| abstract | - Anakin Skywalker was a legendary Human Jedi Knight who served the Galactic Republic in the latter half of the Galactic Clone Wars, and later became Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith. Prior to his life as a Jedi, Anakin was a famous underworld Podracer, known to his fans as Maverick. During his time in the Clone Wars, Anakin became the secret lover of his master, the Jedi Padmé Amidala of Naboo, and became the father of the legendary Jedi Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa. Though he would later become regarded as a heroic Jedi, Skywalker was assumed to have been born on Baroonda, a Separatist backwater planet that had been mostly ignored as the Clone Wars advanced. Skywalker was found as a baby, no more than a day old, by a young woman called Shmi Skywalker on the day that the Galactic Senate declared the official beginning of the Galactic Clone Wars, in a cave filled with pulsating crystals that were imbued with the Force, and she firmly believed that he'd manifested through the strong presence of the Force within that cave. Because of this, his adoptive mother raised Skywalker to believe that he was special, destined for great things. However as a Separatist planet, Baroonda lacked a Jedi Watchman, and Skywalker's notable level of Force sensitivity went undiscovered. When Shmi Skywalker fell into debt to Raikor Haldeen, a local Nosaurian crime lord, her son became a slave, working in a junkyard and repair store. Here he was observed to have rapidly learned mechanical skills, and became known as the best worker and technical engineer in the junkyard, even at a young age. When Skywalker was nine his mother was killed by Haldeen, prompting Skywalker to challenge Haldeen to a duel of any sort that Haldeen desired. Haldeen chose to race Skywalker with Podracers, utilising the Podracer that Skywalker had been upgrading for nine months, believing that no Human could have reflexes good enough to pilot a Podracer. In the week coming up to the race, Anakin modified another Podracer and then won his freedom, winning the race by making several risky and dangerous decisions. Having won his freedom, Skywalker was recruited by a talent scout for the Hutt Cartel, to race in the Outer Rim Amateur Podracing League. Skywalker remained in the Outer Rim podracing leagues for ten years, quickly rising to the professional level. He became one of the best racers for the Hutt Cartel, and aside from his racing duties worked as a Hutt protector, his enhanced reflexes and seemingly supernatural intuition making him an excellent bodyguard. For five years he served as a bodyguard to Jabba the Hutt, and during those five years also rose to fame, winning the Outer Rim Professional Podracing League five consecutive times. He had a legion of fans throughout the Rim, both young and old, and was perceived as a celebrity on any planet that had strong links to the Hutts, Podracing, or in most criminal circles. His fame and skill convinced Skywalker that the special destiny his mother had talked about was true, and that he would go on to become great and play an important role in Galactic history. He strongly believed that this role would somehow relate to the Clone Wars that had stretched out for so long, even suspecting that it would be he that ended the war. In 32 BBY, the Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi was sent to the Outer Rim to investigate leaked information that the Commonwealth of Independant Systems was at least partially being funded or supported by the Hutt Cartel, with his Padawan Padmé Amidala accompanying him as her final task before being promoted to the level of Jedi Knight. Their investigation led them to a meeting between Jabba and a Separatist liaison that was to take place after a celebrated annual Podrace on Malastare. Kenobi noted during the race the unusual level of skill in Skywalker, and when he learned of Skywalker's consecutive championships he dispatched Amidala to investigate Skywalker whilst he investigated the meeting that was to take place. Amidala's investigations and personal interaction with Skywalker led her to conclude that just as Kenobi had sensed, Skywalker was very strong in the Force. Skywalker instantly took a liking to Amidala, who found that she also found Skywalker quite likable. When Skywalker discovered that Amidala was a Jedi and assisted her in saving Kenobi at the secret meeting he realised that this was his opportunity to make a galactic impact, and demanded to be taken back to the Jedi Order. Kenobi, highly impressed by Skywalker's skill, allowed him to return to Coruscant with them and requested to the Jedi High Council that despite Skywalker's advanced age and inherent darkness he should be trained as a Jedi to assist in the war as Jedi numbers thinned. Sensing the power of Skywalker, the High Council reluctantly agreed to the request and appointed the newly Knighted Amidala as his master and teacher. Skywalker fought in the Clone Wars with his master and became a Jedi Knight in 26 BBY. Throughout the conflict, Skywalker became an icon to the public, known as the "Hero With No Fear". Additionally, many of his fellow Jedi believed that he was the Chosen Avatar, the one who would bring balance to the Force by destroying the Sith. Despite this, he carried with him a great sense of loss in addition to great anger and lack of restraint, cultivated throughout his early life experiences in crime worlds. His inability to control these traits led to his downfall when, in 19 BBY, Mace Windu asserted that he was the Chosen Avatar, not Skywalker, and attempted to kill both Skywalker and the Chancellor Decarte Palpatine. The unleashed anger that Skywalker threw at Windu in an effort to prove his dominance and rightful position as Chosen Avatar turned him to the dark side, bringing to the surface old personality traits buried since becoming a Jedi. Apprenticing to Darth Sidious, he became Darth Vader, and undertook his first mission, to kill Padmé's old master, Obi-Wan Kenobi. The confrontation against Obi-Wan Kenobi on the mining planet of Mustafar lead to defeat, the young Sith Lord losing his limbs and almost his life to Kenobi's superior swordplay, and had to be rebuilt in a permanent cybernetic suit. 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 the man who had crippled Vader in battle, Obi-Wan Kenobi. His children, Luke and Leia, were born at this time, though Skywalker remained unaware of their existence. As a master of the dark side, Vader became the scourge of the Jedi, continuing the Grand Jedi Purge which would last until 1 BBY. An extension of the Emperor’s will, the Dark Lord was constantly on the move, traveling throughout the galaxy 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. Vader eventually learned that the pilot’s name was Luke Skywalker, and he deduced that the boy was his son, born before the death of Amidala. Vader fought the Rebel Alliance while concocting a plan to turn his son to the dark side. Palpatine, however, was aware of his plans, and initiated his own plot to make Skywalker his apprentice. In 4 ABY 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 of the second Death Star, Palpatine attempted to turn the young Jedi to the dark side by having him duel Vader. Skywalker defeated Vader, but refused to give himself to the darkness, proclaiming himself a Jedi, like his father before him. When Palpatine attempted to kill Skywalker using Force lightning, Vader came to his son’s defense, saving him and killing Palpatine by throwing him down the main reactor core. Mortally wounded by the Force lightning, Vader died soon after. However, he died as Anakin Skywalker once more, having redeemed himself by saving his son.
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