Star Wars: The Force Awakens Fan Theory – Rey Is Anakin Skywalker

She’s undeniably strong in the Force… but is there a secret that explains her power?

Being the main protagonist of a Star Wars movie usually means you’re pretty strong in the Force. In the case of Rey, that’s something of an understatement. She’s able to mind trick stormtroopers and Force pull lightsabers with the best of them in record time, which has led to some controversy surrounding her character.

… but what if there’s a reason she is able to pick up on the Force so quickly?  Many think it’s because she’s Luke’s daughter… but what if it’s something even crazier?

What if Rey is Anakin Skywalker?

*FORCE AWAKENS SPOILERS BELOW*

What the heck are you talking about?

There’s a fan theory making the rounds that claims it’s unlikely Rey is the daughter of Han Solo and Leia Organa, which makes perfect sense because their dialogue points to them only having a son (Ben Solo). In addition, the theory claims it’s unlikely that Rey is Luke’s daughter as his commitment to rebuilding the Jedi Order would have superseded  any romantic ties that crossed his path.

So… that means Rey is Anakin Skywalker?

Anakin

Well, to be fair Anakin doesn’t have a father. The prequels imply that Anakin was conceived by the Force, had twins (Luke and Leia), and then “died” to become Darth Vader… who Kylo Ren worships. The theory states that Kylo Ren talks to Vader as if he’s not dead and gone… as if he will come back ala Jesus Christ.

When Ren tries to control Rey during her interrogation, he discovers he can’t. The theory says that while Ren doesn’t fully understand her he can feel that she’s the one he’s been waiting for and offers to train her. Clearly he has plans for her that extend beyond his relationship with Snoke.

Kylo Ren banner

Remember that Ren wants more than anything to finish the work of Darth Vader, and he believes Rey can help him achieve that goal.

Why? Because she is Anakin Skywalker. She’s as powerful as he was before he had half his body replaces with cybernetics.

How do we know that?

Rey

The theory says that, unlike Luke, Rey has a very intense vision when she touches Anakin’s lightsaber. Those visions, according to the theory, are the “awakening” in the film. Rey is starting to remember her past life as Anakin and all the power that comes with that.

Rey also has the same lack of parental figures that Anakin suffered from, which is why he gravitated to Obi-Wan Kenobi and especially Palpatine. In The Force Awakens, Rey is drawn to Han Solo and Luke Skywalker as father figures that she never had growing up.

But how was she created? Is she a clone of some kind?

Rey

She would not be a clone. The theory states that it’s a Force assisted reincarnation. That would mean if Rey sticks to the light side, she would presumably be fulfilling the prophecy to bring balance to the Force that was mentioned in the prequel films.

38 Comments

  1. I do believe this since the character behavior, even physically, reminds me quite a lot to little Anakim. In one way or another she’s really connected to the Skywalkers.

  2. Oh thank god! I’m not the only one who thinks of this amazing theory. Theres no evidence at all that she is Luke’s daughter. Her being Anakin reincarnated is way better than her being Luke’s. That’s too narroowminded to think she is Luke’s.

  3. Rey is a force birth.
    Plagueis caused it by being the true source of the force imbalance.
    Shara bey is the mother making rey po’s half sister explaining their moment of recognition at the end of the novelization.
    Keeps it all about anakin… opens up all sorts of possibilities for scenes (dream sequences, memory coming back) with darth vader (james earl jones), hayden (for thise who liked him) that re-connect to the previous movies without shamelessly copying the previous movies.
    Explains the instant affinity to the force.
    Explains Kylo saying: “It IS you”
    Luke will see his father’s essence adding layers of depth to the dynamic in their relationship and training.
    Vader becomes a good guy!
    “Holy shit Luke, I am your father”

  4. No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no!

    Can we leave the immaculate conception, the will of the Force through midichlorians & the knee-jerk reaction to take a step BACKWARDS to try & “clean up” Lucas’ Prequel Trilogy by retconning things we didn’t like by trying to “make it better & hip?”

    Honor the past, embrace the present to move bravely into the future. This is BEYOND a bad idea. Can’t they give the fans what we want & not what they THINK we need? You want to go a different route, FINE! You want to create a new Canon to embrace the totality of the STAR WARS UNIVERSE, EXCELLENT! You want to reincarnate Anakin Skywalker for some bull reason because you want to recreate some half-baked garbage New Age rehashing of one of the greatest cinematic plot twists, “I am your father,” to make your vision of STAR WARS interesting?

    No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no!

    1. If you haven’t noticed, most of the fans DO want some major plot twist. Also many would prefer if the prequels were…shall we say, fixed, rather than just being the garbage released between 6 and 7. I personally do not believe it is Anakin, but Disney does have a way of making movies out of hated characters/villains (Maleficent to name one) and by continuing to be a Star Wars fan after it was bought by Disney, you pretty much signed a contract. By buying the rights, Disney bought themselves creative freedom. She could be anyone, and as a continued fan it is your right, nay your duty, to accept what happens with an open mind.

      1. This is true, but I still feel it would be s bad twist. I just don’t want the Chosen One to become an intergalactic “Avatar,” as from THE LAST AIRBENDER. I know people want a differernt hero in this series, but I just hope she ISN’T Anakin’s reincarnation.

        1. That’s not really what’s going on here. From the theory, the point of Anakin’s return is to just bring balance back to the force. He’s basically rewriting his wrongs of you will.

          1. And HOW is that unlike the AVATAR world, where the “Chosen One” with an infinite regression of past lives is destined to return to bring peace to the world?

            It’s just NOT in the STAR WARS mythology!

  5. Rey is a reincarnation of Anakin…the true mission of this trilogy to bring balance to the force by bringing Ben Solo/Kylo Ren back to the good side..and have him survive.

  6. Considering the fact Anakin’s ghost was also originally supposed to be in TFA according to the art book, it seems unlikely. This probably would have been a pivotal twist in the writing of the movie, and concept art or mentions of Hayden Christensen would more likely not even exist. Although the prequels were not great, a lot of people loved Anakin and Disney would be playing roulette if they decided to make him completely vanish from canon. I don’t think they would take such a huge chance in making the fans upset.

  7. Hardly. Rey is Rey.

    She’s Luke’s daughter, if anything. She is dropped off on Jakku by students of the new Jedi academy Luke is running, where she’s been hanging around, until she’s sent off world to save her from the coming catastrophe. Luke, having one of his vague visions, knows something is coming, but not what. He sends students (possibly including her mother) offworld with Rey, and they aren’t coming back for Rey, because they died, in the academy massacre. She’s too young to remember anything more than being dropped off…until desperation sparks some recollection. That’s why she remembers that the force tricks can be done, as well as HOW to do them so easily…because she’s been trained. It was just at an early age. That, and the fact that she’s a natural, and the power of passion, puts her on par with Kylo Ren when she has to fight him.

    1. There is zero evidence to support Rey being Luke’s daughter. Absolutely none. You’re just seeing what you want to see.

      1. “Face me cousin!”, was said by Kylo Ren to Rey in Disney’s Infinity Battle. It’s canon. It’s just Rey, is indeed Luke’s daughter. Also google up wiki, Luke was married.

        1. LOL! No it isn’t. I’ve seen the video and you obviously didn’t read their update. Kylo most definitely does not say “cousin” at all! EU is not canon though. So Luke was not married. Now please sit down before you hurt yourself.

          1. Oh snap! I thought I was the only one here who cared that EU isn’t canon! All these arguments use points from the EU and I’m just like “Guys, Jar Jar Abrams over here doesn’t care about the EU, she is obviously not Luke’s.”

    2. I was really feeling the “Luke’s daughter” theory, but something doesn’t seem kosher there…. I think it’s the idea that he would engage in a personal relationship. I’m sure Yoda and Obi-Wan imparted THAT much wisdom about the Force. “Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate…”, that kinda thing?
      Her being the reincarnation of Anakin does make a certain amount of twisted sense. He learned to defeat death just as Obi-Wan and Yoda did; and it really gives an ironic twist to the whole prophecy, which would be proven correct. And the cause of the imbalance and re-balance of the Force? The same person. So…that would make Anakin/Darth a Christ figure, here to teach the universe about fighting the good fight and full self-knowledge. Wow.

  8. Rey is a clone of Anakin Skywalker. She is created by Supreme Leader Snoke. Her name – Rey – is a derivation of the name Ren.

    Rey cannot be cloned by conventional methods. She is conceived, birthed and nurtured by a female, one chosen and groomed by Snoke for that purpose. Along with a mother figure, Snoke forms the Knights of Ren to protect and serve the cloned child of Anakin.

    Snoke’s plan goes awry when the female who births Rey decides to steal her. She contacts Luke Skywalker for help. Sensing the child’s importance, Luke gives a map to Lor San Tekka with the task of meeting this mysterious woman and her child on Jakku.

    Realizing the First Order is tracking them, Rey’s mother leaves the girl with locals on the planet Jakku, hoping Luke’s contact will find the child. As she tries to lead her pursuers away, her ship is destroyed.

    Snoke believes Rey is dead along with her mother. In revenge for Rey’s loss, the Supreme Leader lures Ben Solo to the Dark Side, then hunts down and destroys Luke’s fledgling academy of Jedi. Luke disappears.

    When Rey eventually resurfaces, Kylo Ren recognizes her for who she is. She embodies several things to the Sith-in-training – his ideal, a duty, and redemption – and her conversion (or destruction) will complete his training. He becomes obsessed with tracking her down and returning her to the fold, and her birthright.

    1. Slight alteration; Snoke sents scouts across the galaxy to look for things related to Vader, i.e. his lightsaber and helmet, to get DnA off them. He attempts cloning Anakin however he believes it fails when Rey is created. In his anger he orders the cloners to destroy the failed clone. However they don’t and leave the child on a planet where she will be forgotten, live and die. Snoke then looks for a young descendant of Anakin (Ben Solo) to be the second best thing for a apprentice.

  9. Poeple, people; she’s Luke’s, because of the simple fact of how he has in almost happy as a father would be to see his daughter!

  10. please don’t let this half assed idea be true.. I think we’ve all had enough of weakly written star wars plots.

  11. In the novel version Ren does tell Rey he knows who she is. He says ” It is you.” As if they already met before. Ans Snoke tells Hux to bring Ren back to finish his training because he felt Ren was right about who she is. And Snoke even tells Rey to kill Ren. But she doesn’t knowing it is the dark side.
    I don’t think she is but it’s not impossible either

  12. Youu know what, I thought this was bullshit but you’re right possibly. They’re really pushing the force to be some kind of cosmic yin/yang source of power. Also, Rey is REALLY good with parts and tinkering, piloting the falcon as good as Han Solo. When you first see Rey, she kinda looks like an older, podracing, Anakin (in the mask).

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