
Died at 49
male
Anakin Skywalker, also known as Darth Vader, is the central antagonist of the Star Wars original trilogy and the protagonist of the prequel trilogy. He is a legendary Force-user who served as a Jedi Knight, until he fell to the dark side and became the Sith Lord known as Darth Vader. As a child, Anakin was a slave on the desert planet of Tatooine until he was found by Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn, who theorized that Anakin was the Chosen One destined to bring balance to the Force. Joining the Jedi Order, Anakin trained as a Padawan under Obi-Wan Kenobi, serving as a Jedi Knight of the Galactic Republic and later trained his own apprentice, Ahsoka Tano. Despite the Jedi prohibiting attachments, Anakin secretly marries Padmé Amidala. By the end of the Clone Wars, Anakin falls to the dark side and becomes Darth Vader after being manipulated by Palpatine, who was secretly the Dark Lord of the Sith. Due to being severely injured in his duel against Obi-Wan, he is rebuilt as an armored cyborg and then, for over two decades, serves Palpatine as one of the leaders of the Galactic Empire, hunting down the remaining Jedi and attempting to crush the Rebel Alliance. After killing Obi-Wan aboard the Death Star and the Battle of Yavin, he discovers the existence of his son, Luke Skywalker, and becomes determined to turn him to the dark side. But Anakin eventually redeems himself to save his son from his Sith master, fulfilling the prophecy as the Chosen One.

The twenty-first century was on the brink of nuclear confrontation when the three-hundred-kilometer-long Stone flashed out of nothingness and into Earth's orbit. NASA, NATO, and the UN sent explorers to the asteroid's surface... and discovered marvels and mysteries to drive researchers mad. For the Stone was from space - but perhaps not our space; it came from the future - but perhaps not our future; and within the hollowed asteroid was Thistledown. The remains of a vanished civilization. A human - English-, Russian-, and Chinese-speaking - civilization. Seven vast chambers containing forests, lakes, rivers, hanging cities... And museums describing the Death; the catastrophic war that was about to occur; the horror and the long winter that would follow. But while scientists and politicians bickered about how to use the information to stop the Death, the Stone yielded a secret that made even Earth's survival pale in significance.
