Star Wars: Why Does Anakin Call Ahsoka Snips In Clone Wars?

Over a decade ago, "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" introduced "Star Wars" fans to a character who became one of the most important and popular in the entire franchise: Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein). In the widely-maligned "Clone Wars" animated movie, she meets up with Anakin Skywalker (Matt Lanter) and Obi-Wan Kenobi (James Arnold Taylor) during the Battle of Christophsis per the request of Yoda (Tom Kane). There she reveals that she's to be Anakin's Jedi Padawan from that point forward. Though unsure of the idea at first, he warms up to Ahsoka, and she warms up to him, forging a relationship akin to one of close siblings.

One of the hallmarks of Ahsoka and Anakin's bond is their name-calling, with her calling him "Skyguy" — a play on his last name — and him calling her "Snips." Her nickname stems from one of their earliest interactions, where she sarcastically calls him Skyguy for the first time, and he warns her not to get snippy with him. At this point in her life, she's pretty joky and quippy, so Anakin then takes it upon himself to turn her snippiness into a nickname. Thus, Ahsoka becomes Snips in the eyes of her new Jedi Master (who's not technically a Jedi Master).

Of course, as she's grown, matured, and experienced all kinds of horrific things, it's no secret that Ahsoka has come a long way from her Snips days — so much so that she has effectively shed the nickname altogether.

At the time of her "Star Wars" introduction, Ahsoka Tano is a mere teenager with her entire life ahead of her. She had experienced very little of life outside of the Jedi Temple, though that changed once she became Anakin Skywalker's Padawan. She grows up on the front lines of various battles between the Galactic Republic and the Separatists, witnessing firsthand the horrors of war and political conflict. Then, after leaving the Jedi Order upon being accused of murder, she moves on to the harsh streets of Coruscant to make it on her own. Her only reprieve from this life comes in the form of the Siege of Mandalore.

Following the siege, the execution of Order 66, and Anakin's transformation into Darth Vader, Ahsoka's life becomes even more difficult. As a Jedi, she has to remain in the shadows no matter what, lest she be captured and killed by Imperial agents. Eventually, she joins the Rebel Alliance in hopes of helping those trapped under the fascist regime's abuses. Decades after she first became Anakin's pupil, the Empire falls, but the fight isn't done. On "The Mandalorian" and "Ahsoka," she confronts a reemerging threat in the form of Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen), who seeks to restore the Empire to its full might.

All of that is to say that by the time of "Ahsoka," the title character's Snips era is long over. She's older, wiser, and more contemplative, having left her jokiness and snippiness in her youth. Had she not, one could only imagine how much sooner her story could've ended.