Anakin Solo

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.

Biography
Anakin was born a year and a half after his sister, Jaina Solo, and brother, Jacen Solo, who were twins. Anakin was born during a trying time for the New Republic, the resurrected Emperor Palpatine was chipping away at the fragile hold the New Republic had over the Galaxy. While Anakin was still in the womb the Emperor touched him, and had attempted to take over the body of the unborn child, in an effort to sustain his dark spirit in a more powerful form. Luckily, the clone of the Emperor was destroyed before he could complete this evil plan.

Childhood
Anakin was born on Nespis VIII home of the temporary New Republic base. Like his grandfather, Anakin Skywalker, he was incredibly strong in the Force, especially for a child so young. However, Anakin felt that he had inherited not only his grandfather's name, but also Vader's dark legacy. As a child he was often troubled by nightmares of Darth Vader and a very strong fear of the dark side. As a baby Anakin was kept separate from the rest of the Solo family in order to protect him from any further attacks or kidnapping attempts. He spent his early years in a armored, highly secure nursery, on the obscure and hidden planetoid Anoth. Beside Anakin, the only other residents base were his caretaker, Winter and a nanny droid. However, after an almost successful kidnapping attempt, Han and Leia, came to the conclusion that it would be safer to keep the family together on Coruscant. At the age of three, Anakin's gifts had become obvious to his uncle, Luke Skywalker. By the time he was seven, he had demonstrated a remarkable ability to make anything mechanical work, regardless of whether he understood the device's purpose or its components.

His siblings, Jacen and Jaina, also discovered his abilities, and used them to bypass locks and security cameras. They even tried once to have Anakin create a working droid from various scrap components. Unfortunately, the primary motivator Jacen found was faulty, and the droid blew up. Anakin figured prominently in the discovery and activation of some of the ancient Corellian planetary repulsors during the reign of Thrackan Sal-Solo on Corellia. He continued to show great aptitude with the Force, and when his siblings returned from their initial studies on Yavin IV, Anakin was allowed to go to start his Jedi training.

Training on Yavin IV
Anakin was eleven standard years old when he arrived at the Jedi Praxeum on Yavin IV. Shortly after arriving on the moon, he became friends with Tahiri Veila, a girl two years his junior who was recently discovered by his Uncle Luke on her home planet of Tatooine. The two shared many adventures together, during their time at the Academy. One of their most notable was discovering the Golden Globe hidden beneath the Palace of the Woolamander and the existence of the ancient Jedi Master Ikrit. After a great deal of thought and meditation on the Globe, Anakin and Tahiri were able to penetrate it and release the Massassi spirits trapped within. Following the attack by the Shadow Academy, Anakin returned to Yavin IV and helped to rebuild the Great Temple, he viewed its rubble as a huge puzzle to be solved. Together with his brother Jacen, Anakin trained directly with Luke, just as Luke began moving the new Jedi Knights back to the pre-Empire format of teaching. Both Jacen and Anakin had different ideas on what the future of the Jedi should be. Anakin agreed with Luke, that the formation of a new Jedi Council would help bring the vigilantes under control. Jacen believed more in the spiritual aspects of the Force, while Anakin held to the physical uses of the Force. The two brothers often clashed, claiming their intense lightsaber duels were simply training.

When he turned fourteen, Anakin's training was taken up by Luke himself, in an effort to refocus Anakin's powers. It was then that Anakin grew stronger and became more respected among the Jedi. It was widely assumed that Anakin would someday take Luke's place as the most powerful Jedi, or that he would fall to the Dark Side of the Force, like his grandfather. Such were the expectations that people had of someone bearing such a famous first name.

Yuuzhan Vong Invasion
When the Yuuzhan Vong invaded the galaxy, the Jedi became its first line of defense, Anakin was at the forefront of many battles. He was present at Sernpidal, the first planet lost to the Vong. Fifteen-year old Anakin was forced to fly the Millennium Falcon and flee. The freighter was taking on as many refugees as possible before Sernpidal's moon could crash into its surface. Anakin kept the Falcon grounded as long as he could, soaring away from the cataclysm at the last possible instant. This decision resulted in the death of Chewbacca, who was unable to board the Falcon in time. The death of the beloved Wookiee forever changed the dynamics of the Solo family. Han blamed Anakin, and it was many months before the two were reconciled. Anakin also blamed himself, and further threw himself into his beliefs despite his brother Jacen's protests. Because of his losses, Anakin pushed himself harder and harder against the invading enemy forces, trying to live up to Chewbacca's sacrifice while keeping other loved ones from slipping away. The Jedi had to take a proactive stance against the Yuuzhan Vong, Anakin believed, or more and more people would die.

Anakin began developing Jedi tactics that could be used against the Yuuzhan Vong. He rediscovered a lost Force skill, Battle Meditation, and refined it into a technique known as Force-Meld which was used to coordinate Jedi in battle, namely in spaceflight. He also designed the prototype for the Yuuzhan Vong Hunter Droids manufactured by Lando Calrissian. Anakin doggedly protected a terminally ill Mara Jade Skywalker on Dantooine and fought with other Jedi at Ithor. Word of his accomplishments traveled across the galaxy, and citizens of the New Republic regarded him as a galactic hero and the freshest face of the Jedi Order, like his grandfather was during the Clone Wars.

Archaeologists and engineers at Centerpoint Station had been trying to reactivate the superweapon, but discovered that the Station had attuned itself to Anakin's fingerprints, brainwaves, and DNA. It wouldn't activate without him. The New Republic hoped to use this massive station to wipe out the Yuuzhan Vong fleet, but Jacen convinced Anakin that using the Station in such a way would be tantamount to turning to the dark side. Frustrated with Anakin's recalcitrance, Thrackan Sal-Solo fired the weapon himself-- and missed, destroying much of the allied Hapan fleet. Knowing that, had he been at the controls, he would have had precise aim, Anakin blamed both Jacen and himself for the friendly casualties.

When the Yuuzhan Vong bore down on Yavin IV and the New Republic refused to send aid, Anakin impetuously ran off to the system in an attempt to save the students studying there. In the ensuing battle, Anakin's childhood mentor Master Ikrit was killed and his friend Tahiri captured. Anakin found an unlikely ally in Vua Rapuung, a Yuuzhan Vong outcast, who helped him infiltrate the enemy encampment and rescue Tahiri. Anakin's lightsaber was damaged in the rescue attempt and he had to rebuild it using a Yuuzhan 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. He called it the "Vongsense". This name was later adopted by Jacen Solo.

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 working class "shamed ones" of the Yuuzhan Vong, who soon began to see Jedi as their salvation.

Myrkr
When the Yuuzhan Vong bioengineered Jedi hunting creatures called "voxyn", Anakin's mermaid friend Lyric was among the first to fall. Anakin led a strike team to Myrkr; its mission was to destroy the cloning facility where the creatures were being bred. But things went wrong from the beginning when Ulaha Kore, one of the strike team tacticians, was gravely injured. Jaina cracked when Ulaha was further subjected to torture. The Yuuzhan Vong torturer decided to pick on her and force her to choose between her brother or her twin.

"They're both my brothers," Jaina protested, but Anakin told her to to select him as the next victim. The Yuuzhan Vong tortured him, but he didn't react. He bought the strike team enough time to take over the ship they were on, but his decisions were again criticized by Jacen.

During another skirmish aboard the Banu Rass, Anakin impulsively ran to his sister's rescue and was stabbed in the gut. The wound ruptured his spleen. Even as his spleen was leaking away, Anakin refused to drop into a Force trance- his mission objective was more important to him than his own well being. His connection to the Force remained strong, and he gathered energy around him like a magnet. Anakin became a glowing extension of the Force itself, almost invincible as he cut down Yuuzhan Vong in order to get his friends closer to the voxyn queen. However, the intense energy quickly consumed him as it escaped through his mortal wound, and Anakin died shortly after ensuring that Tahiri was safe. Anakin gave his life destroying the voxyn cloning samples. His death was transmitted through the Force and his family and fellow Jedi Knights were devastated by it.

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 his and Anakin's to kill Shimrra. 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
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, so the encounter on Coruscant should be suspect at best. These theories have yet to be supported.

Appearances

 * Dark Empire II
 * Empire's End
 * Traitor (as a vision)
 * Young Jedi Knights Series
 * Junior Jedi Knights Series
 * New Jedi Order series (up to Star by Star.)