Padmé Amidala

"So this is how liberty dies. With thunderous applause."
 * -Senator Padmé Amidala, upon Supreme Chancellor Palpatine creating the Galactic Empire, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

Padmé Amidala is a central protagonist in the Star Wars prequel trilogy. She is the wife of Anakin Skywalker, mother of their children Luke and  Leia, and a Senator from Naboo. Anakin has a vision of Padmé's death and joins the Sith to save her, sadly leading to her death at his hands.

Padmé was portrayed by Natalie Portman in the prequel trilogy. Her voice was provided by Grey DeLisle and Catherine Taber in the two Clone Wars animated series.

The Phantom Menace
Padmé Amidala was the elected queen of the people of Naboo, which was blockaded by the Trade Federation to settle a dispute over taxes. Unknown to Queen Amidala, the Federation was planning an invasion of her planet; these plans were moved forward when two Jedi were sent to the Federation ship to negotiate an end to the boycott. Padmé was reluctant to enter a war, but Federation droids attacked the capitol and took her prisoner. The two Jedi from before, Qui-Gon Jin and Obi-Wan Kenobi, rescued her and some of her retinue. Padmé agreed to accompany the Jedi to Coruscant in order to obtain support against the Federation from the Galactic Senate. Unknown to the rest of the Jedi, the Queen switched places with one of her handmaidens at this point.

The ship was damaged in an attack from the blockade, forcing the heroes to land on Tatooine for repairs. Padmé accompanied Qui-Gon into town, still posing as the handmaiden. In a junk shop, Padmé met Anakin Skywalker for the first time. Padmé and the rest of her party were forced to stay at Anakin’s home due to a sandstorm, where they learned Anakin was an aspiring pod pilot.

In order to repair the ship, Qui-Gon was forced to gamble that Anakin would win the next pod race, against Padmé’s protestations. Anakin inevitably won, and Padmé and the rest returned to and repaired the ship. In space, Padmé comforted the cold Anakin with a blanket; Anakin then gave her a necklace he had carved “to remember me by.” Later, before Anakin left for the Jedi temple on Coruscant, he asked the Queen to say goodbye to Padmé for him, not realizing he was speaking to Padmé herself.

On Coruscant, Padmé met with Chancellor Palpatine to discuss options for gaining support from the Galactic Senate. Palpatine advised her that the best strategy might be to try voting “no confidence” in the Supreme Chancellor, and ask for the election of a new one. Padmé wouldn’t listen, but was finally convinced that the Council was choked with bureaucracy while speaking before it, and followed Palpatine’s earlier advice. Learning from Jar Jar Binks that his Gungan people, also native to Naboo, had an army, Padmé chose to return to Naboo and risk fighting for freedom alongside the rest of her planet’s peoples.

It is while addressing the Gungan leader that Padmé revealed herself (both to the other characters and the audience) to be the true queen. Armed with a blaster, Padmé then led her people into the royal palace, searching for the throne room and the leader of the Trade Federation, Viceroy Nute Gunray. They were captured by droids on the way, but the handmaiden, disguised once again as Queen, distracted Gunray long enough for the real Padmé to pull a blaster on his guards and capture him. At the end of the movie, Padmé congratulated Palpatine for being elected Supreme Chancellor.

Attack of the Clones
Before Episode II begins, Padmé’s term as queen had ended, but she was now serving as the Senator representing Naboo. She was nearly killed in an assassination attempt upon arriving at Coruscant. High Chancellor Palpatine suggested that Amidala take Obi-Wan as a bodyguard during her stay. Padmé then saw Anakin for the first time in ten years, and was very happy to be reunited with her old Jedi acquaintances.

Padmé suffered another assassination attempt in her room that night. While Obi-Wan searched for the bounty hunters responsible, Anakin excorted Padmé back to Naboo for her safety. Once there, Anakin shared his increasing discontent with his master, and also admitted to the feelings he had been harboring for Padmé. The two began to fall in love, but Padme insisted that a relationship between a Jedi and a Senator would be untenable.

After Anakin had a nightmare about his mother, Padmé accompanied him to Tatooine to rescue her. After Anakin returned from the desert with his mother’s dead body, he told Padmé of his desire to become stronger so that he could protect others from death. Returning to their ship, Padmé and Anakin learned that Obi-Wan had been attacked on Geonosis, and Padmé convinced Anakin to go and rescue him against the Jedi Council’s orders. Unfortunately, they were instead taken prisoner by Count Dooku upon arrival.

Padmé, Anakin and Obi-Wan were chained inside an arena filled with dangerous animals. Padmé finally admitted her love for Anakin just before they began to fight off the animals. The Jedi Council arrived to rescue them, along with the new Clone army. Eventually, Padmé, Anakin and Obi-Wan pursued Count Dooku in a ship, but he eventually escaped. After the battle, Padmé and Anakin returned to Naboo, where they were married in a secret ceremony.

Revenge of the Sith
Padmé informed Anakin that she was pregnant. Anakin was excited, until he dreamed of Padmé dying in childbirth that night. He woke up and told Padmé of his dream, swearing that he would protect both her and their baby. Padmé worried about what would happen when the pregnancy showed, and their relationship became public knowledge. Padmé also questioned whether they were still on the right side of the war, which represented a failure to communicate democratically. Anakin disagreed, trusting in the strength of the Senate.

When Padmé heard of the massacre at the Jedi Temple, she asked C-3PO to learn of Anakin’s whereabouts; she was heartbroken when she learned he was last seen inside the Temple, thinking he had been killed with the rest of the Jedi. She was relieved when Anakin arrived at her apartment safely. He lied to Padmé, saying the Jedi attempted to overthrow the Republic. He explained that he remained loyal to the Supreme Chancellor, no longer trusting Obi-Wan or any other Jedi. He then left her to go kill Viceroy Gunray and the other Separatist leaders in the Musta Far system.

Padmé later attended a special meeting of the Council, where Supreme Chancellor Palpatine revealed his scarred face, the result of a Jedi attack. He announced that the only way to keep the Galactic society safe was to evolve the Republic into an Empire, a proposition that caused the Senate to applaud, to Padmé’s disgust.

The next day, Obi-Wan questioned Padmé as to Anakin’s whereabouts. Suspicious, Padmé refused to talk, even after Obi-Wan revealed that Palpatine and Anakin are part of the Sith. She realized that Obi-Wan planned to kill Anakin, and Obi-Wan figured out that Anakin was the father of her unborn child. After Obi-Wan leaves, Padmé travelled to Musta Far to confront Anakin, not realizing Obi-Wan had snuck aboard her ship.

Anakin ran out to meet Padmé at her ship and hugged. Padmé told Anakin the things Obi-Wan had said, and was horrified when Anakin confirmed that he had turned to the Dark Side and killed Jedi, all in the name of saving her life. Anakin went on to claim that he could overthrow Palpatine and rule the Galaxy the way Padmé wanted, and Padmé despaired that Anakin was no longer the same person she had fallen in love with. When Obi-Wan revealed himself from the ship, Anakin assumed Padmé had betrayed him to help Obi-Wan, and choked her with the Force, causing her to faint. After Obi-Wan defeated Anakin, he flew her back to Coruscant.

Obi-Wan brought Padmé to a medical center, where she began to die for no discernable reason. Medical droids quickly operated on her to rescue the baby—or babies, as they soon discovered she had been carrying twins. After the babies are delivered safely, Padmé named them Luke and Leia. She then told Obi-Wan that there was still good inside Anakin, and died. At her funeral, Padmé clutched the necklace Anakin had given her as a boy.

Description
Padmé Amidala is totally devoted to serving the Galactic Republic as a whole, and her native Naboo in particular. She has an unyielding belief in the ability of the Senate to solve any problem through peaceful negotiation. This has caused her trouble as well, staying her hand from direct confrontation against the Trade Federation in the early stages of its hostility. It also caused her to unknowingly advance Palpatine into greater positions, furthering his plans for Galactic conquest. It also brought Padmé under conflict with Anakin, as she often disagreed with the occasionally violent and reckless decisions of the Jedi Council.

Padmé loved her husband dearly, and even after his fall to the Dark Side, she followed Anakin to the Outer Rim to try to convince him to return with her. On her deathbed, she begged Obi-Wan to remember that Anakin was still good inside, a message he would repeat to Luke in Episode VI. She also considered Obi-Wan to be a trustworthy friend, although she never revealed the secret of her child's father to him until he figured it out himself.

As Queen, Padmé wore a flowing, red gown with white face paint and a gold crown that wrapped down around her head. This outfit served a practical purpose, allowing Padmé and her handmaidens to exchange places for her safety. At most other times, she is dressed more practically.

In badfic
In badfic, Padmé is often portrayed as jealous, which is pretty much standard for bad slash. At other times, she may be having an affair with Obi-Wan behind Anakin's back, or even be involved in a threesome with both.