Anakin Solo

"I witnessed the death of perhaps the greatest of them all, the one called Anakin Solo, who gave up his life so that the ones he loved might live."

- Nom Anor

Anakin Solo (10 ABY–27 ABY) was the youngest child born to Han Solo and Leia Organa Solo. Anakin was named for his maternal grandfather, Anakin Skywalker, and, like his namesake, was prodigiously talented in the Force, a gifted pilot, and a skilled mechanic. He had two siblings: his sister Jaina and his older brother Jacen.

Childhood
Anakin was born during a time of great instability. The New Republic was faced with the regroup Imperial factions under the reborn Emperor Palpatine. On one occasion, the Emperor touched him while he was still in the womb. On another, the Emperor had attempted to take over the body of the unborn child, in an effort to sustain his dark spirit in a more powerful form. Fortunately for Anakin, the Emperor's spirit was finally destroyed before he could complete this evil plan.

Early in his childhood, Anakin had the ability to make anything mechanical work regardless of whether he understood the device's purpose or its components. He demonstrated this by being able to take apart and reassemble his nanny droid. During the Corellian Crisis in 18 ABY, he used his Force abilities to locate and reactivate some of the ancient Corellian planetary repulsors.

Junior Jedi Knight
"Sometimes I wonder if the Emperor didn't find a way to ... infect me with the dark side of the Force"

- Anakin conversing with Master Skywalker following a dream in which he dreamed that he would become a Dark Jedi.

At the age of eleven, Anakin joined his uncle Luke Skywalker's Jedi Praxeum on Yavin IV a few months after his older sibblings joined it. There, he met and befriended Tahiri Veila, R2-D2, Tionne Solusar and Uldir Lochett. On one adventure with Tahiri, they came across the crumbling Palace of the Woolamander and discovered the Golden Globe and the ancient Jedi Master Ikrit. Ikrit also informed the pair that the Golden Globe contained countless trapped souls and that they could only be freed by Force-sensitive children.

Following that, Anakin and Tahiri accompanied the Melodie Lyric to her homeworld of Yavin 8 where she was to undergo an important form-changing ritual known as the Changing Ceremony. Shortly after the trio's arrival, they fell under attack by several native predators including an avril, a reel and several raiths. However, Anakin fought and killed them all. During the journey, Anakin and Tahiri also discovered ancient carvings deep within the a cave on the moon which matched those found at the Palace of the Woolamander. From these carvings, the duo learnt that Golden Globe contained the souls of the children of the Massassi that had been imprisoned by the Dark Lord Exar Kun in 3,997 BBY. They also learnt that it was held together by Sith magic that could only be broken by Force-sensitive children, exactly has Ikrit had told them.

However, before they could do so, the leader of the Tusken clan that had raised Tahiri demanded that she return to Tatooine. Anakin accompanied his friend to Tatooine where she rejoined her people and discovered her real parents Tryst and Cassa Veila, also Force-sensitive like their daughter though they had been accidentally killed in a Sandpeople raid. The two young Jedi also had to use their Force abilities as never before and defeated a Krayt dragon and survived the harshest deserts of the Dune Sea. Following this ordeal, they returned to Yavin IV and freed the trapped souls within the Golden Globe.

Despite this, Anakin remained troubled by visions of himself as a Dark Jedi, by his heritage as the grandson of Anakin Skywalker, who had become the infamous Darth Vader. Also, the reborn Emperor Palpatine had once attempted to enter him as an infant. To ensure he had no potential for evil, the young Jedi asked if he could go to the very same cave on Dagobah that Luke Skywalker had gone years earlier, and face himself.

However, before arrangements for the trip could be made, a youth named Uldir Lochett was found stowed away on one of the supply ships to the Praxeum Lightning Rod. In spite of his optimism, he lacked obvious Force sensitivity - in his own later, rueful opinion, all he had were good hunches, a whisper-like ability to sense when the Force was being used, and a habit of causing trouble. Later, Anakin along with Tahiri and Ikrit travelled to Dagobah. There, they discovered that Uldir had stowed again on their transport and encountered swamp creatures before finally reaching the cave where Skywalker had faced his own Dark Side years earlier. There, Anakin faced the manifestations of his own doubts though he emerged victorious in the end.

Later, the Jedi historian discovered that Darth Vader had saved Obi-Wan Kenobi's lightsaber after their duel on the First Death Star. The captured artefact had been sent to Vader's fortress at Bast Castle on Vjun. Tionne, Anakin, Tahiri, Ikrit and Uldir travelled to Vjun though as soon as they had retrieved the lightsaber, a group of mercenaries under Orloc stormed the room. Orloc claimed to be a "Mage" with great powers and deceived Uldir by promising that he would grant him all the Jedi skills that he desired. But, his companions rescued him and escaped along with the lightsaber and a Jedi Holocron. Unfortunately for Uldir, he was now obsessed with what the Mage had told him. He then stole both artefacts and a ship and then went to find Orloc.

Anakin accompanied by Tionne, Tahiri and Ikrit then pursued him to Exis Station, where Tionne had met Luke years earlier in her search for relics. It was on Exis Station that "Mage" Orloc had set up his base and recruited Uldir. In reality, Orloc had no Force powers and had used technology to deceive others with demonstrations of Force power. Uldir's companions confronted Orloc and during the duel, Uldir saw true Jedi power against Orloc's technologicl tricks and realised that he had been cheated. He then help defeat Orloc and left Exis Station with both artefacts and his friends. Anakin and his companions would return to the Jedi Praxeum.

In 24 ABY, Anakin was promoted to an apprentice Jedi Knight along with several other trainees including his older sibblings Jacen and Jaina, Tenel Ka, Lowbacca and Zekk during a ceremony at the Jedi Praxeum.

Yuuzhan Vong War
However, his greatest test would come during the devastating Yuuzhan Vong War in 25 ABY. The extragalactic Yuuzhan Vong invaded the galaxy with the intent of conquering it for themselves. Unlike many other sentient species, these fearsome invaders were not touched by the Force. This confounded the Jedi who first encountered the Yuuzhan Vong because virtually all life forms have a Force energy signature in one way or another. During this dark time, Anakin would be faced with death of his beloved Chewbacca during the destruction of Sernpidal. This incident hurt relations between him and his dad whom blamed Anakin and it would be months before father and son reconciled.

Following that, Anakin accompanied Mara Jade Skywalker to Dantooine where Mara hoped to halt the progess of the Coomb spore disease that was killing her on the planet's unspoiled grasslands. However, they were soon joined by refugees from Dubrillion evacuated by Lando Calrissian. Worse, the Yuuzhan Vong followed them and a great massacre ensued. During the battle, the Yuuzhan Vong unleashed legions of reptoid Chazrach slave soldiers and beetle-like Thrall herders from their galaxy. Anakin and his older brother Jacen would discover that these Chazrach were entirely mindless and were merely the Yuuzhan Vong's equivalent to battle droids. They slaughtered dozens of Chazrach and Luke Skywalker also destroyed a thrall herder, causing much of the enemy force to scatter and allowing the refugees to escape Dantooine.

Later, Anakin was among a taskforce of Jedi present at the Battle of Ithor. The Yuuzhan Vong attacked the beautiful, untouched jungle world and the floating city of Tafanda Bay until Jedi Knight Corran Horn offered to duel the Yuuzhan Vong leader Shedao Shai in single combat. If Corran defeated Shedao, the Yuuzhan Vong would withdraw from the plant. However, if Corran lost, Shai would get back the body of his ancestor Mongei Shai and have Ithor. Though Corran bested his rival, Shai's second-in-command Deign Lian answered to a higher authority (Tsavong Lah) whom ordered him to unleash a biological weapon from the Kor Chokk flagship Legacy of Torment which reduced all life on the planet to little more than black swamps of acidic ash. The Legacy was later destroyed though it crashed on Ithor, causing more carnage and contributing much to the Anti-Jediism of the galactic public.

During the war, his heroic acts led many New Republic citizens to regarded him as a galactic hero and the freshest face of the New Jedi Order—much like his grandfather was during the Clone Wars. However, many people also reviled the Jedi, blaming them for the invasion. The Jedi Order was also the target of the Yuuzhan Vong, whom saw them as their greatest obstacle to galactic domination. Among them were Nom Anor and the Fosh Vergere, a former Old Republic Jedi Knight whom had joined the extragalactic invaders in exchange that the living world of Zonama Sekot be spared.

During the Battle of Fondor, Anakin nearly wiped out the assembled Yuuzhan Vong fleet at Fondor through the use of Centerpoint Station had it not been for his older brother Jacen. Unfortunately, an old enemy in the form of the infamous Thrackan Sal-Solo fired the weapon, destroying the Yuuzhan Vong fleet though taking much of the Hapan fleet in the process. Later, Anakin played an important role during the defense of Duro when he defended the orbital city of Orr-Om by shooting down a serpentine Ychna which was attacking it.

Hero to the Enemy
Later, the Peace Brigade - an allied government of the Yuuzhan Vong - attacked the Jedi Praxeum itself. Anakin went there to help rescue the trapped trainees. However in the battle, his beloved Master Ikrit was killed and his childhood friend Tahiri was captured. Luckily for him, he received help in the forms of Qorl (a former TIE pilot whom had befriended his older sibblings) and Vua Rapuung (a Shamed outcast Yuuzhan Vong).

Vua Rappung helped Anakin to rescue Tahiri from the Yuuzhan Vong encampment though Anakin's lightsaber was damaged in the process, forcing him to rebuilt it with a Yuuzan Vong lambent. He attuned his lightsaber to himself and discovered a way to sense the Vong through the Force. Anakin was the first Jedi after Vergere to have sensed the Yuuzhan Vong thusly and called it the "Vongsense". This name was later adopted by Jacen. The Yuuzhan Vong had performed numerous experiments on Tahiri during her captivity. Anakin helped her recover from the ordeal and the two of them fell in love. Meanwhile, rumors of their exploits on Yavin IV ran rampant through the labour class "Workers and the outcast "Shamed Ones" of the Yuuzhan Vong, who soon began to see Jedi as their salvation.

Following that ordeal, he, Tahiri and Corran Horn travelled to Eriadu where they learnt from a dying Rodian Jedi named Kelbis Nu that Yag'Dhul - the homeworld of the mathematical Givin - would be the next target of the Yuuzhan Vong because it was located right where the Corellian Trade Spine and the Rimma Trade Route met. During their journey to Yag'Dhul, they stole a Yuuzhan Vong Yorik Stronha, a scout ship-analogue which they christened the Stalking Moon.

Having arrived, they managed to warn the Givin of the impeding invasion of their planet. Because of the threat, the Given decompressed the space station to kill the Vong, which forced Tahiri and Anakin into a storage locker. Feeling the end was near, the two shared a kiss. They were later rescued by Corran while the combined Givin/New Republic fleet drove back the extragalactic ivaders.

Myrkr
Unfortunately for Anakin, he would not live long enough to see the defeat of the Yuuzhan Vong. In 27 ABY, he lead a Jedi strike team to destroy a cloning facility for Jedi hunting-Voxyn on the Koros-strohna Baanu Raas which orbited Myrkr. The mission was a pyrrhic victory for the Jedi since despite destroying the facility, many memmbers of the strike team were killed including Anakin himself. However, because of his part in the battle, even the enemy came to admire him.

His death forced Jacen into a leadership position, pushed his sister Jaina to the dark side, and launched Tahiri into the throes of despair. His sister rashly attacked a Yuuzhan Vong mortuary and recovered his body. She flew his body to Hapes, where the entire family gathered for a funeral. After a memorial ceremony, Anakin was cremated by Luke Skywalker.

Anakin's lightsaber, however, was to play a significant role in defeating the Yuuzhan Vong. The Vong acquired the weapon, and Nom Anor gave it to Jacen in an attempt to convert him to their religion. Jacen deceived them, and lied about his conversion. Ganner Rhysode came to rescue Jacen, and used the lightsaber to kill hundreds of Yuuzhan Vong while Jacen sabotaged Yuuzhan'tar's World Brain. Finally, the lightsaber was later used by Supreme Overlord Shimrra Jamaane for his duel against Luke during the Battle of Coruscant. Luke grabbed the lightsaber and used his and Anakin's to decapitate the Dread Lord. After the war, Han Solo placed the lightsaber in front of a carving of Chewbacca on Kashyyyk, saying farewell to both of them.

Behind the scenes

 * Anakin Solo debuted in the comic series Dark Empire.
 * After the conclusion of The New Jedi Order series, rumors abounded that the Anakin Solo had somehow survived his meeting with the voxyn in the book Star by Star. Rumors claim that Anakin marries later after his return and lives very much a life like his grandfather, Anakin Skywalker. This would appear to be disproven by the fact that Anakin's body was recovered and cremated, and that Jacen saw his ghost on Coruscant. Some fans have pointed out the fact that Anakin died in a cloning facility as evidence he is alive, while Jacen was cut off from the Force and nearing a psychological breakdown at the time he encountered Anakin's ghost, so the encounter on Coruscant should be suspect at best. These theories have yet to be supported.

Appearances

 * Dark Empire II
 * Empire's End
 * The Secret Tales of Luke's Hand
 * Champions of the Force
 * The Crystal Star
 * Ambush at Corellia
 * Assault at Selonia
 * Showdown at Centerpoint
 * Young Jedi Knights series
 * Junior Jedi Knights: The Golden Globe
 * Junior Jedi Knights: Lyric's World
 * Junior Jedi Knights: Promises
 * Junior Jedi Knights: Anakin's Quest
 * Junior Jedi Knights: Vader's Fortress
 * Junior Jedi Knights: Kenobi's Blade
 * New Jedi Order series