Darth Vader (born Anakin Skywalker) is a central character in the Star Wars saga. The character was created by George Lucas and numerous actors have portrayed him. His appearances span five Star Wars films, and he is an important character in the expanded universe of television series, video games, novels, literature and comic books.
The films establish that there was originally a Jedi Knight named Anakin who fell to the dark side of the Force; he is also revealed to be the father of both Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia Organa, the two main protagonists of the original trilogy. Vader is ultimately redeemed in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, when he sacrifices himself to save his son, Luke.
Vader's name has become used as a synonym for a powerful form of evil, in both televisual pop culture and political discourse.
Concept and creation[]
While the first draft of Star Wars includes a tall, grim general named Darth Vader, the character came closer in line with his final depiction in the second revision. A character named "Anakin Starkiller" also appears in an early draft of Star Wars, playing a role similar to Luke Skywalker's, as the 16-year-old son of a respected warrior. Vader's mask was originally designed by Ralph McQuarrie as part of Vader's spacesuit, and not intended to be part of the regular costume. Brian Muir sculpted Darth Vader's costume based on McQuarrie's design.
After Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope was successful, Lucas hired science fiction author Leigh Brackett to write Star Wars II (later retitled Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back) with him. They held story conferences and, by late November 1977, Lucas had produced a handwritten treatment called The Empire Strikes Back. The treatment is very similar to the final film, except that Darth Vader does not reveal he is Luke's father. In the first draft that Brackett would write from this, Luke's father appears as a ghost to instruct Luke. George Lucas was disappointed with the script, but Brackett died of cancer before he could discuss it with her. With no writer available, Lucas had to write his next draft himself. In this draft, he made use of a new plot twist: Darth Vader claiming to be Luke's father. According to Lucas, he found this draft enjoyable to write, as opposed to the year-long struggles writing the first film.
This new story pointing out that Darth Vader was Luke's father had drastic effects on the series. Michael Kaminski argues in his book that it is unlikely that the plot point had ever seriously been considered or even conceived of before 1978, and that the first film was clearly operating under an alternate storyline where Vader was a separate character from Luke's father; there is not a single reference to this plot point before 1978. After writing the second and third drafts of Empire Strikes Back in which the point was introduced, Lucas reviewed the new backstory he had created: Anakin Skywalker had been Obi-Wan Kenobi's brilliant student and had a child named Luke, but was swayed to the dark side by Darth Sidious (who became a Sith and not simply a politician). Anakin battled Kenobi on the site of a volcano and was badly wounded, but then resurrected as Darth Vader. Meanwhile, Kenobi hid Luke on Tatooine while the Galactic Republic became the tyrannical Galactic Empire and Vader systematically hunted down and killed the Jedi. This change in character would provide a springboard to the "Tragedy of Darth Vader" storyline that underlies the prequels.
Portrayals[]
Bodybuilder David Prowse's size and stature allowed him to fill out the large Vader costume in the original Star Wars trilogy, although stunt performer Bob Anderson portrayed Vader during the intense lightsaber fight scenes in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Sebastian Shaw originally portrayed the unmasked Vader in Return of the Jedi, although stock footage of Hayden Christensen replaced Shaw's appearance of Vader as a ghost in the 2004 DVD release. James Earl Jones, who provided the voice of Darth Vader, was initially uncredited in A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back because Jones felt his contributions were too small to warrant recognition.
Hayden Christensen, who played Anakin Skywalker in the Prequel Trilogy donned Darth Vader's armor for the final scenes of Revenge of the Sith.
Appearances[]
Films[]
Original trilogy[]
Darth Vader is introduced in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977) as a ruthless cyborg pursuing the film's protagonists. Vader is charged with recovering technical schematics of the Death Star stolen by the Rebel Alliance, who seek to overthrow the Galactic Empire. Obi-Wan Kenobi tells Luke Skywalker that Vader is a former Jedi who "betrayed and murdered" Luke's father. Obi-Wan and Luke — along with smugglers Han Solo and Chewbacca, and droids R2-D2 and C-3PO — help Princess Leia Organa escape the Death Star. Vader kills Obi-Wan in a lightsaber duel, and later escapes the Death Star's destruction during the film's climactic battle scene.
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980), set three years later, depicts Vader leading an Imperial starfleet in pursuit of the Rebels. Darth Sidious (Clive Revill; Ian McDiarmid in subsequent films), Vader's Sith master, tells Vader that "the offspring of Anakin Skywalker" must not become a Jedi; Vader promises that he will turn Luke to the dark side. To this end, Vader captures Leia, Han, Chewbacca and C-3PO on Cloud City, using them as bait for Luke, who has by now been partially trained as a Jedi by Yoda (Frank Oz). During their lightsaber duel, Vader cuts off Luke's right hand and reveals that he is Luke's father; he then entreats Luke to convert to the dark side and help him overthrow Sidious so they can "rule the galaxy as father and son". Horrified, Luke throws himself into Cloud City's reactor core, ultimately escaping aboard the Millennium Falcon. Onboard his Super Star Destroyer, Vader telepathically tells Luke that it is his destiny to join the dark side.
In Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983), a dying Yoda confirms to Luke that Vader is indeed his father; moments later, Obi-Wan's spirit tells him he has a twin sister — whom Luke almost instantly divines to be Leia — and that he must confront his father to save the Rebellion. Luke surrenders himself to Imperial forces, hoping to turn his father back "to the light side". Vader brings Luke onto the second Death Star, where Darth Sidious tries to seduce Luke to the dark side. During their duel, Vader learns Leia's true identity and threatens to turn her to the dark side if Luke will not submit. Enraged, Luke attacks and overpowers Vader, severing his mechanical right hand. At the last minute, Luke realizes he is close to suffering his father's fate, and refuses Sidious' command to kill Vader and take his place. An enraged Sidious unleashes a torrent of Force lightning upon Luke, who begs his father for help. The sight of his son's suffering breaks the dark side's hold on Vader, who kills Sidious by throwing him into the Death Star's reactor core; in the process, however, he is mortally wounded by his master's lightning. Vader asks Luke to remove his helmet; in his dying breaths, the redeemed Anakin Skywalker tells his son that there was good left in him after all. Luke escapes with his father's remains, which he burns in a funeral pyre. The same night, the Rebels celebrate the destruction of the Death Star and the fall of the Empire, and Luke sees the spirit of Anakin standing alongside the spirits of Obi-Wan and Yoda.
Prequel trilogy[]
In Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005), set three years after Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Palpatine eventually reveals to Anakin Skywalker that he is the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, the mastermind behind the war, and that the dark side holds the power to save Padmé's life. Conflicted, Anakin reports Palpatine to Jedi Master Mace Windu (Samuel L. Jackson). Despite orders to remain behind, Anakin follows Windu to the Chancellor's office to ensure Sidious is captured alive. He walks in on Windu ready to kill Sidious and intervenes on the Sith Lord's behalf, severing Windu's lightsaber arm; Sidious then kills Windu with a blast of Force lightning. Desperate to save his wife, Anakin pledges himself to the Sith as Darth Sidious' apprentice, Darth Vader.
Sidious sends Vader to kill everyone inside the Jedi Temple, and then to assassinate the Separatist leaders on Mustafar. Padmé meets him there and pleads with him to flee Sidious' grasp with her. He refuses, saying that the two of them can overthrow Sidious and rule the galaxy. When Obi-Wan emerges from Padmé's ship, Anakin accuses her of conspiring against him and uses the Force to choke her into unconsciousness. Anakin then engages Obi-Wan in an epic lightsaber duel, which ends when Obi-Wan severs Anakin's legs and remaining organic arm in mid-air. Anakin then slides too close to a lava flow and catches fire, sustaining life-threatening third-degree burns. Obi-Wan picks up Anakin's lightsaber and leaves him to die.
Moments later, Sidious rescues Vader and reconstructs his apprentice's ruined body with the cybernetic limbs and black armor first seen in A New Hope. When Vader regains consciousness, Sidious tells him Padmé died as a result of Vader's anger. The news of her death breaks what remains of Vader's spirit, and he screams in torment. He is last seen alongside Sidious and a young Governor Tarkin (Wayne Pygram) viewing the construction of the first Death Star.
Expanded universe[]
Literature[]
Vader appears numerous times in comic books such as Dark Horse Comics's Star Wars Tales and Marvel Comics' Star Wars series (1977–1986). Vader's Quest (1999) which depicts Vader hiring a bounty hunter to bring him information about the pilot who destroyed the Death Star, ultimately meeting Luke for the first time.
In the novel Splinter of the Mind's Eye (1978), Vader and Luke duel, and Luke cuts off Vader's right arm. Shadows of the Empire (1996) reveals that Vader is conflicted about trying to turn his son to the dark side of the Force, and knows deep down that there is still some good in him. In James Luceno's Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader (2005), set a few months after the events of Revenge of the Sith, Vader disavows his identity as Anakin Skywalker as he systematically pursues and kills the surviving Jedi and cements his position in the Empire. The novel also reveals that Vader plans to eventually overthrow Darth Sidious, and that he betrayed the Jedi because he resented their supposed failure to recognize his power.
Video games[]
Darth Vader (voiced by Matt Sloan) plays a central role in The Force Unleashed (2008). He is a playable character in the first level of the game, where he and his armies invade Kashyyyk to hunt down a Jedi who had survived the Order's destruction. Vader kills the Jedi and kidnaps the man's young Force-sensitive son, whom he raises as his secret apprentice. Vader sends this apprentice — the game's protagonist — on various missions throughout the galaxy, with an ultimate goal to assassinate Darth Sidious so that Vader can rule the galaxy himself. Toward the end of the game, however, it is revealed that Vader isn't planning to overthrow Sidious at all; he is merely using his apprentice to expose the Empire's enemies. At the game's climax, the player chooses between attacking Sidious to help his Rebel friends escape the Death Star or killing Vader to become the Emperor's new apprentice.
He appears in the sequel The Force Unleashed II as the main antagonist and final boss.
Vader is a playable character in other games, including Lego Star Wars: The Video Game, Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy, Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga, Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars, Soulcalibur IV, Star Wars: Battlefront II, Star Wars: Empire at War and its Forces of Corruption expansion, and Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds. Vader is an active but non-playable character in Star Wars Galaxies.
In 2010, IGN ranked Darth Vader 25th in the "Top 100 Videogames Villains".
Characteristics[]
Cultural impact[]
More information: wikipedia:Darth Vader#Culteral impact
Gallery[]
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See also[]
- "The Imperial March" – the theme music that accompanies Darth Vader's appearances in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.
- Anakin Skywalker - Vader's Jedi persona