Star Wars: 10 Worst Things To Happen To Anakin Skywalker

Content Warning: This article contains references to violence, murder, and death.

Anakin Skywalker, the Chosen One and main character of the original Star Wars franchise, has led a life filled with turmoil and pain. Beginning his arc in the series as a young boy who was sold into slavery, Anakin saw tragedy after tragedy in his young life, with each one bringing him closer to the edge of darkness.

Skywalker saw more than his fair share of tragic moments in his life, all of which culminated in his villainous turn, where he betrayed the Jedi Order to become the Sith Lord known as Darth Vader. While there is no excusing the horrific actions Anakin would take as Vader, it is difficult for viewers not to sympathize with him after seeing just how much pain he endured.

10 Rejected As A Master

After serving as a Jedi General during the Clone Wars, Anakin was poised to become one of the greatest Jedi Knights of all time and being granted a seat on the Council and the rank of Master seemed an inevitability. However, upon achieving the former accomplishment in Revenge of the Sith, he learned that the other members of the Council had not granted him the rank of Master that customarily accompanied such an honor.

The council’s decision to deny Skywalker the rank of Jedi Master would become one of the many factors that led to Anakin’s soon-coming villainous turn. His outrage at what he perceived to be an unfair ruling came from a place of insecurity regarding the Council’s leadership, an insecurity which Palpatine flawlessly capitalized on.

9 Sold Into Slavery

Anakin Skywalker had a difficult life from the very start. He was sold into slavery alongside his mother at an early age on Tatooine, where he would remain until he was nine years old when he was taken away by the Jedi Qui-Gon Jinn. His years as a slave always had an effect on the growing Jedi, leaving a bitterness within him.

Though he often kept this darkness buried deep within, Anakin never really got over his years as a slave. This is brought to life during the Zygarrian arc of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, wherein Anakin and his allies infiltrate a slave-trading ring, bringing up his unresolved emotions regarding the galaxy’s slavers.

8 Losing His Hand

Anakin’s arrogance and overconfidence in his own abilities led him to foolishly engage in a one-on-one lightsaber battle with the fearsome fallen Jedi Count Dooku at the end of Attack of the Clones. Though he put up a good fight, the young Skywalker proved to be no match for the skilled swordsman, who removed his right hand in combat.

This moment led to a fierce rivalry between Anakin and Dooku, which lasted the entirety of the Clone Wars. It also proved to become an opportunity for vengeance on Anakin’s part upon encountering Dooku in the Battle Over Coruscant, where he beheaded the man who had taken his hand years earlier.

7 Shmi’s Death

Given that Anakin was old enough to remember his mother before being taken by the Jedi, his emotions regarding her proved to be quite volatile and unpredictable. After having recurring nightmares about her death, Anakin traveled to Tatooine to find her, only to arrive too late, holding her in his arms as she died.

This moment filled Anakin with a seething rage, which he quelled in his genocide of the Tusken Raiders that had taken Shmi captive, leading to her demise. He later admits to having murdered men, women, and children in his onslaught, and expressed no remorse for his actions.

6 Qui-Gon’s Death

Qui-Gon Jinn was everything that the young Anakin Skywalker dreamed a Jedi Knight would be. When Jinn took Anakin out of slavery, it seemed like he would become the Jedi’s new apprentice, alongside Obi-Wan. However, the Battle of Naboo left Qui-Gon dead and without a master, though Obi-Wan would eventually fill that role.

Qui-Gon’s death spelled doom for the young Skywalker, leaving him in the hands of his well-meaning but ultimately unprepared apprentice Obi-Wan. Had Qui-Gon been able to oversee Anakin’s training, it is entirely possible that he would have been able to balance out the young man’s dark side and keep him from his ultimate turn to evil.

5 Ahsoka Leaves The Order

Ahsoka Tano is a character original to the Clone Wars animated series, whom Anakin reluctantly took on as an apprentice. Over the course of the war, Anakin and Ahsoka grew very close, forming a nearly unbreakable bond. However, after Ahsoka was framed by Bariss Offee, she left the Jedi Order and Anakin behind.

Ahsoka’s departure from Anakin’s life contributed greatly to the Jedi’s fall, as she had been a rock for him in his darkest times. Without a friend to lean on, Anakin allowed the darkness to continue to grow within him, eventually letting it explode into his fall from the Jedi.

4 Electrocuted To Death

Although he had served Emperor Palpatine for many years, Darth Vader still had a sliver of light within him, a piece of Anakin Skywalker that remained throughout everything. At the end of Return of the Jedi, the character redeems himself by seemingly killing Palpatine, but is mortally injured in the process.

This moment was certainly a tragedy for Anakin Skywalker, as he was never able to enjoy his return to the Light before meeting his ultimate demise. However, he did take solace in being able to look his son in the eye just once, not as the monster he had become, but as the man he had once been.

3 The Injuries He Had In The Aftermath Of Mustafar

Anakin Skywalker was poised to be the most powerful Sith Lords of all time. However, he was left grievously injured in his battle with Obi-Wan Kenobi on Mustafar. Since the burns on his body had also badly damaged his internal organs, Anakin had to wear the “Darth Vader” suit to help him breathe and heal (even though it did cause him a bit of pain to wear it).

Anakin’s injured state stunted his growth in the Force, and though he remained one of the most powerful Force users of all time, many fans have been left to wonder what could have been had Anakin been physically capable of reaching his full potential.

2 Believing His Child Had Died

Anakin may have been a volatile and explosive man, but he cared deeply for those closest to him, willing to go to extreme lengths just to protect them. Upon learning that his wife, Naboo Senator Padmé Amidala, was pregnant, he was overjoyed. However, this joy was short-lived, as Sidious led him to believe that the child had died with its mother.

This lie on Sidious’s part robbed Anakin of the joys of parenthood and a relationship with his child. Not only that, but it kept him unaware that Padmé had actually been pregnant with two children, not one as he had previously believed. Because of this, Anakin would only learn the truth many years later when it was already too late.

1 Killing Padmé

Anakin and Padmé’s love affair may not be the most popular aspect of the prequel trilogy, but it is undeniably tragic. The two had been deeply in love, and Anakin was even willing to go against the Jedi’s guidelines in order to marry her. However, his love for his wife proved to be one filled with instability and jealousy, leading Anakin to turn against her in their final interaction (with the heartbreak causing her to pass away shortly after having Anakin’s children).

Ultimately, it was Anakin’s love for Padmé that turned him to the Dark Side. Even before her death, he fought fiercely for the power to protect her from the nightmares he had been having, causing him to make connections with the untrustworthy Chancellor Palpatine. His actions were directly responsible for his true love’s ultimate death, the knowledge of which became something that he would have to deal with for the rest of his short and tortured life.

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