The pivotal arc in the Star Wars universe, the Skywalker Saga (a nine-film epic that began with 1977’s A New Hope) is so named for the powerful Force-wielding family at the heart of the story. Though the Saga ended in 2019, coming to a close with Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker, the story that unfolded across three trilogies left a legacy that cannot be understated. It was a chronicle of love and loss, corruption and goodness, and undoing and redemption, an inventive space opera rooted in incredibly human themes.
With that being said, the story is also told in a nonlinear fashion that can make things a little confusing for those less diehard fans. While our timeline explainer might help with clearing up some of the chronology, there’s an additional thorn: the overlapping family ties and relationships that are of tremendous importance to the Saga’s plot. If you find yourself in need of a guide to who’s who in the Skywalker clan, look no further. We’ve gathered this handy Skywalker family tree that explains ties familial, friendly, and of the Force.
Warning: The following article contains major spoilers for the Star Wars franchise. Please note that this guide is based on the current canon as defined by Lucasfilm.
Anakin Skywalker
Prophesied "Chosen One," formerly enslaved as a child on Tatooine, where he was freed by Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn; later went on to train as a Jedi and serve in the Clone Wars before being corrupted by the power of the Dark Side and taking on the identity of Sith Lord Darth Vader.
Anakin’s mother is Shmi Skywalker Lars, also a slave on Tatooine. Shmi dies at the hands of a clan of Tusken Raiders, her murder pushing Anakin further toward the Dark Side.
Shmi marries Cliegg Lars, a moisture farmer who freed her from slavery, years after Anakin’s departure from Tatooine. Cliegg has one son from a previous marriage, Owen; so, Anakin’s stepbrother is Owen Lars.
Anakin has no father. It is theorized that he was sired by the Force itself through midi-chlorians, microscopic life-forms overabundant in Force-sensitive individuals, but even Shmi herself is unable to explain her son’s conception.
In his youth, Anakin built C-3PO, a protocol droid fluent in more than six million forms of communication.
Though not of blood relation, as an apprentice, Anakin’s Master is Obi-Wan Kenobi; Qui-Gon, who was initially set to train young Skywalker, dies in a lightsaber duel with Darth Maul at the end of Episode I: The Phantom Menace.
In his time as a Jedi Knight, Anakin’s Padawan is Ahsoka Tano, whom he affectionately calls "Snips."
After turning to the Dark Side and becoming Darth Vader, Anakin is apprenticed to Darth Sidious (also known as Emperor Sheev Palpatine).
Anakin is married to Padmé Amidala Naberrie, the former Queen of Naboo, who later became an outspoken senator in the Galactic Senate; their wedding is kept secret as the Jedi Code forbids attachments.
Anakin and Padmé have two children together: they are named Luke and Leia.
Padmé Amidala Naberrie
At 14, elected Queen of Naboo ("Amidala" is the royal name she adopted upon her coronation); rejected the opportunity at a second term, opting to put her diplomatic skills to work in the Galactic senate. Padmé dies during childbirth, shortly after an altercation with her husband leaves her without the will to live.
Padmé’s parents are Jobal and Ruwee Naberrie, who also had another daughter, Sola.
Padme’s sister is Sola Naberrie, who had a daughter named Ryoo Naberrie; Ryoo is Padmé’s niece and cousin to Luke and Leia.
Padmé is also accompanied by loyal astromech droid R2-D2, a spirited repair droid on her starship. R2 later becomes a steadfast companion of her husband, Anakin.
As Queen, Padmé had a team of five handmaidens who went by the names Rabé, Eirtaé, Yané, Saché, and Sabé; Sabé, who closely resembled the Queen, served as her body double and decoy during the Battle of Naboo.
After confronting her husband on Mustafar during the events of Episode III: The Revenge of the Sith, Anakin cruelly Force-chokes Padmé. She never seems to recover, dying shortly after giving birth to their twins and naming them Luke and Leia. Hopeful to the end, her last words indicate that she believed there was "still good in" Anakin.
Luke Skywalker
After his birth, separated from his sister Leia and sent to live on Tatooine with the Lars family, spends his youth working on their moisture farm and seeking adventure; later, discovers he is strong with the Force and joins the cause of the Rebellion to defeat the evil Galactic Empire.
Luke’s adoptive father is Owen Lars, whom he calls Uncle Owen. Owen forbids Obi-Wan from being involved in Luke’s life, as he views Kenobi as being partially responsible for the death of his stepbrother, Anakin.
Luke’s adoptive mother is Beru Whitesun Lars, whom he calls Aunt Beru. An excellent cook, Beru is well-known for her blue milk cheese and her warm, welcoming personality.
Owen and Beru Lars are killed by stormtroopers who tracked down R2-D2 and C-3PO (earlier purchased by Owen from Jawas); their homestead is burned to the ground.
R2-D2 and C-3PO, the very same droids employed by his mother and father, become Luke’s loyal companions.
Obi-Wan Kenobi is the first Jedi Master to teach Luke the ways of the Force; later, in Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, Master Yoda trains Luke in the skills needed to be a Jedi.
Luke begins his own training academy, gathering a new generation of Force-sensitive apprentices to rebuild the Jedi Order; after sensing great darkness in his nephew and apprentice Ben Solo, Luke is moved to strike him down, an attempt with grave consequences.
Years after the fall of his training academy and his exile to Ahch-To, Luke begrudgingly agrees to train Jakku scavenger Rey.
In the canonical universe, Luke never marries. (In the Legends universe, Luke marries fellow Force-wielder Mara Jade and has one son, Ben Skywalker.)
Leia Organa
After her mother’s death, sent to be raised by Senator Bail Organa and his wife, Queen Breha Organa (née Antilles), on the planet Alderaan, where she is crowned princess at 16; thereafter, she serves in the Galactic Senate, joins the cause of the Rebellion in the Galactic Civil War, and later leads the Resistance against the First Order as a military general.
Like Luke, Leia is attuned to the Force. Though trained as a Jedi by her brother, she turns away from that path to instead pursue politics and motherhood.
Leia’s adoptive father is Bail Organa, a humanitarian and early agent of the Rebellion who served Alderaan, both as its Viceroy and as its representative senator in the Galactic Republic; Bail worked alongside Leia’s mother, Padmé.
Leia’s adoptive mother is Queen Breha Organa, born of the House of Antilles.
Bail and Breha Organa both die when Grand Moff Tarkin orders the Death Star to fire upon Alderaan in Episode IV: A New Hope; the entire planet is destroyed.
Leia first meets her twin brother Luke in Episode IV: A New Hope, when he and Han Solo set out to rescue her from imprisonment on the Death Star. (And if you're wondering why Luke and Leia kissed in Episode IV, it's because the twins do not know of their relation; it is not until Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back that Yoda tells Luke, "There is another," a revelation that, as the Force ghost of Obi-Wan confirms in Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, refers to his sister.)
Leia’s father Anakin, now the Sith Lord Darth Vader, is similarly unaware of their familial connection until he senses it during his final battle with Luke in Episode VI.
Leia was married to Han Solo; the pair fall in love over the course of the original trilogy but become estranged due to differing ambitions and the birth of their son, Ben.
Leia’s son is Ben Solo, a Force-sensitive young man torn between the Light and Dark sides; Solo later takes on the identity of the evil Kylo Ren. (In the Legends universe, Leia and Han are instead parents to twins Jaden and Jacen Solo and their youngest, Anakin Solo.)
Han Solo
A smuggler and scoundrel born on the planet Corellia who becomes an unlikely hero with the Rebel Alliance; famed for supposedly making the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs.
Han Solo’s father is an unnamed man who worked in the shipyards of Corellia; the family did not have the means to leave the planet. Han was never close with his father, who abandoned him when he was a child and died sometime after.
Canonically, there is nothing established about Han’s mother.
"Solo" is not actually Han’s surname, but the name given to him by an Imperial recruitment officer due to his lack of familial connections.
Growing up, Solo’s only real sense of family is with another rough-and-tumble street kid named Q’ira, who later becomes the public face of Crimson Dawn, the crime syndicate operated by Darth Maul.
Han was also a dear friend—and sometimes rival—to fellow smuggler Lando Calrissian; Han won his ship, the Millennium Falcon, from Lando in a game of sabacc.
Han’s most trusted friend and companion is a Wookie named Chewbacca (whom Han calls "Chewie"); they bond after Han helps free Chewie from his life as an Imperial execution device nicknamed "The Beast."
Han and Chewie were once employed by criminal ringleader Jabba the Hutt; when a spice smuggling job goes array, a bounty is placed on Solo. Eventually, he is frozen in carbonite and brought back to Jabba by bounty hunter Boba Fett.
Han was married to Leia, with whom he shares one son, Ben; though estranged, the couple clearly still share a deep love and connection as evidenced in Episode VII: The Force Awakens.
After Leia convinces Han that there might still be some good in their son and asks him to intervene, Han attempts to bring Ben home—but his son has already turned toward the Dark Side, and responds by driving his lightsaber through his father’s chest, killing him.
Ben Solo
Once a Jedi apprentice under the training of Luke Skywalker; turned to the Dark Side as Kylo Ren and rose to the rank of the First Order’s Supreme Leader before finding redemption in fighting against the rise of the evil Emperor Palpatine.
Ben’s mother is Leia Organa and his father is Han Solo; still shares a strong, loving connection with his parents while succumbing to the Dark Side. After killing his father, Ben is tortured by uncertainty and remorse.
Ben’s uncle is Luke Skywalker; Ben destroys Luke’s training academy after Luke, in a moment of weakness, raises his lightsaber to strike Ben down while he is sleeping.
Ben’s grandfather is Anakin Skywalker; his familial connection to Darth Vader is of great importance to Ben after he takes on the title of Kylo Ren, promising to finish what his grandfather started.
Kylo Ren’s Master is Supreme Leader Snoke; it is later revealed that Snoke is a bioengineered creature manipulated by the resurrected Emperor Palpatine/Darth Sidious.
Kylo Ren’s right-hand man in the First Order is General Armitage Hux; Hux was later found to be a traitor, feeding information to the Resistance, and promptly executed.
Ben’s Light Side match in the force is Rey, with whom he also shares a profound personal bond; they share a kiss at the end of Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker, shortly before Ben dies after exerting all of his energy to Force-heal a mortally injured Rey.
Rey Skywalker
A Force-sensitive scavenger who dreams of adventure in the stars and soon finds it working with the Resistance; constantly searching for a sense of family and the place where she belongs.
While not a Skywalker by blood, Rey claims the Skywalker name at the conclusion of Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker while burying Leia’s saber and the Skywalker saber, which had been passed from Anakin to Luke to Rey, in the sands of Tatooine. She likely refers to herself as "Rey Skywalker" both to honor her found family and to carve out an identity for herself on her own terms.
Rey is the biological child of unnamed junk traders who settled on Jakku before being killed on orders from Emperor Palpatine. Rey’s father is a genetic clone of Emperor Palpatine/Darth Sidious; Rey’s grandfather is Emperor Palpatine/Darth Sidious.
Rey is trained by both Jedi Master Luke Skywalker and Resistance General Leia Organa; she shares a close personal, almost daughterly connection with the latter.
Before his death on the Starkiller Base, Rey looks toward Han as a mentor and a sort of father figure.
Though the little rolling Resistance droid belongs to pilot Poe Dameron, Rey is often accompanied by astromech BB-8.
Rey’s closest friend is Finn, a defected stormtrooper she first meets while escaping Jakku.
Rey shares a bond in the force with Ben Solo; together, the pair form a Force dyad and seem to keenly understand each other's fears, doubts, insecurities, and desires.
