Shmi Skywalker

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Shmi Skywalker (72 BBY - 22 BBY) is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe, the mother of Anakin Skywalker and paternal grandmother to Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa. Her first name is derived from "Lakshmi," a Hindu goddess. The character was played by Swedish actress Pernilla August.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

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Films

Her first appearance was in The Phantom Menace, where she and her son were slaves of junk merchant Watto on the desert world Tatooine. Shmi is portrayed as a loving and devoted mother who does not question the necessity of her son leaving after he won his freedom in a pod race. Shmi and her son (who was conceived entirely by midi-chlorians -- he had no father, similar to the Biblical story of the virgin birth of Jesus) would not see each other again for ten years. Her final appearance occurs ten years later in Attack of the Clones after her son, now a Jedi apprentice, senses through the Force that she was in pain. Anakin travels to Tatooine to find her, and upon arriving learns that she had been freed by and married to moisture farmer Cliegg Lars but had recently been abducted by the much maligned and animal-like Tusken Raiders. Young Skywalker uses his Jedi powers to find her inside one of their encampments just in time for her to die in his arms. Enraged, Anakin slaughters every single person in the camp, including all the women and children. Here, the audience gets a glimpse of Anakin Skywalker's slide into the dark side of the Force, for it is here that Anakin's phobia of loss begins, and he is set on the path to becoming Darth Vader.

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Expanded Universe

In the Expanded Universe book Tatooine Ghost, Shmi's granddaughter, Leia, is given Shmi's old journal, which describes Watto and Anakin's old childhood friends. Leia learns, through Shmi's love for Anakin, to forgive her father for his role in the destruction of Alderaan and for torturing her aboard the Death Star.

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