10 Darth Vader

Darth Vader is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise. He is a primary antagonist in the original trilogy, but, as Anakin Skywalker, is the main protagonist of the prequel trilogy. Star Wars creator George Lucas has collectively referred to the first six episodic films of the franchise as "the tragedy of Darth Vader".[1]

Originally a Jedi prophesied to bring balance to the Force, Anakin Skywalker is lured to the dark side of the Force by Palpatine and becomes a Sith Lord. After fighting a lightsaber battle with his former mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi in which he is dismembered, Vader is transformed into a cyborg. He then serves the Galactic Empire as Darth Vader until he redeems himself by saving his son, Luke Skywalker, and seemingly killing Palpatine, sacrificing his own life in the process.[2] He is also the father of Princess Leia, the secret husband of Padmé Amidala, and grandfather of Kylo Ren, the main villain of the sequel trilogy.

The character has been portrayed by numerous actors. His cinematic appearances span the first six Star Wars films, as well as Rogue One, and he is referenced in both The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi. He also appears in television series (most substantially The Clone Wars) and numerous iterations of the Star Wars Expanded Universe, including video games, novels, and comic books.

Darth Vader has become one of the most iconic villains in popular culture, and has been listed among the greatest villains and fictional characters ever.[3][4] 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] His role as a tragic hero in the prequel trilogy was met with positive reviews.[6][7]

Name

Series creator George Lucas initially wrote the series' main villain as separate from Luke Starkiller's father Annikin [sic]. Various combinations of names for the character were built upon the phrase "Dark Water". Then Lucas "added lots of last names, Vaders and Wilsons and Smiths, and [he] just came up with the combination of Darth and Vader." After the release of The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Lucas said the name Vader was based upon the German/Dutch-language homophone vater or vader, meaning 'father', making the name representative of a "Dark Father".[8] However, there is no evidence that Lucas conceived of Vader as Luke's father before 1978.[9] Other words which may have inspired the name are "death" and "invader",[10] as well as the name of a high school upperclassman of Lucas's, Gary Vader.[11][12]

As no other character with the title "Darth" was introduced until the release of The Phantom Menace (1999),[b] some viewers interpreted it as the character's first name, in part because Obi-Wan Kenobi addresses him as "Darth" in the original film.[13] The moniker is bestowed upon Anakin in Revenge of the Sith (2005) upon his turn to the dark side of the Force.

Director Ken Annakin's films Swiss Family Robinson and Battle of the Bulge influenced the original trilogy,[14] leading some to believe that Anakin was named after him. Lucas's publicist denied this following Annakin's death in 2009.[15] Anakin and Luke's original surname "Starkiller" remained in the script until a few months into filming Star Wars, when it was dropped due to what Lucas called "unpleasant connotations" with Charles Manson and replaced with "Skywalker".[16][c]