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Saga Is Anakin Skywalker a Demi-God?

Discussion in 'Star Wars Saga In-Depth' started by DarthPhilosopher, Aug 31, 2011.

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  1. Lt.Cmdr.Thrawn

    Lt.Cmdr.Thrawn Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Sep 23, 1999
    I agree with many of the points you're making but the definitions of "demigod" and "god" are defined more by the particular mythologies they inhabit than anything else. Jesus is called the son of god, but still somehow one with god. Hercules is the son of Zeus and a human woman, and is called a demigod. Etc.
     
  2. DarthPhilosopher

    DarthPhilosopher Chosen One star 6

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    Jan 23, 2011
    This is wholly dependent on the philosophy by which Anakin exists. By being man is the divine of Anakin compromised? I would say so as evidenced by his humanity and rise and fall during the Saga. Anakin is not fully 'the Force' - it is seemingly implied that he is partly man and, likewise, partly the Force.

    I think it is apparent that Anakin isn't 'the Force'. He is corruptible like man. As such he is both divine and mortal. I would say this makes him a demi-God (this is interesting because it likewise means Anakin is an amalgamation of many incarnations of 'Gods among men' - Greek DemiGods, Jesus, etc).

    The answer is accepting death, ones mistakes and the reality of life and mortality - finding peace with nature and life. Anakin does this by accepting his guilt and sacrificing himself in destroying the Emperor so that the galaxy may live in peace without the Sith and the Shroud of the Dark Side. Anakin restores harmony.

    Death isn't necessarily the solution but rather a natural part of life. The destruction of the Sith is the solution - death is only made necessarily because Sidious isn't going to be redeemed. He is ruling the galaxy with an iron fist and causing imbalance in the Force. He must be destroyed.
     
  3. Amdrag

    Amdrag Jedi Grand Master star 4

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    Aug 26, 2008
    True. My understanding of what equals a "demigod" is one who is part God and part something else. Odin is a God. Hercules is a demigod.

    Anakin isn't part "Force". He is as much "Force" as anything else in the galaxy. He can just communicate with it better.
     
  4. Amdrag

    Amdrag Jedi Grand Master star 4

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    Aug 26, 2008
    Destruction. I meant destruction and wrote death. My bad. When is destruction the answer in Star Wars?

     
  5. DarthPhilosopher

    DarthPhilosopher Chosen One star 6

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    Jan 23, 2011
    Because destruction is a natural part of life. From destruction arises creation. Destroying the Sith is essential to restore balance and so creation can occur.
     
  6. Amdrag

    Amdrag Jedi Grand Master star 4

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    Aug 26, 2008
    And this is where I disagree. If OT didn't make it clear, The prequels did. Aggression, anger, destruction. Those are not the answers. The return of the Jedi is the failure of the Emperor, of the darkside. Luke's ascension is the victory. It is the defeat of darkside.
     
  7. CT-867-5309

    CT-867-5309 Chosen One star 7

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    Jan 5, 2011

    It's pretty much irrelevant in AOTC and ROTS as well, its existence is hardly acknowledged and the movies would be no different if it didn't exist at all.

    The only movie in which the Chosen One has any real relevance is TPM, where Qui-Gon believes he meets Anakin by the will of the Force and insists upon Anakin's training solely because he believes Anakin is the Chosen One.

    After that, the whole Chosen One thing is non-existent except for a few thrown in lines.

    And when I say irrelevant and non-existent I don't just mean dialogue, I mean plot, events and action as well.
     
  8. DarthPhilosopher

    DarthPhilosopher Chosen One star 6

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    Jan 23, 2011
    How can it be? The Force is still in imbalance when the Jedi 'return'. The return of the Jedi may have been the final catalyst, however destruction of the Sith still need occur. 'Destruction', which is interchangeable with death, is not specifically mentioned by Yoda. Rather, to the contrary, it is mentioned as a 'natural part of life'. Yoda is talking about 'anger, fear [and] aggression' and what these lead too, not destruction specifically. Without destruction (meaning extinction events and natural death, etc) life would cease to function.

    Destruction through fear, anger and aggression is bad.

    However if you destroy evil through an act of selflessness, love and compassion it is inherently good. What do you think Yoda was going to do in ROTS when he went to the Chancellors Office? The destruction of the Sith is necessarily.

    That depends wholly if you accept it as a subliminal plot point. It is established in TPM, talked about in AOTC and ROTS (its mentioned a couple of times in ROTS), and is eventually fulfilled in ROTJ. It is only irrelevant if you choose it to be so.
     
  9. DarthPhilosopher

    DarthPhilosopher Chosen One star 6

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    Jan 23, 2011
    We don't know this for fact however. What we do know, or is implied, is that Anakin was created from the Force - in other words the Force is Anakin's Father from a certain point of view. The thing is however that the Force is not like a typical God but is rather a metaphysical energy field.

    However if he was created from the Force would that not also make him partly 'pure Force' and partly human? Wouldn't part of his genetic make-up be, literally, the Force?
     
  10. Game3525

    Game3525 Jedi Grand Master star 4

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    Jun 25, 2008
    Anakin is actually a lot like Achilles who is seen as a demigod. Both are consider tragic heroes, yet their stories aren't traditional tragedies.

    And Obi-Wan is Star Wars version of Odysseus.
     
  11. DarthPhilosopher

    DarthPhilosopher Chosen One star 6

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    Jan 23, 2011
    Certainly. However Anakin's tragedy was much more traditional in my opinion.

    In this way you have the demiGod tragic hero, meaning Anakin, and the hero of man, meaning Obi-Wan.

    The real question is however, while Obi-Wan way align very much so with Odysseus, to what extent is Anakin truly a demiGod? A demiGod, by definition, is he (or she) who is born of both God and Human. Anakin was certainly both of both the divine (meaning the pure Force) and the human (meaning Shimi Skywalker). Does this classify Anakin however as a demiGod?
     
  12. Bens_Dad

    Bens_Dad Jedi Youngling star 2

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    Sep 26, 2010
    Hmm, if it's brought by peace, then how would Lando bring balance by destroying the Death Star?
     
  13. Bens_Dad

    Bens_Dad Jedi Youngling star 2

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    Sep 26, 2010
    You sure about that? lol

    He brings balance to The Force by siring a son, the very person for whom his love will bring him back from the dark side and redeem him. If he didn't fall in love with Padme (AOTC) this wouldn't happen; if she didn't become pregnant (ROTS) then said son would not be born. So, what was that about dialogue, plot, events and action again?
     
  14. Drewdude91

    Drewdude91 Jedi Knight star 3

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    May 21, 2011
    I don't think any of you have brought up this point, and if you had then I'm sorry I missed it. The fact that he is the Chosen One may be the overaraching theme of his story. However, as you all have pointed out, it didn't seem to make much of a difference. What I haven't seen anybody mention is the fact that he had NO FATHER. If he had one, the character would have been completely changed. He would not have felt fear for his mother because his father would be there to protect her and his problem with attachments probably would not have been as severe (although since he was taken in at an older than normal age, the attachment would still be there). He would have literally had a father figure. His lack of a father I think makes more of a difference in his story than the prophecy itself.
     
  15. Lt.Cmdr.Thrawn

    Lt.Cmdr.Thrawn Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Sep 23, 1999
    Ben's Dad: All of that was known/happened in the pre-prequel versions of the movies too, before the Chosen One plot point existed. The storyline of Anakin becoming a Jedi, falling to the dark side, and recovering could exist perfectly well without it.

    The additions of the Chosen One and "Balance to the Force" plot points can change the way events in the chronologically later films are seen, but that's not the same thing.

    Put it this way: in the OT we learned many things about Anakin, and saw him do things too. Given what we saw, we knew there was a journey that took him to that place, that twisted his plot into the path we were seeing. There is nothing like this, plot-wise, for the Chosen One concept. Not even in Episodes II and III, I don't think. It's mentioned in dialogue, but nothing in the actual plot or even character motivations really relates to/requires it.


    DrewDude: True, though from an alternate plot POV, his father might have died before they reached Tatooine, or perhaps have been killed by a slavemaster. He might even have abandoned them. There are many ways to keep the focus on 'loss of the mother' without jumping directly to 'he was created via parthenogenesis.' ;)
     
  16. DarthBoba

    DarthBoba Manager Emeritus star 9 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Jun 29, 2000
    Yeah, Anakin is far, far closer to Greek demigods/heroes than he is to anything from Christianity; calling him 'Space Jesus' is just inherently silly because beyond the virgin birth, Anakin and Christ have virtually nothing in common. Anakin and Hercules or Achilles are much similar.
     
  17. anakinfansince1983

    anakinfansince1983 Skywalker Saga/LFL/YJCC Manager star 10 Staff Member Manager

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    Mar 4, 2011
    I don't think the fact that he was the "Chosen One" made that much difference either. The point of his story--that a man with a lot of great potential and good intentions made some really horrific choices and in the end, due to unconditional love, realized the error of his ways--has almost no relationship to the "Chosen One" prophecy.

    The fact that he had no father was convenient in some ways, because the last thing we needed, on top of Anakin's other issues, was his searching for a deadbeat dad. But beyond that I wish the midichlorian-conception plot point had never happened, and that Anakin had simply been the very gifted and very temperamental Jedi that he already was.

    As far as him being a demi-god, maybe in the Greek tradition. But I've always seen him as completely human, human to a fault in fact.
     
  18. CT-867-5309

    CT-867-5309 Chosen One star 7

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    Jan 5, 2011
    There's nothing extraordinary about any of this, I'm pretty sure people fall in love, have kids, love them and sacrifice for them all the time.

    None of this requires the "Prophecy of the Chosen One" to happen. Not only is it not required, there's not even a hint of proof fate was behind it. We don't know much about the prophecy, we have little to no details. We don't know who wrote it, what it says or what it's supposed to mean. It's said that the Chosen One will bring balance, but we don't even know what that means. We don't know what balance or imbalance is and we're not provided any info in the movies.

    So yeah, I'm pretty sure about that. Why am I sure about that? Because three of the movies were made before the Chosen One bs even existed.
     
  19. Arawn_Fenn

    Arawn_Fenn Chosen One star 7

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    Jul 2, 2004
    "Finding him was the will of the Force. I have no doubt of that."

    That's all the "proof" you're likely to get.
     
  20. anakinfansince1983

    anakinfansince1983 Skywalker Saga/LFL/YJCC Manager star 10 Staff Member Manager

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    Mar 4, 2011
    They attempted "proof" with the Mortis Trilogy but it sucked.
     
  21. DRush76

    DRush76 Jedi Master star 4

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    Jan 25, 2008

    Are you kidding? Of course not.
     
  22. Game3525

    Game3525 Jedi Grand Master star 4

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    Jun 25, 2008
    Why not.

    The Force is basically God in Star Wars and Anakin is pretty much a modern version of Achilles who happens to a be demigod.
     
  23. DarthPhilosopher

    DarthPhilosopher Chosen One star 6

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    Jan 23, 2011
    Exactly. Anakin is constructed as the greatest warrior - thus he is primarily Achillies - with the destiny to save the 'world' - thus he has the destiny of the messiah - who is born of the divine. A demiGod is a human of the moral world who is half divine and half human. Although the Force is not God is the sense of the Greek Gods of Olympus or the Judeo-Christian God, it never-the-less serves the same purpose as a divine entity. The fact remains that the 'father' of Anakin was quite literally the Force itself. This means that at least in some respect Anakin can be classified as a demiGod.

    This would give the 'Son of Suns' title a new meaning, because it would literally mean Anakin is the son of the universe - which of course he is.

    DRush76, you don't have to be so condescending about your disagreement. You seem to disregard my opinions quite often without any logical reasoning.
     
  24. DRush76

    DRush76 Jedi Master star 4

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    Jan 25, 2008
    The fact remains that the 'father' of Anakin was quite literally the Force itself. This means that at least in some respect Anakin can be classified as a demiGod.


    I could have sworn that all living beings - human or otherwise - are the creations of God. In the STAR WARS universe, all living beings would be the creations of the Force. Isn't that the point that Lucas was trying to make in TPM? If that's the case, I don't see how Anakin should be classified as a demigod.
     
  25. Game3525

    Game3525 Jedi Grand Master star 4

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    Jun 25, 2008
    Most humans are not literally created by God/The Force, Skywalker was.
     
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