A STAR WARS PAGE
Luke
Skywalker
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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
www.starwars.com
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