There is little debate about who is the main character of the Star Wars movies. After the release of the Prequels it was clear to see that this story wasn't about Luke, but about his father who we had previously only known through his alias of Darth Vader. It is clear that Anakin is the main focus of the Saga. His journey down the path of darkness and eventual redemption is the main theme at the heart of the movies. But I have decided to ask another question entirely- who is the hero of the Star Wars Saga?

Is it Anakin or his son Luke?

Anakin was just a boy when we met him on Tatooine. We see in Anakin a side we never quite see in Luke. Unlike Luke, Anakin hates change. Anakin could barely bring himself to leave Tatooine and his mother behind even to fulfill his dreams and become a Jedi. Luke faces a similar situation. Except Luke is eager to leave what he calls the "####hest place from the bright center of the universe". When Obi-Wan asks him to come with him to Alderran to learn to ways of the Force it is Luke's feeling of responsibility to his parents that ties him down, not his fear of change.
Also both Luke and Anakin have a thing for adventure. Anakin wants to see all the planets of the galaxy and Luke wants to leave his home, join the academy and venture out into the unknown galaxy before him.
Anakin and Luke also both have fears inside them that could potentially lead them to the Dark Side. But it is a very different fear we see in Luke than the fear we see in Anakin. Anakin fears change and loss of what he loves, but Luke on the other hand fears his own failure. He doubts himself that is Luke's problem. He struggles at first to believe in the power of the Force. He struggles, when he fights with the black shield down in the Falcon, but later in ANH we see him overcome his fear when he switches off his targeting computer before blowing up the Death Star. He begins to trust in the force and act on instinct.
While Anakin never defeats his fear of loss and change, Luke does. Luke learns to control his fear, something Anakin will never quite master. Anakin's fear of change becomes his tragic flaw, his inability to let things go will become his undoing.
It is in ROTJ Luke really begins to show up as the true hero of the Saga. Luke shows his true heroic properties when he hands himself over to Darth Vader in ROTJ. He willingly submits to his destiny and his enemy, something Anakin would never have done. He handed himself over to his father hoping to somehow be able to save him from the Dark Side. Luke believed in Anakin long after Anakin had given up on himself.
On the Death Star, Palpatine tempts Luke in the same way he tempted Anakin years earlier. Palpatine tricks and plays him right to the pivotal point of his anger. Palpatine urges him to release his anger as his father had done against Count Dooku years ago. Luke struggles to resist, still believing that he can save his father as well as save himself.

"Take your weapon. I am unarmed. Strike me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the Dark Side will be complete!"

This temptation of Palpatine is probably one of the most stunning lines in the saga. The idea that Palpatine was ready to sacrifice himself to turn Luke to the Dark Side, the idea that if Luke had killed the him he still would have won in the end.
Finally it becomes to much for Luke to handle. At the mention of Leia being turning to the Dark Side, he loses control of his anger and hate and swings wildly at his father desperate to defeat him. He does and he stands over him as the victor with Vader lying on the ground defeated. The scene is a perfect parallel to when Anakin defeated Dooku in ROTS.

"Your hate has made you powerful. Now fulfill your destiny and take your father's place at my side!"

The same situation sits before Luke- Should he murder Vader and submit to the lust of the Dark Side or should he chose the way of the Jedi? Anakin chose the path of vengeance and chose to kill Dooku but Luke will chose the other path.

"No, I'll never turn to the Dark side. You have failed your highness. I am a Jedi like my father before me."

"So be it, Jedi."

You see unlike Anakin, Luke chooses the light. He almost slips to the Dark Side in defeating Vader but he sees through the Emperor's treachery. He refuses the Dark Side and proclaims that he is a Jedi just like his father was. He shows us all that it is our choices that define us and that the power of good will defeat evil even in the most hopeless situations.
Luke fought the true hero's battle aboard the Death Star that day. He rebuked the demons of the Dark Side and chose the true light, as his father should have done years ago.
But Anakin has his moment to shine as well. As he watches his hated master Darth Sidious torture his son Luke to death with a rage of lightning, he realizes that Luke was right there all along is still hope for him. So in a swift motion he raises his dreaded master in the air and hurls him to his death down an endless shaft. In this single moment a forgotten prophesy thousands of years in the making is fulfilled. Anakin Skywalker has been redeemed and has fulfilled the prophecy, the Sith have been destroyed.
But without his son, Luke, it would never have been possible. No one else, not even Yoda believed in Anakin anymore...only Luke believed that there was still good in him. It was because of Luke's faith in his father that Anakin was saved. Because of Luke's undying faith in the light side of the Force he was able to resist the temptation of the Dark Side and redeem his father and a dying galaxy as well.

"....you were right about me, you were right...."

While Anakin fell to the temptations of the Dark Side, Luke stood strong in his faith in good over evil. Luke showed that he believed firmly in a Force stronger than the Dark Side, Luke truly believed in what a Jedi fought for and what the Star Wars movies are all about. That is why Luke is the true hero of the Star Wars Saga.




"A thought...anyone?"