Darth Vader
Darth Vader is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise. He first appeared in the original Star Wars film and its novelization. He is a leader of the Galactic Empire, and is one of the two major villains in the original film trilogy. In the prequel trilogy, he transforms from the Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker into the Sith Lord Darth Vader. His metamorphosis begins when he is lured to the dark side of the Force by Chancellor Palpatine, who later becomes the Galactic Emperor. After a lightsaber battle with his former mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi, Vader is severely injured and is transformed into a cyborg. He serves Palpatine for over two decades, hunting down the remaining Jedi and attempting to crush the Rebel Alliance. When Palpatine tries to kill Vader's son, Luke Skywalker, Vader turns against Palpatine and kills him. Vader is the husband of Padmé Amidala, the father of Luke and his twin sister Leia Organa, and the maternal grandfather of Ben Solo.
David Prowse physically portrays Vader in the original trilogy, while James Earl Jones provides his voice in all of the films and in other media. Sebastian Shaw portrays Anakin unmasked and as a ghost in Return of the Jedi, while Jake Lloyd and Hayden Christensen portray Anakin in the prequel trilogy, with Christensen reprising the role in the series Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ahsoka. In the standalone film Rogue One, Vader is portrayed by Spencer Wilding and Daniel Naprous. Vader also appears in novels, comics, and video games, and has become an iconic character in popular culture.
Creation and development
Darth Vader
During pre-production of the original Star Wars film, its director, George Lucas, hired Ralph McQuarrie to create conceptual images for the 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." 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. A 1975 production painting by McQuarrie depicts Vader engaged in a lightsaber duel with Deak Starkiller, who later became Luke Skywalker. Vader is shown wearing black armor, a flowing cape and a skull-like mask and helmet. This early design was similar to Vader's final appearance.Working from McQuarrie's concepts, the costume designer John Mollo devised an outfit that combined clerical robes, a motorcycle suit, a German military helmet, and a military gas mask. The prop sculptor Brian Muir created the helmet and armor. The sound of Vader's breathing was created by the film's sound designer, Ben Burtt, using modified recordings of a scuba breathing apparatus. The sound effect is trademarked at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
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." On another occasion, he said it was inspired by the phrase "Dark Water". It is also possible that "Darth Vader" originated from the name of Gary Vader, a boy who went to high school with Lucas.
The names of various Star Wars characters have been altered in countries outside the United States. In France, Vader's name was changed to Dark Vador starting with the original film. Although the names of some other characters have been reverted to the English versions over the years, Vader is still referred to as Dark Vador in recent French-language Star Wars media. The title "Darth" has been replaced with "Dark" for other Sith Lords as well. In Italian-language editions of Star Wars films, Darth Vader was called Dart Fener starting with the original trilogy. In 2004, the dubbing director for the Italian-language version of Revenge of the Sith asked Italian fans to decide which name to use in the film; the Italian name was chosen. However, the name was switched to "Darth Vader" for The Force Awakens. In Iceland, Darth Vader's name is Svarthöfði, which means "black-head".
Anakin Skywalker
The films Swiss Family Robinson and Battle of the Bulge influenced the original Star Wars trilogy, but Lucas' publicist has denied that Anakin Skywalker was named after Ken Annakin, the director of those films. The original surname of Anakin and Luke was "Starkiller", and it remained in the script until a few months into filming Star Wars. It was dropped due to what Lucas called "unpleasant connotations" with Charles Manson, who became a "star killer" in 1969 when he murdered the well-known actress Sharon Tate. Lucas replaced the problematic name "Starkiller" with "Skywalker".The 1999 film The Phantom Menace—the first film of the prequel trilogy—introduced the possibility that Anakin could be the Chosen One of an ancient Jedi prophecy, who is destined to bring balance to the Force. Lucas, who directed all three films in the trilogy, stated in an interview that "Anakin is the Chosen One. Even when Anakin turns into Darth Vader, he is still the Chosen One." Hayden Christensen said of Anakin: "He believes that he's the Chosen One. He's not doing wrong things knowing that it's having a negative impact. So there's that sort of naivety to him...and it makes him more human in a lot of ways." Lucas has stated that the circumstances of Anakin's birth are mysterious to align him with heroes from mythology, such as Hercules.
After completing principal photography for Revenge of the Sith in 2003, Lucas made changes to Anakin's character by rewriting his turn to the dark side. He accomplished this through editing the principal footage and filming new scenes during pickups in London in 2004. In previous versions of the script, Anakin had several reasons for turning to the dark side, including his sincere belief that the Jedi were plotting to seize control of the Republic. Although he retains this belief in the finished film, Lucas' changes emphasized his desire to rescue Padmé from death. Thus, in the theatrical version of Revenge of the Sith, Anakin falls to the dark side primarily to save Padmé.
In 2008, the character Anakin returned in the animated film Star Wars: The Clone Wars, which was directed by Dave Filoni. In an interview with Scientific American, Filoni described Anakin as less "dark and tormented" and closer to a hero in this film than in previous films. He called this version of Anakin a combination of Luke Skywalker and Han Solo, and he said that Anakin's relationship with his apprentice Ahsoka Tano is an essential story arc in both the film and the animated series that followed. Tara Salvati of ScreenRant describes the relationship between Anakin and Ahsoka as a "tight bond", and asserts that Anakin has "unwavering support" for her.
Portrayals
Darth Vader
David Prowse, a bodybuilder and actor, portrays Vader in the original trilogy. Prowse was originally offered the role of Chewbacca, but turned it down, as he wanted to play the villain. Bob Anderson, a former Olympic fencer, portrays Vader during lightsaber fight scenes in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Lucas chose to have a different actor provide Vader's voice, because he felt Prowse's West Country English accent was inappropriate for the character. The director originally considered Orson Welles for the voice role, but selected James Earl Jones instead after deciding that Welles' voice would be too recognizable to audiences. Jones initially felt his role was too small to warrant recognition, and he chose to be uncredited in Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back. He was finally credited in Return of the Jedi in 1983.In The Empire Strikes Back, it is revealed that Vader is Luke's father. Due to the enormity of this plot twist, the filmmakers wanted to keep the revelation a secret until the film was released. Prowse was known for leaking sensitive information to the public, so Vader's revelation was concealed even from him. When filming the scene, he was asked to read the line "Obi-Wan killed your father" instead of "No, I am your father." Only the director, the producers, and Mark Hamill knew the actual line, which was dubbed in later by Jones. Prowse did not know the real line until he viewed the finished film.
Hayden Christensen portrays Vader in Revenge of the Sith, while Brock Peters provides his voice in the Star Wars radio series. Scott Lawrence voices Vader in video games, including the 2019 virtual reality series Vader Immortal. Matt Sloan voices the Sith Lord in both video games and television productions. Both Spencer Wilding and Daniel Naprous portray Vader in Rogue One, with Jones providing the voice. Jones also voices Vader in the Star Wars Holiday Special and the animated series Star Wars Rebels. In September 2022, it was confirmed that Jones would retire from voicing the character. His voice was digitally recreated by the company Respeecher for use in the series Obi-Wan Kenobi, and he later signed over the rights to his voice for future Star Wars productions.
Anakin Skywalker
Near the end of Return of the Jedi, Luke removes Vader's mask. Although Prowse had portrayed the Sith Lord throughout the trilogy, the filmmakers wanted a more experienced actor to play the unmasked Vader. Sebastian Shaw was selected for the role, which is listed as "Anakin Skywalker" in the credits. Shaw's presence on set was kept secret from all but the minimum cast and crew, and Shaw was contractually obligated not to discuss any film secrets with anyone, even his family. In the final scene of the film, Shaw portrays Anakin's Force spirit. His likeness in this scene was replaced with that of Hayden Christensen in the 2004 DVD release.When The Phantom Menace was being developed, hundreds of actors were auditioned for the role of young Anakin before Jake Lloyd was cast. Rick McCallum, the film's producer, said that Lloyd was "smart, mischievous and love anything mechanicaljust like Anakin." When casting the role of 19-year-old Anakin for Attack of the Clones, the filmmakers reviewed about 1,500 candidates before selecting Hayden Christensen, who reprises the role in Revenge of the Sith and in the series Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ahsoka. Christensen's performance in Revenge of the Sith garnered him a nomination for the Saturn Award for Best Actor, while his portrayal of Anakin in Obi-Wan Kenobi earned him the Saturn Award for Best Guest Performance in a Streaming Series.
Anakin is voiced by Mat Lucas and Frankie Ryan Manriquez in the 2003 animated micro-series Clone Wars, and by Kirby Morrow in several television productions. Matt Lanter provides the character's voice in video games and in various television productions, including The Clone Wars, Rebels, Forces of Destiny and Star Wars: Tales. Lanter also voices Anakin in the film version of The Clone Wars. During the second-season finale of Rebels, Lanter's voice is sometimes blended with the voice of James Earl Jones.