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Anakin Skywalker's podracer
Production information
Manufacturer	Radon-Ulzer[1]
Product line	Podracer
Class	Repulsorcraft
Modified by	Anakin Skywalker[2]
Technical specifications
Length	3.15 meters (cockpit)[3] 7 meters (engine)[4]
Maximum speed	947 km/h[4]
Maximum altitude	105 meters[1]
Engine unit(s)	Radon-Ulzer 620C racing engines (2)[4]
Complement	Boost meter[5]
Crew	Pilot (1)
Passengers	None
Usage
Role(s)	Racing craft
Year introduced	32 BBY[6]
Era(s)	Rise of the Empire era[2]
Affiliation	Anakin Skywalker[2] Sebulba Hekula

[Source]

Anakin Skywalker's podracer was a custom-built podracer built by Anakin Skywalker as a slave on Tatooine, and used to secure his freedom during the Boonta Eve Classic.

Characteristics

Anakin Skywalker's podracer was constructed from a pair of Radon-Ulzer 620c turbines. One engine was put together from spare parts in Watto's junkyard. These parts included the burned-out turbines from Watto's own podracer, which Skywalker had eventually crashed. The other engine was acquired when Anakin bartered with Jawas. He modified the engines heavily, notably by improving the fuel injection system in order to increase thrust. Skywalker attached triple yellow air scoops to these engines to give the vehicle optimal maneuverability, especially while turning.^[1] The cockpit was attached to the massive motors by Steelton control cables. The racer could reach breakneck speeds in the area of 947 kilometers an hour (588 mph).^[4] It could only fit one person; the pilot. Similar to the other podracers, Anakin's podracer possessed energy binders for keeping the podracer together during the race. The energy binders, if crossed by a biological being, also have a side-effect of causing the affected body part to go numb for several hours.^[2]

History

As a ten year-old slave, Anakin Skywalker regularly raced a podracer that belonged to his owner, Watto. In secret, Skywalker was building his own.^[2]

In the Boonta Eve Classic race in 32 BBY,^[6] Skywalker used his podracer to defeat his archrival, Sebulba the Dug and win his freedom from slavery.^[2] The Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn helped repair the podracer by acquiring parts in Mos Espa. Just before the race started, a thief stole the plasma ignition capacitor. Jinn chased the thief and discovered that the part was held by a scavenger. Jinn defeated the alien and returned the part to Skywalker.^[7]

After the race, Qui-Gon Jinn sold the pod to Sebulba, who repainted the vehicle orange and used it himself to qualify for the Vinta Harvest Classic, lifting the suspension he received following the Boonta. Eventually the Dug passed it on to his son Hekula. Hekula crashed the racer in a race on the planet Euceron, nearly destroying it. The podracer was duly abandoned. Skywalker later reacquired the vehicle and again pitted it against Sebulba in one last rematch.

During 1 ABY, when the Galactic Civil War was intensifying, a spacer acquired a podracer that looked very similar to Skywalker's. This podracer was believed to be a mere replica, and not the same vehicle piloted by Skywalker.

Behind the scenes

The podracer first appeared in 1999's Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace and its tie-ins. The podracer was reimagined in LEGO form as a drivable vehicle in the 2005 video game LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game and its 2007 compilation re-release.

Appearances

• Star Wars: Episode I Racer
• Episode I: Anakin Skywalker (Mentioned only)
• Podracing Tales
• Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace novel (First appearance)
• Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
• Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace comic
• Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace junior novel
• Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace video game
• Star Wars Episode I: Watch Out, Jar Jar!
• Episode I: Queen Amidala
• Episode I: Qui-Gon Jinn
• Episode I: The Phantom Menace ½ (Appears in flashback(s))
• Star Wars: Yoda's Challenge Activity Center (Appears in a picture)
• Kinect Star Wars
• Dear Anakin
• Star Wars: Republic: Emissaries to Malastare
• Jedi Quest: The Dangerous Games
• Tatooine Ghost (Mentioned only)
•  Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided (Replica)

Non-canon appearances

• Star Wars: Anakin's Speedway
• LEGO Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace
• LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game
• LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy
• Star Wars: Racer Revenge
• LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga
• Star Wars: Yoda's Challenge Activity Center (Picture only)

Sources

• Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (reference book)
• Star Wars: Episode I toy line
• Episode I: The Phantom Menace: Prima's Official Strategy Guide
• Star Wars: Episode I Insider's Guide
• Star Wars: Power of the Jedi
• Episode I: Incredible Cross-Sections
• Star Wars: Complete Cross-Sections
• Vader: The Ultimate Guide
• The New Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels
• The Official Star Wars Fact File 2 (POD1-2, Anakin Skywalker's Podracer)
• "Ask Lobot"—Star Wars Insider 128
•  Sebulba in the Databank (content now obsolete; backup link on Archive.org)
•  Anakin Skywalker's podracer in the Databank (content now obsolete; backup link on Archive.org)
• The Phantom Menace: The Expanded Visual Dictionary
• Star Wars: Battle for Naboo
•  Anakin Skywalker's podracer in the Encyclopedia

Notes and references