Was Anakin Mentally Ill?

[Stravo]

Inspired by an observation of Conner McLeod's in another thread taking the Prequels into account and Anakin's actions and issues in them do you think he was mentally ill? By mentally ill I'm not saying he was a stark raving loon I just mean did he have serious issues that maybe made his fall not so free and instead more like inevitable? Was he obsessive compulsive? Paranoid? After all we are talking about a man who slaughtered children and his freinds and allies because of some obsessive need to keep Padme safe. A man who 20 years later learns that Luke Skywalker is his son and instantly becomes obsessed with him (not my word - see ESB crawl) to the point where he kills the man that saved his life and made him the second most powerful man in the galaxy. A man who when he learns of a daughter he never had, a daughter he tortured, his first instinct is to turn her to the dark side and in his thrall.

Or was he correctly portrayed as a good man gone bad?

[Dakarne]

I believe most definitely that he's got some mental instabilities...

Was he obsessive compulsive?

Very Much So: He was obsessed with machinery at a young age... and he built a PodRacer and a Droid. He was also obsessed with piloting to the point of winning a Podrace, and being the only human to do so. He was also obsessed with gettting into a certain senator's pants...

Paranoid?

Yes, most definitely, he honestly believed that Padme was having an affair with Obi-Wan, amongst other things, such as the Jedi betrayal, and fears of an inner rebellion... He also had inner demons (or Dragons) which were practically personified in the Novelization.

Or was he correctly portrayed as a good man gone bad?

I think the Mental Instabilities helped the whole "good man gone bad" arc, in a way, since it was due to his Paranoia and Obsessions which led partially to his downfall... Of course, it would never have gotten that far if it hadn't been for ole' Palps.

[Ghost Rider]

In some ways perhaps, but a lot is that he had two sides telling him what to do and one side always appealing to what he wants.

Anakin had honestly the problem that he starts off with nothing, becomes something and is told he cannot have anything he wants because they say so. Along the way he has this nagging but constant voice telling him that the Jedi are right.

While this might have driven him somewhat batty, he could control it. He basically rants.

Now add, the seducative voice telling him do what he feels like because what he feels like could never be bad. In fact this fully manifests itself in the Dooku fight. He stands there undecisive and only when that kindly seductive voice tells him to do something does he commit action.

His obsessive compulsion to his children I see is stemming from simply it is something his, and something he wants, and after 20 years of being told take what you want, he pursues.

[FTeik]

I think it is less a case of mental illness or instability, but the lack of a clear moral compass.


Anakin grows up as a slave and witnesses the abuse of power by those, who have it, what causes him to crave power for himself to

a) don't become a victim to such abuses himself
and
b) to protect others, especially those he loves, from such abuses.

Then he becomes a member of the Jedi-Order, which seems to be a big progress in his quest, but over time Anakin has to realize, that the Jedi care more about their code and their rules than about helping people and that they are trapped in compromise, the search for consense instead of actively enforcing, what would be right and just in his mind.

Ah, the idealism and naivitee (and thinking in absolutes) of youth.

At the same time he's told, that he is something special, that a great destiny is waiting for him, that he is the ChosenOne and Palpatine encourages those believes, but also twists them into a direction, that suits him, while the Jedi seem to hold him back.

For some reason they view him as a great savior (forgetting that such an act of salvation (and the reasons for it) would be accompanied by radical changes), but at the same time want (Anakin) to conduct business as usual.

He also learns, that it is okay to allow minor evils to exists or to sacrifice something (or someone) for the greater good ( (look at the Kalesh, look at the slaves in the Senex-sector or those on Tatooine). To expand this mindset onto the Jedi or anybody, who dares to oppose the NewOrder, that wants to improve things is only a little step from there (especially if the fallout is still minor compared to the atrocities of the clone-war).

Considering this conflict between ideal and reality, Anakin believes less in ideas or ideals, but in persons and that is, where he places his loyalities: his mother, Padme, the Jedi and Palpatine.

The problem is, loyality to persons is a two-way-door, if i give loyality to a person, i expect this person to be loyal to me.

Anakin's mother dies, what causes Anakin to ask himself, if he is powerful enough or if he could have prevented her death, if he had followed his instinct (which seems to collide with the Jedi-Code on a regular basis, see above).

Next on the Reapers list seems to be Padme, so Anakin turns to the two other people he trusts and respects for help. The Jedi are of little help even advise him to let it go and follow the code, which - as Anakin has learned - is flawed, so that leaves Palpatine.

I also doubt, that Anakin viewed the Jedi (with exception of Obi-Wan) as friends and allies at this point of time. The estrangement has progressed too far and they and their rules have become an obstacle to what he views as his true path (great destiny and radical change for the better -> you can't make an omlett without breaking a few eggs, see above: accept lesser evil for the greater good), not to mention, that he has to safe his wife and child.

Keep in mind, that Anakin is aware of Palpatine's double and evil nature, since already in ROTS he suggests to Padme to let him consolidate power and then get rid of him and take matters into their own hands: he would fullfill his supposed destiny, have his family at his side and - consider the irony of it - Palpatine couldn't even complain about Anakin turning against him, since this is the way of the Sith. Darth Vader would have everything, but Padme has other ideas.

We know how this plays out and that Anakin ends in the armor in a weakend condition. He then has twenty years to think about all he did wrong and to serve Palpatine and comes to realize, that he has lost everything: his friend(s), his family, his destiny (weakened as he is), while playing the henchman for Palpatine, unable to kill him on his own (which he wanted to do since ROTS).

Then Luke appears and suddenly Anakin has a second chance for family and destiny. When Luke refuses to join him, his last chance for a great destiny is gone, the only thing left to him is the love of his son, who is going to be killed by Palpatine. No chance to make things right as emperor of the galaxy, only a future of growing old and continued service to a man he came to loathe, but also fears.

Luke is his last chance to make an impact for the better, but for that he has to be alive so Anakin turns against Palpatine. It doesn't matter, that the emperor saved his life twenty years earlier, Palpatine didn't do it for Anakin, but for himself to get the "greatest warrior to protect his empire" (Ian McDiarmin in an interview). Palpatine was also willing to get rid of Vader to get Luke. So why should he still be loyal to Darth Sidious?

[Guardsman Bass]

From reading the novelization, I'd say he has serious issues in dealing with attachments. It's pretty understandable, considering he grew up until he was 9 as a slave, his mother his only bedrock for emotional support, which was then basically pulled out from under him. He crosses the line to possibly mentally ill with his actions after he kills Mace; he is so obsessed with saving Padme that he, without a qualm, slaughters the Temple population, including young children. The novelization reflects that, before he goes to Mustafar(and after his corruption), he views Padme as some type of possession that he's "won."

[Elheru Aran]

Mentally ill? No. Highly driven to succeed? Strongly attached to certain people? Powerful fear of failure? Definitely.

The latter, especially, I think is responsible in part for Anakin's actions on the Death Star II-- he knew he had failed as a father, utterly failed as a husband-- saving Luke was the least he could do to make up for that.

[weemadando]

I'd say he'd be almost borderline autistic with Savant tendancies towards mechanical/electrical engineering.

He never interacted well with other children (when he did actually GET a chance to interact) and seemed to have a limited "understanding" of what was happening.

[Eframepilot]

I would say that Anakin had strong attachment issues, but nothing was inevitable about his fall. His erratic behavior in the Tusken massacre and after becoming Vader was due to the influence of the dark side, which acts like a mind-altering drug and causes massive shifts in behavior. Anyone immersed in the dark side has their mental health compromised.