How powerful was Vader truly?

We never really know why Vader is so feared. All we see is a hulking man in a black combat suit with armor plates on his chest. He seemed to make many mistakes when he commanded the imperial fleet.

So was he truly the most powerful student of the force or was he just an evil man in a scary looking outfit?

Is it really explained why he is so feared?

Perhaps Ep. III will explain to us why Vader was supposed to be the ultimate evil.

 

Vader/Anakin was an extremely Force sensitive individual. He felt it, controlled it and was consumed by the Dark Side of it. And because he embraced the Dark Side, he could make it work for him. And Vader was not very forgiving. If you were to polish his boots, and you missed a spot, chances are you would've been sent to Kessel, if not Force strangled. So through fear he controlled his men (and women).

Vader was also the Emperor's right hand. He was the executor of Palpatine's orders and will. And everyone in the galaxy knew that. The Emperor himself didn't go public that much. He had Vader to do that for him. So whereas Palpatine shrouded himself in some sort of secrecy, Vader was the pesonification of the Emperor's will.

He was tall, suited in black-armor, carried a lightsaber (and knew how to use that), had the Force and a temper coloured by the darkest black of hate and anger towards...

 

Vader reminds me of my sixth grade science teacher, Ms.Duty. <-----------yes thats her name

If I saw Vader walking twards me. I'd probably **** in my pants crying jumping up and down having no place to run.

 

He wasn't much of a general, though, was he?

 

He wasn't much of a general, though, was he?

I've thought about that a bit, and I'm not sure we can really know. It's rare that we see Vader making his own calls rather than breathing down the necks of inept officers. He seemed to know what he was doing in AotC, though, and I think it's a fair bet that the Emperor wouldn't have let him have a task force if he were completely incompetent.

 

"How powerful was Vader truly?"


Truly powerful.


"He wasn't much of a general, though, was he?"


Why do you say that?

 

Why didn't Vader have a more prominent role in ANH? He seemed to be Tarkin's inferior.

 

Vader a general? I don't think he had a military rank whatsoever. And as for Tarkin, yes I do think he had a little leash on Darth. But then again, Vader wasn't in charge of the whole Death Star thing. That was Tarkin's little baby. So he called the shots.

It's also clear that Vader was on a personal quest. He had a clear shot on Luke when a pesky Corellian spoiled all the fun for him. So he's again very agitated (I wanted to say ****ed off, but that'd be edited I think), and sets out to find the Rebels and wipe them out. But actually he goes out to find Skywalker. And anyone who tried to stop him from doing so, would recieve the wrong end of a lightsaber.

 

"Why didn't Vader have a more prominent role in ANH?"


GL didn't want him to seem like the baddest guy in the galaxy, so he added in Tarkin to carry some of the burden of villainy.


"He seemed to be Tarkin's inferior."


I wouldn't say inferior. They were equals, just with different roles. If anything, Vader is actually over Tarkin, as he is heir to the throne. Tarkin is just in charge of the Death Star, along with a small portion of the galaxy.

 

Like the others have said, Vader appears to be Tarkin's inferior because they were on the Death Star, which was under the command of Tarkin, not Vader.

A more practical example, though not perfect, would be if the Vice President of the U.S. got on a naval ship, the Captain of that ship would be the one barking orders at everyone, the Vice President would kind of just be walking around without any real power to do anything. If you had just seen the two on a naval ship without any explanation as to their actual position in the military/government (As is the case for ANH), then it would appear that the Vice President was inferior to the Captain. But in actuality, the Vice President(2nd in command of the country) is in a higher position than the Captain(who only commands the ship).

Hope that makes sense.

 

MobartZmuda, you beat me to it. Perfect example.

 

After watching the PT potrayal of Annikin so far, I feel that Vaders image is being totally tarnished, Annikin is a wuss. All we've seen so far is some slight glimpses of potential, it seems like we allmost need to insert a fourth PT film before EIII just to see Annikin as an above average jedi. Sure it could be argued that he is an above average padawan, but he is clearly inferior to Jedi knights in the PT. (Not to mention Sith)
I guess I'm not GL so I don't have the right to say, but I always imagined Annikin Skywalker as somebody so brimming with power that its almost impossible for him not to be arrogant. Thus far I would say that in the entire SW universe Annikin/Vader will always be ranked lower than Palpatine, Yoda, and Obiwan. Pretty high up there but the baddest dude ever, unfortunately not.

 

Well, if Anakin was so powerful on the lightside, he would never have joined the darkside, and that is why GL intentionally made Anakin less powerful and more of a failure than some of us had imagined. Not to spoil anything for you, but don't worry, in episode III, Anakin will kill plenty of guys once he starts down the dark path.

 

There is no true Light or Dark side. Anakin was never able to accomplish what he wanted using the Force at all, until the end of ROTJ.

 

Anakin was very strong with the Force, but maybe the way of the Jedi prevented him from exploring his abilities, at least in his own eyes. He felt restricted and held back by his teacher(s). Palpatine promised him fame, fortune, power, all the women he wanted, free drinks every night of the week... anyway, you get the picture. And of course he let Anakin discover his strengths in his own pace, which was probably too quick. So Anakin/Darth Vader became very powerful and with that even more arrogant.

In AotC, we see little everyday live examples of Anakin being held back, slightly humiliated and ignored. It's the little things that kill, you know

 

Well before the Prequals came out, We had to imagine all these Subjects from the OT Mysteries.

The Clone Wars, The Jedi Purge, Rise of the Empire, Birth of the Twins, The whole Star Wars Universe on a higher scale.

We also had to use your imaginations on these issues, this includes, How truely powerful was Darth Vader? What was Anakin Skywalker like? How did Anakin fall to the Dark Side? Who and what happened to Luke and Leia's mother? etc etc.

Basically its just up to the Viewer and his or her imagination. How powerful Do "you" personally think Vader was?

I think he was so powerful he could take on Yoda, Obi Wan, and Luke at the sametime. not only that I think he was so powerful he could take on 4 Jedi at once.

 

Personally I think Vader was the most powerful Sith ever, but physically only. He was mentally dominated by his emotions and the Emporer, which always made him someone elses puppet, so in that aspect he was weak.

The only thing that really matters is that he was powerful enough to fulfill his destiny before he died, such was the will of the force.

 

There is no true Light or Dark side. Anakin was never able to accomplish what he wanted using the Force at all, until the end of ROTJ.

!!

Maybe Anakin wasn't able to accomplish what destiny told him to until he abandoned the notion of dark and light side, but we've seen others demonstrate plenty of power using only their chosen half of the Force. Unless you're saying Palpy had to use the light side to be able to exercise as much cruelty as he did?

 

"we've seen others demonstrate plenty of power using only their chosen half of the Force."

All of which using the same powers, no less. In fact, the only Force powers we've not seen the Sith use are mind-tricks and Force speed. The mind-trick is hinted at by Dooku, and Maul seemed pretty fast, but there's been nothing definite. Does this mean the Jedi are more powerful?

Again, it's all about intent - how one uses the Force.

"Unless you're saying Palpy had to use the light side to be able to exercise as much cruelty as he did?"

Not at all. My comment specifcally mentioned Anakin. Look at what following the Dark Side got him: He lost the Republic, the Jedi, his wife and children, and ended up with a form-fitting walking hyperbaric chamber.

He doesn't seem very happy with his situation, does he?

Otherwise, he would never have turned against Palps when he finally came to the realization of the consequences of his choices.

 

I know why Vader's so feared! But I'm afraid it has something to do with Ep. III!

 

Please don't even hint at spoilers.

He doesn't seem very happy with his situation, does he?

Otherwise, he would never have turned against Palps when he finally came to the realization of the consequences of his choices.

Maybe or maybe not. If destiny is all-powerful, it would have forced him to turn on Palpy eventually. It's possible Vader could have been completely healthy and happily married under the Empire, yet still have turned when his son was threatened.

I see Jedi and Sith powers more like conflicting spheres with relatively little overlap. If intent is your criterion, they almost never use the same tricks. Both Vader in ESB and Yoda in AotC used telekinesis to move big objects around, but Vader did it with the intent of defeating Luke while Yoda did it with the intent of protecting others. Luke Force choked in RotJ just like Vader did throughout the CT, but Vader's Force choking was an exercise in vengeance while Luke's was meant for a good end.

 

No mam, I'm not kidding, it is something to do with Ep. III! But no, I'm not going to give anything away. I'm going to me a good boy. If any of you want to know, then you'll have to look elsewhere for your info!

 

"If intent is your criterion, they almost never use the same tricks. Both Vader in ESB and Yoda in AotC used telekinesis to move big objects around, but Vader did it with the intent of defeating Luke while Yoda did it with the intent of protecting others."

Yet you just argued my very point! ?

Both of them use telekinesis - which therefore means the power is not limited to one "sphere" or the other. The only difference in your scenario is the intent, and you even used that very word.

"Luke Force choked in RotJ just like Vader did throughout the CT, but Vader's Force choking was an exercise in vengeance while Luke's was meant for a good end."

Again, you support my stance. The power is the same, but the intent makes all the difference.

 

How about mind tricks? If Sith could use them as long as they were for malicious ends, there were plenty of instances in the films when they should have done so.

 

Vader's powers were more powerful than you could possibly imagine...especially if he got really angry!