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We all know the story of Luke Skywalker and where it took place - in a galaxy far, far away.
But what if the Jedi knight wasn't raised on the dusty plains of Tatooine? What if he instead has connections with Hamilton, City Of The Future?
Kiwi Gavin Shoebridge explored this possibility this week, joking publicly on Twitter that Hamilton - the Waikato city - was named after Luke Skywalker's less famous alter-ego, actor Mark Hamill.
"A lot of people don't realise that Hamilton was actually named after the actor, Mark Hamill," wrote Shoebridge.
Across time and space someone felt a disturbance in the force.
"Oh God. I'm sorry, Mark," a clearly stunned Shoebridge replied. "It was a crap attempt at humour. I'll slink away now."
But Shoebridge's "crap attempt", and Hamill's reply, quickly won attention online.
"Dude, you got a reply from Luke friggin Skywalker! Bravo, mate!" wrote @TaylorOffCourse.
"Now you have one too," Hamill generously replied.
The Star Wars legend then proceeded to cheerfully interact with commenters in the thread, which one user said "wins the internet".
Luke Skywalker, not from Hamilton. Photo / Getty Images
When someone suggested Hamill should just claim the city anyway, Shoebridge pointed out the Tron was already taken.
"Too late. It's already been claimed by Riff Raff from the Rocky Horror Picture Show," he wrote.
"There's a legit statue of him in the centre of town."
"You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy"
The military settlement of Hamilton, established in August 1864 on the site of a Māori kainga known as Kirikiriroa, was in fact named in honour of Captain John Fane Charles Hamilton, who was killed during the battle of Pukehinahina (Gate Pā) on April 29 of that year.
He never set foot in Kirikiriroa during the New Zealand Wars.
Evidence for this naming comes from an 1870 farewell dinner to Lieutenant Colonel William Moule. Moule told the gathering: "It is now more than six years since he cleared a spot 'mid the brown fern at Kirikiriroa, upon which to pitch his tent.
"He had the honour of naming the settlement after the late Captain Hamilton, of HMS Esk, who died while gallantly fighting for his country and the colonists of New Zealand, at the Gate Pa."
On April 29, 1864, the British entered the pā with ease, encountering minimal resistance. Suddenly, a tremendous but invisible fire was let loose upon them.
The Gate Pā defenders were firing from concealed positions beneath the feet of the storming party, inflicting significant casualties.
Panicked survivors turned and attempted to flee but were soon mixed up with further reinforcements sent forward by General Duncan Cameron.
Matters quickly became chaotic. In all, over one-third of the storming party ended up as casualties. Among the dead was Captain John Hamilton.
Captain Hamilton is a minor figure in New Zealand history – to the extent that he does not appear in either major New Zealand biographical dictionary (one edited by GH Scholefield in 1940 and another multi-volume work published in the 1990s) and he is chiefly remembered today for the city named after him.
He was one of more than 18,000 British officers and men who served in the New Zealand Wars of 1845-72.
