Ben Skywalker

"... in the midst of despair, while the most fiercest battle of all looms on the horizon, hope arises with the birth of one very special child...."

- Author on Ben

Ben Skywalker was the son of Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade Skywalker. Ben was named for his father's first mentor, Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi. For most of his early life, Ben was sequestered in safeworlds so that his parents could fight the Yuuzhan Vong and keep him safe. Because of this, he grew to resent his parents and insisted on dealing life in his own way. He wielded a blue-bladed lightsaber following the Swarm War and became the apprentice of his cousin, Jacen Solo.

Like his late cousin, Anakin Solo, he was confident, brave, curious, intelligent, and quick-witted. As he grew up, his ability to use the Force became stronger, which enabled him to read emotions. No doubt Ben, whose traits he shares with his cousin and grandfather makes him a true Skywalker, shows great Force potential that may lead him to become more powerful than his father.

Early life
As Mara Jade was infected by Yuuzhan Vong coomb spores, she and Luke decided against having children. However, despite their efforts, Mara found, while attempting to heal her body with the Force, that she was pregnant. At first when Mara sensed the unborn child she thought that it was going to be a girl. A temporary cure was found in the tears of a Fosh named Vergere. The tears sent the disease into remission, but once they ran out, it started to return and threatened Mara's health, due to her efforts to keep the spores from attacking the child. Because of this, Mara almost died giving birth, but the disease was driven out of her body permanently with the help of Luke, and baby Ben. During this ordeal Luke has his first vision of Ben. After his birth Luke and Mara made it their primary goal to protect their son from any danger during those dark times.



Ben was born aboard the Star Destroyer Errant Venture, shortly after the Skywalkers were forced to flee Coruscant during heightened troubles between the Jedi and the New Republic Senate. The Skywalkers then moved into The Eclipse, a secret base for the jedi. As a baby, Ben was sent along the Great River to the Maw for protection from the Yuuzhan Vong. He was then in the custody of his aunt and uncle. Leia and Han enjoyed their nephew's company, but in some ways Leia was reminded of her late son, Anakin. Ben had little contact with his parents, though became embroiled in a kidnap attempt by Viqi Shesh during the Fall of Coruscant. Lando Calrissian and C-3PO were able to save Ben high above the galactic capital.

Yuuzhan Vong War
During the Yuuzhan Vong War, Luke and Mara sent him to Shelter with all of the other Jedi children, in the Maw Cluster. Shortly after the capture of Corusant Mara and Luke reluctantly left their son Ben in order to scout the Vong terriforming activities on Courscant with Tahiri and the Wraiths. After that Mara hired a defender droid to protect him. He later found them annoying and would admit that he wanted to be more like his uncle, Han. When Luke and Mara were able to spend time with him they traveled to Zonama Sekot where Luke had a vision of an older Ben flying an unknown plane. Even after he spent time with his parents, Ben really never understood them, especially his mother.

Though Ben survived the Yuuzhan Vong war, the pain and suffering he had sensed through the Force during that dark time caused the infant to cut himself off from the Force. During this time, Ben developed the ability to hide himself in the Force. Because of this, Mara found it difficult to locate him. Also during that time his empathy with humans began paticularly around his parents and aunt. Luke and Mara had to be careful with their emotions around Ben for a fear that their son will pull farther away from his powers and jedi heritage. Even five years on, Ben refused to use the Force, a disturbing development his parents did not know how to overcome.

Dark Nest Crisis
Ben went with his parents to the Unknown Regions during the war. When Ben was eight years old, during the buildup to the Swarm War, he befriended a Killik named Gorog, thinking of the creature as his friend. Secretly, Gorog attempted to brainwash the child to join the Dark Nest, but the plot was uncovered by Ben's mother, who was forced to kill the Killik. However, Ben was still able to gain a connection with the Gorog nest, being able to sense their presence and know their thoughts.

A year later, his cousin Jacen Solo took on Ben as an informal apprentice. Ben felt comfortable around Solo, and slowly began to open himself up to the Force. During the time he spent with Jacen, his raw Force power sometimes boiled to the surface. However, the time and distance away from Gorog had done nothing to weaken his connection to the Dark Nest and he had narrowly avoided becoming a full joiner. He accompanied Jacen to Hapes when Tenel Ka presented her child to him, and was able to figure out the Gorog were planning to kill Jacen and Tenel Ka's baby. He tried to convince them not to, but his connection proved overwhelming, and his nest-mates convinced Ben to help them and he instinctively applied an untrained powerful Force push against Tenel Ka. Jacen decided that he could not trust Ben with the knowledge he had, and erased Ben's memory of the visit. When Luke was told by Lowie and Tesar that Jacen had tampered with Ben's memory, Luke confronted his nephew. Jacen responded with a coverup story, explaining that on Endor, a group of Ewoks had been captured by a Gorax and killed, and that Ben had felt their deaths in the Force. Jacen said he then erased the traumatic memory from Ben in order to prevent Ben from retreating further from the Force. Mara, however, became suspicious of Jacen. After the Swarm War, it is presumed that Ben lived with his parents on Ossus and attended his father's Jedi Praxeum.



The Lost Lightsaber
Years later, presumably after completing his training at the Jedi Praxeum, Ben managed to track down his father's lost lightsaber, previously owned by his grandfather Anakin, which was in the possession of a Dark Jedi. The Dark Jedi was preparing to imbue the weapon with the power of the dark side, but Ben took it from him before he was able to do so. Though it is not known what happened in the ensuing battle, it can be assumed that Ben slew the Dark Jedi as well as the other darksiders who were present and took his father's weapon as his own.

Legacy of the Force
In 40 ABY, a teenage Ben and Jacen Solo were sent on a mission to uncover an illegal missile factory on the planet Adumar. The mission ended in a violent ambush, from which the Jedi narrowly escaped with their lives. The incident sparked political unrest that threatened to ignite into total rebellion that could shatter the young Galactic Alliance. In a desperate attempt to avoid such a fate, the Alliance readied a preemptive display of military might in a bid to bring the rogue worlds to heel. In a display of poor decision making, Corellia, the Solo home planet, was chosen as target of this exercise. Luke and Mara are unable to protect their son Ben from war.

As the civil war went on, Mara and Luke feared for Ben when his Jedi Master, Jacen Solo, made a decision that shocked both families and the galaxy. Along with Jacen and Nelani Dinn, a female Jedi who felt an attraction to him, Ben followed a woman named Brisha Syo to an asteroid lair of Darth Vectivus. There, Syo revealed that she was none other than Lumiya, a Sith who had once known his uncle. Lumiya told Jacen about Vergere's true identity and purpose, and his Jedi Master witnessed visions that confirmed what Lumiya told him: only by accepting her Sith teachings and embracing the dark side could he prevent the galaxy from sliding into chaos. After sparring with a dark side vision of Luke, and seeing an apparition of himself as a future Sith Lord, Jacen killed Nelani when she tried to arrest Lumiya, and agreed to the Sith's offer. He left the asteroid to search for an apprentice of his own, as Ben had been deemed too steepled in Jedi ways. When Ben inflitrates the Corellian Centerpoint Station, a mega-Death Star with the power to move and destroy planets, he must confront an A.I that believes it is Anakin Solo.

Behind the scenes

 * The above image is from a Star Wars Tales (and thus, non-canon) story, and predates the establishment of Ben's hair as being red. The image has thus been altered to give a more accurate representation of Ben's appearance in the Legacy era. The fact that they chose completely blond hair is interesting, as Ben's hair color had been identified as reddish-blond (strawberry blond) in a vision Luke had of Ben while Mara was giving birth.
 * He was presumably the ancestor of Cade Skywalker.
 * Interestingly, both he and his grandfather started their Jedi training at the age of nine. Which hints some similarities between him and his grandfather.
 * Judging from Luke's vision in The Unifying Force, it is likely that Ben will become a great pilot like his father and grandfather.
 * It is possible that Ben will take his father's place as leader of the jedi.

Appearances

 * Edge of Victory II: Rebirth
 * Star by Star
 * Dark Journey
 * Rebel Dream
 * The Unifying Force
 * Dark Nest I: The Joiner King
 * Dark Nest II: The Unseen Queen
 * Dark Nest III: The Swarm War
 * Betrayal
 * Bloodlines
 * The Lost Lightsaber