Skywalker family/Legends

Be a Skywalker?! That's turned out real well for our family, hasn't it? Killed my father – and look what it did to yours!Cade Skywalker, to Luke Skywalker's Force ghost

Shmi Skywalker's son, Anakin Skywalker, was conceived by the will of the Force^[22] and raised on Tatooine.^[1]

As a Jedi Padawan, Anakin married Padmé Amidala in 22 BBY.^[2] Three years later, Amidala gave birth to twins, Luke and Leia, passing away soon after. Due to Anakin's fall to the dark side of the Force and transformation to Darth Vader, Luke was raised on Tatooine by his uncle and aunt, Owen and Beru Lars (Anakin's step-brother and step-sister-in-law), while Leia was raised by Bail and Breha Organa on Alderaan.^[10]

Leia married Han Solo in 8 ABY^[5] and had three children: twins Jaina and Jacen in 9 ABY,^[23] and a younger son Anakin, who was named after his grandfather, in 10.5 ABY.^[24]

In 19 ABY, Luke married Mara Jade.^[3] Their son, Ben, who was named after Luke's first mentor Obi-Wan "Ben" Kenobi, was born in 26.5 ABY.^[25] Ben would later become the ancestor of brothers Nat and Kol Skywalker, as well as Kol's son Cade. Cade lived during 130 ABY and was the last surviving Skywalker of his time,^[26] his uncle having abandoned the famous name and living as "Bantha" Rawk. Nat married the Kiffar Jedi Droo Rawk and adopted her biological daughter, Ahnah, and two other children Skeeto and Micah.

The droids C-3PO and R2-D2 were both the creation or property of Anakin and Padmé respectively.^[1][2] Eventually the droids would later fall into the hands of their children. R2-D2 went under the possession of Luke Skywalker^[8] whereas C-3PO mostly remained with Leia Organa Solo and her family.^[19]

The family was unaware that they were related to the Naberrie family of Naboo until 36 ABY, when Luke discovered a group of holograms within R2-D2 dealing with the final days of his mother's life.^[27] Soon after, Leia traveled to Naboo to meet with Pooja Naberrie and revealed their relationship.^[28]

She has the Skywalker anger…like her brother…like her father.Palpatine, in reference to Leia Organa Solo

Since the conception of Anakin Skywalker, the majority of the Skywalker family fell to or struggled with the dark side. Anakin, whose very existence was influenced by the Sith,^[22] became Darth Vader, one of the most feared Sith Lords in history.^[10] His son Luke eventually took his father's place as the Emperor's apprentice as a hoax for a short while.^[15] Luke's sister Leia had three children. Her youngest son Anakin died at an early age,^[30] sending his sister Jaina nearly over to the dark side, before she came back from the edge of darkness.^[31] Leia's oldest son, Jacen, became Darth Caedus; unlike the other Skywalkers, Caedus did not want to be redeemed, having been led to believe that he could be a Sith and not be evil, only to end up doing "wrong things for the right reasons." Luke married a former Emperor's Hand Mara Jade, and their son Ben was influenced by his cousin Jacen/Caedus to commit an assassination and other questionable acts.^[32] Even 130 years after the rise of Luke Skywalker, his descendant, Cade Skywalker, was still dealing with his family's attraction to the dark side. Cade became an apprentice to Darth Talon in service to Darth Krayt, the new Dark Lord of the Sith. However, he abandoned this position and escaped Krayt's grasp with the help of his friends.^[33]

Perhaps the most fascinating thing about the Skywalker family was not how easily they tended to fall to the dark side, but how they eventually returned to the light. All known members of the Skywalker clan except Caedus who fell to the dark side returned to the light and redeemed themselves. Even Darth Caedus forsook vengeance against his killer a moment before his death to save his lover and daughter,^[34] though his ghost was more or less unrepentant, however he admitted he probably deserved what happened to him.^[35] In the long history of the Jedi, this was known as a very uncommon feat. Usually their redemption relied on the support and determination of their family members and close friends. The belief in redemption, originating with Padmé Amidala,^[10] and continued on by Luke Skywalker, was a powerful weapon the Skywalkers used to battle the dark side from within and without.

Several roads and locations in the real world were influenced by Star Wars culture and named after the famous Skywalkers, most notably the Skywalker Drives.

In the canceled novel Alien Exodus, the main character Cosmo Hender gets the ability to tap into the Force through a giant crystal, giving him telekinetic powers and the ability to levitate, causing the other slaves nickname him Skywalker because of his powers. This would have originated the founder of the Skywalker family.