Skywalker family


The Skywalker family is a fictional family in the Star Wars franchise. Within the series' fictional universe, the Skywalkers are presented as a bloodline with strong inherent capabilities related to the Force. Luke Skywalker, his twin sister Princess Leia, and their father Darth Vader are central characters in the original Star Wars film trilogy. Darth Vader, in his previous identity as Anakin Skywalker, is a lead character in the prequel film trilogy; his mother Shmi is a minor character in the first and second film respectively. Leia and Han Solo's son, Ben Solo, plays a crucial role in the sequel trilogy as the antagonist Kylo Ren. At the end of the trilogy's final film, The Rise of Skywalker, Ben's dyad Rey continues the Skywalker legacy by adopting "Skywalker" as her surname, despite being the granddaughter of Emperor Palpatine.

History

In terms of the series' internal chronology, the Skywalkers first appeared in the 1999 film '. In this film, Jedi Knight Qui-Gon Jinn discovers Shmi Skywalker and her son Anakin as slaves on the planet Tatooine. Shmi informs Qui-Gon that Anakin has no father, leading Qui-Gon to suggest that Anakin is a product of midi-chlorians, an example of a miraculous birth. As the film progresses, Anakin leaves Tatooine to begin his Jedi training.
' reveals that, in Anakin's absence, Shmi has married Cliegg Lars, becoming the stepmother of Owen. Owen tells Anakin they are stepbrothers. Owen later marries Beru Whitesun. Anakin secretly marries Naboo Senator Padmé Amidala at the end of the film.
In ', Padme dies giving birth to twins, Luke and Leia. Luke is raised by Beru and Owen Lars on Tatooine. Leia is raised by Senator Bail Organa and Queen Breha Organa on Alderaan. Anakin, who has since become the Sith Lord Darth Vader, is unaware of his children's birth. Neither of the twins know of their relation until the events of Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi.
The Solo family is part of the Skywalker family. In the 2018 spin-off film ', orphan Han Solo steals to survive on the planet Corellia. The last-name "Solo" is given to him by an Imperial Officer in his application to join the Imperial Flight Academy. Since the last-name of Han's father is unknown, Han would be the first Solo. In the 2015 film ', it is revealed that Han had a son named Ben with Leia. The family breaks apart following Ben's descent into the dark side as Kylo Ren, with Leia and Han separating. Luke is not revealed to have any children.
At the end of ', all blood-related members of the Skywalker bloodline have died out, as Ben Solo dies to save Rey. Later, Rey adopts "Skywalker" as her surname to honor the Skywalker family and cut ties with her Palpatine lineage.

Family tree

Shmi Skywalker-Lars

Shmi Skywalker, portrayed by Pernilla August, is the mother of Anakin Skywalker, paternal grandmother to Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa, and maternal great-grandmother to Kylo Ren.She appears in ' and '.
In The Phantom Menace, she and her son are introduced as slaves of junk merchant Watto on the desert world Tatooine. She welcomes Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn into their home, and tells him that Anakin has no father; she simply became pregnant with him. In spite of her poverty, Shmi tries to give Anakin a good home in the slave quarter of Mos Espa. Qui-Gon helps Anakin win his freedom, but cannot get Shmi out of slavery. She allows Anakin to leave with Qui-Gon, assuring her heartbroken son that they will meet again.
In Attack of the Clones, Anakin, now a young adult Jedi apprentice, senses through the Force that she is in pain. He travels to Tatooine to find her, and, upon arriving, learns that she had been freed by and married to moisture farmer Cliegg Lars, but had recently been abducted by Tusken Raiders. He finds her inside one of their encampments, but it's too late—beaten and tortured beyond help, she dies in his arms. Heartbroken and enraged, Anakin slaughters every single Tusken in the camp, including the women and children. His mother's death ignites a strong anger in Anakin, and sets him on the path to becoming Darth Vader.

Anakin Skywalker

Anakin Skywalker is the son of Shmi Skywalker, born without a father through the Force. He is the father of Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia Organa and maternal grandfather of Kylo Ren. Anakin is discovered on Tatooine by Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn who is sure that the boy is the "Chosen One" of Jedi Prophecy, who will bring balance to the Force. After the death of Qui-Gon, he becomes the Padawan of Obi-Wan Kenobi. He also forms a close bond with Padmé Amidala, the young senator of Naboo. The newly elected Chancellor of the Galactic Republic, Palpatine, also befriends Anakin, promising to watch the boy's progress "with great interest" and advise him. Torn between his loyalty to the Jedi and his drive for power, Anakin succumbs to temptation and becomes Darth Vader. As Vader, Anakin spends the following decades serving under Palpatine's Galactic Empire until reuniting with his son, Luke, redeeming himself by defeating his master to protect him while sacrificing himself in the process and becoming one with the Force.

Padmé Amidala

The secret wife of Anakin Skywalker, and mother of Luke and Leia and maternal grandmother of Kylo Ren. She served as Queen of Naboo, and later as a Senator for her planet. Her closest friend in the Senate was Senator Bail Organa. She reconnected and fell in love with Anakin Skywalker after he was assigned to protect her from an assassination attempt, and secretly married him shortly after the Battle of Geonosis. Three years later, she reveals to Anakin that she is pregnant and plans to raise their child on Naboo. She realizes that Anakin has started to have nightmares of her dying in childbirth and assures him that it was just a dream and that it won’t happen. After Anakin turned to the dark side and massacred the Jedi at the Jedi Temple, she was told by Anakin that the Jedi had taken over the Republic. Obi-Wan arrives and asks Padmé about her husband's whereabouts and informs her that he has turned to the dark side. Padmé accuses Obi-Wan of lying and doesn’t believe that Anakin would kill younglings. Obi-Wan states that Anakin is the father of Padmé’s child and sets off to find him. Padmé tracks Anakin, now Darth Vader, to Mustafar but when she tries to persuade him to abandon the dark side, Vader refuses and force chokes her unconscious when Obi-Wan arrives. Padmé gives birth to her children shortly after the first Empire Day. Before she dies, Padmé assures Obi-Wan that there is still good in Anakin, before passing away. During her funeral, her body was altered to make her appear still pregnant. Obi-Wan and Yoda decided to separate the children in order to keep them hidden from Darth Vader.

Luke Skywalker

Luke Skywalker is the son of Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and Senator of Naboo Padmé Amidala, and the grandson of Shmi Skywalker. He is taken in by his uncle and aunt, Owen and Beru Lars, after the death of Padmé and Anakin's fall to the dark side. He is Force-sensitive and skilled with a lightsaber. In Return of the Jedi, a dying Yoda confirms to Luke, that Darth Vader is actually his father, despite Luke's belief that Vader's claim to fatherhood in The Empire Strikes Back was a ruse to pull Luke to the dark side. He also finds out from Obi-Wan's Force Ghost that Princess Leia Organa is his sister. In The Force Awakens, as the last known Jedi, Luke is in hiding after failing to prevent his nephew and apprentice Ben Solo from turning to the dark side to join Supreme Leader Snoke and has cut himself off from the Force. In The Last Jedi, a young scavenger named Rey has located Luke and tries to convince him to show her the ways of the Force, but he refuses. After knowing the death of Han Solo, he trains Rey about how to use the Force and to become a Jedi. Luke reveals to Rey that he sensed the dark side in Ben and was scared for him, but Ben retaliated by using the Force to collapse the hut, burying him underneath. When he refuses to help Rey turn Ben back to the light, Luke plans to burn the Jedi Library tree and is greeted by Yoda, who convinces him to help Rey and not to mourn his failure of losing Ben to Snoke. On the planet Crait, Luke appears with his old lightsaber and duels Ben, who tries to attack Luke, but he dodges them. Luke tries to reason with Ben and then disappears, revealing that he was still on the island and that Ben was dueling a Force projection of him. Luke falls to the ground and gets up, and afterwards dies after disappearing, becoming one with the Force.

Leia Organa

is the daughter of Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala and the granddaughter of Shmi Skywalker, raised by Bail and Breha Organa of Alderaan. At age 19, she is the Princess of Alderaan, and is captured by Darth Vader while in the Tantive IV blockade runner on a so-called "diplomatic mission". Leia is shown to be Force-sensitive. In The Empire Strikes Back, Leia professes her love for Han Solo when he is put into carbonite stasis, although it is originally Han and Luke who compete for her affections. In Return of the Jedi, planning to feed Luke, Han, and Chewbacca to the flesh eating Sarlacc, Jabba the Hutt is instead strangled to death by Leia by a chain he has on her. She later becomes involved in the Battle of Endor. In the years that follow, she becomes General Organa, the leader of the Resistance, a military organization unofficially backed by the New Republic to counter the First Order. She married Han Solo and had a son named Ben Solo, later Kylo Ren, whose turning to the dark side separated the couple before the events of The Force Awakens. Leia has been on a search to find her missing brother Luke and find a way to save her son from the dark side. She dies spending her energy trying to reach Ben, which helps him come back to the light side. Her body later disappears and she becomes one with the Force.

Ben Solo

Ben Solo is the son of Leia Organa and Han Solo, the grandson of Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala, and the great-grandson of Shmi Skywalker. He initially trains to be a Jedi under his uncle, Luke Skywalker. Soon, Luke suspects Ben has been influenced by Snoke, and ignites his lightsaber near Ben while he is sleeping in an attempt to kill him to prevent him from causing the destruction. This causes Ben to fall to the dark side. Ben becomes Kylo Ren, working for the First Order and working under the influence of Supreme Leader Snoke and also forms an uneasy alliance with General Hux. He is obsessed with the legacy of his grandfather, the Sith Lord Darth Vader, and aspires to finish what Vader started: the elimination of the Jedi. He stabs Han Solo, his father, in the heart but spares his mother when ordered to destroy her ship. Ben becoming Kylo Ren also caused Han and Leia to break up, with neither of them able to stop loving their son. Luke confronts him and also disappears trying to stop Ben's actions. After his mother's death, Rey admits to him she did want to join him as Ben Solo, he then sees a vision of his father and he decides to come back to the light side becoming Ben Solo again. Later, he sacrifices himself to bring Rey back to life, and vanishes into the Force as the last of the Skywalker bloodline.

Possible Palpatine connection

Since the 2000s prequel trilogy, and according to the 2018 comic book written by Charles Soule and Giuseppe Camuncoli, it has been implied that Shmi Skywalker's impregnation was the result of Palpatine influencing the Force to do so, making Palpatine the ancestor to Anakin Skywalker. In December 2019, after the release of The Rise of Skywalker, Matt Martin of the Lucasfilm Star Wars story group stated that Palpatine's involvement in Anakin's birth is not confirmed. However, in an early draft of the script for Revenge of the Sith, Palpatine states that he is Anakin's father via this method.

''Legends''

The following characters are exclusive to what is now retroactively known as the Legends brand since April 2014, and non-canonical to any and all Star Wars material produced under the ownership of the Walt Disney Company. With the 2012 acquisition of Lucasfilm by The Walt Disney Company, most of the licensed Star Wars novels and comics produced since the originating 1977 film Star Wars were rebranded as Star Wars Legends and declared non-canon to the franchise in April 2014.
A further complication in this continuity is the fact that the Return of the Jedi novelization includes a detail about Owen Lars being Obi-Wan Kenobi's estranged brother. To explain subsequent references, Star Wars: Lone Wolf: A Tale of Obi-Wan and Luke introduces "Owen Kenobi", a personification of the bond Kenobi feels toward Owen Lars.
The Skywalker bloodline branches from Luke and Leia's descendants, but only Luke's side continues to carry the Skywalker name.

Luke's descendants in ''Legends''

In the non-canon 'Star Wars Legends' timeline, Luke has one son, named Ben in honor of Obi-Wan "Ben" Kenobi.

Mara Jade

Luke marries Mara Jade, and they have a son named Ben.

Ben Skywalker

Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade Skywalker's son. Named after Obi-Wan "Ben" Kenobi, Jedi Knight. Former student of Jacen Solo, his cousin. He inherits his mother's red hair and his father's blue eyes. In Fate of the Jedi: Outcast, he voluntarily accompanies his father into exile. He proves himself as both a fighter and as an investigator to carry on his father's name.
His love interest is Vestara Khai, formerly a Sith apprentice, then a Jedi apprentice.
The character was voted the 40th top Star Wars character by IGN and the 6th top Star Wars Expanded Universe character by UGO Networks. According to canon, Han Solo and Leia's only son is named Ben Solo.

Nat Skywalker

Nat Skywalker is a former/returned Jedi Master, the older brother of Kol Skywalker and the uncle of Cade Skywalker. He also took the name "Bantha" Rawk.

Kol Skywalker

Kol Skywalker is a character in . He is grandson of Ben Skywalker and is a Jedi Master. He is the father of Cade Skywalker.

Cade Skywalker

Cade Skywalker is the descendant of Anakin Skywalker, Luke Skywalker, Mara Jade Skywalker and Ben Skywalker, the son of Kol Skywalker and the nephew of Nat Skywalker. He is a protagonist of the ' comic series. According to the comic book series from Dark Horse called ', which takes place 125 years after Return of the Jedi, Cade is a direct descendant of Anakin Skywalker and is the last surviving Skywalker of his time. It is seen that he has completely abandoned the Jedi way after an attack by the New Sith Order on the Jedi Academy on Ossus. Despite this, he still encounters other Jedi, as well as the ghost of his ascendant, Luke Skywalker. The character was voted the 84th top Star Wars character by IGN.

Leia and Han Solo's descendants in ''Legends''

They carry the name Solo because of her marriage to Han Solo. Since the true last-name of Han's father is unknown in canon, Han would be the basically muoneyo family unrelated to the Skywalker, as Han Solo is not the first Solo, but since they are non-canonical, they don't exist within the series continuity. In Legends non-canonical backstory, Han Solo's ancestors include King Berethon e Solo, who ruled the planet Corellia during the Golden Age of the Old Republic, and set up a constitutional monarchy in 312 BBY. His descendants continued to rule Corellia until the establishment of the Diktat centuries later. By 29 BBY, their declining status had driven them out of rule and into poverty. Han Solo was born to father Jonash Solo during this time.
Following the events of the original film trilogy, Han is a hero of the Rebel Alliance, and marries Rebel leader Princess Leia in The Courtship of Princess Leia by Dave Wolverton. Han and Leia have a twin son and daughter in Timothy Zahn's The Last Command. Leia becomes the Chief of State of the New Republic by the time of the Jedi Academy trilogy by Kevin J. Anderson, and during this period has another son with Han. All three of the Solo children become Jedi Knights under the tutelage of their maternal uncle Luke Skywalker. The Solo children were ranked as the 16th top Star Wars heroes, according to IGN in 2008. In the non-canonical Legends, since Solo is his birth name, there's other members of the Solo family unrelated to the Skywalker, as Han Solo is not the first Solo. In Star Wars Legends, Leia marries to Han Solo and the birth of the Solo children. but since they are non-canonical, they don't exist within the series official continuity.

Jaina Solo

Jaina Solo and her twin brother Jacen were created by Timothy Zahn in the Star Wars expanded universe novel The Last Command. She is the eldest child of Han Solo and Leia Organa Solo, and has appeared in various novels and the Champions of the Force set for the Star Wars Miniatures game.
Jaina, named after Han's mother, is born five minutes before her brother Jacen in the Thrawn trilogy. The twins, and eventually their younger brother, live at various safe havens for their first few years under the protection of Leia's handmaiden Winter. The twins play a small role in Kevin J. Anderson's Jedi Academy trilogy. In Champions of the Force, Jaina helps her brother defend their unconscious uncle from the spirit of Sith Lord Exar Kun. In Vonda McIntyre's The Crystal Star, Jaina is kidnapped and used in a plot, along with her siblings, to take advantage of their Force powers. In the Corellian trilogy, Jaina is again kidnapped but escapes. Jaina becomes a major character in Young Jedi Knights as Jaina and Jacen begin their Jedi training.
Throughout the New Jedi Order series, Jaina pursues a life separate from her twin brother and becomes Mara Jade Skywalker's apprentice. Jaina progresses quickly as a Jedi and a pilot, eventually joining Rogue Squadron. She also develops a romantic relationship with Jagged Fel. She briefly becomes the apprentice of fallen Jedi Kyp Durron. Jaina's understanding and manipulation of Yuuzhan Vong technology causes them to associate her with their trickster goddess. She is present at the conclusion of the war with the Yuuzhan Vong. Walter Jon Williams, author of Destiny's Way, noted that the plot concerning Jaina's love life caused some frantic rewrites. Elaine Cunningham, author of the Dark Journey, commented that the story of the 2002 novel is a personal one focusing on a difficult time in Jaina's life.
In The Joiner King, Jaina and the Jedi Zekk are joined in the Killik hive. Jacen tricks them into attacking a Chiss base to provoke a war between the Chiss and the Killiks; Jaina, furious, vows that she will never fly with Jacen again. In the Legacy of the Force series, Jacen throws Jaina out of the Galactic Alliance when she refuses to follow his order to destroy a crippled ship. She senses at this time a growing darkness in her twin. In Betrayal, Jacen falls to the dark side of the Force, and Jaina realizes her duty as the "Sword of the Jedi" requires her to stop him. She turns to Boba Fett to train her. In Invincible, Jaina duels and kills Jacen.
In the Fate of the Jedi series, Jaina is promoted to Jedi Master by Luke Skywalker, and marries Jagged Fel.
In 2017, Hasbro released a 6" Jaina figure as a part of its Black Series line.

Jacen Solo

Jacen Solo is the son of Han Solo and Leia Organa, introduced in the 1994 Star Wars expanded universe novel The Last Command. He is a major character in several Star Wars novels, particularly as the protagonist of The New Jedi Order series and later as the antagonist of the Legacy of the Force series, in which he becomes known as Darth Caedus.
IGN listed Jacen as #17 on their list of the top 100 Star Wars heroes, saying that he had a more "profound effect" than any other Solo children on the Star Wars setting. Jesse Schedeen, writing for IGN, also listed him as #5 in a reader-inspired list of top Star Wars villains, and named the character's murder of Mara Jade as his "defining moment of villainy". UGO.com listed Jacen as their top Star Wars expanded universe character, calling him "one of the most fearsome—and most tragic—villains in the Star Wars universe".

Anakin Solo

In the Expanded Universe book Tatooine Ghost, Shmi's granddaughter, Leia, is given Shmi's old journal, which describes Anakin's childhood. Leia learns, through Shmi's love for Anakin, to forgive her father for his role in the destruction of Alderaan and for torturing her aboard the Death Star, as depicted in A New Hope. Anakin is named after his maternal grandfather, Anakin Skywalker and like his namesake, is a talented pilot who is prodigiously gifted both in the Force and mechanical engineering. Anakin Solo is the youngest child born to Han Solo and Leia Organa Skywalker, and the younger brother of Jacen and Jaina Solo.
Anakin appears as an infant and toddler in many Star Wars novels such as the Jedi Academy trilogy. Anakin and his siblings play central roles in other novels such as The Crystal Star, the Corellian trilogy and The New Rebellion. Anakin's birth is featured in Tom Veitch's Dark Empire II comic book miniseries. He is first referred to as Han Solo, Jr. by his father, but Leia corrects him, having named the baby after her biological father, Anakin Skywalker, as a reminder of hope. However, Anakin still fears the name and his grandfather's legacy.
On October 1, 1995, Nancy Richardson started the Junior Jedi Knights series with The Golden Globe starring Anakin and his best friend Tahiri Veila. Anakin was now an eleven-year-old child starting his training at the Jedi Academy on Yavin 4. Richardson continued Anakin's adventures in the following two novels, Lyric's World and Promises, before Rebecca Moesta finished the series with Anakin's Quest, Vader's Fortress, and Kenobi's Blade, starting in 1996. Anakin appears in the Young Jedi Knights series by Kevin J. Anderson and Rebecca Moesta, which follows the adventures of Anakin's siblings, Jacen and Jaina.
In 1999, the first novel of the New Jedi Order series was published, entitled Vector Prime by R.A. Salvatore. Anakin is now a teenager studying as a Jedi under his uncle, Luke Skywalker, debating with his brother, Jacen, on the ways of a Jedi and the Force. In the novel's climax, his father's co-pilot and best friend, Chewbacca, dies saving Anakin's life.
Anakin plays major roles in ' and ' by Michael A. Stackpole published 1 February 2000 and 1 June 2000, respectively, and is the main focus of the books ' and ' by Greg Keyes published April 1, 2001 and August 1, 2001, respectively.
In the 2001 novel Star by Star by Troy Denning, Anakin leads a team of Jedi to take out a dangerous enemy, resulting in his death. Writers of the New Jedi Order storyline revealed in a question-and-answer section of the paperback edition of The Unifying Force published on August 3, 2004 that Anakin was supposed to be the hero of the story and lead the Jedi Order, but this was changed due to the release of the Star Wars prequel films, in which the hero was also named Anakin. Instead, he dies in battle at the conclusion of the novel.
Even after Anakin's death, he has been mentioned several times in most following novels, including a possible appearance in Traitor by Matthew Stover, as a droid in Betrayal by Aaron Allston as Anakin Sal-Solo and in Backlash, where he appeared to his maternal uncle, Luke Skywalker and to Luke's son, Ben Skywalker by Aaron Allston.
Anakin is portrayed in the earlier books as being a genius and a loner, but is haunted by his name. In Lyric's World, it is revealed that he loves to take computers apart and put them back together and sees it as a puzzle. He would also have dreams of Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader trying to persuade him to fall to the dark side of the Force; Anakin overcomes this fear in Anakin's Quest, in which he confronts himself.
In The New Jedi Order series, Anakin is older. He still spent time alone thinking about the role of the Force, and would get into arguments with his brother Jacen on the subject. However, his uncle Luke still sees Anakin as too young and reckless.