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Anakin Skywalker

At age nine the young Anakin Skywalker was a kind, selfless child who had no thoughts of greed or malice in him. He was an excellent podracer and brilliant with all things technical. He built the droid C-3PO to help his mother about the house.

Anakin's sensitivity to the Force and his racing talents caused him to cross paths with the Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and the young Naboo royal, Queen Amidala. They were fugitives from the Trade Federation blockade of Naboo that desperately needed passage to Coruscant. In order to win the needed parts for their damaged vessel, Anakin figured into a cleverly crafted wager that depended on the outcome of the Boonta Eve Classic Podrace.

He garnered the attention and admiration of Queen Amidala, who was disguised as a simple handmaiden at the time. Despite their age difference -- she was fourteen and he, nine, he professed someday that they would marry and carried a devoted crush on her.

While he won the race that ultimately led to his freedom, he was unable to win his mother’s freedom which upset him greatly. Jedi Qui-Gon Jinn believed Anakin to be the Chosen One spoken of in an ancient prophecy, the one who would bring balance to the Force. The Jedi Council reluctantly agreed but felt his future to be clouded and that Anakin was too old to begin Jedi training.

Anakin was to be looked after by Qui-Gon, but Darth Maul changed things by killing Qui-Gon in a battle. As Qui-Gon lay dying, he begged Obi-Wan Kenobi to take the young Anakin as his student and to train him as a Jedi. Over the next decade, the two forged a strong bond. Under Obi-Wan's careful guidance, Anakin became a confident, headstrong 20-year old with an impulsive nature and a flair for adventure.

A decade later Anakin and Obi-Wan were assigned to protect Padmé Amidala, who was now Senator of Naboo, from assassination attempts possibly linked to Separatists threatening the Republic. In the quiet solitude amid the beautiful surroundings of a hidden Naboo lake retreat, the affectionate friendship and deeper emotions shared by Padmé and Anakin began to grow.

Overcome with nightmares about his mother, defying the strict orders given him by Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin left Naboo to return to Tatooine and find her. His search would lead him to a Tusken encampment where she later died in his arms. He was possessed with a dark rage as he slaughtered the entire encampment. Every single Tusken Raider man, woman, and child died by his hand.

Anakin and Padmé next voyaged to Geonosis, where Obi-Wan's investigations had taken him. Kenobi had been captured by Separatist forces, and Anakin sought to rescue him. After rescuing Kenobi, Padmé lowered her emotional guard and professed her love to Anakin, a love he was willing to return regardless of the consequences.

After surviving losing his arm to a battle with Count Dooku, he single handedly transformed inevitable defeat into victory on numerous occasions. Anakin and Padmé were secretly wed by a Naboo holyman in a ceremony witnessed only by C-3PO and R2-D2 at a secluded lake retreat. It may have been the start of a new life, but it was another step to Anakin's eventual destruction.

As turmoil engulfed the galaxy during the transition from Republic to Empire, Anakin fell to the dark side of the Force. Under the influence of the evil chancellor Palpatine and plagued by the ongoing absence of his wife he began to become consumed by evil, Anakin abandoned his past and his humanity. He became Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith, apprentice to the evil Emperor Palpatine.