Star Wars: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Anakin Skywalker
1. The Prequel Villains All Relate To His Own Fall
While you'd be forgiven for assuming that a great many of the arrivals that made their presence known in the Prequel Trilogy were merely pumped into the Star Wars universe as a way of shifting colourful toys, in reality, George Lucas actually appeared to use Episode I, II, and III's key villains as a way to highlight the various stages of his central figure's fall into the Dark Side.
In Darth Maul you have a Sith acolyte, consumed by rage and aggression, traits shared by Skywalker. Count Dooku pretty much mirrors Anakin's own eventual fate as a fallen Jedi who becomes Darth Sidious' apprentice. And General Grievous' appearance acts as a subtle piece of foreshadowing for the cyborg future that is right around the corner for Skywalker on the back of his fateful duel with Obi-Wan on Mustafar.
Combine all three together and you have the tragic equation needed to create arguably the most destructive, captivating, and recognisable big bad pop culture has ever known...