He was the chosen one, the one to bring balance to the force. His path was fraught with emotion and isolation, but also great friendship and love,💫 but in the end, the light was not enough to save him.🌼 He fell victim to his fear and innate desire for power.
The story of Anakin Skywalker is one of calamity, hubris, hope, and redemption. He is utterly detestable, and his moral compass went completely wrong. He shows just how dangerous it can be to let the darkness prevail. Through Anakin we can live vicariously, rejecting his ways, and become better individuals for i♔t.
It is unlikely that George Lucas knew just how inspiring his villain would become. Few antagonists are as nuanced and layered as Darth Vader. From the moment Obi-Wan mentioned the name Anakin to a naïve Luke in A New Hope, the intrigue was set. The full story of Anakin’s demise was told in the prequel trilogy and given even more weight and detail through The Clone Wars TV series and various comics and novels.
Anakin’s story is full of up and downs, as well as many lesser-known facts and anecdotes. Join us as we explore them to their fullest, expose the story of Anaki𝓰n Skywalker to its very core, and learn more about the tragic legend who stumbled through the darkness until he finally fulfilled his destiny.
25 A Training Droid Began His Descent 🐎
There are so many “what ifs” revolving around Anakin’s tale. His fall to the dark side was a gradual process, and there were many points where a different choice could have been made, and the crisis averted. But alas, such was not meant to be, and Anakin’s path to the dark side began with a training droid, as shown in Part IV of the Marvel series Obi-Wan And Anakin.
When he was a young padawan at the Jedi Temple, Anakin programmed a training droid to behave like D꧒arth Maul and dispatched it swiftly. One of those watching the display was Sheev Palpatine. The Sith Lord was impressed by what he saw, and sometime later Sidious casually discussed the inefficiency of the Jedi Order. This planted the first seed of doubt in Anakin’s mind and was the beginning of the Chancellor's hold over him.
24 He Buiಞlt His First Lightsaber When He Was 12 ♏
Building a lightsaber is an extremely important rite of pa𒁏ssage for a Jedi. Though he was brought to the temple much older then most padawans, Anakin was still required to pass this test and did so at the age of twelve.
The story of how the saber came to be is quite exceptional, as outlined in the novel Jedi Quest: Path To Truth. Anakin and Obi-Wan traveled to the crystal caves o🤡f Ilum to build the saber, and there Anꦇakin began to meditate. In his trance, he was assaulted by the specter of a slaver, and one of Darth Maul, and dispatched these demons with ease. When he awoke the saber was complete, one that was perfectly balanced to his needs. The hilt was heavy and rigid, one that complemented immense strength, and it served him well until it was broken in the droid factory on Geonosis.
23 𓃲 For A Short Time, Anakin Knew He Would Become Vader
The Mortis Arc was one of the intriguing stories in The Clone Wars. Appearing towards the end 🦋of the third season, the arc involved the force wielding family of Mortis, who drew Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Ahsoka to their homeworld with a 2000-year-old Jedi distress beacon.
Within the family are The Son, The Daughter, and The Father. These three entities represent the Dark, Light, and Balance of the Force, and Anakin’s presence sparꦗked an insurgency from The Son, who wished to convert him to the dark. Anakin eventually found himself with The Son in a cave powerfully in tune with the dark side, and here Anakin had a vision. He was shown the future, a future where he ended younglings, hurt his own wife, and was shrouded by a mysterious mask. These revelations were reversed by The Father, who wiped his memory, declaring such visions forbidden.
22 🌺 The Cyborg Who Designed Vader Tried To Replace Him
Cylo was a cyborg who helped design Vader’s suit and lived through a system of immortality by transferring his consciousness to new bodies when ༺the old one perished. He was a force to be reckoned with and almost brought Vader down after the fi𒐪rst Death Star was destroyed.
This act was a huge failure in the Emperor’s eyes. As such, he employed the services of Cylo to build new apprentices to potentially replace Vader. These cyborgs were Morit and Astarte, and they were introduced in Marvel’s Darth Vader series of comics. When Vader learned of their existence, he descended upon their base to destroy them and was met by several of Cylo’s enhanced soldiers. He readily held them off, and an observing Sidious decid🌼ed to keep them all alive as his enforce🅘rs, considering their skills valuable to the Empire’s cause.
21 His Lightsaber Is Blue For 💯Good Reason
The color of a Jedi’s lightsaber is no trivial matter. The shades are representative of the Jedi or Sith who wields them, and they must meditate on t﷽he crystal to imbue it with the Force, and their personality.
The Guardian class, the sect of the Jedi Order that Anakin was a part of, used primarily blue lightsabers. This was because blue lightsabers re♒presente♚d the physical side of the natural world, and those who used them were more focused on athletics and dueling, as Anakin was. Green lighsabers favored force users, and the red synthetic of the Sith was a reflection of the pain they used to fuel their strength, created by making the crystals “bleed” against their will. Purple, the unique color of Mace Windu’s lightsaber, symbolized a balance of light and dark, and could only be used by one who had mastery over both.
20 Gloating Revealed Vader To Obi-Wan ♏ 𒈔
After the battle on Mustafar, Obi-Wan was unable to finish off his former apprentice and left him to perish on the planet’s volcanic shores. He then went into exile on Tatooine, keeping a watchful eye on young Luk𒁏e Skywalker, and assumed Anakin to be history. He kept this assumption until he overheard a tale about a fearful Imperial enfo♏rcer named Vader who took out several Jedi on Kashyyyk and knew his apprentice to be alive and well.
The fight on Kashyyyk was one of the first major showings of Vader’s terrible power. He put down countless Wookies, which forced the Jedi to emerge and face him. He dis✤patched many and faced down against a master, who nඣearly bested him, but was ultimately defeated by Vader’s force powers. Vader then took the time to gloat, revealing he was Anakin before flying off, and the rumors began to spread.
19 ♉His Getup Is Both Stylish And Practical
Anakin was never one for convention. He constantly disobeyed orders and “improvised” in dangerous situations, usually to successful results. Everything he did was a subtle act of rebellion against the order, right down to the clothing he chose to wear. These details are revealed in the Star Wars Episode II Visual Dictionary.
Anakin’s robes were of a much darker shade of brown than most and incorporated a synthetic black leather surcoat. This material was more than a fashion accessory, as it offered more protection than traditional cloth, something Anakin would have favored as the jump first, think later type ꧒that he was. The outfit was dense and provided more armor against unruly lightsaber strikes, but the order was still concerned about Anakin’s clear rebellion in his clothing choice. Their concern, as it turned out, was justified.
18 He Was 💃Almost Enslaved (Again)
Anaki♎n began his life as a slave and resented all who participated in the unsavory trade. Despite his hatred for it, a mission in the fourth season of The Clone Wars almost landed him, Obi-Wan, and Asohka 👍back into a life of turmoil and unpaid labor.
While pursuing Zygerrian slavers who had kidnapped Togrutan colꦡonists, the trio found themselves inꦗ orbit around Zygerria. They posed as slavers to get the Queen’s favor, but eventually, their cover was blown, and Anakin was forced to serve as the Queens personal slave in exchange for the lives of his friends. He complied for a time, but was able to ultimately win the favor of the Queen, and orchestrated an escape in the right moment, while the Queen fell victim to the rage of Count Dooku.
17 He’s An Excellent Teacher ♏
Despite his impulsive and rebellious nature, Anakin did have a soft side, one that allowed him to be an excellent mentor for his own 💧apprentice, Asohka Tano.
When they first met, Anakin was far from thrilled about having an apprentice, but followed through, as he knew there was much to be learned from being a teacher. She was assigned to him as an exercise in emotional connection and release, and he succeeded in a great deal of this. The two grew very close, facing many physical and mental challenges together, and𒀰 Anakin taught her well in the arts of the lightsaber and on the realities of leadership. Eventually, the two parted, as Asohka became disillusioned with the Jedi Order, and this decision saved her life.
16 ౠ How He Got That Scar
A lot happened between episodes two and three of Star Wars. The entire Clone Wars series went down, Anakin grew out his hair, became a lot more confident, and got a mysterious scar over his left eye. The origins of this scar were untold by George Lucas, but a more definitive explanation was revealed in the comic series Republic: Dreadnaughts Of Rendili.
In the comic, Anakin is in the lower levels of Coruscant li🎶stening to a recording from Padmé when he is attacked by Asajj Ventress, Count Dooku’s deadly apprentice. She taunts and antagonizes Anakin, forcing him into a rage, and then deftly carves both sides of the scar, one by one, with her lightsaber. She leaves, departing with the threat that she could have ended him easily, but chose not to.