Luke Skywalker

Luke Skywalker is the central figure of the first Star Wars trilogy and is known as one of the most famous and popular science fiction characters of all time. Played primarily by actor Mark Hamill, Luke was introduced in the 1977 film Star Wars (later identified by its full title Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope). Hamill reprised the role of Skywalker for the film's sequels, Star Wars: Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars: Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. An infant version of Luke was briefly seen at the end of the 2005 prequel film Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. Beyond the films, Luke has proven to be a staple of the Star Wars mythos making appearances in related media including novels, comic books, video games and audio dramatizations.

Early years
Luke Skywalker and his twin sister Leia were the children of fallen Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and his young wife Padmé Naberrie Amidala Skywalker. Just prior to their birth, Anakin, once a noble Jedi Knight, had fallen victim to the Dark Side of the Force and was dubbed Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith. Padmé, grief-stricken over her husband's betrayal lost the will to live and fell gravely ill. She was taken to a medical station on Polis Massa where she gave birth to first Luke, then Leia. She was able to gaze upon each of her children only once, saying their names aloud, before tragically passing away.

When Vader heard the news of his wife's passing, he was overcome with grief and anger. However, due to the machinations of his master, Emperor Palpatine, Vader was unaware that Padmé had given birth before she died. Jedi masters Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda knew that if the Emperor were to learn of Vader's offspring, he might view them as a threat and try to have them destroyed. To protect the twins, they were separated at birth and given to different families to grow up on different worlds. Leia was given to Bail Organa and raised on the planet Alderaan, while Luke was given to his father's stepbrother, Owen Lars of Tatooine and his young wife Beru Whitesun. At this time, Obi-Wan Kenobi, forced into exile due to Vader's Jedi Purge, elected to stay on Tatooine so he could keep an eye on Luke, watching him grow into a young man. This upset Owen greatly, who felt a deep-seated resentment of the dying Jedi Order and wanted nothing to do with Obi-Wan.

Growing up in the arid, sandy wastelands of Tatooine was difficult for Luke. His uncle inherited the moisture farm left behind by his own father and Luke spent a great deal of time working on and repairing mositure vaporators. In his free time, teenage Luke enjoyed bulls-eying Womp rats in his T-16 Skyhopper and riding out to Anchorhead to hang out with his friend, Biggs Darklighter, Camie Loneozner, Laze "Fixer" Loneozner and Janek "Tank" Sunber. Being the smaller, and less refined member of the group, Luke earned himself the unflattering nickname "Wormie".

Luke looked up to Biggs and Tank who were older than he and grew jealous of them when they both made the decision to leave Tatooine and join the Imperial Academy. This stirred something deep within Luke and he knew that he was meant for something greater than the simple and unrewarding life of a moisture farmer.

At the onset of the Galactic Civil War, Luke caught a glimpse of the future that awaited him. One day, while peering at the skies through a pair of macrobinoculars, he caught a glimpse of a battle taking place above Tatooine. Luke could not determine the specifics of the battle, but he could see the criss-crossing beams of laser fire and knew that the struggle between the Galactic Empire and the Rebel Alliance had come to the Outer rim. Racing back to his friends, he told them what he had seen. It was at this time that Luke was reunited with Biggs Darklighter, who had only just returned to Tatooine after graduating from the Academy. Biggs confessed that his time out in space made him re-evaluate his loyalties and that he was going to abandon the Imperial Navy in favor of joining the Rebel Alliance. Luke wasn't sure what to make of his friend, but more than ever, he knew he wanted to leave the world of his birth.

Soon after, Luke came upon two droids whose very existence would change Luke's life forever. Artoo-Deetoo and See-Threepio had been captured by a band of Jawas and sold to Owen Lars. What Luke didn't realize at the time, was that the droids had only recently escaped from an Imperial boarding party and were secretly carrying a set of stolen blueprints to the Empire's new super-weapon, the space station known as the Death Star. While cleaning the droids, Luke accidentally activated a holoprojector on R2-D2 and saw the image of a young woman addressing someone named Obi-Wan Kenobi. It would be years before Luke would realize that this woman was in fact his sister Leia. Luke didn't know anyone named Obi-Wan Kenobi, but he did know of a "strange old hermit" going by the name of Ben Kenobi who lived out beyond the Dune Sea. Luke brought these concerns to his uncle, who immediately dismissed them declaring, "That wizard's just a crazy old man".

That evening, R2-D2 ran off hoping to find Kenobi as part of a secret mission. When Luke learned of the droid's disappearance, he took Threepio in his landspeeder and tracked the droid through the Jundland Wastes. They caught up with Aroot, but Luke ran afoul of a tribe of Sandpeople, one of whom ambushed him and knocked him unconscious after beating him down with his Gaderffii stick. Obi-Wan Kenobi appeared and scared the Sandpeople off by mimicking the cry of a fearsome Krayt dragon. When Luke revived, Obi-Wan introduced himself and invited the droids and he back to the hut he had been living in. They played Artoo's full recording and Luke learned that Obi-Wan was once a Jedi Knight who fought in the Clone Wars. Obi-Wan felt it was finally time for Luke to learn the truth about his legacy - or at least some of it. He told Luke that his father was once a great pilot and warrior as well, dispelling Luke's belief that his father had worked as a navigator on a space freighter. Like Obi-Wan, Anakin Skywalker was once a knight of the Jedi Order. Hedging the truth a bit, Obi-Wan indicated that Anakin had been killed by Darth Vader, neglecting to mention that the two men were actually one and the same. He presented Luke with his father's lightsaber, a weapon he had once tried to give to him in the past, but Owen wouldn't allow it. He introduced Luke to the concept of the Force, an energy field created by all living things that bequeathed great power to the Jedi. He felt it was time for the young moisture farmer to learn the ways of the Force to prepare him for his eventual role in the Galactic Civil War. He wanted Luke to accompany him to [[Alderaan] as per the wishes of Princess Leia from the recording, but Luke fell into form, telling Obi-Wan that his uncle needed him on the farm.

Luke agreed to provide Obi-Wan transportation to Anchorhead, a space port where he might be able to find passage to Alderaan. Along the way, they came upon the scuttled ruins of a Jawa Sandcrawler. Dead Jawas surrounded the vehicle. As it turned out, they had been killed by Imperial Stormtroopers in search of the droids and the stolen plans. Fearing that the troopers may have traced the droids back home, he raced to warn his aunt and uncle, but he was too late. The Lars home was a smoldering crater and the skeletal remains of Owen and Beru were found lying in the sand. With nothing else to anchor him to Tatooine, Luke agreed to accompany Obi-Wan to Alderaan.

Luke, Obi-Wan and the droids took his landspeeder to the Mos Eisley space port. They were stopped by a squad of Stormtroopers, but Obi-Wan demonstrated his use of the Force, by hypnotizing them into letting them past. Once they were past the Stormtroopers, they went inside Chalmun's Cantina hoping to find a pilot willing to take them to Alderaan. Luke had an encounter with two aggressive aliens named Doctor Evazan and Ponda Baba. As the altercation grew more violent, Ponda Baba pushed Skywalker to the floor and Obi-Wan had to intervene on his behalf. Igniting his lightsaber, Obi-Wan slew the two assailants and Luke was able to witness his new mentor in action for the first time. Afterward, Obi-Wan introduced Luke to a smuggler and pilot named Han Solo and his wookiee co-pilot Chewbacca. After some fast negotiations, they were able to book passage to Alderaan, but Luke had to sell his landspeeder to help finance the flight.

Leaving Tatooine was not an easy venture for the young farmer either. Imperial Stormtroopers raided the space port where Han's ship, the Millennium Falcon was located and they barely avoided being blasted by Stormtrooper fire as they launched out of Mos Eisley. Once they were in deep space and free of any Imperial entanglements, Obi-Wan began teaching Luke the ways of the Force. In addition to basic lightsaber maneuvers, Obi-Wan taught Luke how to let go of his conscious mind and trust in his instincts.

The group soon discovered that the Death Star had destroyed the planet of Alderaan. As the Millennium Falcon approached the station, they were caught within the Death Star's tractor beam. Han had Luke and the others hide inside of a secret compartments beneath the deck plating. To sneak onto the station, they ambushed two Stormtroopers and disguised themselves in their armor. Hiding inside a computer terminal room, Luke discovered that the Empire had captured Princess Leia and were going to execute her. He convinced Han to aid him in rescuing the princess and they stormed into the Death Star's detention center. Luke found Leia's cell and freed her, and the group had to fight through numerous stormtroopers to get back to the Falcon. When they reached the ship, Luke bore witness to the last moments of a duel between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader. Vader's blade struck Kenobi down and Luke screamed in horror. After taking more shots at oncoming Stormtroopers, Luke and the others escaped on Han's ship.

Although the Falcon was now free of the Death Star, they still had to worry about enemy combatants chasing after them in their single-man TIE fighters. Luke manned one of the Falcon's guns and took down several TIE fighters, while Han took out the rest. With the immediate danger behind them, they flew to the hidden Rebel base on the fourth moon of Yavin. Luke attended an Alliance meeting led by General Jan Dodonna. Having analyzed the stolen Death Star plans, they identified a weakness in the super-structure. A proton torpedo fired into a two-meter wide exhaust port would be sufficient to start a chain reaction that would destroy the entire station. Despite the tragic loss of Ben Kenobi, Luke remained optimistic of the freedom fighters' chances and was assigned to pilot an X-wing fighter for Red Group under the call sign Red Five. To his surprise, he was reunited with his old friend Biggs Darklighter, who was likewise flying an X-wing fighter for Red Group.

As part of Red Group, Luke was one of many pilots to mount a coordinated assault against the Death Star in a skirmish that history remembers as the Battle of Yavin. Most of the other fighters of the X and Y-wing divisions were decimated by either the Death Star's defense systems or by enemy TIE fighters, including Biggs Darklighter. In short order, Luke's fighter was the only one left. The enemy combatants included Darth Vader who recognized the Force in Skywalker, but unaware of the pilot's identity, had no idea that he was now facing his own son. Vader would have likely destroyed Luke's ship were it not for the timely arrival of Han Solo. The Millennium Falcon swooped in at the last moment and fired upon Vader, disabling his ship. This gave Luke the opportunity to rid the universe of the threat of the Death Star once and for all. Switching off his fighter's targeting computer, Luke closed his eyes and heard the disembodied voice of his late mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi, urging him to rely upon the Force to guide his actions. Doing so, Luke succeeded in firing the "kill-shot" that ultimately destroyed the Death Star. Afterward, the Rebel Alliance held a celebration where Luke and Han were both awarded medals of bravery. It was at this point that Luke Skywalker, no longer the uncultured youth from Tatooine, officially became a member of the Alliance to Restore the Republic.

After the Death Star
Luke and his friends learned that the Alliance leaders had lost contact with a Rebellion outpost on the planet Stenos and they journeyed to the Outer Rim world to investigate. They found an abandoned Rebel base inside of an ancient temple, but they also found three fortune hunters named Rik Duel, Dani and Chihdo. Dani was a Zeltron, whose natural production of pheromones made her extremely alluring to most humans. She was instantly attracted to Luke and her advances made Skywalker extremely uncomfortable. Through Rik, Luke learned about an ancient, lost artifact known as the idol of Vol - a representation of the god of the planet's native species, the Stenaxes. It was thought that if they recovered the idol and returned it to the Stenaxes, they might be willing to become allies of the rebellion. After two days of excavating, Luke found the idol beneath the ruins of an ancient altar. Rik and Dani betrayed him however and took the idol for their own purposes. It would be three years before Luke would seen either of them again.

While placing scanning sensors on the frigid wastelands of Hoth, Luke spied what he believed was a meteor striking the ground (in truth it was actually an Imperial Probe Droid). Radioing to Han, he told them that he was going to check it out before returning to the Alliance's new headquarters, Echo Base. Moments later, Luke was attacked by a vicious beast known as a Wampa. Knocked unconscious, he was dragged back to the snow monster's lair and suspended upside down from the ceiling of the cavern. His lightsaber had slipped from its housing, but Luke was able to use the Force to retrieve it. With only seconds to spare, Luke ignited his saber, cut himself down and then defended himself against the approaching Wampa. Although he escaped from the Wampa's cave, his injuries were severe, and he collapsed in the snow. Before passing out, he saw the spectral image of his old mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi appear before his eyes. Obi-Wan instructed Luke to go to the Dagobah system where he would continue his Jedi training under the tutelage of the venerated Jedi master Yoda.

When Luke failed to return to Echo Base, Han took it upon himself to find him. He rode an animal known as a tauntaun across the tundra towards Luke's last known coordinates. The temperature had dropped to such an extreme that the tauntaun froze to death. Han found Luke lying in the snow and used his lightsaber to slice open the dead animal and place Luke's body inside it for warmth. Afterward, Han built a shelter which enabled them to survive until the following morning so they could return to Echo Base. At the base, Luke was placed inside of a Bacta tank to recover from his injuries.

The search for Han
Luke soon came to trust Lando Calrissian and along with Chewbacca and R2-D2, they set off to find Han Solo. discovered that Boba Fett had a partner named Bossk, whom he had apparently double-crossed. They had hoped that if they could locate Bossk, his anger towards Fett might prompt him to tell them where the bounty hunter had taken Solo. They tracked Bossk and an assassin droid bounty hunter named IG-88 to the Outer Rim world of Stenos. Luke had been to Stenos in the past and was wary of the reception they might reception at the hands of the savage Stenaxes. Following an altercation in a cantina, Luke was separated from Lando and ran into two figures from his past - Rik Duel and Dani. Dani in particular remembered Luke well from their encounter three years prior and was very excited to see him. After explaining that he had been searching for Han, Rik and Dani offered to help, but Luke was incredulous of their seeming generosity remembering all too well how they had betrayed them in the past. When Luke reunited with Lando, the two succeeded in tracking down Bossk, but fell into a trap.

Shadows of the Empire
Section not yet written

"Luke? Luke's crazy. Can't even take care of himself, much less rescue anybody."

- Han Solo

Notes & Trivia

 * In the theatrical release of Star Wars, Luke's X-wing call sign was Red Five. In the novelization and Marvel Comics adaptation of the film he was called Blue Five.


 * Aidan Barton played the duel roles of infant and Leia Organa at the end of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. Aidan is the son of prequel trilogy editor Roger Barton.

Parodies
A pastiche of Luke Skywalker appeared in the 1977 parody short Hardware Wars. The character was called Fluke Starbucker and was played by Scott Matthews. Fluke Starbucker was a bumbling incompetent who embodied every stereotype of a classic "farm boy". His dialogue was peppered with exclamations such as "Golly!" and "Gee Willikers!"

Merchandise

 * Luke Skywalker in Stormtrooper disguise maquette

Internal Links

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