Star Wars Once Implied Anakin Skywalker Was The Son Of Two Sith 'Fathers'
The question of Anakin Skywalker's parentage has always been a matter of debate among "Star Wars" fans. On one hand, his lack of an actual father can be read simply as a Christ-like "chosen one" allegory — the kind of religious, mythical inspiration that George Lucas openly embraced throughout his saga. But when a franchise develops as much lore and history as "Star Wars" has, people are going to speculate, and a few key texts over the years have lent credence to particular theories of Anakin's conception over others.
Some rumors hold that Lucas originally intended to confirm that Palpatine created Anakin with the Force in "Revenge of the Sith" but decided against it. This fits well with the notorious tale of Darth Plagueis told in that film, which details the efforts of Palpatine's former master to create life through the dark side. In the 2012 novel by James Luceno named after Darth Plagueis, this idea is explored in more detail. It's revealed that Plagueis didn't die until after Anakin was discovered on Tatooine, and in the book, he and Palpatine theorize that the existence of the child is proof that their dark side experiments worked.
Unfortunately for fans who ascribe to that theory, "Darth Plagueis" falls under the "Star Wars" Legends umbrella and is not considered part of the current canon. The Sith Lord himself has been kept quite mysterious since Disney took over the franchise, but the theory of Anakin being created by two Sith "fathers" has remained quite popular in the fandom.
Is there proof that Palpatine and Darth Plagueis created Anakin?
Even in the old Expanded Universe texts like "Darth Plagueis," it's never explicitly confirmed that Anakin was created through the Force by Sith schemers. They simply theorize that their experiments brought about this fatherless, Force-attuned individual. Some stories in the Disney canon have added to the legend, including the infamous 2018 comic issue "Darth Vader" #25.
In that comic, Vader journeys through a surreal spiritual nightmare after accessing a mystical Force realm beneath his castle on Mustafar. He sees visions from throughout his life, including one that depicts Darth Sidious with Anakin's mother, Shmi Skywalker. Many readers at the time interpreted the art as confirmation that the Sith lord created Anakin, as Palpatine appears to be casting some kind of dark spell on a pregnant Shmi from the shadows. Phrases like "Chosen One," "unnatural," and "There was no father" echo through the vision.
However, representatives for Lucasfilm later publicly stated that the comic was not intended to confirm the Sith creation theory. Darth Vader's visions were merely meant as reflections of his own mental state and vague suggestions from the dark side of the Force. So while the comic doesn't rule out the theory, it also doesn't make it canon.
Some version of the Sith father theory has probably always been true
The "Star Wars" franchise may never confirm exactly how Anakin Skywalker came to exist, and that's probably for the best. Some lore is better left a mystery — something for fans to debate and discuss until the heat-death of the universe. But in all likelihood, some version of the "Sith fathers" theory has probably always been true.
There are a few different ways to interpret the theory. The first is that Plagueis, Palpatine, or both created Anakin directly through their midi-chlorian experiments. Another theory is that their experiments caused such a distortion in the Force that the cosmic essence itself created Anakin to right the balance. And lastly, you could take the "chosen one" myth at face value. You could theorize that Anakin wasn't created because of a direct Force distortion, but simply that the midi-chlorians came together to form him because they believed it was time for a new order.
George Lucas himself has preferred to keep these options open. "It's left unsaid," he explained in a 2005 interview with Rolling Stone. "Is Anakin a product of a super-Sith who influenced the midi-chlorians to create him, or is he simply created by the midi-chlorians to bring forth a prophecy, or was he created by the Force through the midi-chlorians? It's left up to the audience to decide. How he was born ultimately has no relationship to how he dies, because in the end, the prophecy is true: Balance comes back to the Force."