Who is the chosen one?

Question

In the "Star Wars" movies who is the actual chosen one?

Is there really a chosen one in Star Wars? If there is, then who?

I do not think that it is Anakin Skywalker. Is it Luke?

Answer 1

In-universe Canon:

• We do not know for sure.

  What we know is that

  • There was a Prophecy

    In the time of greatest despair, 
    a child shall be born 
    who will destroy the Sith 
    and bring balance to the Force.
    

  • Jedi Council (including Master Yoda and Master Windu) thought that the Prophecy applied to Anakin

  The problem with Prophecies is that they are a vague and imprecise thing (Just ask Percy Jackson :) and therefore, can be interpreted in a lot of different way.

  There is nothing in Star Wars canon in-Universe that says unambiguously "Yes, Anakin was The Chosen One of the Prophecy and he fulfilled it".

  The closest we come is Clone Wars TV show episode "Ghosts of Mortis" and "Altar of Mortis", but they don't provide conclusive proof.

Word if God canon

George Lucas said that Anakin is The One, in ROTS DVD commentary.

This was confirmed in "Star Wars Insider" magazine issue #74, in Star Wars Q&A section, with the answer given by Pablo Hidalgo, one of the biggest canon experts after Leland Chee (he was starwars.com internet content manager):

Answer 2

Anakin Skywalker was the chosen one.

This definitive answer was confirmed by the top authority (George Lucas) in a DVD extra from Ep. III: Revenge of the Sith (the extra is called "The Chosen One").

More detailed analysis follows:

Yoda says in best in this conversation from Ep. III: Revenge of the Sith:

OBI-WAN: Is he not the chosen one? Is he not to destroy the Sith and bring balance to the Force?

MACE WINDU: So the prophecy says. [obviously Mace is starting to doubt the prophecy]

YODA: A prophecy that misread could have been.

[ MACE WINDU then nods in agreement ]

The Jedi interpreted the prophecy to mean that the chosen one would fix the lack of balance in the light-side of the force. They were already beginning to sense that the dark-side was cloud their insights. They hoped the chosen one would end the dark side, bringing them the balance they sought.

In reality, the prophecy foretold a larger type of balance: between the light and dark sides. By creating Anakin directly (he had no father), the force was "correcting" for the galaxy being skewed toward the light side (according to Luke in The Last Jedi, this was the "height of their power"). By turning against the Jedi Order, Anakin brought the galaxy closer to that balance.

Unfortunately, the Emperor was able to turn Anakin into Darth Vader, which led to a period of oppression by the Empire, led by the Sith. This again created an imbalance, which was not corrected until Anakin killed his master (Palpatine) and then died himself. At this point, only Luke remained.

Later, in The Last Jedi:

Luke explains that there was a long period of "balance", which ended when his hubris led him to start training new Jedi. This growth of the light-side may have inspired the Force to again attempt balance, by turning Ben Solo to the dark side. Luke's guilt, for being partially responsible for the creation of Kylo Ren, ultimately led him to run away instead of facing his enemy. This decision again created an imbalance, which led the Force to "create" Rey.

One more thought from The Last Jedi:

It's unclear whether Kylo is telling her the truth about her parents. If he is, then the force simply "awakened" something inside her. If he's lying, it's possible that the force literally "created" her, similarly to how it created Anakin. We must now wait for Episode IX to see the outcome: either Kylo Ren or Rey will win, and there will be another imbalance, or they will somehow "settle" with each other, and leave the galaxy in true symbiotic balance, which is what the Force has been seeking all along.