Luke Skywalker spent his childhood growing up on a quiet moisture farm on the desert planet of Tatooine. He longed to escape from his farm chores and live a life of adventure as a starpilot. His aunt and uncle, Beru and Owen Lars, took good care of him, but kept the truth of his past hidden. Luke never knew that his father was a great pilot, a former warrior and a Jedi Knight.
He learned about his father from Obi-Wan Kenobi, a great Jedi who lived in hiding on Tatooine. Kenobi began to teach Luke in the ways of the Force, and gave him a gift - Anakin Skywalker's lightsaber. Luke took to it like a natural, for the Force was strong in him.
Luke's life suddenly changed when the droid R2-D2 came to his farm, carrying information important to the Rebel Alliance. In an attempt to return that information to the planet Alderaan, Luke and Obi-Wan Kenobi hooked up with pilot Han Solo and his faithful Wookiee companion Chewbacca. Together they ended up aboard the Imperial battle station, the Death Star. There, he and smuggler Han Solo freed Princess Leia Organa, a Rebel captive, from Imperial clutches.
At the Rebel base, Luke's dream came true, as he was one of the brave starfighter pilots set to attack the Death Star. Armed with the information in Artoo's databanks, the Rebels attacked the Death Star's weak point. It was Luke Skywalker who fired the proton torpedo shot that finally destroyed the Imperial station.