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In Episode 1: The Phantom Menace, Anakin's mother, Shmi, said that he does not have a father, although it seemed to me that she doubted that.

Is there a canonical answer as to who Anakin's father is? If so, who?

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    Pursuant to the rule that the prequels do not exist, this question remains unanswered. Anakin has a father, we're just never introduced to him ;) Feb 5, 2011 at 5:23
  • 22
    It will be revealed in a future movie that Luke travels back in time on the planet Roswellooine and becomes his own grandfather.
    – Ferruccio
    Feb 17, 2011 at 13:44
  • 1
    Well its obvious, look at his nose, he's a Roman :)
    – Richard C
    Dec 18, 2017 at 12:37
  • @DanielBingham Agree to disagree, since you have made the comment before the Sequels came out. ;)
    – Sandun
    Apr 15, 2021 at 7:13

6 Answers 6

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According to Wookieepedia, Anakin didn't have a father. While "virgin births" can and do happen in real life among many non-mammalian life-forms, all of them are daughters and are effectively clones of the mother (or twin sisters if you prefer).

Skywalker's mother, Shmi Skywalker, claimed that her son was conceived without a father, but could not explain how that had happened. It was the theory of Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn that the will of the Force caused his birth. There is evidence to suggest that Skywalker's birth may have been engineered by the Sith Lord Darth Plagueis as part of an experiment in immortality.

And pursuant to rule 34:

If you are old enough, check out the March 1985 issue of Penthouse . Males under about 30 cannot tell them apart, while females of all ages surveyed can distinguish mother from daughter.

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    This is disappointing. When I was sill following thing around Star-Wars, there was a rumour that Palpatine was is father, without revealing any spoiler, lets say that would made thing more twisted.
    – DavRob60
    Feb 5, 2011 at 15:31
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    Not the only virgin birth for this actress: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary,_Mother_of_Jesus_%28film%29
    – mplungjan
    Jan 13, 2012 at 22:42
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    Technically Shmi never claimed that Anakin was conceived without a father she simply states that "there is no father" she then continues with "I carried him, I gave birth to him, I raised him, all on my own" now given Shmi's status as a slave it is quit likely that she was raped and that is how Anakin was conceived this explanation fits all the criteria of Shmi's actual statement Qui-Gon is the one who assumes that it was a virgin birth. Mar 12, 2016 at 7:09
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    What’s the relevance of the bit about Penthouse? There aren’t any parthenogenic births among human beings, right? So it can’t be an issue featuring mother-daughter clones.
    – Adamant
    Aug 24, 2017 at 17:27
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There is a recently published book, Star Wars: Darth Plagueis, that supposedly answer this question. From Anakin Skywalker Wookieepedia article

In addition, although Darth Plagueis did attempt to influence the midichlorians to create the ultimate Sith weapon alongside Darth Sidious, the experiment was ultimately a failure, and the midichlorians, sensing the Sith's inherent malevolent intention, not only refused to do so, but in retaliation, conceived Anakin Skywalker in order to destroy the Sith once and for all.

So, according to this, neither Darth Plagueis nor Darth Sidious are Anakin Skywalker's father, the midichlorians really conceived him without any outside direct intervention.

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    An article over at secrethistoryofstarwars (take this link with a pinch of salt I have no idea how "canon" it is), stating early writings of the ROTS script actually had Darth Plagueis "manipulating midichlorians " to create life, thus creating Anakin.
    – Jared
    Oct 3, 2012 at 0:43
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    Palpatine turns to Annakin and says "Anny, I am your father" thus the circle is complete. May 17, 2013 at 20:45
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Shmi specifically states there is no father. By later conversations among the Jedi, it is generally to be concluded that the midichlorians created Anakin in Shmi to bring balance back to the force.

She never claimed to be a virgin when he was conceived, so it is not necessary to assume it was a virgin birth, just that there was never a biological father.

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    I'd contend that a birth without a father is in all practicality the same thing as a virgin birth. The quality of the birth that is noteworthy is the lack of father, not the amount of sex the parent has had.
    – aslum
    May 29, 2011 at 22:11
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There was a line in The Phantom Menace that was cut out of the original script in the scene where Qui-Gon Jinn and Shmi Skywalker are talking about Anakin's father that I personally found interesting:

SHMI: There was no father, that I know of... I carried him, I gave birth....I can't explain what happened.

This tells us that when Anakin was born, Shmi wasn't in a current relationship. By this statement, it could seem possible that Anakin could have had an actual father (but the line was cut out of the film). However, the canon answer to this question is still The Force:

Skywalker was born in the year 41 BBY before moving to the Outer Rim planet Tatooine during the Age of the Republic. Although he had a mother, the slave Shmi Skywalker, the truth about his parentage was that Anakin had no father—leading Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn to suspect that Skywalker's conception was the work of the midi-chlorians.

Believed to have been conceived by the midi-chlorians, Anakin Skywalker was born to the slave Shmi Skywalker.

QUI-GON JINN: Had he been born in the Republic, we would have identified him early. The Force is unusually strong with him, that much is clear. Who is his father?

SHMI: There was no father. I carried him, I gave birth, I raised him, I can't explain what happened.

Star Wars did drop some hints that it could have been Palpatine/Sidious who manipulated the midi-chlorians to create Anakin. The comic book, Darth Vader No. 25 seems to directly imply that Sidious created Anakin in a sequence on Mustafar.

Three comic panels. They show a pregnant Shmi Skywalker, with a ghostly Sidious smirking behind her in the second panel. The text says, each word broken into its own text box, on the first panel: "there was no father" second panel: "unnatural" third panel: "the chosen one"

Recently, Lucasfilm Story Group Creative Executive Matt Martin and Darth Vader No.25's comic issue writer Charles Soule revealed on Twitter that they hadn't intended to imply Sidious as Anakin's father.

Matt Martin tweeted:

This is all in Anakin's head...I can tell you definitely, as someone who worked on the comic, that is 100% not the intended implication. It's part of my job to ensure the stories are aligned with the overall vision of Star Wars. If the intention was to make a direct connection between Palps and Anakin's birth, I would have had it removed.

Charles Soule supported Martin's statements, replying:

"I am, in fact, the writer. Matt and I worked closely on this series and this point in particular. I hate explaining stuff in my work in too much detail, but you need to understand the scenario happening here. The Dark Side is not a reliable narrator.

However, George Lucas originally intended for Sidious to be Anakin's father as the book, The Making of Star Wars Revenge of the Sith reveals the scene on page 42.

"On Coruscant, PALPATINE completes his seduction of ANAKIN, who at first refuses to go over to the dark side-- until the Chancellor makes a startling confession:

DARTH SIDIOUS: I have waited all these years for you to fulfill your destiny... I arranged for your conception. I used the power of the Force to will the midichlorians to start the cell divisions that created you.

ANAKIN: I don't believe you.

DARTH SIDIOUS: Ahhh, but you know it's true. When you clear your mind, you will sense the truth. You could almost think of me as your father.

ANAKIN: That's impossible!

DARTH SIDIOUS: Nevertheless, you must decide.

transcription above

This was cut from the final version of the film, most likely because it was too close to The Empire Strikes Back's parentage reveal between Vader and Luke. The only implication of the Sith manipulating Anakin's birth lies in the opera scene in the final film , where Palpatine remarks:

PALPATINE: Darth Plagueis was a Dark Lord of the Sith, so powerful and so wise he could use the Force to influence the midi-chlorians to create life ... He had such a knowledge of the dark side that he could even keep the ones he cared about from dying... He became so powerful . . . the only thing he was afraid of was losing his power, which eventually, of course, he did. Unfortunately, he taught his apprentice everything he knew, then his apprentice killed him in his sleep.

This line is only an implication, not a direct fact, that Sidious could have been the apprentice in question that killed Plagueis. But later in the film, Sidious admits he doesn't know the secret to cheat death, which could imply he wasn't Plagueis's apprentice or was lying about how much he was taught by his dark master.

SIDIOUS: To cheat death is a power only one has achieved, but if we work together, I know we can discover the secret.

Despite all this, however, it appears that the canon answer is still The Force.

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    "No, Anakin... I am your father!"
    – Lexible
    Nov 29, 2019 at 19:25
  • There is still the Mystery of the Miraculous Y Chromosome.
    – Spencer
    Oct 14, 2022 at 14:45
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When writing The Phantom Menace, an answer was actually never planned by George Lucas, as it is simply echoing the story of Jesus Christ.

But in the first draft of Revenge of the Sith, when Palpatine tries to lure Anakin to the Dark Side and the young Jedi finds out that Palpatine is actually a Sith Lord, Palpatine tells him that he was the one who orchestrated the death of his mom.

In that same script, there is no mention of Darth Plagueis, but Palpatine tells Anakin that he fathered him through midi-chlorians in his mom.

Voilà!

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    This is interesting information, but since it's from first Draft, it never made to the final script AND it was contradicted by later publication, this cannot be considered Canon. But still interesting information (+1).
    – DavRob60
    Mar 7, 2012 at 14:45
  • Contradicted by whom? George Lucas? Lucas Films? Expended Universe?
    – Arc-Vile
    Mar 8, 2012 at 2:43
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    Oh! So you rather "believe" something from the expended universe then what Lucas had originally though of... ok!
    – Arc-Vile
    Apr 23, 2012 at 13:56
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    @Arc-Vile See starwars.wikia.com/wiki/… . Your first draft falls under N-Canon, and not G-Canon because the draft was "cut from canon" by Lucas. The books are C-Canon.
    – gobernador
    Aug 13, 2012 at 15:52
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    I'm just gonna say "Citation needed" on this whole answer. Jan 5, 2020 at 23:43
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The canon "answer" is that the Force itself caused Anakin to be conceived w/o explanation as to the biophysics involved. IMO, this has been ASSUMED since Shmi simply declares in Episode I that Anakin had no father, that she'd become pregnant w/o benefit of intercourse (poor Shmi, for all that grief and work she deserved at least one night of fun). This echoes the 'miraculous' conception of Jesus Christ. Likewise, following the script of Episode I doesn't preclude a biological father for Anakin, but also gives no clues as to the identity of said father.

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