Star Wars
Star Wars is one of, if not the, most influential media franchises of all time, let alone its effect on science-fiction and fantasy. Indeed, among nerddom, it is challenged by only a few others, like Star Trek or The Lord of the Rings. The incredibly ardent fandom is spread worldwide and has a strong presence in popular culture. Many of the characters, like Dark Vader and Yoda, are iconic even to the general public. John Williams' score for the original trilogy is probably the best-known film score of all time. The universe has spawned numerous video games, hundreds of novels, multiple TV shows, one of the largest merchandising franchises ever, and, relevant to /tg/, a whole bunch of board, card, and roleplaying games.
Why is this the case? Well, Star Wars is accessible. It has plenty of well constructed action in a variety of flavors at the right level to be both fun for kids and engaging for adults (and thus being something that adults who grew up with it will gladly watch with their kids, hooking the next generation), lots of background details in a few hours of movie going, and archetypal storytelling that resonates in anyone.
The basic concept
Star Wars is a series of epic sci-fi operas that take place in a far away galaxy in the far future (and/or distant past). The original trilogy followed a young man destined to wield the Force, the living life energy that is created by and guides all things in the universe. To wield the Force is to be a Jedi, a mystical warrior monk who seeks to obey the will of the Force and ensure its balance. With it and his core of companions, Luke Skywalker, seeks to overthrow the evil Galactic Empire, which is secretly led by the Sith, evil force users who use the Dark Side of the Force for personal power.
The Prequel Trilogy goes years back in time and follows the adventures of Luke's father, Anakin Skywalker, who becomes an unwitting pawn in the plans of the Sith to destroy the Jedi Order and take over the galaxy.
Characters
Luke Skywalker: All-round good guy and idealist, despite some flaws, Luke wishes to learn the ways of the Force to defeat the Emperor and save the galaxy. A Jedi prodigy, he can lift heavy ton space fighters with just his force powers, though he struggles with doubts. Although he starts all brash and teenage and shit, by the conclusion of the trilogy, Luke is well on the way to becoming a wise and powerful Jedi ready to rebuild the Order.
Han Solo: Loveable rogue who shoots his way out of debt with the mob, ends up a general, and bags himself a princess. Not a bad day's work. His ship, the Millennium Falcon, deserves a mention too for being as iconic as he is.
Chewbecca: The original furry in space. Nothing sexy about him; he is just hairy, huge, knows how to pilot a space ship and fire a guy, which strangely then makes him the coolest furry ever.
Yoda: Anicent wise master of the Jedi Order who is a tiny green alien. Because of his size and age, most assumed he was just a harmless old teacher, like your nice old granddad. His pulling out a lightsaber and engaging a Sith Lord in combat at the end of Attack of the Clones stands as one of the most surprising and popular fights of the movie series. Became the mascot of Star Wars despite being meant to be a wise master. Has a unique way of speaking, he does.
Darth Vader: The face of evil and the most well known villain from Star Wars, he has become an iconic and memorable figure due to his menacing, robotic appearance and ultra-deep, weezy respirator voice. He is (spoiler!) secretly Anakin, Luke's fallen Jedi father, thus allowing him to be able to say the most memorable line in the film series, 'I am your Father!' Abaddon wishes he could be this sinister. His children eventually manage to rekindle the spark of human decency in his heart, and he redeems himself by giving up his own life to save them and destroy the Emperor.
The Emperor: A creepy old wrinkly dude who sits in his badass evil throne constantly screaming "Just as planned!" And occasionally frying fools with force lightning. Built a giant planet-destroying weapon, years before Abaddon tried to do it, then built another, bigger one as a trap when the first one blew up. He is very clever, managing to scheme and outwit everyone in the prequel trilogy, moving them all into place so he could take over the galaxy (although he still needed a big superweapon anyway to hold onto said power). Chews so much scenery.
Stormtroopers: The elite soldiers of the Galactic Empire. Originally, these soldiers were vat cloned in large numbers, trained from birth in combat and clad in environmentally sealed suits of their famous gleaming white full body armor. After rebels blew up the gene-banks, the Empire switched to an enlistment system. Numerous sub catagories exist, specializing to operate in different environments (deserts, frozen tundra, zero gravity, underwater, etc.) and serve different roles (Scouts and Jump-pack equipped troops). They are unwaveringly loyal and obedient to their Empire, ruthless and brutally efficient foes in combat, and incredibly precise shots with their state-of-the-art weapons. Save, of course, for those instances in which they are sent against the main characters of the series, but that's life when you're wearing a helmet.
Ewoks: Strange little savage teddy bears that were only introduced towards the end of the last sixth film but instantly became such a fan hit they spawned their own animated kids show and merchandise beyond compare for the franchise (seriously). Considering they were brave (or mad?) enough to go up an army of Imperial Stormtroopers with Jetbikes and walkers means they are hardy little bastards. Oh and they ate them.
The rise of the original trilogy
A long long time ago, in a galaxy far far away....etc etc you all know the lines.
A man called George Lucas had the idea to create a series of epic sci-fi space operas that would become so successful that Disney would take notice and give it the franchise fluttering eye lashes, trying to seduce it.
They would be called... Flash Gordon.
Unfortunately for Georgie boy, and fortunately for modern nerddom, Dino de Laurentiis already owned Flash Gordon, and were busy making their own, hilariously eighties version, so he said, screw it, I'll make my own!
He decided to start with the fourth movie in the series he envisioned, for at the time he didn't have the special effects to create the first three to the standard he wanted, and/or he just kinda made up the first move up as he went along. So Episode Four A New Hope was created (simply titled Star Wars at the time) and it is not an exaggeration to say it changed the face of sci-fi and general moviemaking forever, bringing a new era of special effects and imagination to cinema and changing the lives of many who would go onto to become dedicated fan boys.
Originally, the studio had forced Lucas to take ever increasing paycuts for what they were sure was going to be a flop, and only let him keep merchandising rights. However, whatever his flaws, George Lucas was a man of vision. Having invented the summer blockbuster, he went on to invent the ginormous pile of movie-tie-in memorabilia. His production company, Lucasfilm ended up rolling in dosh, and with Episode Five The Empire Strikes Back and Episode Six The Return of the Jedi, the legend of Star Wars and its place in cultural history was assured.
tl;dr: Pretty much this.
The coming of the prequel trilogy
With the year 2000 coming, George Lucas felt that special effects technology had reached the level he wanted and began to create the first three movies in the star wars story he had envisioned.
The hype for the movies was immense.
And then the first movie, Episode One The Phantom Menace came out.....and there was nerd rage beyond expectation.
Part of the problem was that the immense expectations of the fandom had grown until anything less-than-perfect simply would not do, so perhaps that is somewhat to blame for the reaction to the prequel trilogy. Certainly, taken on their own merits, they aren't terrible films.
But there was nothing to cover the problems that did exist with the first movie. Jar Jar Binks has become such a figure of ire to the fandom mentioning him will incite rage and prayers to Khorne for his swift demise, and generally wooden acting from other quarters is a frequent target of attack.
Episode Two Attack of the Clones and Episode Three Revenge of the Sith followed after a few years each and fans complained they didn't match the greatness of the original trilogy, more concerned with flashy action and effects than competent story-telling.
What was generally more well received during this time for Star Wars was the Clone Wars animated series (both the traditionally-animated Clone Wars and the later seasons of the CGI show The Clone Wars), following the war between the Republic and the Confederacy that sprung up during the time between the second and third of the prequels.
Disney and the sequel trilogy
Finally, all the efforts by Disney to woo George Lucas paid off and in 2012 Disney acquired the Star Wars franchise and immediately announced they would produce a new trilogy of films set after the original trilogy.
Expectations for this new trilogy are high.....as are the private fears of the fans about what will happen and what direction Disney will take their beloved franchise in. Bringing on the creative talent behind the skubtastic Star Trek reboot was equally... well, take a wild guess.
Expanded Universe
It can be said what makes a franchise into a long term lasting thing is when a wealth of extra story and background is created that expands on the original story far beyond what there was. It could be argued Star Wars leads the race in this, as the sheer amount of extra novels, graphic novels and games based on Star Wars can and does overwhelm the ordinary fan.
The background has expanded right into the distance past before the founding of the current Jedi and Sith orders and into the far future looking at the descendants of Luke Skywalker and other popular characters. Uniquely, especially considering other franchises' track records, the Star Wars Expanded Universe is remarkably internally consistent, both with other sources within the universe and with the films themselves. Sure, every once in a while the odd problem child slips through, but on the whole, as a completely unregulated enterprise, it holds up well.
Impact on 1d4chan and associated games etc
Star Wars has had subtle and clear impacts on a number of other franchises and genres and it can be incredibly hard to gauge the extent of it all. Certainly it didn't create the concepts of sci-fi, space battles, sweeping storylines, and a blending of mystical and scientific ideas, but it certainly popularized them during the years of the original trilogy and influenced many people that would go on to have interests in sci-fi, fantasy and epic adventure today.
Tabletop games for Star Wars
Role-playing games
West End Games made a Star Wars role-playing game called Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game. Wizards of the Coast picked up the license later and made an RPG based on their d20 System, called Star Wars D20 (imaginatively).
Fantasy Flight Games is presently selling Star Wars: Edge of the Empire and is publicly beta-testing Star Wars: Age of Rebellion.
Card Games
The big card game set in the Star Wars universe is the Star Wars Customizable Card Game. It's no longer produced by Decipher, but there is still a sufficiently large player community to organize annual tournaments, rule on cards, and so on.
Wizards of the Coast made the Star Wars Trading Card Game.
Fantasy Flight Games is presently selling Star Wars: The Card Game.
Obviously, nobody is capable of creating a Star Wars card game with an interesting name.
Miniature Games
Fantasy Flight Games is producing the X-Wing miniatures game based on starfighter combat (because, let's be honest, that's what Star Wars is all about).