xhonzi said:

Just for arguments sake, would you agree that most of those are external factors, and somewhat are not the choice of the character in question... therefore making him a tragic victim rather than a powerful villain?

Right. And that's what was said in the OT... Vader was "seduced" by the dark side of the force. Like Bilbo was seduced and ultimately addicted to and changed by the Ring (and Gollum too). It didn't have to be completely a choice.

xhonzi said:

None of those (which I have seen/read) really present a fallen hero, right? Maybe some normal people gone bad... which is also a good thing, but still in something of a different class than what we'd expect from Star Wars. Or am I wrong?

I don't think the OT ever painted Anakin as a hero. Obiwan called him the "best starfighter in the galaxy, and a good friend." So he was a nice guy with first class skills. He didn't have to be "the chosen one", he could have just been one of the guys. And I never thought of his portrayal in the PT as being consistent with "a good friend". I always thought a better Anakin character would have been a nice, mild-mannered, kind, well-intentioned and highly skilled young man who unfortunately was also a little gullible and ended up being seduced by and ultimately controlled and changed by dark forces. That way, it would be scarier because it would show that anyone could end up on the dark side, if you're not careful.