Luke Skywalker

*This page is dedicated to an alternative version of Luke Skywalker in the sequel trilogy, discarding Disney's canon for the same character.*

* Original Trilogy
* Sequel Trilogy

## Chronological and political information

### Master(s)

Obi-Wan Kenobi
Yoda

## Appearances

### Movie(s)

*Star Wars: A New Hope*
*Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back*
*Star Wars: Return of the Jedi*

**Luke Skywalker** was a human male Jedi Master who was instrumental in restoring balance to the Force, defeating the Sith and the Galactic Empire, and later helping to face the Force Eternals. He and his twinsister, Leia Organa, were born at the end of the Clone Wars to the Sith Lord Darth Vader—once Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker of Tattooine and Padmé Amidala of Naboo. To keep him safe from knowing his parentage, and from his father, Luke was separated from Leia and Padmé after birth and given to Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, who kept a distant but watchful eye on Luke for years after, as a last favour to the man Vader once was.

When he was nineteen, Skywalker joined Kenobi on a mission to deliver the plans of the dreaded Imperial superweapon known as the Death Star to the Rebel Alliance. Along the way he began training as a Jedi, met and befriended the smugglers Han Solo and Chewbacca, and helped free Leia—now the princess of Alderaan—from the Death Star. After Kenobi's death on the Death Star by the hands of Darth Vader, Skywalker flew as Red Five in the Battle of Yavin and destroyed the Death Star. He became a hero of the Alliance and fought in numerous engagements in the Galactic Civil War while learning more about the history and legacy of the Jedi Order. Three years later, at the spectral urging of Master Kenobi, Skywalker was trained by Master Yoda on Dagobah, but soon left in an ill-fated attempt to save his friends from Darth Vader. During a failed lightsaber duel with Vader, which resulted in the loss of his right hand, Skywalker learned the truth — that Vader was in fact his father Anakin Skywalker.

One year later, after rescuing a captive Solo from Jabba the Hutt, Skywalker fought in the Battle of Endor and turned his father back to the light, inspiring Anakin to sacrifice his own life to kill the Emperor, Darth Sidious, and defeat the Sith. Skywalker, now a Jedi Knight, intended to train Leia, whom he learned was his sister from Yoda and Kenobi, in the ways of the Jedi but she chose instead to focus on building the New Republic after the Empire was defeated.

## Biography

### Early Life

#### Birth

Luke Skywalker was born in 19 BBY, soon after the proclamation of the Galactic Empire. He and his twin sister Leia, who was born shortly after him, were the children of Galactic Republic official Padmé Amidala, and former Jedi Master Anakin Skywalker, who had recently fallen to the dark side of the Force. To protect the children from the Empire and Anakin, the now-Sith Lord **Darth Vader**, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda and Padmé decided to separate the twins, with them especially afraid that Luke would grow up to join or even replace Vader as a Sith Lord. Obi-Wan took the charge of delivering and watching over Luke on Tattooine, his fathers home planet. There, he gave Luke over to be raised by Anakin's stepbrother Owen Lars and his wife Beru.

Padmé and Leia however, lived on Alderaan for a few years, before Padmé's untimely death. Leia was afterwards adopted by Senator Bail Organa, taking on his name and becoming the princess of Alderaan.

#### Life on Tattooine

Skywalker spent his youth on the Lars' moisture farm, where his uncle unsuccessfully tried to discourage his adventurous tendencies, telling him that his father had been "a navigator on a spice freighter" during the Clone Wars. His aunt, Beru, would read him storybooks; one day, when his uncle had business in Mos Eisley, she took Skywalker to Anchorhead to use the HoloNet connections there and show him images of forests, rivers, and oceans.

At the age of eight, during the Great Drought in 11 BBY, henchmen for the crime lord Jabba the Hutt collected a "water tax" on their master's behalf. Despite the damage it caused moisture farmers, Skywalker naïvely stood up to the thugs at night, trying to take back the water they had stolen from the farmers. Kenobi, who sensed the danger his protégé was in, blew their vehicle's lights with the Force to hide his identity, and proceeded to disable all of Jabba's henchmen.

One of them became startled and pushed Skywalker to the ground, causing him to hit his head and pass out. Once Kenobi handled the thugs, he carried Skywalker to the Lars' homestead where he was found asleep, unaware of his saviour's identity, by his aunt in the morning.

#### Saving Uncle Owen

Some time after grounding Luke from flying his skyhopper, Owen Lars attempted to rebuild his relationship with his nephew by looking to help him fix it. However, before he could, he was captured by the Wookiee bounty hunter Black Krrsantan and tortured. Meanwhile, Luke was running away from home for not the first time. However, he sensed something was wrong and rushed to his homestead.

When he arrived, he found many droids destroyed and his aunt Beru rattled, telling him of the attack. She ordered her nephew to lock himself in the homestead's maintenance bay, where he found his disabled skyhopper. He proceeded to fix it and make his way to Krrsantan and Owen. As he flew there, the Wookiee was engaged by Obi-Wan Kenobi. During this battle, Owen was thrown off a cliff. Before he could hit the bottom, Luke, in his skyhopper, managed to catch him and escape. Meanwhile, Kenobi defeated Krrsantan. Afterwards, Skywalker was allowed to fly his skyhopper once again.

Eventually, Skywalker became an adventure-seeking youth who demonstrated his father's natural piloting skills, as well as a strong desire to leave Tatooine. When not helping his uncle, Skywalker would occasionally go bulls-eye Womp rats, or go racing through the dangerous Beggar's Canyon in his T-16 Skyhopper by the age of thirteen. He would also spend time at Tosche Station with his friends, such as Biggs Darklighter, Laze "Fixer" Loneozner, Camie Marstrap, Windy and Deak; some of them called him "Wormie".

As more of Skywalker's friends left the planet to follow their dreams, he became increasingly frustrated that his uncle would not allow him to do the same, claiming that he still needed help with the farm. In truth, Owen was trying to prevent Skywalker from following in his father's footsteps.

### Galactic Civil War

#### Leaving Tattooine

In 0 BBY, the purchase of two droids—R2-D2 and C-3PO—by Skywalker's step-uncle changed the youth's life forever. With the discovery of a desperate message to Obi-Wan Kenobi contained within the astromech droid R2-D2, Skywalker soon found himself in the company of Kenobi after being attacked by Sand People. Kenobi soon revealed to Skywalker that he had once been a Jedi Knight who served in the Clone Wars with Skywalker's father. He went on to inform Skywalker that his father was not a cargo pilot, but a Jedi Knight struck down by Darth Vader, and gave him his father's lightsaber.

On their way to Anchorhead, Skywalker and Kenobi came upon a group of slaughtered Jawas—the same ones who sold the droids to his uncle. Skywalker deduced from learning that Imperial stormtroopers were responsible that they might have looked into the sales records of the droids, and rushed home in the hopes of saving his step-aunt and step-uncle. Upon returning home, Skywalker discovered that he was too late: his step-aunt and step-uncle had been murdered by the Empire. With the people who raised him dead, he decided to accompany Kenobi to Alderaan to deliver the astromech, who was carrying the plans for the Death Star, to Bail Organa at the behest of Organa's daughter, Princess Leia Organa.

On their way to Mos Eisley, Kenobi began training him and gave Skywalker his first lesson, during which he learned the basics of Jedi meditation.[22] They would later reach Chalmun's Cantina, where Skywalker nearly had a fatal run-in with the criminals Ponda Baba and Dr. Evazan, and where they obtained passage off the planet and met Han Solo and his first mate Chewbacca. Kenobi brokered a deal to pay Solo two thousand credits up front plus fifteen more when they arrived on Alderaan, with Skywalker selling his speeder to pay for the two thousand up front.

#### Death Star Rescue

After escaping stormtroopers on Solo's ship, the Millennium Falcon, Kenobi began Skywalker's instruction in the ways of the Force, much to the derision of Solo.[1][22] The lesson, however, was soon interrupted by their arrival in the Alderaan system and their discovery of the planet's destruction. They then spotted a patrolling TIE fighter and, upon following it, found that it was approaching what appeared to be a small moon, which turned out to be the Death Star. Caught by the Death Star's tractor beam, they were brought aboard the massive space station.[1]

Once on board, Luke and Han knocked two stormtroopers out and stole their armor, whereas Kenobi set out to deactivate the tractor beam. However, when R2-D2 discovered that Leia Organa was being held captive on the station, Skywalker insisted on rescuing her. With Solo and Chewbacca's help, the trio made it into the detention area escorting the Wookiee as a prisoner. They were able to rescue Organa, but had to jump into the garbage compactor in order to escape the pursuing Imperial forces. Though Skywalker and Organa were separated from Solo and Chewbacca, they were able to reunite with their companions, and the droids, in the hangar bay.

Eventually, the group escaped the Death Star, but only after Kenobi sacrificed himself in a duel with Darth Vader.[1] Angry and confused, Organa offered some comfort for his grief.[9] They traveled to the hidden rebel baseon Yavin 4, under the suspicion that the Death Star was tracking them

#### Yavin 4

On their arrival, they met with Commander Willard, and Organa introduce him to Skywalker so that he could join the Rebel Alliance as a pilot. Skywalker then separated and met Wedge Antilles, who oversaw his flight simulation test. Lasting no more than 30 seconds, the more experienced pilot advised Skywalker to listen to his explanations, and encouraged him not to give up. In his second try, Skywalker used what he had learned from Antilles, and managed to surpass the highest score, that of Antilles's, prompting Willard to accept him without objection.[9] He joined Red Group with the designation of Red Five.

After the briefing for their plan of attack against the incoming Death Star, Skywalker prepared himself for the attack, when he saw Solo loading his payment onto the Falcon for rescuing Organa and prepared to leave the group. Skywalker attempted to persuade him to stay and help them against the Empire, but Solo refused, deeply disappointing him. After bidding farewell to Organa as well,[1] Skywalker was about to board his T-65B X-wing starfighter, when he encountered his old friend Biggs Darklighter, the two about to be flying as wingmen in the upcoming battle. In a brief conversation, Darklighter promised Luke that the two would catch up on each other's stories when they got back.[1]
During the Battle of Yavin, Skywalker witnessed the death of many compatriots, including Darklighter. After the death of the two squadron leaders, he took it upon himself to lead the final assault. With the timely arrival of the Millennium Falcon and the guidance of Kenobi's spirit, Skywalker took a single shot and used the Force to direct his proton torpedoes to their target, destroying the station. For this action he, Chewbacca, and Han Solo were awarded the medal of Bravery for their bravery the morning after.[1]
Luke watches Leia escape
Skywalker watches as Organa's shuttle departs Yavin.
Just as the ceremony ended, Skywalker told Organa to allow herself some time to grieve for the loss of her family and homeworld. Afterwards, General Jan Dodonna sent him and Antilles, the only other survivor of Red Group, in their X-wings to retrieve the wayward princess and bring her to the Great Temple. Her shuttle's pilot, Evaan Verlaine, however, managed to outsmart them and make the jump to hyperspace with course to Naboo, with R2-D2 accompanying the two women. They would later reunite after she had successfully accomplished her mission. Soon after, Skywalker became an officer in the Alliance and was given the rank of Lieutenant and was regularly assigned numerous independent missions.

#### 3 BBY

Three years[2] after the Death Star's destruction, Skywalker was transferred to Echo Base alongside Rogue Squadron to Hoth, where he participated in regular patrols of the frozen perimeter. Once while reconnoitering the surroundings of Echo Base, Skywalker was attacked by a wampa, only to regain consciousness in its cave. He severed its arm with his lightsaber, and escaped; after a long walk in the icy wind, he collapsed from exhaustion. Near death, he had a vision of Kenobi, who told him to seek the teachings of Yoda in the Dagobah system.

Rescued by Solo, Skywalker recovered from his wounds in a bacta tank. However, Vader had located Echo Base with one of his probe droids and prepared an imminent attack on the recently-opened Alliance base, thus prompting the Alliance to evacuate the base at once. After bidding farewell to his friends, for the impending battle, Skywalker led the Rogue Squadron in an airspeeder. Though he was shot down, and his gunner Dak Ralter was killed, he got out of his damaged speeder and single-handedly destroyed a walker with his lightsaber. As Imperial forces breached the Rebels' defenses, the last Rebel transport departed, and Skywalker fled the planet aboard his X-wing with R2-D2.

#### Degobah

Skywalker then traveled to Dagobah, where he encountered the former Grand Master of the fallen Jedi Order, Yoda. In their initial meeting, Skywalker was frustrated and impatient and was rather short-tempered with the diminutive Yoda, who did not initially identify himself and purposefully tested Skywalker's patience, telling him a story about three brothers.[54] However, Skywalker gained a new appreciation for the small creature upon learning his identity, and Yoda agreed to train Skywalker only at the insistence of Kenobi's spirit. Skywalker's training proved to be difficult, as his adventurous past had shaped his mind toward action and emotional instinct.[11]

When Yoda asked him to enter a cave in which he was supposed to find only what he took with him, he was challenged by a vision of himself wearing Vader's armor.[11] Master and apprentice then had an encounter with a raging elephoth, which Skywalker managed to calm by leading her to her child.[54] Shortly after, he had a vision of Han Solo and Leia Organa suffering at Cloud City on Bespin. Despite Yoda and Kenobi's warnings and disapproval, Skywalker rashly departed from Dagobah to rescue them but not before making a promise to return to Dagobah to complete his training.

#### Vader's trap

Upon his arrival at Cloud City's East Platform, Skywalker felt Vader's presence,[54] and went into the nearest building, where he was shot at by Boba Fett, and tried to pursue a group of stormtroopers and Imperial officers who held Organa, Chewbacca and C-3PO captive. The princess attempted to warn Skywalker that he was walking into a trap, but his path was diverted to the carbon-freezing chamber where Darth Vader awaited him, with the intention to freeze him in carbonite to present him to the Emperor. Skywalker engaged the Dark Lord in a fierce duel.

After severing Skywalker's hand from his body, Vader attempted to seduce the weakened Jedi to the dark side of the Force, offering Skywalker the chance to destroy the Emperor and "bring order to the galaxy." In his efforts to sway Skywalker from his defiant refusals, Vader then revealed his identity as Skywalker's father. Faced with this shocking and horrifying claim, which he was sure was a lie at the time, and the temptation to join Vader, Skywalker chose likely death instead by throwing himself down the long shaft surrounding them.

He was sucked through an opening portal at the bottom of the chamber, which brought him outside the floating city. Skywalker grabbed onto a weather vane, preventing a fall to his death. Weak and helpless, Skywalker at first called out for Kenobi, unsuccessfully, but then reached out to Organa through the Force. Soon, the Millennium Falcon, with Lando Calrissian, Organa, Chewbacca, and the droids onboard, arrived to rescue him. As they escaped from Bespin, and the Falcon was faced with the Imperial fleet, Vader reached out to Skywalker through the Force, calling him "son." Skywalker fought tears back, after hearing the word he had always longed to hear, just as the Falcon made the jump into hyperspace thanks to R2-D2. Back at the Rebel fleet, Skywalker received a prosthetic hand onboard the Nebulon-B frigate Redemption, while Calrissian and Chewbacca set out to find Solo.

#### 4 ABY

In 4 ABY,[2] Skywalker set in motion the plan to rescue Solo from Jabba the Hutt.[13] Once again, Skywalker returned to Tatooine, and to Kenobi's hut, wherein he found the missing parts he needed for the construction of his own lightsaber, the pieces left to him by Kenobi. While his friends bustled about preparing for the rescue, Skywalker retreated into the solitude of a desert cave they had chosen as their rendezvous point. Using the Force to assemble the weapon, he brought the kyber crystal inside to life, making the weapon his own, almost an extension of himself.

Afterwards, Skywalker waited to see if Organa's impersonation of Boushh and liberation of Solo was successful without his intervention, but she was only half-successful. She then sent a message to Skywalker and Calrissian that she had been captured as well, prompting Skywalker to act and go to Jabba's Palace.[55] Skillful use of the Force allowed Skywalker to get past Jabba's Gamorrean guards and his majordomo, Bib Fortuna, but the Hutt was not so easily swayed and attempted to feed Skywalker to his rancor.[13]
Lukeonskiff
Luke Skywalker battles the forces of Jabba the Hutt during the rescue of Han Solo on Tatooine.
Skywalker killed the monster, but Jabba was furious and sentenced all the captured Alliance heroes–including an unfrozen Solo–to death in the Great Pit of Carkoon. However, right before he was put into the pit, Skywalker escaped when R2-D2 shot his lightsaber to him and freed the other prisoners on the skiff. A skirmish ensued in which Skywalker protected his friends, ended the life of several of Jabba's thugs including Klaatu,[55] and helped Organa escape the Khetanna after she had killed the Hutt. After destroying the sail barge, Skywalker and his entire team escaped unscathed through a dangerous sandstorm, after which he boarded his X-Wing with R2-D2 and parted ways with the others.

#### Keeping his Promise

Skywalker then returned to Dagobah to complete his training, but the elderly and dying Yoda, who had used the Force to prolong his life beyond what was natural, could only leave a few pieces of wisdom to Skywalker.[55]Yoda told him that his training was complete, but in order to be a true Jedi, he would have to confront Darth Vader again.[13] Having grown less and less sure since the revelation, Skywalker feared that it was the truth,[55] he inquired if Vader was truly his father. Skywalker received such confirmation from Yoda, which angered him that they had lied to him for so long.[55] After warning him not to underestimate the Emperor's powers and that as "the last of the Jedi" he had to pass on what he had learned, Yoda made one final revelation to Skywalker before he became one with the Force—that there was "another Skywalker."

Sensing his turmoil, the spirit of Kenobi appeared before Skywalker, who confronted him for lying about his father. Claiming that Anakin Skywalker had disappeared upon his fall to the dark side, Kenobi told him he needed to face Vader. Skywalker found the notion of killing his own father painful to accept, and claimed he could not do it. He also asked about who Yoda was referring to earlier, and Kenobi told him it was his twin sister. Skywalker instantly recognized it was Organa, but his old master warned him that she would be in peril if their father discovered her identity.[13] Skywalker almost immediately inquired about their mother's identity and fate, but Kenobi asked him to let that truth stay with him for a while longer, as he knew Skywalker carried too many burdens already.