Anakin Skywalker

Anakin Skywalker was a Force-sensitive human male who served the Galactic Republic as a Jedi Knight, and later the Galactic Empire as the Sith Lord Darth Vader. Believed to have been conceived by the Force, he was born to Shmi Skywalker into a life of slavery on the Outer Rim world of Tatooine. At a young age, Skywalker was discovered by the Jedi Order, who freed Anakin from slavery and brought the boy into their community; hailing Skywalker as the Chosen One of Jediprophecy, destined to defeat the Sith and bring balance to the Force. In the yearsleading up to the devastating, galaxy-wide conflict known as the Clone Wars, Anakin was apprenticed to Obi-Wan Kenobi. Following the events of the Battle of Geonosis, -- the opening salvo which sparked the Clone War -- Skywalker secretly married his childhood love, Senator Padmé Amidala. As the war progressed, Skywalker saw very little of Amidala, prizing the moments the two were able to share with one another. Early in the course of the war, the Jedi High Council assigned Anakin a Padawan of his own, Ahsoka Tano; a gifted student who, much to the Skywalker's chagrin, eventually left the Order.

Towards the end of the war, Skywalker was blessed with the news of pendingfatherhood, when Amidala announced she was carrying their first child. But this joy turned to an overwhelming sorrow, as Skywalker became plagued with visions of his wife's demise in childbirth. Anakin's desire to protect the ones he loved would drive him to the dark side of the Force. In a misguided attempt at saving the life of his wife and unborn child, Anakin betrayed the Jedi, pledging himself to the teachings of his former confidant and friend, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine (secretly the Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Sidious), who ended the war, destroyed the Jedi Order, and declaredhimself Galactic Emperor.

Skywalker turned against his former master, Kenobi, and his wife, Amidala. When the two refused to join him, he caused the latter's death, and dueled the former onMustafar. Kenobi, during the occasion, dismembered and left him for death. Forced to live in a life-supporting armor afterwards, he continued to serve Sidious as hisapprentice and enforcer—particularly, by fighting against the rebellion and the Alliance to Restore the Republic, an organization that opposed to the Emperor's tyrannical rule and to which his and Amidala's son, Luke, belonged.

In a final duel on the Death Star II as the Battle of Endor raged around them, Vader and Skywalker fought each other, and Vader refused his son's attempts to turn him to thelight side, learning that Skywalker had a twin sister, Leia, in the process. Skywalker defeated his father but refused to kill him, and when Sidious attempted to kill the young man, Vader abandoned the dark side and sacrificed himself to destroy the Emperor, fulfilling the prophecy of the Chosen One. Mortally wounded, Anakin made peace with his son and became one with the Force.

Early life
Believed to have been conceived by the will of the Force,[13] Anakin Skywalker was born to the slaveShmi Skywalker on the desert world of Tatooine. Skywalker and his mother were originally owned byGardulla the Hutt until she lost them to the Toydarian Watto in a podracing bet when Skywalker was age 3.[2] Affectionately nicknamed "Ani",[6][7] he worked in his master's shop, located in Mos Espa.[6]

Even at a young age, Skywalker exhibited exceptional piloting skills, and built the protocol droid C-3PO, specially modified to withstand Tatooine's sand and heat,[14] for his mother.[6] Once, while he was working in Watto's scrap yard, he found a broken servomotor he thought he could repair and use on the droid he was building and asked his master for it. With a glance, Watto saw that it was worthless and grunted that he could, but as Skywalker walked away, Watto told him nothing was free, and had him work harder the next day.[14] He was close friends with fellow slaves Kitster Banai and Wald, as well as the elderly Jira.[6]

Discovery

 * "Anakin, this path has been placed before you. The choice is yours alone."
 * ―Shmi Skywalker — Listen  (file info) [src]

At the age of nine,[2] Skywalker encountered the Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn, Padmé Amidala, Jar Jar Binks, and R2-D2, during their search for a new hyperdrive unit for the Naboo Royal Starship. Seeing his potential as Jedi, Jinn allowed Skywalker to help them secure the parts they needed for their starship by winning the Boonta Eve Classic—only to learn that he had also won his freedom in doing so. After a heartfelt farewell to his mother, Skywalker met Jinn's Padawan, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and accompanied the Jedi pair to Coruscant, where he was presented to the High Council. Despite Jinn's claim that he was the Chosen One, the Council determined that Skywalker was not to be trained in accordance to the Jedi Code; instead, they sent Jinn and Kenobi back to Naboo to protect Queen Amidala and lure out their mysterious assailant, Darth Maul.

On Naboo, during the battle between the Gungans and the Naboo and the droidarmies of the Trade Federation, Skywalker was forced to hide in the cockpit of aNaboo starfighter, whereas Jinn and Kenobi engaged Maul in lightsaber combat. However, in an attempt to destroy three droidekas, Skywalker inadvertently started the autopilot, launching his starfighter into space to attack a droid control ship orbiting Naboo. With R2-D2's help, Skywalker regained control of the ship, but was soon shot by a vulture droid and flew it into the hangar of the droid control ship. Inside it, he fired two proton torpedoes which hit the main reactor. This started a chain reaction that destroyed the ship shortly after Skywalker's starfighter had left, killing Daultay Dofine and personnel, and causing all droids on Naboo's surface to power down.[6]

On his return, Skywalker was present at Jinn's funeral, when Kenobi informed that he would become a Jedi, determined to keep his promise to his defunct master. Despite Grand Master Yoda's reluctance, the now Jedi Knight Kenobi took Skywalker as his Padawan, before taking part in a victory celebration in Theed.[6]

Kenobi's Padawan

 * "His education is... complicated. He came to us later we would ordinarily have liked. Obi-Wan took on an extremely difficult task when he accepted Anakin as his Padawan."
 * ―Mace Windu to Sheev Palpatine, on Skywalker's training[src]

During one of their adventures, Skywalker rescued Kenobi after he fell into a nest of gundarks. As he grew, his exceptional skills made him arrogant.[7] At age 14, Skywalker built his first lightsaber on the planet Ilum.[2] After he finished its construction, Kenobi said to him "Anakin, this weapon is your life."[15][16]

An anomaly among his peers, he ought to impress his peers at the Jedi Temple. Once, during a training session, he had programmed a training droid to mimic the appearance of the Sith of Naboo for the duel. Being watched over by other Padawans, Mace Windu, Kenobi and Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine himself, Skywalker activated the program and subsequently defeated the droid. However, it prompted the scorn of two of his fellow Padawans, who called him a "slave to his emotions", for which he was likely to never make a good Jedi. Angered, he used the Force to levitate their lightsabers, activate them and point right at them, and asked what emotion they felt right then, but Kenobi intervened. Skywalker then returned the lightsabers and apologised—all the while Palpatine expressed interest in his training to Windu.[17]