helped bring about the end of the Republic and the rise of the Empire – sneakily the best era of "Star Wars" – the guy who destroyed Palpatine (the first time), and the guy who inspired Kylo Ren to turn to the dark side. He is a hero, a fan-favorite character, a terrible husband, a war criminal, a mass murderer, and a villain. Above all else, however, Anakin is a guy who doesn't like sand.
But 15 years ago, a new, original "Star Wars" character was introduced who quickly took fandom by storm and became one of the biggest characters in the entire franchise: Ahsoka Tano. First introduced in "The Clone Wars" feature film as Anakin's new padawan, Ahsoka was essentially a female version of Anakin from "Attack of the Clones," a naive, annoying teenager sure of herself, ready to talk back, disregard authority, and dive headfirst into danger.
When Ahsoka and Anakin first meet, they are rather antagonistic. He is dismissive of her, calling her a youngling rather than a padawan, and she is snarky and quick to question Anakin — who at the time was already a commended war hero and a respected general. Worse yet, not even a day into becoming Anakin's padawan, she starts to sarcastically call him Skyguy. Frustrated and equally snarky, Anakin then takes his new padawan's snippy attitude and turns it into a nickname, dubbing Ahsoka with the moniker of "Snips."
Thus, a friendship and mentorship based on two stubborn, headstrong Jedi is born, and from there, we got one of the best storylines in the entire franchise.
A great relationship
Anakin and Ahsoka's relationship is a glimpse into what his own relationship with Obi-Wan should have been. Though the two start off as bickering siblings, Anakin starts to deeply care about Ahsoka and becomes a father figure to her, their dynamic changing as Ahsoka grows more powerful, even earning a higher rank — whereas Kenobi himself said exactly what he thought about the relationship with his padawan, when he called him his brother and expressed his love as Anakin was burning alive.
A big part of "The Clone Wars" is illustrating the sins and the mistakes of the Jedi that led to their fall, and there is no better example of this than Ahsoka, who literally grows up on the battlefield, experiencing the horrors of war firsthand. But compared to Jedi like Barriss Offee, who was trained to consider herself expendable and a tool of the Jedi Order, Anakin genuinely cared for Ahsoka, shielded her from the more horrific aspects of the Clone War, and raised her as more than a tool.
It helps that both have a knack for not following orders, each complimenting the other's burst of disobedience, and bringing the best in the other. And yet, they both understood each other's temptations with the dark side, going rogue, and disregarding the council. Ahsoka knew about Anakin and Padmé and guarded the secret, while Anakin understood her desire to walk away from it all towards the end.
Not a Jedi, but something more
Initially, Ahsoka becoming Anakin's padawan was a test to see if Skywalker would be able to learn from his own apprentice and improve as a Jedi, imparting and then practicing what was expected of him by the Order. More importantly, Yoda personally chose Ahsoka to be Anakin's padawan rather than Obi-Wan's, all so Skywalker would learn to let go. Of course, that severely backfired.
Though Anakin's big heart for his friends helped in saving Ahsoka's life when she was trapped under rubble or needed her name cleared when falsely accused of bombing the Jedi Temple, it also led to him personally blaming himself for failing Ahsoka and mistrusting the Order, bringing him closer to the dark side.
This is why Ahsoka is as essential to the story of Anakin Skywalker as Obi-Wan. Through Ahsoka, we learned of the failings of the Jedi going much deeper than the movies teased, we saw that Anakin was actually a great Jedi, but we also saw how personally he took things, which led to his fall.
Additionally, Ahsoka's story led to audiences seeing that the Clone Wars wasn't as black and white as originally thought, with Ahsoka learning that both sides were manipulated yet sought peace. She also showcased how much the Jedi had lost touch with the common folk, and how they in turn lost their faith in the Jedi. It is why Ahsoka was the perfect choice to have such an important role in the Rebellion, because above all else she always cared about helping people.
In 15 years we've seen Ahsoka grow from a headstrong but naive padawan into a great warrior and hero. She may no longer be a Jedi, but going into "Ahsoka," she may be the truest Jedi we've met. Long live Skyguy and Snips.