Darth Vader (SWT)

"You were the Chosen One! It was said that you would destroy the Sith, not join them! Bring balance to the Force, not leave it in darkness!"

- to Darth Vader

Darth Vader, previously Anakin Skywalker, was a. As a, Skywalker was believed to be the of Jedi prophecy, one who would bring balance to  by destroying the , which was why the  chose to bend the  and permit his training. Years later, at the end of the, he turned to the and became the apprentice of Darth Sidious, better known as Palpatine. Now known as Darth Vader, the former Jedi helped execute, a Jedi Purge, which included him also attempting to kill his own Master,. Few Jedi survived, and Palpatine transformed the into the. As a master of the dark side, Vader became the scourge of the Jedi, continuing the which would last until 0 BBY, and trained a.

In 0 BBY, the Empire’s great super weapon, the, was destroyed by a young Rebel pilot. Vader became obsessed with discovering the identity of this pilot, and spent the next several months searching. He eventually learned that the pilot’s name was, and deduced that the boy was his son, born before the death of. Vader fought the Rebel Alliance while concocting a plan to turn his son to the dark side.

The next year, he captured Luke. By this time, his plans for turning Skywalker to the dark side had been finalized.

The destruction of the Death Star
"The Force is strong with this one."

- Darth Vader observing Luke Skywalker's skill

When the carrying Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Chewbacca and Obi-Wan Kenobi, Vader's former Master, was seized by a  and brought aboard the Death Star, Vader sensed the presence of his former master for the first time since being left to die on Mustafar. Quietly stalking him through the hallways of the battle station, he finally confronted Kenobi just outside the hangar. Challenging him to a second duel, the two engaged one another. Ignoring Obi-Wan's vague warning that killing him would make him "more powerful than you can possibly imagine", Vader viciously struck him down. However, instead of dying, Kenobi became who continued to guide Luke Skywalker.

Despite the curious disappearance of Kenobi's body, Vader felt he had finally killed the man that had been the focus for most of his rage for almost two decades.

To determine the location of the Rebel base, Vader allowed Luke and Han Solo to rescue Princess Leia and escape with the technical readouts of the Death Star. During the Battle of Yavin, he piloted a distinctive fighter and almost prevented Luke's attack on the Death Star from being successful. Vader sensed that the young pilot in his sights was Force-sensitive, putting into motion a series of events that culminated in the death of the Empire. When the Millennium Falcon shot down one of his two support craft, the other panicked and veered into Vader's fighter, sending him spinning away from the battle station.

Capturing Luke Skywalker
"Why haven't you killed me yet?" "I have no wish to kill you. I don't suggest you give me one."

- Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader

After he had returned from the planet he had crash-landed on, Vader decided not to return to, instead making reports to , his Sith Master, via hologram. The Emperor would be furious, but Vader wanted to track down the Force-sensitive pilot who had destroyed the Death Star first. Vader had sensed a strong Force ability in the pilot, one unmatched by any living person in the galaxy, save for himself and his Master. If such a being was serving the Rebel Alliance, the balance could tip in their favor, and so this pilot had to be hunted down and destroyed.



Vader's spies had learned of a Rebel pilot who had returned to his homeworld bringing with him a first hand account of the Battle of Yavin. Vader hired a team of bounty hunters and Ban Papeega to bring the man in. On Centares, the Rebel finally revealed the last name of the pilot who had destroyed the Death Star—Skywalker. Vader had gone for months without knowing the name of the one he had sought, but he now knew that Padmé had given birth before she died. He had a son, unlike what Palpatine had told him. This knowledge succeeded in touching a side of Vader that had long lain dormant. The Sith Lord quickly dismissed these emotions, however. Obi-Wan had gotten to the boy first, and he was serving the enemy now. Skywalker would have to be turned, or he would have to be destroyed. With his son at his side, Vader would have no need of Sidious.

The Dark Lord soon devised a planet to turn Skywalker to the dark side. An opportunity to capture the young Jedi was given to Vader in 1 ABY when he and a group of TIE Fighters ambushed him in his X-wing. A blast from Vader's TIE Advanced sent Skywalker's X-wing crashing down onto a nearby planet, but Vader had recieved near equal damage.

Once they landed on the swampy ground of the planet, Vader confronted Luke with a lightsaber in hand. Luke ignited his own lightsaber and told Vader that he would pay for his father's death—not knowing that the Sith standing in front of him was, in fact, his father.

The Dark Lord goaded him into fighting him. The duel was brief, and ended when Vader stabbed and grazed Luke's rib cage. Unexpectedly, however, instead of killing the unarmed Jedi, Vader merely put handcuffs on his hands and took him as a prisoner. Resistance proved to be futile.

A squad of stormtroopers arrived who were to escort them to Vader's shuttle. As Luke was dragged through the jungle by Darth Vader and the stormtroopers, it began to rain. Luke demanded to know what Vader wanted from him, but Vader merely said to stop asking questions. Knowing that he would get no help from the Rebellion this time, he reached into the Force to speak to the voice of "Ben"—Obi-Wan's name when he had lived in exile. The Dark Lord, however, sensed Luke's attempt in the Force and asked who Ben was, suspected that he was his old Master.

"Who is Ben?" "Kenobi...Ben Kenobi."

- Vader and Luke

The old Jedi Master had died at Vader's hands. The Sith Lord explained that he had died, and even if he were, he would be a fool to count on his help. When Luke affronted Vader, he recieved a kick from a stormtrooper which knocked him unconscious. Vader, angry that his son had been hurt, using the Force to lift the stormtrooper commander in the air and choke him.

The Dark Lord, the stormtroopers, and the unconscious Luke soon reached the shuttle which would take them to Vader's, the . When they had boarded, Vader told Luke, who was once again conscious, to come with him.

Behind the scenes
Darth Vader is portrayed by the 2005 Evolutions Darth Vader in Star Wars: Heart of the Giant.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Heart of the Giant 1