Darth Vader
Darth Vader is a character in the Star Wars franchise. He is the primary antagonist of the original film trilogy and, as Anakin Skywalker, is the protagonist of the prequel trilogy. Born a slave on the planet Tatooine, he becomes a powerful Jedi. He is lured to the dark side of the Force by Chancellor Palpatine, and becomes the Sith Lord Darth Vader. After being severely wounded in a lightsaber battle, he is transformed into a cyborg. He is the husband of Padmé Amidala and the biological father of Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa Solo.[1][2][3]
Darth Vader
Star Wars (1977)
- Darth Vader:
- David Prowse [a]
- Spencer Wilding [b]
- Daniel Naprous [c]
- Hayden Christensen [d]
- Anakin Skywalker:
- Sebastian Shaw [e]
- Jake Lloyd [f]
- Hayden Christensen [g]
- Darth Vader:
- James Earl Jones [h]
- Brock Peters [i]
- Matt Sloan [j]
- Scott Lawrence [k]
- Anakin Skywalker:
- Matt Lanter [l]
- Mat Lucas [m]
- Frankie Ryan Manriquez [n]
- Hayden Christensen [o]
- Kirby Morrow [p]
- David Birney [q]
Anakin Skywalker
- Skywalker family
- Watto's shop
- Jedi Order
- Galactic Republic
- Sith Order
- Galactic Empire
Shmi Skywalker (mother)
Padmé Amidala (wife)
Luke Skywalker (son)
Leia Organa Solo (daughter)
Ben Solo (grandson)
- Obi-Wan Kenobi (as a Jedi)
- Darth Sidious (as a Sith)
David Prowse physically portrayed Vader in the original trilogy, while James Earl Jones provided his voice in all of the films and some television series. Sebastian Shaw portrayed the unmasked Anakin in Return of the Jedi, as well as the character's spirit in the original release of that film. Jake Lloyd played young Anakin in The Phantom Menace (1999), while Hayden Christensen portrayed him as a young adult in Attack of the Clones (2002) and Revenge of the Sith (2005). Christensen also played Anakin in post-2004 releases of Return of the Jedi and in the series Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022) and Ahsoka (2023). In the standalone film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Vader is portrayed by Spencer Wilding and Daniel Naprous. Vader has also appeared in books, comics, and video games. He has become an iconic villain of cinema.[4][5][6]
Profile[edit]
Darth Vader began life as Anakin Skywalker. He and his mother Shmi were slaves owned by the junk dealer Watto on Tatooine. The Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn orchestrated Anakin's liberation, hoping to train him as a Jedi. The Jedi Council at first denied Anakin entry, but eventually allowed him to become an apprentice of Obi-Wan Kenobi.[7]
Anakin was assigned to protect Senator Padmé Amidala. He fell in love with her, despite a Jedi Code prohibition against romantic relationships. At the same time, Anakin began having visions of his mother dying. He travelled to Tatooine, and found that she had been kidnapped by Tusken Raiders. She died in his arms, which led Anakin to slaughter every Tusken in sight. After fighting in several battles related to the Clone Wars, Anakin married Padmé in a secret ceremony.[7]
As the Clone Wars continued, Anakin became a hero. He also grew vastly in power, and Jedi Master Yoda assigned him an apprentice, Ahsoka Tano. When Anakin discovered that Padmé was pregnant, he had visions of her dying in childbirth. As Anakin's anxiety grew, Palpatine told him a Sith legend about people with the ability to prevent death. Entranced, Anakin was desperate to learn this power. Palpatine revealed himself to be a Sith Lord, Darth Sidious, and promised to train Anakin in the ways of the dark side.[7]
Anakin succumbed to this temptation, maiming former ally Mace Windu to save Palpatine, who claimed the mantle of Emperor. As Darth Vader, Anakin led the Empire’s eradication of the Jedi Order. He told Padmé of his plan to overthrow Palpatine and rule ths galaxy with her, but the idea repulsed her. When Vader found Obi-Wan hiding on his ship, he believed his wife had betrayed him, and he choked her into unconsciousness. He then dueled with Obi-Wan, and was dismembered and severely burned. Recovered on the banks of a lava flow by Palpatine, Vader was encased in mechanical black armor that kept him alive. Padmé died after giving birth to twins – Luke and Leia – and Vader was heartbroken. Obi-Wan hid the children from their father, and they grew up without any knowledge of him.[7][8]
The emergence of the Empire gave rise to a Rebellion. As Palpatine's enforcer, Vader hunted the Rebels throughout the galaxy, eventually learning that his son Luke was among them. After battling his son in Cloud City, Vader revealed that he was Luke's father. The two met again when Luke—now a Jedi Knight himself—surrendered to Imperial troops on Endor, hoping to bring his father back from the dark side of the Force. Vader resisted and brought his son to Palpatine, who invited Luke to join the dark side. Luke refused, and Palpatine began torturing him with Force lightning. Luke's compassion awakened the long-dormant goodness in Vader, and he saved Luke from Palpatine before killing the Emperor. Mortally wounded, Vader shared a final moment of reconciliation with his son. As Luke and his friends celebrated the end of the Empire, Anakin returned as a Force spirit to watch over them.[9][7]
Creation[edit]
Originally, Lucas imagined the Sith as a group that served the Emperor in the same way that the paramilitary Schutzstaffel served Adolf Hitler. While developing the backstory for The Empire Strikes Back, Lucas condensed the group into one character in the form of Vader.[10] As part of the development for A New Hope, Lucas hired the artist Ralph McQuarrie to create conceptual images for characters. For Vader, Lucas asked McQuarrie to depict a "very tall, dark fluttering figure that had a spooky feeling like it came in on the wind."[11] Lucas also wanted the character to wear a cape and samurai armor. Because the script described Vader traveling between spaceships, McQuarrie suggested that he should wear a space suit. Lucas agreed, and McQuarrie created Vader's iconic mask by combining a full-face breathing mask with a samurai helmet.[12][11] McQuarrie's 1975 production painting of Vader engaged in a lightsaber duel with Deak Starkiller (who later became Luke Skywalker) depicts the former wearing black armor, a flowing cape and a skull-like mask and helmet. This initial design was similar to Vader's final appearance.[13]
Working from McQuarrie's concepts, the costume designer John Mollo devised an outfit that included clerical robes, a motorcycle suit, a German military helmet and a military gas mask.[14] The prop sculptor Brian Muir created the helmet and armor.[15] The sound of Vader's breathing was created by the sound designer Ben Burtt using modified recordings of a scuba breathing apparatus.[16] The sound effect is trademarked at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.[17]
Lucas has provided differing accounts of how the name "Darth Vader" originated. In a 2005 interview with Rolling Stone, he claimed it was a modified version of "Dark Father."[18] On another occasion, he said it was inspired by the phrase "Dark Water".[19] It is also possible that "Darth Vader" originated from the name of Gary Vader, a boy who went to high school with Lucas.[20]
Although "Darth" is a title, and not a first name, this is not made clear in the first Star Wars film from 1977 (which was titled Star Wars, then later retitled Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope). In that film, Obi-Wan Kenobi addresses Vader as "Darth", and in the credits he is referred to as Lord Darth Vader, which seems to imply that his title is "Lord", his first name is "Darth", and his last name is "Vader". The prequel trilogy, however, makes it clear that "Darth" is a title for Sith Lords, such as Darth Sidious, Darth Maul, and Darth Tyranus. When Anakin turns to the dark side of the Force in Revenge of the Sith, he is given the title "Darth" and the name "Vader".
Director Ken Annakin's films Swiss Family Robinson and Battle of the Bulge influenced the original trilogy, leading some to believe that Anakin Skywalker was named after him.[21] Lucas's publicist has denied this claim, however.[22] Anakin and Luke's original surname was "Starkiller", and it remained in the script until a few months into filming A New Hope. It was dropped due to what Lucas called "unpleasant connotations" with Charles Manson, who had murdered actress Sharon Tate in the late 1960s (making him a "star killer"). Lucas replaced the problematic name "Starkiller" with "Skywalker".[23][y]
In France, Darth Vader's name was changed to Dark Vador starting with A New Hope.[25][26] In Italian-language films, the character is named Dart Fener. In 2005, before the release of Revenge of the Sith, an online survey asked Italian fans whether they would rather maintain the Italian name or switch it to the original; the Italian version prevailed. Ahead of the 2015 release of The Force Awakens, however, the name was changed to "Darth Vader".[27] In Iceland, Vader's name is Svarthöfði, which means "black-head".[28]
