First of all this has some spoilers but let’s be serious if you haven’t seen star wars or at least don’t know the premise then I’m assuming you have no plans to watch it and get to know it so I don’t feel bad spoiling it for you.
When you think of Star Wars, who is the first character to come to mind? I’m sure for a few it was Yoda, maybe a handful thought of Luke Skywalker or Hans Solo. But for the overwhelming majority I’m willing to bet Darth Vader was the prominent figure to come to mind. I know for me he was. His big time reveal of “Luke, I am your father.” is one of the most commonly quoted Star wars lines of the series. Why is this? Why is it that we so often associate the original trilogy with this villain? Why is he arguably the most iconic character in the series rather than one of the major heroes?
Perhaps we should start with the most basic reason: the character and his outward appearance. Standing at the towering height of 6’8” and weighing a powerful 265Ib, Vader is an intimidating character to be sure. Of course that’s nothing compared to the staggering height of Yoda at 2’2”. But I digress. Another outstanding factor that possibly contributes to our recognition of Vader is that he stands out among the imperial army and the Stormtroopers. The storm troopers, who are notorious for their simple yet sleek, white, futuristic armor and inability to hit the broadside of a barn, compliment Vader’s high tech and intimidating suit of jet black armor complete with a dark, flowing cape. It is for this reason, perhaps, that Vader’s appearance I such a memorable one. He has that standard dark clothes, cape, and mask combo that we associate with many villains. What sets Vader apart however is that his outfit is futuristic and his minions are dressed in contrasting white and not black.
What’s more is that Darth Vader is not your typical streamlined villain who was born evil and has a natural inclination to be evil. Instead George Lucas wrote him out to be a tragic hero. If watching the Star Wars series from movie one and through to movie six, Darth Vader, or at the time Anakin Skywalker, first made his appearance as a young 8 year old slave whose only dream was to be a powerful Jedi fighting for the greater good of the galaxy. 10 years after this appearance we find that Anakin is now a young Jedi apprenticed to Obiwan Kenobi but as this apprenticeship progresses, Anakin begins to respect the Jedi and the Jedi council less and less and is more and more easily manipulated by Chancellor Palpatine who eventually leads him down a dark path with no return. Fast forward to the issuing of order 66, an order that essentially calls for the extermination of the Jedi by the dark side of the force, referred to often as the Sith. The order is personally carried out by Anakin and the clone army (the beginnings of Darth Vader and the Stormtroopers). So here we see the official transition from the light to the dark side. Yet another tribute to the black theme of Vader’s armor. We all know a little bit about Vader’s career as the main villain in the original trilogy so we’ll skip ahead to the moment that further defines him as the tragic hero. In the end of the Episode 6 Vader kills the emperor in order to save his son Luke, thus launching a chain reaction that leads to the destruction of the second death star. An unexpected twist for the audience at the time, this last minute dying wish to redeem himself created a dynamic that no one expected.
So how does any of this play into the argument that Vader is the most iconic character of the entire Star Wars series? Well Vader not only looks the part of the dark, bad ass, confident, no nonsense villain that movie goers love, he also has an intriguing backstory that any audience looks for in a good series. Whether it’s a book, television series, or movie series people love to see character development and plot twists that drive them to identify with the characters. His conversion from the light, to dark, then back to light his last dying wish of redeeming himself creates a movie icon that can only be appreciated and remembered as a legendary villain and unlikely hero.
Sorry for he late post!
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