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What went into making Anakin Skywalker's lightsaber, how he got that scar, and much more.
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00:00Ever wondered what went into making that iconic lightsaber?
00:03Found yourself pondering how he got that scar?
00:06Well, as the man himself once put it, this is where the fun begins.
00:10I'm Gareth from WhatCultureStarWars and with the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi Disney Plus series
00:14set to reintroduce us to a certain fallen Jedi,
00:18here are 10 things you didn't know about Anakin Skywalker.
00:2110. His name very nearly belonged to his son
00:24You've likely already stumbled upon the fact that George Lucas' first steps
00:28into this now-global juggernaut of a galaxy far, far away
00:31involved a fair few ideas that ultimately weren't deemed suitable for the finished article.
00:36Among them was the surname originally gifted to the fanboy
00:39who would become Lucas' main protagonist for his original trilogy.
00:43And while most are aware that Luke Skywalker was initially set to be known
00:46as Young Starkiller in the early stages of A New Hope's development,
00:50many aren't as clued up as to what his original first name would have been.
00:54The first draft of the Star Wars had a young Anakin Starkiller
00:58chucking it out with Darth Vader,
01:00with that youngster being the 16-year-old son of a legendary warrior.
01:04Lucas would clearly keep elements of Anakin
01:06when it came time to shift the character towards the Luke we know and love today.
01:10But it is interesting to note that the previous first name of Vader
01:13once belonged to his eventual son years before it was officially incorporated into Star Wars lore,
01:19albeit with a slightly altered spelling.
01:219. He built his first lightsaber at 12 years of age
01:24Joining the Jedi game at a relatively late stage,
01:27Anakin Skywalker had a bit of catching up to do when it came to his overall training.
01:31But the Force-sensitive prodigy still managed to get up to speed at a rather rapid pace,
01:36and even managed to forge his first sacred tool of the Jedi by the age of 12.
01:40With most younglings pulling off this feat between the ages of 8 to 13,
01:44this once again meant that Anakin showed remarkable prowess,
01:47and skill with the Force despite his lack of experience in comparison to his contemporaries.
01:52According to the novel Jedi quest, Path to the Truth,
01:55the realising of his first lightsaber came on the back of himself and Obi-Wan Kenobi
01:59travelling to Ilum to forge the weapon.
02:01When there, young Skywalker proceeded to meditate
02:04before dispatching spectres of Darth Maul and a slaver.
02:08Once he was done kicking ghostly ass,
02:10his saber was fully formed in front of him,
02:12balanced ideally towards his own personal needs.
02:15It was said to be heavy-hilted and rigid,
02:17enhancing his exceptional strength before it was destroyed in Attack of the Clones.
02:22So much for that then.
02:23Number 8. Why his lightsaber was that colour.
02:26Keeping with Lil Ernie's trusty weapon of choice in his Jedi days,
02:29the reason behind his iconic blade being the colour it ultimately was,
02:33wasn't just a case of George Lucas closing his eyes
02:36and slamming his finger onto a colour palette at random.
02:38Far from it.
02:39Skywalker's colour of unmistakable blue over the course of the original, prequel and sequel trilogies,
02:44was the result of the Jedi himself's meditation throughout the aforementioned creation of the blade on Ilum.
02:49It's during this process that a youngling's personality and relationship with the force is imbued into the weapon,
02:55leading to its eventual colour being a reflection of said imprint.
02:59In Anakin's case, his eventual weapon wound up landing the Jedi in the Guardian class,
03:03a group known for their blue sabers generally.
03:06This shade represented the more physical side of the world,
03:09and the users of these lightsabers were said to have been more gifted when it came to athleticism and dueling,
03:14meaning Anakin fit the class like a glove over a mechanical hand.
03:18Number seven, he almost left the Jedi Order at 12 years old.
03:21Jumping back into the earlier years of Anakin's Jedi training now,
03:25and to a moment that would actually foreshadow an act that would change the galaxy forever.
03:29With much of the youngster's life being somewhat decided for him throughout his training years,
03:33his early exchanges with Chancellor Palpatine,
03:36particularly a trip to the sub-levels of Coruscant,
03:38eventually led to a few seeds of doubt being planted into the youngling's mind.
03:43Before long, Anakin felt that he was fed up with the way his life was panning out,
03:47and confronted his master Obi-Wan about the prospect of turning his back on the Jedi Order.
03:52In this moment, Anakin went as far as to hold out his lightsaber and tell his master,
03:56this doesn't have to be forever, I can always come back.
03:59To which Kenobi responded by trying to get the Chosen One to reconsider.
04:03In the end, another of the pair's many adventures inevitably forced him back into the fold,
04:07and saw him take up his Jedi weapon once again.
04:10But the seeds were very much planted from a young age for his eventual fall.
04:146. Where That Scar Came From
04:16Away from the mainline prequel episodes that saw Jake Lloyd and Hayden Christensen's portrayals of the man who would be Vader,
04:22Anakin Skywalker experienced a rather gripping rivalry with another apprentice of sorts,
04:27both in comic books and throughout the animated Clone Wars TV saga.
04:31And it's during one of his many skirmishes with one Asajj Ventress,
04:35that this Chosen One wound up with one of his most iconic physical traits.
04:39That being his distinct facial scar down the right side of his mug.
04:43Coming in the comic book by the name of Republic Dreadnoughts of Rendili,
04:47a trip back down to the lower levels of Coruscant to listen to a message from his beloved Padme,
04:52would lead to Anakin being ambushed by the Pale Assassin.
04:55Nudging Skywalker into an enforced rage,
04:57Ventress would prove too great a match for the Jedi and skillfully managed to carve the cut into his face.
05:02Adding further insult to injury, the Dathomirian would then leave with a quip
05:07involving her confessing that she could have killed Anakin there and then,
05:10but simply chose not to, because she wanted him to know that she could first.
05:15What a son of a gun.
05:165. He's a Master of Multiple Dueling Styles
05:19As already alluded to, Anakin Skywalker was very much famed for his ability with a lightsaber,
05:25going on to become one of the most decorated and respected generals the Republic had to offer in the Clone Wars.
05:30So it likely comes as little surprise to discover that Obi-Wan's brother from another mother
05:34was actually well-versed in a number of lightsaber combat forms.
05:38With there being seven forms in total,
05:40Anakin clearly saw the advantage in brushing up on as many as possible
05:43before taking on everything from droids to dark lords of the Sith.
05:47And it was because of this dedication to perfecting his blade craft
05:50that he ultimately ended up becoming somewhat of a master of multiple styles.
05:54Form 4, aka Aturu,
05:56a style known for being aggressive and using force-assisted attacks,
05:59and Form 5, She-En and Jem-So,
06:02a style suited to attacks from a distance and blade-on-blade combat,
06:06are just a few of the ways Skywalker opted to get the job done with his lightsaber in hand.
06:10It was also said that Anakin actually bested many a Jedi Knight
06:13who claimed to be masters of each of the seven forms over the course of his rise.
06:18In short, he was bloody good with a blade.
06:204. He has the Power to Tame Beasts
06:22Adding to the impressive toolkit of this Jedi legend,
06:26a little trick that was also frequently utilised by his former master,
06:29actually appeared to be passed on to the one-time Jedi Knight in the midst of his training.
06:34After spending his years as a youngling and padawan trying and often failing to tame many a beast beside Obi-Wan Kenobi,
06:40sometimes even being forced to cut down the creatures as a last resort,
06:44the penny clearly dropped for Anakin by the time of Attack of the Clones,
06:47as Skywalker was able to successfully calm down and later ride a reek in the midst of the Battle of Geonosis.
06:53The first one, that is.
06:54This wouldn't be the first or last time said beast-taming skill would be seen in the Star Wars universe, though,
06:59with everyone from Darth Bane to Qui-Gon Jinn showing off their mastery of animal whispering over the years, too.
07:063. Leonardo DiCaprio and Christian Bale Nearly Played Him
07:09Since taking our planet by storm with his original trilogy,
07:12just about every actor known to mankind has been doing everything in their power to become part of George Lucas' galaxy far, far away.
07:20So when the time came to finally have the mighty Anakin Skywalker strut his stuff as an adult on the live-action stage,
07:26pretty much every rising star in the industry was in line to play Obi-Wan's padawan in the prequels.
07:31Among this star-studded roster were the likes of Christian Bale and Leonardo DiCaprio.
07:36While Leo would ultimately pass up on the chance to swing a blue blade about for a few blockbuster offerings,
07:40Bale was said to have been Lucas' first choice for the part.
07:44But it just wasn't meant to be, and instead, Hayden Christensen would make his own divisive mark,
07:48not exactly aided by Lucas' dodgy dialogue on the prequels.
07:52Thankfully, the star looks set to revisit the role once more in the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi Disney Plus series,
07:57and will no doubt be out to prove his many vocal critics wrong through his long-awaited Skywalker Vader comeback.
08:032. Droid Wedding Gifts
08:05Wedding gifts are a tradition not just respected in our universe, but in the intergalactic world of Star Wars 2.
08:11You'll love to see it.
08:12Yet in the case of Anakin Skywalker, his lack of possessions in general, thanks to his Jedi lifestyle,
08:18meant that he didn't exactly have a whole lot to offer in terms of impressive gifts on his secret wedding day.
08:23He did, however, possess a certain droid that he just so happened to build with his own two hands before one of them got cut off.
08:29Yeah.
08:30So Anakin decided to give Padme Amidala C-3PO on the day of their wedding,
08:34with his now-wife returning the favor by handing him possession of a faithful astromech known as R2-D2.
08:40This largely explains why R2 rarely leaves Anakin's side throughout the Clone Wars and Revenge of the Sith,
08:45and why 3PO spends increasingly less time with his creator as the series unfolds.
08:50So next time you're in need of a last-minute wedding present,
08:52why not hand the happy couple or your soon-to-be spouse a trusty protocol droid or astromech and let the good times roll?
08:59Or not, you do you.
09:001. The Prequel Villains All Relate to His Own Fall
09:03While you'd be forgiven for assuming that the great many of the arrivals that made their presence known in the prequel trilogy
09:09were merely pumped into the Star Wars universe as a way of shifting colourful toys,
09:13in reality George Lucas actually appeared to use Episode 1, 2, and 3's key villains
09:18as a way to highlight the various stages of his central figures fall into the dark side.
09:23In Darth Maul you have a Sith acolyte consumed by rage and aggression, traits shared by Skywalker.
09:29Count Dooku pretty much mirrors Anakin's own eventual fate as a fallen Jedi who becomes Darth Sidious' apprentice,
09:35and General Grievous' appearance acts as a subtle piece of foreshadowing for the cyborg future
09:40that is right around the corner for Skywalker on the back of his fateful duel with Obi-Wan on Mustafar.
09:45Combine all three together and you have the tragic equation needed to create arguably the most destructive,
09:50captivating, and recognisable big bad pop culture has ever known.
09:55And that's our list of any other things most folks didn't know about Anakin Skywalker.
09:59Let us know all about them in the comments section right down below,
10:01and do not forget to like, share, and click on that subscribe button while you're there.
10:05Also if you like this kind of thing then head on over to whatculture.com
10:08and find some more incredible videos just like the one this article that yours truly wrote is based on.
10:13I've been Gareth from WhatCultureStarWars, thank you very much for clicking on this video today,
10:17may the force be with you, and I'll see you very, very soon.
10:19Bye bye!
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