Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader

He spent his early years on Tatooine with his mother as a slave. In 32 BBY, Skywalker met Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and Padmé Amidala, the Queen of Naboo, whom he married as an adult. Before he became an apprentice to the dark side, Darth Vader was Anakin Skywalker, a kind-hearted Jedi and hero of the Clone Wars. Although Anakin was considered one of the most powerful Jedi in the galaxy, he broke the Order's code by secretly marrying Senator Padmé Amidala. When he began to have visions of Padmé dying in childbirth, Anakin sought a way to prevent this fate. Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, the mentor of the young Jedi, claimed that the dark side was the path to this ability: he could stop people from dying with the power of the Sith. At the same time, the Chancellor revealed that he himself was the Sith Lord, Darth Sidious, and would train Anakin. Confused and conflicted, Anakin eventually succumbed to Sidious' temptations. Renamed Darth Vader, he became an agent of evil.

Sidious assumed the mantle of Emperor and Vader helped the Empire destroy the Jedi Order; the ruthless Anakin led a legion of clones into the Jedi Temple and personally killed both fully trained Jedi and young recruits. On the lava planet of Mustafar, where he was sent to assassinate Separatist leaders, Anakin fought with aggressive ferocity, ignoring Obi-Wan's pleas for reason.
Vader quickly became a symbol of the Empire, serving Palpatine as a fearsome enforcer. He hunted down a fugitive Jedi who had escaped from Order 66, with the help of the fearsome Inquisitorius.

Vader's sudden emergence into the Imperial hierarchy gave rise to many rumors. Some high-ranking Imperials claimed that he was a lab creation created to imitate the fallen Separatist warlord General Grievous, while others whispered that he was a technologically enhanced warrior trained in the now-forbidden arts of the Force. Only a few guessed the truth - that Vader was a reborn Jedi.