<P> Anakin first appears in the prequel trilogy in Star Wars: Episode I--The Phantom Menace, which takes place 32 years before the original Star Wars, as a young slave living on the planet Tatooine with his mother Shmi . Anakin was conceived without a father and he can foresee the future . Also a gifted pilot and mechanic, Anakin has built his own protocol droid, C - 3PO . Jedi Master Qui - Gon Jinn meets Anakin after making an emergency landing on Tatooine . Qui - Gon senses Anakin's strong connection to the Force and becomes convinced that the boy is the "Chosen One" of Jedi prophecy who will bring balance to the Force . After winning his freedom in a podrace, Anakin leaves for Coruscant to be trained as a Jedi, but is forced to leave Shmi behind . During the journey, Anakin forms a bond with Padmé Amidala, the young queen of Naboo . Qui - Gon asks the Jedi Council for permission to train Anakin, but they sense fear in the boy and refuse . Eventually, Anakin helps thwart the Trade Federation's invasion of Naboo by destroying their command ship . After Qui - Gon is killed in a lightsaber duel with Sith Lord Darth Maul, Obi - Wan promises to train Anakin, with the Council's reluctant approval . </P> <P> Anakin is Obi - Wan's Padawan apprentice in Star Wars: Episode II--Attack of the Clones, which takes place 10 years after The Phantom Menace . Having rescued Padmé, who is now a senator, from an assassination attempt, Anakin travels with her to Naboo, where they fall in love . Sensing that Shmi is in pain, Anakin travels to Tatooine to rescue her . While there, Anakin learns she was kidnapped by Tusken Raiders . Anakin locates Shmi at the Tusken campsite, where she dies in his arms . Anakin, enraged, massacres the Tuskens and returns to the Lars homestead to bury Shmi . Anakin travels with Padmé to Geonosis to rescue Obi - Wan from Sith Lord Count Dooku, Qui - Gon's old master and leader of the Separatists, a conspiracy of star systems bent on seceding from the Galactic Republic . Dooku captures them, however, and sentences them to death . However, a cadre of Jedi arrives with the Kaminoan clone army to halt their executions . Obi - Wan and Anakin confront Dooku during the ensuing battle, but the Sith Lord beats them both in a lightsaber duel and severs Anakin's arm . Yoda intervenes and rescues the Jedi . By the end of the film, Anakin is fitted with a robotic arm and marries Padmé in secret . </P> <P> In Star Wars: Episode III--Revenge of the Sith, set three years after Attack of the Clones, Anakin is now a Jedi Knight and a hero of the Clone Wars . He and Obi - Wan lead a mission to rescue Palpatine from Separatist commander General Grievous on board his starship . When the Jedi encounter Dooku, Anakin subdues the Sith Lord, and on Palpatine's urging, kills him in cold blood . They rescue Palpatine and return to Coruscant, where Anakin learns that Padmé is pregnant . Anakin has visions of Padmé dying in childbirth and becomes determined to prevent them from coming true . Palpatine tells Anakin that the dark side holds the power to cheat death, and eventually reveals that he is the Sith Lord Darth Sidious . Although Anakin informs Jedi Master Mace Windu of Palpatine's treachery, he follows Windu to make sure Palpatine is captured alive . When he realizes that Windu is going to kill Palpatine, Anakin intervenes on the Sith Lord's behalf, allowing Palpatine to kill Windu . Desperate to save Padmé, Anakin pledges himself to the dark side and becomes Palpatine's Sith apprentice, Darth Vader . On Palpatine's command, Vader leads a legion of clones to kill everyone at the Jedi Temple and massacres the remaining Separatist leaders hiding on the volcanic planet Mustafar . Padmé confronts Vader and implores him to abandon the dark side, but Vader refuses . When Obi - Wan disembarks from Padmé's ship, Vader accuses his wife of conspiring against him and uses the Force to choke her into unconsciousness in a fit of rage . After a long and ferocious lightsaber duel, Obi - Wan defeats Vader, severing his legs and arm and leaving him at the bank of a lava river where he is horribly burned . Palpatine finds Vader and takes him back to Coruscant, where his apprentice's mutilated body is treated and covered in the black armored suit first depicted in the original trilogy . When Vader asks about Padmé's whereabouts, Palpatine explains to him that he killed Padmé in his anger; Vader screams in agony, his spirit broken . By the end of the film, Vader supervises the construction of the first Death Star alongside Palpatine and Wilhuff Tarkin . </P> <P> In the 2008 film The Clone Wars, Yoda assigns Ahsoka Tano as Anakin's Padawan apprentice to teach him a greater sense of responsibility, and Anakin is initially frustrated by this decision . Their early interactions are "playfully contentious", with Anakin calling her "Snips" for her "snippy" attitude and Ahsoka calling him "Skyguy" as a pun on his surname . After earning Anakin's respect during a dangerous mission, Ahsoka joins him on a quest to rescue Jabba the Hutt's infant son . Her impetuousness both annoys and endears her to her master, and, by the end of the film, Anakin reveals a newfound affection for his apprentice . </P>

When does anakin turn to the dark side