Who is Anakin Skywalker’s real father from Star Wars?

Source: Lucasfilm

The Skywalker family makes Star Wars feel more like a soap opera than a space opera. It’s full of drama – and Anakin Skywalker is at the center of much of the turmoil.

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One fact, or lack thereof, of Anakin puzzles the Star Wars fandom to this day. No one seems to know who Anakin’s father is. Not even his mother.

Who is Anakin’s father in Star Wars? The answer is… complicated.

Source: Lucasfilm

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When we first met young Anakin Skywalker in 1999’s The Phantom Menace, his mother, Shmi Skywalker, revealed to the Jedi that her son had no father. He didn’t pretend to forget it – he literally didn’t have it.

In the real world, this makes no sense. But this is Star Wars, where tiny creatures can spontaneously come together to create a full human being all by themselves.

Behold the midichlorians! In the Star Wars universe, a Jedi’s power is determined by the number of midi-chlorians in his blood. Anakin’s midi-chlorian numbers were off the charts, leading the Jedi to believe he was actually imagined by them.

Who needs a dad when you have the Force?

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Who is Palpatine Anakin’s father? Some “Star Wars” fans still believe it.

Among Star Wars fans, it’s widely believed that Palpatine, the franchise’s main villain, actually inspired the creation of Anakin Skywalker. comes from the page of

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In the 2019 issue of Charles Soule’s Darth Vader (2017) comic series, a scene in which Vader reflects on his past implies that Palpatine somehow used the Force to influence the concept of Anakin. It seems that. Fans took this to mean that the writers were confirming this to be true, even though it turned out to be untrue.

Matt Martin, who works as part of Lucasfilm’s story group, confirmed in a tweet that the scene was widely misunderstood.

But as someone who’s worked on comics, I can tell you that’s not 100% intended. That’s not to say there aren’t logical misunderstandings they’re arriving at. I’m just stating that it’s wrong.

— Matt Martin (@missingwords) December 22, 2019

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The consensus among fans following the “this is not canon” tweet was that this scene played out Vader’s fear that his master and arch-nemesis, Palpatine, was responsible for his existence. That’s what it was.

Palpatine may not actually be his father, but he treated Anakin like a son… enough to convince him to turn to the Dark Side.

If the answer you were looking for was “Anakin was created by space bacteria”, congratulations! You win. May the Force be with you.