Lit Did Anakin ever have a romantic interest besides Padme?

Just something I started wondering about the other day when rewatching The Clone Wars scenes on YouTube. In the films, obviously Padme is his main obsessi...er, romantic interest, but in EU material, I don't think I've ever seen evidence of Anakin having feelings for another female, or another girl being interested in him, aside from Queen Miraj from TCW, and it could be debated if she was actually ever interested, or just wanted to own him as a trophy. Anakin certainly never loved her.

I recall Padme having two different suitors on TCW, though.

I get that Lucas sort of tied the writer's hands regarding Anakin's romantic entaglements, due to characterizing it so that no other woman basically exists for Anakin besides Padme, and it made sense in the films where Anakin is kind of a socially awkward, emotionally stunted guy, but still, just wondering. In TCW, Anakin certainly seems characterized as more of a charming badass who'd probably be able to attract at least a couple of other women, even involuntarily.

I also think that it's kind of a missed opportunity to contrast Anakin's utterly dysfunctional entaglement with Padme with how Anakin would behave with a different woman, where he wasn't as obsessed and searching for a replacement mother figure.

 

Except he wouldn't act better around someone he isn't in love with and honestly, I doubt he considered it with his obsession growing every day since TPM's celebration, especially since most of the women he came into contact with are anti attachment.

 

I concur. It's actually rather immature for him or anyone else to hyper-focus on one individual without considering alternative options. I don't think that I've ever met anyone like that. It's actually a quite disturbing concept that borders on stalking. Anakin could be a control freak.

 

Control freak? Nahhhh, he'll be fine...



But in any case, I think Ani is basically a one woman guy. It's kinda how they wrote him.

 

Anakin always had his eyes and later on his heart set on Padme.

Plus in TPM he literally knew they were going to end up together.

 

Speaking on Anakin's immaturity, a lot of people like to rag on how immature and whiny Anakin came across in the prequels, but it actually serves as a decent contrast to his life in the OT. He actually has character progression. Consider his scene in ANH when he starts choking Admiral Motti, and the line leading up to that, he says "I find your lack of faith disturbing" and describing the Death Star as "insignificant next to the nature of the force". He has an almost preist-like reverence for the Force itself, in much the same sense a Jedi would.

In the PT, I don't recall him ever commenting much on the Force itself. It's been awhile since I've watched the movies, but I think he treated it much more like a means to an end. Especially when Palpetine promises a means to save Padme's life during that Opera scene. On screen, I don't think any other Sith Lord viewed the Force as anything but a tool, a means to an end. Ironically, as I said Anakin treated it the same way in the PT. It makes it all the more tragic that it took the death of his wife, and as he presumed, the death of his child/children, and turning to the darkside, for him to learn that lesson. In the OT as Vader, he's not as brash as he once was, and has a deeper appreciation for the powers he holds and knows where they came from.

 

It is true that Vader is mature, especially in comparison with his younger self. I never really thought of him having a spiritual or philosophical appreciation for the Force. But it makes sense, considering how Vader, according the old EU, at least, had utilized the dark side to survive his near-suicide in The Lost Command. http://static.comicvine.com/uploads/original/8/84761/3371184-2139133-new_picture__136_.jpg

I think Anakin was mainly focused on simplistic ideas during the Clone Wars and a sophomoric infatuation with Padme. Vader, by contrast, was a lonely, authoritative, sophisticated individual. He could show his old immaturity at times when he choked Imperial officers at times. However, I am inclined to believe that that did not happen that often. It happened more frequently during TESB because Vader was hyper-focused on finding Luke at all costs. Anakin viewed the Force as a blunt instrument to bolster himself. In contrast, the dark side was all Vader had until his inner conflict regarding Luke erupted within him. But that's interesting how you pointed how that Vader is more like a Jedi than he would have preferred to admit. As dangerous, emotional, and power-hungry as he could be, his ego was not as substantial as Palpatine's.

 

Considering that there is no information on this in the given films, and there may be some in TV shows or books or comics, I'm moving this to Lit.

 

I think only Jabitha comes close in Legends

 

There's an irony of course that Anakin may be in love with Padme because, as a Force User, he knows they'll be in love.

Mind-boggling.

 

I doubt it, he was obsessed with Padme. And yes, it was totally creepy and stalker-ish. I rewatched AotC recently after not having watched it for the better part of a decade. Their whole romance is pretty contrived and weird, but I felt like it was even weirder from Padme's perspective. I mean, okay, Anakin is pretty messed up. He was raised a slave, then taken from his mother at age nine, then basically declared some kind of religious icon and trained to wield an insane amount of power. He has some reasons for creepy behavior and a serious attachment disorder. But Padme? Sure, she also had an unusual upbringing having spent her teenage years as a planetary ruler, but that doesn't explain for me why, as a successful politician at the age of 24, she ends up falling for this creepy, narcissistic, immature 19 year-old. Early in the film when Anakin is trying to flirt with her she tells him to stop because it makes her uncomfortable. That made sense. But then he gets even more inappropriate and that woos her over?! That is some problematic fairytale nonsense. In reality she would have just been even more creeped out.

Not that this is the only instance in fiction where a guy has a problematic obsession with a girl until she eventually comes around after realizing he just loves her so much. Note to young men: this is not actually remotely romantic.

 

Plus, honestly, as creepy and awful as his romance with Padme was, I think I'd somehow find it worse if he was interested in other women. Like, the only excuse he has for his behaviour is that he's emotionally stunted and has eyes for no one else. And don't get me wrong, that's a TERRIBLE excuse. But at least it has some sort of messed up, unhealthy Romantic tragedy going for it, in a narrative sense. Poorly expressed on screen, but they were trying to get all Heathcliff and Cathy with this.

 

I don't think that Anakin would've had another woman it would've been too much even it would've been easier for the Jedi council to catch him.
I agree with the idea that he was one woman guy and that he only had eyes for padme and he set his heart on hers because in episode 3 you can see how much he cared about her how he loved her and how he was expecting happy their baby but when he turned Darth Vader when he lost padme and his baby I think it's a very painful feeling that turns an hate feeling and I think when he was Darth Vader he had other things to do and focus on, and I agree with your idea

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I agree with the notion that Anakin is a one-woman kind of man. He may be passionate and immature, but he's not a womanizer. He has a code of ethics he follows, or attempts to follow, even if his ethics aren't always right. In AOTC, I think it's more like showing Anakin trying to become what he thinks the Jedi should be, as opposed to what they actually are. It builds on/leads up to his line to Luke in TESB about bringing order to the galaxy. I know at the time, Vader wasn't called a Sith Lord on screen and the Sith themselves weren't fully developed as they are now. Though I think he was called that in one of the early scripts? Anyways,with the rest of the movies in place, I interpret him as wanting to form his own twisted version of the Jedi. Not a complete Order mind you, but more like living out a deranged fantasy. I don't see him as wanting to continue the Sith Order either, but he wants to do his own thing his ways. It's not merely a ruse to bring his son before the Emperor.

So, coming back around, this to me, cements Anakin as never wanting anyone besides Padme. I think his mother Shmi is a major influence on why he's not a womanizer. Shmi no doubt was a strong woman [in a spiritual sense], and the only parent that Anakin had. Then comes Padme, a female who is a queen from another planet. She is another strong female figure in his life, the same as his mother. That's why he's initially drawn to her when he was younger. Anakin was genuinely attracted to Padme, but the uncertainty of his place in the Order and the Republic at large, made him hang onto her more desperately than he would have otherwise. Hence, the stalkerish obsession he had with her. If I remember right, in AOTC he says he thought about her for years. I take this as possibly he was experiencing visions about her either in the present or Future, and it kept her on his mind. His problem was he wasn't able to separate these visions from his own feelings, which started him down the path to obsession with Padme, and ultimately his path to the darkside. I don't think until he actually met her again in AOTC, that his feelings towards her even became romantic.

When Padme tells Anakin she makes him uncomfortable, it could just be taken that she just doesn't want to admit to developing feelings for him. The more time she spends with him and he keeps flirting, Padme's going to have a harder time denying her own feelings and it will weaken her resolve. She knows he's a Jedi, and I'd assume she is aware of their principals and philosophy. She was trying to ward him off for his own sake, but she gave in after a time. I think she was well aware that Anakin was obsessed with her. Going off of what she says prior to death in ROTS, she could sense Anakin was a good man, just very misguided. Besides, she had her own duties as a senator from Naboo that she felt were a higher priority at the moment than her personal life.

 

Padme is a Tsundere.

Just less confrontational than most.

 

Not gonna lie Charlemagne, I had to look that word up to see what you meant, lol. I don't watch anime so that's probably why I never heard it before. Here's a link that goes into more detail for anybody else: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Tsundere

 

In short, it means, "Hot and cold."

Padme passed it onto Leia.

Confrontational when actually attracted to someone versus, you know, receptive. Gives lots and lots of receptives then suddenly spins around.

Then the reverse.

It's a type for some people. Padme is just more subdued about it than her daughter.

 

I'd just like to point out that "had more than one girlfriend/been attracted to more than one girl/attracted more than one girl throughout the course of your life" does not equal "womanizer".

The general idea was that said hypothetical secondary love interest would be someone that Anakin actually had (some) feelings for. Hence the notion of contrasting his dysfunctional attachment of Padme, and possibly further character development, where he partially starts to recognize this, and starts feeling even more conflicted.

That being said, it obviously wouldn't last nor significantly alter his life trajectory because Status Quo Is God.

True, but that really just goes back to how awfully Anakin's character was handled in the films altogether.

 

It's due to Lucas sucks at writing romance.

 

I think the problem is that due to Lucas's writing, we don't get it, why does Anakin love Padme so much? It didn't give a good love story so it made him weird.

I still prefer some Anakin+someone else affair, like Satine.

 

Yeah, I agree. I was half asleep when I wrote my post, not sure why I worded it like that now, lol.

Edit: I guess I misinterpreted the title and was thinking of him as pursuing multiple women at the same time as Padme.

 

I still don't think adding extra romances would have solved anything, though. The underlying concept is that Anakin is crazy in love with Padme. The entire set-up for his fall to the dark side is that he's pathologically afraid of losing her and will do terrible things to save her.

Like yes Lucas sucks at writing romance and it comes across horribly. But if you wanted to fix this storyline and write it well, I don't think what you do is make Anakin's relationships more romantically diverse. Or even more romantically healthy, really, you just write a romance where the audience understands that obsessive, but reciprocal, love.

The underlying problem is that while we do need to be able to see Anakin as a genuine hero and someone whose fall the the dark side is a tragedy (and while this is something I'd argue the prequels do not do) you also need to establish the characteristics he has that lead to his fall to the dark side.

Lucas chose to tie that to his pathological fear of losing people he loved, which is all tied up in his one-woman-only adoration of his wife. Now he did that badly, and it came across as way more creepy than romantic, but there are ways it could have been written which would have struck a better balance.

If you start writing Anakin as a guy who's successful with people romantically - who doesn't have a hard time connecting and forming bonds and who is able to deal more rationally with grief and like...general human interaction - you may boost our ability to see him as a hero earlier on, but it undermines the reasons he falls to the dark side. Now the story has to establish that in other ways.

Could you do it? Sure, but it's a way bigger fix.

I guess I feel about this a little like I'd feel about someone saying, "It'd be nice if Anakin didn't fall to the dark side and actually sided with Mace in that battle." Like, sure, maybe it would, and I certainly see ways that you can write it and have it be believable and entertaining. But you're fundamentally changing the nature of the character. Same with Anakin and Padme. It was supposed to be this epic romance where he saw her at nine and never loved anyone else.

Lucas wrote it horribly, someone else could have written it better, but that's tangential to the fact it's one of the support struts of Anakin's whole character. Remove it and you have bigger problems than you've fixed.

Having multiple love interests over the course of years absolutely doesn't make someone a womaniser. But on a narrative level, if his reason for murdering kids and becoming a monster is this single-minded terror of losing his love, then I think watching him play the field absolutely does undermine that. Like, on a structural level that has little to do with dialogue and writing skills.

 

I actually have a simple answer:

Padme is in love with Anakin because she's a fixer, she's lonely, and he's desperately utterly in love with her. I think Padme had one "boyfriend" when she was fourteen and that's it for her life. Plenty of celebrities who were child stars or athletes have similar appallingly jumped-into relationships.

Anakin in Legends is said to form "crushes" very easily but in my mind, Anakin is just simply overthetop ridiculously devoted to those bonds he DOES form.

Once his loyalty is given, it is ludicrously immensely overthetoply given. Which is why the Palpatine thing tore him apart as it seemed the Jedi were forcing the issue and had never returned his loyalty/devotion.

 

I don't think I explained my point that well, but I don't think Anakin should have another "romantic interest", so to speak, just for the heck of it. My point is that having another sudden possibility in the picture, where Anakin actually starts having doubts and reflecting on his own deep-seated insecurities, would be a great way to actually explore his character in-depth. As you said, Anakin's "romance" with Padme is the center-piece of his inner conflict (which I think is wrong, but I'll get to that in a second), yet we never actually get a good look at it and how it influences him, through his own eyes, through his own thoughts and his true feelings regarding it. It's a missed opportunity for an interesting plot development, IMO.

And finally, I don't think Anakin's obsession with Padme being the cause of his turn to the dark side was a good idea. If I'm honest, out of the many bad ideas in the prequels, this was surely Lucas' worst. You'll simply never get me to buy that Anakin, a former slave and hater of abuse in all its forms (as made even more clear in Legends), was willing to murder many of his friends, his mentors, his students, his allies, people who looked up to him as a hero and role model, and subject numerous others to the cruel rule of a Sith Lord, just for one goddamn woman's life. This simply cannot be written well, it's an intrinsically broken concept. Villains do not see themselves as villains, they see themselves as heroes in their own right - that's the basis of any good villain, especially one like we've been led Darth Vader is - Anakin in the prequels does not even have that, he is willing to go evil just to save Padme.

The best idea for Anakin's path to the dark side was already there in Episode I - he's a freakin' slave. He wants to save everyone. He's brash and cocky. He starts experimenting with the dark side. It corrupts him. He starts believing that pure, unforgiving order is the only path to peace.

There. There's your motivation, ready made. The romance-as-the-center-of-Anakin's-fall idea is simply unworkable no matter what, IMO, and makes Anakin into an inhumanely alien, almost robotic character. Not exactly what you'd want.

 

The Anakin/Padme AotC romance should have just been about Anakin getting out of the "she sees me as a little brother"-zone after ten years of very close friendship. Instead of having her as a distant figure he pedestalled when he was ten and casting him as an obsessive mouth-breather (foreshadowing?), have her share the "figure outside the Jedi Order who takes an interest in Anakin's development" role with Palpatine.

Boom. A lot of the problematic stuff falls away. At least I think so.

And you get to have this great like-poetry-it-rhymes exchange;

"Anakin, you're like my brother"

"But I'm NOT your brother"