#padmebio

[burnnouts]

Quick Bio: Padmé Amidala is a senator who represented the people of Naboo during the final years of the Galactic Republic. Prior to her career in the Senate, she was the elected Queen of Naboo, having run her first campaign at only fourteen years old. Padmé's two terms as queen were so successful that the people of Naboo campaigned for her to have an unprecedented third term, but she declined and was assigned as a senator by the newly elected queen instead. During her time in politics, Padmé often worked closely with the Jedi Knights, eventually falling in love with one, Anakin Skywalker, and marrying him in secret. Anakin, having a dream that she died in childbirth, fell to the dark side to protect her, and became Darth Vader, and their children--Luke and Leia--were hidden across the galaxy for their protection.

Note: Padmé is a canon character from the Star Wars universe. I pull mainly from the prequel films for her characterization, though I am in the process of reading the 2020 novel, Queen's Shadow. I have not seen the Clone Wars show (yet).

Extended bio under cut:

TWs: pregnancy, death in child birth, (fictional) politics

A human born on the planet of Naboo, Padmé was a precocious child who spent every day baking and often traveled with her father on relief missions to offer aid on suffering, nearby planets. When she was seven, she helped a planet relocate after ecological disaster, but when the plan failed, and the people were unable to adapt to their new world, Padmé was devastated and vowed that she would try 10,000 times in order to save just one person.

Although her family came from modest origins, Padmé showed great promise (and motivation) from a very early age, devoting herself to public serve, and, at just eight years old, became a junior senatorial adviser. She attended the Theed Royal Academy to study politics and joined the Legislative Youth Program at 12. Two years later, she began her campaign to become the next Queen of Naboo, running on the stance that Naboo should break its policy of isolationism and make allies with other planets in their sector. Because she was known simply as Queen Amidala, her first name unknown to most, she began to switch between the persona of Queen Amidala--dressed in elaborate makeup and gowns--and Padmé, a handmaiden who could move among the common people unnoticed. When she went out as "Padmé," one of her own handmaidens would stand in as queen.

During her time as queen, the Trade Federation threatened Amidala and her planet and asked her to sign a treaty that would would give them full control of Naboo and legitimize their invasion. She, of course, refused, causing the federation to blockade the planet and prevent shipments from reaching the surface. With her people quickly running out of food, Amidala gathered defenses and sought aid from the Jedi Knights. When the Federation sent in an invasion of battle droids, Amidala was captured but was, thankfully, rescued by Jedi Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi. As they made their way back to Naboo, the ship malfunctioned, and they were forced to land on the planet of Tatooine, where Padmé went undercover as a handmaiden, learning about the planet, working with the Jedi, and met a young slave boy, Anakin Skywalker who helped them get the parts they needed to leave.

In order to save her planet, Padme went to the Senate and moved for a Vote of No Confidence in the leadership of the current Chancellor, helping to put into power Palpatine instead, the man who would later betray her and all of the galaxy.

Back on her own planet, she and the Jedi Knights fought off the Trade Federation by making an allyship with the other species of Naboo: the Gungangs. Together, they were able to defeat the Federation and take back control of Naboo. Afterward, Padmé led the planets rebuilding and recovery efforts. After the invasion, the planet was divided on tactics to prevent another hostile takeover, with Padmé ultimately deciding to add an ion pulse canon to the surface of the planet, much to the displeasure of her own parents.

Amidala served two terms as queen, and by the conclusion of her second term, the Naboo had grown so fond of Amidala that a faction tried to amend the constitution to allow her another term. However, Amidala declined this and stepped aside for her elected successor. Not long after her coronation, the new queen asked Amidala to serve as the representative for Naboo and the other worlds in the Galactic Senate. As one of her first goals as Senator, she sent advisors back to Tatooine to look into ending slavery there, though this was outside of the Senate's control.

Ten years after the Invasion of Naboo, a Separatist Alliance broke out in the Galaxy, with several planetary systems deciding to break off from the Senate. This led to a vote for the Senate to build their own army, which Padmé strongly resisted. Soon regarded as the leader of the opposition to the Military Creation Act, Padmé's life again was threatened, as one of her ships was bombed, and her most loyal handmaiden was murdered, the assassin believing the woman to be Padmé herself. The Jedi Council assigned Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi and Padawan Anakin Skywalker to protect Amidala and investigate the incident, though Amidala objected to the added security. When the assassination attempts continued, however, Padmé was convinced to leave the capital planet of Couruscant and return to her home planet of Naboo with Skywalker as her companion and guard.

Though she initially resisted his advances, Padmé found herself falling in love with Anakin. When he dreamed of his mother's kidnapping, she left her hiding place on Naboo to accompany him in saving the woman, but they were too late. Before they could return into hiding, news came that Anakin's master, Obi-Wan was also in danger, so he and Padmé left to rescue him too and were captured in the process. Two hundred Jedi arrived to aid them, but a battle broke out that had them cornered and overwhelmed. At that point, the newly made Grand Army of the Republic--created from clones--arrived and saved them all. And so, the army Padmé had fought against was created anyway and used to save her.

After, she secretly married Anakin Skywalker. They spent several years seeing each other in secret while both continuing their work in the Senate and Jedi Order respectively. When Padmé became pregnant, however, it was much harder to keep their secret, and Anakin's continuous nightmares of her death in childbirth put a strain on their future. Anakin began studying the dark side, looking for a way to save her, but in the process, pulled away from Padmé, leaving her stunned when he finally turned on the Jedi entirely and went to the dark side.

Verse Dependent: In canon, Padmé dies in childbirth and her children, Luke and Leia, are raised on separate planets for their own protection. Padmé's default verse will be before this point, but for characters in the later era of the Star Wars timeline, I write Padmé as living and helping to lead the resistance against the Empire formed by Palpatine and her husband.