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Anakin Solo was the youngest child of Han Solo and Leia Organa Solo. He had two elder siblings: his sister, Jaina and his brother, Jacen. Anakin was named for his maternal grandfather, Anakin Skywalker, and, like his namesake, was prodigiously talented in the Force, a gifted pilot, and a skilled mechanic.

Childhood

"As I hoped. As I expected from the Skywalker line."

— Hethrir

Palpatine attempts to enter Anakin's body

Anakin was born during a time of great instability. The New Republic was faced with the regroup Imperial factions under the reborn Emperor Palpatine. On one occasion, the Emperor touched him while he was still in the womb. On another, the Emperor had attempted to take over the body of the unborn child, in an effort to sustain his dark spirit in a more powerful form. Fortunately for Anakin, the Emperor's spirit was finally destroyed before he could complete this evil plan. A rather quiet boy, Anakin spent the first few years of his life away from the rest of his family and sequestered on safeworlds where he was looked after by nanny droids and his mother's best friend, Winter.

Early in his childhood, Anakin had the ability to make anything mechanical work regardless of whether he understood the device's purpose or its components. He demonstrated this by being able to take apart and reassemble his nanny droid. During the Empire Reborn movement of 14 ABY, Anakin was kidnapped by Lord Hethrir, the Imperial Procurator of Justice, and used along with his siblings in a fiendish plot to take advantage of their Force powers. During his captivity, he developed a relationship with Tigris, the son of Hethrir and his mate Rillao, and little more than a lowly servant. Lord Hethrir attempted to sacrifice the Force-strong Anakin to a mysterious creature named Waru in exchange for Waru's help. However, Luke Skywalker and Han Solo and Leia Solo succeeded in rescuing them and Hethrir was destroyed by Waru.

Anakin excelled in the areas of mathematics and engineering. During the Corellian Crisis in 18 ABY, he used his Force abilities to locate and reactivate some of the ancient Corellian planetary repulsors.

Jedi training

Anakin, at the age of eleven

"Anakin wasn't a bother, was he?"

— Jaina Solo

"Far from it. I learned a thing or two from watching him."

— Zekk

At the age of eleven, Anakin joined his uncle Luke Skywalker's Jedi Praxeum on Yavin IV a few months after his older siblings joined it. There, he met and befriended an orphan named Tahiri Veila, R2-D2, Tionne Solusar and Uldir Lochett. On one adventure with Tahiri, they came across the crumbling Palace of the Woolamander and discovered the Golden Globe and the ancient Jedi Master Ikrit. Ikrit also informed the pair that the Golden Globe contained countless trapped souls and that they could only be freed by Force-sensitive children.

Following that, Anakin and Tahiri accompanied the Melodie Lyric to her homeworld of Yavin 8 where she was to undergo an important form-changing ritual known as the Changing Ceremony. Shortly after the trio's arrival, they fell under attack by several native predators including an avril, a reel, several raiths and a purella. However, Anakin fought and killed them all. During the journey, Anakin and Tahiri also discovered ancient carvings deep within a cave on the moon which matched those found at the Palace of the Woolamander. From these carvings, the duo learned that Golden Globe contained the souls of the children of the Massassi that had been imprisoned by the Dark Lord Exar Kun in 3,997 BBY. They also learnt that it was held together by Sith magic that could only be broken by Force-sensitive children, exactly as Ikrit had told them.

However, before they could do so, the leader of the Tusken clan that had raised Tahiri demanded that she return to Tatooine. Anakin accompanied his friend to Tatooine where she rejoined her people and discovered her real parents Tryst and Cassa Veila, also Force-sensitive like their daughter though they had been accidentally killed in a Sandpeople raid. The two young Jedi also had to use their Force abilities as never before including surviving the harshest deserts of the Dune Sea, evading a sarlaac, befriending a Jawa clan and defeating a Krayt dragon. Following this ordeal, they returned to Yavin IV and freed the trapped souls within the Golden Globe.

Despite this, Anakin remained troubled by visions of himself as a Dark Jedi, by his heritage as the grandson of Anakin Skywalker, who had become the infamous Darth Vader. Also, the reborn Emperor Palpatine had once attempted to enter him as an infant. To ensure he had no potential for evil, the young Jedi asked if he could go to the very same cave on Dagobah that Luke Skywalker had gone years earlier, and face himself.

However, before arrangements for the trip could be made, a youth named Uldir Lochett was found stowed away on one of the supply ships to the Praxeum Lightning Rod. In spite of his optimism, he lacked obvious Force sensitivity—in his own later, rueful opinion, all he had were good hunches, a whisper-like ability to sense when the Force was being used, and a habit of causing trouble. Later, Anakin along with Tahiri and Ikrit travelled to Dagobah. There, they discovered that Uldir had stowed again on their transport and encountered swamp creatures before finally reaching the cave where Skywalker had faced his own Dark Side years earlier. There, Anakin faced the manifestations of his own doubts and emerged victorious in the end.

Anakin evading Orloc's henchmen at Bast Castle

Later that year, the Jedi historian Tionne Solusar discovered that Darth Vader had saved Obi-Wan Kenobi's lightsaber after their duel on the First Death Star in 0 BBY and kept the captured artifact at Bast Castle on Vjun. Since an information broker had sold this information to them, she feared that others may have gotten to it first and quickly informed Master Luke Skywalker who administrated the Jedi Praxeum. Thinking it was just a simple trip and time for training, Tionne allowed Uldir, Anakin, Tahiri Veila and Ikrit to accompany her to Vjun on her personal transport Lore Seeker.

Having arrived on Vjun, they discovered another vessel and feared another group had reached it first. Having survived Bast Castle's automated defense systems and booby traps, they discovered the lightsaber in display in a protected alcove. Unfortunately, a group of mercenaries and pirates under a cloaked man named Orloc arrived. Orloc wielded a lightsaber and claimed to be a mage who possessed great powers. His henchmen also stole Kenobi's lightsaber.

In response, the Jedi pursued Orloc and his henchmen on a chase through Bast Castle. During a confrontation, Orloc easily defeated Ikrit in lightsaber combat since the Kushiban had no lightsaber at all. He also deceived Uldir by claiming to train him all the Force skills he desired. However, the other Jedi managed to rescue Uldir and escape Bast Castle, along with Kenobi's lightsaber and the holocron of the ancient Jedi Master Ash Krimsan.

Despite having escaped Orloc, Uldir was obsessed with what Orloc told him and still believed that the Mage would be able to awaken the Force powers within him, which nobody at the Jedi Praxeum on Yavin 4 had been able to do so. Uldir then stole Ikrit's ship Sunrider (named after Nomi Sunrider) and the two Jedi artifacts recovered during the previous adventure at Bast Castle.

Uldir eventually found Orloc at an abandoned space station called Exis Station, where Tionne had met Luke years earlier in her search for relics. Orloc then took the youth as his student. The Mage had already set up his base on the moon and planned to create his own Jedi Order. In reality, Orloc had no Force powers but had actually used high-tech gimmicks to deceive others with demonstrations of so called "Force power". Uldir did not realise it.

Anakin, Tahiri, Tionne and Ikrit set out to find Uldir on their transport Lore Seeker and eventually found Exis Station. Having arrived, they tried to tell Uldir that Orloc was a fraud and that he had been deceived. The Mage attacked the four Jedi with his high-tech gimmicks, who fought back by using the Force.

During the duel, Tionne was wounded and Ikrit—who had sworn not to wield a lightsaber until he had found worthy students—made his decision and join Anakin and Tahiri in their fight. Uldir then saw that Orloc was little more than a charlatan who used technology to deceive others with demonstrations of power. Together, the Jedi defeated Orloc, thus removing a threat to the growing New Jedi Order. Anakin and his companions would return to the Jedi Praxeum.

After Anakin graduated from his Junior Jedi Class, he returned to Coruscant for a while where he attended school, developed his piloting skills, and studied under the careful tutelage of C-3PO. Anakin returned to the Jedi Praxeum in 23 ABY to aid in the reconstruction after it was attacked by the Shadow Academy. During that time, he went through several adventures with his siblings and their friends, including the mission to find Zekk, taking down Black Sun, accompanying his father to Ord Mantell, etc.—and usually was the one with the plans and ideas, which was due to his uncanny ability (and enjoyment) to solve complex puzzles and problems.

In 24 ABY, Anakin was promoted to an apprentice Jedi Knight along with several other trainees including his older siblings Jacen and Jaina, Tenel Ka, Lowbacca and Zekk during a ceremony at the Jedi Praxeum. He and Jacen became Luke's apprentices later on, and the two brothers clashed with their views on the Force.

Yuuzhan Vong War

"Don’t lie to me, Anakin. The desire to be out there saving the galaxy is in your blood so thick I can hear it screaming from here."

— Mara Jade Skywalker

Anakin Solo during the Yuuzhan Vong War

However, his greatest test would come during the devastating Yuuzhan Vong War in 25 ABY. The extragalactic Yuuzhan Vong invaded the galaxy with the intent of conquering it for themselves. Unlike many other sentient species, these fearsome invaders were not touched by the Force. This confounded the Jedi who first encountered the Yuuzhan Vong because virtually all life forms have a Force energy signature in one way or another. During this dark time, Anakin would be faced with death of his beloved Chewbacca during the destruction of Sernpidal. This incident hurt relations between him and his father, who blamed Anakin and it would be months before father and son reconciled.

Anakin began developing Jedi tactics against the Yuuzhan Vong. At Dubrillion, he rediscovered a lost Force skill, Battle Meditation, and initiated a technique known as Force Meld between his siblings. This technique was used to coordinate Jedi in battle, namely in spaceflight throughout the war. He also designed the prototype for the Yuuzhan Vong Hunter Droids (YVH) manufactured by Lando Calrissian.

Following that, Anakin accompanied Mara Jade Skywalker to Dantooine where Mara hoped to halt the progess of the Coomb spore disease that was killing her on the planet's unspoiled grasslands. However, they were soon joined by refugees from Dubrillion evacuated by Lando Calrissian. Worse, the Yuuzhan Vong followed them and a great massacre ensued. During the battle, the Yuuzhan Vong unleashed legions of reptoid Chazrach slave soldiers and beetle-like Thrall herders from their galaxy. Anakin and his older brother Jacen would discover that these Chazrach were entirely mindless and were merely the Yuuzhan Vong's equivalent to battle droids. They slaughtered dozens of Chazrach and Luke Skywalker also destroyed a thrall herder, causing much of the enemy force to scatter and allowing the refugees to escape Dantooine.

Later, Anakin was among a taskforce of Jedi present at the Battle of Ithor. He was teamed up with Daeshara'cor, a Twi'lek Jedi whom Anakin had brought back to the light side after minor skimirshes on Garos IV. After seeing her being poisoned by an amphistaff from the Yuuzhan Vong, he defended her from further injury, wielding two lightsabers, his and Daeshara'cor's, as he did so. Although he had managed, with the help from his aunt and uncle, to get her back to the medical bay, she'd died—reassuring Anakin that she would'nt have changed anything. Despite this, Anakin blamed himself for not being able to save her and live up to Chewbacca's sacrifice.

The Yuuzhan Vong attacked the beautiful, untouched jungle world and the floating city of Tafanda Bay until Jedi Knight Corran Horn offered to duel the Yuuzhan Vong leader Shedao Shai in single combat. If Corran defeated Shedao, the Yuuzhan Vong would withdraw from the planet. However, if Corran lost, Shai would get back the body of his ancestor Mongei Shai and have Ithor. Though Corran bested his rival, Shai's second-in-command Deign Lian answered to a higher authority (Tsavong Lah) whom ordered him to unleash a biological weapon from the Kor Chokk flagship Legacy of Torment which reduced all life on the planet to little more than black swamps of acidic ash. The Legacy was later destroyed though it crashed on Ithor, causing more carnage and contributing much to the Anti-Jediism of the galactic public.

During the war, Anakin's heroic acts led many New Republic citizens to regarded him as a galactic hero and the freshest face of the New Jedi Order—much like his grandfather was during the Clone Wars. There were many whispers that Anakin would one day take his uncle's place as the most powerful Jedi. However, many people also reviled the Jedi, blaming them for the invasion. The Jedi Order was also the target of the Yuuzhan Vong, whom saw them as their greatest obstacle to galactic domination. Among them were Nom Anor and the Fosh Vergere, a former Old Republic Jedi Knight whom had joined the extragalactic invaders in exchange that the living world of Zonama Sekot be spared.

During the Battle of Fondor, Anakin nearly wiped out the assembled Yuuzhan Vong fleet at Fondor through the use of Centerpoint Station had it not been for his older brother Jacen. Unfortunately, an old enemy in the form of the infamous Thrackan Sal-Solo fired the weapon, destroying the Yuuzhan Vong fleet though taking much of the Hapan fleet in the process. Later, Anakin played an important role during the defense of Duro when he defended the orbital city of Orr-Om by shooting down a serpentine Ychna which was attacking it.

Hero to the enemy

"Everybody gets a nasty surprise someday, I'd rather get it standing up than lying down."

— Anakin Solo

Later, the Peace Brigade—an allied government of the Yuuzhan Vong—attacked the Jedi Praxeum itself. Anakin went there to help rescue the trapped trainees. However in the battle, his beloved Master Ikrit was killed and his childhood friend Tahiri was captured. Luckily for him, he received help in the forms of Qorl (a former TIE pilot who had befriended his older siblings) and Vua Rapuung (a Shamed outcast Yuuzhan Vong).

Vua Rappung helped Anakin to rescue Tahiri from the Yuuzhan Vong encampment though Anakin's lightsaber was damaged in the process, forcing him to rebuild it with a Yuuzan Vong lambent. He attuned his lightsaber to himself and discovered a way to sense the Vong through the Force. Anakin was the first Jedi after Vergere to have sensed the Yuuzhan Vong thusly and called it the "Vongsense". This name was later adopted by Jacen. The Yuuzhan Vong had performed numerous experiments on Tahiri during her captivity. Anakin helped her recover from the ordeal and the two fell in love. Meanwhile, rumors of their exploits on Yavin IV ran rampant through the labour class "Workers and the outcast "Shamed Ones" of the Yuuzhan Vong, who soon began to see Jedi as their salvation.

Anakin Solo, Tahiri Veila, and Ikrit in 26 ABY

Following that ordeal, Tahiri, Corran Horn, and himself travelled to Eriadu where they learned from a dying Rodian Jedi named Kelbis Nu that Yag'Dhul—the homeworld of the mathematical Givin—would be the next target of the Yuuzhan Vong because it was located right where the Corellian Trade Spine and the Rimma Trade Route met.

Unfortunately for them, they were arrested by the Eriduan judicials under a Human male named Lieutenant Themion. During their incarceration, he had them kept in separate cells and then interrogated each one of them. When interrogating Anakin, he assaulted the young Jedi after Anakin refused to cooperate with him. This angered Tahiri who sensed this through the Force.

She then used her Force powers to break out of her cell before proceeding to storm Anakin's cell. With a blaster in one hand and under the influence of the Riina Kwaad personality, Tahiri shouted "Do-ro'ik vong pratte" before hurling Themion against the wall. Tahiri then handcuffed him with his own stun cuffs. Another guard entered the cell though Anakin threw him against the corridor wall as well, knocking him out and giving the two Jedi enough time to escape and reclaim their lightsabers.

This involved fighting through more judicials outside the prison and hijacking a police speeder though the two Jedi eventually reached the spaceport and escaped off-world with Corran Horn on their tranport Lucre. During the journey to Yag'Dhul, the three Jedi swapped the Lucre for a stolen Yuuzhan Vong Yorik Stronha (spy ship-analogue) which was christened Stalking Moon.

Having arrived, they managed to warn the Givin of the impeding invasion of their planet. Because of the threat, the Givin decompressed the space station to kill the Vong, which forced Tahiri and Anakin into a storage locker. Feeling the end was near, the two shared a kiss. They were later rescued by Corran while the combined Givin/New Republic fleet drove back the extragalactic invaders.

Myrkr

"He learned something there that the rest of us don’t know, something that could have made all the difference, if only he’d had time to figure it out. If there is such a thing as destiny, I think that was Anakin’s. He has always been different. Special..."

— Jaina Solo

Anakin at the time of his death in 27 ABY

Unfortunately for Anakin, he would not live long enough to see the defeat of the Yuuzhan Vong. In 27 ABY, he led a Jedi strike team to destroy a cloning facility for Jedi hunting-Voxyn on the Koros-strohna Baanu Raas which orbited Myrkr. The mission was a pyrrhic victory for the Jedi since despite destroying the facility, many members of the strike team were killed including Anakin himself, who died after achieving complete oneness with the Force, one of the few Jedi to do so. The intense Force energy that Anakin, who refused to do a healing trance even with a deeply wounded abdomen received after impulsively running to his sister's rescue, drew was too overwhelming to hold at the current state of his body and died. However, because of his part in the battle, even the enemy came to admire him.

His death forced Jacen into a leadership position, pushed his sister Jaina to the dark side, and launched Tahiri into the throes of despair. His sister rashly attacked a Yuuzhan Vong mortuary and recovered his body. She flew his body to Hapes, where the entire family gathered for a funeral. After a memorial ceremony, Anakin was cremated by Luke Skywalker.

Anakin's lightsaber, however, was to play a significant role in defeating the Yuuzhan Vong. The Vong acquired the weapon, and Nom Anor gave it to Jacen in an attempt to convert him to their religion. Jacen deceived them, and lied about his conversion. Ganner Rhysode came to rescue Jacen, and used the lightsaber to kill hundreds of Yuuzhan Vong while Jacen sabotaged Yuuzhan'tar's World Brain. Finally, the lightsaber was later used by Supreme Overlord Shimrra for his duel against Luke during the Battle of Coruscant. Luke grabbed the lightsaber and used his and Anakin's to decapitate the Dread Lord. After the war, Han Solo placed the lightsaber in front of a carving of Chewbacca on Kashyyyk, saying farewell to both of them.

Behind the scenes

• Anakin Solo debuted in the comic series Dark Empire.
• After the conclusion of The New Jedi Order series, rumors abounded that the Anakin Solo had somehow survived his meeting with the voxyn in the book Star by Star. Rumors claim that Anakin marries later after his return and lives very much a life like his grandfather, Anakin Skywalker. This would appear to be disproven by the fact that Anakin's body was recovered and cremated, and that Jacen saw his ghost on Coruscant. Some fans have pointed out the fact that Anakin died in a cloning facility as evidence he is alive, while Jacen was cut off from the Force and nearing a psychological breakdown at the time he encountered Anakin's ghost, so the encounter on Coruscant should be suspect at best. These theories have yet to be supported.
• There are several prophecies about Anakin that never took place because of his death. In Dark Empire II, Luke had a vision of Anakin and his siblings leading the Jedi Order. Master Ikrit, too, told Anakin that there would be something great born in him and Tahiri. It remains a question whether the latter prophecy will come true in the future books.