Luke Skywalker/Legends

"That boy is our last hope."

- Obi-Wan Kenobi

Luke Skywalker was the son of Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and Senator Padmé Amidala, and the older twin brother of Leia Organa Solo. A celebrated pilot and leader, Skywalker was most famous for destroying the first Death Star and prompting Darth Vader to kill Emperor Palpatine, which led to the eventual downfall of the Galactic Empire.

Luke Skywalker was widely known as the greatest hero of the Rebel Alliance. He was later promoted to general, became an influential member of the New Republic and a prominent Jedi Master. Trained in the ways of the Force by Jedi Masters Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda, Luke eventually closed the chapter in his life as a soldier and established the Jedi Praxeum to create the New Jedi Order that would serve as guardians and peacekeepers in the New Republic. Later in his life he married fellow Jedi Mara Jade, with whom he had a son, Ben Skywalker. Ten years later, Luke Skywalker officially claimed the title Grand Master of the Jedi Order.

Early life (19 to 1 BBY)
"To Tatooine, to his family, send him."

- Yoda, 19 BBY



Luke Skywalker was born on the asteroid colony of Polis Massa shortly after the start of the Great Jedi Purge and the foundation of the Galactic Empire. Mere seconds after the birth of Luke's younger sister, Leia, his mother, Padmé Amidala died, effectively orphaning both children. Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda knew the children, both Force-strong, had to be protected from the Emperor and their fallen father. Deciding it would be best if they were separated, the two Jedi Masters agreed to send the infant boy to live with his father's stepbrother, Owen Lars, and his wife, Beru, on Tatooine. Leia was sent to live under the protection of her newly-adopted parents, Bail and Breha Organa. For additional protection, Kenobi chose to go into hiding on Tatooine and live near the boy in a tribe of Tusken raiders, in order to watch over him as he grew.

Unbeknownst to young Luke, a few years later Ben Kenobi returned to the Lars farm carrying Anakin's lightsaber, as he now felt Luke was old enough and should be allowed to have his father's lightsaber. Owen, refusing to allow it, confronted and berated Kenobi, telling him how he didn't want Luke to make the same mistakes Anakin did, stating how he felt Anakin should have never left his mother and gotten involved with the "foolish idealistic Jedi crusaders" in the first place. He vehemently told Kenobi to leave and to stay away.

Kenobi continued to watch Luke from a distance, sometimes seeing Luke pilot his Skyhopper very skillfully. As an orphan, Skywalker lived on Tatooine for the first nineteen years of his life, where his uncle tried unsuccessfully to discourage all of Skywalker's tendencies towards becoming a Jedi like his father. However, when Luke was a boy, he unknowingly tapped into the Force to find his uncle's lost screwdriver. When Owen found out he yelled at the boy telling him to never do that again. As a teenager Luke often didn't see eye to to eye with his uncle, resulting in many arguements. When prompted with inquiries about his father's involvement in the Clone Wars, Lars told him that his father had been "a navigator on a spice freighter." Despite this lie, he was still an adventure-seeking youth, whether he was piloting his Incom T-16 Skyhopper through Beggar's Canyon, racing his landspeeder, looking after droids, or fixing the moisture vaporators. Skywalker possessed talents in droid repair, piloting, and the Force, making him very much like his father. Luke started to dream of adventures beyond Tatooine. He longed to fly among the stars to distant alien worlds.

He gained a large group of friends while living on Tatooine, including Camie and Fixer, whose horizons did not extend much past Tatooine itself, and Tank and Biggs, who mostly had the same dreams of joining the Imperial Academy and becoming pilots that Skywalker himself had. Some of his friends called him "Wormie". Biggs Darklighter was perhaps Skywalker's closest friend, whom he looked up to as almost a brother figure. Biggs left for the Academy in 1 BBY, much to Skywalker's dismay. As more of Skywalker's friends left the planet to follow their dreams, he became increasingly frustrated that his uncle would not allow him to leave the planet, claiming that he still needed help with the farm.

Galactic Civil War (0 to 4 ABY)
"There is a great disturbance in the Force. We have a new enemy: the young rebel who destroyed the Death Star. I have no doubt that this boy is the offspring of Anakin Skywalker."

- Emperor Palpatine to Darth Vader.



The purchase of two droids by Skywalker's uncle changed the youth's life forever. With the discovery of a desperate message within the astromech droid, R2-D2, that was a distress call to Obi-Wan Kenobi, Luke unbeknownst to him, finally saw his long lost twin sister. Skywalker soon found himself in the company of Ben Kenobi, who revealed to the younger man that he had once been a Jedi Knight who served in the Clone Wars with Skywalker's father, Anakin, who was not a cargo pilot as his uncle had insisted, but another Jedi Knight.

On his return home, when Skywalker discovered that his aunt and uncle had been murdered by Imperial stormtroopers looking for R2-D2 and C-3PO, he agreed to accompany Kenobi to Alderaan to deliver the astromech&mdash;who was carrying the plans to the Death Star&mdash;to Bail Organa at the behest of Organa's daughter, Leia. The two traveled to Mos Eisley cantina to obtain passage off Tatooine and met Han Solo and his first mate, Chewbacca.

After escaping stormtroopers and blasting off the planet in Solo's ship, the Millennium Falcon, Kenobi began Skywalker's instruction in the ways of the Force. This teaching, however, was soon interrupted by their arrival in the Alderaan system and their discovery of the planet's destruction. They were then captured by the Death Star's tractor beam and brought aboard the space station.

Once onboard, Kenobi separated from Skywalker, Solo, Chewbacca, and the droids to deactivate the tractor beam. But when R2-D2 discovered that Leia Organa was being held captive, Skywalker insisted on rescuing her. With Solo and Chewbacca's help, the trio made it into the detention area.



Eventually, the group escaped the Death Star, but only after Kenobi sacrificed himself in a duel with Darth Vader. They traveled to the hidden Rebel Base on Yavin IV, even though the Death Star was tracking them. It was then that Solo had his reward for rescuing Leia and was preparing to leave the group. Luke tried to persuade him to stay and help them against the Empire but Solo refused, which deeply disappointed him.

Skywalker took part in the Battle of Yavin as Red Five. There he witnessed the death of many of his friends, including his best one. After the death of the two squadron leaders and with the help of Kenobi's spirit he took on himself to lead a final desperate assault. At he very moment Vader was about to shoot him down with his Interceptor, Solo showed up and forced him to flee. Luke then took a single shot and used the Force to direct his proton torpedoes to the correct spot and destroyed the station.

After the destruction of the Death Star, the young Skywalker spearheaded a number of missions for the Rebel Alliance, including seeking out a new world for the Rebels' hidden base. As he was eager to serve the Rebel Alliance, Skywalker's early years were filled with adventures including fighting pirates and bandits though in one mission, he was almost duped by an Imperial plot that employed an actor posing as his dead mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi.



While on a scouting mission, Skywalker's vessel was caught in the hyperwash of a transdimensional cometary body, depositing him onto a barren ice world Hoth. Skywalker had discovered what was to be the site of the Rebels' new base and after returning to the Alliance, he informed his superiors of this isolated world. Not long later, the Rebel Alliance evacuated their outposts on Yavin 4 and Thila to set up a base on Hoth. He later accompanied Princess Leia on a diplomatic mission to the Circarpous system where he first came face to face with Darth Vader. Luke and Vader were both in pursuit of a powerful Force relic, the Kaiburr crystal, and had a duel in the ancient Temple of Pomojema. Every movement of Skywalker was guided by the spirit of Kenobi and empowered by the crystal, so the young boy amazingly managed to hold Vader off. He even managed to sever the Dark Lord's mechanical arm. Shocked, Vader tumbled down a deep pit, and their duel was interrupted.

In 3 ABY, while he was reconnoitring the surrondings of Echo Base, luke was knocked out by a wampa that took him to his cave. When he regained conciousness he managed to escape, but he had be taken to far away from his base. After a very long walk in the ice wind, he collapsed from exhaust. Near death, he had a vision of Obi-wan Kenobi who told him to seek the teachings of Yoda on the Dagobah System, and was then rescued by Han Solo.

Unfortunately he didn't have much time to recover : Darth Vader, desperate to find him and now aware of his identity, had sent thousands of probe droids across the galaxy in search of the Jedi and the new Alliance headquarters. One of those probes had reached Hoth and sent proof of Rebel activity to the Empire. Luke led his squadron to counter the attack and buy time for the rebels to evacuate, but Vader eventually reached the base (which was now empty) and Luke had to leave the planet aboard his X-Wing.

He then headed to Dagobah and found Jedi Master Yoda, who refused at first to train him but finally let Obi-wan change his mind. Luke's training prove to be difficult, and when Yoda asked him to enter a cave in which he was supposed to find only what he took with him, he was challenge by a vision of himself wearing Darth Vader's armor. Shortly after, he had a vision of Han and Leia suffering in the Cloud City. Despite Yoda and and Kenobi disapproval, he left Dagobah to rescue them.



When he arrived there, he could only see Han taken away in carbonite by Boba Fett and he barely saw Leia, taken prisoner by the Empire. It was not long before he encountered Vader and the two engaged in a fierce duel which ended when Luke lost his right hand, then Vader tried to seduce him to the dark side of the Force and told him that he was his father. Faced with this horrifying claim and the even more fearsome temptation to join Vader, Skywalker found the moral courage to choose death instead by throwing himself down a long shaft. He survived though, but was stranded beneath the city. Weak and helpless, he reached out to Leia with the Force, and soon the Millenium Falcon arrived to rescue him.

The aftermath of the Battle of Hoth scattered the Alliance, and Skywalker was stationed at temporary bases on Golrath and Arbra. Ascending to the command of Rogue Squadron, Skywalker fell in love with one of his squadron mates, the talented and enigmatic Shira Brie. During a heated battle with Imperial forces, Skywalker's targeting computer was knocked out of commission, and he instead relied on the Force to pick his targets. Inexplicably, the Force told him to fire on a friendly vessel, and he shot Shira Brie out of the sky. For this, Skywalker was stripped of command and put on trial. As a result, Skywalker's confidence in the Force was shaken. He investigated the matter and discovered that Shira was actually an Imperial agent. Skywalker cleared his name and was reinstated as a Rebel commander. As time passed, Skywalker grew more powerful in the Force, and his exploits in the Alliance gained a higher profile. Skywalker also thwarted several assassination attempts made by Prince Xizor, the head of the Black Sun criminal organization. While at Ben's old home on Tatooine, Luke constructed his new lightsaber based on Obi-Wan's design, with the help of a journal prepared by Kenobi. He was also involved in an Alliance mission to Imperial Center, location of Black Sun's headquarters where he battled Xizor's powerful human replica droid Guri.



In 4 ABY, Skywalker was the mastermind of the plan of rescuing Solo from Jabba the Hutt. He was accompanied in this task by Lando Calrissian, Chewbacca, Leia and the droids R2-D2 and C-3PO. After a pitched battle over the dune sea Luke nearly single handedly overcame Jabba's henchmen. Not long after, Skywalker received confirmation from the dying Yoda and the spirit form of Obi-Wan Kenobi that Vader was indeed his father, Anakin Skywalker, a former Jedi Knight who turned to the dark side of the Force. Furthermore, Skywalker realized that Leia was his sister and would be in peril if their father found out as well.

Skywalker accompanied his friends on the mission to the forest moon of Endor to knock out the shield generator that protected the Second Death Star in orbit. Not long after, Skywalker surrendered to Vader in an attempt to bring the Dark Lord back to the Light Side, but he ultimately became a prisoner of the Emperor.



Once onboard the Death Star, the Emperor and Vader attempted to corrupt Skywalker with promises to save his friends from their trap if he joined the Dark Side. As a backup idea, the Emperor goaded Skywalker to strike him down to save the Rebels who were being defeated in the Battle of Endor. Skywalker, in a moment of weakness, lashed out but Vader stopped his strike and father and son dueled for the last time. Despite the clash, Skywalker managed to keep emotional control, much to the frustration of his enemies. However, that control was lost when Vader telepathically sensed the existence of Skywalker's sister and threatened to concentrate on corrupting her instead, Skywalker attacked Vader with the power of rage and eventually cut-off his right hand. But when Palpatine encuraged him to finish Vader, he threw his lightsaber away. "I'll never turn to the dark side... You have failed your highness : I'm a Jedi, like my father before me"

- Luke Skywalker to Emperor Palpatine.

Enraged, the Emperor unleashed Force-lightning against Skywalker in an attempt to kill the young Jedi. Seeing his son dying, and perhaps remembering the mercy shown him, compassion finally broke through to Vader. In an act of self-sacrifice, Anakin Skywalker re-emerged to destroy the Emperor.

On the deteriorating Death Star, at the foot of Vader's shuttle, Skywalker removed the former Vader's mask and looked upon his father's face for the first and only time before Anakin became one with the Force. Skywalker took his father's body onboard the shuttle and escaped the Death Star's destruction. Back on Endor, Skywalker cremated his father in the manner of a Jedi's funeral, and joined in the celebration of the apparent defeat of the Empire. Thus, Skywalker comes full circle both as a Jedi and as a person.

The day after his duel with Darth Vader at the Battle of Endor, while still recovering from the wounds inflicted by Palpatine's Force-lightning, Skywalker and Wedge Antilles discovered a message droid requesting for help from the beleaguered outpost world Bakura. Skywalker commanded an Alliance mission to the Bakura system, which was under siege by a strange alien race, the Ssi-Ruuk, which used the life force of their captives to power their technology. There Skywalker and Organa negotiated a temporary truce between the Rebel and Imperial forces to help fight off the invasion. The discovery of a Force-sensitive named Dev Sibwarra during the Battle of Bakura fueled Skywalker's conviction for finding others like him in the galaxy. Palpatine and Vader's scourge was not absolute. Surely, he believed, there were Force-users that had escaped the dark times.

In Search of a Legacy (5 to 11 ABY)
"I am a Jedi, like my father before me."

- Luke Skywalker



Luke was a vital member of the Alliance of Free Planets and, soon thereafter, the New Republic. He was an agent of the short-lived Senate Planetary Intelligence Network, playing an important role in the defeat of Trioculus, Kadann, and the Central Committee of Grand Moffs. After his excellent tactics defending the Dreadnaught New Hope at Milagro allowed the New Republic to capture an Imperial Star Destroyer (which would later become the Crynyd), Skywalker was promoted to general. However, he greatly disliked military command, and after fighting the forces of Lord Shadowspawn to the last man on the bloody battlefields of Mindor, Skywalker was disgusted with the immense loss of life and resigned his military commission a mere six months after his promotion.

In the years following, Skywalker tried vainly to locate lost and hidden Force-sensitives. This led him to Dathomir, a world of mysterious and powerful Force-wielding witches. On this planet, he discovered the ruins of the Chu'unthor, an ancient Jedi training vessel.

As Skywalker's search intensified, the spirit of Obi-Wan Kenobi once again visited him. Five years after the Battle of Endor, Kenobi said his final farewell to Skywalker. His spirit would no longer remain with him. Skywalker, feeling alone, realized he was not the last of the old Jedi, but rather, the first of the new.

As the Thrawn campaign began, rumors surfaced of a Jedi Master hidden on the remote world of Jomark. Skywalker investigated and discovered the insane Dark Jedi clone, Joruus C'baoth. Skywalker tried to persuade Joruus C'baoth to renounce the dark side. C'baoth's insanity and evil was too deeply rooted to undo, and in his bid to mold Skywalker into his new dark side pupil, C'baoth did the unthinkable. Using Skywalker's severed hand, recovered from Bespin by Imperial agents, C'baoth grew a clone of the young Jedi&mdash;Luuke Skywalker&mdash;and sent the mindless drone to kill Skywalker. in Mount Tantiss on Wayland. Luke fought fiercely against his doppleganger, though it was ultimately Mara Jade who defeated C'baoth and the clone, in the process completing the last order the Emperor had given her.



The Thrawn crisis saw Skywalker and Jade spend a great deal of time together, and they slowly developed a relationship. A fiercely determined Force-sensitive warrior, Mara was once a deadly agent of Palpatine. She was one of the "Emperor's Hands", a deadly group of Dark Jedi who could hear the Emperor's call from across the galaxy. Jade held Skywalker responsible for the destruction of her career and purpose, and desired to kill him. Despite repeated opportunities, Jade did not kill Skywalker, and the two worked together to defeat Grand Admiral Thrawn and C'baoth. Jade, putting aside her hatred for him, developed a begrudging respect for Luke and his skills.

Although Grand Admiral Thrawn was defeated, his string of victories rallied the Imperial Remnant to stage a spectacular attack on the New Republic-held capital Coruscant. Whereas Thrawn wanted to capture the capital intact, these Imperials attacked without restraint and ravaged the once gleaming metropolis-covered planet. The Republic retreated and Skywalker commanded a number of missions into the Imperial-held world.

Stranded on Coruscant, Skywalker began to discover strange clues in newly opened secret chambers throughout the former Imperial Palace, clues to the Emperor's power. Before he could piece together their significance, a raging Force storm appeared in the sky. The swirling vortex of dimension-altering energy consumed Skywalker, and deposited him in a cell aboard an Imperial Dungeon Ship bound for the Deep Core world of Byss. There, in an ornate citadel, Skywalker faced an enemy he had not ever expected to see again: Emperor Palpatine.

Palpatine's spirit had been staving away death by using arcane Sith knowledge and Spaarti cloning technology. Palpatine would grow clone duplicates of his own body to serve as tools for his evil life force should his body die. With this technique, Palpatine had escaped death aboard the second Death Star. He called for Skywalker to kneel before him and become his servant. Skywalker, realizing that the Emperor was almost invincible, knelt before him, and agreed to join the Dark Side. Like a few others in recorded history, he believed he could defeat the dark side from within by learning its secrets. He had neglected one of Yoda's key teachings&mdash;never underestimate the power of the dark side. Skywalker worked for the light side in the shadows just like Quinlan Vos had during the Clone Wars. And just like that Jedi Master, he found he was unable to break away from its snare once he was immersed too deeply in it.

During this dark apprenticeship, Luke acquired two sentinels, clones mutated into his Dark Side servants. Though he succeeded in covertly sabotaging several of Palpatine's plans including a World Devastator attack on Dac, he was too deep in darkness to think clearly. However, with the help of his sister Leia, Skywalker was able to fight back the darkness before it consumed him and turn against his master. Skywalker defeated Sidious in single combat, and together with his twin sister, they eventually managed to destroy the body Palpatine inhabited at the time, turning his immense Force storm against him.

But the shadow of the dark side continued to haunt Skywalker. Having seen the sheer number of Force-sensitive beings under Palpatine's control, Skywalker was determined to begin rebuilding the Jedi ranks. While Palpatine, again in a new body, and his minions rallied at Byss around the new Galaxy Gun, Skywalker raced to Ossus to investigate rumors of an ancient Jedi holocron. As he explored the mysteries of the history-rich world, Skywalker came under attack by a group of Dark Side Elite, loyalists of Palpatine, who tried to capture the holocron for their reborn master.

Establishing a New Jedi Order (11 to 40 ABY)
"Not the last of the old Jedi, Luke. The first of the new."

- Obi-Wan Kenobi



Now a Jedi Master and given the growing dangers in the galaxy, Skywalker felt that the New Republic needed a New Jedi Order to serve and protect the galaxy. He proposed to the government that a new Jedi Academy needed to be started, with himself as its head instructor. The New Republic agreed, and Skywalker began searching in earnest for Jedi candidates to train in the Great Massassi Temple on Yavin 4 where he established his Jedi Praxeum. Skywalker returned the Jedi order to the Galaxy, and began to reverse the damage done by Palpatine and Vader decades ago. His students in turn became Masters, and a new generation of Jedi Knights arose. Some Jedi included Jaden Korr, Kyp Durron, Kam Solusar, his niece and nephews Jaina, Jacen, and Anakin Solo, Tenel Ka, Zekk, Cilghal, Tionne, Kyle Katarn, and Corran Horn. He resigned his commission in the New Republic's starfighter corps to pursue his Jedi studies and rebuild the Jedi Order, a decision some anti-Jedi politicians would use against him.

Skywalker encountered the lingering spirit of Exar Kun in the Massassi Temple, who managed to somehow sunder Luke Skywalker's spirit from his own body. Spectral Kun was eventually rousted from hiding and destroyed by the combined efforts of the Jedi apprentices, Luke's spirit, and the long-dead spirit of Kun's slain master, Vodo-Siosk Baas.



Now the leader of the reborn Jedi order, Luke had little chance to focus on his personal life, though the prospect of a relationship appeared during the Eye of Palpatine crisis. Onboard the battle station, Luke met Callista Ming, a survivor of the old Jedi Order who had transferred her life energy into the computers aboard the Eye. Despite this restriction, the two fell in love, though this was to be a doomed romance. Callista was eventually freed from her computer prison, but in the process lost her connection to the Force. She felt unable to remain with Luke, and ventured out on a quest to find her own way back to the power she had lost.

For a brief time, Luke found a potential partner in Akanah Norand Goss Pell, whom he met while following rumors that indicated his mother was still alive. These reports turned out to be false, and Luke ended his relationship with Akanah when he learned she had been manipulating him. These failed romances, coupled with the strain of his duties as a Jedi Master, may have meant Luke was to follow in his mentor's footsteps and live a life of solitude, but, despite the odds, he found true love in a person very close to him. While on Nirauan during the Caamas Document incident, Luke's relationship with Mara Jade grew, and their mission culminated in Luke's proposal of marriage to the former Emperor's Hand. She accepted.

Around a decade after their initial hostile encounter, Skywalker and Jade were married on Coruscant in two ceremonies&mdash;a private one held at the Jedi Headquarters, and a second, public ceremony almost ruined by the appearance of Imperial agitators. Luke was able to talk the ringleader around, while his friends dealt with the remaining infiltrators, and the wedding continued smoothly.

Yuuzhan Vong War
"To life we owe our compassion and our duty. But I wonder what we owe to something completely outside our definition of life, to something that is a kind of living death. I wonder if we must owe them anything but a real death?"

- Luke Skywalker



Now, the New Jedi Order faced its greatest challenge. Without the governance of a Jedi Council, the new Jedi Knights lacked unity and focus. Many were accused of reckless vigilantism, and the Republic citizenry began to grow suspicious of their protectors. Worse came the Yuuzhan Vong, extragalactic alien invaders bent on conquest. The Jedi became the first line of defense for the Republic, but their failure to repulse the brutal aliens was widely reported. Strangely, the Yuuzhan Vong did not exist in the Force, thus the Jedi were robbed of their most powerful abilities against this new enemy. It raised fundamental problems for the Jedi, who wondered if the problem was with the Yuuzhan Vong, the Force, or the Jedi themselves. Luke was inclined to believe that the problem was with the Jedi, as his own training had been rushed.



The Yuuzhan Vong took specific interest in the Jedi, proclaiming them the worst of a galaxy full of infidels. Many in the New Republic began to turn against the Jedi in an effort to appease the Yuuzhan Vong and blunt their destructive invasion. Organizations such as the Peace Brigade betrayed the order, and began rounding up Jedi captives for the invaders. The Yuuzhan Vong destroyed the Jedi Academy on Yavin 4. It was as if the dark times of Palpatine's Empire had returned. Skywalker knew that fear, too aggressive a path, would lead his Jedi to the dark side. Skywalker engineered an underground fugitive network, dubbed the Great River, and a secret haven called Eclipse, to protect the beleaguered Jedi Knights.

With his beloved wife affected by a Yuuzhan Vong-engineered disease, and his closest friends forever affected by the violence, Skywalker found that not even a Jedi Master could keep galactic events from striking close to his heart.



During these war-ravaged years, Mara became pregnant and gave birth to their son, Ben Skywalker. Keeping his newborn child safe became an important concern. A chilling vision of the Dark Side brought Skywalker to the heart of the Yuuzhan Vong-held Coruscant. In the depths of the altered city planet, Skywalker faced off against Lord Nyax, the deranged mutated Dark Jedi that once was Irek Ismaren. Surviving a massive Force battle at the site of the old Jedi Temple, Skywalker concentrated his efforts on recreating the legendary Jedi Council. To do so, he had to enter the nebulous world of politics. Backing a pro-Jedi candidate, Skywalker saw Cal Omas elected Chief of State of the newly formed Galactic Federation of Free Alliances. Together, they resurrected the Jedi Council, which now included both Jedi representatives and members of the New Republic government.

While Luke and Mara were focused on keeping the galaxy safe for their son, they hadn't realized that Ben had cut himself off from the Force. They were able to figure out that Ben could sense the pain, suffering, and various emotions that they felt during the war. Worse, Mara had trouble finding him through the Force and feared the worst. This was a disturbing development that he and Mara did not know how to overcome. Armed with important information from Vergere, an Old Republic Jedi who had spent decades among the Yuuzhan Vong, Skywalker journeyed to the depths of the Unknown Regions, seeking to find the key to victory against the alien invaders. He, together with several other Jedi, journeyed to the living world Zonama Sekot, where he persuaded the living intelligence of the planet, Sekot, to help defeat the Yuuzhan Vong. They also learned the truth about the Yuuzhan Vong's absence: the problem was not the Force or the Jedi, but with the Yuuzhan Vong, who had been stripped of the Force. At the climax of the conflict, Skywalker slew the puppet Supreme Overlord Shimrra, though not without taking a lethal dose of poison from shimrra's villip, fortunately his nephew Jacen was able to concoct an antidote by manipulating his own tears before Luke was killed. Gathering all the Jedi that had survived the war, Skywalker explained to them a new path for the Order, that their role was to embrace the Force completely and serve its will wherever that will guided them.

On the advice of Kam Solusar, Luke Skywalker established a new Jedi Academy on Ossus, where he continued to train young Jedi in the ways of the Force. A few years later more Jedi candidates including his son would attend the Jedi Praxeum on Ossus.

Dark Nest Crisis
"The future is to be lived not prearranged."

- Luke Skywalker comments on the future, and its events to Jacen Solo

After the end of the war, the Jedi started to change. Internal struggle and the Galactic Alliance proved to be a constant source of discontent within the Order. Nowhere was this more evident than on the Master's Council.

One side, led by Kyp Durron and Mara Jade Skywalker, was of the opinion that the Jedi were not responsible for the protection of the Galactic Alliance by mandate; rather, that the Jedi had to take a larger view of galactic affairs to avoid getting tangled in the internal politics of the Alliance, as was what happened in the Old Republic.

The other side, led by Kenth Hamner and Corran Horn, believed that the Jedi Order owed the Galactic Alliance their full and unwavering attention, due to the fact that it was the Galactic Alliance that financed the Order, and was also responsible for giving the Order a new Jedi Temple. He, and many of the Master's Council, believed that because of the Alliance-Jedi High Council, which was the ruling body of the Alliance, the Jedi are irrevocably tied to the Galactic Alliance.

These tensions were nominally smoothed by the leader of the Jedi, Jedi Master Luke Skywalker. Under his leadership, he tamed the tempers of even the brashest and loudest of the Jedi, but, as he would later reflect, he made the almost fatal error of not providing a power structure within the order. All these things would manifest themselves in the Dark Nest Crisis and the Swarm War.

In 35 ABY, a cry for help emanating from the Unknown Regions and through the Force was heard by all of the survivors of the ill-fated Myrkr Strike Team, and all save Queen Mother Tenel Ka responded by immediately going to investigate. The information gleamed would be astounding. During the Mission to Myrkr, Jedi Knight Raynar Thul was incapacitated by two Dark Jedi, Lomi Plo and Welk. They took him and escaped on a transport called the Tachyon Flier, fleeing into the Unknown Regions, where it was thought all three of them had died: this was not true. The Tachyon Flier had crashed onto a Killik Yoggoy nest, and made all the Force-Wielders into Joiners. Raynar Thul was integrated into the Yoggoy nest while Lomi Plo and Welk were integrated into the Gorog nest. All became leaders of their respective nests, Raynar even becoming the Killik's Prime Unu. The Killik nests took on the persona of the people they integrated, or Joined into their nests. The Yoggoy nests, and all the nest except for Gorog, gained Raynar's sense of compassion and value for life, whereas the Gorog nest retreated into secrecy, due to the want of Lomi Plo and Welk to hide. The Gorog became the Dark Nest, and secretly controlled the other nests, without their even knowing.

They instituted a build-up of nests along the Chiss border, with the help of the newly arrived Jedi who thought they were helping the Yoggoy defend themselves against the unjustified attacks by the Chiss. Upon hearing this information, the irate Chiss went immediately to speak with Chief of State of the Galactic Alliance Cal Omas, who in turn spoke with Master Skywalker. Concerned, Skywalker, his wife and son, and the Solo couple went searching for the renegade Jedi. When they caught up with the aberrant Jedi, they were attacked by mysterious blue-black Killiks that UnuThul, Raynar Thul's new Killik persona, seemed to know nothing about.

Worse, the young Jedi seemed to be well on their way to being Joined, with the notable exception of Jacen, who was an enigma, acting rather strangely throughout the entire experience. And one of the members of the expedition to find the missing Jedi, Jedi Master and High Council member Saba Sebatyne, was grievously injured by the Gorog Night Herald, Welk. After refusing to leave the Yoggory, Saba stayed behind while the rest of the team went home to think on what to do next. Now, enter the tensions in the Master's Council. It was Luke Skywalker's deepest wish that the young Jedi heed his request and advice to return, but he thought that the Jedi should not be bound by the word of the Council.

Also all this was happening under the pressure of Chief Omas, who was very worried that the Jedi would sink relations with the Chiss, and the issue of whether or not the Jedi were tools of the Galactic Alliance came to the fore of many heated discussions.

Full-scale war between the Killiks and the Chiss was averted with the signing of the Qoribu Truce, but peace would not last long.

Swarm War
"There are times when the end justifies the means. But when you build an argument based on a whole series of such times, you may find that you've constructed an entire philosophy of evil."

- Luke Skywalker



For a year, the Killiks were virtually unheard of in the Galaxy, but really, they were gathering for war. The nests were still under the sway of the Dark Nest, Lomi Plo having survived the battle a year before. UnuThul, under the influence of the Dark Nest, was enraged at a natural calamity he blamed the Galactic Alliance for. The "Fizz", a deadly white substance that eats anything not naturally occurring in the planets that the Killiks were given, was killing hundreds of Killiks each day. Because of this, the Killiks, under the influence of the Gorog, were again expanding their nests against the space of the Chiss Ascendancy.

The Skywalkers were again brought before UnuThul, this time as presumed enemies. Leia, now a Jedi Knight, was able to calm down UnuThul, but he still did not trust them. This mistrust would eventually lead him to hold Skywalker and Han Solo captive, in attempts to get them to join into the Killik nest, hence being able to learn all their secrets. A rescue mission was hatched by Organa Solo and several Jedi, but before they could get to him the nests fled the Utegetu Nebula in massive Hive ships. Some escaped a blockade set up by the Alliance, but the Gorog Hive ship was caught. After fierce fighting, Skywalker was caught by Lomi Plo herself. Plo eventually gained the upper hand in the battle, and managed to escape. Skywalker, however, was almost killed. The Killik fleets escaped, and engaged the Chiss. The Swarm War had finally fully begun.

Luke Skywalker immediately returned to the Jedi Academy on Ossus. He granted himself the title of Jedi Grand Master and assumed full control of the Jedi Order, in hopes of uniting the Masters against him and overcome their differences. He told his Jedi Order that if they did not place the Jedi first in their lives, they should leave the Order. Some Jedi that resigned their post as Jedi were Danni Quee (because she wanted to travel with Zonama Sekot) and Queen Mother Tenel Ka (because of her daughter Allana and her responsibilities as Queen Mother). Luke knew she wanted to remain a Jedi, so let her keep her lightsaber and told her that her place in the Jedi Order will always be open. Soon after, though, it became clear that his plan failed, and he then realized that he had to take complete control.

After his speech, he finally discovered how his mother died when he made R2-D2 show him the hologram of his father Force-choking her. Luke, shocked at that revelation, later went with Jacen, Mara, Kyle Katarn, and others to the Gorog nest ship in the Utegetu Nebula to find and kill Lomi Plo. He almost succeeded in killing Lomi Plo, but Lomi got away just before they severely damaged the nest ship. During the aforementioned battle, Jacen Solo and Mara Jade Skywalker were severely injured by Lomi Plo. During their recovery, Jacen made Luke confront his doubt about his mother's death. Only when he can remove any doubt from his mind could he defeat Lomi Plo. Later, Luke fought Lomi Plo and Raynar alone, against the wishes of his wife and nephew. He killed Lomi Plo, taking back his original lightsaber that was confiscated by Raynar and brought Raynar back to the Galactic Alliance, albeit under heavy sedation. After the Swarm War ended, he dissolved the Jedi's role in the Galactic Alliance High Council on Coruscant, in favor of a new ruling Jedi Council, whose opinions and advice would be relayed to the Chief of State. Also, the Potentium view of the Force as adopted by the Jedi after the Vong War seemed to be losing strength and the more orthodox view of light and dark started to take hold once more. After this, Luke led the Jedi Order and, along with his wife Mara, raised his son Ben.

Legacy of the Force
"It's coming to me through currents in the Force, he's all wrapped up in shadows...he brings great pain to the galaxy, and me."

- Luke Skywalker refering to the Dark Man



However in 40 ABY, the peace will not last when a war erupts between the Galactic Alliance and Corellia. Feeling something was wrong, Luke sent his son and nephew to Adumar to investigate. However, Ben and Jacen did indeed discover an illegal missile factory and barely escaped with their lives. This event sparked Corellia's rebellion against the Galactic Alliance. Luke, Mara, Jacen and Jaina took the side of the Alliance, while Leia and Han adopted the point of view of the Corellians. In 40 ABY, Luke began to have visionary dreams of a dark, shadowy figure that "doesn't exist". The figure's face is in shadow, and is malevolent to Luke and his family. During this time Luke, his wife and niece, Jaina, participated in the Battle of Tralus, where Luke served as the Hardpoint Squadron's leader. He participated in the mission to kidnap the Prime Minister by retrieving and escorting Jaina's and Tahiri's team to safety. After the incident in Toryaz Station, he and his wife infiltrated Corellia by acting as impersonators of themselves. On Corellia he met with Corran Horn at a secret Jedi base. There he decided to take some Jedi children off of Corellia. After that he left to and remained on Coruscant. After returning to the capital, Luke was encountered in the middle of the night, a Force Phantom of Jacen. He fought off the Phantom, not realizing that it was in fact the real Jacen Solo, who was across the galaxy near Bimmiel. Mara faced a similar phantom of Ben. When Jacen agreed to accept the teachings of Lumiya, Luke could sense that the shadowy figure of his dreams was beginning to "exist".

Talents
Even through the little training he received, Luke Skywalker became a wise and powerful Jedi Master. His skills with both the Force and lightsaber were exceptional. He was probably the most powerful Jedi ever to exist, as he demonstrated powers and abilities that greatly surpassed even Grand Master Yoda. Some examples where his skills are shown include:


 * During the Battle of Yavin, Luke managed to destroy the first Death Star by letting the Force tell him when to fire his proton torpedoes, whilst traveling probably well over 800 kph, and not knowing the distance to the port, and no previous knowlege of proton torpedo trajectory. One should note that Luke only had little training of the Force at this time.
 * Without any guidance except a handbook left by Obi-Wan Kenobi, Luke Skywalker successfully built his first lightsaber, merely three years after he first heard of the Force and trained formally for less than a year.
 * Luke Skywalker's use of Form V is probably as much instinctive as trained. On Bespin, Luke revealed that he was an extraordinarily gifted duelist after only one brief session with Obi-Wan Kenobi and a short time of study with Yoda. After that fateful duel, Luke studied some lightsaber skills from Kenobi's journal and greatly advanced his abilities. Without a Master, it was Luke's unparalleled aptitude which contributed in the impossible advancement of his skills. Onboard the second Death Star, Luke mirrored Darth Vader's own Form V technique and responded with his own furious demonstration of Form V's raw power. Observing swordsmen such as Palpatine might be astonished at such instantaneous learning in a lightsaber duel. Finally, Luke was able to duel Vader on an even footing, and defeated the experienced Dark Lord. However, Luke's particular form of lightsaber combat may in the end be something entirely new, with traces of Form III, Form IV and Form V mixed together with his own techniques. It is doubtful that Kenobi and Yoda had time to actually teach him the finer points of the combat Forms. Just like most other things about being a Jedi Knight, Luke would probably have to figure out whole new fighting styles to replace the ones lost during the Great Jedi Purge. It is also probable that the Jensaarai would have passed on knowledge of the lightsaber forms of the Old Jedi Order as their founders were former Jedi Knights and Padawans.
 * Luke applied the very opposite of Dun Möch onboard the second Death Star by infusing love into Darth Vader's heart through spoken words. The young Jedi was successful, Anakin Skywalker ultimately redeemed himself and brought balance to the Force.
 * Luke safely lands himself, Isolder, and Isolder's fighter from an apparently free fall drop from orbit with the Force.
 * During the Battle of Dathomir, Luke flew the Millennium Falcon single-handedly using only the Force.
 * Also during the Battle of Dathomir, Luke regenerated from an almost fatal force lightning attack and fall in the span of several hours.
 * Luke managed to land a crashing Imperial Star Destroyer on Coruscant by manipulating the repulsors through the Force. Mirroring a similar achievement by his father towards the end of the Clone Wars
 * Luke was able to knock down AT-ATs easily by tampering them through the Force, as well as absorbing the initial cannon blasts from the AT-AT, before deflecting the rest with his lightsaber.
 * Luke also destroyed an army of advanced battle droids called "Cyborrean battle dogs", by just waving his hand, thereby destroying the internal components of the whole army of droids.
 * Luke managed to defeat the reborn Emperor Palpatine in a lightsaber duel, slicing off his hand with cho mai. It should be noted that Palpatine was perhaps one of the best swordsmen in lightsaber history, and even Yoda, Luke's own master, was unable to defeat him. Leia, who was watching the fight, could hardly see the movements of both Luke and the Emperor, and she sensed waves of power generating from them - dark from the Emperor, and light from Luke.
 * During the time when he was re-creating the Jedi Order and was searching for potential candidates, he walked on lava, believing in his mastery in the Force. One should note that the temperature near a lava lake is so extreme (around 2000 degree F), it is almost impossible to even breathe properly. Not only did Luke use the Force to walk on lava, but he also battled a creature living in lava at the same time. Luke's performance impressed Gantoris so much that he decided to become Luke's apprentice.
 * During the Eye of Palpatine incident, Luke subconsciously used his force powers to overcome a particularly vicious form of brainwashing.
 * During the Death Seed Plague, Luke used the Force to communicate with the sentient crystals Tsils. It is important to remember that the more dissimilar the type of mind, the more difficult it is to communicate with via the Force.
 * Luke could generate a Force shield to deflect blaster fire as well as handle the momentum of deflecting blaster bolts.
 * While searching for the kidnapped Solo children, Luke used the Force to create an illusion over his face in order to disguise his identity. He would later reuse this trick on Yoggoy.
 * During the Black Fleet Crisis, Luke used the Force to rebuild Darth Vader's old fortress on Coruscant and made it invisible. After the crisis, with new found knowledge from the White Current, Luke removed the planet Brath Qella and the Teljkon Vagabond from view using the Force, and claimed it could last indefinently. (One should note that hundred or thousand years later, eventually the Qella would rebuild their world successfully, by then their life forces would disturb the cloak and reveal the system) In addition, Luke used the Force to crush the rebuilt fortress of Darth Vader to nothingness, shattering the building piece by piece.
 * After the Black Fleet Crisis, Luke taught the combined White Current/the Force illusional skill to his more experienced students, which would help shielding the entire moon Yavin 4 from intruders during the Yuuzhan Vong War.
 * During the Kueller crisis, Luke prepared himself for death in such a way that he would become a Force ghost.
 * During the Battle of Dantooine of the Yuuzhan Vong War, Luke expanded several voids (black holes) to envelope the enemy, destroying it.
 * Jaina Solo describes him in the final battle of the Yuuzhan Vong War as a maelstrom of Force energy, so calm and focused that he was unstoppable. She also says his lightsaber looked to be like ten or twenty blades all moving at once. Both Jacen and Jaina were astounded by seeing their uncle in such a form. One should note that the description of Luke's blade work matches the legendary lightsaber combat form Vaapad which was created by Mace Windu.
 * Luke's abilities with a lightsaber and the Force allow him to prevail over thousands of Yuuzhan Vong warriors, along with other enemies. Luke defeated Supreme Overlord Shimrra Jamaane, who on his own could kill many Jedi.
 * After defeating hundreds of Yuuzhan Vong warriors Luke defeated more than five Slayers; while Kyp Durron, one of the most powerful Jedi of his time, could not best even one Slayer.
 * Luke mows through the elite guard of the Supreme Overload to reach him. Later Luke thought that he could have gone even further by drawing power from the Force. Jacen and Jaina, by this time the elites of the Jedi Knights, could not track Luke.
 * Luke used a powerful and unique ability of the Force related to his signature green Electric Judgment in the final battle against Shimrra Jamaane, the Supreme Overlord of the Yuuzhan Vong. This technique has been described to look like "green sparks," which can instantly kill its victim. No other Force user has been noted to generate such powerful lightning.
 * Luke displayed his amazing duelling skills with dual blades during the Yuuzhan Vong War, regardless of receiving formal Jar'Kai training or not, Luke proved to be one of the best dual blades duelist in his era.
 * During the Dark Nest Crisis, Luke used the Force to generate a lifelike copy of his ship to fool the attacking enemy. This usage of the Force was so extreme, Luke burnt out and his face was temporarily sunken and shriveled like Palpatine's.
 * Towards the end of the Swarm War, Luke used the Force to call all Jedi across the Galaxy to Ossus to make the announcement of him taking on the role of Grand Master of the Order, and to issue his views to the Jedi.
 * While battling UnuThul, Luke was able to resist the combined Force power of the Colony and triumph.

Origins of Luke
Just as George Lucas took the name "Anakin" from his friend and fellow film director, Ken Annakin, the name "Luke" is likely derived from Lucas' own name. One reason Lucas may have done this is to reflect his own identification with the character.

It is also an interesting fact, that the name Luke, as well as Lucas, means "The bringer of light." The name Luke is the same as Lucas, which is the original Hebrew form of the name, which underwent a slight transformation when the names were translated into English. The same results can be observed with other names such as Joseph (Youseph), Mark (Markose), John (Yohannan) etc.

In the biography of George Lucas on The Academy of Achievement website (http://www.achievement.org), it is noted that the famous Skywalker Ranch is in fact, named after Luke Skywalker.

In early drafts of the A New Hope screenplay, the main character who became Luke was a girl. In other drafts, Luke was an experienced General rather than a youth. Just before the final script was written, his surname was Starkiller, when later it was changed to Skywalker.

Casting
Luke Skywalker was portrayed by Mark Hamill in the Original trilogy and The Star Wars Holiday Special, as well as by Aiden Barton (editor Roger Barton's son) as an infant in Revenge of the Sith. Hamill returned to provide the voice of Luke in the radio dramatizations of A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. Hamill also played Luke in a number of comedy skits on TV. In 1977, he briefly played Luke on that year's edition of The Bob Hope Christmas Special. He played a primary role as Luke (and as himself - "Luke's cousin") on an episode of The Muppet Show in 1980.

Although Hamill continued on a career of voicing, Luke was portrayed by Bob Bergen in video and computer games, and Joshua Fardon in the Return of the Jedi radio play. Hamill reprised his role as a serious Luke for a speaking role in a commercial for Vector Prime in 2000.

Ben Burtt, the sound designer and main editor of the Star Wars films, also auditioned for the role of Luke Skywalker.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
 * Star Wars: Empire
 * Rebellion: My Brother, My Enemy
 * The Star Wars Holiday Special
 * Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
 * Shadows of the Empire
 * Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
 * Marvel Star Wars
 * Jedi Prince
 * Dark Empire
 * Thrawn Trilogy
 * Jedi Academy Trilogy
 * I, Jedi
 * The Black Fleet Crisis
 * The Hand of Thrawn Duology
 * The Junior Jedi Knights series
 * Survivor's Quest
 * The Young Jedi Knights series
 * New Jedi Order
 * Dark Nest Trilogy
 * Legacy of the Force
 * ''Empire Star Wars 20th Anniversary bonus mag