Darth Vader

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See also: Anakin Skywalker

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Darth Vader is the iconic American film villain of George Lucas' award-winning science fiction saga Star Wars. He is the principal antagonist in the original film trilogy, who is revealed over the course of the saga to be a tragic hero named Anakin Skywalker. The character has appeared in Star Wars film episodes III, IV, V, and VI, as well as countless novels, games, "guest appearances," and fan-produced works. Darth Vader is one of the most iconic villains in film history, ranked third on American Film Institute's 100 Heroes and Villains list.[1]

Darth Vader was physically portrayed in the original film trilogy by David Prowse, vocally by James Earl Jones, and finally by Sebastian Shaw at the conclusion of Return of the Jedi. In the prequel film trilogy, Anakin Skywalker was portrayed as a boy by Jake Lloyd, then as a young adult by Hayden Christensen. Christensen also briefly portrayed Darth Vader without the character's famous costume, and finally in the costume at the close of Revenge of the Sith.

The character is depicted as a formidable warlord possessed of metaphysical powers, referred to as a Dark Lord of the Sith, who serves as the evil Galactic Emperor's brutal chief enforcer, ruthlessly hunting the freedom fighters of the Rebel Alliance. The character's background depicts a slave boy who became a heroic Jedi Knight, only to tragically fall under the dark will of the politician Palpatine by way of the metaphysical sorcery of the "dark side" of the Force.

Depiction

Main article: Star Wars § Feature films

Original trilogy

In the original Star Wars trilogy, Darth Vader is the primary antagonist: a dark, foreboding, and ruthless figure. One of the pivotal rulers of the Empire, he mercilessly attempts to destroy the Rebel Alliance, which is waging a long and desperate war to free the galaxy from the Empire's evil clutches. Beginning with Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, Vader's leitmotif is composer John Williams' The Imperial March, which heralds the character's entrances in the mise en scène.

A New Hope

Main article: Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope

Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, the first movie in the narrative chronology, features the character's first screen appearance. Vader is charged with recovering the stolen plans of the Death Star and finding the Rebel Alliance's secret base. He captures and tortures Princess Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher) and is present when Death Star commander Grand Moff Tarkin (Peter Cushing) destroys her home world of Alderaan. Shortly afterward, Vader fights a lightsaber duel against his former master, Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness), who has arrived at the Death Star to rescue Leia; Vader kills Kenobi, turning him into a spirit in the Force. He then encounters Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) during a battle over the Death Star, and senses in him a great strength in the Force shortly before the boy destroys the battle station. Just as Vader is about to shoot Luke down, the Millennium Falcon, piloted by Han Solo (Harrison Ford), destroys Vader's wingman and sends Vader's ship spinning into space.

The Empire Strikes Back

Main article: Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

In Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, Vader captures Leia, Han, Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew), and C-3PO (Anthony Daniels) on the cloud city of Bespin to lure Luke into a confrontation. Luke, who has been partially trained by Yoda (Frank Oz), duels Vader, but is eventually defeated when Vader uses his lightsaber to sever Luke's right hand. Vader reveals his true identity as Luke's father and offers Luke the chance to overthrow Palpatine and "rule the galaxy as father and son". Luke refuses and throws himself from a weather platform into a reactor chasm. He is sucked into a garbage chute and rescued by Leia, Chewbacca, Lando and C-3PO.

Return of the Jedi

Main article: Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
File:Vaderdies.jpg
Sebastian Shaw's portrayal of Darth Vader's death scene in Return of the Jedi.

In Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, Luke has nearly completed his Jedi training and learns from Yoda that Vader is indeed his father. Luke learns about his father's past from Obi-Wan's spirit, and also learns that Leia is his twin sister. On a mission to the forest moon of Endor, he surrenders to Imperial troops and is delivered into the hands of Darth Vader and the Emperor. Aboard the second Death Star, which is being constructed in orbit, Palpatine tries to seduce Luke to the dark side of the Force. Luke resists the Emperor's appeals to his anger and threats to his friends, but snaps when Vader threatens to turn Leia to the dark side. Luke brutally overpowers Vader, severing his father's right hand; however, he controls his anger at the last minute, realizing that he is perilously close to suffering his father's fate.

The Emperor urges Luke to kill Vader and "fulfill his destiny" by becoming Palpatine's new apprentice. Luke refuses and throws down his lightsaber. Enraged, Palpatine unleashes a torrent of Force lightning upon Luke. In agony, Luke begs his father for help. Unable to stand the sight of his son's suffering, Vader finally turns on his master, throwing him into the Death Star's reactor core, killing him. This fulfills his prophecy, as he brought balance to the force by killing The Emperor. In the process, however, Vader is mortally wounded by the Emperor's lightning. Moments from death, Vader begs his son to take off his breath-mask so he can look at Luke "with [his] own eyes"; Luke complies and, for the first time, father and son truly see each other. Rescued from the dark side, Anakin Skywalker admits that there is some good left in him, and dies redeemed. Luke escapes on a shuttle with his father's body as the Death Star explodes, destroyed by the Rebel Alliance. That night, Luke cremates his father's armor and, during the victory celebration on Endor's forest moon, Luke sees the redeemed spirit of Anakin Skywalker standing alongside the spirits of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda.

Revenge of the Sith

Main article: Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
File:Vader complete.jpg
Hayden Christensen's portrayal of Darth Vader's "rebirth" scene in Revenge of the Sith

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith portrays Anakin Skywalker's fall to the dark side of the Force. In the closing days of the Clone Wars, Palpatine — the Chancellor of the Galactic Republic — reveals himself to Anakin as the Sith Lord Darth Sidious and tempts him to join the dark side by promising that it will enable him to save his pregnant wife, Padmé Amidala (Natalie Portman), from dying in childbirth. Anakin helps Palpatine kill Jedi Master Mace Windu (Samuel L. Jackson) and becomes the Dark Lord's Sith apprentice, Darth Vader. His first assignment is to assault the Jedi Temple and kill everyone inside, even the children, paving the way for Palpatine to destroy the Jedi and form the Empire from the Republic's ashes.

Vader then travels to the lava planet Mustafar, where Separatist leaders have gathered, and mercilessly slaughters them. There, Vader is surprised by the sudden appearance of Padmé, who has learned what her husband has done and begs him to go into hiding with her. Vader, mad with power, suspects her of betraying him. The appearance of Anakin's former mentor and friend, Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor), confirms in Vader's mind his suspicions about Padmé. In his anger, he uses the Force to choke her into unconsciousness. Obi-Wan and Vader engage in a fierce, climactic lightsaber duel, at the end of which Obi-Wan severs Vader's limbs; Vader then slips too close to the lava, and burns nearly to death. Palpatine arrives in time to rescue his apprentice and transports him to Coruscant, where medical droids encase him in the black armored suit, mask, and respirator first seen in the original films.

When Vader regains consciousness and asks for Padmé, Palpatine lies, claiming Vader killed her in the heat of his anger. In reality, she dies after giving birth to their children, Luke and Leia. This breaks what remains of Anakin's spirit; he screams in torment, destroying the objects around him with the Force. He is last seen at Palpatine's side, where the two watch the construction of the Death Star.

Expanded Universe

Main article: Star Wars Expanded Universe

Vader appears numerous times in Marvel Comics' Star Wars series.

As chronicled in James Luceno's book Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader, Vader sheds his identity as Anakin Skywalker shortly after the events of Episode III. In the months afterward, he systematically pursues and kills the survivors of the Great Jedi Purge (except Obi-Wan and Yoda); in the process, he fully embraces his new identity as a Sith and disavows any connection to his former Jedi self. The novel also reveals Vader's plan to eventually overthrow Palpatine and rule the Empire himself, and that his primary motivation for betraying the Jedi Order was that he resented their supposed failure to recognize his power.

In the comic book Vader's Quest, he hires bounty hunters to bring him information about the pilot who destroyed the Death Star, ultimately meeting his son Luke for the first time. Later, 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 fights him in a lightsaber duel on Mimban. On Mimban, Vader is nearly defeated by Luke, who severs his right arm.[2]

In The Star Wars Holiday Special, Vader searches for the Rebels responsible for the Death Star's destruction, almost thwarting Han and Chewbacca's goal of reaching Kashyyyk in order for Chewie to reach his family for Life Day.

Timothy Zahn's Thrawn trilogy explains that Darth Vader is 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. Vader later transferred their services to Grand Admiral Thrawn.

Video games

Main article: Star Wars computer and video games

Vader appears in many Star Wars video games.

He has a prominent role in the 1996 Shadows of the Empire multimedia project, including the video game, which takes place between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. In the story, Prince Xizor plots to overthrow Vader and take his place as the Emperor's second in command. The story also reveals that Vader knows there is some good left in him, and that he wishes to use the Force to return his physical appearance to that of his former self.

Vader is playable in the first level of The Force Unleashed,[3] and is a central character in the game as Starkiller's master.[4]

Vader is an unlockable playable character in Lego Star Wars: The Video Game.

Vader is also featured as a playable character in the Playstation 3 version of Soulcalibur IV from Namco.

Production and publication

Creation and concepts

File:Vadersketch.jpg
An early conceptual drawing of Darth Vader (right) by Ralph McQuarrie

The character's image was created when concept artist Ralph McQuarrie drew the opening scene where Vader and his stormtroopers board a Rebel ship.[2] It was initially imagined that Darth Vader would fly through space to enter the ship, necessitating a suit and breathing mask.[2] This equipment was later made permanent and incorporated in the story.[2]

The iconic sound of the character's respirator breathing was created by sound designer Ben Burtt, who created the sound by recording himself breathing into a scuba regulator.[5]

The armor and clothing worn by Samurai warriors was major inspiration to the costume of Darth Vader.
The German "Stahlhelm" (steel helmet) of World War I and II was an influence on the shape of Darth Vader's helmet.

Darth Vader's costume is one of the areas in which Lucas' interest in feudal Japan -- in particular samurai warriors -- is most clearly manifested.[6] According to Star Wars wardrobe master John Mollo, "Darth Vader's helmet started as a World War I German helmet".[7]

Portrayals

David Prowse played the role of Darth Vader during filming of A New Hope. Prowse was originally given the choice between the roles of Chewbacca and Darth Vader, and chose the latter because he said "people would remember him." After filming, James Earl Jones was hired to read Vader's lines over Prowse's performance, in part due to Prowse's strong West Country accent. Lucas eventually chose Jones to provide Vader's voice for all the original trilogy films; Jones has since been closely identified with the role. In 1978, Jones returned as the voice of Darth Vader in The Star Wars Holiday Special, which used A New Hope footage of Prowse in the character's costume.

When National Public Radio commissioned writer Brian Daley to adapt Star Wars as a radio series, actor Brock Peters was hired to provide the voice of Darth Vader when James Earl Jones was not available.

For the scene in which Luke unmasks Vader at the end of Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, Lucas turned to Sebastian Shaw to portray the newly-reformed Sith Lord.

The character of Darth Vader was also played by several stunt doubles, most notably fencing instructor Bob Anderson. Anderson handled all of Vader's fight sequences in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Mark Hamill, who portrayed Luke Skywalker 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."[8]

Actor and former Industrial Light & Magic visual effects artist C. Andrew Nelson has also portrayed Vader at Lucasfilm events, in the Rebel Assault II and Dark Forces video games, and in footage filmed for the 1997 Special Edition releases of the original three Star Wars films. Nelson has also appeared as Vader on various television shows and in numerous commercials.

For Revenge of the Sith, Hayden Christensen, who played Anakin Skywalker in the preceding film, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, wore the Vader armor rather than Prowse. However, as Christensen was shorter than Prowse, certain perspective trickery was used to make him seem as physically large as Prowse: a slightly scaled-down costume was created for him; the costume had extensions built into the boots and helmet; and some of the shots of Vader standing next to Palpatine were filmed using forced perspective. No one was credited for the briefly heard voice of Darth Vader at the film's end. When asked if he had supplied the voice, either newly or from a previous recording, James Earl Jones told Newsday, "You'd have to ask Lucas about that. I don't know".[9]

Matt Sloan voiced Darth Vader in Soulcalibur IV and The Force Unleashed video game.

In the "Rebel Assault" series, Vader was portrayed by C. Andrew Nelson, and was voiced by Scott Lawrence, who also provided Vader's voice in the first of the "Star Wars: Dark Forces" series.

Cultural figure

Due to his central role in the Star Wars films, the character of Darth Vader has entered the public consciousness as the quintessential villain. His powerful bass voice and imposing image (he is 6 feet 8 inches tall in his full suit), coupled with his heavy mechanized breathing, is easily recognizable. The American Film Institute's list of the greatest movie villains placed him third, beating the Wicked Witch of the West and the Terminator and coming just after Hannibal Lecter and Norman Bates. He has been parodied by such figures as "Duck Vader" from Tiny Toon Adventures, "Darth Benkyou" in an episode of Doraemon, "Dearth Nadir" as played by Gonzo for The Muppet Show's "Pigs in Space" sketch, "Girth Plotz" (Thaddeus Plotz) in an episode of Animaniacs that parodied the first trilogy, "Darth Koopa" as portrayed by Bowser from The Super Mario Bros. Super Show, "Dark Laser" from The Fairly OddParents, an episode of Codename: Kids Next Door where President Jimmy dresses in black and takes over the school, country music singer Darth Brooks in Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and Chef from South Park as Darth Chef in the episode "The Return of Chef". Marty McFly in Back to the Future (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. At the beginning of Kevin Smith's Chasing Amy, the character Hooper X gives a speech at a comic convention on how Darth Vader is a metaphor for how poorly sci-fi 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". The character of the Huntsman from American Dragon: Jake Long was inspired by Darth Vader and a scene from the episode "Act 4 Scene 15" parodies the scene in The Empire Strikes Back when the back of Vader's head is briefly exposed before he dons his helmet.

In Mel Brooks' 1987 Star Wars parody Spaceballs, Darth Vader is parodied as Lord Dark Helmet (Rick Moranis), a short man with an oversize Darth Vader-like helmet who occasionally opens it to reveal his face. Instead of using a lightsaber, he has a ring that gives him abilities similar to The Force (called the "Schwartz"). The Schwartz ring allows Dark Helmet to produce a lightsaber-like projection at the ring's tip. He is given to making double entendres about his helmet and his ring sword ("I see your Schwartz is as big as mine"). The film also pokes fun at Darth Vader's revelation to Luke Skywalker in The Empire Strikes Back; during their climactic battle, Dark Helmet declares himself to be main character's "father's brother's nephew's cousin's former roommate," before admitting that this means that they have no familial ties whatsoever.

In 2006, Blame Society Productions created a series of short videos featuring Chad Vader - Day Shift Manager. Chad Vader, ostensibly Darth Vader's younger brother, wears the same armor and cape and uses phrases and concepts associated with Darth Vader in the context of a modern grocery store. More recently, Family Guy parodied Episode IV, with Stewie Griffin appearing as Darth Vader. In another episode, Darth Vader is shown attempting to take out a loan. When asked what the loan is for, Vader replies, "To build a space station that can destroy a planet"; when the accountant voices concern over his choice, Vader changes his answer to, "I want to open a sports bar." Another episode contains a scene in which Meg Griffin goes to her brother Chris' room to see his hat being put on like Darth Vader's helmet in Episode V.

Darth Vader, along with Yoda, is a playable character in the video game Soulcalibur IV.

Darth Vader as a cultural metaphor

Darth Vader's image and name have both become synonyms for evil in the public consciousness. Lucas has pointed to Vader's iconic status as a reason for making the prequel movies, since he felt the icon overshadowed the fact that Vader was intended to be a tragic character.

On June 22, 2006, U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney referred to himself as the Darth Vader of the Bush administration. Discussing the need for vigorous pursuit of 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.'"[10] Jon Stewart put on a Darth Vader helmet to "talk" to Dick Cheney as a "kindred spirit" on The Daily Show on January 25, 2007. 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 satiric cartoon show Lil' Bush, Dick Cheney's father is portrayed as being Darth Vader. At her presidential campaign event on September 19, 2007, Hillary Rodham 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. Then-Vice President Al Gore referred to Tele-Communications Inc.'s John Malone as the "Darth Vader of cable." [11] Political strategist Lee Atwater was known by his political enemies as "the Darth Vader of the Republican Party."[12]

In 2005, former Cornell University entomologists Quentin Wheeler and Kelly Miller named 65 new species of slime-mold beetle of the genus Agathidium, with one named Agathidium vaderi after Darth Vader.[13]

In the last years of construction, Washington National Cathedral held a competition for children to design new grotesques for the western towers. The third-place winner was a design featuring Darth Vader, which looms over the southern side of the northwest tower.[14] Brisbane, California, has an ominous-looking building made of dark reflective glass and the architecturally acclaimed Dakin Building, a white futuristic antithesis -- these buildings are known as the "Darth Vader building" and "Luke Skywalker building", respectively.[15]

The Fourth and Blanchard Building in Seattle, WA is informally dubbed the 'Darth Vader building'.[16][17]

The BNZ Centre (now State Insurance Tower) in Wellington, New Zealand, was once nicknamed "Darth Vader's pencil box."[18][19]

See also

References

  1. ^ AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes and Villains", American Film Institute, last accessed April 17, 2008
  2. ^ a b c d "Darth Vader (Behind the Scenes)". Star Wars Databank. Lucasfilm. Retrieved 2008-04-28.
  3. ^ Fernando Bueno, "Darth Vader," Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Prima Official Game Guide (Roseville: Prima Games, 2008), 20.
  4. ^ DiGiacomo, Frank (2008). "The Game Has Changed". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 2008-04-23. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  5. ^ Burns, Kevin and Edith Becker (2004). Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy (Documentary).
  6. ^ Henderson, Mary (1997). Star Wars: The Magic of Myth. Bantam Books.
  7. ^ Ingram, Richard (2007). Buying and Selling Wartime Collectibles: An Enthusiast's Guide to Militaria. Crowood. p. 17. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ Not specified (1983), Starlog #72, Starlog Magazine, text available at TheForce.net
  9. ^ "Fast Chat: James Earl Jones". Newsday. 2008-03-16.
  10. ^ "Transcripts". The Situation Room. Cable News Network. Retrieved 2008-04-27.
  11. ^ Gunther, Marc (2005-08-22). "Al Gore Battles Old Cable Demons". CNN. Retrieved 2008-04-27.
  12. ^ "Harvey Leroy "Lee" Atwater, was a Republican political consultant". Retrieved 2008-04-27.
  13. ^ "Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld are now species of slime-mold beetles -- but strictly in homage". Cornell News. Cornell University. Retrieved 2008-04-27.
  14. ^ "About Darth Vader". Washington National Cathedral. Retrieved 2008-04-27.
  15. ^ An architectural Star Wars clash at Sierra Point, San Francisco Chronicle, News Page 4, April 17, 1986
  16. ^ Egan, Timothy (1986-06-29). "Focus: Seattle; Creating An Office Empire". NY Times. Retrieved 2008-05-08.
  17. ^ "the bell awards - Tom Graff (interview)". Belltown Messenger. June 2007. Retrieved 2008-05-08.
  18. ^ Day Out Results: BNZ Building.
  19. ^ "Grand Canyon Scale for Wellingtonians" Wayward Wellingtonians, 11 July 2008.

Further reading

External links

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