Padmé Amidala/Legends


 * "She was... very beautiful. Kind, but sad."
 * – Leia Organa

Padmé Naberrie Amidala, also Her Royal Highness, Queen Amidala of Naboo and later Senator Amidala of Naboo (46–19 BBY), was the wife of Anakin Skywalker and the mother of Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa Solo. She was the democratically-elected Queen of Naboo before representing the planet as a Senator in the Galactic Senate.

Early Life (46 BBY - 32 BBY)
Prodigiously talented and well-learned, Padmé was still not the youngest Queen of Naboo to ever be elected. Her birth name was Padmé Naberrie, Amidala was actually a Regnal name. In her guise as Queen Amidala, Padme appeared regal and austere but as Padmé, she was headstrong and compassionate. Amidala played an important role in the last years of the Old Republic.

She was the youngest daughter of Ruwee and Jobal Naberrie and born in an isolated mountain village. Her parents instilled in their children high virtues like self-sacrifice and care for the socially weak. In her youth she volunteered for the Refugee Relief Movement, like her father had before her. Following this, she entered the Legislative Youth Program, where she met a young man named Palo. A brief, innocent relationship followed, but the pair parted ways when Palo became an artist, and Padme continued in politics.

Her rise was meteoroic - she had joined the Apprentice Legislature at age eight and became a full Apprentice Legislator by age eleven. By 33 BBY, at the age of thirteen, Padme had become Princess of Theed, where she was a magnet for personalities opposed to the rule of King Veruna. She became involved in a relationship with Ian Lago, the young son of Veruna's chief counsellor. Both families were opposed to the match, but it ended of its own accord when Veruna abdicated and Padme was persuaded to enter the race to succeed the King. Her personal popularity and opposition to Veruna's policies ensured she won handily and she never saw Ian again.

Queen (32 BBY - 24 BBY)
Shortly after being elected Queen in 32 BBY, she tried to use diplomatic and political means to rid her planet from the blockade of the Trade Federation. When this failed, she participated personally in the Battle of Naboo, leading the operation which retook her palace in the city of Theed.

During this time, she formed a close friendship with the nine-year-old Anakin Skywalker. She also called for a vote of non-confidence in Chancellor Finis Valorum's leadership in the Galactic Senate. This led to Naboo's Senator Palpatine being elected Chancellor.

In 24 BBY, Amidala ended her second term as Queen. Though some on Naboo suggested amending the constitution to allow her to serve a third term, she gave up the throne to her elected successor, Queen Jamillia. At Jamillia's urging, she became Naboo's representative in the Senate. Surprisingly, given her career change, she retained an elaborate fashion sense and a constantly-changing wardrobe. Soon, she was one of the leaders of a faction opposed to the establishment of an army to quell the growing Separatist movement.

Senator (24 BBY - 19 BBY)


After an attempt on her life in 22 BBY, Anakin, now an apprentice, was assigned to protect her. The two fell in love, though both of them were duty-bound to deny it. In the process of rescuing Obi-Wan Kenobi on Geonosis. Padme had a close encounter with a nexu that ripped the buttom part of her shirt, completely exposing her stomach. They became directly involved in the first massed battle of the Clone Wars, where Amidala again showed herself to be rather more handy in combat than might be expected of a politician. Soon afterwards, Anakin and Amidala were married on Naboo, in a secret ceremony attended only by their droids R2-D2 and C-3PO.



With the beginning of hostilities, her message of diplomacy and restraint began to be drowned out by the guns of war. She found herself the target of assassins (due to Nute Gunray's personal grudge) over and over again, forcing her to remain in the capitol world. She rarely saw her secret husband, Anakin Skywalker, who was constantly at the front line, leading clonetroopers with Obi-Wan Kenobi. Padmé maintained a secret correspondence with her husband, and, though she thrilled to his exploits, she also feared for his safety.

Four months into the war Padmé was travelling with Jedi Master Yoda aboard her Naboo yacht. The ancient Jedi sensed a disturbance in the Force, coming from the planet Ilum. Despite Captain Typho's protests, Padmé accompanied Yoda to the world where she assisted in the rescue of the Jedi Luminara Unduli and Barriss Offee.

By the end of the Clone Wars in 19 BBY, the now pregnant Padmé became alarmed by the changes in her husband's character as he was seduced by the Dark Side. On Coruscant, Padme asked Anakin to tell Palpatine to end the war and give up his emergency powers, but Anakin would do nothing. Following the declaration of the Galactic Empire and the Great Jedi Purge led by Anakin, Amidala joined with Bail Organa and Mon Mothma to sign the Delegation of 2,000 and document that would later pave the way for the founding of a resistance movement that would eventually become the Rebel Alliance.

Traveling with Obi-Wan Kenobi to the planet Mustafar, she confronted Anakin to try and get him to turn back to Light Side of the Force, but he used a Force choke against her. After Kenobi defeated Anakin, he took Padmé to a medical facility on the asteroid Polis Massa. There, a medical team tried to save Padmé's life. However, after the birth of her twins Luke and Leia, she died comforted by Obi-Wan, telling him that there was still good in Anakin.

Padmé's parents Ruwee and Jobal, sister Sola and Queen Apailana, were told that Padmé was killed by someone on Coruscant. An investigation into who impregnated her would have gone against Naboo tradition.

Shortly before the Battle of Endor during the Galactic Civil War,Luke asked Leia if she remembered her mother at all. Leia remembered her mother's death and described her as "very beautiful, kind, but sad", Luke remarked that he had no memory of Padme whatsoever. Unbeknownst to Leia, a large painting of her mother still hung in the Imperial Palace even up to the Thrawn Crisis, twenty-eight years after Padmé's death.

A hologram Padmé was briefly seen in a hologram projected by R2-D2 while Luke was fixing him around 34 ABY. R2 showed him Anakin telling her about his dream of her dying in childbirth.

Up until this point, Luke and Leia had been unaware of the identity of their mother, though they were aware of a "Senator Amidala" who served in the final days of the Republic. However, they had no inkling of their relation to her.

Handmaidens
During her tenures as Queen and Senator, Amidala cultivated a coterie of handmaidens, young women of a similar age and with a striking similarity to Padmé. These handmaidens acted as bodyguards, decoys and confidantes to their mistress, roles devised by Amidala's head of security, Captain Panaka.

As Queen, these handmaidens included Sabé, Eirtaé, Rabé, Yané and Saché. During her term as Senator, Padmé's handmaidens included Dormé, Cordé, Versé, Moteé and Ellé.

Appearances

 * ''Star Wars Tales #5: A Summer's Dream
 * Cloak of Deception
 * Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
 * ''Star Wars Episode I Journal: Queen Amidala
 * Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
 * Star Wars: Clone Wars
 * Obsession
 * Labyrinth of Evil
 * Reversal of Fortune
 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
 * The Last Command 5 (painting)
 * The Joiner King (hologram)
 * The Unseen Queen (hologram)

Behind the scenes

 * The role of Padmé was played by Natalie Portman in The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith.
 * Padme's first actual appearance in the Star Wars universe was in the comic The Last Command 5, which came out around a year before Episode I. At the time the comic was being made, the decision to cast Natalie Portman as the future mother of the twins had just been made, so the authors of the comic decided to place her likeness in the background. Although this clashes to some extent with the eventual revelation that Leia never knew her mother, The Last Command 5 nonetheless was the first appearance of Padme in the Star Wars Universe.
 * "Padmé" is Sanskrit for "lotus flower," while "Amidala" is the spiritual manifestation.
 * In Return of the Jedi, Leia tells Luke she remembered her mother dying when Leia was very young, and described her as very kind, beautiful and sad. Since Padmé dies in Revenge of the Sith while Leia is a newborn, it is not clear how Leia has these memories (it is speculated that Leia felt her mother's sadness through the Force, however this not confirmed).