60 Fun Facts About Darth Vader

Who voiced Darth Vader in the original Star Wars trilogy?

He chose to go uncredited in the first two films because he felt his part was too small; his name finally appeared in the credits of Return of the Jedi.

Which bodybuilder and actor physically played Vader in the original trilogy?

He was 6 feet 6 inches tall and had originally been offered the role of Chewbacca, which he turned down because he wanted to play the villain.

Which famous filmmaker did George Lucas consider for Vader's voice before the eventual actor?

Lucas decided the Citizen Kane director's voice would be too recognisable to audiences.

Vader's mechanical breathing was created by sound designer Ben Burtt using recordings of what?

The sound is so distinctive that it is registered as a trademark at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Concept artist Ralph McQuarrie created Vader's mask by combining a full-face breathing mask with what?

McQuarrie suggested the space suit in the first place, because the script had Vader traveling between spaceships.

Which former Olympic fencer performed Vader's lightsaber duels in Empire and Jedi?

Anderson also trained actors for The Princess Bride and The Lord of the Rings films.

Why did George Lucas decide to have someone else voice Vader rather than the man in the suit?

Prowse's West Country English accent earned him a cruel nickname on set, but he remained the physical Vader for all three films.

What decoy line was the actor in the suit told to say for the Empire Strikes Back reveal?

Only the director, the producers and Mark Hamill knew the real line, which the voice actor dubbed in later. Prowse found out at the premiere.

Which actor plays the unmasked Anakin in Return of the Jedi and is credited as 'Anakin Skywalker'?

His presence on set was kept secret and he was contractually barred from discussing the film even with his family. His ghost was replaced by Hayden Christensen in the 2004 DVD.

Who played nine-year-old Anakin in The Phantom Menace?

Hundreds of boys were auditioned. Producer Rick McCallum said the winner was 'smart, mischievous and loved anything mechanical—just like Anakin.'

Which A-list actor did Lucas consider for teenage Anakin before casting Hayden Christensen?

About 1,500 candidates were reviewed for the part in Attack of the Clones. DiCaprio declined.

What was Anakin and Luke's original surname in early Star Wars scripts, dropped over its Manson association?

The name later resurfaced as the First Order's planet-sized superweapon in The Force Awakens.

In a 2005 interview, George Lucas said 'Darth Vader' was a modified version of which phrase?

He has told the story differently on other occasions, once citing 'Dark Water'. A high-school classmate of his was named Gary Vader.

What is Darth Vader called in French-language Star Wars media?

'Darth' became 'Dark' for other French Sith Lords too. Italian audiences knew him as Dart Fener until The Force Awakens.

Vader's Icelandic name, Svarthöfði, translates to what?

Iceland is one of several countries that renamed the character. In Italy he was Dart Fener for the first six films.

On the AFI's list of 100 greatest screen villains, Vader ranked third behind Norman Bates and whom?

The 2003 list crowned the cannibal psychiatrist number one. IGN separately ranked Vader 25th among video game villains.

Costume designer John Mollo's Vader outfit used a helmet borrowed from which country's military?

Prop sculptor Brian Muir carved the finished helmet and armour from McQuarrie's designs.

On which planet does Anakin grow up as a slave?

He builds his own protocol droid there, C-3PO, and wins his freedom in a podrace wager.

Which Jedi Master discovers Anakin and becomes convinced he is the 'Chosen One'?

He learns Anakin was conceived without a father and can see the future, but the Jedi Council refuses his request to train the boy.

Whom does Anakin find dying in a Tusken Raider camp in Attack of the Clones?

Padmé is disturbed by what he did but comforts him anyway. The scene foreshadows his fall to the dark side.

Which Sith Lord severs Anakin's arm in the duel on Geonosis?

Anakin is fitted with a robotic arm and then marries Padmé in a secret ceremony on Naboo.

Whose hand does Anakin cut off, letting Sidious kill him, just before he joins the Sith?

Anakin had reported the Chancellor's treachery himself. Desperate to save Padmé, he switched sides mid-fight.

On which volcanic planet does Obi-Wan defeat Anakin and leave him burning beside a lava flow?

Years later Vader builds his castle there, and Rogue One opens with him summoning a Death Star official to it.

After the 2003 shoot, Lucas reshot Revenge of the Sith so that Anakin's fall was driven mainly by what?

Earlier drafts gave him several motives, including a sincere belief that the Jedi were plotting to seize the Republic. The pickups were shot in London in 2004.

What lie does the Emperor tell the newly armoured Vader that makes him scream in anguish?

Padmé actually died after giving birth to Luke and Leia. The film ends with Vader, Sidious and Tarkin watching the first Death Star take shape.

In the 1977 film, Vader and which Imperial officer must recover the stolen Death Star plans?

Vader places a tracking device on the Millennium Falcon, which leads the Empire to the Rebel base on Yavin 4.

During the Death Star trench run, who knocks Vader's TIE fighter off course before he can shoot Luke?

Han's surprise return in the Falcon lets Luke fire the shot that destroys the station.

On Cloud City, whom does Vader freeze in carbonite and hand over to Boba Fett?

The freezing was a test run for capturing Luke. Vader then duels Luke and cuts off his hand.

How does Vader finally kill the Emperor in Return of the Jedi?

He is mortally wounded by the Emperor's Force lightning in the process, and asks Luke to remove his mask before he dies.

Where does Luke burn his father's body on a funeral pyre?

As the Rebels celebrate, Luke sees Anakin's spirit appear beside Obi-Wan and Yoda.

In The Force Awakens, whose burned helmet does Kylo Ren speak to as if praying?

Kylo Ren, born Ben Solo, is Vader's grandson and vows to finish his grandfather's mission of destroying the Jedi.

In Rogue One, Vader summons which weapons developer to his castle?

In one discarded storyline, Vader killed him for letting the Rebels steal the Death Star schematics.

Which two performers physically played Vader in Rogue One?

The original voice actor still supplied the voice. Vader's rampage down the Rebel corridor became the film's most talked-about scene.

Which nickname does Ahsoka Tano use for Anakin in The Clone Wars?

He calls her 'Snips' for her snippy attitude. Their bond became the emotional core of the series.

In The Clone Wars finale, what does Vader find at the crash site that makes him assume Ahsoka died?

The scene is set after Revenge of the Sith. Ahsoka had left the Jedi Order after being wrongly accused of bombing the Jedi Temple.

In Star Wars Rebels, Vader leads a squad of Force-sensitive Imperial hunters called what?

He dispatches the Grand Inquisitor to hunt the Rebel cell on Lothal, then arrives personally after the Inquisitor is killed.

The 2022 series Obi-Wan Kenobi is set how many years after Revenge of the Sith?

For that whole decade, Obi-Wan believed his fallen apprentice had died in their duel, until Inquisitor Reva told him otherwise.

Which company digitally recreated the retired original actor's voice as Vader for Obi-Wan Kenobi?

Jones later signed over the rights to his voice for future Star Wars productions.

In Ahsoka (2023), Anakin appears to his former apprentice in what ethereal realm outside time and space?

Industrial Light & Magic used de-aging technology to make the 42-year-old Hayden Christensen look younger.

Vader Immortal, the three-episode virtual reality series, launched in May 2019 alongside which headset?

All three episodes reached PlayStation VR in August 2020. Scott Lawrence voices Vader in the games.

At the end of Jedi: Fallen Order, Vader kills which Inquisitor for failing to secure a Jedi Holocron?

He then goes after Cal Kestis himself, and Cal barely escapes. Vader returns as a boss in Jedi: Survivor.

Which 1984 magazine cover put Reagan in Vader's helmet in response to the SDI?

Political opponents had already nicknamed the missile-defence plan 'Star Wars'.

George Lucas said Dick Cheney was really more like which Star Wars character than Vader?

Lucas added that a better stand-in for Vader would be George W. Bush.

Which country's Internet Party has fielded multiple election candidates under the name Darth Vader?

Britain has its own Vader-alike, Lord Buckethead, a novelty candidate since 1987 whose portrayer later created Count Binface.

French psychiatrist Eric Bui has used Anakin as a teaching example for which condition?

He cited Anakin's impulsivity, anger, fear of abandonment and swings between idealisation and devaluation.

What does the final arc of Charles Soule's 2017–18 Darth Vader comic depict being constructed?

That arc also implied that the Emperor used the Force to conceive Anakin, though a Lucasfilm story group member later said it was 'all in Anakin's head'.

In the 1978 novel Splinter of the Mind's Eye, how does Vader's first duel with Luke end?

Alan Dean Foster wrote it as a low-budget sequel option in case Star Wars flopped. The Empire Strikes Back overrode it.

In the 1981 radio drama of Star Wars, who voiced Vader?

Peters, best known as Tom Robinson in To Kill a Mockingbird, played Vader in extended scenes torturing Leia aboard the Star Destroyer.

Which Legends video game features Galen Marek as Vader's secret apprentice?

Vader is playable in the game's first level and later turns up as a boss. He is the final boss of the 2010 sequel.

What role was David Prowse originally offered before he insisted on playing the villain?

The 6-foot-6 bodybuilder never learned the real 'I am your father' line until he saw the finished film.

In which film was James Earl Jones first credited for voicing Vader?

He felt the role was too small to warrant recognition on the first two films and chose to go uncredited.

By what name was Vader known in Italian dubs of the original trilogy?

Italian fans were asked to vote on the name for Revenge of the Sith, then it flipped back to Darth Vader for The Force Awakens.

What was the first name of the Lucas high-school classmate who may have inspired the villain's surname?

Lucas has also said the name came from 'Dark Father' and, on another occasion, 'Dark Water'.

Which prop sculptor created Vader's helmet and armour from John Mollo's design?

Mollo's outfit blended clerical robes, a motorcycle suit, a German helmet and a gas mask; the breathing sound is a registered trademark.

What novelty British election candidate, first seen in the 1984 parody Hyperspace, resembles Vader?

After a copyright dispute, Buckethead performer Jonathan Harvey created the similar Count Binface.

Lucas said which US president would be a better stand-in for Vader than Dick Cheney?

Al Gore once called cable boss John Malone 'the Darth Vader of cable', and Lee Atwater got the tag from Republican foes.

On which planet does Vader hunt Maul in the 2026 animated series Maul – Shadow Lord?

He duels Maul and two Jedi, killing Eeko-Dio Daki, but Maul escapes.

In Jedi: Survivor, Vader slays which Jedi after a prolonged duel on Jedha?

Two years earlier, in Fallen Order, he had killed the Second Sister and nearly caught Cal Kestis himself.

What new feature came with Vader's return to Fortnite in May 2025?

The AI voice was modelled on James Earl Jones, who signed over rights to his voice before his 2022 retirement from the role.

Which 2018 novel pairs Vader with a Chiss grand admiral on a mission after Rebels' third season?

Its parallel storyline shows Anakin, Padmé and Thrawn working together during the Clone Wars.