Skywalker family

"The Force is strong in my family. My father has it. I have it. And my sister has it."

- Luke Skywalker

The Skywalker family was a human family that became prominent in galactic politics and history, with several generations serving as Jedi, generals, and public servants. The Skywalkers were originally slaves native to the planet Tatooine in the Outer Rim Territories of the galaxy. In 32 BBY, three decades before the Battle of Yavin, Anakin Skywalker was discovered to be exceptionally Force-sensitive to the extent that Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn believed he had found the Chosen One&mdash;the one who was prophesied to restore balance to the Force by destroying the Sith. After gaining his freedom, Skywalker joined the Jedi Order as the apprentice of Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi. His mother, Shmi Skywalker, remained in slavery until her marriage to Cliegg Lars.

Although the Jedi Code forbade personal attachments, Anakin Skywalker became infatuated with Padmé Amidala, a former queen-turned-senator who represented the planet Naboo in the Galactic Senate. The two married in secret in 22 BBY, shortly after the start of the Clone Wars&mdash;a galaxy-wide civil war between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Rising to the rank of Jedi Knight, Skywalker fought in multiple battles as a leader in the Grand Army of the Republic while his wife unsuccessfully lobbied to end the war through diplomacy. Amidala became pregnant during the waning months of the war, causing Skywalker to grow fearful of losing her after experiencing premonitions of Amidala's death in childbirth. Ultimately, Skywalker turned to the dark side of the Force and became the Sith apprentice of Darth Sidious, the Dark Lord of the Sith, in the hope of preventing his wife's death. Adopting the name and persona of Darth Vader, the new Sith Lord turned against the Jedi Order and led the initial phase of their extermination while Sidious declared himself Emperor of the Galactic Empire.

Skywalker's transformation into Vader did not prevent his wife's death, however. Having lost the will to live as a result of her husband's actions, Amidala died shortly after giving birth to twins, Luke Skywalker and Leia Amidala Skywalker, in 19 BBY. The children were separated and hidden from their father, with Luke being sent to live with his relatives on Tatooine and Leia joining the ruling family of Alderaan as the adopted daughter of Senator Bail Organa and Queen Breha Organa. Luke would endeavor to become a Jedi Knight like his father before him, unaware that Anakin and Vader were the same person. His sister, now called Leia Organa, followed in the example of her late mother and adoptive father by joining the ranks of the Imperial Senate while secretly supporting the Alliance to Restore the Republic. During the Galactic Civil War, Vader sought to turn his son to the dark side but was defeated by Luke in a lightsaber duel at the Battle of Endor in 4 ABY. Despite the Emperor's desire to replace Vader with a new apprentice, Luke remained committed to the Jedi way and the light side of the Force. Sidious attempted to kill Luke but was struck down by Vader, who sacrificed his life to save his son from the Emperor's wrath. Having fulfilled the prophecy of the Chosen One by destroying the Sith, Anakin Skywalker became one with the Force.

In the aftermath of the Battle of Endor, Leia Organa married the smuggler Han Solo and gave birth to their son, Ben Solo, on the day the Empire surrendered to the New Republic in 5 ABY. With the end of the war and the Empire's reign, Organa set out to consolidate the Republic as a member of the restored Galactic Senate while her brother scoured the galaxy for knowledge in his efforts to rebuild the Jedi Order. One of Skywalker's first students was his nephew, Ben who possessed raw, untamed power in the Force. However, this potential also caught the attention of Snoke, the Supreme Leader of the First Order who undermined Skywalker's plans by turning Ben to the dark side. Inspired by his grandfather's Sith legacy, Ben became Snoke's apprentice and adopted a new identity as Kylo Ren&mdash;master of the Knights of Ren and champion of the First Order. In 34 ABY the First Order overthrew the Republic and went to war with the Resistance, a group of insurgents formed by Organa. By then, both Solo and Skywalker were dead, leaving Ren and his mother as the surviving members of the Skywalker family. Ren, who deposed and succeeded Snoke as Supreme Leader, vowed to destroy the Resistance as well as the combined legacy of the Jedi and Sith.

History
"You're insane.''" "No. I'm a Skywalker''."

- A lightsaber thief and Luke Skywalker

Nearly two decades before the outbreak of the Clone Wars, Shmi Skywalker gave birth to a son, Anakin Skywalker. As a boy, Anakin was discovered by Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn, who theorized that Anakin, who did not have a father, was conceived by the will of the Force itself and was the Chosen One prophesied to destroy the Sith and bring balance to the Force. After Jinn's death, Anakin was trained as a Jedi by Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi. Anakin's power grew stronger, but he also had difficulty with his darker emotions, particularly after the death of Shmi at the hands of Tusken Raiders&mdash;who Anakin slaughtered out of revenge for his mother’s death. Before her death, Shmi had married a moisture farmer named Cliegg Lars, who had a son named Owen.

The outbreak of the Clone Wars between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems saw Anakin come to prominence within the Republic, serving as one of the Jedi Generals of the Grand Army of the Republic. He married Senator Padmé Amidala of Naboo, a union kept secret because the Jedi Code forbid emotional attachments like marriage. At the end of the war, Amidala became pregnant and Anakin saw visions of his wife dying in childbirth. Hoping to save her life, Anakin turned to the dark side of the Force and became the Sith Lord Darth Vader, apprenticing himself to the Dark Lord Darth Sidious&mdash;who, in actuality, was the Republic's Supreme Chancellor Palpatine. Having witnessed a lightsaber duel between the chancellor and Jedi Master Mace Windu, Vader believed that the Jedi Order betrayed the Republic. On Sidious' order, Vader attacked the Jedi Temple and began the extermination of the Jedi. Sidious declared himself ruler of the galaxy and transformed the Republic into the Galactic Empire. Shortly thereafter, Anakin's visions came true when Amidala died after giving birth to twins, Luke and Leia. Luke was taken to Tatooine to live with Owen Lars and his wife, Beru, while Leia was adopted by Senator Bail Organa and Queen Breha Organa of Alderaan.

In the two decades that followed, Leia became a member of the Imperial Senate and a prominent member of the Alliance to Restore the Republic. Luke also joined up with the Rebel Alliance after his family was killed and he became caught up in Leia's mission to deliver the plans to the Imperial superweapon known as the Death Star to the Rebellion. Luke also began training as a Jedi with Kenobi, who was killed in a duel with Darth Vader aboard the Death Star. Luke became a hero of the Rebel Alliance after destroying the Death Star in the Battle of Yavin, and he and Leia fought in numerous battles throughout the Galactic Civil War. After cutting short his training with Jedi Master Yoda on Dagobah, Luke confronted Darth Vader and learned that the Dark Lord was his father. Believing that there was still light inside of his father, Luke confronted Vader yet again during the Battle of Endor. The Emperor attempted to kill Luke after the boy proclaimed himself a Jedi Knight and refused to turn to the dark side, but Vader killed his master, an act that sacrificed his own life.

After the war, Leia married the smuggler and Rebel General Han Solo and the two had a son, Ben Solo. Like his grandfather before him, Ben struggled with the dark side of the Force, so Leia sent Ben to be trained by Luke as part of Luke's new generation of Jedi. It was too late for Ben, however, as he was seduced to the dark side by Snoke, the Supreme Leader of the First Order. Ben turned against his uncle, joined the Knights of Ren, slaughtered the new generation of Jedi, and declared himself Kylo Ren. Luke blamed himself for what happened and went into exile, until he was discovered by a young Force-sensitive named Rey, who found him using a star map pieced together by Leia and the Resistance she led against the First Order.