The chosen one From light to darkness and back again

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"Anakin, I can tell you what I believe. I believe you will bring balance to the Force. You will face your demons and save the universe."

Qui-Gon Jinn to Anakin Skywalker Star Wars Episode 1 "The Force Awakens"

A life characterised by strokes of fate and grief, which ultimately found the ideal host in Anakin in personified hatred and emotional coldness, to become one of the most iconic villains of all. Even people who are not familiar with Star Wars see Darth Vader as evil personified.
Paradoxically, however, it is precisely this character who is often misunderstood. The young Padawan’s breathtaking and pitiful career could not have been more dramatic and sad, ultimately forming a killing machine fuelled by hatred. Vader is not just THE evil dark antagonist in the Star Wars universe. Rather, he is a failed existence who lost everything at a young age and as a result became addicted to cruelty and lust for power.
But how did it get this far in the first place? What lies behind the metal façade of the Emperor’s loyal henchman? How powerful was the dark ruler of the galaxy really? What character traits does the father of two children and yet cold-blooded murderer possess?
Let us immerse ourselves in the story of the most powerful Jedi in the galaxy, driven by hatred, loss and fear.

Chapter 2 EARLY LIFE

Childhood

Growing up as a slave, Anikin Skywalker grew up with his mother in poor circumstances with the scrap dealer Wattu on the desert planet Tatooine. Even in his early childhood days, Anakin felt an inexplicable but familiar power within him.

Anakin’s discovery

In Star Wars Episode 1, it was Quey Gon Jin who took the young, self-confident family man Skywalker, who had been chosen in his assumption, into the Jedi Order to train him as a Jedi. When his discoverer and master died, the young hero lost not only his mother, who lived far away from him, but also his only real carer in the Jedi Order, where he was trained as a Jedi. And so the youngster grew into a Padawan, always at the side of his new master Obi Wan Kenobi.

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Chapter 3 JEDI TRAINING

Anakin's great love

The influence Padmé had on Anakin is undoubtedly the biggest factor in the Jedi’s development and, by extension, the Empire as a whole. From their very first meeting, the young Jedi was smitten. He had fallen head over heels in love with the quiet, handsome, mentally strong young Padmé Amidala, who was heavily involved in the Senate. Due to Padmé’s activities in the Senate, she hesitated to return Anakin’s advances, but eventually gave in to her strong feelings for him and devoted herself to love. The usually rather quiet young woman found the young Padawan very attractive both externally (as many comics describe) and in his manner. In episode 3 ‘Revenge of the Sith’, she told her lover after their secret wedding that she was pregnant by him. The two had a harmonious but secret relationship based on mutual unconditional love, forbidden by the Jedi Order. The greatest irony of this love story, which would go on to become a complete Star Wars tale, is that it came to a tragic end. In the third part of the prequel trilogy, Anakin Skywalker, already obsessed with hatred and the Force, completely surrenders to the Dark Force. His intrinsic motivation was actually to protect the love of his life as best he could. When she tries to turn him back to the light side, what Anakin had always feared happens:
When Pdame tried to convert him, he strangles her. His nightmares, his intrinsic fear of losing his love, changed from fiction to reality at this moment. Anakin, obsessed with hate, did not realise what he had done at first. She had misunderstood him just as Obi Wan had. She also believed in all the ‘lies of the Jedi’. The murder of the love of his life ultimately made Anakin, who had been brainwashed by Palpatine, freeze cold. He no longer felt any positive thoughts. Only anger, rage and incomprehension. Not realising that he was killing his love himself with his anger and hatred, Anakin gave himself over completely to the dark side.

Anakin as a Jedi

Anaki was trained as a Jedi by Obi Wan Kenobi. He taught him all his knowledge. However, Anakin and Obi-Wan didn’t just see each other as master and pupil. Obi Wan Kenobi saw the growing Skywalker much more as a friend. A friend you could rely on in precarious situations. A friendship with a deep bond and mutual trust, in which fun and banter should not be neglected. Anakin’s character traits as a maturing Jedi are loving, emotional and arrogant. But above all, the powerful and unstable mindset of the cheeky and arrogant Jedi is easily influenced.
Palpatine knew how to exploit this weakness. The later Emperor and mentor of Vader began to build up his own puppet and henchmen step by step in manipulative conversations. He exploited Anakin’s fear of losing his beloved Padme in order to draw him over to the dark side. Arguing that he could give him unimaginable powers and unprecedented abilities, Anakin finally joined Palpatine. This was the beginning of the end. By joining Palpatin, the Chosen One, haunted by existential fears, fell to the dark side and sealed his fate.

In the long term, this alliance made him the most powerful Jedi of all time. However, he forgot that he would lose everything he once wanted to protect.

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4. Kapitel

DARK TIMES

Loss & career as Darth Vader

Through the (probable) murder of his mother and his resulting irrational revenge on innocent civilians in the neighbourhood, the previously emotionally stable Jedi came into contact with the dark force for the first time. He blamed the Jedi Order for his mother’s death, believing that her death was caused by their inaction. Anakin’s mental state begins to suffer as he is seduced by the power and abilities of the Dark Force. As a result, he believes he can save his beloved Padmé. Skywalker decides to become even stronger with his newfound abilities by turning completely to the dark side.

When, in the final battle against his former master, Obi Wan Kenobi, he begins to strangle his beloved Padmé in rage, it is not Anakin but Vader’s mentality that takes over, which subsequently leads to Padmé suffering and dying, as in the shattered young Padawan’s dreams. Anakin’s human nature fell completely silent after Episode 3, creating the ice-cold killer Darth Vader, who would bring suffering and resentment to the galaxy and fugue as its most powerful ruler. Only his own flesh and blood, Luke Skywalker, can turn him back to the light side of the Force, even if it was almost too late for that…

Loss

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Chapter 7 REIGN OF TERROR

Darth Vader is considered the most feared person in the universe. The perfect use of the Force, which he could now carry out with his thoughts, coupled with his hatred and fighting skills, made the Emperor’s dark henchman THE most fearsome person in the entire Star Wars universe.
Vader is ice-cold in his actions. He makes no distinction between people who oppose him and his subjects. If someone disobeys his instructions or does not follow Vader’s way of thinking, they are tortured without hesitation and executed in public. Vader was a great advocate when it came to demonstrating his power. It was no coincidence that the man with the shiny black armour was considered the most dangerous Sith of all time. And that’s exactly what he makes everyone feel with his aura. The Force is so advanced that Vader can sense any attempts at resistance and act accordingly. This gives the Sith Lord an arrogant character trait that is emphasised with every action he takes.

You can find out why the Sith Lord is the ultimate villain here.