Summary
- Anakin showed unconventional Force abilities in The Phantom Menace.
- Anakin was very transparent about his feelings for Padmé.
- Anakin never advocated for the Jedi helping to free his mother.
Anakin Skywalker may be one of Star Wars’ most popular and most important characters, but these 10 things about him still don’t make any sense. Anakin’s story has been essential throughout Star Wars movies and TV shows. In fact, although the Skywalker Saga has concluded, the Star Wars timeline continues to be shaped by both Anakin and the Skywalker family tree more broadly.
Yet, not everything about Anakin’s story makes sense. Indeed, despite being one of Star Wars’ best characters, there are a number of moments in Anakin’s Star Wars story that are quite confusing. Of all the odd moments, these 10 make the least sense of all.
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10 Anakin’s Force Powers Seemed Limited To Intuition And Reflexes At First
Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace
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Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader
Created By George Lucas Cast Bob Anderson , Hayden Christensen , James Earl Jones , Matt Lanter , Matt Lucas , Jake Lloyd , David Prowse , Sebastian Shaw First Appearance Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope Alliance Jedi, Sith
Star Wars has shown time and again that Force-sensitive children, including infants, can use the Force in fairly conventional ways, even if they are untrained and therefore cannot fully control it. In fact, in Star Wars: The Bad Batch season 3, an infant is seen floating objects through the air. However, Anakin never seemed to exhibit these more traditional Jedi uses of the Force in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace.
Anakin revealed more obscure Force abilities in
The Phantom Menace
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Rather than perhaps the most common Force power of levitating objects, Anakin revealed more obscure Force abilities in The Phantom Menace. Specifically, he had heightened intuition and reflexes. His increased reflexes enabled him to win the podrace on Tatooine—something that no human had ever successfully done—and allowed him to drop in time for him to not be run over by Darth Maul. His intuition was also on display multiple times throughout The Phantom Menace, though perhaps most of all during the Battle of Naboo.
While it makes sense that Anakin would have exceptional abilities such as these, given he was the Chosen One, it’s odd that he didn’t reveal the more basic Force skills so many children do. In fact, Anakin consistently used much more obscure Force powers, which was also reflected in his handiness both when working for Watto and when building C-3PO. Presumably, this is just further proof that Anakin was never the typical Jedi.
9 Anakin Blatantly Told Obi-Wan How He Felt About Padmé
Star Wars: Episode II – Attack Of The Clones
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Padmé Amidala
Created By George Lucas Cast Natalie Portman , Catherine Taber First Appearance Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace Alliance Naboo, Republic
Although Star Wars made it clear that Obi-Wan knew about Anakin and Padmé, it’s nevertheless odd that Anakin essentially told Obi-Wan exactly how he felt about Padmé. Early in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, Obi-Wan and Anakin take an elevator up to Padmé’s apartment, and Anakin is full of nerves. Rather than chastise Anakin for these feelings that are clearly against the Jedi way, Obi-Wan teases him and chuckles after Anakin mentions that he hasn’t seen her in ten years.
It’s incredibly odd that Anakin would so willingly reveal his feelings about Padmé.
While Obi-Wan’s response is bewildering in its own right, it’s incredibly odd that Anakin would so willingly reveal his feelings about Padmé. Anakin’s attachment to her (which already bordered on obsession), was in direct violation of the Jedi Order’s rules, and he surely would have suspected Obi-Wan to rebuke him for such sentiments. However, based on Obi-Wan’s response, perhaps Anakin knew Obi-Wan would simply laugh it off despite the danger it represented.
8 Anakin Didn’t Fight Harder To Go See His Mother (Or Free Her)
Star Wars: Episode II – Attack Of The Clones
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The death of Shmi Skywalker was a defining moment in Anakin’s life, and, arguably, this was really the beginning of the end for his Jedi path. However, what makes this odd is Anakin’s lack of action earlier on. Anakin had been experiencing nightmares about his mother’s death for some time, yet he didn’t push harder to go see her and confirm she was safe. Yes, the Jedi Council wouldn’t have allowed him to do such a thing, as it reinforced attachments, but it wouldn’t be like Anakin to follow orders when it came to saving someone he loved.
Even odder was that Anakin seemingly never advocated for his mother being freed prior to her death. While he had wanted Qui-Gon to save his mother too in The Phantom Menace, once he became a Jedi, he seems to have let the idea go. Again, this is not something the Jedi would have done, but it would have been typical of Anakin to be determined to free his mother regardless.
7 Anakin Didn’t Fall To The Dark Side After Murdering The Tusken Raiders
Star Wars: Episode II – Attack Of The Clones
Star Wars has revealed how swift a fall to the dark side can be, most recently in The Acolyte when Osha turned to the dark side as she choked Master Sol to death. Oddly, though, murdering countless Tusken Raider men, women, and children didn’t cause Anakin to fall to the dark side. In fact, Anakin carries out this horrible act and then seems to go back to his normal self. While, yes, he still had an ego and anger issues, Star Wars: The Clone Wars revealed a charming, even cheerful Anakin.
It’s odd that this event affected him (and Padmé) so little, but, given the nature of the dark side, it’s even stranger that this wasn’t the moment that finally pushed him fully to the dark. It’s hard to imagine how killing so many, including innocents, could leave one still on the light side of the Force. Even more confusing, what does finally tip Anakin to the dark side is so much less severe.
6 Anakin Became Much More Wholesome In The Clone Wars
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
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Not only did Anakin seem unaffected by his massacre of the Tusken Raiders, but The Clone Wars represented Anakin as a funny, wholesome Jedi, particularly in his master and apprentice dynamic with Ahsoka Tano. He was frequently kind and compassionate towards her, and the two of them had a playful banter not dissimilar to Anakin’s with Obi-Wan. However, when framing this in the context of Anakin’s Tusken Raider slaughter, it’s quite odd.
In some ways, Anakin became more evil over time; he went from an innocent young boy on Tatooine to one of Star Wars’ most powerful Sith, after all. However, The Clone Wars seems like a very clear deviation from this linear arc. While Anakin did still have outbursts—such as when he fought Rush Clovis—this show revealed a very different side of his character, and one that is particularly odd in light of what he’d done to the Tusken Raiders.
5 Anakin Never Suspected His Child Could Be Alive
Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge Of The Sith
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Leia Organa
Created By George Lucas Cast Carrie Fisher , Ingvild Deila , Vivien Lyra Blair First Appearance Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope Alliance Rebel Alliance, New Republic, Resistance
After he had come to in the Darth Vader suit, Anakin’s first question was where Padmé was and whether she was safe. Although Palpatine confirmed that she had died (and blamed Anakin for it), he didn’t mention what had happened to the baby, which, of course, ended up really being twins. Even stranger was that Anakin never seemed to ask if his child had lived.
Yes, Padmé had been made to look like she was still pregnant during her funeral, no doubt to protect the children, but Anakin wouldn’t have known that. It’s logical that Anakin would have assumed that the baby had died with Padmé, but it’s nevertheless odd that he neither asked nor verified that it was true. It would make considerably more sense for Anakin to have become obsessed with knowing whether his child had died, as this would have been the last living part of Padmé and his own child as well.
4 Anakin Didn’t Have A Problem With Barriss Offee
Star Wars: Tales Of The Empire
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Barriss Offee
Created By George Lucas Cast Nalini Krishnan , Meredith Salenger , Tatyana Yassukovich First Appearance Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones Alliance Jedi/Inquisitors
In Star Wars: Tales of the Empire, fallen Jedi Barriss Offee returned to the Star Wars screen and joined the ranks of Darth Vader’s Inquisitors. However, Barriss and Vader/Anakin already had plenty of history, and much of it was rather unpleasant. Specifically, Barriss Offee was the very person who had framed Ahsoka Tano for murder, which not only initially put her life at risk but also was the catalyst for her leaving the Jedi Order.
Anakin may no longer have cared for Ahsoka, but it would be bizarre for a Sith to get less hateful.
Even with Anakin joining the dark side and becoming Darth Vader, clearly shifting his allegiances, it’s unlikely that his resentment of Barriss would have worn off, particularly in such a short amount of time. Anakin may no longer have cared for Ahsoka, but it would be bizarre for a Sith to get less hateful; presumably, his hatred for Barriss would have remained. Despite that, bewilderingly, he had essentially no reaction to seeing Barriss again. In part, this was likely to cover up his true identity, but it wouldn’t have been out of character had Vader been cruel to Barriss.
3 Anakin Plotted To Kill Palpatine Immediately But Then Didn’t Try
Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge Of The Sith
Emperor Palpatine / Darth Sidious
Created By George Lucas Cast Ian McDiarmid , Sam Witwer , ian abercrombie First Appearance Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back Alliance Sith, Empire
When Anakin was trying to convince Padmé to join him on Mustafar in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, he told her that he could overthrow Emperor Palpatine, implying that he would kill him and take his place. This was directly in keeping with the nature of the Sith Rule of Two, wherein the master holds the power and the apprentice craves it. However, Anakin seemingly dropped his ambition to overthrow Palpatine after that.
Arguably, this was because almost immediately after hatching this plan, Anakin was left for dead by his former Jedi master on Mustafar, became restricted to the Darth Vader suit, and learned his wife had died. Given the dynamic of the Sith, though, it’s odd that Anakin didn’t actively pursue this during the Dark Times. In fact, although Anakin does ultimately kill Palpatine, he does it exclusively to save Luke, not to overthrow his Sith master.
2 Anakin Never Discovered That A ‘Luke Skywalker’ Was Living On The Lars Farm
Obi-Wan Kenobi
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Luke Skywalker
Created By George Lucas Cast Mark Hamill , Grant Feely First Appearance Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope Alliance Jedi
Master Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi went to a great deal of trouble to separate and hide the twins, but they nevertheless made some curious choices at the end of Revenge of the Sith. Most notably, they sent Luke to live with Owen Lars, Anakin’s step-brother, and they didn’t change his last name from Skywalker. Presumably, had Anakin/Vader done any digging whatsoever into what may have happened to his child, it wouldn’t have been all that difficult to track down a child named Skywalker—and the child living on the farm where he’d buried his mother would have confirmed it.
Even without actively seeking out information on whether his child had survived, though, it’s odd that Luke was never discovered by Vader. In fact, in Obi-Wan Kenobi, it took Reva very little time to find Luke. Moreover, Inquisitors were scouring the galaxy for Force-sensitive children, and they were clearly on Tatooine. In light of all this, it’s especially surprising that Vader never discovered Luke’s existence.
1 Anakin Didn’t Mention Padmé To Luke Before He Died
Return Of The Jedi
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The scene in which Anakin/Darth Vader dies in Return of the Jedi is incredibly emotional and easily one of Anakin’s very best moments. In fact, the added context of the prequels made this original trilogy moment all the more meaningful, as it was now known what exactly had transpired to get Vader to that point. However, that same added context makes it incredibly odd that Anakin didn’t mention Padmé to Luke before he died.
It would surely have taken very little time at all for Anakin to tell Luke that his mother’s name was Padmé and he could travel to Naboo to learn about her. Even on his deathbed, Anakin surely would have been thinking of Padmé—especially as he was looking up at her son—and he would have wanted her legacy to endure. Of course, this is in part not in the movie because Padmé was written after the fact, but it remains one of Anakin Skywalker’s most confusing moments in Star Wars.