Anakin Skywalker

"You were the Chosen One! It was said that you would destroy the Sith, not join them! Bring balance to the Force, not leave it in darkness!"

- Obi-Wan Kenobi to Anakin. Anakin Skywalker A.K.A Darth Vader is both a hero and villain in the Star Wars franchise. He is the secondary antagonist of the original trilogy, serving as the main antagonist of both A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, and the secondary antagonist of Return of the Jedi, where he redeems himself, and the main protagonist of the prequel trilogy (though in Revenge of the Sith he is sort of a protagonist-villain protagonist). Anakin is the true tritagonist of Episode I, the main protagonist of Episode II and the secondary antagonist of Episode III.

He was also the main protagonist in the 2008 animated movie Star Wars: The Clone Wars and it's 2008-2014 tv series of the same name, one of the main antagonists of Star Wars Rebels and a supporting antagonist in the 2016 movie Rogue One. He was a legendary Force-sensitive Human male who served the Galactic Republic as a Jedi Knight and later served the Galactic Empire as the Sith Lord Darth Vader. Born to Shmi Skywalker, later in life he became the secret husband of Senator Padme Amidala of Naboo and the father of the Jedi Grand Master Luke Skywalker and Jedi Knight Leia Organa Solo. He was also the grandfather of Ben Solo aka Kylo Ren.

In the original trilogy, he (in his Darth Vader suit) was played by David Prowse and voiced by James Earl Jones, who later voiced Mufasa in The Lion King. The unmasked Anakin in Return of the Jedi was played by Sebastian Shaw.

In the prequel trilogy, before he became Darth Vader, He was portrayed by Jake Lloyd (who also played Jaime in the 1996 Fox film Jingle All The Way) as a child in The Phantom Menace and by Hayden Christensen as an adult in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. Christensen also played Anakin's force ghost in the 2004 version of Return of the Jedi. In the clones wars movie and series, he was voiced by Matt Lanter. James Earl Jones reprised the role of Anakin's Darth Vader voice in Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars Rebels and Rogue One.

He is considered to be one of the greatest movie villains in cinema history to date.

As Anakin Skywalker
Although he would later become a crucial figure in the galaxy, Skywalker came from humble origins. He spent the first years of his life on Tatooine as a slave along with his mother. In 32 BBY, Skywalker met Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn. After obtaining his freedom by having been bet on by Jinn and winning the Boonta Eve Classic, Skywalker went with Jinn and departed from Tatooine, though troubled by leaving behind his mother. Skywalker took part in the Battle of Naboo, destroying the Droid Control Station despite his young age. Soon after, he joined the Jedi Order, becoming a Padawan to Obi-Wan Kenobi. Skywalker was believed to be (and indeed was) the Chosen One of Jedi prophecy, one who would bring balance to the Force by destroying the Sith, which was why the Jedi Council chose to bend the Jedi Code and permit his training.

Skywalker and Kenobi traveled together on many missions in the ensuing decade. In 22 BBY, Skywalker was reunited with Padme Amidala, the former queen of Naboo and new Senator of the Chommell Sector. He escorted her to Naboo due to the rising violence of the Separatist Crisis, and the two fought at the Battle of Geonosis, the beginning of the Clone Wars. In the midst of these events, Skywalker also endured the violent death of his mother. Skywalker and Amidala married soon after the battle, despite the Jedi Order's restrictions of Jedi marriages, which kept them from making their marriage public.

Skywalker fought in the Clone Wars with his master and became a Jedi Knight in 22 BBY, taking Ahsoka Tano as his own apprentice. Throughout the conflict, Skywalker became an icon to the public, known as the "Hero With No Fear". Skywalker and Kenobi, despite not being master and apprentice anymore, gained recognition as a formidable pair. Despite this, he carried with him a great sense of loss in addition to great anger. This was shown in 19 BBY at the Battle of Coruscant, when he decapitated an unarmed Count Dooku. He also learned that Amidala would soon have a child and experiences agonizing visions of her death. His inability to control these traits led to his downfall when, soon after, he turned to the dark side, believing that it was the only way to save his wife from death.

As Darth Vader
Apprenticed to Darth Sidious, better known as his thought-to-be friend Chancellor Palpatine, he became Darth Vader. The Galactic Empire was founded with Palpatine at the helm as Emperor, and after Vader led an attack on the Jedi Temple, the Jedi were exterminated by Order 66, with fewer than a hundred surviving. Two of the survivors were Grand Master Yoda and Skywalker's old master, Obi-Wan Kenobi. After Order 66, Vader went to Mustafar to destroy the Seperatists army. Later, Padme travelled to Mustafar to see the man she loves.

Padme was trying to persuade him to come back to the light side, but he refused. Padme broke down into tears and Vader was disappointed. Then Vader got paranoid and enraged when he saw Obi-Wan on the ship, so he falsely accused his wife of betrayal and choke her until she lied unconscious. Vader dueled his old master, and despite the Sith Lord's new abilities, he was defeated by his old master, and his body was so damaged by the lava that Sidious encased him in a dark life-sustaining suit that he would wear for the rest of his life. He also learned by Palpatine that he killed her then gave in to his despair. Sadly, his transformation to the dark side was complete while his children, Luke and Leia, were born at this time, though Vader remained unaware of their existence.

As a master of the dark side, Vader became the scourge of the Jedi, continuing the Great Jedi Purge which would last until 1 BBY. An extension of the Emperor's will, the Dark Lord was constantly on the move, travelling throughout the galaxy to defeat rebel uprisings or arrest corrupt Imperials. When Vader began planning to impress his Master before overthrowing him, he found, manipulated, and trained a "secret" Sith apprentice named Galen Marek to not only to help hunt down remaining Jedi, but also to expose the Emperor's enemies and have them destroyed. However, Vader's betrayal lead Marek to turn to the light side and sacrifice his life for the leaders of the Alliance to Restore the Republic to escape, thus starting the Galactic Civil War. Vader continued to train apprentices, this time, under Sidious's notice, including Flint, and the future Sith Lady Lumiya.

In 0 BBY, the Empire's great superweapon, the first Death Star was destroyed by a young Rebel pilot. Vader became obsessed with discovering the identity of this pilot and spent the next several years searching. Vader eventually learned that the pilot's name was Luke Skywalker and deduced that the boy was his son, born before the death of Amidala. Vader fought the Rebel Alliance while concocting a plan to turn his son to the dark side. Soon after the Battle of Hoth, Vader dueled his son and revealed to him that he was his father, which Luke refused to believe.

Darth Sidious, however, was aware of Vader's plans and initiated his own plot to make young Luke his apprentice. In 4 ABY, the two sides came together at Endor for one great battle to decide the fate of the galaxy. Luke surrendered to Vader and, in the throne room of the second Death Star, Sidious attempted to turn the young Jedi to the dark side by having him duel Vader. Luke defeated Vader, but refused to give himself to the darkness, proclaiming himself a Jedi like his father before him. When Sidious attempted to kill Luke using Force lightning, Anakin Skywalker emerged from Darth Vader and came to his son's rescue, saving him and killing the Emperor who was the real enemy of the Galactic Republic in the Clone Wars by throwing him down the main reactor core.

Mortally wounded by the Force lightning, Anakin realized that he would die whether or not Luke got him on board the shuttle Luke was dragging him towards. At the ramp to one of the last remaining shuttles Luke collapsed, unable to continue. Anakin then asked his son to help him take his mask off. When Luke protested that Anakin would die, Anakin responded that nothing could stop that now and that he wished to see his son for once with his own eyes before the end.

As Luke helped Vadertake the mask off, good memories of the freedom of deep space, his dear wife Padmé Amidala, and Obi-Wan Kenobi flooded into Anakin's mind. Anakin hoped to meet them and Yoda in the oneness of the Force, and Anakin hoped to thank Yoda for the training he had given Luke.

Luke finally got the mask off revealing the scarred and pale visage of Anakin underneath. Anakin told Luke to go, to leave him behind. When Luke said he had to save his father, Anakin told Luke that he already had saved his father, and that he was right that there had still been good in him. His last words were a request to Luke for him to tell his sister that he had been right about their father. Anakin then died afterward as a Jedi once more, having redeemed himself by saving his son and fulfilling the prophecy of the Chosen One.

At the celebration on Endor, a fully healed force ghost of Anakin appeared to his son Luke, along with Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Legends
A short time after the Battle of Endor, Anakin's force ghost appeared to Leia. Having just learned about her true parentage, Leia was not able to bring herself to forgive her father at the time. After being given diaries that her grandmother Shimi had made, Leia realized Anakin wasn't the monster she thought he was and was able to forgive him. She and her husband Han would later name their third child after Anakin.

Initially the family kept the fact that Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader had been the same person a secret from the galaxy at large. Luke would later reveal the secret to his first class of Jedi students. Some of his students felt uneasy over this revelation. Corran Horn wondered how the politicians running the New Republic would react to this knowledge, and how they would feel about Vader's daughter running the council. Eventually the knowledge did get out to the galaxy at large.

Leia was able to use her status as Anakin's daughter to convince the Noghri to leave the Empire's service. The Noghri would later join the New Republic.

As Vader, Anakin would be fondly remembered by some of the men who served under his command as he led from the front and never asked anything of them that he was unwilling to do himself. However many Imperials despised those Imperials who survived service under Vader's command. When the cloned Palpatine resurfaced, the truth of what Anakin had done became known to the Imperial remnant at large, leading to the name of Darth Vader being reviled throughout the Empire.

Anakin's Force Ghost would appear and speak to his descendants, including both Jacen Solo and Cade Skywalker.

Canon
In the years following Anakin's death, his family kept the fact that Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader had been the same person a closely guarded secret. No one outside the Skywalker family knew that Luke and Leia were the children of Darth Vader. Not even Leia and Han's son Ben knew the truth about who his grandfather really was. Despite not knowing for certain some people like Mon Mothma long suspected that Leia was Anakin's daughter.

The secret was finally revealed in 28 ABY by New Republic Senator Ransolm Casterfo. The revelations ruined Leia's political career, despite the constitutional protections for children from the crimes of their parents, and she resigned from the Senate not long afterwards. Leia soon founded the Resistance when it became clear that she could not talk the Senate into opposing the First Order.

Despite the best efforts of Leia, Han, and Luke, Anakin's evil actions and former nature as Darth Vader inspired his grandson Ben Solo to became the fallen Jedi named Kylo Ren. After learning about his grandfather's evil actions and former status as Darth Vader, Ben decided to follow Anakin's footsteps during his life as Darth Vader, from betraying his peers and Luke, giving the Skywalker a setback in his attempt to rebuild the Jedi Order.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Both Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader are mentioned and referenced in The Force Awakens. Kylo Ren's obsession with his grandfather was one of the reasons he turned to Dark Side, going so far as to keep Vader's melted, charred mask, speaking to it as a symbol of reverence to the former Sith Lord. Anakin/Luke's old lightsaber is also featured, having been found by Maz Kanata and stored in a box her castle cantina. The saber's connection with the Force recognizes and calls to Rey, who after touching it receives a disturbing vision of events that happened prior to the events of the film (Vader's iconic breathing can be heard briefly during the vision). Maz offers the lightsaber to Rey, encouraging her to embrace her destiny, but Rey refuses out of horror. Maz gives the lightsaber to Finn instead, to which he uses in battle several times. When Rey is captured and interrogated by Ren, she is able to sense his fear and takes advantage of it, taunting him saying "you're afraid, you're afraid you'll never be as powerful as Darth Vader", terrifying him. He is lastly mentioned by Han and Leia, who state that one of the reasons why Kylo embraced the Dark Side is because "the was too much Vader in him".

Anakin Skywalker's ghost was to make an appearance, portrayed by Hayden Christiansen. Concept art showed that he would be wearing a black robe, and his face would have faded from both Anakin's scarred face to Darth Vader's mask, showing that the Dark Side has stayed with him even in death.

Personality
As a child, Anakin was thoughtful, selfless, brave and very intelligent for his age.

As an adult, Anakin developed into a more prideful, loyal, and reckless young man, but he was still kind, caring and selfless. Although he was a loving person, he was known to hold grudges and was vengeful, but he commonly held these two traits in check sometimes. He also hated being treated unjustly or being wrongly accused, and grew to hate being criticized or lectured. Despite his pride as a Jedi, Anakin was not above apologizing or admitting when he was wrong; unlike most members of the Jedi Order, he acknowledged his mistakes and learned from them as well, as he was one of the few members of the Jedi Order who knew there was flaws in the Jedi Teachings and the Jedi Code. He was a naturally honest person and despised lying and deception, from his friends, allies and enemies alike. He disliked politics, considering most politicians to be arrogant and greedy.

As his fame grew, he became more prideful and overconfident, as Anakin knew he was one of the best Jedi in the Jedi Order and secretly believing that he could easily best any Jedi blindfolded with his lightsaber tied behind his back. Although he could sometimes be aggressive, brutal, unpredictable and cocky, Anakin still had a strong sense of justice, honor and good morals. He also carried guilt and remorse for his violent deeds and the loss of some of his loved ones, especially the loss of his mother.

As a general within the ranks of the Grand Army of the Republic, Anakin was renowned for his leadership skills and admired by clones, Jedi and politicians alike. Anakin made it clear to those under his command that he would never ask them to do anything he was unwilling to do himself.

During the Clone Wars, Anakin, like his then-apprentice Ahsoka Tano, matured and became more responsible in many ways, but this did not stop him from being reckless and impulsive sometimes. He was not as forgiving as his wife Padmé, as he rarely forgave people in general, particularly Obi-Wan, for constantly lying to him or deceiving him.

Powers

 * The Force: As the Chosen One, Anakin was immensely powerful and had an amazingly strong connection to the Force, stronger than any Force user ever in existence. He also possessed the potential to become the most powerful Force user in the history of the galaxy; according to Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin's Force potential surpassed that of even Yoda.
 * Telekinesis: Anakin utilized Telekinesis either as offensive or defense.
 * Force choke: Anakin utilized Force choke to either weaken or intimidate his opponents.
 * Force barrier: Anakin utilized Force barrier, to created a barrier or wall of force energy around himself or his allies.
 * Mind trick: Anakin utilized Mind trick to control the minds of other sentient beings, however, it did not work on individuals who have very strong wills.
 * Beast Control: Anakin utilized Beast Control, to control the minds of other animals.
 * Force Jump: Anakin utilized Force Jump, to jump or leap at great distances.
 * Force speed: Anakin utilized Force speed, to move at amazing speed.
 * Force vision: Anakin utilized Force vision, to have visions of the past, the present and the future; however, like all force users, his visions were not always clear or sometimes had visions even when he was not utilizing this power at will.
 * Force sense: Anakin utilized Force sense, to sense another sentient being's emotions, the future, ripples in the Force caused by momentous or traumatic events, or impending danger and the presence of the dark side.
 * Force rage: Anakin utilized Force rage to channel his anger to increase his speed, strength, ferocity and to overwhelmed his opponents.
 * Force healing: Anakin utilized Force healing, to heal himself or other sentient beings.
 * Dampen Force: Anakin utilized Dampen Force to temporarily block certain force powers such as; Force push or Force pull.
 * Cyborg Strength: Anakin utilizes his cybernetic hand in combat, as it gave him greater strength to easily subdue, restrain and overpower his opponents.

Abilities

 * Lightsaber Skills: Anakin was extremely skilled in lightsaber combat and an exceptionally gifted duelist. Anakin used his Force powers to increase his physical speed and agility to make his lightsaber skills more lethal in combat; this made him a formidable opponent in single combat. He also possessed the potential to become the greatest lightsaber duelist in the history of the galaxy.
 * Form I: Anakin was highly skilled in Shii-Cho.
 * Form IV: Anakin was extremely skilled in Ataru.
 * Form V: Anakin was a master of Shien/Djem So, considered by many to be the most proficient practitioner of the style.
 * Form VI: Anakin was highly skilled in Niman.
 * Jar'Kai: Although Anakin was trained in Jar'Kai by Obi-Wan Kenobi, he was not very skilled at it, due to the fact that he did not practice with it much, as he was working on this mostly as an exercise in control, and was doubtful that he would ever need to apply it. Anakin's assumption was proven wrong when he wielded two lightsabers against Dooku during the First Battle of Geonosis; though he was able to briefly catch the Sith Lord off guard, his lack of skill at dual-blade combat resulted in him losing his second lightsaber in mere seconds. During the Clone Wars, Anakin's skills in Jar'Kai greatly improved to the point where he was able to defeat the recently turn Dark Jedi Barriss Offee with little difficulty, thus becoming much more proficient with dual lightsabers.
 * Master Hand-To-Hand Combatant: Anakin was highly skilled in unarmed combat.
 * Master Marksman: Anakin was very proficient in the use of blaster pistols.
 * Master Pilot: Anakin was extremely skilled in piloting various speeders and every type of flying craft. He was the best star-pilot in the history of the galaxy.
 * Master Engineer: Even as a child, Anakin was amazingly skilled in engineering for someone of his age. At the age of nine, he was able to successfully build his own podracer, at the age of thirteen, he was able to successfully construct his first blue bladed lightsaber in his first try.
 * Genius-Level Intellect/Master Tactician/Leader: Even as a child, Anakin was amazingly intelligent for someone of his age. His intelligence and wisdom surpassed that of even Yoda. As a Jedi General, Anakin was a highly skilled tactician and a very capable leader.
 * Multilingual: Anakin was capable of fluently speaking English, Huttese and Bitt.

Relationships

 * Qui-Gon Jinn (first master)
 * Obi-Wan Kenobi (sceond master/best friend/father/brother figure)
 * Padme Amidala (secret wife)
 * Watto (former owner)
 * R2-D2 (droid)
 * Shmi Skywalker-Lars (mother)
 * Cliegg Lars (step-father)
 * Owen Lars (step-brother)
 * Beru Whitesun-Lars (step-sister-in-law)
 * C-3PO (droid/creation)
 * Ahsoka Tano (jedi padawan)
 * Sheev Palpatine/Darth Sidious (final master)
 * Luke Skywalker (son)
 * Leia Organa (daughter)
 * Han Solo (enemy, later son-in-law)
 * Mara Jade Skywalker (colleage, later daughter-in-law)
 * Ben Skywalker (grandson)
 * Anakin Solo (grandson)
 * Ben Solo (grandson)
 * Jacen Solo (grandson)
 * Jaina Solo (grandaughter)
 * Allana "Amelia" Solo (great-grandaughter)
 * Nat Skywalker (desendant/possible 2nd great-grandson)
 * Kol Skywalker (desendant/possible 2nd great-grandson)
 * Cade Skywalker (desendant/possible 3rd great-grandson)
 * Roan Fel (2nd great-grandson)
 * Mohrgan Fel (2nd great-grandson)
 * Ania Solo (3rd great-granddaughter)
 * Marasiah Fel (3rd great-granddaughter)
 * Ben Solo/Kylo Ren (grandson)

Trivia

 * Anakin and Obi-Wan had the first lightsaber duel in the first film of the original trilogy and the last Lightsaber duel in the last film in the prequel trilogy.