A Disclaimer:

Like any theory ever proposed towards the solving of any mystery, the theory that is ultimately chosen for the Anakin Skywalker mystery will be the theory that best explains away most, if not all of the discrepancies surrounding this enigma. The theory should also not contradict any future information that may or may not come to light in the coming years. If any such information happens to be released in the unseen future, the theory chosen should be discarded or at the very least, modified to ensure all reliable information is added to assemble a better theory. But regardless of which theory is chosen in this story, that theory is not meant to replace any official statement released by George Lucas or his team in regards to the origin of the name Anakin Skywalker.

The One Theory That Binds Them All

So the question still remains: Which theory best explains the origins of the name Anakin Skywalker with the least discrepancies?

Just by the Pros and Cons section of each theory mentioned in this story, one can quickly determine that the theories purposed towards answering the unwavering question of where the Star Wars creator, George Lucas may have gotten the name Anakin Skywalker is at the very least flawed. Every theory from the Ken Annakin theory to even the Ananke theory in one shape or form fails to provide one cohesive and consistent theory that not only explains the reason behind the conflicting information but also provide a theory that can be put to the test continuously with facts instead of hearsay.

That is why the theory that best explains the origin of the name Anakin Skywalker is neither the Annakin theory, the Anakim theory, or the Ananke theory, but an amalgamation of two of the theories perpetuated by Lucas and his habit of revising Star Wars.

A Revisionist: George Lucas

Photo by Heather Zabriskie on Unsplash

Over the span of 40+ years in the history of Star Wars, the Star Wars fandom has experienced many highs and lows when it comes to the unfolding story of the Skywalker saga. In recent years, with the acquisition of Lucasfilm from Disney, the Star Wars fandom has become split on the direction of the Star Wars franchise, especially after the release of the controversial Episode 9: The Last Jedi and 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker. Both movies, in their own right, conjured hundreds of articles and thousands of YouTube videos from fans defending or disgracing the two installments within the Skywalker saga.

But like many who have studied the history of Star Wars, this crescendo of strong emotions did not start with the films of the sequel or prequel trilogy for that matter, but in fact, it was with the Original Star Wars sequel, The Empire Strikes Back. Since it’s release and the release of the Return of the Jedi, the Star Wars fandom has shared a variety of opinions on what Star Wars should be. This variety of opinions continued with the release of the prequel trilogy which birthed its own fanatical critics that can still be heard to this day.

Regardless of the different opinions on the future of Star Wars, one thing fans of the original trilogy agree on when it comes to the Star Wars movies is the continuous revisions George Lucas enacted on the original trilogy and how the changes affected the movies in a negative way.

Let us now explore some of the revisions George Lucas enacted toward the Star Wars franchise and uncover his reasoning behind them.

#1. From Annikin Starkiller to Luke Skywalker

As mentioned earlier in the section, The Road to Star Wars, George Lucas’ rough draft, The Star Wars, went through many changes before becoming the final draft of what many would come to know as Star Wars. One of the well-known changes documented in Star Wars history was the name change of the character Annikin Starkiller to Luke Skywalker. But what some fans of Star Wars lore are unaware of is the reason behind why George Lucas chose to change the name in the first place.

In an article published on huffpost.com titled, The Hero Of ‘Star Wars’ Almost Wasn’t Named Luke Skywalker, writer Joe Satran details the reason behind George Lucas’ decision to change the name Annikin Starkiller to Luke Skywalker. Satran explains that George Lucas changed the name after realizing the last name, Starkiller could potentially invoke the idea of cult leader Charles Mason, the mastermind behind the murders of Hollywood actress Sharon Tate among seven others. In fact, in the 1997 book The Making of Star Wars: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film Lucas confirms the reason behind the change and later by actor Mark Hamil who tweeted about the fact in October of 2015.

Although this doesn’t change the 1977 release of Star Wars since the name Annikin Starkiller since any scenes with the name mentioned were cut, the reason behind the change shows just how Lucas is constantly reevaluating his art.

#2. From Han Solo Shooting First to Han Shooting after Greedo Shoots

In the original 1977 theatrical version of Star Wars, captain of the Millenium Falcon, Han Solo, is confronted by the Rodian bounty hunter, Greedo who attempts to collect a bounty on the smuggler on behalf Hans former employer, Jabba the Hutt. Cornered with a blaster pointed at him in the busy Tatooine cantina, Han decides to shoot the bounty hunter before the bounty hunter could get one shot off.

For years, this memorable scene was a fan-favorite among the fandom until the release of the 1997 Special Edition of Star Wars: A New Hope that featured digital edits added to the iconic movie by George Lucas. In the famous Tatooine cantina scene, instead of Han Solo shooting first, fans were shocked to see an alteration to the scene where Han only shoots after being shot at first by Greedo.

Many fans criticize the edit viewing it as an unnecessary change to a great scene. The push back against the change became so popular that many fans created a whole saying: ‘Han shot first’ to vocalize their disdain for the edit.

When asked years later about the controversy in an interview by the Hollywood Reporter, George Lucas stated:

“Well, it’s not a religious event. I hate to tell people that. It’s a movie, just a movie. The controversy over who shot first, Greedo or Han Solo, in Episode IV, what I did was try to clean up the confusion, but obviously it upset people because they wanted Solo [who seemed to be the one who shot first in the original] to be a cold-blooded killer, but he actually isn’t. It had been done in all close-ups and it was confusing about who did what to whom. I put a little wider shot in there that made it clear that Greedo is the one who shot first, but everyone wanted to think that Han shot first, because they wanted to think that he actually just gunned him down”.

To some, these two revisions may not be the biggest sins that Lucas committed upon the original trilogy, but like the countless other edits he has enacted on the original trilogy since their individual theatrical releases, the changes have accumulated into a piece of art that no longer resembles its original self.

Authorial Intent vs Individual Interpretation

Like every artist who has ever produced a work of art throughout history has had to deal with two realities that are created when the artist shares that art with another. Those two realities are the Artist’s intention and the message they may or may not be trying to convey and the individual’s interpretation of that piece of art. Both the Artist’s intention and the individual’s interpretation of the art coexist with one another until one or all three cease to exist.

Since it’s inception, George Lucas has always tried to control the audience's interpretation of Star Wars through editing and retconning anything that could be interpreted differently from his intentions. This fact can be best described by the two examples mentioned above among many others found throughout Star Wars history.

But this editing and retconning of original art are not unique to George Lucas and in fact, are common in practice with many artists of different genres of art. In a video titled, JK Rowling and Authorial Intent, Youtuber Sarah Z tackles this issue of JK Rowling’s recent changes of some of the characters in the Harry Potter universe and how those changes affect the individual’s interpretation of that character or work as a whole.

This authorial intent is what could be the problem behind the mystery of where George Lucas got the name Anakin Skywalker.

Theory #4: The Revision Theory

Before we get down to where exactly George Lucas got the name Anakin, we should first examine where the filmmaker got the last name Skywalker.

The name Skywalker first showed up in the 1974 draft of The Star Wars with a character who didn’t bear the name as a last name but as a title. The title, Skywalker, was a title given only to high ranking Jedis like the old General mentioned in the draft who was ironically named, Luke Skywalker. The name was changed from a title to a name after George Lucas decided to replace the name Starkiller with Skywalker during the filming of Star Wars. When searching for the etymology behind the name Skywalker, one will find that the word sky is of German origin and means “cloud” whereas, with the word walker, the word means “a fuller of cloth” or in other words, someone who preserves cloths.

The fact that both the words sky and walker are of German origin is not surprising since the name Anakin is of German as well. George Lucas being half German himself seemed to have found inspiration in German culture and history. From the iconic and familiar aesthetic of the imperial officers to the iconic names of Anakin Skywalker, Star Wars is filled with German influences from top to bottom.

A Timeline of Inspirations Behind the Name Anakin

In this section, we will attempt to create a Timeline of where and when George Lucas got the name by going back over the pros and cons of each theory and the various contradictions found among the three theories.

1974-1977

As mentioned above in the pros and cons section of the Ken Annakin Theory, Ken Annakin’s take on George Lucas getting the name from Alec Guinness after Guinness “who was working at Pinewood Studios on the first Star Wars and every day, would pass by [his] office door, which had [his] name on it” is not possible. This explanation of where Lucas got the name is a contradiction to the fact that the name Anakin(spelled Annakin) showed up in The Star Wars rough draft three years before filming began in 1977. If George did pull inspiration from Ken Annikin’s last name, its possible that he removed an ‘n' and replaced the ‘i’ with an ‘a’ after researching the etymology of the name. It’s also possible that George Lucas decided to use the name after years of admiration of the late director and slightly changed the spelling of the name to differentiate the name Anakin.

But since George Lucas has denied the claim that the name Anakin originated from Ken Annakin, the Ken Annakin theory has to, for the time being, be discarded.

1973-1975

It would not be a stretch for anyone to see the similarities between Anakin Skywalker and Jesus Christ. Both are born through immaculate conception, come from humble backgrounds, and are tempted by evil.

It would also not be a stretch for anyone to think that George Lucas got the name from the name Anakim, which was a race of giant who descended from the fallen angels who were kicked out of the heavens after betraying God.

Unlike the name Annakin, the name Anakim is spelled far more similar and the theory has not been denied by Lucas or his team.

Like the names Luke and Kane from The Star Wars rough draft of 1974, George Lucas most likely got the name from the Bible and changed the root word ‘kim' to ‘kin' which means ‘race’ or to ‘give birth to’ denoting the idea that Anakin would be the progenitor of a family of strong force users.

1983-1999

The last theory, the Ananke theory is most likely not a theory that explains the origin of the name, but a theory that explains the origin behind the chosen one prophecy.

In the original trilogy, there was no mention of the chosen one prophecy. In fact, the prophecy wasn’t even mentioned until Star Wars:Episode I: The Phantom Menace. Before then, Anakin was only known as a fallen Jedi who betrayed the order and helped to create a Galactic Empire.

George Lucas could have gotten the name from his research through Greek Mythology after initially coming in contact with the name Anakim.

The End

So to recap on the Revision theory: