Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader has been a central figure in Star Wars since the beginning, and over the franchise’s nearly 50 years, Star Wars movies and TV shows have only made him more important. First introduced in A New Hope as the main villain (at the time), Anakin/Vader grew to be an incredibly dynamic character, particularly in the prequels.
Those movies revealed just how complex Anakin and his story really were. Even now, Star Wars’ upcoming TV shows promise more updates to Anakin’s Star Wars timeline, as he’s confirmed to be returning in Ahsoka season 2. This prominence only makes it all the more surprising that we may have been misunderstanding Anakin, based on this George Lucas quote.
George Lucas Understood Anakin Is A Victim, Not A Villain
Much has been said of Anakin/Vader’s role in Star Wars, as he was one of Star Wars’ most powerful Jedi as Anakin Skywalker and became one of Star Wars’ most powerful Sith as Darth Vader. Additionally, Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace revealed that Anakin is the Chosen One, a being prophesied to bring balance to the Force.
That nuance has led to arguments regarding the degree to which Anakin was a victim versus a villain, and how much (if at all) he really earned the redemption arc he eventually got in Return of the Jedi. Yet, Star Wars creator George Lucas has the answer, and it’s a shocking one.
In The Making of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, Lucas said of Anakin:
“I like the idea that the person you thought was the villain is really the victim, and that the story is really about the villain trying to regain his humanity.”
This fascinatingly positions Anakin not as the villain of Star Wars but rather a victim, which is surely a controversial stance to take. Many would argue that, though Anakin’s story is one littered with tragedy and trauma, he was still responsible for his own actions.
Yet, the very man who created the character has argued that Anakin was in many ways a victim of his circumstances—something that the prequel trilogy in particular really underscored.
This Is The Key To Understanding Anakin’s Story
Although the prequel trilogy depicted some of Anakin/Vader’s worst crimes yet, including his slaughter of the Tusken Raiders in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones and his murder of the younglings in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, it also revealed sides of Anakin we’d never seen or understood before.
Among those is certainly an array of circumstances in which Anakin was indeed the victim. This began with the revelation in The Phantom Menace that Anakin had grown up enslaved on Tatooine. Yet, there are many other examples throughout the prequels, and the Star Wars: The Clone Wars TV show as well, wherein Anakin really does become victimized.
Arguably, even the treatment by the Jedi, both when Anakin arrived as a small boy and over time due to the way the Council always held him at arm’s length, could fall into that category. Now, do I really believe Anakin isn’t the villain? No. Anakin can be (and is, in my view) both the villain and the victim.
Nevertheless, it remains fascinating that the creator of Star Wars himself viewed Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader as the victim.
