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Anakin Skywalker was a male Jedi Knight who served the Galactic Republic in its final years, and later became Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith. The father of the legendary Jedi Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa Solo, his life changed the course of the galaxy. Raised on Tatooine, he was a slave along with his mother, Shmi, his only family. In 32 BBY, Skywalker met a Jedi by the name of Qui-Gon Jinn. This encounter would change his life forever. With the aid of Jinn, Skywalker was freed, although his mother had to stay behind. He helped end the Invasion of Naboo by destroying the Droid Control Ship, showing his amazing piloting skills, despite the fact that he was only nine years old. He joined the Jedi Order after this, becoming a Padawan to Obi-Wan Kenobi. Skywalker was believed to be the Chosen One of Jedi prophecy, one who would bring balance to the Force by destroying the Sith.

Skywalker was attracted to Padmé Amidala, queen of Naboo during the crisis when he first met her, and in 22 BBY, the two were reunited. Eventually, they fell in love and married, although the Order’s restrictions of Jedi prevented them from letting their marriage become public. That same year saw the death of Skywalker's mother and the start of the Clone Wars with the Battle of Geonosis. Skywalker fought in the Clone Wars alongside his master. In 20 BBY he became a Jedi Knight, and Skywalker became an icon due to the war, known as the "Hero with no fear". However, he carried with him a great sense of loss, in addition to much anger. His inability to let go of these traits led to his downfall, when, in 19 BBY, he turned to the dark side as the Clone Wars came to a close. Apprentice of Darth Sidious, better known as his friend Chancellor Palpatine, he became Darth Vader. The Galactic Empire was founded, with Palpatine at the helm as emperor. The Jedi were exterminated by Order 66, with fewer than a hundred surviving. Two who did live were Grand Master Yoda and Skywalker’s old master, Obi-Wan Kenobi. The love of Skywalker’s life, his wife Padmé, also died, as she was killed by Vader in a ferocious rush of anger.

A master of the dark side, Vader became known as the scourge of the Jedi, thanks to the continuing Great Jedi Purge, which would last until 0 BBY. An extension of the Emperor’s will, the Dark Lord was constantly on the move, traveling throughout the galaxy, be it to defeat rebel uprisings or arrest corrupt Imperials. In 0 BBY the Empire’s great superweapon, the 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. The Rebel Alliance also grew tremendously, becoming a real threat. Vader eventually learned that the pilot’s name was Luke Skywalker, and he deduced that the boy was his son, as Amidala had been pregnant, although Vader and Palpatine believed her child had died with her. Vader helped fight the Rebel Alliance, while concocting a plan to turn his son to the dark side. The two would then overthrow Palpatine, and Vader would rule the galaxy.

Palpatine however, was aware of his plans, and he had his own plot to make Skywalker his apprentice. Skywalker received Jedi training from Yoda after the Battle of Hoth, learning many skills that would invaluable in the upcoming year. In 4 ABY the galaxy froze as the two sides came together at Endor for one great battle to decide the fate of the galaxy. Skywalker surrendered to the Emperor, and in the throne room in the Second Death Star, Palpatine attempted to turn the young Jedi to the dark side by having him duel Vader. Skywalker defeated Vader, but then refused to give himself to the darkness, proclaiming that he was a Jedi, like his father before him. When Palpatine attempted to kill Luke Skywalker using Force Lightning, Vader sprang to his son’s defense, saving him and killing the Emperor by throwing him down the reactor core. Mortally wounded by Palpatine's Force Lightning, Vader died after this. However, he died as Anakin Skywalker once more, as he redeemed himself by saving his son.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Early life (42 BBY–32 BBY) 1.1.1 Discovery 1.2 Adolescence (32 BBY–22 BBY) 1.2.1 Obi-Wan's apprentice 1.2.2 Becoming a Jedi 1.2.3 Outbound Flight 1.2.4 Mission to Andara 1.2.5 Yaddle's sacrifice 1.2.6 Trailing Jenna Zan Arbor and Roy Teda 1.2.7 Confronting old adversaries 1.2.8 Growing up 1.3 Adult life (22 BBY–4 ABY) 1.3.1 Reunited with Padmé 1.3.2 Return to Tatooine 1.3.3 Battle of Geonosis 1.3.4 Marriage to Padmé 1.3.5 The Clone Wars (22 BBY–19 BBY) 1.3.5.1 Battle of Muunilinst and Duel on Yavin IV 1.3.5.2 Battle of Jabiim 1.3.5.3 Battle of Aargonar 1.3.5.4 Jedi Knight 1.3.5.5 Battle of Rendili and aftermath 1.3.5.6 "Ghost Hand" 1.3.6 Transformation to Vader (19 BBY) 1.3.6.1 Fall to the dark side 1.3.6.2 A fateful choice 1.3.7 Rise of Darth Vader 1.3.7.1 Raid on the Jedi Temple 1.3.7.2 Mission to Mustafar 1.3.7.3 Duel on Mustafar and aftermath 1.3.8 Serving the Emperor 1.3.9 An old enemy 1.4 The Rebellion 1.4.1 Searching for the Death Star plans 1.4.2 Revenge 1.4.3 Battle of Yavin 1.4.4 Crash landing on Vaal 1.4.5 Aftermath 1.4.6 Suspicion 1.4.7 Construction of the Executor 1.4.8 Punishment 1.4.9 The son of Skywalker 1.4.10 Tao 1.4.11 Subjugation of the Tagge family 1.4.12 Monastery 1.4.13 Incompetence and Pursuit 1.4.14 Revision of Methods 1.4.15 Phelarion 1.4.16 Deception and Ambush 1.4.17 Hired Bait 1.4.18 Bargain and Recovery 1.4.19 Xizor 1.4.20 Completion of the Executor 1.4.21 Griff's Failure 1.4.22 Culling the Military 1.4.23 Search for Information 1.4.24 Request denied 1.4.25 Mimban 1.4.26 Awarru Tark 1.4.27 Hoth and aftermath 1.4.28 Conflict on Bespin and aftermath 1.4.29 Redemption 1.5 Post mortem (4 ABY and beyond) 1.5.1 Righting wrongs 1.5.2 Spirit 1.5.3 Revelations of the past 2 Legacy 3 Personality 4 Padmé and Shmi 5 Luke and Leia 6 Appearance 7 Powers and abilities 7.1 Power and Force potential 7.2 Jedi Knight 7.3 Sith Lord 7.4 Lightsaber training 8 Lightsabers 8.1 Anakin's lightsabers 8.2 Vader's lightsabers 9 Interpretations of the prophecy 9.1 The Chosen One 9.2 Anakin's possible "father" 9.3 The Sith'ari 10 Behind the scenes 10.1 Darth Vader as a cultural figure 10.2 Portrayal 10.3 Adherence to the Hero Cycle 11 Tragic Hero as Defined by Sophocles 12 Appearances 12.1 As "Anakin Skywalker" 12.2 As "Darth Vader" 12.2.1 Non-canon appearances 13 Sources 14 Notes and references 15 See also 16 External links

Biography

Early life (42 BBY–32 BBY)

Anakin was born in 41.9 BBY. According to the seminal historical work of Voren Na'al, the planet of his birth was Tatooine, but Anakin himself may have implied that he was only raised on the arid planet from around the age of three.^[2] Anakin's mother, Shmi Skywalker, claimed that her son was born without a father, but she could not explain how that had happened. It was the theory of Master Jinn that the will of the Force caused his birth. At that time, Anakin and his mother became slaves to Gardulla the Hutt. Years later, Gardulla lost the boy and his mother in a podracing bet to a curmudgeonly Toydarian junk dealer named Watto.^[6] When Qui-Gon Jinn and Padmé Amidala encountered Anakin, he was a kind, selfless nine-year old in service to Watto. Even at a young age, Anakin had a reputation for being able to build or repair anything. This was evidenced by his creation of a protocol droid named C-3PO as well as a podracer. Both were constructed from salvaged parts and nearly completed by the time he was nine.^[6]

A child prodigy, Anakin excelled at mathematics and engineering, but he was also daring and adventurous. He would often risk his own well being to help others, with little forethought or regard for the consequences of his actions. When he was only five years old, Anakin scaled an immense dune to chase a herd of banthas away from hunters, despite almost collapsing from heat and exhaustion several times. Sometime later, while bartering with Jawas, Anakin came across a wounded Tusken Raider and took care of it until the Tusken was taken away by his own people. A short time before the Boonta Eve Classic Podrace, Anakin, his friend Kitster Banai, and several other youths narrowly avoided a run-in with Gardulla. After hearing of children who had been captured and imprisoned by Sebulba in hopes of selling them to Gardulla, Anakin and his friends disguised themselves as Jawas. In this disguise, the younglings sneaked into Gardulla's estate and freed the Ghostling children.

At about eight years of age, Anakin had his first experience with the Sith. While rummaging through Watto's junk heap, he located an ancient war droid. Hoping to recover a holoprojector for Watto, Anakin incidentally activated a disturbing hologram, drowned in cries and screams and the strange mention of the word "Sith." Perplexed, Anakin rushed to the stranded Republic Fighter Corps member who had told him earlier of the angels on the moons of Iego. The spacer, in shock, told him of the 4,000-year-old wrath of the Sith and how they eventually turned inward and fought each other, bringing about their own doom. He spoke of the belief that one Sith Lord had survived and extended the order's existence to this day. Little did Anakin know that such rumors would soon play a major part in his life.^[7]

Discovery

In 32 BBY, Anakin's life would change forever. By happenstance, while working in Watto's shop, Anakin met Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn, Jar Jar Binks, R2-D2 and a young woman named Padmé Amidala. The young woman fascinated Anakin so much, he asked if she was an angel. Padmé might not have been an angel, but she was a queen - Her Majesty Queen Amidala of Naboo in disguise as a simple handmaiden.

When a sandstorm began brewing, Anakin offered his newfound friends shelter in the simple home he shared with his mother. There, Qui-Gon and Padmé recounted to Anakin their plight of how they ended up being stranded on Tatooine on their way to Coruscant because of a leak in their hyperdrive. Overwhelmed with compassion, Anakin volunteered to enter a podrace, a daring and extremely dangerous contest. The prize money for winning would enable Anakin's companions to purchase the parts needed to repair their starship. Though Anakin's mother Shmi objected to the plan, Anakin recalled her words that "the biggest problem in the universe is nobody helps each other." Convinced, Shmi reluctantly agreed to let her son race.

Just before the race, Qui-Gon made a bet with Watto that, if Anakin won, the boy would be freed. However, Watto specified one condition—that he roll a chance cube. If it was blue, Anakin would be freed; red, Shmi would be freed instead. The die was weighted to land on red, but Qui-Gon used the Force to make the cube flip to blue. The Toydarian, positive the boy would lose, accepted the results anyway. The reason for his assumption was obvious: normally, Humans lacked the fast reactions needed to operate such a tremendously high-speed land vehicle. However, Anakin's latent Force sensitivity, manifested in the form of limited prescience, gave the impression that the boy had lightning-fast reflexes. At the time, Anakin, who dreamed of being a Jedi but lacked knowledge of the Force, believed his Force sensitivity was only his instinct that told him what he needed to do.

Because Anakin won the race, Qui-Gon was able to free Anakin. However, the Jedi Master was unable to secure Shmi's release, and Anakin was forced to choose between staying with his mother or becoming a Jedi. Anakin chose to go with Qui-Gon, though he promised he would come back for her. Even after the Battle of Naboo, in which Anakin and his new companions were entangled, ended victoriously, neither the Jedi nor the Republic made any effort to emancipate her. Anakin's duties as a Jedi prevented him from freeing his mother himself, though she eventually obtained her freedom from Watto through the aid of a moisture farmer named Cliegg Lars.

He would receive several fan letters due to the success of his podrace.

Obi-Wan Kenobi, Qui-Gon's apprentice, was also amazed at Anakin's unprecedented midi-chlorian count—over 20,000—and strong Force potential, but initially disagreed on the need to train him, believing the boy was already too old and had acquired too many emotional attachments to become a Jedi.

The revelation of Anakin's gifts cemented Qui-Gon's belief that he was indeed the Chosen One, though many on the Jedi High Council were skeptical. Qui-Gon asked the Council to allow him to train Anakin as his student, after his current apprentice, Obi-Wan, completed the trials to become a Jedi. This request was denied: Anakin was much older than the usual Padawan, and the Council was concerned that his prior experiences would interfere with his training. In particular, he exhibited much fear and anger, leftovers from his days as a slave; emotions that were further compounded by his separation from his mother and home. They believed he would simply not be able to master the level of emotional detachment required by a member of the Order. With nowhere to go on Coruscant, and no way to get back to Tatooine, Anakin followed his new friends on their mission to free Naboo.

Ultimately, Anakin fought in the Battle of Naboo in a vicious starfighter battle above the planet. He helped to lead Naboo and Gungan forces to victory over the Trade Federation by single-handedly destroying the orbital Droid Control Ship, thus rendering the Trade Federation's ground forces inactive.

However, the celebration was tainted with the death of Qui-Gon Jinn, slain by the Sith Lord Darth Maul. Qui-Gon's dying wish was for Obi-Wan to take up Anakin's training, which Obi-Wan fulfilled. The Council reluctantly allowed Obi-Wan to begin Anakin's training—though inwardly, the Council was concerned that Anakin was too difficult a student for young Obi-Wan to handle.

Meanwhile, Palpatine, the Republic's newly appointed Supreme Chancellor, promised Anakin that he would watch the young Jedi's career with great interest. This would be the beginning of a long friendship between the young Jedi and the new ruler of the Republic.

Adolescence (32 BBY–22 BBY)

As a young adult, Anakin developed as an arrogant and somewhat socially awkward boy, doubtless in part because of his rapid transition from a scrapyard slave to rising star of the Jedi Order. His natural abilities placed him leaps and bounds above his peers, and this fed his ego as well as caused him to distance himself from other learners of his age. He frequently showed off, chafed against authority, and displayed little respect for Obi-Wan, whom he partially viewed as inferior. Despite this perception, he did state that Obi-Wan was like a father to him, and he claimed he had the wisdom of Master Yoda and the power of Master Windu—but this praise may have been just another expression of Anakin's own arrogance, as he amended that he himself was "beyond" Kenobi in many ways, and felt Kenobi was holding him back. His relationship with his master was complicated and contradictory, due partially because Obi-Wan himself had doubts about whether he had the ability to train Anakin, something the boy did not need, especially during that critical time in his life. Frustrated, he would turn to another mentor for advice: Supreme Chancellor Palpatine.

As Anakin's early friendship with Palpatine continued, the Chancellor lent Anakin a sympathetic ear, saying things to further fuel his pride. It is likely that Palpatine's reassurances also had the effect of perpetuating Anakin's lack of control—whenever he was chided or reprimanded by Obi-Wan, Palpatine would reassure Anakin that he had done right, hence Anakin never quite had the impetus to change his behavior.

Obi-Wan's apprentice

Anakin and Obi-Wan's relationship had a rocky start. Obi-Wan was not the one to see the potential in the boy, and even considered him dangerous. The only reason he continued to train the boy was because of Qui-Gon's dying wish for him to do so. He felt it a duty, though he did not feel he had the ability to train him properly. Anakin, on the other hand, knew he was just different. Because of how different he was, Anakin tended to keep to himself, not branching out and not really wanting to do so. He did, however, feel a special attachment to Obi-Wan, since he was like the father he never had. Slowly but surely, Master and apprentice began to form a special bond throughout Anakin's adolescence.

While on Coruscant, Anakin did not give up his love of tinkering with machines, and the halls of the Jedi Temple were said to be littered with his droid creations. Still craving thrills and adventure at the age of twelve, he salvaged a pair of race wings and secretly participated in the highly dangerous and illegal garbage pit races held in the lower levels of Galactic City. During one such race he was nearly killed by a Blood Carver named Ke Daiv before Obi-Wan reached him.

About three years into his training, Anakin and Obi-Wan had their first mission together to investigate cult leader Kad Chun. Chun, calling himself Uni, was co-leader of disenchanted idealists and refugees who wanted to flee their bureaucracy-flooded worlds. Kad's father, Vox Chun, the leader of the cult, was killed when Obi-Wan and Anakin came to investigate. Later on, Kad forgave Obi-Wan and his scheming father for what they had done.

The next mission they took was to the living planet of Zonama Sekot to find Jedi Knight Vergere, who had recently vanished on a mission there. Unbeknownst to them, Wilhuff Tarkin and Raith Sienar had followed them to exploit Zonama Sekot's ability to fuse organic and high technology into starfighters, creating them at an astonishing rate and at an extremely high quality. On the planet, the colonists sold "seed-partners", which bonded with their hosts and allowed the planet to customize a starfighter for the individual. Anakin attracted many more seed-partners than anyone, and thus, he had a bigger and more intricate ship. He named this new biological ship Jabitha. When Tarkin and Sienar arrived, the planet revealed its sentient consciousness to the Jedi, explaining that Vergere had left with the mysterious "Far Outsiders" in order to protect Zonama Sekot. Anakin and Obi-Wan could not rescue the Fosh Jedi, but they could halt Tarkin's attack. When Ke Daiv, Tarkin's bodyguard, attempted to kill Anakin, the boy, in a fit of uncontrollable rage, telekinetically burned the Blood Carver from the inside out. This was later proven to not have been the case. Unfortunately, Anakin was captured, and brought before Tarkin; however, Obi-Wan managed to destroy Tarkin's flagship and rescue the boy. During this, Zonama Sekot was able to activate its planetary hyperdrive, causing the planet to vanish, bound for the Unknown Regions. Afterwards, Sienar and Tarkin returned to the Republic. Unfortunately, Anakin's organic ship died away from her creator. After the conclusion of this mission, Obi-Wan and Anakin returned to Coruscant.

Becoming a Jedi

In 28 BBY, Anakin constructed his first lightsaber in the caves of Ilum. While he was constructing it, however, he had a dark vision of Darth Maul, the Sith who had killed Qui-Gon. After Anakin managed to defeat this specter, he awoke to find he had finished construction on his lightsaber, its blade a shining blue.

On a mission to Nar Shaddaa when Anakin was 13, he killed the T'surr slave trader named Krayn by burning a hole in his chest. This allowed all the slaves of Krayn to be freed, as well as ended Padawan Siri Tachi's undercover mission there.

Not long after, the young Jedi and his Master were called upon, along with Tachi (who was now a Knight), Soara Antana, Ry-Gaul, and their Padawans, Ferus Olin, Darra Thel-Tanis, and Tru Veld, respectively, on a mission to Radnor to help with the evacuation of the planet. The evacuation was due to a deadly toxin that had spread throughout the planet because of a chemical leak. He and the other Jedi and their Padawans later discovered that the toxic leak was connected with the Avoni raiders. The path of guilt led to Galen, a traitorous Radnoran, who was taken into custody for his crimes. However, the Avoni did not pay for their crime and were not forced to make amends. To Anakin, it almost seemed as if the planet was worse off than when they had found it.

Obi-Wan and Anakin were later sent on a mission to find out what had happened to the Consular-class space cruiser, the Radiant IX, which was carrying the Jedi Et Rex and Alysun Celz back to Coruscant to be punished for falling to the dark side. They discovered that, while on their flight, a large group of mynocks had fed on energy from the ships electrical couplings, causing the ship to plummet into the gravity well in the Hoth system, and crash landed on an asteroid known as the Poison Moon. The distress signal was sent even as Celz killed everyone on the ship. Rex managed to escape Celz and befriend a group of mynocks. When the Jedi found Celz on the bridge of the ship, he insisted that it was Rex who did it. Obi-Wan went to find Rex, leaving Anakin with Celz. When Obi-Wan found Rex, Rex convinced him that Celz was framing him, and the two hurried back to save Anakin. In the meantime, Celz tried to convince Anakin to leave his master, but failed. Celz angrily knocked out Anakin with his Force Lightning, revealing to the Jedi as they entered that she had killed everyone on board. Obi-Wan engaged her with his lightsaber, only to be knocked back by a dose of force lightning. Rex sent his mynocks after her lightning, feeding on it like they would electricity. The Jedi left the moon on Obi-Wan and Anakin's ship, with Celz as their new prisoner, and headed back to Coruscant.

Later on, a simple Jedi training mission to Ragoon-6 caused Anakin and Obi-Wan to get tangled up with a mysterious man whose mission in life seemed to be to kill them. Further research on him revealed that he was from Nierport VII, collected Sith artifacts, and was extremely wealthy—though he had no tangible source of income. After a podracing escapade, further information was found on the man, who was trying to take over the marketing of bacta through a mining venture. Anakin, after being captured by him, found out, with the aid of Obi-Wan, that the man's name was Granta Omega. He also discovered that he was trying to impress a Sith Lord by killing Anakin. Master and apprentice were able to escape, halting Omega's mining of titanite in the process. Omega himself, however, escaped their grasp.

Outbound Flight

Before this, Anakin and Obi-Wan were sent to Barlok to monitor the overbearing Jedi Knight Jorus C'baoth and his timid Padawan, Lorana Jinzler, in their negotiation mission between the Corporate Alliance and the Barlok. Unbeknownst to them, Kinman Doriana, on behalf of Darth Sidious, had planned for the negotiation to work splendidly in Jorus's favor, gaining him enough prestige to go ahead with his pet project, Outbound Flight.

Anakin and his master were again sent to observe the self-acclaimed Jedi Master C'baoth on this project, at least until its last stop within the Known Galaxy. Obi-Wan did not approve of Jorus's overseeing of the project, butting heads with the Jedi Master on numerous occasions. However, the hardheaded and arrogant C'baoth would not listen, and was glad when they disembarked the venture on Outbound Flight's last stop, Roxuli. Despite the problems his master and Jorus had had, Anakin greatly admired C'baoth, whom he saw as an example of a great leader. These views would also shift his view of a better galaxy under the harsh rule of Palpatine.

Mission to Andara

Not long after, in 27 BBY, fourteen-year-old Anakin and his Master were given a mission to investigate a senator's son's disappearance, which they presumed to have much to do with an elite school for senators' children. In order to investigate a band of renegade students and the school itself, the Jedi council gave Anakin and Ferus Olin the task of penetrating the school, which was located on Andara, by posing to be senators' sons. Soon, Anakin had located the students and aqcuired their trust. He decided to join them on a mock attack on a Senator's ship, which in Anakin's view would be helping those who were unrepresented under the Senator's jurisdiction. Ferus did not like the plan and warned Anakin of its problems; however, Anakin dismissed his caution due to his rivalry with Ferus. Later, Ferus suddenly disappeared, but Anakin neglected to inform his master. Before the "mock" attack could begin, he found out that the attack would actually be real, and it threatened to start an war. Before he could leave and inform Obi-Wan, the leader of the group, revealed as Gillam Tarturi, the Senator's missing son, informed Anakin that the Padawan would have to die in order for Gillam's plan to proceed. Left with no choice, Anakin disarmed Gallam and the rest of the members, shut down the lasers of the starfighter the group was planning to use, and, at the same time, destroyed ten attack droids. At this point, Obi Wan, along with Siri Tachi and Ferus Olin, had arrived to Anakin's aid, but he had finished the fight before they could help him. Anakin's level of skill, nearly equal to some great Jedi Masters, left Obi-Wan unnerved. However, Anakin's master was also furious that Anakin had not told Obi-Wan that Ferus was missing, and for the first time, Obi-Wan shouted at his Padawan. This incident widened the gap between Anakin and Obi-Wan.

Yaddle's sacrifice

When Anakin was fifteen, he, Obi-Wan, Yoda, and Yaddle were sent on a negotiation mission to Mawan to settle a devastating gang war, in which three criminal organizations fought one another. These gangs, led by Decca the Hutt, Feena Shaan, and Striker, caused the remainder of the population to take refuge underground. During the mission, Anakin was kidnapped by Striker's men. Striker, revealed to be Granta Omega, tried tempting Anakin to leave the Jedi Order and come with him, offering visions of freeing the slaves and his mother on Tatooine. When he saw that Anakin would not yield, he made Anakin arrange a meeting with himself and Yaddle. Unbeknownst to her and the rest of the Jedi, the chaotic planet was a trap set for the Jedi by Omega. He released a fatal chemical weapon that killed Yaddle when she absorbed it through the Force. However, through her sacrifice, she saved the city of Naatan. The weapon was intended by its vengeful maker to kill Anakin and Obi-Wan, but it failed because of what Yaddle had done. Anakin and Obi-Wan managed to bring peace to Mawan, but Anakin still felt responsible for the death of the Jedi High Council member.

Anakin's guilt about Yaddle's death caused friction between him and Obi-Wan, who felt that he was less than capable of teaching the mischievous Anakin properly. When sent on a rescue mission in the Uziel system to a planet called Vanqor, the two were forced to try and reconcile their differences. They were forced through several tribulations, including a run-in with a nest of gundarks. Anakin was then placed under the influence of a drug called the Zone of Self-Containment, and taken prisoner by the insane and fanatical scientist Jenna Zan Arbor. Siri Tachi, Ferus Olin, Garen Muln, and Clee Rhara, who were also sent on another mission entirely, received the distress signal from Obi-Wan while en route to their own destination and picked him up together with Obi-Wan on Vanqor.

Trailing Jenna Zan Arbor and Roy Teda

Jenna escaped, however, and did not resurface again until Anakin was seventeen. From information given them by Tyro Caladian, they discovered that she had reappeared on Romin, a focus of corruption and villainy and a shelter for criminals. In order to infiltrate the planet, he, his Master, Siri, and Ferus disguised themselves as a band of thieves looking for refuge on the planet. They discovered that Jenna had allied herself with Roy Teda—the ruler of Romin—and Granta Omega, Obi-Wan and Anakin’s old adversary. The Jedi were about to be captured when civil war erupted. The underworld was trying to overthrow Teda, and, in the midst of it, Roy and Jenna fled. The two criminals contacted the Jedi—thinking they were actually criminals—to try to find a way offworld. Unfortunately, Jenna recognized Anakin from their previous encounter, and Roy ordered his men to seize the Jedi. Before they could do so, Mace Windu and a team of Jedi arrived, arresting Roy and Jenna. In spite of this, since the Jedi were trying to get to Omega, and they knew the two would lead them to him, they set the two captives free.

Only a few weeks later, Obi-Wan and his apprentice trailed Jenna and Roy to Falleen, where the rogues had managed to set up the Blackwater Systems facility to mass-produce her drug, the Zone of Self-Containment. When they were found, Jenna was forced to destroy the facility and they once more fled.

Anakin and Ferus were again paired when the trail of Jenna and Roy led back to Coruscant. Sano Sauro—a friend of Granta Omega—and Bog Divinian started to make anti-Jedi accusations in order to convince the Galactic Senate to lessen or completely dissolve its support of the Order. This vote, which was about whether or not the Jedi should be involved in the Senate's activities, was all a part of Sauro and Omega's plan to leak the Zone of Self-Containment drug into the Senate's vents and assassinate Chancellor Palpatine. Anakin and Ferus, who were learning to forget their rivalry and understand each other, managed to prevent the assassination attempt on the Supreme Chancellor. Omega's plan was uncovered, but not in time to save twenty-one Senators and several other Senate employees from being killed by seeker droids programmed by Teda. Unbeknownst to the renegade, since Jenna and Granta had no more use for the man, a seeker droid killed him, as well. Afterwards, Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Siri set off to find Omega, leaving Ferus to protect the Senators and Palpatine.

Confronting old adversaries

Tracking Omega and Zan Arbor to Korriban, four Jedi pairs—Anakin and Obi-Wan, Siri and Ferus, Ry-Gaul and Tru Veld, and Soara and Darra—journeyed there to confront and stop them. During the course of the hunt, the apprentices were split up from the Masters to better accomplish the mission. The investigation of Dreshdae led them to the Valley of the Dark Lords. Because of the dark side power of the planet, the Padawans, instead of working as a team, started fighting amongst themselves. When Anakin found out about Ferus's advanced training, he was extremely jealous of him, and, because of all of the friction, their journey to find Omega was catastrophic. They were caught and halted by numerous traps that they would have been able to avoid were they able to function as a team. Because of this, the confrontation with Omega was a complete and utter disaster.

Previously, during the fighting, Veld's lightsaber was damaged, and Olin decided to repair it. Skywalker, who was more mechanically adept than Olin, noticed that the repair job would not work. Instead of speaking out and properly repairing the saber himself, he kept quiet, hoping to humiliate Olin. During a battle in one of the tombs, Tru's lightsaber began to fail. Olin switched lightsabers with Tru in order to protect him. Darra noticed the faulty lightsaber and leaped to protect Ferus. However, she was riddled with blaster fire and killed. This caused friction between Tru Veld and Anakin, her death being partly Anakin's fault. Obi-Wan, who showed up just in time, was forced to kill Granta Omega with a stroke of his blade. Zan Arbor managed to elude capture once more, and was not seen again by the Jedi or the Republic.

Ferus, blaming himself for Darra's death, resigned from the Jedi Order.

Growing up

Some time later, Anakin and his Master were sent on a diplomatic mission to a planet wishing to join the Galactic Republic. They soon found out, however, that the planet's indigenous population considered thievery an important social asset. During their stay, Anakin's lightsaber was stolen. The Padawan searched for it, ashamed to tell Obi-Wan that he lost it, but soon had to admit defeat. Asking Obi-Wan for help, he found that the Jedi Knight knew the lightsaber had been stolen, and, using a trick of the Force, had "acquired" it from the thief. Obi-Wan had merely been waiting for Anakin to admit that he had lost it.

Obi-Wan and his apprentice, who was then sixteen, were then assigned to the task of protecting Senator Simon Greyshade from assassination. Greyshade had recently filled the station of Senator of the Commonality; a Senatorial seat left by his assassinated cousin. Simon's cousin, Jheramahd Greyshade, had been thrown off of the roof of 500 Republica in an attempt to stall the passage of the Financial Reform Act, which the Senator had supported. The act was a bill that addressed and was meant to reduce the amount of corruption that was causing the Senate, and, through them, the Republic, to disintegrate.

Senator Greyshade, who had received a death threat for his stand, was now under protection by the Jedi duo. Commander Zalin Bey of the Senate Guard and her unit were assigned to investigate Jheramahd's assassination. Anakin and Obi-Wan had their hands full protecting Simon from myriad assassins: droids; Keluda, a Dug; and Princess Tsian, whom they could not seriously investigate because of her diplomatic immunity. Despite these hurdles, Tsian was arrested and Keluda was killed.

Sagoro Autem and Isaru Omin continued the investigation of the Senator's murder, turning up several disturbing facts. Sagoro's brother, Venco, had assassinated Jheramahd, and convinced Reymet Autem, Sagoro's son, to unwittingly help him in another assassination, this time an attempt on Simon's life, but this second attempt failed. Sagoro managed to let his son escape, but, unfortunately, when Omin discovered his obstruction of justice, too late for him to arrest Reymet, he arrested Sagoro. The man took the blame and disgrace for what his son had done, and was removed from the office of Senate Guard. Simon Greyshade was safe once more.

Because it was found that the assassination and attempted assassination was because of the Financial Reform Act, it never got a vote. Some say that this was the cause of a good portion of the seceding planets that would soon make the Confederacy of Independent Systems, and could have prevented the Clone Wars had it been passed.

Adult life (22 BBY–4 ABY)

At the age of nineteen, in 22 BBY, Anakin and Obi-Wan, along with Luminara Unduli and her apprentice, Barriss Offee, were sent to Ansion to settle a border dispute that had the potential to cause the extremely strategic planet to secede to the Confederacy. If Ansion fell, so would countless other worlds. The Jedi had to influence two constantly feuding armies to settle their dispute and come to an agreement. Little did they know that Presidente Shu Mai of the Commerce Guild was behind the scenes, pulling the strings to cause Ansion to secede. However, the Jedi foiled her plot, moving the Ansionian clans Januul and Borokii to agree to stay in the Republic. Because of her status as Presidente, Shu Mai was not discovered to be a part of the matter.

Reunited with Padmé

Days after his twentith birthday,^[8] there was an attempt on Padmé Amidala's life by the bounty hunter Zam Wesell. Anakin was personally assigned to protect and escort now-Senator Amidala back to her homeworld. To avoid looking conspicuous, the two traveled as refugees. Anakin had not seen her in ten years, though he had thought about her daily since their parting at Naboo. His childhood fascination with her had turned into a powerful infatuation. In conversation, he revealed his affection for her, a distrust of the political process, and his view of the need for one strong leader. Over a short time, his infatuation for her blossomed into something more: love. Eventually Padmé began to return his feelings, even dressing provocatively around him to garner his attention.

It was at Padmé's lake retreat where the two lost their inhibitions and shared their first kiss. Both seemed entranced with the other despite their different social castes. However, Padmé eventually came to her senses, and while Anakin was more concerned with his feelings and living in the present moment—even suggesting they could keep their relationship a secret—Padmé was more concerned with duty and obligation. She had enough foresight to know their current situations would not allow for a relationship between them. Anakin's pursuit of a relationship with her was in violation of Jedi tradition, which held that although Jedi were not required to be celibate, they were to avoid attachment to all but the Force itself.

Return to Tatooine

Anakin had been suffering from recurring nightmares about his mother, Shmi, for several months prior to meeting Padmé again; and, because of them, went against the spirit of his orders to protect Padmé by bringing her to Tatooine to find Shmi. Upon landing on Tatooine, Anakin made his way straight for Watto's shop, where he discovered that a moisture farmer named Cliegg Lars had freed and married his mother.

While speaking with Lars, he learned, to his horror, that Shmi had been abducted by Tusken Raiders. He immediately set out in pursuit of her on Owen Lars's swoop bike. That night, the young Jedi discovered the Tusken camp beyond the B'Thazoshe Bridge, and slipped into the tent that contained his mother, most likely locating her with his Jedi senses. He freed her from her bonds, but it was too late. Battered, sleep-deprived, and dehydrated, Shmi Skywalker died in his arms, but not before seeing him for the last time.

Anakin allowed the shock of her death to catalyze an explosion of his long-nursed anger and selfishness. He flew into a rage, killing everyone present—even, as he confessed to Padmé later, "the women and children." A number of Jedi, including Yoda and the deceased Qui-Gon Jinn, sensed the shock of this massacre, which was amplified by Anakin's powerful Force presence, which was bordering on the dark side.

Padmé was clearly troubled by what Anakin had done, but had invested herself too much in him to be truly repulsed. She tried to soothe him with sympathy and told no one about Anakin's hideous act. In his anger and sorrow, he rashly claimed that one day he would have the power to stop people from dying.

Battle of Geonosis

While still on Tatooine, Anakin discovered that his friend and mentor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, had been taken hostage by the Geonosian-engineered Confederacy of Independent Systems's droid forces. He initially decided to honor Master Windu's order to protect the Senator at all costs and to stay on Tatooine; the episode with his mother having caused him to lose confidence in himself. However, Padmé convinced him that rescuing his mentor was the right thing to do and they traveled to Geonosis. Though they were ignoring Windu's instructions to remain on Tatooine, Anakin technically was following his primary order to protect the Senator. On Geonosis, Anakin and Padmé infiltrated the droid foundries but were soon captured as well and sent to meet their demise in a gladiatorial execution arena. Faced with their impending fate, they professed their love to one another. The timely arrival of the Jedi and eventually the clone troopers allowed both of them to escape and fight in the ensuing battle.

Anakin and Obi-Wan pursued Count Dooku, the mastermind of the Confederacy, and, unbeknownst to them, a Sith Lord. They gave chase across the vast Geonosian sands, where he led them to a CIS-owned hangar. Once they caught up with Dooku, Anakin, against the better advice of his Master, foolishly rushed Dooku with a headstrong attitude. It was the Padawan's undoing: Dooku unleashed a powerful barrage of Force lightning on Anakin, knocking the youth unconscious and leaving his Master to face Dooku alone. Obi-Wan put up a valiant fight, however, his skills proved no match for the more powerful and experienced Dooku, and he was soon incapacitated. As Anakin recovered from the Force lightning, he witnessed Dooku raising his lightsaber to deliver the final blow against the fallen Obi-Wan.

Anakin, calling upon the Force, leapt into the path of Dooku's lightsaber, blocking it with his own, nobly saving his Master's life in the process. Taking up his fallen master's weapon, Anakin unleashed a flurry of attacks, catching Dooku off guard. However, despite the tactical advantage the second blade granted, it was short-lived. Dooku managed to destroy the green blade, leaving Anakin with only the blue. Despite holding his own against Dooku for much of the duel, Anakin lost the battle—and his arm—to Dooku. After being rescued by Yoda, Anakin's forearm was replaced soon after with a mechno-arm.

Marriage to Padmé

Not long after, in the first days of the Clone Wars, a war they had ignited, Anakin married Padmé at Varykino on Naboo in a secret ceremony performed by a Naboo holyman, with C-3PO and his counterpart, R2-D2, as the only witnesses. They would later struggle to keep this illicit relationship secret.

The Clone Wars (22 BBY–19 BBY)

With the onset of the Clone Wars, First Lieutenant Anakin Skywalker was already becoming a legendary hero. He was an unparalleled starfighter pilot, flying missions over several worlds, including Kamino, Balamak, and Virujansi, solidifying his fabled reputation. He even earned the seldom-heard title of Tan in recognition of his exceptional piloting skills. He custom-modified his Delta-7 Aethersprite starfighter—naming it Azure Angel as a tribute to his wife—into a unique and deadly vessel that time and time again outperformed any ship on the battlefield.

Dubbed the "Hero With No Fear", war molded Anakin into a man and honed his combat ability, but it continued to nourish his ego. It was also a lie. Anakin had no fear for his own life, but he was terrified for the lives of his Master, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, the troops under his authority, and even R2-D2, who accompanied Anakin whenever he could. It was difficult to rein in Anakin as he increasingly had trouble following the strict doctrine governed by the Jedi Code, especially when the Order itself was complicit in ambiguous moral acts by waging a full-scale war. But, above all else, Anakin feared for his beloved Padmé. He wrote to her whenever he could, and also tried to meet with her on several occasions, but because of their duties they saw each other very rarely. And the few times they did, Padmé was usually in danger, which fueled his protectiveness for her and his fear.

Battle of Muunilinst and Duel on Yavin IV

At the Battle of Muunilinst, Commander Skywalker was charged with orchestrating the aerial assault on the homeworld of the InterGalactic Banking Clan, a pivotal member of the Confederacy of Independent Systems. His piloting talents and leadership of a group of clone pilots led to a victory.

A mysterious vessel caught his eye during the fray, and he was drawn from the battle despite Obi-Wan's admonition. He followed the enigmatic Fanblade starfighter through an intense chase through the streets of Muunilinst's capital city, back to space and through hyperspace to Yavin IV. Beneath the jungle canopy and amongst the remains of ancient Massassi temples, Anakin came face to face with the fanblade pilot, Asajj Ventress and dueled with her. As they fought, the battle progressed into and onto the temples of Yavin IV. In the end, Anakin was disarmed by Asajj, but was able to defeat her by taking one of her curved-hilt lightsabers, and repeatedly striking her, having brief visions of Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, and Yoda deeply troubled by what he was doing. His strikes caused the temple stone beneath her to crumble, and she fell through the ledge into a chasm apparently to her death; but she would later escape. As he stood victorious, Anakin gave a loud yell of rage, knowing that he had won. This had only been accomplished, though, by tapping into his dark side.

Battle of Jabiim

On the rain-drenched world of Jabiim, during the battle that took place there, Skywalker came into his own. As Obi-Wan was thought to have been killed by a Separatist attack, Anakin led a cadre of similarly "orphaned" Padawans. The loss of his Master and the horrors on the battlefield of Jabiim would have lasting effect on his life; and because of it he became even more fiercely independent and more frustrated by his failings. However, in the thick of the battle he received an urgent transmission from Palpatine to personally evacuate the planet. This ploy may have been made to save Anakin from being killed on the battlefront.

Respecting the Chancellor's power and friendship, Anakin had to comply with his wishes, though it was hard for him to desert his friends on the final front. Before leaving, the thirteen-year old Padawan Aubrie Wyn gave Anakin her Master's holocron to return to the temple. Sadly, in the following five days as Anakin left the front, all of the members of the Padawan Pack were killed in action. When the transports arrived, only a few had made it through the storms. Anakin was faced with a hard and painful decision—as the last surviving Jedi on Jabiim, he ordered the evacuation of the planet. Enraged, Captain Orliss Gillmunn pulled a blaster on Anakin, who reacted instinctively with Force choke, strangling the officer. Such horrific acts were becoming far too natural for him; it was the first time he had used the Force in this manner but it would certainly not be the last. Gillmunn, leader of the disenchanted Jabiimi loyalists, swore to never forget this betrayal as the Loyalist Jabiimi were left to their fate. Once again, Anakin had failed and the battle for Jabiim was lost. His actions during the battle would later spark the Second Battle of Jabiim nearly twenty years later, where his children were captured by rogue rebels.

Two days after the evacuation, the wounded were taken to New Holstice, where Anakin would first meet A'Sharad Hett, the Tusken Jedi, and his apprentice, Bhat Jul, who practiced as healers.

One of the wounded was Master Sora Mobari, who was injured in an explosion by Ithorian terrorists and who was not responding to treatments. Anakin, unable to accept even one more Jedi lost, tried a different method—he used the same Force technique that he used to crushed Gillmunn's windpipe, and used it to massage Mobari's heart. Hett was horrified, so he tried to reason with Anakin, saying that she was suffering needlessly. Anakin insisted she would live, but in spite of his efforts she succumbed to her injuries. Anakin was unable to accept that he could not save people from death; this experience would reinforce his desire to save the people he loved from dying.

Hett later showed Anakin a memorial created for all the Jedi killed since the birth of the Republic. It was comprised of supposedly immortal memory moths that whispered the names of the Jedi over and over again. Anakin released a few moths for all members of the Padawan Pack—Kass Tod, Mak Lotor, Tae Diath, Elora Sund, Vaabesh, Windo Nend, Zule Xiss, and Aubrie Wyn—and his own master, Obi-Wan Kenobi. As Hett released one for Sora Morbari, he reassured Anakin that she was severed from the Living Force days ago and nothing could have stopped her from dying. Because of his Master’s apparent death, Anakin came under the tutelage of Ki-Adi-Mundi as a campaign began on the world of Aargonar.

Battle of Aargonar

On the desert world of Aargonar, an unimportant world, the Republic and Confederacy fought; the lines were drawn. During one of the skirmishes, Anakin, Hett, and his apprentice, Bhat, were lost behind enemy lines.

Bhat had been seriously injured from a crash, and as he lay dying, Anakin tried to use the Force to heal him, but it was to no avail; Bhat died from the fatal wounds. Anakin, frustrated with the Nikto's death, chastised Hett, saying that had they been with him, they might have been able to save him. Hett replied that he had felt Bhat become one with the Force, arguing that Bhat had known that he was there with him in the Force, and that his physical presence would have made no difference.

As Skywalker and Hett began to work their way back to their army, Anakin's prejudice against the Tuskens for killing his mother was beginning to demonstrate itself against the Tusken Jedi. He was insulted and angered when Hett spoke of the similarities between them: coming to Coruscant later in their lives, being raised on a desert planet, and having known only one parent. Anakin's fury was intensified when Hett commented that Anakin would have made a good Tusken.

When they reached a Separatist station, they began working on transport to return to their own base. So they could hijack a transport, Hett gave Anakin the power cells from his and the Tusken Jedi's father's lightsaber to get the transport moving. That completed, they started the search for weapons to arm themselves. As the hours rolled by, Anakin began to relive the memories surrounding his mother's death. When Separatist guards located the Padawan, who was slipping towards the dark side, he mistook them for Tuskens, and, in a fit of rage, slaughtered them all. In a blood haze, Anakin turned on Hett, but the Tusken Jedi managed to disarm him and talk some sense into him.

A'Sharad told Anakin that, as a Tusken, he understood the vehement desire to take revenge, but because of his training as a Jedi he had learned that vengeance was not theirs to take. The Tusken Jedi also knew the lure of the dark side, knowing it needed to be avoided. After recounting to Hett his painful memories of his mother's death, Anakin remembered that his mother's death and the slaughter that had followed it was something he had never told his old master, Obi-Wan.

Seeing the turmoil the boy was in, Hett concluded that if they were to survive and get along t