Darth Vader The ultimate villain
"If you are not on my side, then you are my enemy!“
The iconic and most feared Sith has brought fear and terror to the galaxy alongside his pity-inducing resume. No one else had the potential that Anakin had, but which “the Chosen One” was never able to fully exploit until his death. The reason for this, in addition to his severe physical and emotional deformities, was the fear of losing his great love Padmé Amidala. The murder of his mother and the combination of recurring nightmares that his young, beautiful and pregnant wife would suffer the same fate as his mother fueled the young Skywalker’s irrepressible lust for power. And it was precisely this power that Anakin believed he could only find on the Dark Side. At the age of just 22, after one of the most impressive battles in the Star Wars saga against his friend and master Obi-Wan-Kenobi, “the Chosen One” met a fate that would change his entire life. Due to arrogance, recklessness and cockiness, Anakin suffered severe burns, lost body parts and was severely emotionally damaged.
Even people who are not familiar with Star Wars see the cyborg with shiny black armor as the ultimate villain and virtually THE embodiment of evil. But what is it about the antagonist that makes his name Darth Vader a household name?
Chapter 1
Dominance and presence
While Palpatine’s loyal sidekick was still in the background in the first part of the classic trilogy and only got 11 minutes of screen time, in “Star Wars: A New Hope” the most legendary antagonist in film history moved more into the center of the action. No longer just a walking mystery with extravagantly powerful abilities and black armor, Darth Vader was actively involved in the plot of the film in the sequel.
The viewer is also shown that Vader assumes the role of a strong leader without mercy – he rolls up his arms, goes into battle and gets his hands dirty!
The way in which the dark Sithlord in “Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back” purposefully marches into the rebel base on the ice planet Hoth in front of his troops also illustrates the aforementioned thesis here.
The final showdown in “The Empire Strikes Back” also shows how confident and superior Vader is in the fight against his son, as he holds his lightsaber with just one hand and still retains the upper hand throughout the entire battle. In addition to his fighting skills, the Dark Lord also uses the Force by repeatedly throwing various objects at Luke. Throughout the fight, the “uncertainty” component of the viewer is played with, as they had no idea what the Dark Lord was capable of! Of course, the climax of this battle comes when Vader cuts off his own son’s right hand, revealing what is probably the biggest plot twist in movie history: Vader isn’t just any villain, he’s Luke Skywalker’s father, exuding such brutal harshness and coldness that he makes the viewer feel like he’d even go so far as to kill Luke, his own son, next time! But as we all know, Anakin’s career had a different twist in store for him. In the subsequent film, which concludes the classic tribology, the dark lord was given a face for the first time. This key moment is very important for the pop and cult figure. The mysterious antagonist takes off his mask for the first time! This “humanization” allows the viewer to identify more with the antagonist. Whereas Lord Vader was previously just an emotionless “robot”, here the viewer also gets to see the “humanized” and “helpless” side of the dark Sith.
This is why the first three parts (especially the third) of the prequel trilogies are so essential to understanding Darth Vader as a whole. The viewer suddenly understands Vader’s intentions and understands that Anakin basically always solved his good intentions with the wrong actions. And in my eyes, THAT is a big factor in the Darth Vader myth.
Chapter 2
Revenge
Playing off the inquisitors against each other
And what makes this project so special is Darth Vader’s approach. At the beginning of the series, the dark lord in shining black armor has 3 powerful warriors in his care: the so-called Inquisitors. As the episodes progress, the cyborg skillfully triggers the emotions and needs of his subjects in order to play them off against each other. How does he do this? Vader announces that he is looking for a successor to his position of leadership over the Empire and his residence on the lava planet “Mustava”. Whoever would prove worthy would soon be able to ascend the Tron. This information was passed on to each Inquisitor personally, which meant that a series of intrigues and ambushes within the ranks were the order of the day. In the beginning, information was kept to themselves until later on, mutual assassination was the order of the day.
Darth Vader demonstrates once again how deeply the Dark Side has grown within him. He exploited the weaknesses of his subjects and played them off against each other, causing a veritable massacre of intrigue and violence.
Chapter 3
Demonstration of power
To mention all of the Sith’s moments would go beyond the scope of this post, so I’ve picked out some of what I consider to be his most evil or Force-demonstrating moments.
Slaughter of the rebels (Rogue One)
We find ourselves in the middle of the action during the “Battle of Scarif” when Darth Vader sets off with a small fleet in tow to capture the rebel spaceship. His goal is the plans for the Death Star, which have been stolen and taken to safety on the rebel fleet.
The rebel ship’s alarm sounds. Panicked, the 4 remaining rebels set off with their blasters to prevent the cyborg from entering. As they try to open the airlock to another Geng compartment, the lights go out. The small squad of rebels desperately tries to open the stuck door further, as the hatch was too narrow for them to climb through. Through the dirty window at the top of the hatch, they see the remaining rebel comrades running in panic to the escape pods and fleeing the ship. A rebel trapped in the dark corridor knocks on the window in panic and screams for help. Suddenly, in addition to the constantly sounding alarm system, they hear a noise that could be the opening of a hatch. All the rebels turn around in a flash. Silence literally suffocates the corridor, which is only poorly lit by the emergency power sensors. All the rebels stare deathly afraid into the emptiness of the dark corridor. Darth Vader’s iconic breathing apparatus sounds with a gasp. In the next moment, the most iconic villain of all time draws his laser sword. The red color of his weapon lights up the entire corridor. In a flash, the rebels open fire on the Sith, which the Sith defends against unimpressed with his lightsaber (with one hand!). Every single shot fired by the rebels is blocked and shot back. Vader is not even close to his opponents and has already eliminated 4 of them. Suddenly Anakin grabs a rebel with a Force chokehold and pushes him to the ceiling. Unimpressed, the cyborg struts on. When he has reached the height of the rebel on the wall, he separates the body unimpressed. More blaster shots are fired back with the Force. Suddenly he disarms the remaining 4 rebels with the Force and slaughters each one with a powerful blow. Two rebels are still alive. One of the two unfortunate ones is murdered with a power choke. The last rebel in this room presses the access card into the hand of another rebel, who is in the adjoining corridor compartment, so that the rest of his comrades can flee. As the latter tries to flee the scene, more rebels are slaughtered in cold blood in the background.
At the end of the scene, Vader’s plan fails. However, the scenes show how ice-cold Anakin is in his plan. The fact that he seems completely unimpressed and almost bored as he carries out the massacre shows how abysmal Vader’s hatred has become. It wouldn’t have mattered how many people stood up to Vader here, he would have sent them all to the afterlife in the most brutal way.
Chapter 4
Fight against Kenobi (Kenobi series episode 3)
As mentioned at the beginning, Vader’s biggest goal is to kill his former master and friend Obi Wan Kenobi. When the frightened and almost helpless Kenobi tries to flee from the leader of the Inquisitors in a junkyard, Kenobi hides behind a large barrel. He was sure he was safe from his former pupil and crawled out of his hiding place. Suddenly, he heard the activation of a lightsaber behind him. It was none other than that of Darth Vader. He was now face to face with his former friend and student. Terrified and knowing that he would not be able to use his powers, the frightened Jedi clutched his lightsaber with both hands, almost in panic. Kenobi shouts to Vader, “What has become of him? He answers him in an angry voice:
I am what YOU have made of me!“
As mentioned at the beginning, Vader’s biggest goal is to kill his former master and friend Obi Wan Kenobi. When the frightened and almost helpless Kenobi tries to flee from the leader of the Inquisitors in a junkyard, Kenobi hides behind a large barrel. He was sure he was safe from his former pupil and crawled out of his hiding place. Suddenly, he heard the activation of a lightsaber behind him. It was none other than that of Darth Vader. He was now face to face with his former friend and student. Terrified and knowing that he would not be able to use his powers, the frightened Jedi clutched his lightsaber with both hands, almost in panic. Kenobi shouts to Vader, “What has become of him? He answers him in an angry voice:
His former friend and master takes flight again. He has done it. Kenobi has shaken off his pursuer. Relieved, he slowed his pace and wanted to catch his breath. Out of nowhere, the lightsaber of Darth Vader sounds! The cyborg attacks his former master from an ambush and immediately deals 3 powerful blows. Kenobi struggles to withstand them, but manages to parry the other attacks as well. Anakin is clearly the dominant figure in this scenario and clearly has the upper hand. With just one hand, he repeatedly strikes at his opponent. Determined and self-confident, he approaches the intimidated and almost helpless Obi Wan. Vader’s attacks get stronger and stronger and Kenobi has trouble (almost luck) withstanding them.
Unimpressed, Vader pushes his former master away from him again with the Force. He seizes this opportunity and begins to flee again, but Darth Vader catches up with him once more. This “cat and mouse” game alone creates a menacing atmosphere and presents the most iconic villain of all time as a terrifying villain.
Chapter 5
Battle against 3rd sister (Kenobi series)
The fact that Anakin Skywalker has an arrogant character was first made clear in the film Star Wars Episode 2 – Attack of the Clones. The subsequent film, which transforms the young aspiring Jedi into a cyborg, shows Anakin’s weakness: cockiness and arrogance. In the final battle with his former master, the Sith’s ego and recklessness stood in his way. The Sith also let his emotions get in the way. But what would happen if Vader were to eliminate all these weaknesses? Would the cyborg be even remotely conquerable? His fight against the renegade 3rd sister. She sneaks up on Darth Vader and cowardly tries to liquidate her master from behind. Anakin notices the attack and blocks her laser sword just before his neck with the Force (!)!
Undeterred, he turns to the third sister and pushes her away from him with a Force blast. However, she wasted no time and ran towards her master again, screaming with rage. One powerful blow with her lightsaber followed the next. Vader parried each one one-handed with the Force! Again and again he pushed her back just a little. It almost seemed as if he was playing with her, as he never pushed her far away from him and never inflicted any damage. I think he was trying to emphasise with these movements that the 3rd sister, even if she was sure of herself, would never have the chance to harm him. And he was proved right….
Even when Vader’s renegade Liquidor activated her lightsaber’s special ability (it can rotate around the hilt like a trickle, effectively forming a shield), Anakin approached her unfazed and used the Force to stop the rotating lightsabers circling around her hilt. He then disarmed her. Lord Vader is now unarmed, but as he was about to strike a killing blow, he sliced her lightsaber in two again, threw one of them at her feet and let her pick up the other side from the ground… He basically said, ‘You only have one shot, make it count.’ But again, his former hit woman failed. During an attack by the 3rd sister, Vader snatched the lightsaber from her! Once again, the most powerful person in the entire Star Wars universe didn’t suffer a single scratch. With both lightsabres in his hands, he marched towards the third sister kneeling on the ground and stabbed her own lightsabre into her left breast!
In this fight, the arrogant and self-confident side of Darth Vader comes to the fore again. As mentioned at the beginning, he is so sure of himself and just wants his opponents to believe that they have a real chance against him. Even when he gave the 3rd sister a second attempt to put her plan into action, the cyborg knew that he was so far superior to her that he exposes her several times a few seconds before she dies without even making the slightest effort. In fact, I have the feeling that Vader seemed bored and almost disinterested in this fight. It should also be mentioned that Vader only used one hand for all his actions during this fight.
5. Kapitel
Darth Vader cruelly breaks a child's neck (Kenobi series)
Darth Vader is in the middle of a search for Obi Wan Kenobi, who is hiding in a nice family’s house in a village. Anakin senses the presence of his former master and former friend Kenobi. He challenges him to a fight, but the frightened Jedi refuses the challenge. Anxiously, he peers out of a hatch in the house, which gives him shelter. He sees the dark Sith Lord angrily searching one house after another. As Vader walks purposefully towards the house offering shelter to Kenobi, one might think that Vader has found his old master’s hiding place. But appearances are deceptive when he suddenly stops and pulls an innocent person towards him with a power stranglehold. He cruelly lets the innocent citizen be slowly strangled by the Force. He lifts the victim higher and higher and increases the pressure on his neck at small intervals. As the son rushes out of the house to help his father, who has come to kiss Vader’s cruelty with his hand, the dark Sithlord in shining black armour slams the Force against the wall of his own house. He turns to the child. He had broken his back. Without hesitation, the leader of the Inquisitors made short work of the little innocent child, breaking his neck with the Force.
The darkly staged excerpt from the Kenobi series shows once again how merciless and ice-cold the Dark Lord is in realising his plans. Anakin wants to get Kenobi at all costs and make him pay for what his former master did to him on the planet Mustava. The scene impressively shows that the leader of the Inquisitors will use any means to achieve his goal.
All the examples I have mentioned are only a marginal fraction that reflect the power, strength and evilness of Darth Vader. There are far more moments worth mentioning that illustrate just how powerful Anakin really was. Certainly his iconic black armour limited him enormously in his range of movement, his agility and his general actions. It would be unthinkable how Anakin would have developed with a healthy body on the dark side, he was already more powerful than all other Jedi and Sith at the age of 22!
But what do you think? Have we forgotten any important moments in your opinion? What other Darth Vader moments would you have mentioned? Which moments do you think are THE moments that make him the ultimate villain? Let us know in the comments!
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