Darth Vader

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Darth Vader
Anakin Skywalker
Star Wars character
Darth Vader.jpg
David Prowse as Darth Vader
in The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
First appearance Star Wars (1977)
Created by George Lucas
Portrayed by <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
  • Darth Vader:
  • Anakin Skywalker:
    • Jake Lloyd (Episode I)
    • Hayden Christensen (Episodes II and III, Return of the Jedi 2004 DVD and later releases)
    • Sebastian Shaw (Return of the Jedi)
Voiced by <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>

Darth Vader, also known by his birth name Anakin Skywalker, is a fictional character in the Star Wars film franchise.[1][2][3] Vader appears in the original film trilogy as a pivotal antagonist whose actions drive the plot of the first three films while his past as Anakin Skywalker and the story of his corruption is central to the prequel trilogy.

The character was created by George Lucas and has been portrayed by numerous actors. His appearances span the first six Star Wars films, as well as Rogue One, and his character is heavily referenced in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. He is also an important character in the Star Wars expanded universe of television series, video games, novels, literature and comic books. Originally a Jedi prophesied to bring balance to the Force, he falls to the dark side of the Force and serves the evil Galactic Empire at the right hand of his Sith master, Emperor Palpatine (also known as Darth Sidious).[4] He is also the father of Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia Organa, grandfather of Kylo Ren, and secret husband of Padmé Amidala.

The American Film Institute listed him as the third greatest movie villain in cinema history on 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains, behind Hannibal Lecter and Norman Bates.[5]

Creation and development

Ralph McQuarrie, who designed Darth Vader, visiting ILM in 2008
Brian Muir sculpted Darth Vader's costume using McQuarrie's design.[6]

Concept and writing

In the first draft of The Star Wars, tall, grim general "Darth Vader" was already close in line with his final depiction,[7] and the protagonist "Anikin Starkiller" had a role similar to Luke Skywalker's as the 16-year-old son of a respected warrior.[8]

After the success of the original Star Wars (1977), series creator George Lucas hired science fiction author Leigh Brackett to write the sequel with him. They held story conferences and, by late November 1977, Lucas had produced a handwritten treatment. The treatment is similar to the final film, except that 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.[9] Lucas was disappointed with the script, but Brackett died of cancer before he could discuss it with her.[10] With no writer available, Lucas had to write the next draft himself. In this draft, he made use of a new plot twist: 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.[11]

The new plot element of Luke's parentage 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.[12] After writing the second and third drafts in which the plot point was introduced, Lucas reviewed the new backstory he had created: Anakin had been Obi-Wan Kenobi's brilliant student and had a child named Luke, but was swayed to the dark side by Palpatine. Anakin battled Kenobi on the site of a volcano on Mustafar and was badly wounded, but was then reborn as Vader. He had to wear a mask that was also a portable iron lung resulting from his injuries.

             Meanwhile, Kenobi hid Luke on Tatooine while the Galactic Republic became the tyrannical Galactic Empire and Vader systematically hunted down and killed the Jedi.[13] This change in character would provide a springboard to the "Tragedy of Darth Vader" storyline that underlies the prequel trilogy.[14]

After deciding to create the prequel trilogy, Lucas indicated the series would be a tragic one depicting Anakin's fall to the dark side. He also saw that the prequels could form the beginning of one long story that started with Anakin's childhood and ended with his death. This was the final step towards turning the film series into a "saga".[15]

For the first prequel, Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999), Lucas made Anakin nine years old to make the character's separation from his mother more poignant.[8] Movie trailers focused on Anakin and a one-sheet poster showing him casting Vader's shadow informed otherwise unknowing audiences of the character's eventual fate.[16] The movie ultimately achieved a primary goal of introducing audiences to Anakin.[1]

Michael Kaminski, in The Secret History of Star Wars, offers evidence that issues in Anakin's fall to the dark side prompted Lucas to make massive story changes, first revising the opening sequence of the third prequel, Revenge of the Sith (2005), to have Palpatine kidnapped and his apprentice, Count Dooku, killed by Anakin as the first act in the latter's turn towards the dark side.[17] After principal photography was complete in 2003, Lucas made even more massive changes in Anakin's character, re-writing his entire turn to the dark side; his fall from grace would now be motivated by a desire to save his wife, Padmé Amidala, rather than the previous version in which that reason was one of several, including that he genuinely believed that the Jedi were plotting to take over the Republic. This fundamental re-write was accomplished both through editing the principal footage, and new and revised scenes filmed during pick-ups in 2004.[18]

During production of the Clone Wars TV series, Ahsoka Tano was developed to illustrate how Anakin develops from the brash, undisciplined Padawan apprentice in Attack of the Clones (2002) to the more reserved Jedi Knight in Revenge of the Sith.[19] Clone Wars supervising director and Rebels co-creator Dave Filoni said that giving Anakin responsibility for a Padawan was meant to place the character in a role that forced him to become more cautious and responsible. It would also give him insight into his relationship with Obi-Wan and depict how their relationship matured. Ahsoka and Anakin's relationship was seen as an essential story arc spanning both the animated film and Clone Wars television series.[20] Filoni began thinking about the final confrontation between Ahsoka and Vader ever since he created Ahsoka;[21] different iterations had different endings,[22] including one in which Vader kills Ahsoka just as she slashes open his helmet to reveal Anakin's scarred face.[23]

Ahsoka's presence in Star Wars Rebels was necessary to allow Darth Vader to encounter the show's lead characters without the latter being "destroyed"; Ahsoka can "stand toe-to-toe" with Vader.[24]

Portrayals

David Prowse in August 2007

Darth Vader was portrayed by bodybuilder David Prowse in the original film trilogy, and by stunt performer Bob Anderson during the character's intense lightsaber fight scenes.[7][25] Lucas originally intended for Orson Welles to voice Vader (after dismissing using Prowse's own voice due to his English West Country accent, leading to the rest of the cast nicknaming him "Darth Farmer").[26] After deciding that Welles's voice would be too recognizable, he cast the lesser-known James Earl Jones instead.[27][28] Jones initially felt his contributions to the films were too small to warrant recognition and his role was uncredited at his request until the release of Return of the Jedi (1983).[7] When Jones was specifically asked if he had supplied Vader's voice for Revenge of the Sith—either newly or from a previous recording—Jones answered, "You'd have to ask Lucas about that. I don't know".[29] The character has also been voiced by Scott Lawrence and Matt Sloan for several video games. Hayden Christensen and Gene Bryant alternately portray Vader in Revenge of the Sith.[30][31] During the production of Revenge of the Sith, Christensen asked Lucas if a special Vader suit could be constructed to fit his own body, rather than have a different actor don one of the original sets of Vader armor worn by Prowse.[32] Brock Peters provided the voice of Darth Vader in the NPR/USC radio series. Both Spencer Wilding[33] and Daniel Naprous portrayed Vader in Rogue One (2016), with Jones reprising his role as the character's voice.[34]

During production of Return of the Jedi, the casting crew sought an experienced actor for the role of Anakin Skywalker since his death was unquestionably the emotional climax of the film, and Sebastian Shaw was selected for the role.[35] When Shaw arrived at the set for filming, he ran into his friend Ian McDiarmid, the actor playing the Emperor. When McDiarmid asked him what he was doing there, Shaw responded, "I don't know, dear boy, I think it's something to do with science-fiction."[36] His presence during the filming was kept secret from all but the minimum cast and crew, and Shaw was contractually obliged not to discuss any film secrets with anyone, even his family. The unmasking scene, directed by Richard Marquand, was filmed in one day and required only a few takes, with no alteration from the original dialogue.[35] Lucas personally directed Shaw for his appearance in the final scene of the film, in which he is a Force Ghost of Anakin. Shaw's image in this scene was replaced with that of Christensen in the 2004 DVD release. This last attempt to tie the prequel and original trilogies together proved to be possibly the most controversial change in the Star Wars re-releases.[37][38] Shaw received more fan mail and autograph requests from Return of the Jedi than he had for any role in the rest of his career. He later reflected that he very much enjoyed his experience filming for Return of the Jedi and expressed particular surprise that an action figure was made of him from the film.[35]

When The Phantom Menace was being produced, hundreds of actors were tested for the role of young Anakin[39] before the producers settled on Jake Lloyd who Lucas considered met his requirements of "a good actor, enthusiastic and very energetic". Producer Rick McCallum said that Lloyd was "smart, mischievous and loves anything mechanical—just like Anakin."[40][41] During production of Attack of the Clones, casting director Robin Gurland reviewed about 1,500 other candidates for the role of the young adult Anakin before Lucas eventually selected Hayden Christensen for the role.[42] When Revenge of the Sith was being produced, Christensen and Ewan McGregor began rehearsing their climactic lightsaber duel long before Lucas would shoot it. They trained extensively with stunt coordinator Nick Gillard to memorize and perform their duel together. As in the previous two prequel films, McGregor and Christensen performed their own lightsaber fighting scenes without the use of stunt doubles.[43]

Anakin has also been voiced by Mat Lucas for the 2003 micro-series Star Wars: Clone Wars, and by Matt Lanter in the CGI animated film Star Wars: The Clone Wars, the television series of the same name and for Anakin's cameos in Star Wars Rebels. For Vader's appearances in the Star Wars Rebels animated series, James Earl Jones has reprised the voice role.[44][45] Both Lanter and Jones contributed their voices for the second-season finale of Rebels, at times with identical dialogue spoken by both actors blended together in different ways.[46]

Design

Vader initially appears in the original trilogy wearing a black armored suit, which was based on the armor used by Japanese samurai.[47] 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.[7] Brian Muir sculpted Vader's costume based on McQuarrie's design.[6]

The sound of the character's mask's respirator function is trademarked in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office under Trademark #77419252 and is officially described in the documentation as "The sound of rhythmic mechanical human breathing created by breathing through a scuba tank regulator."[48]

Appearances

Darth Vader appears in seven of the eight live-action Star Wars films and The Clone Wars animated film and spinoff series. He has a recurring role in Star Wars expanded universe material.

Featured films

Original trilogy

James Earl Jones provided the voice of Darth Vader in the original film trilogy.

Darth Vader first appears in the original 1977 Star Wars film as a ruthless cyborg serving the Galactic Empire. He is tasked, along with Imperial commander Grand Moff Tarkin, to recover the secret technical plans for the Death Star, which were stolen by the Rebel Alliance. Vader captures and tortures Princess Leia Organa, who has hidden the plans inside the droid R2-D2 and sent it to find Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi on the planet Tatooine. During Leia's rescue, Vader kills Obi-Wan in a lightsaber duel. Having placed a tracking device aboard the Millennium Falcon, Vader is able to track down the Rebels' base on the planet Yavin 4.[49] During the Rebels' attack on the Death Star, Vader attempts to shoot down Luke's X-wing fighter, but Han Solo intervenes and sends Vader's ship spiraling off course, allowing Luke to destroy the Death Star.

In The Empire Strikes Back, Vader becomes obsessed with finding Luke[49] and leads the Imperial attack on the Rebel base on Hoth, but the Rebels escape. While conversing with the Emperor, Vader convinces him that Luke would be valuable to the Empire if he could be turned to the dark side of the Force. Vader hires a group of bounty hunters to follow Luke and his friends, and negotiates with Bespin administrator Lando Calrissian to set a trap for them so that Luke will follow them.[49] After Han, Leia, Chewbacca, and C-3PO arrive, Vader tortures Han, freezes him in carbonite and gives him to bounty hunter Boba Fett.[49] When Luke arrives, Vader defeats Luke in a lightsaber duel, severing his opponent's hand. Vader then tells Luke that he is his father[49] and asks Luke to help him overthrow the Emperor so they can rule the galaxy together. Horrified, Luke falls through an air shaft and escapes. Vader telepathically tells Luke that it is his destiny to turn to the dark side.

In Return of the Jedi, Vader and the Emperor are supervising the second Death Star's construction. Unknown to Vader, the Emperor intends to replace him with Luke as his apprentice.[49] Having believed that there is still good in his father, Luke surrenders to Vader, who brings him to the Emperor onboard the Death Star. While there, the Emperor tempts Luke to join the dark side by appealing to the young Jedi's fear for his friends, which leads to Vader dueling with Luke once again.[49] Realizing that Leia is Luke's twin sister, Vader threatens to turn her to the dark side if Luke will not submit. Furious, Luke overpowers Vader and severs his father's robotic hand. The Emperor orders Luke to kill Vader and take his place. Luke refuses, however, and the Emperor tortures him with Force lightning. Moved by Luke's pleas for help, Vader throws the Emperor down the Death Star's reactor core to his death; he is mortally wounded by the Emperor's lightning in the process, however.[49][50] After asking Luke to remove his mask, the redeemed Anakin Skywalker tells his son that there was good in him after all before he dies.[50] Luke escapes the Death Star with his father's remains, and ceremonially burns them in a pyre. Anakin's spirit reunites with those of Obi-Wan and Yoda to watch over Luke and his friends as the Rebels celebrate the Death Star's destruction and the fall of the Empire.[50]

Prequel trilogy

Hayden Christensen portrayed Anakin Skywalker in the second and third prequel films.

Anakin first appears in the prequel trilogy in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, which takes place 32 years before the original Star Wars, as a young slave living on the planet Tatooine with his mother Shmi. Anakin was conceived without a father and he can foresee the future. In addition to being a gifted pilot and mechanic, he has built his own protocol droid C-3PO. Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn meets Anakin after making an emergency landing on Tatooine. Qui-Gon senses Anakin's strong connection to the Force and becomes convinced that the boy is the "Chosen One" of Jedi prophecy who will bring balance to the Force. After winning his freedom in a podrace, Anakin leaves for Coruscant to be trained as a Jedi, but is forced to leave Shmi behind. During the journey, Anakin forms a bond with Padmé Amidala, the young queen of Naboo. Qui-Gon asks the Jedi Council for permission to train Anakin, but they sense fear in the boy and refuse. Eventually, Anakin helps thwart the Trade Federation's invasion of Naboo by destroying their command ship. After Qui-Gon is killed in a lightsaber duel with Sith Lord Darth Maul, Obi-Wan promises to train Anakin, with the Council's reluctant approval.[50]

Anakin is Obi-Wan's Padawan apprentice in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, which takes place 10 years after The Phantom Menace. Having rescued Padmé, who is now a senator, from an assassination attempt, Anakin travels with her to Naboo, where they fall in love. Sensing that Shmi is in pain, Anakin travels to Tatooine to rescue her. While there, Anakin learns she was kidnapped by Tusken Raiders. Anakin locates Shmi at the Tusken campsite, where she dies in his arms. Anakin, enraged, massacres the Tuskens and returns to the Lars homestead to bury Shmi.[50] Anakin travels with Padmé to Geonosis to rescue Obi-Wan from Sith Lord Count Dooku, Qui-Gon's old master and leader of the Separatists, a conspiracy of star systems bent on seceding from the Galactic Republic. Dooku captures them, however, and sentences them to death. However, a cadre of Jedi arrives with the Kaminoan clone army to halt their executions. Obi-Wan and Anakin confront Dooku during the ensuing battle, but the Sith Lord beats them both in a lightsaber duel and severs Anakin's arm. Yoda intervenes and rescues the Jedi. By the end of the film, Anakin is fitted with a robotic arm and he marries Padmé in secret.

In Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, set three years after Attack of the Clones concludes, Anakin is now a Jedi Knight and a war hero. He and Obi-Wan lead a mission to rescue Palpatine from Separatist commander General Grievous on board his starship. When the Jedi encounter Dooku, Anakin subdues and kills him in cold blood at Palpatine's urging. They rescue Palpatine and return to Coruscant, where Anakin learns that Padmé is pregnant. Anakin has visions of Padmé dying in childbirth and becomes determined to prevent them from coming true.[50] Palpatine tells Anakin that the dark side holds the power to cheat death, and eventually reveals that he is the Sith Lord Darth Sidious. Although Anakin informs Jedi Master Mace Windu of Palpatine's treachery, he follows Windu to make sure Palpatine is captured alive. When he realizes that Windu is going to kill Palpatine, Anakin intervenes on the Sith Lord's behalf, allowing Palpatine to kill Windu. Desperate to save Padmé, Anakin pledges himself to the dark side and becomes Palpatine's Sith apprentice, Darth Vader.[50] On Palpatine's command, Vader leads a legion of clones to kill everyone at the Jedi Temple and massacres the remaining Separatist leaders hiding on the volcanic planet Mustafar. Padmé confronts Vader and implores him to abandon the dark side, but Vader refuses. When Obi-Wan disembarks from Padmé's ship, Vader accuses his wife of conspiring against him and uses the Force to choke her into unconsciousness. After a long and ferocious lightsaber duel, Obi-Wan severs Vader's legs and arm. Vader is burned beside the bank of a molten lava river and Obi-Wan returns to Padmé's ship, leaving him for dead. Palpatine rescues Vader and takes him back to Coruscant, where he reconstructs his apprentice's mutilated body with a respirator and the black armored suit first depicted in the original trilogy. When Vader asks for Padmé, Palpatine tells him she died in the heat of Vader's anger; Vader screams in agony, his spirit broken. As the film concludes, Vader supervises the construction of the first Death Star alongside Palpatine and Wilhuff Tarkin.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars

In the 2008 film The Clone Wars, Yoda assigns Ahsoka Tano as Anakin's Padawan apprentice to teach him a greater sense of responsibility, and Anakin is initially frustrated by this decision. Their early interactions are "playfully contentious", with Anakin calling her "Snips" for her "snippy" attitude and Ahsoka calling him "Skyguy" as a pun on his surname.[50] After earning Anakin's respect during a dangerous mission, Ahsoka joins him on a quest to rescue Jabba the Hutt's infant son. Her impetuousness both annoys and endears her to her master, and, by the end of the film, Anakin reveals a newfound affection for his apprentice.

Anthology films

Vader appears in the first anthology film Rogue One, with James Earl Jones reprising his role as the voice of the character.[51] Vader is physically played by Spencer Wilding[52] and Daniel Naprous.[53]

Virtual reality film

In the 2015 Star Wars Celebration, it was announced David S. Goyer is helping to develop a virtual reality film based on Darth Vader. It is said that the audience as "visitor" will be able to walk, pick up, push and open things, and might even have some effect in the story.[54]

Television series

Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008)

Anakin is a lead character in all five broadcast seasons of The Clone Wars. As a Jedi Knight, he goes on several missions with both Obi-Wan and Ahsoka throughout the war. While continuing to teach Ahsoka the ways of the Jedi, Anakin has developed a close bond with her and they take risks to protect or save one another. Some of Anakin's actions taken out of concern for Ahsoka violate the Jedi code, such as torturing prisoners who may know her location when she goes missing.[55] During the third season, Anakin experiences a vision of his future as Darth Vader.[56]

Star Wars Rebels (2014)

Darth Vader is a recurring character in the first season of Star Wars Rebels, which takes place 14 years[57] after The Clone Wars concludes. Vader leads a squadron of Force-sensitive Imperial Inquisitors who are actively searching for and killing any remaining Jedi and Force-sensitive children. In the finale of the first season, Vader discovers that Ahsoka has joined the Rebel Alliance, and the Emperor orders him to hunt her down.

In the second season, Ahsoka is overwhelmed to recognize Anakin under "a layer of hate" in Darth Vader.[22] Later in the season, Ahsoka has a vision in which Anakin blames her for allowing him to fall to the dark side. In the season finale, Ahsoka duels with her former master inside a Sith Temple, allowing her friends to escape Vader and the temple's destruction. As the episode concludes, Vader escapes from the temple's ruins. Filoni said that it was "an elected decision" to not feature Vader for the third season.[58]

Comics

In 2015, Marvel released a 25-issue series called Darth Vader,[59] which focused on the title character learning about the existence of his son,[60] and the aftermath of the destruction of the Death Star. At New York Comic Con 2015, Dan Brooks of StarWars.com held an interview with comic book writer Charles Soule. Soule said that the story of his comic series Obi-Wan & Anakin, which depicts Obi-Wan and Anakin's lives between The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones, is "pretty unexplored territory."[61]

Star Wars canon literature

Star Wars: Lords of the Sith was one of the first four canon novels to be released in 2014 and 2015.[62] In Lords of the Sith, Vader and Palpatine find themselves hunted by revolutionaries on the Twi'lek planet Ryloth.[63][64]

Legends

In April 2014, most of the licensed Star Wars novels and comics produced since the originating 1977 film Star Wars were rebranded by Lucasfilm as Star Wars Legends and declared non-canon to the franchise.[62][65][66]

Star Wars: Clone Wars microseries

Anakin is a lead character in all three seasons of the Clone Wars microseries, which takes place four months after the conclusion of Attack of the Clones. Anakin becomes a Jedi Knight and is quickly promoted to a General of the Republic's Clone Army, due in part to Palpatine's influence. Among other missions, he fights a duel with Dark Jedi Asajj Ventress, helps Obi-Wan capture a Separatist-controlled fortress and rescues Jedi Master Saesee Tiin during a space battle. During the third season, Anakin frees the planet Nelvaan from Separatist control and sees a cryptic vision of his future as Darth Vader. In the season finale, Anakin and Obi-Wan go on a mission to rescue Palpatine from General Grievous, leading to the opening of Revenge of the Sith. Series creator and director Genndy Tartakovsky admitted that he was bothered that Lucasfilm declared Clone Wars non-canon, but said that he was proud of what he did and how much the microseries and the characters influenced later works.[67]

Literature

Vader is featured prominently in novels set in the Star Wars universe. In the 1978 novel Splinter of the Mind's Eye by Alan Dean Foster, Vader meets Luke Skywalker for the first time and engages him in a lightsaber duel that ends with Luke cutting off Vader's arm and Vader falling into a deep pit.[7] (In 1999's Vader's Quest, however, Vader encounters Luke for the first time after hiring a bounty hunter to find the pilot who destroyed the Death Star.) 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.

Anakin Skywalker's redeemed spirit appears in The Truce at Bakura (1993), set a few days after the end of Return of the Jedi. He appears to Leia, imploring her forgiveness. Leia condemns him for his crimes and exiles him from her life. He promises that he will be there for her when she needs him, and disappears. In Tatooine Ghost (2003), Leia learns to forgive her father after learning about his childhood as a slave and his mother's traumatic death. In The Unifying Force (2003), Anakin tells his grandson Jacen Solo to "stand firm" in his battle with the Supreme Overlord of the Yuuzhan Vong.

Upon the release of the prequel films, the Expanded Universe grew to include novels about Vader's former life as Anakin Skywalker. Greg Bear's 2000 novel Rogue Planet and Jude Watson's Jedi Apprentice and Jedi Quest series chronicle Anakin's early missions with Obi-Wan, while James Luceno's 2005 novel Labyrinth of Evil, set during the Clone Wars, depicts Anakin battling Separatist commander General Grievous. In 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 reveals that Vader plans to eventually overthrow Palpatine and that he betrayed the Jedi because he resented their supposed failure to recognize his power.

In The Dark Nest trilogy (2005), Luke and Leia uncover old recordings of their parents in R2-D2's memory drive; for the first time, they see their own birth and their mother's death, as well as their father's corruption to the dark side. In Bloodlines (2006), Han and Leia's son Jacen - who has himself turned to the dark side - uses the Force to "watch" Darth Vader slaughter the children at the Jedi Temple.

Vader also appears in a series of tongue-in-cheek children's books by Jeffrey Brown.[68] In Brown's series, a somewhat hapless Vader sets out to be a father to a young Luke and Leia, with some scenes directly based on their darker film counterparts (for example, one scene shows Vader, Luke and Leia at the carbonite freezing chamber on Bespin, with Vader pronouncing the freezer adequate for making ice cream).

Comics

Vader appears in several comic books such as Dark Horse Comics' Star Wars Tales and Marvel Comics' Star Wars (1977–1986) series.

Anakin Skywalker is a major character in Dark Horse's Star Wars: Republic series (1998-2006).

Video games

Darth Vader and Anakin Skywalker appear in a variety of video games such as the Lego Star Wars series and the Battlefront series. Vader plays a central role in Star Wars: 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, Starkiller. Vader sends Starkiller on various missions throughout the galaxy, with an ultimate goal to assassinate Palpatine 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 Palpatine at all; he is merely using his apprentice to expose the Empire's enemies. At the game's climax, the player chooses between attacking Palpatine to help his Rebel friends escape the Death Star or killing Vader to become the Emperor's new apprentice. He also appears in the sequel Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II as the final boss.

Other

Vader appears in Star Tours – The Adventures Continue, where he is voiced by Jones. Vader is featured as a combatant in the popular series Death Battle, in which he is pitted against Marvel Comics villain Doctor Doom. He loses the fight due to Doom's superior weaponry and abilities.

Characteristics

According to Mark Hamill, samurai armor was the conceptual inspiration for Darth Vader's appearance.

In Attack of the Clones, Anakin Skywalker feels "smothered" by Obi-Wan Kenobi and is unable to control his life.[69] By Revenge of the Sith, however, his "father-son" friction with his master has matured into a more equal, brotherly relationship.[70] Once he becomes Darth Vader, each evil act he commits shatters any hope or connection towards his previous life, which makes it harder for him to return to the light,[71] but he ultimately escapes the dark side and redeems himself by sacrificing his life to save his son Luke Skywalker and kill the Emperor in Return of the Jedi.[72]

Eric Bui, a psychiatrist at University of Toulouse Hospital, argued at the 2007 American Psychiatric Association convention that Anakin Skywalker meets six of the nine diagnostic criteria for borderline personality disorder (BPD), one more than necessary for a diagnosis. He and a colleague, Rachel Rodgers, published their findings in a 2010 letter to the editor of the journal Psychiatry Research. Bui says he found Anakin Skywalker a useful example to explain BPD to medical students.[73] In particular, Bui points to Anakin's abandonment issues and uncertainty over his identity. Anakin's mass murders of the Tusken Raiders in Attack of the Clones and the young Jedi in Revenge of the Sith count as two dissociative episodes, fulfilling another criterion. Bui hoped his paper would help raise awareness of the disorder, especially among teens.[73]

Cultural impact

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Darth Vader's iconic status has made the character a synonym for evil in popular culture; psychiatrists have even considered him as a useful example to explain borderline personality disorder to medical students.[73] Anakin's origin story in The Phantom Menace has been compared to signifiers of African American racial identity,[74] and his dissatisfaction with his life has been compared to Siddartha's before he became Gautama Buddha.[75] A Mexican church advised Christians against seeing The Phantom Menace because it portrays Anakin as a Christ figure.[76] The slime-mold beetle Agathidium vaderi is named after Vader,[77] and several buildings across the globe are regularly compared to him.[78][79][80][81][82][83] A grotesque of Darth Vader looms over the east face of the Washington National Cathedral's northwest tower.[84] During the 2007–08 NHL season, Ottawa Senators goaltender Martin Gerber performed so well in an all-black mask that fans endearingly termed him "Darth Gerber".[85] In 2015, a statue of Vladimir Lenin in Odessa, Ukraine, was converted into one of Darth Vader due to a law on decommunization.[86]

Many commentators and comedians have also evoked his visage to satirize politicians and other public figures, and several American political figures have been unflatteringly compared to the character, including General George Custer, the subject of the acrylic painting Darth Custer by Native American artist Bunky Echohawk.[87] In 2005, Al Gore referred to Tele-Communications Inc.'s John C. Malone as the "Darth Vader of cable",[88] and political strategist Lee Atwater was known by his political enemies as "the Darth Vader of the Republican Party".[89]

On June 22, 2006, US Vice President Dick Cheney referred to himself as the Darth Vader of the Bush administration. Discussing the administration's philosophy on gathering intelligence, he said to CNN's John King, "It means we need to be able to go after and capture or kill those people who are trying to kill Americans. That's not a pleasant business. It's a very serious business. And I suppose, sometimes, people look at my demeanor and say, 'Well, he's the Darth Vader of the administration.'"[90] Jon Stewart put on a Darth Vader helmet to address Dick Cheney as a "kindred spirit" on The Daily Show on January 25, 2007.[91] Cheney's wife, Lynne, presented Stewart with a Darth Vader action figure on her appearance on the show on October 10, 2007. Both Stewart and Stephen Colbert have occasionally referred to Cheney as "Darth Cheney". In the satirical cartoon show Lil' Bush, Dick Cheney's father is portrayed as being Darth Vader. At her presidential campaign event on September 19, 2007, Hillary Clinton also referred to Cheney as Darth Vader. At the 2008 Washington Radio and Television Correspondents' Association Dinner, Cheney joked that his wife Lynne told him that the Vader comparison "humanizes" him. George Lucas told The New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd, however, that Cheney is more akin to Emperor Palpatine, and that a better stand-in for Vader would be George W. Bush.[92] An issue of Newsweek referenced this quote, and compared Bush and Cheney to Vader and Palpatine, respectively, in a satirical article comparing politicians to various Star Wars and Star Trek characters.[93]

Many films and television series have paid homage to Darth Vader. Marty McFly in Back to the Future (1985), dressed in a radiation suit, calls himself "Darth Vader from the planet Vulcan" to convince the past version of his father to ask his mother to a dance. Rick Moranis plays "Dark Helmet" in the Star Wars parody Spaceballs (1987). In Chasing Amy (1997), Hooper X speaks at a comic convention about Darth Vader being a metaphor for how poorly the science fiction genre treats black people; he is especially offended that Vader, the "blackest brother in the galaxy", reveals himself to be a "feeble, crusty old white man" at the end of Return of the Jedi. The character was also parodied in the Nickelodeon cartoon Rocko's Modern Life in the episode "Teed Off".[94] On another Nickelodeon cartoon, Jimmy Neutron, Darth Vader's infamous line was interpolated in the mini-episode "New Dog, Old Tricks".[95] The line was also alluded to in Toy Story, a film franchise also owned by Disney.[96]

The character has gained much positive reception as a classic film villain. Darth Vader ranked number two on Empire magazine's 2008 list of The 100 Greatest Movie Characters.[97] Premiere magazine also ranked Vader on their list of The 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time.[98] On their list of the 100 Greatest Fictional Characters, Fandomania.com ranked Vader at number 6.[99] Darth Vader was also the No. 1 supervillain on the Bravo series Ultimate Super Heroes, Vixens and Villains.[100] Darth Vader was also ranked as No. 1 in IGN's list of top 100 Star Wars characters.[101] Furthermore, Darth Vader's quote in The Empire Strikes Back – "No, I am your father" (often misquoted as "Luke, I am your father"),[102] – is one of the most well known quotes in cinema history. The line was selected as one of the 400 nominees for the American Film Institute's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes, a list of the greatest American movie quotes.[103] Vader received the Ultimate Villain recognition at the 2011 Scream Awards.[104]

In 2010, IGN ranked Darth Vader 25th in the "Top 100 Videogames Villains".[105]

In Ukraine, the Internet Party of Ukraine regularly lets people named Darth Vader take part in elections.[106][nb 1]

Computer hacker Cyber Anakin named himself after this character.

Family tree

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Notes

  1. Two men named Darth Vader were candidates at the 25 May 2014 Kiev mayoral election and the Odessa mayoral election of the same day.[107][108][109] A man named Darth Vader earlier had submitted documents to be registered as a presidential candidate in the 25 May 2014 Ukrainian presidential election; but his registration was refused because his real identity could not be verified.[110][111][112] In the 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election Darth Vader and Star Wars characters such as Chewbacca, Princess Amidala and Yoda ran for seats in the Ukrainian parliament.[106] Candidates named Darth Vader reappeared in the 2015 Ukrainian local elections.[113]

References

Notes
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  2. Helinski, Keith. ""Revenge" Is Just Too Sweet", moviefreak.com. Retrieved May 5, 2007.
  3. Winzler, Jonathan W. "The Making of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (Star Wars)", Powell's Books, April 2005. Retrieved May 5, 2007.
  4. Thornton, Mark. "What is the "Dark Side" and Why Do Some People Choose It?", Ludwig von Mises Institute, May 13, 2005. Retrieved May 5, 2007.
  5. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. 6.0 6.1 Insider Excerpt: Vader Sculptor Brian Muir, StarWars.com, March 24, 2010
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. 8.0 8.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. (Bouzereau 1997, p. 144)
  11. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. Kaminski 2008, pp. 120–121
  13. Kaminski 2008, pp. 164–165
  14. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. Kaminski 2008, pp. 299–300
  16. Bowen 2005, p. 22
  17. Kaminski 2008, pp. 380–384
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  19. TV Guide Article August 11, 2008
  20. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. "From Apprentice to Adversary: Vader vs. Ahsoka featurette" from Star Wars Rebels season 2 Blu-ray. Preview clip including line available via http://m.ign.com/articles/2016/08/26/star-wars-rebels-blu-ray-clip-explores-the-darth-vader-vs-ahsoka-tano-duel.
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  23. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  29. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  38. Ebert, Roger. "Anakin's fans strike back," Chicago Sun-Times, 1 May 2005, Sunday Showcase (section), pg. 3.
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  50. 50.0 50.1 50.2 50.3 50.4 50.5 50.6 50.7 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  72. Bortolin 2005, p. x
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  76. Bowen 2005, p. 97
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  92. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  93. Newsweek[volume & issue needed]
  94. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  108. (Ukrainian) Darth Vader candidate for mayor of Odesa, Espreso TV (1 May 2014)
  109. Tsushko to compete for post of Odesa mayor, Interfax-Ukraine (29 March 2014)
  110. Ukraine’s Darth Vader presidency bid rejected, Euronews (4 April 2014)
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Bibliography
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Further reading

External links

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