Darth VaderFrom the Movies
Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith, was the scourge of the Jedi, a master of the dark side of the Force, and one of the Emperor's most trusted servants. He wasn't always a fearsome enforcer, however.
He began life as Anakin Skywalker, a young slave from Tatooine skilled in piloting and strong in the Force. Anakin's very origins are mysterious. His mother, Shmi, revealed that there was no biological father. Inexplicably, she became pregnant with the Force-prodigy and carried him to term. Some among the Jedi believed this to be part of an ancient prophecy of a Chosen One, willed into life by the midi-chlorians, who would bring balance to an increasingly darkening Force. There was another possibility, though. The child could have been the creation of sinister Sith manipulations, as the Dark Lords Darth Plagueis and Darth Sidious conspired to bring about the perfect apprentice by coaxing life from lifelessness.
Once discovered by maverick Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn, Anakin was taken before the Jedi Council to be trained. There was some controversy on the subject -- despite Jinn's adamant assurances that Skywalker was one spoken of in the prophecy, the council was hesitant to allow his training at the age of nine.
Finally, the Council agreed that Anakin should be trained, and he was assigned to Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi. Kenobi recklessly thought that he could be as skillful a master as Yoda. His mistakes had dire consequences for the galaxy.
Skywalker was seduced by the dark side of the Force. His boundless abilities fueled a sense of pride that hastened his fall. He chafed under the rigid strictures of the Jedi Code, and would discreetly transgress from the Jedi teachings to suit his wants. Despite it being forbidden, Skywalker secretly married his love Padmé Amidala. It was his deep-rooted concern for her safety that became his greatest weakness, one that the Sith Lord Darth Sidious was able to exploit.
Skywalker was plagued with prophetic visions of his wife dying in childbirth. His friend and confidant, Chancellor Palpatine, revealed to the troubled young Jedi that a pathway to immortality lay among the teachings of the Sith. Palpatine revealed himself to be the shadowy Sith Lord Darth Sidious, and poisoned Anakin's faculties with well-crafted words of praise and conspiracy. Anakin, who had reason to doubt the Jedi's capabilities and intentions, began to lean more and more to the dark side. When it came time to make the fateful decision, he agreed to follow Sidious' teachings and knelt before the dark master.
Anakin was renamed Darth Vader. The Sith conspiracy, which had been festering in the shadows of the Republic for a thousand years, sprang into action. Palpatine elevated himself to the position of Emperor, and dispatched Vader as his ultimate enforcer. With his unparalleled Force abilities, Vader swept through the Jedi Temple. He led his elite clone trooper forces through the polished corridors, cutting a swath of death and destruction through the remaining Jedi on Coruscant.
Vader brought an end to the Clone Wars by slaughtering all the masterminds of the Confederacy of Independent Systems on Mustafar. In his twisted perception, he was bringing peace and order to the new Empire, wiping away the corruption and chaos of the Republic's twilight.
Padmé followed Anakin to Mustafar, to plead for him to return from the dark side. When Obi-Wan Kenobi emerged from Amidala's ship, Vader was consumed with rage. He saw treachery at every corner. Distraught, he began to telekinetically throttle Padmé. She gasped for air before collapsing, unconscious, on the Mustafar landing platform. Shocked at how far his apprentice had fallen, Kenobi vowed to stop Vader and the two entered into a fierce lightsaber duel that traversed the burning Mustafar landscape.
Despite his newfound power bestowed by the dark side of the Force, Anakin was grievously wounded in the fight. Kenobi's blade sheared from him his lower legs and his left arm, and his crippled body tumbled onto the searing black sands below. Vader caught fire, and he was severely burned all over his body. His anger kept him alive, and he was forever scarred not only by his wounds but also by betrayal. Vader abandoned his former identity. Sidious took him from Mustafar to an Imperial rehabilitation center where he was rebuilt. When metal coupled with flesh in the form of cyborg implants and enhancements required to sustain him, Skywalker's transformation was complete. He was no longer Anakin -- he was Darth Vader.
At the time of his transformation, Vader never knew that Padmé had given birth to twins. Obi-Wan Kenobi hid the children from the Dark Lord and Emperor Palpatine. Vader somehow discovered that he had a son, Luke Skywalker, but never suspected he had a daughter, Leia, who was secretly taken to be raised by Bail Organa, Viceroy and First Chairman of Alderaan.
In the chaos that accompanied Palpatine's rise to power, Vader became one of the Emperor's most loyal servants. The Emperor entrusted him with the elimination of the Jedi Knights. During these dark times, Vader andhis agents destroyed the remnants of Jedi order.
When the Galactic Civil War raged across the Empire, Darth Vader was tasked with discovering the location of the Rebel Alliance's secret base. Vader captured Rebel operative Princess Leia Organa and had her tortured to reveal the location of the hidden fortress. Vader also sought technical plans stolen by the Rebels which contained the complete schematics of the Empire's most powerful weapon, the Death Star battle station. When a rescue team successfully liberated the princess, Vader found himself face to face with his former master, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Vader defeated the aged Jedi Knight in a lightsaber duel.
Using the stolen plans to pinpoint the Death Star's weakness, Rebel forces launched a starfighter attack on the station. Entering the battle, Vader piloted his own specially modified fighter. He managed to destroy the most Rebel pilots in the battle, but was forced out of the conflict when his own vessel was crippled by the Millennium Falcon.
Three years after the destruction of the Death Star, Vader led an elite squadron of Star Destroyers headed by his flagship, the Super Star Destroyer Executor. He was to seek out and capture the Rebels responsible for the Death Star's demise. Eventually, Vader tracked the Rebels down to the ice-world of Hoth. There, he launched a ground attack destroying the base. His quarry, the Millennium Falcon, escaped.
During the Hoth campaign, the Emperor commanded Vader to track down the "son of Skywalker," and have Vader turn him to the dark side of the Force. Vader planned to use Skywalker's friends as bait to lure him into a trap. He hired a motley gang of bounty hunters to track down the Falcon, and drew Luke to Bespin's Cloud City. He and Luke clashed in a lightsaber duel that Vader won by ruthlessly severing Luke's sword-hand. Vader then revealed to the broken young Jedi that he was his father, and that they would rule the galaxy as father and son. Luke refused to succumb to the dark side, and escaped his father. Vader was left empty-handed.
After these incidents, Palpatine reassigned Vader from the Imperial fleet, and instead put him in charge of overseeing the new Death Star operation. The Emperor began to distrust his once loyal servant. Vader's contact with his son sparked something within him, something the Emperor did not like.
Palpatine was scheduled to arrive at the second Death Star. The Emperor foresaw that Skywalker would come before the two, and then they would seduce young Luke to the dark side, just as Anakin had been drawn to its power decades earlier.
When Luke surrendered, and was taken before the Emperor, Palpatine pitted father and son in a lightsaber duel. Skywalker refused to fight and give into the temptation of the dark side. Vader, probing his mind, learned of his daughter, Leia Organa. He threatened to turn her to the dark side. At this threat, Luke gave into his hatred and attacked his father. In the ferocious assault that followed, young Skywalker nearly killed Vader.
Horrified by what he had become, Luke abandoned his newfound dark side rage, and refused Palpatine's offers of power. "I am a Jedi, like my father before me," Skywalker proudly claimed.
Palpatine unleashed a deadly barrage of dark side energy at the young Jedi. Lightning bolts spawned from pure evil tore into Luke's body with searing pain. Vader stood helplessly, watching his son writhe in agony from torture delivered by his master. Unable to watch anymore, Vader turned against the Emperor. He grabbed a surprised Palpatine from behind, hoisted him above his head, and tossed his evil master down a bottomless reactor shaft. Vader was bombarded by the Emperor's Force lightning, mortally wounding him.
As he lay dying, Vader ceased to be. Anakin Skywalker returned. He asked his son to remove the cumbersome, fearsome mask that had concealed his face for decades. His mask and life support removed, Anakin looked upon Luke for the first and last time. He then died, his body disappearing into the light side of the Force. Luke burned the dark armor that had encased Anakin's crippled body in a quiet funeral pyre on the forest moon of Endor that night.
From the Expanded Universe
As an agent of the Sith, Vader was a merciless killer. He brought about the extinction of the Jedi, personally slaying or crippling such notable knights as Koffi Arana, An'ya Kuro, Roan Shryne, Halagad Ventor and Empatojayos Brand. The slaughter of the Jedi was widespread, but several Force-sensitive individuals were spared. Select agents of the Emperor were allowed to keep their knowledge of the Force, as long as they used it as the Emperor commanded. Others hid, as Vima-Da-Boda did in the slums of Nar Shaddaa, or Obi-Wan Kenobi did in the deserts of Tatooine.
As Palpatine grew in political power, so too did Vader's star rise. On Coruscant, an immense palace was awarded to the Dark Lord. Another such monument, Bast Castle, existed on the distant world of Vjun. The Emperor allowed Vader to train a precious few in the Force to act as agents, such as Lord Hethrir and Vost Tyne. Though Vader instructed acolytes such as these with the full cooperation of the Emperor, he kept in his arsenal a secret apprentice. As befitting the Sith tradition, the Dark Lord harbored treacherous thoughts against the Emperor, and honed his apprentice's abilities for the one day when an opportunity for Vader to ascend to a position of master presented itself.
In the aftermath of the Clone Wars, the planet Honoghr was devastated by contamination from crashed warships. The Empire, recognizing the deadly value of the powerful and stealthy native Noghris, stepped in to help cleanse the world of the deadly pollutants. In truth, they were exploiting the natives' sense of honor, as Imperial reclamation projects simply cleaned up enough of the contamination to keep the Noghri in the Empire's debt. Darth Vader became a central figure of authority to the Noghri, his own dark armor reminding them of their harsh features. The Noghri became yet another weapon for Vader to stealthily wield against his enemies.
Vader, never much of a statesman, eschewed politics in favor of a more martial role in the Imperial command structure. Early in the Empire, Vader was granted authority over the 501st Legion of stormtroopers, and a personal capital flagship, the Exactor. Many in the Imperial hierarchy resented Vader's position of privilege. Vader's capriciousness was legendary. He would often kill veteran officers for moments of incompetence. For his chilling managerial style, Vader had to weather a treasonous revolt from a handful of Imperial officers who tried to do away with the Dark Lord. Their assassination attempt failed, and Vader was none too amused.
Still possessing Anakin Skywalker's amazing piloting and engineering skills, Vader oversaw the initial designs for the Sienar Fleet Systems TIE Advanced starfighter. His position in the Imperial ranks gave him the first prototype model, the x1, as an exclusive fighter. The modified craft's compact hyperdrive came in handy when Vader found himself in the depths of space following the destruction of the Death Star.
Returning to the Empire, Vader was formally reprimanded for his failure to stop the Rebels. He then continued his mission to find the Rebel base. His search took him to such worlds as Ultaar and Centares. He tortured a Rebel pilot that led him to discover the identity of the Death Star's killer, Luke Skywalker.
Equipped with this information, Vader orchestrated a number of plans to capture the young Rebel. He involved the House of Tagge family of nobles in a plot to capture Skywalker on the world of Monastery. He used an actor posing as Obi-Wan Kenobi to lure Skywalker to the planet Aridus. When Governor Bin Essada learned that Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia Organa were on Circarpous V, he contacted the Dark Lord. Vader traveled to the jungle world, and faced the Rebels in the abandoned Temple of Pomojema. Guided by the spirit of Obi-Wan, Luke severed Vader's prosthetic right arm in combat. Vader, amazingly, survived the wound, and was ready to continue. The Dark Lord toppled into a sacrificial well as the fight resumed, and the Rebels escaped.
After the Battle of Hoth, Vader found himself in a complex game of strategy against the scheming criminal mastermind, Prince Xizor. The prince, who had long hated Vader due to a planetary bombardment ordered by the Dark Lord on Xizor's homeworld of Falleen, was attempting to discredit Vader in the sickly yellow eyes of the Emperor. Xizor had long been a rival for the Emperor's attentions. He sought to foil Vader's plan to capture Skywalker for the Emperor by having Luke assassinated first. Vader discovered Xizor's plot, and killed him in an assault high over Coruscant.
Han SoloFrom the Movies
If, at the height of his smuggling days, you told Han Solo that he would be a hero of the Rebellion, fall in love with an Alderaanian princess, and become a general in the Alliance, he would have had no shortage of smart remarks for you. But if anything is consistent in Solo's life, it is unpredictability.
Han and his Wookiee first mate and co-pilot Chewbacca had a variety of adventures throughout their long careers as smugglers. By hanging out on the fringe of galactic society, Solo not only made useful allies, but powerful enemies. Han eventually met up with a young gambler named Lando Calrissian. After a period of adventuring, Han won Lando's freighter, the Millennium Falcon in a heated sabacc game.
Han and Chewie made countless modifications to the dilapidated Corellian freighter, souping up the Falcon to become an incredibly fast and well-armed smuggling vessel. During a stretch of bad fortune, Solo was forced to jettison a cargo of contraband spice belonging to the gangster Jabba the Hutt. The gangster put a price on his head so large that bounty hunters across the galaxy would come searching for the Corellian and his Wookiee first mate. Desperate for cash, Solo took a charter to the Alderaan system. He was to transport Obi-Wan Kenobi, Luke Skywalker, Artoo-Detoo and See-Threepio from Tatooine to Alderaan for the price of 17,000 credits.
When arriving at Alderaan, they discovered the planet destroyed, and were taken captive by the Imperial Death Star. Han agreed to rescue the captive Princess Leia Organa if he was to be rewarded, and rewarded well. After escaping from the Death Star, Han took the Rebels to their base on Yavin 4. Han decided not to participate in the Alliance's desperate attack against the Death Star, preferring to take his reward and leave. It was in mid-transit that Solo had a change of heart, and joined the battle just in time to cripple Darth Vader's ship, and allow Luke enough time to destroy the station. For his efforts, Han was awarded a medal of honor.
The number of enemies in Solo's past haunted him during his years with the Rebellion. Solo's debt to Jabba eventually accumulated to the point that the gangster placed a death mark on Solo's head, and sent a number of bounty hunters after him. Several bounty hunters almost succeeded in collecting during run-ins on Ord Mantell.
Han received an acting rank of captain in the Alliance, and accompanied the Rebels on numerous missions and adventures. His Millennium Falcon was stationed on Hoth's Echo Base during the Imperial attack there. When Princess Leia Organa was cut off from her transport vessel, she used the Falcon to escape from the besieged base. Despite a number of malfunctions, the Falcon was able to avoid the Imperial Fleet for a time. During quiet moments, when Solo set the Falcon down for repairs, he and Leia grew closer.
When the Falcon escaped Hoth, Darth Vader made it a priority to have it captured. Vader posted a reward, and dispatched a number of bounty hunters. One of them, Boba Fett, eventually captured Solo at Bespin's Cloud City. There, Solo was taken prisoner by Darth Vader, and underwent carbon freezing for transportation back to Jabba the Hutt. Han was encased in carbonite, where he remained in perfect hibernation. Leia, Lando, Chewbacca, and Luke planned a mission to rescue him from Jabba's fortress on Tatooine.
When his friends arrived at Jabba's palace, Han was freed from his carbonite coffin. He suffered from a mild case of hibernation sickness. A battle ensued wherein Han's friends ultimately destroyed the Hutt crime lord. With Jabba dead, Solo's debt was effectively erased. Solo also managed to knock Boba Fett into the gaping maw of the Sarlacc creature, ending that long-standing threat.
Rejoining the Alliance Fleet, Solo received the commission of General. He was put in charge of a strike team sent to the moon of Endor. Their mission was to destroy the shield generator that protected the second Death Star high in orbit. With the help of the native Ewoks, the Rebel strike force defeated the Imperial forces, and destroyed the generator, paving the way for the victory at the Battle of Endor.
Han is overly confident and arrogant. He possesses a wry, sarcastic wit, and a reckless manner. This often gets him into predicaments that only his foolhardy courage can get him out of. Han is well traveled, and claims to have been from one side of the galaxy to the other. For a time, Solo didn't believe in the Force, attributing it to simple luck. Han is pragmatic, some would say mercenary, and his personality often conflicts with Leia's idealism. Despite such conflicts (or perhaps because of them) the two eventually fell in love.
From the Expanded Universe
There is much rumor, speculation, and all-out falsehoods in records of Solo's past. He is the subject of several exploitative holofilms, false documentaries, and at least two bogus autobiographies. According to one account, Han Solo was abandoned by his parents who were rogue travelers and was raised by Wookiees from age seven to twelve.
In truth, Han spent most of his childhood in the service of Garris Shrike, the leader of a trading clan that used abandoned street urchins as beggars and petty thieves. Solo grew up on Shrike's ship, the Trader's Luck, often returning to Corellia for stopovers. Solo was mostly raised by a kindly female Wookiee named Dewlanna, who taught Han compassion as well as the Wookiee language.
Solo longed to learn more about his parents, but Shrike kept all information from him. The only tie to his family Han found was an unscrupulous cousin named Thrackan Sal-Solo, a cruel bully that Solo wanted little to do with.
Young Solo earned his keep for Shrike doing a variety of unsavory jobs. He once joined a pirate group operated by cutthroats Lemo and Sanda. He made a name for himself racing dangerous repulsorlift swoops professionally and on the independent circuit. In these days, Solo made a blood enemy out of a young Corellian swoop jockey named Dengar.
At 19, Solo ran away from Shrike's group of brigands and began working for the Hutts. At the Hutt spice-processing center on the paradise world of Ylesia, Solo fell in love with an enslaved worker named Bria Tharen. Solo rescued Tharen, and destroyed much of the Ylesian operation. The fact that Solo was using an alias at the time -- Vyyk Drago -- spared him the ire of the enraged Hutts.
Solo eventually joined the Imperial Academy, to better himself and his piloting skills. Solo's mentor during his Academy days was Badure, or "Trooper" as he was known. During a training drill, Han performed a daring landing maneuver with an aged U-33 transport that earned him the nickname "Slick." Sometime during his military career Han Solo earned the right to wear the Corellian Bloodstripe.
Despite promising skills, Solo was drummed out of the service when he defied orders and rescued a Wookiee slave, Chewbacca. Solo freed Chewbacca from his captors, and from that day on Chewbacca served as Han's protector and friend.
His military career in shambles, Solo returned to the fringe, joining a smuggling gang run by Roa. It was here that Solo had his first Kessel Run. He traveled with such notorious fringers as Shug Ninx, Mako Spince, Salla Zend, Katya M'Buele, Silver Fyre, Rik Duel and Lando Calrissian.
After winning the Millennium Falcon from Calrissian, Solo and Chewie worked in the Corporate Sector for some time, for crime-bosses like Big Bunji and Ploovo Two-For-One. It was on these assignments that Han often tangled with the Corporate Sector Authority. Han was responsible for destroying the secret Authority prison installation, Star's End, as well as helping expose a slave trade ring that extended to some very prominent Authority execs. Han then joined Badure on an ill-fated search for the lost treasure of Xim the Despot. During this search, Han sustained a knife injury that resulted in the signature scar on his chin.
After a falling out with many of his fellow smugglers, Solo was left stuck on Tatooine with a hefty debt and hunters on his tail. It was then that he took on the charter to Alderaan that resulted in him being inextricably tangled with the Rebellion.
After the Death Star crisis, Han and Chewbacca left the Rebel base at Yavin to pay off his debt to Jabba the Hutt. En route to Tatooine, the Millennium Falcon was waylaid by a pirate force commanded by Crimson Jack. The pirate robbed Solo of his reward money, leaving the two spacers destitute. The pair returned to the Rebel fold, having few options left. During the Alliance's evacuation of the Yavin Base, Solo and Chewbacca helped the Alliance obtain a power gem from the space pirate Raskar. This power gem was instrumental in getting past the Imperial blockade of Yavin.
Solo had some trouble adjusting to life after the Battle of Endor. He nonetheless aided the fledgling Alliance of Free Planets by visiting worlds, petitioning them for membership in the Galactic Congress, an important meeting that would determine the future of galactic government. As the New Republic emerged, Solo continued to be an important contact in the smuggler community, even though many had thought he had gone "respectable" and was no longer one of them.
Solo finally found time to openly express his love for Princess Leia. When Prince Isolder of Hapes appeared on Coruscant, proposing marriage to Leia to better both their governments, Solo sprang into action in typically reckless style. He eloped -- some would say absconded -- with Leia to the planet Dathomir, a world he won in an amazing game of sabacc. Proving his love for her, Han and Leia were wed shortly thereafter, and the couple started a family that would grow to include three children, all powerful in the Force: the twins Jaina and Jacen and the younger Anakin.
For a man born without one, family has become a growing concern for Solo. Many times his children have been threatened by enemies seeking to threatenhim or Leia, or those looking to kidnap the Force-strong youngsters. Time and again, Solo and his allies have managed to defeat these threats, but each time, the pain of losing a loved one became all too real. When his children grew capable of defending themselves, Solo for a time thought his family was safe. He couldn't have been more wrong.
During the initial Yuuzhan Vong invasion of the galaxy, many lives were lost to the depredations of these sinister aliens. Using bizarre organic gravity well projectors called dovin basals, the Yuuzhan Vong dragged the moon orbiting Sernpidal down to its surface. While Han and Chewbacca helped evacuate the populace, Solo was forced to leave his oldest friend behind. Chewbacca died when the moon collided with the planet, and Solo held his son, Anakin, who was piloting the Falcon at the time, responsible.
With the shock of losing Chewbacca hanging over his head, Solo spiraled into depression and alcoholism. He returned to his fringer ways, leaving his family life behind. With the help of a new friend and ally, the Ryn named Droma, Solo eventually discovered that he could not run away from his loss, or from his loved ones. Solo and Leia reconciled, and he began making amends with his family, but with the galaxy tearing itself apart due to this new alien menace, the repairs were tenuous, and constantly challenged.
The next blow to the Solo family would be the loss of the youngest son, Anakin, who had led a daring Jedi mission into the heart of enemy operations. Han watched helplessly as Leia collapsed in agony and grief as the sensation of Anakin's death echoed through the Force. Compounding this tragedy, Jacen also vanished from that mission. Jaina would return, but Han and Leia saw their once carefree daughter transformed into a hardened combat veteran of unsettlingly intense demeanor.
In the aftermath of Anakin's death, Han and Leia would operate together, running a number of crucial missions for the struggling Galactic Alliance. His underworld-honed skills of deception and her talents in diplomacy proved valuable many times.
Han returned to Coruscant with his family during the final battle against the Yuuzhan Vong, working with the Jedi Knights and an Alliance infiltration team to eliminate Supreme Overlord Shimrra. When Thrackan Sal-Solo made another bid for complete independence some 10 years after the end of the conflict, Han found himself vilified in the Corellian media as a lackey of the Galactic Alliance. He and Leia became the targets of an assassination attempt funded by Sal-Solo, which pushed Han into an uneasy alliance with his old nemesis Boba Fett.
Although they were ultimately successful in killing Sal-Solo, Han learned that his son Jacen had used a deadly Force technique to kill Ailyn Vel, Boba Fett?s daughter. Han confronted Jacen about Vel's death, stating in no uncertain terms that he wanted nothing to do with the person Jacen had become. Han and Leia then returned to Corellia, believing that the Corellians were right in their beliefs, if not in their actions. The two got mixed up in a plot to assassinate the Hapan Queen Mother, along with the actual assassin, Aurra Sing.
They were badly outgunned, and with the Millennium Falcon already damaged from fleeing Hapes the first time, there was little they could do but avoid the fighting. This brought them into contact with their daughter Jaina, as well Ben Skywalker. Realizing that the Solos were considered Corellian insurgents, Ben tried to arrest them as terrorists.
Soldiers from Coruscant's Galactic Alliance Guard later tried to arrest Han and Leia when they tried to attend the funeral of Mara Jade Skywalker. Han realized that the time had come to do something about his son. Jacen tracked his parents to Kashyyyk and ordered orbital turbolaser strikes at several cities, in an effort to force the Wookiees to turn them over. Han clashed with the Jedi over who should be responsible for bringing Jacen -- now Darth Caedus -- to justice.
When the group returned to the temporary Jedi outpost on the Forest Moon of Endor, Han and Leia were dismayed to learn that Jacen had kidnapped Allana, the daughter of the Hapan Queen Mother. Han gladly turned the Millennium Falcon over to Jagged, who was leading the mission to rescue Allana, while he and Leia worked with Iella Antilles as the actual infiltration team. Their mission was successful, and Allana was returned to her mother on Hapes.
After learning that Darth Caedus was on the Nickel One asteroid, they launched a new mission. Han and Leia piloted their attack ship, hoping to draw off the forces gathered there while Jaina was deployed to the asteroid. Fleeing to the Jedi base on Shedu Maad, they were pursued by Caedus and prepared for the final battle against the former Jacen Solo.
The Solos were part of a small strike team that was to infiltrate the Anakin Solo -- Caedus's flagship -- and rescue Jaina. When they found Jaina clutching her brother's dead body, Han did what he could to console his daughter, and later worked out his anger over the death of his son by helping the Jedi neutralize any enemy forces who refused to surrender, including the surviving Imperial Moffs who attempted to support Darth Caeudus. Han angrily demanded that the Moffs used their considerable resources to help rebuild the galaxy, in exchange for their lives.
In another sort of rebuilding, Han and Leia decided to secretly raise their granddaughter, Allana, who had been entrusted to them by Tenel Ka to raise away from the dangers of Hapes.
Luke SkywalkerFrom the Movies
The path of a Jedi is often difficult, filled with conflict and pain. Luke Skywalker's life which began as a simple farmboy and saw him become the greatest hero the galaxy has ever known is an amazing example of this. Skywalker spent his restless childhood on the backwater desert planet of Tatooine, toiling away on his uncle's moisture farm. His guardians, Beru and Owen Lars, never told Luke of his true heritage. While Luke believed his father to have been a navigator on a spice freighter, he never suspected that Anakin Skywalker was once a famed Jedi Knight and incredible starpilot.
Luke was born during the chaos as the galaxy transitioned from Republic to the tyrannical Empire. He and his twin sister, Leia, were secretly spirited away from his father and the Emperor. Luke was taken to live with Owen and Beru while his sister was taken to Alderaan to be raised by Viceroy Bail Organa.
On his uncle's moisture farm, Luke learned the essentials of desert survival and droid repair. Boredom was not as scarce as water on Tatooine, and Luke often dreamed of adventure and excitement. He had a circle of friends who would loiter around Tosche station in Anchorhead when not occupied by their chores. Luke never quite fit in with his friends; they often teased him and called him "Wormie." Biggs Darklighter, though, was different and Luke considered him a true friend.
Luke honed his piloting skills alongside Biggs in Tatooine's infamous Beggar's Canyon, racing his T-16 skyhopper. Biggs and Luke often spoke of joining the Imperial Academy. Despite his dreams, Luke was not allowed to attend. His uncle needed him on the farm, and so when Biggs went away to the Academy, Luke was stranded on Tatooine.
Luke's life changed when his uncle purchased a pair of used droids from Jawa dealers visiting his homestead. The droids, Artoo-Detoo and See-Threepio, were Rebel property fleeing from the Empire. The Rebel droids led Luke on an adventure, uniting him with Obi-Wan Kenobi, a desert hermit and war hero whom Luke knew as Old Ben.
Imperial forces in pursuit of the droids murdered Owen and Beru Lars and destroyed Luke's home. With nothing left on Tatooine, Luke decided to follow Kenobi. The wise man taught Luke in the ways of the Jedi Knights and the Force, ways for which Luke showed an affinity. Kenobi gave Luke Anakin's lightsaber.
Luke and Kenobi hired the smuggling duo of Han Solo and Chewbacca for transit off planet. They were destined for Alderaan, to return the Rebel droids to their owner, Princess Leia Organa. They discovered Alderaan destroyed by the Imperial superweapon, the Death Star, and were taken captive aboard the monstrous station. There, Luke discovered that Leia was also held captive.
Luke helped free the Princess from the clutches of the Empire. Using data stolen by Rebel spies, Alliance tacticians formulated an attack plan capable of destroying the battle station. Luke piloted an X-wing starfighter in the final attack against the Death Star, and fired the proton torpedo volley that, with the aid of the Force, destroyed the Imperial weapon.
Luke eventually accepted a commission in the Alliance military, and achieved the rank of commander. On the new Rebel base on Hoth, Luke served as a scout on the frozen plains of the ice planet. While on patrol, Luke was injured by a wampa ice creature, and dragged to its lair. Using his growing expertise in the Force, Luke escaped. Han Solo eventually rescued Luke from the frozen wilderness.
Luke then led Rogue Group's snowspeeder pilots in the delaying actions taken to hold off an Imperial invasion of Hoth. After narrowly escaping death by Imperial walker, Luke boarded his X-wing fighter with R2-D2 to leave the ice planet. Instead of going to the scheduled Rebel fleet rendezvous, Luke went to a planet mentioned to him by the spirit of Obi-Wan Kenobi: Dagobah.
On the swamp planet of Dagobah, Luke learned the ways of the Force from Yoda the Jedi Master. Yoda honed Luke's Jedi abilities, but his training was cut short as Luke had to go rescue his friends on Bespin. Little did Luke know that it was all an elaborate trap devised by Darth Vader. Luke confronted Vader in Bespin's Cloud City, and was bested by him in a lightsaber duel. Luke suffered the loss of his hand, and the revelation that Darth Vader was in fact his father. Luke was rescued from Cloud City by Leia, Chewbacca, and Lando Calrissian, and eventually returned to the Rebel fleet. Droid surgeons equipped Luke with a cybernetic replacement hand.
Luke returned to Tatooine to construct his new lightsaber in the abandoned hut of Obi-Wan Kenobi. Luke concealed his Jedi weapon inside R2-D2. This was all part of the plan to infiltrate the palace of Jabba the Hutt and free the captive Han Solo. Sending the droids in first, Luke then challenged Jabba the Hutt for the return of Solo. Jabba refused, sending Luke to fight his hideous pit-beast, the rancor. Luke, Han Solo, and Chewbacca were then sentenced to death at the Great Pit of Carkoon. Artoo delivered Luke's weapon to him, and Skywalker was able to destroy the Hutt's forces and escape with his friends.
Before returning to the assembled Rebel fleet, Luke went to Dagobah to complete his Jedi training. There, he found Yoda sick and dying. Yoda and the spirit of Obi-Wan Kenobi told Skywalker he had one trial remaining before achieving the rank of Jedi, and revealed the truth about his past. Luke found out that his father, Anakin Skywalker, had succumbed to the dark side and became Darth Vader, and that Leia Organa was his sister. For Luke to become a Jedi, he must face Darth Vader again.
Once back at the Rebel fleet Luke joined General Han Solo's strike team to the moon of Endor. This team was to deactivate the deflector shield protecting the new Death Star from Rebel attack. Skywalker feared he was a danger to the strike team since his presence could be felt through the Force. Before leaving, Skywalker confided the truth about their relationship to Leia, and left Endor to face Vader one last time.
Luke believed there was good in the Dark Lord, and that was why Vader offered Luke a chance to join forces rather than kill him outright. Luke turned himself in to the Imperial forces, and Vader brought his son before the Emperor on the Death Star. There, the Emperor planned to turn Luke to the dark side by goading his hatred and forcing the young Jedi to kill his father, thus sealing his future as the Emperor's student. The Emperor almost succeeded; in a fit of rage, Luke viciously wounded Vader. His thoughts and feelings recollected, Skywalker refused the Emperor's promised power. The Emperor, enraged, used the dark side to cast deadly lightning at the young Jedi. The Emperor almost killed Skywalker, but Darth Vader arose to save his son and hurl the Emperor down the Death Star's reactor shaft.
Luke took his father's crippled body to the Death Star hangar bay. In his final moments of life, Vader ceased to be, and Anakin Skywalker, Jedi Knight, returned. Luke removed Vader's mask so that Anakin could see his son with his own eyes before becoming one with the Force. Luke then commandeered an Imperial shuttle and flew to Endor. He built a funeral pyre to commemorate the Jedi, and to destroy the Dark Lord's empty armor. He returned to the victorious Rebel Alliance, and could see the spirits of Obi-Wan, Yoda, and Anakin that night at the Ewok celebration.
From the Expanded Universe
After the destruction of the Death Star, young Luke spearheaded a number of missions for the Alliance, seeking out a potential new world for the Rebels' hidden base. As he was eager to contribute, Luke's early years with the Rebellion were filled with adventure and heroics. He faced cutthroat pirates and bandits on the water world of Drexel, bizarre serpent riding slavemasters on a mysterious planet, and was almost duped by an Imperial plan that employed an actor posing as Obi-Wan Kenobi.
While on a scouting mission, Luke's vessel was caught up in the hyperwash of a transdimensional cometary body, depositing him on a barren ice planet. Skywalker had inadvertently discovered what was to be the site of the Rebels' new base and after returning to the Alliance, he informed his commanders of this frigid world. In short order, the Rebels evacuated their outposts on Yavin and Thila, and set up base on Hoth.
Accompanying Princess Leia on a diplomatic mission to the Circarpous system, Luke first came face to face with Darth Vader. The two were in pursuit of a powerful Force relic, the Kaiburr crystal, and dueled in the ancient Temple of Pomojema. Guided by the spirit of Obi-Wan, Luke held Vader off, and even managed to sever the Dark Lord's mechanical arm. Stunned, Vader tumbled down a deep pit, and their duel was interrupted.
The aftermath of Hoth scattered the Rebels, and Luke was stationed at temporary bases on Golrath and Arbra. Ascending to the command of Rogue Squadron, Luke fell in love with one of his squadron-mates, the talented and enigmatic Shira Brie. During a heated battle, Luke'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, Luke was stripped of command and put on trial. Luke's confidence in the Force was shaken. He investigated the matter, and discovered that Shira was actually an Imperial agent. Luke cleared his name and was reinstated as an Alliance commander.
With each passing year, Luke grew more powerful in the Force, and his exploits in the Alliance gained a higher profile. Following the Battle of Hoth, Skywalker found himself the target of numerous assassination attempts by the Black Sun criminal organization.
The day after his ordeal at the Battle of Endor, while still recovering from the wounds inflicted by Palpatine's Force lightning, Luke commanded an Alliance mission to the Bakura system. The outlying Imperial world had been besieged by a strange alien force, the Ssi-ruuk, and Skywalker and Organa negotiated a truce between the Alliance and Imperial forces to help fight off this menace.
The discovery of a Force-sensitive named Dev Sibwarra during the Bakura incident galvanized Luke's conviction for finding others like him in the galaxy. Palpatine and Vader's scourge was not absolute. Surely there were Force-users that had escaped the dark times.
Luke spent the next several years following every lead he could to locate lost and hidden Force-sensitives. This led him to Dathomir, a world of mysterious and powerful Force-wielding witches. On this distant planet, he discovered the ruins of the Chu'unthor, an ancient Jedi training vessel.
As Luke's search intensified, he was once again visited by the spirit of Obi-Wan Kenobi. Five years after the Emperor's death at Endor, Obi-Wan said his final farewell to Luke. His spirit would no longer remain with him. Skywalker, feeling alone, realized he was not the last of the Jedi, but rather, the first of the new.
It was at this time that rumors surfaced of a Jedi Master hidden on the remote world of Wayland. Luke investigated, finding the insane Dark Jedi clone, Joruus C'baoth. Luke's compassion defeated his safety instincts, as he studied with C'baoth, and tried to draw him from the madness and grip of 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 Luke's severed hand recovered from Bespin by Imperial agents, C'baoth grew a clone of the young Jedi -- Luuke Skywalker -- and sent the mindless duplicate to kill Luke. Skywalker eventually defeated C'baoth and the clone.
During this crisis, which played out while the Republic was besieged by the depredations of Grand Admiral Thrawn, Skywalker also met Mara Jade. A fiercely determined and highly skilled Force-sensitive warrior, Mara was once a trusted agent of Palpatine. She was one of Palpatine's "Hands," an elite assassin and agent who could hear the Emperor's call from across the galaxy. Jade held Skywalker responsible for the ruination of her career and purpose, and longed to kill him. Despite repeated opportunities, Jade did not kill Luke, and the two worked together to undo Thrawn and C'baoth's plans. Blunting her hatred for him, Mara developed a begrudging respect for the Jedi and his skills.
Although Thrawn was defeated, his string of victories rallied the remaining Imperial warlords to stage a daring and violent stab at the Republic-held capital of 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, Luke 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 Luke, and deposited him far away on the Deep Core world of Byss. There, in an ornate citadel, Luke faced an enemy he had not ever expected to see again: Emperor Palpatine.
Palpatine had long been staving death away by using arcane Sith knowledge and cloning technology. Palpatine would grow clone duplicates of his bodies to act as receptacles for his evil life force should his body die. With this technique, Palpatine had escaped death time and again. He called for Skywalker to kneel before him and become his apprentice. 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, Luke believed he could defeat the dark side from within by learning its secrets. He had neglected one of Yoda's key teachings -- never underestimate the power of the dark side. Skywalker, consumed by the darkness, found himself unable to break away from its pall. Though he succeeded in covertly sabotaging a number of Palpatine's plans, he could not bring himself back to the light. With the help of his sister, however, Skywalker was able to turn against his master. Together, the Jedi twins were eventually able to defeat Palpatine once and for all.
Given the growing dangers in the galaxy, Skywalker felt that the New Republic needed a new order of Jedi serving and protecting the populace. He proposed to the government that a new Jedi academy be started with himself as its head instructor. The Republic agreed, and Luke began searching for Jedi candidates in earnest for training in the Great Massassi Temple on Yavin 4.
There, Skywalker returned the Jedi order to the galaxy, and undid the damage done by Palpatine and his father decades ago. His students in turn became masters, and a new generation of Jedi Knights arose.
Luke's alliance with Mara Jade grew into admiration, then affection -- emotions that were reciprocated. About a decade after their initial hostile encounter, Luke and Mara Jade were married on Coruscant.
Now, Luke's new Jedi order is facing its greatest challenge. Without the sage 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 leery of their protectors.
Into these uncertain times rampaged the Yuuzhan Vong, alien invaders that breached New Republic space, 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. Inexplicably, the Yuuzhan Vong do not exist in the Force, thus the Jedi were robbed of their most powerful abilities against this new foe.
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 incursions. Organizations such as the Peace Brigade betrayed the order, and began rounding up Jedi captives for the invaders. The Jedi academy on Yavin 4 was destroyed by the Yuuzhan Vong. It was as if the dark times of Palpatine's ascent had returned.
Throughout it all, Skywalker maintained a veneer of carefully measured action, sparking criticisms of being distant, aloof and too passive. Dissension in the Jedi ranks spread as the more proactive Knights -- like Kyp Durron -- urged direct confrontation against the enemy.
Luke was resistant to such action, for fear that 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 temporarily afflicted by a Yuuzhan Vong-engineered disease, and his closest friends forever scarred 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 a paramount concern.
A chilling vision of the dark side brought Luke to the heart of the Yuuzhan Vong-held Coruscant. In the depths of the altered city planet, Luke face off against Lord Nyax, the deranged mutated Dark Jedi that once was Irek Ismeren.
Surviving a tremendous Force battle at the site of the old Jedi Temple, Skywalker concentrated his efforts on restarting the Jedi Council. To do so, he had to enter the nebulous world of politics. Backing a pro-Jedi candidate, Luke 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.
The best chance for ending the conflict was to locate the rogue planet Zonama Sekot. Eventually, the rogue living planet was found. Skywalker proved his worth and the peaceful intentions of his Jedi Order to Sekot, and the planet agreed to provide assistance. Jacen and Jaina Solo then accompanied Luke to the surface of Coruscant to stop Supreme Overlord Shimrra. Upon entering Shimrra's throne room, they were beset by over a dozen deadly Slayers. Luke confronted Shimrra himself used paired lightsabers to sever the Supreme Overlord's huge head from his body. With the efforts of Jacen Solo, who was able to channel the Force as he had never done before, the Jedi were able to defeat the true power behind the Yuuzhan Vong throne, and bring an end to the conflict.
The galaxy enjoyed a few short years at peace, during which time Luke focused on the quandaries presented by differing Force philosophies introduced in the Yuuzhan Vong War. He also found that his son, Ben, was hesitant to use the Force. The young boy had lived much of his life at times of war, when use of the Force was a necessity in combat. Ben seemed to shy away from any use, but he did open up around his cousin, Jacen Solo, and Luke allowed Jacen to foster a close relationship with his son.
Following the Swarm War, Luke realized that he had to return to Ossus and dedicate more time to the Jedi Order. He resigned his position within the Galactic Alliance government and removed all positions formerly held by Jedi as he concentrated on reestablishing the Jedi Order. Recognizing that divergent opinions had stymied the Jedi in the past, Luke pronounced himself as Grand Master of the Jedi Order in order to wield ultimate authority in times of conflict and indecision. An uncharacteristic move by Skywalker, it was nonetheless welcomed.
In the years that followed, Luke worked to ensure that the Jedi were able to meet the needs of the growing Galactic Alliance. When Thrackan Sal-Solo threatened to have the Corellian System secede from the Alliance, Luke found himself questioning the allegiance of the Jedi. The war that erupted between the Corellian insurgents and the Galactic Alliance forced the members of the Jedi Order to destroy Corellian fighters to maintain the stability of the government. These actions, coupled with Jacen Solo's turn toward the dark side of the Force, gave Luke and Mara cause for great concern for their son Ben, who was Jacen's apprentice.
Luke's fears were heightened when he realized that Lumiya, the Dark Lady of the Sith, was the Sith Master corrupting Jacen. Mara soon died in a confrontation on Kavan, although Luke remained unaware that Jacen Solo was the murderer. In a move that treaded perilously close to the dark side, Luke set out to hunt down Lumiya and avenge his wife's death. On Terephon, Luke beheaded her after a struggle. However, upon meeting up with Ben, Luke realized that he had killed the wrong person.
In the wake of Mara's funeral, Luke turned his attentions to Jacen and his mercurial motives. When Jacen arrived at Kashyyyk and began attacking the planet to force the Wookiees to turn over fugitive, Luke flew his StealthX fighter up to Jacen's flagship and infiltrated it to confront his nephew. Inside a secret chamber, Luke found his son, Ben held prisoner and tortured by Jacen. Luke drove Jacen to the ground and freed Ben, who drove a vibroblade into Jacen's back.
Luke and Ben voyaged to the Forest Moon of Endor, where the Jedi Council established a hidden base of operations. Still in anguish over the loss of his wife, Luke was shaken from his depression by bonding with his son. Ben was determined to prove Jacen Solo's guilt in the murder of his mother, but he planned to do so not out of vengeance, but out of justice. He used his Galactic Alliance Guard training to methodically piece together the evidence that ultimately pointed to Jacen.
With his new resolve, Luke set in motion two assaults. The first, led by Jagged Fel and Kyle Katarn, was dispatched to rescue Allana, Tenel Ka and Jacen Solo's daughter whom Jacen had kidnapped. The second, led by Luke, Han and Leia, was tasked with destroying Centerpoint Station, thereby eliminating it as a weapon that could be used against the galaxy. Luke also made secret entreaties to Cha Niathal, admiral of the Galactic Alliance fleet who had grown wary of Jacen. Niathal armed Skywalker with information vital to upsetting Jacen's plans to take the starship yards at Fondor.
The Jedi then moved their base from Endor to the safety of the Transitory Mists, where Luke hoped that the Jedi could regroup and find a way to bring Jacen Solo -- now Darth Caedus -- to justice. Jaina Solo was preparing to fulfill her destiny as the "Sword of the Jedi" and bring an end to Caedus, a feat that Skywalker was hesitant to risk due to his edging of the dark side with the killing of Lumiya.
