Anakin Skywalker

Anakin was powerfully attuned to the Force since birth -- some believe his supernatural birth is proof that he was conceived by the will of the Force. At age nine, Anakin was already competing in the sport of Podracing. He was the only human who would dare, as his ability to see things before they happen gave Anakin an edge.

Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn liberated Anakin from slavery on Tatooine, and brought him before the Jedi Council for training. Anakin had to leave his mother behind, and he missed her terribly. The Jedi Council found such deep emotional attachments troubling, and at first declared Anakin too old to train.

Anakin nonetheless accompanied Qui-Gon to Naboo, a planet blockaded by the greedy Trade Federation. Anakin accidentally got stuck in a starfighter and joined the space battle, destroying the enemy battleship through luck and the Force. Though Qui-Gon was killed in a duel with a Sith Lord, his dying wish was granted, and Anakin became a Padawan learner apprenticed to Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Over the next decade, Anakin's power continued to grow. Many Jedi wondered if he was the Chosen One destined to restore balance to the Force. Anakin and Obi-Wan became true friends, but Skywalker also found a sympathetic ear in Chancellor Palpatine, the galactic ruler who took a keen interest in Anakin's growth. The Chancellor foresaw that Anakin would become the most powerful Jedi of all.

As the galaxy grew more dangerous, the Jedi were repeatedly called upon to keep the peace. The Jedi Council assigned Anakin as a bodyguard to Senator Padmé Amidala of Naboo, whose life was threatened by bounty hunters. The two hid amid the serene beauty of Naboo, where they fell in love despite Jedi rules to the contrary.

Anakin was plagued by nightmares of his mother in danger. He had not seen her in a decade. When the dreams became too intense, Anakin voyaged home, to find his mother kidnapped and tortured to death by vicious Tusken Raiders. Enraged, Anakin wiped out the entire village, an act fueled by the dark side of the Force.

After losing his arm in a lightsaber duel with Count Dooku, Anakin recovered with a mechanical arm replacement. With the galaxy at war, Padmé and Anakin realized their time together may be short. They married in secret on Naboo, and kept their relationship hidden from the Jedi and the Senate.

The Clone Wars were a time of growth for Anakin. The Jedi were pressed into military service, and Anakin was promoted to Jedi Knight and General. He led the 501st Clone Trooper Battalion through the thick of combat against Separatist enemies, gaining a reputation as a hero of the Republic.

The Jedi Council was still concerned by the strength of Anakin's emotional connections. To teach him the lesson of letting someone go, Master Yoda assigned Anakin a Padawan -- Ahsoka Tano. The spirited young girl at first pushed Anakin's patience to the limit, but in time they grew close. Ahsoka learned much from her often reckless master.

Even when far from the battlefront, Anakin could not avoid danger and adventure. The notorious Cad Bane led a posse of bounty hunters into the Galactic Senate, taking hostages and demanding the release of a fellow prisoner. Anakin was caught unarmed in the middle of this tense standoff, but attempted to stop the hunters just the same.

During the campaign to retake Geonosis from the Separatists, Anakin was left alone with a captured enemy leader, Poggle the Lesser. With Ahsoka endangered by a Geonosian parasitic threat, Anakin demanded answers from Poggle. He interrogated the prisoner, throttling him with the dark side of the Force to get the information he needed. Anakin kept these dark actions a secret.

Anakin endured a bizarre visit to the realm of Mortis, home to a trio of powerful Force-wielders who seemed to embody different aspects of the Force. The Father kept the Force in balance, and summoned Anakin to Mortis to fulfill his destiny and take the Father's place. Anakin refused, and the Force stayed unbalanced. While on Mortis, Anakin was shown terrible visions of his future, but memories of these events were wiped from his mind.

When Chancellor Palpatine was captured by General Grievous near the war's end, Anakin and Obi-Wan led the mission to rescue him. They infiltrated a Separatist flagship high over Coruscant, and once again tangled with Count Dooku. This time, Skywalker bested his enemy, and at Palpatine's urging, killed Dooku in cold blood.

With many victories to Anakin's name, the Chancellor appointed him to the Jedi Council, but the wary Jedi Masters refused to grant him the title of Master. Anakin was incensed at their lack of trust. Furthermore, they sought to use his connection to Palpatine to spy on the Chancellor. Anakin continued to lose faith in the Republic, and the Jedi Order.

The Republic's shaky foundations were not all that was troubling Anakin. Once again he was consumed by terrible images of a loved one in danger, though this time it was nightmares of his wife dying. Padmé was pregnant, and the thought of losing his wife and his child terrified Skywalker.

Chancellor Palpatine was in truth, Darth Sidious, a Dark Lord of the Sith. Sidious promised to show Anakin paths to Force powers that could cheat death. With this ability, Anakin sought to save Padmé's life.

When the other Jedi learned of Palpatine's true nature, they tried to stop the Dark Lord. Darth Sidious would not surrender to the Jedi, and locked lightsaber blades with Jedi Master Mace Windu. Realizing that Sidious was too dangerous to take captive, Mace tried to kill the Chancellor. Anakin intervened. He needed Sidious alive if he were to save Padmé.

Responsible for aiding Sidious in killing Mace Windu, Anakin turned his back on the Jedi. He knelt before Darth Sidious, adopting the mantle of Darth Vader. Tapping into the dark side, Anakin found his powers increasing. At Sidious' order, Anakin led an attack on the Jedi Temple and the slaughter of all within.

Obi-Wan Kenobi and Padmé discovered Anakin's terrible betrayal, and confronted him on the hellish world of Mustafar. Consumed by hate, Anakin lashed out against Padmé with the Force, gravely wounding her. Obi-Wan and Anakin dueled with lightsabers across the molten landscape. Kenobi bested Anakin, severing his limbs, and leaving him to die, burning on the shores of a lava river.

Darth Sidious recovered Anakin's broken body and returned with him to Coruscant. Medical droids rebuilt Anakin with cybernetic parts, encasing him in dark armor to complete his transformation into Darth Vader. Sidious further broke Anakin's spirit by revealing that Padmé had died as a result of Skywalker's attack.

For a generation, Darth Vader embodied the dark spirit of the Galactic Empire. Unbeknownst to him, his children survived: twins, Leia and Luke, were prominent leaders in the Rebel Alliance. Luke Skywalker became the last of the Jedi. When Palpatine attacked Luke with the power of the dark side, Vader saved his son's life by killing his master. Thus Vader renounced his loyalty to the Sith, and returned to his Jedi ideals.

Anakin Skywalker succumbed to injuries inflicted by the Emperor. Anakin's dying wish was for Luke to remove the dark helmet that hid his face as Darth Vader, so he could look upon his son with his own eyes. When Anakin died, his selfless sacrifice allowed his spirit to be preserved in the Force by his former mentors, Obi-Wan and Yoda.