Anakin Skywalker (Star Wars)/Synopsis

The story of Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader from the Star Wars franchise.
NOTE: This is in chronological order.
== The Phantom Menace ==
Anakin Skywalker came from humble origins. He spent the first years of his life on Tatooine as a slave for a Toydarian named Watto, along with his mother Shmi Skywalker. During Anakin's free time, he built a protocol droid which he named C-3PO, who back then was just a droid with exposed wiring. One day when Anakin was nine years old, he met a Jedi Master named Qui-Gon Jinn, a Gungan named Jar Jar Binks, an astromech droid named R2-D2 and a young girl named Padmé Amidala, the queen of Naboo. Qui-Gon and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi were on a mission to protect Padmé when their ship had broken down on Anakin's planet. Anakin wanted to help them by joining and participating in the Boonta Eve podrace, which he won.
Qui-Gon saw the Force was strong with Anakin and believed that he was the Chosen One of Jedi prophecy, who would bring balance to the Force by destroying the Sith. After Qui-Gon obtained Anakin's freedom in a bet with Watto, Qui-Gon, Anakin, Jar-Jar, R2 and Padmé went to the ship where Qui-Gon introduced Anakin to Obi-Wan. The six friends then left Tatooine, though Anakin felt troubled leaving 3PO and his mother behind. They arrived on Coruscant, where Qui-Gon presented Anakin before the Jedi Council. The "then" head of the Jedi Order, A small creature named Yoda told Anakin he sensed fear inside him, saying it would be his path to the dark-side. Yoda and another Jedi named Mace Windu refused to let Anakin be trained, much to his and Qui-Gon's dismay. Despite this, Anakin helped out in the Battle of Naboo, when he and R2 destroyed the Droid Control Station. Despite his young age, Anakin was a hero. However Qui-Gon couldn't live long enough to see it as a Sith lord named Darth Maul had killed him.
In Qui-Gon's dying breath, he asked Obi-Wan to train Anakin. When Obi-Wan told Yoda about this, Yoda reluctantly let Anakin join the Jedi Order and gave Obi-wan permission to train him. After Anakin's victory, he attended Qui-Gon's funeral, met the new Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine, who told Anakin he was going to watch over his career with great interest, and then finally Anakin was praised for his bravery.
== Attack of the Clones ==
Ten years later, Anakin had grown into a skilled Jedi Padawan and he and Obi-Wan had been on many adventures together. Padmé was no longer a queen of Naboo but a Senator. Anakin, Obi-Wan and R2 had been assigned to protect her from assassins. Anakin and R2 escorted Padmé to Naboo while Obi-Wan hunted down her assassin. While Anakin confess to Padmé he liked her but she rebuffed Anakin's affection since Jedi are forbidden to love.
=== The Subtle Sign ===
Later, Anakin had a vision of his mother in trouble. He, Padmé, and R2 went back to Tatooine where Anakin reunited with 3PO, who now had metal covering. When Anakin arrived at his house, he met Owen Lars, a relative of his mother, and his girlfriend Beru. Owen told Anakin that Tusken Raiders had kidnapped Shmi and he went to rescue his mom, only to find her on the verge of death from Tuskens' brutal tortures and died in his arms as soon as they met after so many years. Consumed by his inner demon, Anakin slaughtered all the sand people in the area until no Tuskens are left breathing and returned to the moisture farm and told Padmé what had happened. During the slaughter Anakin's fury could be felt by Yoda, and Qui-Gon's force ghost desperately but unsuccessfully tried to stop Anakin from wreaking havoc.
=== Mission in Geonosis ===
Later, after learning Obi-Wan had been captured by a former Jedi turned Sith lord named Count Dooku on a planet called Geonosis, Anakin, Padmé, 3PO and R2 went there to rescue him, however, they were both captured by the bounty hunter Jango Fett and a squad of droidekas. During their time imprisoned, Padmé confessed her feelings for Anakin and kissed him. Later, Anakin, Padmé and Obi-Wan battled Dooku's forces with help from a Jedi strike team assembled by Jedi Master Mace Windu and eventually the Clone Army led by Master Yoda and the Galactic Republic and Confederacy of Independent Systems engaged each other in the Battle of Geonosis. This engagement, both a planetary invasion and rescue mission, became the opening battle of the Clone Wars, a three-year galactic war between the Republic and the Separatists. Obi-Wan and Anakin then chased Dooku to his secret hangar in the outskirts and eventually engaged him in a lightsaber duel which ended with Dooku cutting off most of Anakin's right arm. Before Dooku could kill Anakin and Obi-Wan, Yoda arrived to save them. Dooku fled knowing that Yoda was unable to be defeated alone, making a quick escape back to Coruscant to give his master, Darth Sidious, Chancellor Sheev Palpatine, the plans for the "Ultimate Weapon". Afterwards, Anakin had his arm replaced with a robot arm. He, 3PO and R2 took Padmé back to Naboo where she and Anakin married each other in secret.
== The Clone Wars Movie ==
During the first year of the Clone Wars, Jedi Knights Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi lead a small battalion of Republic Clone troopers against the Separatist droid army on the planet Christophsis. Awaiting reinforcements, the two Jedi greet a shuttle carrying the young Jedi Ahsoka Tano, who insists that she has been assigned by Jedi Master Yoda to serve as Anakin's Padawan. Anakin reluctantly accepts Ahsoka's apprenticeship, and the two succeed in deactivating the Separatists' energy field while Obi-Wan stalls the droid army commander, allowing a Republic victory. Ahsoka earns Anakin's respect.
Following the battle, Yoda arrives and informs the Jedi that crime lord Jabba the Hutt's son Rotta has been kidnapped. Anakin and Ahsoka are tasked with retrieving the Huttlet, while Obi-Wan is sent to Tatooine to negotiate with Jabba over a potential treaty between the Hutts and the Republic. Anakin and Ahsoka track the kidnapper and Rotta to the planet Teth, where they are ambushed by Separatist forces led by Count Dooku's apprentice Asajj Ventress, discovering that Dooku hopes to frame the Jedi for Rotta's kidnapping in order to get Jabba to ally with the Separatist army. The Jedi manage to escape the trap along with R2-D2 and hijack a derelict transport with which they travel to Tatooine. Obi-Wan, alerted by Anakin, arrives on Teth and defeats Ventress in a lightsaber duel, though she manages to escape.
Meanwhile, Senator Padmé Amidala, secretly married to Anakin, learns of her husband's mission and fears for his safety. She decides to contact Jabba's uncle Ziro on Coruscant. The Hutt refuses to cooperate, apparently believing that it is the Jedi who are responsible for the situation. However, Padmé soon discovers that Ziro has actually conspired with Dooku to have Rotta killed for Jabba to have Anakin and Ahsoka executed in return, which will force the Jedi Council to take Jabba into custody and allow Ziro to seize power over the Hutt clans. Padmé is discovered and detained, but a chance call by C-3PO enables her to summon a squadron of clone troopers, and Ziro is arrested.
Upon their arrival on Tatooine, Anakin and Ahsoka are shot down by MagnaGuards. Anakin devises a ruse to confront Dooku while carrying a decoy Rotta, leaving Ahsoka to take the real Rotta to Jabba's palace. While Anakin fights off Dooku, Ahsoka is ambushed by the MagnaGuards, whom she defeats. The two deliver Rotta safely to Jabba, who nonetheless orders the Jedi to be executed for their supposed kidnapping attempt. However, Padmé contacts Jabba in time and reveals Ziro and the Separatists' responsibility for the kidnapping. Acknowledging the Jedi's heroism and allowing the Republic to have Ziro punished for his betrayal, Jabba agrees to the treaty while Anakin and Ahsoka are retrieved by Obi-Wan and Yoda. In the meantime, during his escape, Dooku reports to his master Darth Sidious about the failure of their plot, but the Sith Lord assures him that the tide of war is still in their favor.
== The Clone Wars Series ==
Anakin and Ahsoka continued to have adventures together. Some of them were with R2, others with Obi-Wan. During one of their adventures Anakin had a vision of his future. At one point, Ahsoka was framed for crimes against the Jedi Order. Anakin caught the Jedi who set her up Barriss Offee but Ahsoka left the order at her accord, much to Anakin's dismay.
====Episode Appearances====
Appearances on The Show
;Prequel Episodes
* Cat and Mouse
* The Hidden Enemy
* Clone Cadets (Appears in flashbacks)
;Season One
;Season Two
;Season Three
;Season Four
;Season Five
* A War on Two Fronts
* Front Runners
* The Soft War (Appears in hologram)
* Tipping Points
* The Gathering (Appears in flashbacks)
* Bound for Rescue (Indirect mention only)
* Secret Weapons
* Point of No Return
* Revival
* The Lawless (Mentioned only)
* Sabotage
* The Jedi Who Knew Too Much
* To Catch a Jedi
* The Wrong Jedi
;Season Six
* The Unknown
* Conspiracy (Appears in flashbacks)
* Orders
* An Old Friend
* The Rise of Clovis
* Crisis at the Heart
* The Lost One
* Voices
* Destiny (Vision to Yoda)
* Sacrifice (Vision to Yoda)
;Legacy
* A Death on Utapau
* In Search of the Crystal
* Crystal Crisis
* The Big Bang
* The Bad Batch
* A Distant Echo
* On the Wings of Keeradaks
* Unfinished Business
;Season Seven
* Gone with a Trace (Appears in flashbacks)
* Deal No Deal
* The Bad Batch
* A Distant Echo
* On the Wings of Keeradaks
* Unfinished Business
* Old Friends Not Forgotten
* The Phantom Apprentice (Mentioned only)
* Shattered (Voice only)
== Tales of the Jedi ==
In the short "Practices makes Perfect", Anakin only appears in a flashback when Ahsoka Tano and Captain Rex were recalling the time Anakin trained Ahsoka to block stun attacks.
== Revenge of the Sith ==
=== No Respect for Anakin ===
Some time after Ahsoka left the order, Palpatine had kidnapped by Count Dooku and General Grievous. Anakin, Obi-Wan and R2 went on a mission to save him. Anakin and Obi-Wan engaged Dooku in a light-saber fight However, Dooku used his abilities to send Obi-Wan flying into a wall. In retaliation, Anakin cut off both of Dooku's hands. Palpatine then ordered Anakin to kill Dooku. At first, Anakin heisted since Dooku was unarmed but then in an instant, Anakin sliced off Dooku's head and killed him. Anakin returned to Coruscant, He met up with his wife, Padmé who told him she was pregnant. Anakin was excited that he was going to be a father. But that evening, he had a vision that Padmé was going to die while giving birth for some reason, leaving Anakin horrified and cautious about the near future. He didn't want to lose Padmé the way he lost his mother. He went to find a way to save his wife from death. The Jedi High Council refused to let him be a master, so he lost his faith in their order. Then he met with Palpatine, who told him he knew the dark side. There, Anakin discovered, with an insinuation from Palpatine himself, that the Chancellor was the Sith Lord called Darth Sidious - the Sith Master of Maul and Dooku. Anakin planned to turn Palpatine over to the Council, preferably Master Windu. However, Palpatine told Anakin he could help him save Padmé. Anakin then went and told Mace Windu that Palpatine was a Sith Lord. After hearing this, Mace went to confront Palpatine. Anakin insisted on coming with him, but Windu refused and told Anakin to wait at the Temple, saying he had earned his trust. Anakin sat in the temple, but after a long moment of ruminating about his wife and hearing Palpatine's voice in his head, he went to help out.
=== Spiraling into Darkness ===
When Anakin entered Palpatine's office, he saw Windu cornering the seemingly helpless Palpatine near a broken window. Anakin watched Palpatine zap a blast of blue lightning at Windu who reflected it back at the Sith Lord with his lightsaber. After listening to Palpatine and Windu call each other traitors, Palpatine stopped firing at Windu, feeling weak. Windu was about to kill Palpatine there and then, but Anakin protested against that, stating the chancellor had to stand trial first. Windu said Palpatine was too dangerous to stay alive, but Anakin said it wasn't the Jedi way. Windu raised his lightsaber hand and got ready to kill Palpatine but Anakin cut off Windu's lightsaber hand. At the moment, Palpatine tortured Windu with lightning and threw him out the window. Anakin was shocked and remorseful for what he had done. Palpatine offered Anakin a chance to become his apprentice, promising to help him save Padmé, so he took it. There, Anakin swore his allegiance to Palpatine, who renamed him Darth Vader, and most of the Jedi were killed by Order 66, with some of them surviving. Two of the survivors were Yoda and Obi-Wan. After Order 66, Anakin met with Padmé and told her about the Jedi betrayal. He and R2 then went to Mustafar where Anakin killed the Separatist Council as his master commanded him, while Obi-Wan learned that Anakin had turned to the dark side and informed Padmé about this terrible fact. Padmé and 3PO traveled to Mustafar to save Anakin. After Padmé found Anakin, she tried to persuade him to come back to the light side, but he refused. Padmé felt scared. She told Anakin she didn't know who he was anymore and Anakin was disappointed. Then he got paranoid and enraged when he saw Obi-Wan on her ship. He then jumped to the worst conclusion and accused his wife of betraying him and - choking the very woman for whom he stepped into the dark side of the Force to save and protect - into unconsciousness. After a long argument with Obi-Wan, Anakin dueled his old master, during which 3PO and R2 loaded Padmé onto her ship. Despite all his new abilities, Anakin was eventually defeated by Obi-Wan, who cut off both of Anakin's legs and his other arm. Then Anakin slid down some rocks, got bruised and his body was burned by the lava.
After his ordeal, Anakin's love of Obi-Wan was completely destroyed. Obi-Wan tried to remind his former friend of the Jedi the latter once was, but Anakin, already insane and psychotic, revealed his undying hatred of Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan responded with a sad mention of his own love for Anakin, but there was nothing Obi-Wan could do further since Anakin had already been brainwashed by his own anger. In the novel version of Revenge of the Sith, Obi-Wan internally wrestled with himself over whether he should put Anakin out of further suffering or to spare him in spite of everything his former apprentice did to him. Finally deciding to leave Anakin to the will of The Force, Obi-Wan left Anakin behind.
=== The Suit ===
After Obi-wan sadly left the lava planet, leaving his friend to die, Palpatine arrived and found Anakin lying in pain on the ground: only The Force and Anakin's hateful fury towards Obi-Wan kept the wounded former Jedi alive up to that point. Obi-Wan, 3PO and R2 brought Padmé to a small planet where she gave birth to two children - a boy named Luke and a girl named Leia. In her dying words, Padmé told Obi-Wan there was still good in Anakin and then Padmé died. Meanwhile, Palpatine brought Anakin back to Coruscant and encased him in a dark life-sustaining suit, complete with a mask and cape, that he would wear for the rest of his life. Asking quickly Palpatine the whereabouts of his wife Padmé, his new master informed him that he, consumed by his rage, strangled her with the Force and knocked her unconscious on Mustafar, eventually dying from her broken heart, but not before giving birth to their twin babies, Luke and Leia Skywalker and stating to Obi-Wan that there was still good within Vader's heart. Enraged with the answer he received from Sidious, Vader furiously destroyed everything in the room and cried out in anguish as he becomes heartbroken over the loss of Padme his wife, and Anakin's transformation into Darth Vader was complete. With his wife gone, the heartbroken Jedi Knight turned Sith Lord had no other choice but to obey the commands of his master and help him enslave the galaxy. Completing his plan to destroy the Jedi Order and reform the old Sith Empire as the Galactic Empire, Palpatine took over the galaxy as the Galactic Emperor with Vader at his side. However, all was not lost for Darth Vader or the galaxy. Obi-Wan, Yoda and Senator/Viceroy Bail Organa knew that Anakin's children Luke and Leia were strong with the force and when they grew up, they could defeat Palpatine and bring Anakin back to the light side. Obi-Wan suggested that they should hide Luke and Leia where Vader and Palpatine would not be able to sense. However they had to split them up. Obi-Wan took Luke to Tatooine where Owen and Beru would raise him and when the time was right, Obi-Wan would train Luke while Bail took Leia back to his home planet where he and his wife would raise as their own. He also took 3PO and R2 and had 3PO's memory wiped.
== Life as Darth Vader ==
See Darth Vader
== Return of the Jedi ==
=== Finding Luke ===
Sometime after the duel on Cloud City, Palpatine ordered the construction of a second Death Star, which was to be built in the orbit of the forest moon of Endor. Anakin in his Vader suit arrived on the Death Star and was to "motivate" the Imperials on constructing the battle station. When Palpatine arrived, he and Vader talked about Luke joining them. Palpatine told his apprentice to be patient, informing him that Luke would join them soon. Soon, Vader sensed his son was on the Endor moon. Luke and the others had rescued Han and unfrozen him and headed to Endor as part of their plan to defeat Palpatine once and for all. Vader left for the moon to catch Luke, but he let Vader capture him. Luke told Vader he had accepted that he was his father and tried to convince to turn back to the Light side, but Anakin refused, insisting it was too late for him. However, Luke wouldn't give up on his father.
=== Duel and Redemption ===
Vader and Luke went aboard the Death Star II and met Palpatine in his throne room on the second Death Star. Palpatine attempted to turn Luke to the dark side but he wouldn't. Eventually, in the young Jedi's attempt to kill Palpatine with a swift strike with his green-bladed lightsaber, Vader defended his master and they ultimately began their final lightsaber duel. When Vader sensed Luke had a twin sister and deduced that if he would not turn to the dark side, perhaps Leia would instead, causing Luke to ferociously attack Vader in a fit of rage and slice Vader's right cybernetic hand off. There Palpatine ordered Luke to kill Vader, ironically in the same way he had ordered Vader to kill Dooku during the Battle of Coruscant. However, Luke refused to kill his own father and said he was a Jedi like his father before him. With that, Palpatine zapped Luke with Force Lightning, the same power he used to kill Mace Windu. Vader watched in horror as his master tortured his son, looking back at both of them one at a time. Suddenly, Vader's good memories of Qui-Gon, Shmi, 3PO, R2, Obi-Wan, Ahsoka and Padmé flooded back into his mind. There, Anakin realized despite all the terrible things he had done in his life, he couldn't allow his son to die. In that moment, he finally ceased to be Darth Vader and became Anakin Skywalker once again. Anakin then grabbed Palpatine, lifted him over his head and carried him away from Luke. Then, with a final slice of energy, Anakin tossed Palpatine down the Death Star reactor shaft where Palpatine exploded into a light of blue energy, and Anakin had finally redeemed himself, he avenged Count Dooku & Padme from Palpatine manipulation, fulfilling the prophecy of the Chosen One, proving that Qui-Gon Jinn was in fact right - Anakin Skywalker was the Chosen One and he brought balance to the Force. However, some of Palpatine's lightning had gone into his life supporting suit and Anakin was mortally wounded and was slowly dying.
=== Anakin's Death ===
.
Lando Calrissian and Nien Nunb were about to destroy Death Star II. After Luke got back whatever strength he could, he quickly dragged Anakin to a shuttle so they could escape in time together. 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, unsure if he could continue. Anakin then asked Luke to remove his mask. Luke protested, saying that Anakin would die. Anakin, finally fully rejecting Sidious, the Sith, and the Dark Side told Luke nothing could stop his death and that before he died he wanted to look upon his son with his own eyes, unfiltered by the mask.
Luke took off Anakin's Vader mask, revealing a scarred and pale face underneath, but with Anakin's blue eyes shining again. Anakin then told Luke to go and leave him behind. But Luke refused, saying he had to save him. Anakin told Luke that he already had, and that he was right about there still being good in him. In his dying words, Anakin told Luke to tell his sister that he had been right about their father. Anakin then laid back and died, with his body disappearing into the light side of the force.
Luke then brought Anakin's armor back to Endor for a discreet funeral, knowing that for everyone else the sight of Vader's armor being consumed by fire would be cause for celebration. Later at the celebration on Endor, Luke saw the fully healed force ghost of Anakin, along with the ghosts of Yoda and Obi-Wan.
== Legacy ==
=== 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 Shmi 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 spirit 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 Solo 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 efforts of Leia, Han, and Luke, Anakin's grandson (Ben) had been corrupted by a dark sider named Snoke (who is Palpatine's creation) and eventually fell to the dark side. After turning, Anakin's evil actions and former nature as Darth Vader inspired Ben, who decided to follow his grandfather's footsteps while helping his master and the First Order terrorize the galaxy.
== The Force Awakens ==
Anakin is mentioned and referenced in The Force Awakens. Kylo Ren becomes obsessed with continuing his grandfather's legacy after turning to the 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, so he uses it in the Battle of Takodana and later on Starkiller Base.
When Rey is captured and interrogated by Kylo 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. Anakin is lastly mentioned by Han and Leia, who state that one of the reasons why Kylo embraced the dark side is because "there is too much Vader in him".
Anakin Skywalker's spirit 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.
== The Last Jedi ==
Luke and Rey talk about Anakin and his fall to the dark side in The Last Jedi.
== The Rise of Skywalker ==
In this film, it's revealed that Anakin had never spoken to his grandson Kylo Ren in his Darth Vader persona, that every time Kylo thought he heard Vader's voice that it was actually Palpatine speaking to him.
When his daughter Leia sacrificed herself to reach her son, she finally accepted Anakin's apology and returned his love for the first time ever. She would then join Anakin and her departed family within the Force. 
Anakin was one of the numerous voices of past Jedi that tell Rey that they were with her and gave her the strength to destroy her grandfather, Emperor Palpatine, forever. After destroying the Emperor, Rey died due to the effort it took to bring her grandfather down. But she was revived a few minutes later by Ben Solo, who had sacrificed his own life to resurrect her. With Ben's death, Anakin's bloodline ended, but Rey took on the Skywalker name to honor all the Skywalkers. 
Category:Synopsis