Darth Vader

Darth Vader

Darth Vader is a male film villain who features in Star Wars.

Biography

Origin

Anakin Skywalker was a male human who was born on Tatooine as the son of Shmi Skywalker where he had strong ties to the Force. As a child, he and his mother lived as slaves to the Toydarian Watto in the era of the Galactic Republic. During that time, a Jedi by the name of the Qui-Gon Jinn found the boy and believed him to be the child of prophecy destined to bring balance to the Force. He came to free the child where he intended to train him as a Jedi though the masters of the Jedi Order at the Jedi Temple where they refused as they sensed much fear in him. Despite that, Qui-Gon Jinn had intended to train the boy himself and took Anakin with him a they fought to free the Naboo from the Trade Federation. Ultimately, Master Qui-Gon Jinn was killed at the hands of the Sith assassin Darth Maul whilst in the depths of the Naboo Royal Palace. Before dying, he had his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi take on the training of the boy and he took on Anakin Skywalker as his Padawan.

In the years afterwards, he grew up where he became a powerful Jedi Knight when the galaxy was rife with the chaos of the Clone Wars. General Skywalker served as a great military leader against the Confederacy of Independent Systems where he also took on an apprentice in Ahsoka Tano. In addition, he came to engage in a hidden romance with Padmé Amidala that he kept secret as Jedi were forbidden from forming attachments.

At the height of the Clone Wars, Anakin Skywalker was placed on the Jedi Council under orders from Chancellor Palpatine where suspicions and tensions caused him to question on who to trust in this time. This allowed for Palpatine to corrupt him to the Dark Side of the Force when it was revealed that he was the Sith Lord Darth Sidious. Taking Skywalker on as his apprentice, he was named as Darth Vader and tasked with ending the Clone Wars. As Vader travelled to Mustafar, his treachery was discovered by Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda. Amidala followed Vader to Mustafar, where- fully infused with the Dark Side- he had just finished slaying the Separatists. Unfortunately, the former Anakin's new callousness and lust for power repulsed Amidala, even as he suggested overthrowing Palpatine and ruling the galaxy together. When Vader saw Obi-Wan on Amidala's shuttle (he stowed away to find Vader), he became enraged, assuming that his former friend and mentor had turned his love against him. He choked Amidala with the Force, then engaged Obi-Wan in a fierce battle. The two combatants fought over a sea of magma, until finally, Obi-Wan defeated Vader. Legless and hideously burned, Vader was left for dead by Obi-Wan.

However, Darth Vader's rage and determination kept him alive long enough for Palpatine to find him. Palpatine rebuilt Vader as a cyborg, and told Vader that, in his rage, he killed Padme. (Which was basically true.) Overwhelmed with grief and anger, Vader nevertheless continued to serve Palpatine as he consolidated his power. Vader hunted down and slew many of the remaining Jedi, and took on a prominent role in the fledgling Imperial military. After the Galactic Civil War began, Vader was in the forefront of the battle against the Rebellion. He was also assigned to oversee the Death Star.

Dark Lord of the Sith

By 9 BBY, Darth Vader still maintained his vendetta against his former master and looked for any information on Obi-Wan Kenobi. Around this time, he was contacted by the Inquisitor Third Sister who was similarly determined in finding the surviving Jedi Master. She had arranged for the kidnapping of Leia Organa to draw Kenobi to the planet Daiyu. Although he escaped with Organa, the Third Sister told Kenobi that Skywalker had survived his injuries. As Kenobi grabbled with the information, Vader awoke in his bacta tank in Fortress Vader on Mustafar. Assembling his suit, Vader moved to his throne room and spoke to the Third Sister via hologram, demanding to know where Kenobi was. Dismissing the apparent death of the Grand Inquisitor, whom Reva had stabbed in her desire to claim credit for Kenobi's capture herself, Vader ordered her to prove herself capable, with the position of Grand Inquisitor as her reward should she succeed. In truth, he knew the Third Sister was the youngling Reva and that she intended to betray him, but Vader kept her alive so long as she was useful. Vader also warned the Third Sister that if she failed, she would not live to regret it. Later, Vader was informed that Obi-Wan was on Mapuzo. Vader arrived with his three Inquisitors and a squad of stormtroopers and walked through the streets of the settlement, terrorizing and killing random civilians in order to draw Obi-Wan out. Vader pursued the Jedi Master into the quarry. Horrified at what had become of his former apprentice, Obi-Wan tried to flee, but Vader ambushed him. Vader taunted Obi-Wan with regards to his lost strength, and Obi-Wan attempted to flee again. Once again, Vader caught up to Obi-Wan, this time lifting him with the Force, as he ignited flammable rocks with his lightsaber. Promising to make Obi-Wan suffer, Vader lowered Obi-Wan to the ground and dragged him through the flames, scorching him. Vader extinguished the flames as a squad of stormtroopers arrived. Vader ordered Obi-Wan brought to him, but before the stormtroopers could comply, a hidden Tala Durith opened fire, killing several stormtroopers and reigniting the flammable rocks. This gave NED-B the opportunity to retrieve Obi-Wan and for Tala to escape with the injured Jedi. Following the successful rescue of Leia from Fortress Inquisitorius, Vader angrily made to kill the Third Sister, lifting her into the air with the Force and choking her while reminding her that she was warned what would happen if she failed. Vader allowed her to speak, which enabled her to reveal that she had planted a tracker on Leia's droid, Lola, which would reveal the location of the Hidden Path network. Vader acknowledged that he had underestimated the Third Sister, and spared her, though he warned her that he would not tolerate any further mistakes.

Aboard the Devastator, Vader reflected on a long ago training duel against Kenobi in the Jedi Temple as the Jedi's Padawan before his captain alerted him to the Third Sister's arrival. Ordering the pleasantries dispensed with, Vader demanded to know Obi-Wan's location. The Third Sister reported that he had been tracked to Jabiim. Satisfied, Vader demanded that the Third Sister kneeled before him, and he promoted her to the rank of Grand Inquisitor. He then ordered the bridge captain to set a course for Jabiim. En route to Jabiim, Vader ordered the Path's base locked down. The Third Sister warned Vader that if they trapped them, their opponents could hold out for several days. Vader responded that he did not intend to break their enemies. After the Third Sister and her forces secured the Path's hangar, Vader arrived on the surface. The Third Sister told him that Kenobi was inside, but Vader stated that he wished to bring him in himself. Vader forced his way into the hangar and found a transport attempting to leave. He used the Force to ground it and rip it apart, only to find that it was a decoy and the real transport with the Path—and Kenobi—aboard took off successfully. The Jedi Master had remembered the old training duel where his Padawan had shown shortsightedness because of his anger, which inspired him to exploit Vader's ruthlessness and single-minded focus. The Third Sister attempted to use that moment as a distraction to stab Vader, but Vader used the Force to stop her blade, stating that Kenobi was wise to use her against him. Vader hurled her aside, but she charged at him again, and he used the Force to deflect her blade and throw her. The Third Sister activated her lightsaber's twin blade spinning mode, but Vader used the Force to stall the blades rotation, and then ripped her saber from her grip. Vader detached her lightsaber into two singular hilts, and tossed one on the ground at the Third Sister's feet, taunting her. She retrieved the weapon and continued to attack Vader, but the Sith Lord quickly disarmed her again, before stabbing her in the abdomen. As she collapsed, the Grand Inquisitor arrived, revealing he had survived, and Vader stated that he had known her intent for some time, but had decided to allow it because it was useful in the hunt for Kenobi. Vader declared that the Third Sister was no longer useful, and he and the Grand Inquisitor left her to die.

Vader returned to the Devastator as it pursued the Path's freighter. Kenobi left the Path's freighter on a drop ship with Lola. Against the advice of the Grand Inquisitor, who stated that he should continue the pursuit of the Path's ship, Vader ordered the Devastator after Kenobi to a rocky moon. Vader departed the Devastator alone aboard a shuttle, and confronted Kenobi. Vader found Kenobi nearby and asked if he had come to destroy him. Kenobi replied that he will do as he must before igniting his lightsaber. Vader vowed that Kenobi would die and the two engaged in a lightsaber duel, with Vader utilizing a combination of one-handed and two-handed combat. During the duel, Kenobi attempted to collapse a pinnacle on Vader, who stopped it with the Force. Remarking that Kenobi's strength had returned since their last duel but that his weakness remained, Vader hurled the pinnacle at Kenobi before resuming their duel. Vader collapsed the ground beneath Kenobi and hurled rocks to keep him down there. Before leaving, Vader taunted Kenobi for thinking that he could win against his former apprentice. However, Kenobi, drawing on his desire to protect Anakin's children, managed to break free and charged at Vader again. On the offensive, Kenobi used his superior use of Soresu and the more aggressive Ataru utilized by his late master, Qui-Gon Jinn to overwhelm the Sith Lord before using the Force to hurl Vader against a rock. With Vader stunned, Kenobi then pummelled him with a maelstrom of rocks. Kenobi then resumed his lightsaber duel with Vader, critically damaging Vader's chest plate with multiple strikes from his lightsaber's pommel and slashing him across the back before pushing him back with the Force again, and then leaping at him, striking the left side of Vader's helmet with his lightsaber and revealing the scarred face of Anakin beneath. Kenobi addressed him as Anakin Skywalker, prompting Vader to respond that Anakin was gone and that he was what remained. Kenobi was visibly distraught and apologized to Anakin. Vader replied that he was not Kenobi's failure and that Kenobi did not kill Anakin: instead, Vader replied that he killed Anakin and vowed to destroy Kenobi as well. With that, Kenobi was left to believe his friend was truly dead before bidding Vader, whom he simply called "Darth," farewell. As Kenobi left, Vader called out to him while trying to rise to his feet, unable to catch Kenobi before he slipped through his grasp once more.[273] Vader was left with the belief that he had been but a learner in their latest duel, convincing him to increase his strength to cement his power over Kenobi for whenever their next encounter came. Vader's suit was repaired and he returned to Fortress Vader, where he conferred with the Emperor via hologram, stating that he had dispatched probes along all possible routes and that Kenobi would not escape him again. The Emperor noticed Vader's agitation and suggested that Vader could not move beyond his past. Vader affirmed that Kenobi meant nothing to him and that he only served the Emperor.

He was present in his castle on Mustafar when he was visited by Director Orson Krennic who had been summoned over the secrecy of the Death Star project being compromised. Krennic who had been supplanted from his position by Grand Moff Tarkin looked to use this as an opportunity for an audience with Emperor Palpatine and regain control over the project. However, Vader decided to punish the Director for his ambitions and bade him to ensure that Galen Eryso's actions had on compromised the security of the project. Later on, Darth Vader took his Star Destroyer to Scarif that was under attack from the Rebellion who were looking to steal the Death Star plans from the archives on the planet. The Star Destroyer immediately helped decimate the Rebel fleet with Darth Vader personally boarding the enemy flagship to try and recover the plans. Despite his efforts, the Rebels managed to escape on a transport that fled into hyperspace with Vader looking to pursue them.

However, over Mustafar, the union of multiple rebel cells into a growing rebel alliance was revealed when the Spectres were rescued by the Phoenix Squadron, with the Grand Inquisitor also being killed aboard Tarkin's crippled Star Destroyer. As rumors of what had happened over Mustafar became known, riots and uprisings began to occur on several worlds, including Lothal. The Emperor, concerned at the rise in rebel activity, sent Vader to Lothal with Tarkin to end the growing rebellion.

In an effort to track down the root of the rebel problem, Vader concocted an elaborate trap in which he intended to track the Spectres back to their primary base of operations. Sometime into the siege, Vader met with Kallus and Minister Maketh Tua to discuss his plans with dealing with the Spectres. During this meeting, he informed Tua that Tarkin intended to hold her accountable for her failure to stop the rebels. Fearing for her life, Tua contacted the Spectres, promising them information in exchange for smuggling her off of Lothal before her meeting with Tarkin. The rebels agreed and returned to Lothal. However, Vader had intended for Tua to contact the rebels in order to lure them back to Lothal and saw to it that a bomb was placed on Tua's shuttle. Once the rebels arrived, they attempted to escape the planet with Tua in her shuttle, only for the bomb to go off as Tua boarded the ship, killing the Minister. Immediately after the incident, Vader had it broadcast all over the planet that the rebels had assassinated Tua in order to discredit them. Vader then ordered Kallus to lock down the planet's spaceport and publicly announce that any ship attempting to reach orbit would be destroyed. Vader knew that the lockdown, combined with the populace's mistrust of the rebels, would essentially guarantee that they would need to steal a ship in order to escape. As such, he provided a tempting target at the local Imperial garrison; a shuttle capable of hyperspace travel. When the rebels attempted to steal it, Vader confronted them with a small group of stormtroopers. Vader engaged the rebels' Jedi members, Jarrus and Bridger, while his troops engaged in a small scale firefight with the other rebels. As his intent was for the rebels to escape, Vader lazily toyed with the two Jedi while their cohorts attempted to launch the shuttle.

The confrontation came to an end when two of the rebels threw thermal detonators at a number of walkers on the landing pad, damaging their legs and scattering the stormtroopers underneath them. When Vader glanced up at the collapsing walkers, Ezra and Kanan combined their power to telekinetically push him into the path of the falling war machines. Believing him to be dead, the two rebels were instead astounded to see Vader, completely unharmed, use the Force to lift both of the walkers off of himself and drop them behind him. Recognizing that they were hopelessly outmatched, Kanan ordered Ezra to run with him to the commandeered shuttle. Hoping to prevent Vader from pursuing them, Sabine Wren fired a number of blaster bolts at Vader. He reflected two of them back into her chest and helmet but made no attempt to board the shuttle or otherwise stop it. After the shuttle successfully launched, one of the stormtroopers who had been present for the confrontation assured Vader that he would scramble fighters immediately to intercept it.

Skywalker

Nearly two decades after his fall to darkness and the rise of the Empire, Vader was assigned to locate and destroy the Rebels' secret base. To that end, he captured Princess Leia Organa (who- unknown to him- was his own daughter). The Death Star was soon infiltrated by a band of rogues and rebels- including his son Luke- led by Obi-Wan Kenobi. The former student and the master battled, with Vader apparently victorious (Obi-Wan actually merged with the Force). Not long afterward, a Rebel strike was able to destroy the Death Star, although Vader survived.

Three years later, Darth Vader was dispatched to find the Rebels reponsible for destroying the Death Star. He tracked them to Hoth, and devastated their base there. However, the particular rebels he wanted- Leia, Han Solo and company- escaped in the Millennium Falcon. Vader's new goal became the capture of his son, Luke, so that he could be turned to the Dark Side. To that end, he dispatched a small army of bounty hunters to find Skywalker's friends, and eventually managed to corner Luke and company in Cloud City, with the unwilling help of Lando Calrissian. After turning Han Solo over to Boba Fett, Vader battled Luke, slicing off his son's right hand before revealing to Luke the truth- that he was his father. Vader offered him a place at his side, but Luke, in denial, plunged to what he thought was his death (but actually turned out to be his escape).

A year later, Vader was rejoined by the Emperor, who wanted to oversee the construction of the second Death Star. They also collaborated to try and pull Luke over to the Dark Side. They nearly succeeded after Vader learned about Leia being his daughter, and threatened to corrupt her instead- Luke gave in to his rage, and nearly killed Vader, slicing his mechanical right hand off. However, Luke, stronger-willed than his father, refused to take the final step into darkness by killing his father. When an enraged Emperor tried to kill Luke, Vader finally found the will to turn on his dark master, throwing him into the Death Star's reactor core. Unfortunately, Vader's life-support systems were badly damaged by the Emperor's force lightning.

Luke tried to take his father off the Death Star, but Vader was dying. Asking Luke to take his mask off, he saw his son with his real eyes before- having redeemed himself- he merged with the Force. Luke burned Vader's armor on a funeral pyre on Endor. After he did so, he saw the spirit of his father, restored to health, as part of the Force with the spirits of Obi-Wan and Yoda.

Overview

Personality and attributes

Upon Palpatine's Sith apprentice, he was given a new identity where he went by the name of Darth Vader.

As a Sith, he claimed that Anakin Skywalker no longer existed and that Darth Vader had destroyed the Jedi Knight. It was shown that he ruled through fear where he did not hesitate in killing subordinates if they failed him. Upon his conversion to the dark side, Skywalker's arrogant streak became even more prominent, and for a short time, he believed himself to be even more powerful than Palpatine. During his early days as a Sith, Vader believed in justice and would fight to bring it to the Empire at any cost. His impulsiveness and tendency to act in anger were both magnified as well; for instance, when he discovered that Kenobi had stowed away on his wife's ship when she came to Mustafar, he immediately assumed that she was conspiring with his former master and strangled her with the Force. Despite this, Vader did experience a significant level of regret for the decisions that he had made to save Amidala.

According to Vader, the power of the Dark Side was so great that he felt that he had no choice but to serve his Sith Master. However, he came to redeem himself as he went to save his son Luke from Palpatine which came at the cost of his life.

In his life, Anakin Skywalker came to fall in love with Padmé Amidala of Naboo where despite the Jedi Code against relationships he had a secret love affair with her. She came to be pregnant with Anakin's children and gave birth to twins with these being a son named Luke Skywalker and a daughter named Leia Skywalker.

As Darth Vader, he gained an a black-cloaked male attendant named Vaneé who was present in his castle fortress.

Powers and abilities

Anakin Skywalker was born a Force-sensitive with a high midi-chlorians count. This allowed him to manipulate the mysterious energy field known as the Force that was created by life and bound the galaxy together. With the Force, he could sense the feelings of another person and discern some of their hidden thoughts. Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn saw enormous potential in the 9-year-old Skywalker and believed him to have been conceived by the Force itself. Indeed, when his blood was tested, Skywalker's midi-chlorian count was off the scale—above 20,000, reportedly even greater than Yoda's.

Such was his strength that he could use the Force to telekinetically hold a transport ship and prevent it from flying away. Darth Vader could break the vessel's engine thus grounding it and ripping out its doorway to entry for himself.

A talented pilot, Anakin proved to be capable of flying spacecraft from a young age.

With the formation of the Empire, Darth Vader came to hold a senior position within its military forces.

Oversight of the Inquisitorius was placed under Darth Vaders purview where he commanded their operations that involved hunting down Jedi.

After becoming Darth Vader, he decided to make the lava planet of Mustafar his home. On there, the Sith Lord constructed a massive castle called Castle Vader that harnessed the planet's lava for energy. The building was a blackened tower, dividing in the middle to resemble tuning forks. According to legend, it was built on the site of an ancient Sith cave, and the tower itself was designed to channel the power of the dark side.

Notes

• Darth Vader was created by George Lucas where he made his first appearance in Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977).

Alternate Versions

• In Star Wars Legends, Darth Vader appeared in the setting of the non-canon former Star Wars Expanded Universe continuity.

In other media

Television

A very short Lord Vader

• In Family Guy, Darth Vader appeared in the setting of the animated television series in the multi-episode adaptation of the franchise that was "Blue Harvest" where he was portrayed by the character Stewie Griffin. Darth Vader is a fallen Jedi, serving the Emperor, and the former pupil of Obi-Wan Kenobi. He appears as a very short, physically infantile man covered in black armor with a face mask. It is unknown how or why he turned to evil, but he put a restraining order out on Kenobi which stipulated the Jedi master stay fifty yards away at all times. This restraining order was violated when Vader encountered Kenobi aboard the Death Star, and dueled him. He beheaded Kenobi with his lightsaber. After Luke Skywalker destroyed the Death Star, the Emperor commanded Vader to find Luke and "turn him." Vader explained he thought he could get Luke to "go bi" but was uncertain of his ability to turn him fully to homosexuality, prompting Palpatine to angrily state he meant turn him to the dark side. Vader lured Luke to Bespin, where he fought him and cut off his hand in a duel, revealing himself to be Skywalker's father and offering his son a chance to rule by his side. Luke refused and subsequently escaped. Once back aboard his flagship the Executor, Vader told Admiral Piett to capture the fleeing Millennium Falcon with a tractor beam, but the Falcon leaped into hyperspace. He angrily attempted to Force-choke the brawny officer in charge of the tractor beam, without results.

Video games

• In Star Wars: Masters of Teräs Käsi, Darth Vader appeared as a secret playable character in the setting of the 1997 fighting video game.
• In Soulcalibur IV, Darth Vader appeared as a playable DLC characters in the setting of the 2008 fighting video game where he was voiced by actor Matt Sloan.
• In Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, Darth Vader appeared in the video game where he was voiced by actor Matt Sloan. After the establishment of the Empire, he was shown as being the Emperor's enforcer and was dispatched to eliminate any remaining Jedi with one of his missions leading to him being dispatched to Kashyyyk. This was during the Imperial pacifying the planet with Darth Vader slaying a Jedi that escaped Order 66 but discovered that his target had a Force-sensitive child named Galen Marek. Taking the child with him, he decided to make the boy his secret apprentice code-named Starkiller and trained him in the ways of the Force to serve as his personal operative. Darth Vader had intended to train his apprentice to slay any surviving Jedi till he was strong enough to aid him in killing the Emperor.
• In Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II, Darth Vader appeared in the video game where he was voiced by actor Matt Sloan.
• In Star Wars: Battlefront II, Darth Vader appeared as a playable character in the multiplayer mode in the setting of the video game where he was voiced by actor Matt Sloan.
• In Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Darth Vader appeared as an antagonist in the setting of the action-adventure video game where he was voiced by actor Scott Lawrence.

Appearances

• Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope:
• Star Wars: Episode V - Empire Strikes Back:
• Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi:
• Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace:
• Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones:
• Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith:
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars:
• Star Wars: Rebels:
• Rogue One: A Star Wars Story:

Links

Internal Links

• Dark Helmet
• Black Helmet Man

External Links

• Wookieepedia Entry
• Wikipedia Entry

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