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Luke Skywalker is a ''. He is the protagonist in the final three Star Wars films. Luke plays a major role in the Original Trilogy as he learns the ways of the Jedi and becomes an important figure in the Rebel Alliance , leading the struggle against the Galactic Empire . As the son of former Jedi Anakin Skywalker (who turned into the Sith Lord , Darth Vader ) he is the heir to a family deeply powerful in The Force . In the Expanded Universe , he becomes a powerful Jedi Master and eventually the Grand Master of the New Jedi Order . FILM APPEARANCES Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith In the timeline of the ''Star Wars'' films, Luke Skywalker first appears in '''', when he is born to Padmé Amidala on Polis Massa , moments before his twin sister, Leia . His mother dies in Childbirth . Jedi Masters Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi hide the children to prevent the newly declared Galactic Empire and its ruler, Palpatine , using them to gain greater control over The Galaxy . Leia would go to Alderaan and grow up a princess, the adopted daughter of Senator Bail Organa , and Luke would be taken to the desert planet of Tatooine to be raised as a moisture farmer by his Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru . Obi-Wan would then go into exile on Tatooine to keep an eye on Luke during his formative years. Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope In '''', set 19 years later, Luke lives a humdrum existence on Tatooine with his aunt and uncle, who have kept his father's true history a secret from him. He makes his first steps toward his Destiny when he finds two droids, C-3PO and R2-D2 ; he meets Obi-Wan, whom he knows as the eccentric Hermit "Ben Kenobi", for whom a message in R2-D2's memory system is intended. Obi-Wan tells him that his father was a Jedi, killed by Darth Vader. He then presents Luke with his father's Lightsaber . Obi-Wan offers to take Luke to Alderaan , but Luke rejects his offer. Luke changes his mind when he discovers his aunt and uncle have been killed by Imperial Stormtrooper s. They catch a ride with the smugglers Han Solo and Chewbacca on their ship, the '' Millennium Falcon '', only to find that Alderaan has been destroyed by the Empire's new Superweapon , the Death Star . The group sneaks onto the Death Star and rescues a captive Princess Leia; in the process, Obi-Wan sacrifices himself in a duel with Vader. Luke is heartbroken, but finds the strength (with help from Obi-Wan's spirit) to join the Rebel Alliance and destroy the Death Star during the film's Climactic Battle . Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back In '''', set three years later, Luke is a commander in the Rebel Alliance. While on a mission on the ice planet Hoth , he is nearly killed by a Wampa ; he escapes with the help of the Force and his lightsaber. In the frozen wasteland, he sees the spirit of Obi-Wan, who tells him to travel to the planet Dagobah and complete his training under Jedi Master Yoda . Han Solo then saves Luke from freezing to death, having rode out into the night to do so. When the Empire discovers the Rebel base on Hoth, Luke leads a Snowspeeder squadron to cover the evacuation. Escaping Hoth in his X-wing , he travels to Dagobah, rather than regrouping with the Alliance. There, he meets Yoda and undergoes rigorous Jedi training, increasing his power in the Force. His training is interrupted by a vision of his friends in pain. Against Obi-Wan and Yoda's advice, he travels to and rule the galaxy at his father's side. Horrified, Luke chooses to die rather than be corrupted and throws himself into a deep reactor chasm. However, he is sucked into a garbage chute to the underside of Cloud City and left hanging onto a weather vane. Leia, flying away from Cloud City in the ''Millennium Falcon'', senses Luke's peril and turns the ship around to save him. Aboard the medical ship after rejoining the rebel fleet, Luke's missing hand is replaced with a Robotic one. Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi In '''', Luke, along with Leia, the droids, and Lando Calrissian , save Han Solo from the gangster Jabba The Hutt , who had acquired the Carbonite -encased Solo after the events of ''The Empire Strikes Back''. Luke offers to negotiate with Jabba, but instead is forced to fight a fearsome monster, the Rancor . When Luke kills it, Jabba sentences him to be thrown into a The Pit of Karcoon, to be eaten by the Sarlacc . Luke escapes with R2's help, saving his friends and destroying Jabba's Barge . We also learn Luke has constructed a new green Lightsaber . During his return trip to Dagobah, Luke learns from the dying Yoda that Vader is indeed his father, and from Obi-Wan's spirit that Leia is his twin sister. Yoda tells Luke that he will not truly be a Jedi until he confronts his father. Luke insists that there is still good left in Vader, and pledges to bring him back from the dark side. Arriving on Endor as part of a Rebel commando squad, Luke surrenders to Vader in an attempt to bring the Dark Lord back to the light side of the Force. He ultimately becomes a prisoner of the Emperor on the second Death Star, in orbit around Endor. The Emperor and Vader attempt to turn Luke to the dark side with promises to save his friends from certain death. When that fails, the Emperor goads Luke to strike him down to save the Rebels, who are losing the Battle Of Endor . Luke momentarily lashes out, but Vader blocks his strike, and father and son face each other in a final duel. Luke tries to keep his emotions under control — until Vader senses the existence of Luke's sister and threatens to turn ''her'' instead. Enraged, Luke attacks with full fury. Vader loses ground as Luke lands blow after blow; Luke eventually forces Vader on his back and severs his father's mechanical right arm. With The Emperor ordering Luke to strike Vader down to take his place, Luke glances at his own bionic hand and realizes with a visceral horror that he's on the verge of suffering his father's fate. Luke regains control, deactivates his lightsaber and emphatically throws it away, passing Yoda's final test and proudly declaring his allegiance to the Jedi. The Emperor uses Force Lightning against Luke in retaliation, nearly killing him. In horrible pain, Luke calls out to his father for help. In an act of self-sacrifice, Vader seizes the Emperor and throws him to his death down a reactor shaft. In the process, Vader is mortally wounded. On the deteriorating Death Star, Luke (at his father's request) removes the mask that had encased Anakin Skywalker's face, and looks upon his father's eyes for the first and only time. Anakin dies moments later, assuring his son that there is still good in him after all. Luke escapes with his father's remains. On Endor, in the manner of a Jedi's Funeral , Luke burns the last vestiges of his father that had been Darth Vader. During the Rebel Alliance's victory celebrations on Endor, Luke sees the spirits of Obi-Wan, Yoda, and his father. EXPANDED UNIVERSE APPEARANCES The Expanded Universe details Luke's exploits following the Rebel victory at Endor. After the Battle of Endor In the novel '' The Truce At Bakura '', set one day after the battle of Endor, Luke Skywalker and his friend Wedge Antilles recover a message droid from the titular planet, which was being invaded by the Ssi-Ruuk . Luke commands a task force, turning back the enemy army. He also meets Dev Sibwarra, a Force-sensitive human who had been captured by the Ssi-Ruuk, who is killed in the battle after turning against her captors. In the novel '' would change the way of life on the land, Luke eventually realizes truly what the Force is for the first time in his life. While there, he destroys most of the Nightsisters (including their powerful leader, Gethzirion, and the galaxy's most powerful remaining warlord, Warlord Zsinj . Thanks to the help of the prophecy and witches, Luke recovered old Jedi records left by Yoda about 400 years prior. He decides to start a new Jedi Academy, something he has been trying to do for six months before the start of the novel by finding old Jedi records and archives. In '' The Thrawn Trilogy '', Luke meets former Emperor's Hand Mara Jade , who is bound by Palpatine's disembodied voice, that repeatedly commands "You will kill Luke Skywalker." Mara Jade is working with her boss, a fringe-of-the-galaxy smuggler named Talon Karrde , who also plays a crucial role in this era. Although she was ready to fulfill that order to stop the voice, circumstances force her to keep him alive long enough to have him help escape a mutual danger. Despite her threats, Luke learns of Mara's curse and vows to free her from it. Meanwhile, the rest of the New Republic is fighting against Grand Admiral Thrawn , and thanks to Leia's help, he is eventually defeated, although Luke tried several times to get near him and his ally, Joruus C'boath. C'boath, Eventually, the desperate pair fight against Luke's clone, Luuke Skywalker , the apprentice of Joruus C'Baoth . During the fight, Mara Jade destroys the clone and, with Leia's help, destroys C'baoth. This entire time, C'boath has been obsessed with 'molding' Luke and Mara to serve him, perhaps due to the fact that the Spaarti cloning cylinders he was made from have a reputation of turning people insane later in life. Nonetheless, he is defeated along with Luke, and Mara's sacrifice silences her curse and completes her reconciliation with the Jedi, who she later joins. Dark Empire and the Jedi Knight falls into the dark side In the graphic novel '' Dark Empire '', Luke briefly turns to the dark side when he goes undercover as the apprentice of the Resurrected Palpatine, who now rules an army of warring agents on the planet Byss . Luke fights nobly, but is bested by the clone Emperor, who forces his former adversary to bow and to call him "Master." Leia, who has let herself be caught, confronts both the Sith Lord and her fallen brother. She finds a Jedi Holocron where a prophecy affirmed that a sister would redeem her fallen brother before defeating the evil sovereign. With little training, the princess disrupts the dark side within her brother. Luke Skywalker turns against the dark side and vows to only serve the Light forever. He later fights the Emperor in a lightsaber duel and reaffirms his commitment to rebuilding the Jedi Order. Also, his enhanced powers allow him to become the first new Jedi Master of the New Jedi Order. In the sequel, '' Empire's End '', Luke and Leia make use of their powers to destroy the Dark Lord of the Sith once and for all. Jedi Academy In the '' Jedi Academy Trilogy '', Luke resigns his commission in the New Republic 's starfighter corps to pursue his Jedi studies and rebuild the Jedi Order in the Massassi Temple on Yavin 4, a decision some anti-Jedi politicians use against him. Luke becomes the Order's de facto leader. His students in the ways of the Force include: Gantoris , Dorsk 81 , Kam Solusar , Tionne , Streen , Cilghal , Kirana Ti and others. An older and wiser Luke Skywalker also appears in the '''' Video Game s at the rank of Jedi Master. In ''Jedi Outcast'', Luke helps Kyle Katarn in his fight against Desann and Empire Reborn by driving off Desann and his Reborn forces from Valley of the Jedi. Family In the '''', they have a son whom they name Ben after Obi-Wan Kenobi, who used Ben as a Pseudonym . The New Jedi Order, The Yuuzhan Vong Invasion and the Legacy of a Master In the '' New Jedi Order '' series, Luke creates a new Jedi Council . He idealises a new conclave, made up of Jedi, politicians and military officers. Included in this new Jedi Order are Tresina Lobi , Kenth Hammer, Kyle Katarn , Kyp Durron , Cilghal, Saba Sebatynee and himself. From the politicians and military came new Chief of State Cal Omas , Admiral Sienn Sovv (Sullustan male) and four others. In '''', he spearheads the mission into the Unknown Regions during the Yuuzhan Vong invasion to find the mysterious planet of Zonama Sekot , a planet that creates living starships. After the invasion is defeated with the help of the new Mandalorian Warriors, a Sekotian fleet and a Galactic Alliance - Imperial Remnant fleet, Luke leads the New Jedi Order on Denon , the temporary capital of the Galactic Alliance and the site of the newly rebuilt Jedi Temple on Coruscant . In '' The Swarm War '', the New Jedi Order moves to Ossus, the site of former famous Jedi temples and libraries that were mostly destroyed 4,000 years prior. Upon the Killik's invasion of Chiss space and the transformation of most of the Myrkr mission survivors into Killik Joiners, Luke determines that the Killik's collective mind is being unconsciously controlled by a hive called the Dark Nest. The Dark Nest is controlled by a former Nightsister named Lomi Plo , who became their Unseen Queen with her ability to become invisible by exploiting the doubts of inferiors. One of the Myrkr mission survivors, Alema Rar , attempted to plant seeds of doubt in Luke's mind by suggesting tthat his wife, Mara, may be somehow responsible for the death of his mother, Padmé Amidala, which he almost believes because of Mara's previous involvement as the Emperor's Hand. This allows Lomi to escape from Luke. Luke discovers recordings of his father Force-choking his mother on Mustafar , his own birth, and his mother's death. Because of this, he is able to overcome his doubts about Mara and defeat Lomi Plo in the final battle of the Swarm War, cutting her into four pieces. Luke also withdraws the Jedi from Cal Omas' Advisory Council, as he plans to create a Jedi Council that will give aid to the Galactic Alliance when needed. He also becomes the Grand Master of the Jedi Order to give the Jedi a clear sense of direction. He has told the Jedi to either follow his leadership and make the order their priority, or leave. Jedi Danni Quee and Tenel Ka have resigned because of their duties to Zonoma Sekot and Hapes , respectively, while Corran Horn tries to resign, but Luke talks him out of it. Luke is also forced to exile Tahiri, Lowbacca , and Tesar Sebatayne to Dagobah for divulging secret information to people outside the Jedi Order. In the '' Legacy Of The Force '' series, Luke begins having visions of a figure cloaked in darkness destroying the galaxy and Jedi Order. In his dreams, this figure's presence is much like that of his father (as he appeared as Darth Vader). Luke has been troubled by the fact that he has been unable to discern the identity of this being. Complicating matters even more is the recent schism that has developed between Luke and his nephew, Jacen Solo . Already a tremendously powerful Jedi Knight, Jacen has begun adopting radical and extreme interpretations of the Force, causing a dramatic change in his personality. Luke fears that Jacen is pursuing the same path that ultimately led to Anakin Skywalker's fall to the dark side. In '' Bloodlines '', the situation worsens when Luke's son, Ben, becomes Jacen's apprentice. Luke must also battle his wife, Mara, who despite sharing some of Luke's apprehension, refuses to confront Jacen for fear of alienating Ben. In '' Tempest '', Luke determines that the dark figure from his dreams is Lumiya , a former Emperor's Hand now known as the "Dark Lady of the Sith". Luke and Lumiya had fought several times over the years, but when Mara is murdered in '' Sacrifice '', Lumiya deceives Luke into believing that she killed Mara. They battle again, and Luke saves a weaponless Lumiya from falling to her death simply so that he can kill her himself and make sure that she is really dead. Luke returns to Kavan to find Ben standing guard over the body of his mother, and upon speaking with his son, realizes that Lumiya could not have killed Mara. Later in his private cabin, Luke breaks down over the death of his wife, knowing that her murderer is still at large. He does not realize that the killer is his own nephew Jacen, who has now taken the Name Darth Caedus , Dark Lord of the Sith. In '' Inferno '', Luke is finally pushed over the edge by Jacen's increasingly erratic and brutal actions. He pulls the entire Jedi Order out of the Alliance and literally declares war against Jacen. He battles Jacen in a lightsaber duel and eventually gains the upper hand, but ultimately spares Jacen because he wants to make absolutely sure he knows who killed Mara before he makes any rash decisions. He presumably dies at some point between 40 and 130 ABY, as he is seen as a Force Ghost in '''', pleading with his descendant Cade Skywalker to return to the Jedi Order. ABILITIES Despite receiving little training, Luke's skill with both the Force and lightsaber are remarkable. Even in Luke's earlier years as a Jedi Knight, he is a powerful figure. During the '' Dark Empire '' crisis, he disrupts Palpatine's Force Storm, which has the ability to destroy massive ships. In ''Empire's End'', he confronts Palpatine in a vicious lightsaber duel and, with help from Leia and her unborn children, permanently defeats the Sith Lord. His niece, Jaina Solo , describes him in the final Yuuzhan Vong battle as a maelstrom of Force energy, so calm and focused that he is unstoppable. In the narrative during that battle, it was also said that Luke's control over his lightsaber was so great that: "His single saber might as well have been ten, or twenty." Luke's abilities with a lightsaber and the Force allow him to prevail over thousands of Yuuzhan Vong warriors, along with other enemies. In the Expanded Universe, it is noted that as Luke matures he learns how to deflect Force lightning and create a barrage of his own, strong enough to kill on impact. CASTING Luke Skywalker has been portrayed by four different actors: Mark Hamill (films)
Aiden Barton (baby Luke) Bob Bergen (video games)
Joshua Fardon (audio)
TRIVIA
Comics Appearances Luke Skywalker appears in the Marvel -published ''Star Wars'' comics adaptations of the original trilogy as well as an ongoing series that ran from 1977-86. When Dark Horse acquired the license two years later, he appeared in numerous projects based on the franchise as well.
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