Darth Vader

Darth Vader, film character, lead villain of the science-fiction franchise Star Wars and one of the most recognizable characters in American pop culture.

First seen in the 1977 movie Star Wars: Episode IV—A New Hope (originally titled Star Wars), the towering, black-clad Darth Vader is a menacing villain. His head is covered by a signature black helmet, and the sound of his breathing is an eerie, mechanical hiss. Star Wars creator George Lucas conceived Vader’s character, while designer Ralph McQuarrie contributed some of his most iconic visual elements in his concept art for the series. He was performed physically by bodybuilder David Prowse while his deep voice was provided by actor James Earl Jones. His unmasked face in Star Wars: Episode VI—Return of the Jedi was that of actor Sebastian Shaw. In the prequel trilogy, Hayden Christensen portrayed Vader as young man and Jedi Anakin Skywalker. Composer John Williams created the striking song “The Imperial March” as a theme for Vader. The theme would further propel the character into the lasting memory of pop culture.

Armed with a deadly red lightsaber, fearsome telekinetic abilities, and keen intelligence, Vader leads the army of the Galactic Empire in a ruthless campaign against the heroic Rebel Alliance. In an intriguing twist offered in Star Wars: Episode V—The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Vader is revealed to be the father of the young rebel hero Luke Skywalker, and at the climax of the next film, Star Wars: Episode VI—Return of the Jedi (1983), Vader turns against the Empire to save his son’s life, sacrificing his own in the process.

A later trilogy of prequel films released at the turn of the 21st century chronicles Vader’s origin as a child slave named Anakin Skywalker. The young boy (Jake Lloyd) is liberated by Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson), a member of the galaxy’s guardians of peace and justice, the Jedi Order. Jinn perishes at the hands of an evil Sith lord—a warrior dedicated to the dark side of the Force—and Skywalker is raised and trained by Jinn’s apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor). Skywalker comes of age in a period of increasing political turmoil. The known world, led by the Galactic Republic at the beginning of the trilogy, has by the end devolved into a tyranny run by the Sith.

Skywalker’s life follows a pattern common to heroic folklore, in which love and honor are first lost and later redeemed. Skywalker was a precocious Jedi knight with impressive abilities, and as chronicled by the television series Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008–2020), the young man establishes himself as an unorthodox war hero fighting for the Republic during the titular wars. He becomes the youngest Jedi to be granted a seat on the elite Jedi council. Meanwhile, despite Jedi prohibitions, he falls in love and secretly marries the young politician Padmé Amidala (played by Natalie Portman in the prequel trilogy), who becomes pregnant.

Susceptible to his own hubris and fearful that Amidala’s pregnancy will end in tragedy, Skywalker is easily manipulated by a powerful Sith lord and political figurehead. Under the Sith’s influence, Skywalker succumbs to the dark side. He becomes the Sith Lord Darth Vader, betraying and all but annihilating the Jedi. Maimed in a battle with his former mentor Kenobi, he is thereafter able to survive only with the assistance of a mechanical suit. Despite the promises of his new master, Vader fails to use the dark side of the Force to save Amidala, who dies giving birth to twins, Luke and Leia. The children are separated and their identities concealed to avoid detection from the new Galactic Empire.

Christensen’s Darth Vader also makes appearances elsewhere in the Star Wars universe. The Disney+ television series Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022) and Ahsoka (begun 2023) follow, respectively, Skywalker’s mentor and his Clone Wars–era apprentice after the events of the prequel trilogy. The experiences of Skywalker’s grandchild, Ben Solo (Adam Driver) are depicted in the sequel trilogy, beginning with Star Wars: Episode VII—The Force Awakens (2015). Solo debuts as the masked villain Kylo Ren, battling the hero Rey over the course of three films until his later redemption—charting a similar path to Vader’s, from the light side of the Force to the dark side and back again.