Luke Skywalker

He is born to Padmé Amidala, 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.

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 stormtroopers. 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.

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 Cloud City to save them, only to be lured into a lightsaber duel with Darth Vader. As his mentors warned, Luke proves to be no match for the powerful and experienced Vader. After losing his right hand, he learns the truth: Darth Vader is his father. Vader offers him the chance to turn to the dark side of the Force 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.

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 in the Cloud City. 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 the Battle of Endor, Vader confronts Luke in an attempt to turn him to the dark side.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.