Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader (January 3, 2017)

mak, Virujansi, and elsewhere, cementing a reputation for his unparalleled skills. He custom modified his assigned Delta-7 Jedi starfighter into a truly unique vessel that outperformed the ships of the line.

The war molded Anakin into a man, but continued to feed his pride. It became increasingly difficult for him to adhere to the strict tenets of the Jedi Code, particularly when the Order itself was thrust into nebulous moral ground in waging a full-scale war. When he could, he would write letters to his beloved Padmé, but he saw her only very rarely.

During the Battle of Muunilinst, Anakin was placed in charge of the space attack against the homeworld of the InterGalactic Banking Clan, a key member of the Confederacy of Independent Systems. His exceptional starfighter piloting skills and leadership led clone pilots to defeat the enemy forces. Anakin, however, was drawn from the battle by a sleek rogue vessel that flew apart from the enemy swarm.

Despite repeated warnings from Obi-Wan not to pursue, Anakin gave chase, and followed the mysterious fanblade starfighter to the jungles of Yavin 4. Beneath the jungle canopy, amid the ruins of ancient Sith temples, Anakin dueled with Asajj, their ferocious lightsaber attacks illuminating their dank surroundings. Anakin repulsed Asajj, but did so only by giving into his anger, and once again the young Jedi had tread dangerously on the dark side of the Force.

Throughout the Clone Wars, Obi-Wan and Anakin were rarely far apart, being dispatched as a team to various battlefronts. As a Jedi Knight, Obi-Wan received the rank of General, with Anakin as his lieutenant. It was on the rain-soaked world of Jabiim that Skywalker had to take over on his own. Obi-Wan was presumed killed in a Separatist attack, and Skywalker led a group of similarly "orphaned" Padawans. In the midst of this battle, Anakin received a priority communiqué from Supreme Chancellor Palpatine. The galactic ruler requested that Anakin oversee the evacuation of Jabiim in person.

Though it pained Anakin to not fight alongside his comrades in the final push, he had to obey an authority as great -- and a friendship as close -- as Palpatine's. The evacuation of Jabiim was an ugly, controversial extraction, with the Republic abandoning the local forces to fend for themselves. Captain Gillmunn, local leader of the Jabiimi loyalists, swore vengeance on Skywalker and the Jedi order. He pulled a gun on Anakin, and Skywalker reacted by using the Force to start choking Gillmunn. Such a frightening use of the Force came easily to Anakin, though it was the first time he had ever used the mystical energy field in that specific fashion.

After evacuating Jabiim, Anakin was stationed at the medical centers on New Holstice. He met up with A'Sharad Hett, a young Jedi raised in Tusken Raider culture. Given Anakin's hatred of the Sand People for the murder of his mother, Skywalker was deeply conflicted when he was teamed with Hett on a mission to Aargonar. Unable to express his prejudice and anger towards Hett, Anakin instead projected his hatred on a group of Yuzzem Confederacy troops. Imagining them to be the Tusken Raiders who had kidnapped and tortured his mother, Anakin slaughtered the alien troops.

After reining in his emotions, Anakin revealed his secret to Hett. So that the troubled youth would view him as a fellow Jedi and not a Tusken Raider, A'Sharad removed his Tusken mask, revealing his human features to Anakin. Hett chose to keep Anakin's burden a secret, for it was ultimately up to Anakin to confess his transgressions to the Jedi Council. He never did.

Despite Jedi platitudes about peace and patience, Anakin found the battles of the Clone Wars invigorating. He felt alive in combat, and his incredible Force abilities were further honed. It was Anakin who single-handedly transformed inevitable defeat into victory on numerous occasions. Encounters on worlds such as Cato Neimoidia and elsewhere cemented Anakin and Obi-Wan's legendary reputations. Throughout the Republic, citizens would spread tales of the two Jedi heroes -- Anakin's hologenic features and daring exploits earned him the moniker of "The Hero With No Fear." Skywalker became a celebrity of the state, despite Jedi ascetics frowning upon such accolades.

That is not to suggest the war was without its difficulties. Time and again, the Separatists pushed, and Anakin would find himself restrained by his oaths to the Jedi. He couldn't share his darker thoughts with his fellow Jedi -- the thoughts that overwhelmed him that night in the Tusken Raider village. He knew that such a path was a gateway to more power, but it also led to the dark side. The only person he felt comfortable confiding such troubles to was a friend he had since his days as a child hero on Naboo: Chancellor Palpatine.

Palpatine encouraged Anakin's talents. In many ways, Anakin felt Palpatine was the only one not asking anything from him. He was simply letting Anakin be, and appreciating him for his efforts and talents -- he wasn't imposing boundaries nor begging for aid.

Another ache for Anakin was the absence from his wife. Long weeks would stretch into months wherein Anakin would not see Padmé. As a devoted Senator, she kept a watchful eye on the war, but much of her interest on the scattered reports of the ongoing conflict was deeply personal. The five months they were apart during the Outer Rim Sieges tore at their hearts.

In the last year of the Clone Wars, Anakin and Obi-Wan were stationed in the Outer Rim when word came of a shocking development. Coruscant was under attack. Not only was the planet that held his beloved wife targeted, but also his close friend the Chancellor had been kidnapped by the merciless General Grievous and his droid forces.

It was with a fierce determination that Obi-Wan, Anakin, and their Republic forces launched towards Coruscant, to parry the blow to the Republic's heart. Infiltrating General Grievous' flagship, Obi-Wan and Anakin worked their way into what was surely a trap. Aboard the vessel, they found the captive Palpatine and were confronted once again by Count Dooku.

In the lightsaber duel that ensued, Obi-Wan was knocked unconscious by a withering telekinetic blow delivered by the Sith Lord. Anakin continued to hold his own alone, urged to the offensive by Palpatine's goading. Anakin sliced off Dooku's hands, rendering the Sith Lord harmless. At Palpatine's insistence, Anakin killed Dooku, decapitating the Separatist leader. He instantly regretted the decision, despite the surge of power he felt in doing it. Palpatine tried to reassure Anakin that it was necessary -- Dooku was too dangerous to be taken alive.

Kenobi, Skywalker and Palpatine then attempted to make their way off the starship, only to be captured by General Grievous' droid forces. Marched before the General within the ship's bridge, it was Anakin who surprisingly recommended patience as a tactic. Sure enough, his reliable astromech droid, R2-D2, provided a mechanical distraction that allowed Anakin and Obi-Wan to overpower their guards and reclaim their weapons.

Grievous escaped the encounter, but the flagship sustained far too much damage during the Battle of Coruscant to remain in flight. The planet's gravity pulled the ship further down into the atmosphere, and it was up to Anakin to pilot the splintering craft to safety. True to his reputation, he succeeded. He once again proved to be a hero -- having rescued Palpatine, defeated Dooku, and returned home safely.

Finally back on Coruscant, Anakin was reunited with Padmé. The reunion was bittersweet, for while Padmé brought Anakin the news that she was pregnant, this only complicated matters. They wondered how they could continue to keep their relationship a secret with this new development. Anakin tried to focus on the positive, but was soon plagued with nightmares that he deeply feared were prophetic. He kept dreaming that Padmé would die in childbirth.

In addition to this heavy burden, even more weight was put on young Anakin's shoulders. He found himself in the middle of a political power struggle between the Jedi Council and the Chancellor. Throughout the Clone Wars, Chancellor Palpatine was gaining increased executive powers in the name of security. Those in the Jedi Council, including Mace Windu, grew increasingly suspicious of Palpatine's motives. They suspected Palpatine would soon attempt to make the Council an exclusive instrument of the Chancellor's office.

Palpatine trusted Anakin. Their friendship caused the Chancellor to appoint Skywalker to the Council, as his special representative. Ordinarily, the Jedi Council would not allow such an outside influence to dictate their appointments, but the Jedi had a plan. They would use Anakin to report on the Chancellor's activities. Though not documented in any official records, Anakin was asked by the Council to spy on the Chancellor. Specifically, Obi-Wan Kenobi made the request personally.

Anakin was outraged. Bad enough the Jedi Council should involve itself in such treason, but to ask in such an unorthodox fashion -- and to have it be his former mentor nonetheless! Further angering Skywalker was that the Council accepted his appointment, but refused to grant him the rank of Master. Such an insult was unheard of. Deep down he believed he was more powerful than these outdated Jedi Masters. Anakin imagined that they feared his power, notions that Palpatine helped nurture with his advice.

It was at these moments of Skywalker's greatest confusion that Palpatine opened up to him. During a quiet conversation at the Galaxies Opera House, Palpatine recounted an old Sith legend of Darth Plagueis the Wise. Palpatine explained that Plagueis, a Sith Lord, had abilities that some would describe as unnatural. Like an ancient alchemist, he could coax life out of midi-chlorians, either for the purpose of creating new life, or staving off death in others. This was the promised power of the Sith, suggested Palpatine. Anakin, who had been searching for a way to prevent Padmé from dying, listened intently.

Anakin confronted Palpatine about this arcane knowledge, accusing the Chancellor to be a Sith Lord. The Chancellor did nothing to dissuade Anakin of this idea. He instead offered Anakin the knowledge and power that the dark side promised. He promised Skywalker a path to the Force that had no rules, no code, no boundaries.

Anakin reported the Chancellor to Mace Windu, earning the Jedi Master's trust. Windu brought a team of capable Jedi warriors to arrest the Chancellor, but he refused to let Anakin come along. Left alone to stew in his tempestuous thoughts, Anakin realized that Palpatine could be his only chance at saving Padmé. He rushed to the Chancellor's office, to discover a stunning sight: the Chancellor, cornered in his office window, with Mace Windu looming over him with his lightsaber blade extended. Palpatine unleashed a torrent of Sith lightning at the Jedi Master, but Windu was able to deflect it back at the Chancellor. The evil energies twisted Palpatine's face as they flowed through him, scarring and disfiguring his once handsome features. His eyes burned yellow, his voice grew ragged and deep, and he became a well of dark side energies.

Palpatine slumped in his corner, seemingly too weak to continue the lightning assault. Fearing the Chancellor to be too powerful and too well connected, Windu decided he could not be taken alive. Palpatine cried out for help, calling Mace a traitor, and explaining how the Jedi had engineered a coup to topple the Republic's leadership. Mace denied this loudly, identifying Palpatine as the traitor. With these shrill arguments vying for his loyalty, Anakin felt torn. Torn between his loyalties, and needing Palpatine alive to fulfill his quest for arcane knowledge to preserve the life of his beloved, Anakin acted. In an emotionally charged action, Anakin ignited his lightsaber blade and sheared off Mace Windu's weapon hand before he could strike Palpatine. Defenseless, Windu was bombarded with Sith lightning as Palpatine -- now revealed to be Darth Sidious -- unleashed a torrent of deadly energy at the Jedi Master. The forked bolts of lightning penetrated Mace's body, illuminating his form from within. The final blast bodily lifted him into the air, sending his form hurling into the Coruscant skies, to crash lifelessly somewhere in the vast cityscape below.

With the death of Mace Windu, Anakin had committed himself to the dark path. He knelt before Darth Sidious, proclaiming himself to be a servant of the Sith. Pleased, Sidious granted Anakin a Sith name: Darth Vader. With the promise of newfound powers, Sidious dispatched Vader to destroy the Jedi Temple.

On that terrible night on Coruscant, Darth Vader became the scourge of the Jedi. He led a column of clone troopers into the heart of the Jedi Temple. They killed all those within. His eyes burning with Sith intensity, it became clear that Anakin was no longer the same hero he once was. He was firmly entrenched in darkness, even bringing his blade to snuff out the bright lives of the Jedi younglings.

Skywalker was no more. He could not hear the entreaties of his friends and loved ones to return from the darkness. Upon his ascendancy to Galactic Emperor, Darth Sidious had no further need of the Separatists. He dispatched Darth Vader, to dispose of his wartime collaborators on Mustafar. Upon arrival, Vader silently stalked into the inner chambers of the mining facility. His lightsaber blade made short work of the Separatists, cutting them down and effectively bringing an end to the Clone Wars. In his twisted perception, he was bringing peace and order to the new Empire, wiping away the corruption and chaos of the Republic's twilight.

Arriving on Mustafar, Padmé confronted Anakin. Padmé was distraught by Anakin's transformation. She pleaded for him to return from the dark side. Unknown to Padmé, Obi-Wan had stowed away on her ship to find him. When Kenobi emerged from Amidala's ship, Anakin was consumed with rage. Anakin accused Padmé of betraying him, and he reached out with his hand and began to telekinetically strangle Padmé. She gasped for air before collapsing, unconscious, on the Mustafar landing platform. In his rage, he would bring about the death of his wife, fulfilling the terrifying vision that prompted his turn to forbidden knowledge. Kenobi witnessed the evil in Anakin, and attacked his former apprentice.

The lightsaber duel that followed was the stuff of legends. The two incredible warriors crossed blades throughout the barren industrial facility on Mustafar, oblivious to the volcanic danger surrounding them. The spectacular lightsaber duel worked its way through the Mustafar collection complex. Through the course of their battle, the protective shields were deactivated, and the facility was exposed to the planet's full geological fury. A geyser of lava erupted, dropping molten rock on one of the outrigger collection arms of the facility where Obi-Wan and Vader dueled. The arm collapsed under the heat and strain, plunging into the lava river. Before the severed collection arm succumbed to the pull of a lavafall, Vader and Kenobi leapt from the doomed structure onto a nearby worker droid and harvesting platform, respectively. Their duel continued on these automated platforms floating on the molten rivers of lava. The duel returned to solid ground as Kenobi leapt to the black-sand shores of one of the lava flows. He had the high ground, the tactical advantage. He urged Vader not to press on in a fight he could not win, but the Sith Lord's arrogance got the better of him.

Anakin leapt towards Kenobi, and in a single swipe Obi-Wan's blade sheared from him his lower legs and his left arm, and his crippled body tumbled onto the searing black sands of Mustafar. Anakin's maimed body rolled down the embankment, towards the river's edge. Obi-Wan was crushed. The supposed Chosen One was no more, but only after wreaking so much destruction on the galaxy. The Jedi were gone. The Chancellor now ruled the galaxy, and the young hero he had come to regard as his beloved brother lay dying on the charred gravel of a hellish world. The heat from the river washed over Anakin, and he caught fire, and Vader was severely burned all over his body. His last words professed his utter hatred for Kenobi. Kenobi then picked up Skywalker's dropped lightsaber and returned to Padmé's starship, leaving the Dark Lord to die on the Mustafar river banks.

Darth Sidious sensed Vader's anguish, and arrived in time to rescue his fallen apprentice. Sidious took Vader from Mustafar to an Imperial rehabilitation center where he was rebuilt. Maimed and mortally wounded by lightsaber and fire, Vader required cybernetic enhancements and replacements to sustain him. Vader was reconstructed as a cyborg and encased in a black protective life supporting suit. His pure innocent self seemingly lost forever, he abandoned his former identity. Darth Vader cast a dark pall over the galaxy, as he was one of the foremost agents responsible for the spread of the Emperor's draconian New Order.

In the chaos that accompanied Palpatine's rise to power, Vader became one of the Emperor's most loyal servants. The Emperor entrusted him with the elimination of the Jedi Knights. As an agent of the Sith, Darth Vader was a merciless killer. During these dark times, Vader and his agents destroyed the Jedi order. Vader personally slayed or crippled such notable knights as Halagad Ventor and Empatojayos Brand. The slaughter of the Jedi was widespread, but several Force-sensitive individuals were spared. Select agents of the Emperor were allowed to keep their knowledge of the Force, as long as they used it as the Emperor commanded. Others hid, as Vima-Da-Boda did in the slums of Nar Shaddaa, or Obi-Wan Kenobi did in the deserts of Tatooine.

As Palpatine grew in political power, so too did Vader's star rise. On Coruscant, an immense palace was awarded to the Dark Lord. Another such monument, Bast Castle, existed on the distant world of Vjun. The Emperor allowed Vader to train a precious few in the Force to act as agents, such as Lord Hethrir and Vost Tyne.

Vader, never much of a statesman, eschewed politics in favor of a more martial role in the Imperial command structure. Many in the Imperial hierarchy resented Vader's position of privilege. Vader's capriciousness was legendary. He would often kill veteran officers for moments of incompetence. For his chilling managerial style, Vader had to weather a treasonous revolt from a handful of Imperial officers who tried to do away with the Dark Lord. Their assassination attempt failed, and Vader was none too amused.

Still possessing Anakin Skywalker's amazing piloting and engineering skills, Vader oversaw the initial designs for the Sienar Fleet Systems TIE Advanced starfighter. His position in the Imperial ranks gave him the first prototype model, the x1, as an exclusive fighter.

When the Galactic Civil War raged across the Empire, Darth Vader was tasked with discovering the location of the Rebel Alliance's secret base. Vader captured Rebel operative Princess Leia Organa and had her tortured to reveal the location of the hidden fortress. Vader also sought technical plans stolen by the Rebels. These plans carried the complete schematics of the Empire's most powerful weapon, the Death Star battle station. When a rescue team successfully liberated the princess, Vader found himself face to face with his former master, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Vader defeated the aged Jedi Knight in a lightsaber duel.

Using the stolen plans to pinpoint the Death Star's weakness, Rebel forces launched a starfighter attack on the station. Entering the battle, Vader piloted his own specially modified fighter. He managed to destroy the most Rebel pilots in the battle, but was forced out of the conflict when his own vessel was crippled by the Millennium Falcon. The x1’s compact hyperdrive came in handy when Vader found himself in the depths of space following the destruction of the Death Star.

Returning to the Empire, Vader was formally reprimanded for his failure to stop the Rebels. He then continued his mission to find the Rebel base. His search took him to such worlds as Ultaar and Centares. He tortured a Rebel pilot that led him to discover the identity of the Death Star's killer, Luke Skywalker.

Equipped with this information, Vader orchestrated a number of plans to capture the young Rebel. He involved the House of Tagge family of nobles in a plot to capture Skywalker on the world of Monastery. He used an actor posing as Obi-Wan Kenobi to lure Skywalker to the planet Aridus. When Governor Bin Essada learned that Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia Organa were on Circarpous V, he contacted the Dark Lord. Vader traveled to the jungle world, and faced the Rebels in the abandoned Temple of Pomojema. Guided by the spirit of Obi-Wan, Luke severed Vader's prosthetic right arm in combat. Vader, amazingly, survived the wound, and was ready to continue. The Dark Lord toppled into a sacrificial well as the fight resumed, and the Rebels escaped.

Three years after the destruction of the Death Star, Vader led an elite squadron of Star Destroyers headed by his flagship, the Super Star Destroyer Executor. He was to seek out and capture the Rebels responsible for the Death Star's demise. Eventually, Vader tracked the Rebels down to the ice-world of Hoth. There, he launched a ground attack destroying the base. His quarry, the Millennium Falcon, escaped.

During the Hoth campaign, the Emperor commanded Vader to track down the "son of Skywalker," and have Vader turn him to the dark side of the Force. Vader planned to use Skywalker's friends as bait to lure him into a trap. He hired a motley gang of bounty hunters to track down the Falcon, and drew Luke to Bespin's Cloud City. He and Luke clashed in a lightsaber duel that Vader won by ruthlessly severing Luke's sword-hand. Vader then revealed to the broken young Jedi that he was his father, and that they would rule the galaxy as father and son. Luke refused to succumb to the dark side, and escaped his father. Vader was left empty-handed.

After the Battle of Hoth, Vader found himself in a complex game of strategy against the scheming criminal mastermind, Prince Xizor. The prince, who had long hated Vader due to a planetary bombardment ordered by the Dark Lord on Xizor's homeworld of Falleen, was attempting to discredit Vader in the sickly yellow eyes of the Emperor. Xizor had long been a rival for the Emperor's attentions. He sought to foil Vader's plan to capture Skywalker for the Emperor by having Luke assassinated first. Vader discovered Xizor's plot, and killed him in an assault high over Coruscant.

After these incidents, Palpatine reassigned Vader from the Imperial fleet, and instead put him in charge of overseeing the new Death Star operation. The Emperor began to distrust his once loyal servant. Vader's contact with his son sparked something within him, something the Emperor did not like.

Palpatine was scheduled to arrive at the second Death Star. The Emperor foresaw that Skywalker would come before the two, and then they would seduce young Luke to the dark side, just as Anakin had been drawn to its power decades earlier.

When Luke surrendered, and was taken before the Emperor, Palpatine pitted father and son in a lightsaber duel. Skywalker refused to fight and give into the temptation of the dark side. Vader, probing his mind, learned of his daughter, Leia Organa. He threatened to turn her to the dark side. At this threat, Luke gave into his hatred and attacked his father. In the ferocious assault that followed, young Skywalker nearly killed Vader. Horrified by what he had become, Luke abandoned his new found dark side rage, and refused Palpatine's offers of power. "I am a Jedi, like my father before me," Skywalker proudly claimed.

Palpatine unleashed a deadly barrage of dark side energy on the young Jedi. Lightning bolts spawned from pure evil tore into Luke's body with searing pain. Vader stood helplessly, watching his son writhe in agony from torture delivered by his master. Unable to watch anymore, Vader turned against his master. He grabbed a surprised Palpatine from behind, hoisted him above his head, and tossed his evil master down a bottomless reactor shaft. Vader was bombarded by the Emperor's Force lightning, mortally wounding him.

As he lay dying aboard the second Death Star, Vader ceased to be. Anakin Skywalker returned. He asked his son to remove his cumbersome, fearsome mask so that he could look upon his long lost son with his own eyes. His mask and life support removed, Anakin looked upon Luke for the first and last time. Having saved his son's life, and reclaimed his soul from the dark side, Anakin died and became one with the light side of the Force. As he shed his corporeal form, he found the spectral forms of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda ready for his return. Through compassion and selflessness, Anakin discovered the secret knowledge of the Shaman of the Whills, a technique that allowed him to retain his identity in the netherworld of the Force.

Luke burned the dark armor that had encased Anakin's crippled body in a quiet funeral pyre on the forest moon of Endor that night. Anakin's spectral form looked upon his two children -- the twins Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa -- during the celebration at Endor.