Anakin Skywalker

• Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi Novelization
• A Guide to the Star Wars Universe

The following is an excerpt from the scene between Luke and Obi-Wan's spirit on Dagobah:

"'When I first encountered your father,' Ben continued, 'he was already a great pilot. But what amazed me was how strongly the Force was with him. I took it upon myself to train Anakin in the ways of the Jedi. My mistake was thinking I could be as good a teacher as Yoda. I was not. Such was my foolish pride. The Emperor sensed Anakin's power, and he lured him to the dark side.' He paused sadly and looked directly into Luke's eyes, as if he were asking for the boy's forgiveness. 'My pride had terrible consequences for the galaxy.'

"Luke was entranced. That Obi-Wan's hubris could have caused his father's fall was horrible. Horrible because of what his father had needlessly become, horrible because Obi-Wan wasn't perfect, wasn't even a perfect Jedi, horrible because the dark side could strike so close to home, could turn such right so wrong. Darth Vader must yet have a spark of Anakin Skywalker deep inside. 'There is still good in him,' he declared.

"Ben shook his head remorsefully. 'I also thought he could be turned back to the good side. It couldn't be done. He is more machine, now, than man--twisted, and evil.'

"Luke sensed the underlying meaning in Kenobi's statement, he heard the words as a command. He shook his head back at the vision. 'I can't kill my own father.'

"'You should not think of that machine as your father.' It was the teacher speaking again. 'When I saw what had become of him, I tried to dissuade him, to draw him back from the dark side. We fought...your father fell into a molten pit. When your father clawed his way out of that fiery pool, the change had been burned into him forever--he was Darth Vader, without a trace of Anakin Skywalker. Irredeemably dark. Scarred. Kept alive only by machinery and his own black will...'"

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Here follows an excerpt from the entry for "Darth Vader." The entire entry is drawn only from the films, the radio dramas, and the film novelizations.

"...Vader was once Anakin Skywalker, expert pilot, hero of the Clone Wars, and disciple of Obi-Wan Kenobi. Learning to use the Force by Kenobi's methods was too slow for the impatient Anakin. He wanted a quicker, less difficult path to the vast power he sensed all around him. Emperor Palpatine offered him just such a path--the dark side. All Anakin had to do was give in to his anger, fear, and aggression. Ambitious and headstrong, he stepped into the dark side's embrace and became Darth Vader.

"According to the Return of the Jedi novel, when Kenobi saw what had become of his friend and student, Anakin Skywalker, he tried to draw him back from the dark side. But Vader wanted none of that. The two fought, and Vader fell into a molten pit. Though Kenobi thought him dead, Vader emerged from the pit. His shattered body, however, had to be susteained by life-supporting armor. When Kenobi learned that Vader lived, he helped Anakin's wife and newborn twins (whom Vader was not aware of) escape into hiding--Luke to Tatooine, and Leia and her mother to Alderaan.

"Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith, helped the Emperor hunt down and exterminate the Jedi Knights during the last days of the Old Republic and the opening moments of the Empire. Later, he was sent to help Governor Tarkin develop the original Death Star battle station. Once the Rebellion demonstrated that it posed a significant threat to the New Order, Lord Vader was put in charge of the Imperial fleet assigned to find and destroy the Alliance leaders. The mission took on a person significance when Vader discovered that Rebel's newest ally was his own son, Luke Skywalker..."

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