The Saga of Luke Skywalker
the Old Republic and the rise of the Empire. To protect him from his father, Darth Vader, Luke was sent to live on the moisture farm of Owen and Beru Lars, while Leia was raised by Viceroy Bail Organa, on the planet Alderaan.
Luke's life changed after Owen Lars purchased two droids from a band of Jawa traders. The droids, Artoo Detoo and See Threepio, were carrying information stolen from the Empire by the Rebel Alliance. Artoo Detoo escaped the moisture farm one night and led Luke to meet Obi-Wan Kenobi, an old man who lived alone in the desert and who had once been a powerful Jedi Knight.
Star Wars
Obi-Wan told Luke that his father had not been a navigator on a spice freighter as he had believed, but had actually been a Jedi Knight called Anakin Skywalker. Anakin had been an apprentice of Obi-Wan's, until he had been betrayed and murdered by Darth Vader.
Luke returned with Obi-Wan to the Lars farmstead, only to discover Owen and Beru murdered by Imperial Stormtroopers, and the moisture farm razed to the ground.
With his life on Tatooine over Luke decided to accompany Obi-Wan to Alderaan, to deliver the information held in Artoo Detoo to Princess Leia Organa. Obi-Wan sensed that the Force was strong in Luke as it had been in his father. He gave Luke his father's lightsaber, and began to teach him the ways of the Force.
Luke and Obi-Wan chartered the cargo vessel Millennium Falcon, operated by smugglers Han Solo and Chewbacca, to take them to Alderaan. Upon their arrival they discovered that the peaceful planet had been destroyed by a dreadful new Imperial weapon; the Death Star. The Millennium Falcon was captured in one of the Death Star's tractor beams, and while Luke was on board the battle station he helped rescue Princess Leia.
After their escape from the Death Star Luke flew a Rebel X-Wing starfighter in a desperate attack against the battle station. With the help of the Force Luke survived to launch a pair of proton torpedos that destroyed the Death Star. At a celebration on the planet Yavin 4 Luke, wearing smart clothes that were a far cry from the grubby white desert costume in which he had left Tatooine, was presented with a medal by Princess Leia.
The Rebels set up a new base on the barren ice planet of Hoth where Luke, now a commander in the Rebel Alliance, was instrumental in the evacuation of the base after its discovery by an Imperial probot. Flying a snowspeeder Luke delayed the Imperial AT-AT walkers long enough to allow the evacuation of the base, before leaving himself in his X-Wing.
On the swamp planet of Dagobah Luke sought out the Jedi Master Yoda, who began to train Luke to become a Jedi himself. The training was cut short when Luke chose to leave to rescue his friends Leia, Han Solo and Chewbacca, who had been captured and tortured by Darth Vader to lure Luke into a trap.
Luke travelled to Cloud City, on the planet Bespin. There he fought and lost a lightsaber duel with Darth Vader, losing his hand and his father's lightsaber during the battle. He learned to his horror that Darth Vader was in fact his father, Anakin Skywalker. Luke chose death rather than to join his father on the dark side, but was rescued at the last moment by Leia, Chewbacca, and Lando Calrissian in the Millennium Falcon. Luke returned to the Rebel fleet where he was fitted with a cybernetic replacement hand.
Luke Skywalker constructed another lightsaber and returned with his friends to Tatooine to rescue Han Solo from the vile clutches of Jabba the Hutt. Dressed in a black costume he appeared before Jabba to plead for Han's life, only to be thrown into the Rancor pit. He killed the creature, and was instrumental in the death of Jabba and the rescue of Han Solo.
Luke then returned to Dagobah to complete his Jedi training, arriving in time only to witness Yoda's death. The ghostly blue spirits of Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi appeared to Luke, telling him that Leia was his sister and that he must face one final trial before becoming a true Jedi: he must face his father, Darth Vader.
The Empire had begun construction on a second, larger Death Star, which was in orbit around the forest moon of Endor. Luke joined General Han Solo's strike team to disable the Death Star's shield generator on the moon, but once on the surface he became concerned that he was placing the team in danger by his presence, and so surrendered himself to Darth Vader and was taken to see Emperor Palpatine.
The Emperor tried to turn Luke to the dark side by fuelling his hatred of his father. Luke and Darth Vader duelled again, and this time it was Luke who cut off his father's hand. But rather than killing his father as the Emperor hoped Luke deactivated his lightsaber. The Emperor was furious that his plan to turn Luke to the dark side had failed, and attacked him with powerful bursts of dark side lightning. Just as Luke was about to die Darth Vader intervened, hurling the Emperor to his death down a reactor shaft.
Darth Vader was fatally injured, and in his final moments of his life turned his back on the dark side and became Anakin Skywalker once more. Luke built a funeral pyre on Endor, and burned his father's armour.
The Rebel Alliance were victorious, and the spirits of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda, and Anakin Skywalker appeared to Luke at the celebration on the forest moon of Endor.