Lars family

From the latter part of the Galactic Republic onward, the Lars family was composed of human moisture farmers residing on Tatooine, a sparsely populated desert planet situated in the Outer Rim Territories of the galaxy. Lef Lars, one of the earliest known members, had two sons, Cliegg Lars and Edern Lars, with his wife Gredda Lars. Despite the harsh conditions of a desert planet circling the binary stars Tatoo I and Tatoo II, and the threat from Tusken Raider tribes, the Lars family made a living by managing a moisture farm on the outskirts of Anchorhead.

Edern met his demise in a landspeeder accident at fourteen. Cliegg matured into a kind and humble man, but his encounters with Tatooine's native tribes led him to consider Tusken Raiders as cruel, "vicious, mindless monsters." He first married Aika Lars, whom he encountered in the Core Worlds. They had a son, Owen Lars, who was young when his parent passed away. Subsequently, Cliegg and Owen went back to the Lars Homestead on Tatooine.

When Owen reached young adulthood, his father remarried after visiting the spaceport of Mos Espa, where he bought Shmi Skywalker, a slave belonging to the Toydarian junk dealer Watto, to set her free and marry her. Shmi, adopting her husband's last name, became Owen's stepmother, and Owen gained a stepbrother, Shmi's biological son Anakin Skywalker. By that point, Anakin had become a Padawan of the Jedi Order, having left his homeworld to study the Jedi arts on Coruscant. Consequently, Owen did not meet his stepbrother until Anakin's return to Tatooine in 22 BBY. Through Shmi, the Lars family obtained her son's protocol droid, C-3PO, which served them until it was returned to its creator.

While residing on the Lars Homestead, Shmi routinely left the farm before sunrise to gather mushrooms growing on their moisture vaporators. This continued until she was captured by a Tusken Raider hunting group, who kidnapped her as she returned to the farm. Cliegg organized a group of thirty farmers to rescue his wife, but only four survived the attempt, including a wounded Cliegg. With his leg lost during the failed rescue, Cliegg was confined to the farm to recover, preventing him from launching another rescue. Although hesitant to lose hope, Cliegg began to despair about Shmi's fate a month after her abduction, doubting her survival in Tusken captivity.

Across the galaxy, Anakin had visions, in the form of nightmares, of his mother's suffering. Accompanied by Senator Padmé Amidala and the astromech droid R2-D2, Anakin traveled back to Mos Espa, where he learned from his former owner, Watto, about his mother's freedom and subsequent marriage. Upon reaching the Lars Homestead, Anakin encountered his stepfather and stepbrother, Cliegg and Owen, respectively, as well as Owen's girlfriend, Beru Whitesun.

Using a repulsorlift swoop borrowed from Owen, Anakin searched for the Tusken Raider camp where his mother was held prisoner. By the time he located her, Shmi was dying from the torture inflicted by her Tusken captors. Enraged by his mother's passing, Anakin massacred the entire camp, killing every Tusken, including the women and children.

Shmi's remains were interred on the Lars Homestead. Cliegg, a widower for the second time since Aika's death, delivered the eulogy at the funeral of his deceased wife, describing her as "the most loving partner" he ever had. Overcome with grief, Anakin knelt at his mother's grave, regretting his failure to save her, and vowed to become the most powerful Jedi in galactic history, believing it was the only way to prevent the deaths of his loved ones. However, the loss of his mother marked a crucial turning point in Anakin's path towards the dark side of the Force.

Anakin departed Tatooine after Shmi's burial, taking C-3PO with him. Cliegg also passed away soon after Shmi, leaving Owen to inherit the family's moisture farm. Although Owen never saw his stepbrother again, his life was impacted by Anakin's legacy in the aftermath of the Clone Wars. Owen eventually married Beru, who was content with the difficult life of moisture farming on Tatooine.

The conflict between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems barely affected Tatooine's inhabitants, but after the Republic's transformation into the Galactic Empire, Owen became the guardian of Anakin's newborn son, Luke Skywalker. Following the Great Jedi Purge carried out by Anakin, who had become the Sith Lord Darth Vader, Grand Master Yoda decided Luke should live with his relatives on Tatooine. Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin's former mentor, delivered the infant Luke to the Lars Homestead, where Owen and Beru welcomed him into their family in 19 BBY, during the early Imperial Era.

Raising Luke posed a significant financial challenge for the struggling farmers. Owen was hesitant to take on the responsibility of raising the son of his stepbrother, Anakin, whom he barely knew and remembered as a young, angry Jedi Knight. While Owen acknowledged Luke as family, it was only in the loosest sense, as the Skywalkers and Larses were not blood relatives. However, his wife eventually convinced Owen to adopt Anakin's son. Beru, infertile, still desired a family.

Luke was raised as a stepson by his Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru. Beru loved Luke as her own child from the moment Obi-Wan delivered the infant to her. In spite of his initial misgivings, Owen grew to love his nephew and was fiercely protective of him. Fearful that Luke's parentage was a danger to him, Owen turned his nephew's origins into a closely guarded family secret, even from Luke. He never told Luke that his father was a Jedi Knight who served in the Clone Wars, believing the truth would cause his nephew to leave the farm and join Kenobi in order to become a Jedi. Instead, Owen led Luke to believe that Anakin was simply a navigator on a spice freighter. He also told Luke that his father had died, something which Owen believed to be true, as did Kenobi until his visit to Daiyu led to his discovery that Vader had survived their battle on Mustafar.

Owen opposed Kenobi's plans to train Luke in the ways of the Force. He thought poorly of the Jedi, believing Kenobi had failed to properly train Anakin. Therefore, he thought it would be a mistake to allow Kenobi access to the next generation of the Skywalker family. Owen believed Luke belonged with his family on the Lars Homestead. He rejected Kenobi's argument that Luke should not be confined to a moisture farm, and repeatedly asked the Jedi to stay away from his nephew, believing Kenobi was more interested in Luke's potential for Force-sensitivity than his wellbeing.

Yet, despite their disagreement on Luke's future, Owen did not reveal Kenobi's presence on Tatooine to the Jedi hunters of the Inquisitorius, even when he was threatened with death by the Inquisitor known as the Third Sister in 9 BBY. Belonging to an organization that was quested with the hunt of the remaining Jedi who survived Order 66, the Third Sister sought to demonstrate the danger of harboring Jedi fugitives by publicly interrogating Owen. The female Inquisitor proceeded to threaten the farmer, as well as his family, after Owen refused to discuss his family with her, only telling the Third Sister that he did not harbor any Jedi on his farm. Another Inquisitor, the Fifth Brother, prevented the Third Sister from carrying out her threat to kill Owen with her lightsaber.

Unbeknownst to her superior, the Grand Inquisitor, the Third Sister arranged the abduction of Princess Leia Organa from Alderaan, having surmised that Kenobi would attempt to rescue the daughter of Senator Bail Prestor Organa whom he served during the Clone Wars. Kenobi was reluctant to leave Tatooine; in addition to being hunted by the Empire, he considered it his duty to protect Luke until the time came to train him as a Jedi. Despite this, he was ultimately convinced by Senator Organa to rescue Leia, who was Luke's twin sister.

During Kenobi's efforts to return Leia to her adoptive parents, the Third Sister intercepted a message from Bail Organa revealing that the child whom Owen raised had a connection to Darth Vader. Despite her actions as an Inquisitor, Reva Sevander planned to assassinate Vader for killing her fellow Jedi younglings during the fall of the Jedi Temple on the night of Order 66. Once her plan failed, however, Sevander returned to Tatooine seeking justice for the younglings who died by Vader's hand.

Owen and Luke were in the process of obtaining a new belt for their landspeeder when Dardin Shull warned Owen that Sevander had returned to Tatooine. Owen in turn warned his wife Beru that Sevander was hunting them. He wanted to leave the farm with Beru and Luke, but Beru refused to leave their home and convinced Owen to help her secure the homestead instead of hiding in the desert. As they prepared for Sevander's arrival, Owen claimed to Luke that the Tuskens were going to raid their farm. He also implored Luke to run if he and Beru failed to defend the homestead.

When Sevander arrived at the homestead, she was ambushed in the inner courtyard by Owen and Beru, both of whom were armed with blasters. Despite sustaining an injury from her lightsaber duel with Vader on Jabiim, the dark side adept deflected the Larses' attacks with her lightsaber. While neither Owen nor Beru were killed, they failed to prevent Sevander from pursuing Luke into the desert. They were searching for Luke by the time Kenobi returned to Tatooine, but as the Jedi Master prepared to assist them, Sevander returned an unconscious Luke to his adoptive parents. The former Inquisitor had chosen to spare Luke's life after realizing that she could not kill a child, in the way that Vader had killed the Jedi younglings whom Sevander regarded as her family.

The Lars family returned to tending their moisture farm in the aftermath of Sevander's attack. Kenobi briefly visited the homestead to reassure Owen that he would keep his distance from them, deciding to allow Luke to live out his childhood with Owen as his guardian. Owen assured Kenobi that he would continue to take care of Luke, and allowed them to meet before Kenobi departed from the farm.

Luke stayed with his aunt and uncle on the moisture farm throughout his early life, unaware of his parents' history, and possessed no knowledge of the Jedi Order or the Force. As a young man, Luke dreamed of a more exciting life while working on his uncle's farm. Weary of his life on a desert world, Luke aspired to leave Tatooine and join his friends who enrolled in the Imperial Academy. However, Owen persuaded Luke to postpone his plans as he needed his help on the homestead. Luke relented, knowing that his support was essential to the farm's survival, but as the seasons passed, he grew increasingly restless and yearned for a more adventurous experience.

Whereas Owen sought to keep Luke on the homestead, believing it was necessary for his safety, Beru was supportive of Luke's dreams, knowing that he longed for adventure and the chance to join his friends at the Imperial Academy. While Beru shared her husband's responsibility as Luke's guardian, she had also become a substitute mother for him, and was well aware of her nephew's similarity to his father Anakin. She repeatedly spoke in support of Luke to Owen, warning him that he could not expect Luke to remain on the farm indefinitely. Beru told Owen bluntly that their nephew was far too similar to his father to settle for the life of a farmer, which Owen acknowledged as his fear.

Even with Luke's assistance, Owen struggled to make a profit from his moisture farm. He therefore turned to mechanical means of farming support, purchasing a pair of droids, C-3PO and R2-D2, from a clan of Jawa traders in 0 BBY. Unbeknownst to Owen, the droids that he bought had fled to Tatooine following a battle between the Galactic Empire and the Alliance to Restore the Republic. He was also unaware that the Imperial Military sought the droids, including the Death Star plans within the R2 unit's memory bank, and was willing to kill Imperial citizens to acquire their targets. Before Luke could set out to meet his friends at Tosche Station, his uncle insisted that he first complete his chores, which included cleaning the family's new droids.

By buying the droids, Owen set in motion a sequence of events that led to Luke meeting Kenobi, an outcome that Owen spent years trying to prevent. Luke inquired about the identity of "Obi-Wan Kenobi" after R2-D2 claimed to be his property, believing that the astromech was referring to a hermit that Luke knew of as "old Ben." Owen denied having any knowledge of "Obi-Wan," and claimed that "Ben" was a "crazy old man" and a "wizard." He instructed Luke to have the astromech undergo a memory wipe in Anchorhead the following day, declaring that the droid was now the rightful property of the Lars family. Luke, who was under the impression that Obi-Wan and Ben were separate individuals, suggested that Obi-Wan might search for the droid, causing Owen to claim that Obi-Wan had died around the same time as Luke's father. The mention of Anakin piqued Luke's interest further, but Owen insisted on ending the discussion.

Confident that the acquisition of new droids would provide his uncle with sufficient support, Luke intended to send his application to the Imperial Academy by the next semester before the harvest. He hoped to elicit the approval of his uncle, who agreed to allow Luke to attend the Academy by the following year. Owen instead implored Luke to hold to their original agreement, reminding him that harvest was when Luke's importance to the farm's productivity was critical. Owen promised to send Luke to the Academy after the family earned enough money to employ a larger work force, but Luke remained apprehensive about working on the farm for another year. Beru interjected after Luke left to complete his chores, reminding Owen that he could not delay Luke's departure for much longer, to which Owen promised to make amends with his nephew at a later date.

After years of watching over Luke, Kenobi introduced himself to his former apprentice's son by rescuing him from a group of Tusken Raiders. Luke and C-3PO had been searching the desert for R2-D2 after the astromech droid wandered away from the farm, searching for the Jedi Master who served Senator Bail Organa during the Clone Wars.

Kenobi provided sanctuary for Luke and the droids at his residence, where he unveiled to Luke their shared past: he and Anakin had fought together as Jedi Knights during the Clone Wars. Luke recounted his uncle's tale of Anakin's involvement in the spice trade as a freighter pilot, prompting Kenobi to clarify that Owen disapproved of Anakin's participation in the war, believing his stepbrother should have remained on Tatooine. Kenobi knew Owen's reluctance for Luke to possess Anakin's Jedi lightsaber, fearing it would encourage his nephew to accompany the old Jedi hermit on a "crusade." Despite this, Kenobi presented the Skywalker lightsaber to Luke. Upon Luke's inquiry about his father's demise, Kenobi asserted that Darth Vader, a fallen Jedi, had "betrayed and murdered" Anakin Skywalker, along with a significant portion of the Jedi Order, after succumbing to the dark side of the Force.

Inside R2-D2, Kenobi and Luke unearthed a recording from Alderaanian Princess Leia Organa, imploring the Jedi Master to aid the Alliance in their struggle against the Empire. Kenobi made the decision to journey to Alderaan with Luke, determining that it was time for Luke to commence his Jedi training. Luke hesitated at the prospect of traveling to a distant planet, realizing his extended absence from the farm and the inevitable anger of his uncle. Although Luke had longed for a more thrilling existence for years, he was reluctant to immerse himself in the Galactic Civil War, despite his personal animosity towards the Empire and his familial obligations to the farm. Ultimately, Luke declined to leave Tatooine entirely, but offered to accompany Kenobi as far as Anchorhead.

En route to Anchorhead, Luke and Kenobi came across a damaged sandcrawler along with several deceased Jawa scavengers. The damage to the transport indicated an attack by Imperial stormtroopers, rather than Tusken Raiders. Luke recognized the Jawas who had sold the droids to the Lars family, deducing that the soldiers responsible for their deaths would have also discovered this information, endangering his aunt and uncle. Disregarding Kenobi's warning about the peril, Luke immediately hastened back to the homestead, only to arrive too late. The stormtroopers who had been pursuing the droids had already departed, leaving behind a burning homestead and the murdered Owen and Beru. The only remnants of Luke's aunt and uncle were their charred skeletal remains.

Luke rejoined Kenobi, who assured him that he could not have prevented his family's fate, and that he would have been killed as well. The murder of his aunt and uncle ignited a resolve within Luke to combat the Empire by mastering the ways of the Force as a Jedi.

During the Battle of Yavin, Darth Vader detected a strong presence of the Force within Luke, the Rebel pilot responsible for destroying the DS-1 Death Star Mobile Battle Station. Upon learning of their biological connection as father and son, he resolved to capture Luke and convert him to the dark side. Accompanied by Doctor Chelli Lona Aphra and the droids 0-0-0 and BT-1, Vader visited the Lars Homestead to delve into Luke's background. The homestead bore witness to the massacre perpetrated by Imperial troops; 0-0-0 expressed sympathy for the family's droids that were destroyed in the attack, and Aphra speculated that the pilot who destroyed the Death Star had been driven by a desire to avenge his family. She further suggested that Luke might have remained on his farm on Tatooine indefinitely had the Empire not murdered the Lars family.

In 3 ABY, Luke confronted Vader in Cloud City on Bespin, where the Sith Lord revealed his true identity as Anakin Skywalker, Luke's father. In addition to this revelation, Luke discovered that Organa was his twin sister, and that the Jedi had separated them at birth to shield them from their father and his Sith Master, the Dark Lord of the Sith and Galactic Emperor Darth Sidious.

Vader revisited the Lars family's abandoned homestead, this time accompanied by the forensics droid ZED-6-7. As the droid analyzed the area, Vader became agitated, experiencing visions of his past as Anakin. They discovered that the grave markers for Cliegg and Shmi had been removed; Vader's droid speculated that Owen and Beru had done this to protect their nephew. Luke's refusal to join Vader was interpreted as weakness by the Sith Lord, whose return to the Lars Homestead only reinforced his belief that Luke had been weakened by the influence of those who were involved in hiding his son, including the Lars family.

Despite occasional challenges to his patience, Owen loved Luke as if he were his own son. Following the deaths of Owen and Beru, Luke ascended to become "one of the greatest Jedi" in the history of the galaxy. Initially a humble farmboy, Luke gained renown for his numerous accomplishments throughout his journey to becoming a Jedi Knight. He played a pivotal role in the rescue of Princess Leia, saved the Rebel Alliance by destroying the first Death Star during the Battle of Yavin, and attained the military rank of commander in the Alliance Military.

In 4 ABY, Luke and Vader engaged in a lightsaber duel on the DS-2 Death Star II Mobile Battle Station during the Battle of Endor. While the Force spirit of Kenobi urged Luke to complete his Jedi path by confronting his father in battle, Luke developed the conviction that his father could be redeemed to the light side of the Force.

When the Emperor attempted to kill Luke for rejecting the dark side, Vader turned against his master and killed him, sacrificing his own life to save his son. Redeemed as Anakin Skywalker, he became one with the Force after fulfilling his destiny as the Chosen One. As the New Republic ushered the galaxy into a new era, Luke dedicated himself to restoring the Jedi Order by training numerous apprentices in the ways of the Force, including his nephew Ben Solo.

The Lars Homestead remained deserted after two generations of the Lars family dedicated themselves to maintaining their moisture farm through diligent labor and perseverance. In 35 ABY, following the end of the First Order-Resistance War, the Jedi Rey interred Anakin Skywalker's lightsaber alongside Leia Organa's lightsaber in the sands of the Lars farm, and adopted the Skywalker surname in honor of her mentors Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa.