Darth Vader
In
A New Hope and
The Empire Strikes Back, Vader is depicted as the epitome of pure
evil â€" a
mass murderer and
war criminal who holds an entire
galaxy under the sway of an evil
empire, and, on a more personal scale, the apparent murderer of
Luke Skywalker's father,
Anakin. A
Dark Lord of the Sith, Vader serves at
Emperor Palpatine's right hand, using the
dark side of
the Force to mercilessly pursue the
Jedi and the
Rebel Alliance to the ends of the galaxy.
Original trilogy
In
the original Star Wars trilogy (consisting of
A New Hope,
The Empire Strikes Back, and
Return of the Jedi), Darth Vader is the primary antagonist: a dark, ruthless figure out to capture,
torture, or kill the
protagonists to prevent them from thwarting the Empire.
A New Hope
|
In A New Hope, Vader leads a unit of Stormtroopers in a boarding action on the Tantive IV. |
Darth Vader is introduced in
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope as a dark figure on a mission to retrieve the stolen plans of the
Death Star and locate the hidden base of the
Rebel Alliance. He boards the
Tantive IV, capturing
Princess Leia and bringing her to the Death Star. Aboard the Death Star
Admiral Motti ridicules Vader's "sad devotion" to the Force, and Vader responds by nearly choking the officer to death using The Force to prove his power.
An elderly
Obi-Wan Kenobi, along with
Luke Skywalker and
Han Solo, attempts to rescue Leia during their escape from the Death Star. Vader stops Obi-Wan on his way out and engages him in a
lightsaber duel. As Obi-Wan sees that if he escapes with Luke and company it would be too late, he sacrifices himself by leaving himself open to Vader's attack and becomes a spirit in the Force in order to guide Luke.
By putting a homing beacon on Han's ship, the
Millennium Falcon, Vader traces Luke, Han, and Leia to the rebel base at
Yavin IV. During the Rebel attack on the Death Star, Vader pilots a distinctive
TIE/Advanced fighter in pursuit of the Rebel
X-Wing starfighters. Vader gets a lock on Luke's X-wing, noting that "the Force is strong with this one", but is distracted by Han Solo who is piloting the
Millennium Falcon just in time to save Luke. Vader's ship collides with his remaining wingman, and is sent hurtling into space, ultimately sparing his life, as the Death Star is destroyed moments later.
The Empire Strikes Back
In
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, Vader is now at the forefront of the continuing attempt to suppress the Rebellion. He has by now learned the truth about Luke Skywalker, and is desperate to find him. He leads the Imperial troops on a full military assault on the rebel base hidden at the ice world of
Hoth and then pursues the escaping
Millennium Falcon through an
asteroid field. After hiding in the blind spot of a Star Destroyer, the
Falcon sets course to
Cloud City on
Bespin, followed by
Boba Fett, a bounty hunter hired by Vader. While on this pursuit, Palpatine contacts Vader via
hologram, giving him a new mission to capture Luke Skywalker and convert him to the dark side.
Vader uses his influence to make a deal with
Lando Calrissian to kidnap Han Solo, Princess Leia, Chewbacca and C3P0, creating a trap for Luke at Cloud City. Luke, who by now has been trained by
Yoda, arrives and finds his way to the carbonite freezing facility, where Vader is planning to freeze him for transport to the Emperor. The two duel and Luke attempts an escape from Cloud City. Vader corners and defeats Luke, cutting off his right hand. Vader then reveals his true identity as Luke's father, trying to persuade Luke to join him so that they can destroy the Emperor and rule the galaxy as father and son. Although shaken by this stunning claim, Luke refuses to join Vader and chooses death by throwing himself down a deep shaft. However, fate intervenes to allow him to survive and escape.
Return of the Jedi
In
Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, Vader is charged with overseeing the completion of the second Death Star, with
Moff Jerjerrod as his immediate subordinate. He meets with Palpatine onboard the half-constructed station to plan Luke's turn to the dark side.
|
Luke first sees his father's uncovered face, in Return of the Jedi. |
By this time, Luke has nearly completed his Jedi training and has learned from a dying
Yoda that Vader is indeed his father and that Leia is his sister. On a mission to the
forest moon of Endor, he surrenders to Imperial troops and is brought to Vader. Aboard the Death Star, Luke resists the Emperor's appeals to his anger and fear for his friends but snaps when Vader
telepathically probes his mind, learns of Leia's existence and threatens to turn her to the dark side instead. Enraged, Luke nearly kills Vader, finally severing his father's mechanical hand. However, he controls his anger at the last minute as he looks at Vader's mechanical hand and then at his own; he realizes that he is perilously close to suffering his father's fate. As the Emperor approaches, encouraging Luke to finish Vader and take his place, Luke throws down his lightsaber, refusing to perform the killing blow. Seeing that the young Jedi is a lost cause, the Emperor attacks Luke with
Force lightning. Luke writhes in agony under the Emperor's torture, begging his father for help. Unable to bear the sight of his son in pain, Vader turns on his master and throws him into a deep shaft, where he explodes in a fury of dark energies. In the process, however, errant bolts of Force lightning strike Vader, mortally wounding him. In his dying breaths, Vader begs Luke to remove the hideous breath-mask that has caged his face for more than half his life. Luke complies and, for the first and last time, sees his father's real face — that of a sad, withered man in his mid-forties ravaged by the dark side, whose sunken eyes reflect a lifetime of regret. With that, Vader — Anakin Skywalker — dies, finally at peace. Luke barely escapes the doomed battle station with his father's body before Rebel forces destroy it. Later that night, Luke burns his father's Sith armor (and whatever remains inside
[According to Steve Sansweet of Lucasfilm, the Star Wars Databank entry for Vader [1], and the script for Return of the Jedi Special Edition, Anakin's body disappears at death in the same way as Obi-Wan's and Yoda's had, though some argue that the movie would have shown his disappearance explicitly if that were the case. The Special Edition script reference that supposedly establishes the disappearance of his body is in text of the scene where Luke cremates his father's armor. The Special Edition script refers to it as empty armor, while the original script refers to it as his father's body. It should also be noted that in the Jedi Academy trilogy Dark Apprentice by Kevin J. Anderson, Luke specifically states that his father's body had disappeared in the same way as Yoda's and Obi-Wan's. However, in the commentary for the Return of the Jedi DVD, Lucas refers to the funeral pyre scene as Luke burning his father's "body."]) in the manner of a Jedi's funeral. During the victory celebration on the forest moon of Endor, Luke is able to see the redeemed spirit of Anakin Skywalker, standing once again with Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Prequel trilogy
|
Anakin Skywalker before his fall from grace |
Following up on the revelation in
The Empire Strikes Back that Vader was once Anakin Skywalker, the
Star Wars prequel trilogy (consisting of
The Phantom Menace,
Attack of the Clones, and
Revenge of the Sith) focus on his life before he became Darth Vader, both his heroic rise and tragic fall.
In
The Phantom Menace, Anakin is introduced as a nine-year-old boy, living on
Tatooine with his mother,
Shmi, as a slave to the trader
Watto. He has no father, and is apparently a
virgin birth; it is suggested that he is a creation of the
midi-chlorians, but his exact origins are left ambiguous. He is discovered by
Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice, the young
Obi-Wan Kenobi, who are convinced that Anakin is the "
Chosen One" foretold by the prophecy to bring balance to the Force. Qui-Gon wins Anakin's freedom to take him on as an apprentice Jedi (a "padawan learner".) The
Jedi Council rejects him, however, sensing in him a great deal of fear and anger left over from his days as a slave. Shortly afterward, Qui-Gon is killed in the
Battle of Naboo, and, in his dying breaths, pleads with Obi-Wan to train the boy. The Council reluctantly approves, and Anakin is apprenticed to Obi-Wan. Palpatine, newly elected as the Republic's Supreme Chancellor, befriends the boy, promising to "watch his career with great interest."
Over the next few years, Anakin's ability with the Force increases exponentially, but he develops into an arrogant loner who resents Obi-Wan's strict training. Needing an encouraging father figure, he turns to Palpatine, who feeds the young padawan's
ego and undermines his belief in the Jedi code.
In
Attack of the Clones, set 10 years after Anakin is initially discovered, he is assigned to protect Senator
Padmé Amidala from the
Confederacy of Independent Systems, aka the Separatists. The two eventually fall in love, even though Jedi are forbidden to form emotional attachments.
After suffering visions of his mother dying in agony, he travels to Tatooine and discovers that his mother has been kidnapped by
Tusken Raiders. After she dies in his arms, Anakin is seized by a violent rage and he slaughters the entire camp, including the women and children. He confesses to Padmé, who forgives him. They later go to
Geonosis to save Obi-Wan, who has been kidnapped by the Separatists, but are captured and sentenced to death. Moments from execution, they pledge their love to each other. They are saved at the last moment by a cadre of Jedi, who do battle with the Separatists in the opening salvo of the
Clone Wars. Anakin fights Separatist leader (and fallen Jedi)
Count Dooku, but is easily defeated, losing his right forearm. Back on Coruscant, he is fitted with a
prosthetic hand, and marries Padmé in a secret ceremony.
Revenge of the Sith
In
Revenge of the Sith, which is set three years after
Attack of the Clones, Anakin has been made a full-fledged Jedi Knight, and his exploits in the Clone Wars have earned him the moniker "The Hero With No Fear." The beginning of the movie sees Anakin and Obi-Wan in the middle of an attempt to rescue Palpatine from
General Grievous, a Separatist warlord who has (apparently)
kidnapped him. In the course of this rescue on Grievous' flagship, the two confront Count Dooku, a battle which ends with Anakin ruthlessly killing his helpless opponent at Palpatine's urgings. Anakin is instantly
remorseful, but Palpatine reassures Anakin that Dooku "was too dangerous to be kept alive."
Anakin returns to Coruscant, where Padmé tells him she is
pregnant. He is initially overjoyed, but is later tormented by prophetic visions of her death in
childbirth — visions earlier similar to those he had of his mother just before her death. Meanwhile, Palpatine sponsors Anakin to the Jedi Council, but the Council, suspicious of Palpatine, in turn denies Anakin the rank of Jedi Master, and asks him to spy on Palpatine. As Anakin becomes increasingly alienated from the Jedi, Palpatine tempts him further with "hidden" secrets of the Force, including the ability to prevent death indefinitely (and thus save his wife).
These tempations reach a boiling point when Anakin finally realizes that Palpatine is the Sith that the Jedi have been searching for. He reveals this to the Jedi, but he then intrudes on
Mace Windu's attempt to apprehend an apparently helpless Palpatine. He pleads for his mentor's life, but Windu says the Sith Lord must be destroyed, as he is too politically powerful to receive a fair trial. As Windu is about to kill Palpatine, Anakin cuts off Windu's saber arm, leaving him defenseless for Palpatine's sudden burst of Force lightning, which sends Windu plummeting to his death. Anakin then pledges himself to the dark side, and is given the
Sith title and name Darth Vader.
Vader's first task as a Sith Lord is to assault the Jedi Temple with the
501st Legion and to kill everyone inside, even the
youngling children. He does this without question, slaughtering venerable Jedi and child alike. He is then sent to
Mustafar to assassinate
Nute Gunray and other Separatist leaders. After completing this task, he is met by Padmé, who pleads with him to flee Palpatine's grasp with her. He refuses, saying that he can overthrow Palpatine and the two of them can rule the galaxy together. Obi-Wan, who had hidden himself on Padmé's ship, suddenly emerges and confronts Vader. Suspecting betrayal, Vader angrily uses the Force to choke Padmé, leaving her unconscious on the landing platform. The former partners and friends then engage in a ferocious lightsaber duel throughout the mining complex and onto the banks of a lava river. Vader tries to further pursue his master with a
Force jump despite Obi-Wan's superior positioning. Obi-Wan severs his remaining limbs in midair, leaving him for dead on the hot sands, where Vader is nearly immolated. He lingers on until rescued by Palpatine, who sensed Vader's impending defeat after his own duel with Yoda.
 |
Vader's life support suit is placed on him for the first time. |
Palpatine revives Vader with extensive cybernetic enhancements, including a respirator, black body armor, and a fearsome breathing mask that alters his weakened voice into an intimidating low pitched and mechanical one. Palpatine then tells Vader that, in his anger, he had killed his own wife (in fact, Padmé died in childbirth on
Polis Massa after delivering healthy twins). Overwhelmed with
grief and bitterness by the belief that he had killed his wife (and, presumably, her unborn child), the only thing that remains in his life is his service to his master, the new Emperor of the galaxy.
As chronicled in
James Luceno's book
Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader, Vader sheds his identity as Anakin Skywalker shortly after incurring his injuries on Mustafar; in the months afterward, he systematically pursues and kills the survivors of the
Great Jedi Purge (save Obi-Wan and Yoda) and, in the process, fully embraces his new identity as a Sith Lord and disavows any connection to his former Jedi self.
Portrayals
During filming of
A New Hope,
David Prowse played the role of Darth Vader. However, to his dismay[
2], when filming was finished,
James Earl Jones was hired to read Vader's lines over Prowse's acting performance. Although disappointing for Prowse, this has generally been viewed as a sound editorial decision, as Prowse has a thick
West Country English accent, which is traditionally regarded as having overtones of simple rural folk, rather than galactic overlords. Prowse was given the choice over the roles of
Chewbacca and Darth Vader. He chose Darth Vader because he said "people would remember him." Although Prowse didn't know at the time that the role would entail a mask, Prowse wore the Vader suit and Jones was Vader's voice for
Empire Strikes Back and
Return of the Jedi. James Earl Jones career was greatly boosted by this role. He has since been often cast in roles as powerful figures with deep voices.
The character of Darth Vader was also played by several stunt doubles, most notably fencing instructor
Bob Anderson, who handled all of Vader's fight sequences in
The Empire Strikes Back and
Return of the Jedi.
Mark Hamill (who portrayed Luke in the original trilogy) noted in a 1983 interview in Starlog #72: "Bob Anderson was the man who actually did Vader's fighting. It was always supposed to be a secret, but I finally told George I didn't think it was fair any more. Bob worked so hard that he deserves some recognition. It's ridiculous to preserve the myth that it's all done by
one man." [
3]
In 1978, Jones returned as the voice of Vader (footage of Prowse in the suit is actually unused footage from
A New Hope) in
The Star Wars Holiday Special, as well as to shoot new footage that was released with the
Star Wars: The Interactive Video Board Game, when it was released in 1996. He also reprised his role for the film Robots, where a character obtains a voice with Vader's voice.
Actor and former
Industrial Light & Magic visual effects artist C. Andrew Nelson has also portrayed Vader at a number of events for
Lucasfilm, as well as the videogames
Rebel Assault II and
Dark Forces, and in new footage filmed for the Special Edition releases of the original three
Star Wars films in 1997. Over the years Nelson has also appeared as Vader on various television shows and in numerous commercials.
For
Revenge of the Sith,
Hayden Christensen (who had played Anakin Skywalker since
Attack of the Clones) wore the Vader suit, instead of Prowse. However, as he is shorter than Prowse, a new scaled-down costume was created for him. While the body actor had changed, James Earl Jones still served as the voice of Vader.
In the young adult series
The Last of The Jedi, Boba Fett, at the age of 14, is hired by Imperial leader Inquisitor Malorum to investigate Padmé Amidala's death at Vader's request. Vader is expected to at least make
cameo appearances in the upcoming
Star Wars live-action TV series, which is slated for either a 2007 or 2008 release and will run 100 episodes.
In the story
Prey, Vader goes head-to-head with Boba Fett in a lightsaber duel, which he ultimately wins, caused by a dispute over who should bring in Imperial deserter Han Solo for the bounty on his head.
The
Cartoon Network microseries
Star Wars: Clone Wars chronicles Anakin's adventures and trials in the many battles of the Clone Wars. The series, which covers the period between just after
Episode II and just before
Episode III, sees Anakin become a Jedi and galaxy-renowned war hero, and foreshadows the temptations to power and fear of loss that would transform him into Darth Vader.
In the
comic book Vader's Quest, he hires bounty hunters to bring him information about the author of the destruction of the Death Star, ultimately meeting his son Luke for the very first time. Later on, in the
Alan Dean Foster novel
Splinter of the Mind's Eye (which takes place shortly after the events in
A New Hope), Vader meets Luke for the second time and combats him in a lightsaber duel for the first time on the planet
Mimban. On Mimban, Vader suffers massive injuries when he falls into a pit. The extent as to which these new injuries may have worsened his condition (if at all) is somewhat disputed among the
Star Wars fanbase.
In
The Star Wars Holiday Special, Vader searches for the Rebels responsible for the destruction of the Death Star, almost thwarting Han and
Chewbacca's goal of reaching
Kashyyyk in order for Chewie to reach his family for
Life Day.
Vader also has a prominent role in the 1996 novel/comic/video game
Shadows of the Empire, which takes place between
The Empire Strikes Back and
Return of the Jedi. In the story,
Prince Xizor, leader of the crime organization
Black Sun, plots to overthrow Vader and take his place as the Emperor's second in command. The story also gives more insight into Vader's thoughts and ambitions as it reveals that he knows there is some good left in him and that he wishes to heal his body through the Force in an attempt to return his physical appearance to that of his former self, Anakin Skywalker. At one point in the novel, Vader is in his chamber with his suit completely removed as he attempts to recover his body.
Vader also makes occasional appearances in Dark Horse's
Star Wars comic books set between the movies, especially
Star Wars: Empire.
In the
Thrawn trilogy, it is explained that Darth Vader was the first representative of the Empire to find the
Noghri, a race with exceptional combat skills, whom he manipulated into serving as his personal commandos and revering him as their master. Later, Vader transferred their services to
Grand Admiral Thrawn.
Leia Organa Solo, who was initially horrified to learn that Vader was her father, eventually forgave him after learning her family's full history and named her youngest son
Anakin in remembrance of her father's redemption.
In the novel
The Unifying Force of the
New Jedi Order series, set 30 years after the
Battle of Yavin in
A New Hope, Anakin's voice would speak to his grandson,
Jacen Solo, telling him to "Stand firm" in his battle with the Supreme Overlord of the
Yuuzhan Vong.
In
Star Wars Visionaries, Darth Sidious said that a Geonosian Bionic technology that was used on General Grievous to save his life might be useful in the years to come. Possibly, the Empire adapted the technology to save Darth Vader.
Even taking the Expanded Universe into account, Darth Vader appears to have been one of the last
Sith Lords to use the title "Darth".
Even before his transformation into Vader, Anakin was a
cyborg: he had a
prosthetic hand installed after his natural right
forearm was severed while dueling with Count Dooku on Geonosis in
Attack of the Clones (before the release of
Attack of the Clones, the 1994 Expanded Universe novel
The Last Command by
Timothy Zahn claimed that Vader's hand had been
amputated by Palpatine as punishment for the destruction of the first Death Star). As a result of his later disfigurement on Mustafar, Vader was substantially augmented with cybernetic implants: he is depicted as wearing his armor at all times when he is not meditating in his pressurized containment-chamber. A towering figure, the suited Darth Vader is nearly 6
feet 8
inches (2.03
meters) tall. This transformation is apparently essential to Obi-Wan's judgment, cemented after the fight on Mustafar and expressed to Luke in
Return of the Jedi, that Vader is "more machine now than man, twisted and evil."
According to
Star Wars Technical Commentaries, Vader's armor is built around a plastoid girdle that protects his organic and synthetic internal organs. More visible durasteel plates cover his shoulders, upper body and shins. He wears a suit of quilted, flexible, blast-dampening, multi-ply padding, and a cloak of armor weave. His gloves and hands are made with a unique micronized iron that can deflect anything short of a lightsaber blow. His famous mask and helmet, resembling the head of an ancient Sith droid, contain various vision- and auditory-enhancing equipment, as well as the respirator that causes the Dark Lord's ominous breathing sound.
Vader's life support system includes a chest-worn, computerized control panel unit that regulates his respiratory functions. Three slot-like dataports offered diagnostic checks of his
pulmonary,
respiratory and
neural systems. Upon closer examination, the chestplate has
Hebrew lettering which has been translated as, "His deeds will not be forgiven, until he merits."
["Lord Vader's Chestplate", Star Wars Technical Commentaries. (This page discusses the common belief that the text that appears on Darth Vader's chestplate may be Hebrew) [4]] On his belt, Vader wears two small system function boxes. The one on his right featured a temperature regulation system. On his left, he wears a respiratory sensor matrix. The center buckle features an audio enhancement unit built into the electromagnetic clasp. The armor also enables him to breathe in vacuum while protecting him from the coldness of space. The reason for his cloak is to protect a small oxygen pack he wears on his back.
[The Visual Dictionary of Star Wars, Episode III (ISBN 0756611288)] |
An early conceptual drawing of Darth Vader. |
The character of Darth Vader was not originally planned to be a suited cyborg. The current image of Vader was created when concept artist
Ralph McQuarrie drew the opening scene where the
Rebel ship Tantive IV was being boarded. It was initially imagined that Darth Vader would fly through space to enter the ship, necessitating a suit and breathing mask. This was later made permanent and incorporated in the story.
Vader's
leitmotif is
The Imperial March. The iconic breathing sound of his respirator was created by
sound designer Ben Burtt, who created the sound by simply recording himself breathing into an old
Dacor scuba regulator.
In a 2005 interview, George Lucas was asked the origins of the name "Darth Vader", and replied: "Darth is a variation of dark. And Vader is a variation of father. So it's basically Dark Father." (
Rolling Stone, June 2, 2005). "Vader" is the
Dutch word for "father" (the Dutch word is instead pronounced
"fah-der"), and the
German word for "father" (
Vater) is similar. However, in the earliest scripts for
Star Wars, the name "Darth Vader" was given to a normal Imperial general. Judging by the origin of the other Sith names, Vader may also possibly be a derivative of the word "invader."
Some believe that the revelation of Vader as the father of Luke Skywalker in
The Empire Strikes Back is a case of
retroactive continuity. As originally depicted in the first film, Vader was a student of Obi-Wan Kenobi's who was seduced by the dark side of the Force, betraying and murdering Luke's (then unnamed) father, who seemed at that time to be a separate character from Vader. Much of the criticism from skeptics of Lucas is aimed at the fact that Obi-Wan's story about the death of Luke's father in
A New Hope became an outright lie after the later films were produced. It is unclear when Lucas decided to merge Luke's father and Darth Vader into one character. Some accounts have indicated that
Empire screenwriter
Leigh Brackett was the first to suggest that Vader was Luke's father during story meetings. As it stands, there is currently no behind-the-scenes evidence that Vader was intended to be Luke's father from the very start. Thus, that concept may very well have originated after the original theatrical release of
A New Hope. Lucas has claimed in recent years that Vader's
story arc (being revealed as Luke's father and then being redeemed) was planned from the beginning.
Vader's headgear resembles a
Japanese
kabuto, which is consistent with the
samurai-like order of the Jedi and
kendo-like lightsaber duels. An American
Football helmet made by
Riddell, with a distinctive approx. 3cm wide middle seam elevated by approx 3 millimeters that connected the two shell halves and accommodated air valves, was most likely used as the basis for
Vader's helmet.
As Vader fits the classic stock character of the
Black Knight, some have noted that Vader bears more than a passing resemblance to more recent, fictive villains. One is the classic
Marvel Universe supervillain Doctor Doom. (This is further alluded in
Stephen King's
Dark Tower novels in which so-called "Doombots" appear that wear green hoods and iron wolf masks, much like Doom, and carry lightsabers.) Another is
Sinestro, a former member of the
Green Lantern Corps who was corrupted by his power.
Darth Vader also resembles an inverted
King Arthur in relationship with Luke Skywalker as an inverted
Mordred.
Due to his central role, Vader has entered the public consciousness as the quintessential villain. His powerful baritone voice, coupled with his heavy breathing, is easily recognizable, and the
American Film Institute's list of the
greatest movie villains placed him third, after
Hannibal Lecter and
Norman Bates. He has been
parodied by such figures as "
Dark Helmet" from
Spaceballs, "Duck Vader" from
Tiny Toon Adventures, "Girth Plotz" from an episode of
Animaniacs that parodied the first trilogy, "
Darth Koopa" from
The Super Mario Bros. Super Show, "Dark Laser" from
The Fairly Odd Parents, an episode of
Codename: Kids Next Door where
President Jimmy dressed in black and, now devoted to evil, takes over the school and country singer Darth Brooks in
Late Night With Conan O'Brien. Another kind of tribute to Darth Vader comes from
Stargate SG-1, in which there are similarities between
Anubis and Vader, played for both dramatic and comic effect (complete with Death Star-esque spaceship and superweapon), and his name is mentioned when the issue of
Vala's immaculate birth is brought up.
Marty McFly in
Back to the Future (dressed up in a radiation suit) pretended to be "Darth Vader from the planet
Vulcan" in an effort to get his
science fiction-loving dad to date his mom.
Vader's name has become a
synonym for evil; for example, political strategist
Lee Atwater was known as "the Darth Vader of the
Republican Party". Then-Vice President
Al Gore referred to
TCI's
John Malone as "Darth Vader of
cable." Lucas has pointed to Vader's iconic status as a reason he made the prequel movies, since he felt the icon overshadowed the fact that Vader was intended to be a tragic character.
Martin Kove said that his character
John Kreese in
The Karate Kid movies was known by fans as "The Darth Vader of the Martial Arts World."
Vader's revelation to Luke that he is his father is one of the most famous movie plot twists of all time. An
IMDb poll on
10 November 2003[
5] asked users to choose which one of a set of movie spoilers was too infamous to be considered a spoiler anymore; Vader's true identity was a clear winner, by a 40% margin.
During a major renovation,
Washington National Cathedral held a competition for children to design new
gargoyles for the west towers. One winner was a design featuring Darth Vader. [
6]
Two significant office buildings in
Brisbane, California are highly visible landmarks by the
San Francisco Bay. The ominous looking one made of all dark reflective glass has been dubbed the Darth Vader building. The other is the architecturally acclaimed Dakin building, a brilliant white futuristic
antithesis, and is known in the San Francisco Bay area as the Luke Skywalker building.
In 1990
Roger Taylor's band
The Cross released the album
Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know, featuring the song "Penetration Guru", which has the line "Contact me, I'm no Darth Vader" in the verse before each chorus.
* Prowse was not told by Lucas or
Irvin Kershner that Darth Vader was Luke's father. He was given the line "Obi-Wan killed your father" while
Mark Hamill reacted to the real line.
James Earl Jones, of course, knew the real line. Later, when asked about it, he said "The moment I saw that line on that page, I said to myself, 'He's [Darth Vader] lying. How are they going to stretch this lie?'"
* Darth Vader's boot prints are in front of
Grauman's Chinese Theatre along with
R2-D2's and
C-3PO's.
*
Skywalker family*
Naberrie family*
Hasbro Darth Vader Voice Changer
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace Novelization, 1st edition paperback, 1999.
Terry Brooks,
George Lucas, ISBN 0-345-43411-0
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones Novelization, 2003.
R. A. Salvatore, ISBN 0-345-42882-X
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith Novelization, 1st edition hardcover, 2005. Matthew Woodring Stover, George Lucas, ISBN 0-7126-8427-1
The New Essential Guide to Characters, 1st edition, 2002. Daniel Wallace, Michael Sutfin, ISBN 0-345-44900-2
The Dark Side Sourcebook,
Wizards of the Coast, 1st printing, 2001. Bill Slavicsek, J. D. Wiker, ISBN 0-786-91849-7
Vader: The Ultimate Guide, 2005.
Star Wars: The Visual Dictionary, hardcover, 1998. Dr. David West Reynolds, ISBN 0-789-43481-4
Star Wars: Attack of the Clones: The Visual Dictionary, hardcover, 2002. Dr. David West Reynolds, ISBN 0-789-48588-5
Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith: The Visual Dictionary, hardcover, 2005. James Luceno, ISBN 0-756-61128-8
*Shooting script of
Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi as available at
Internet Movie Script Database*Shooting script of
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith as available at
Internet Movie Script DatabaseStar Wars Technical Commentaries, Dr. Curtis Saxton, 1995-2005. Available at
TheForce.netStar Wars Databank.
Skywalker, Anakin,
Vader, Darth*
Darth Vader at the
Star Wars Databank
