Saga Was Vader in constant pain in the suit?

Did Vader spend the rest of his life in constant pain after he was hooked up to the suit? Or did the pain end a short time after his injuries on Mustafar?

 

Yup. The dark side IS pain.

 

Yes. Even so it enhances his connection to the dark side.

 

Yes, but he also had a lifetime supply of free Morphine thanks to Palpycare. [face_alien_1]

 

I could see Vader denying himself painkillers, partly out of self-loathing, partly to fuel his connection to the Dark Side.

Seemed to work for twenty-odd years. He didn't exactly seem like a doped-up cripple during the OT.

 

So, are any of these answers to be taken seriously? Does anyone have evidence?

And when I was talking about pain, I was referring to physical pain. Not emotional pain or spiritual pain or metaphorical pain. Just simple, basic, physical pain.

 

But true.

 

Only when he laughed.

 

Pretty sure there's EU stuff referring to the suit providing painkillers, although 'Dark Lord' suggests that early on the suit was designed deliberately by Palpatine to be uncomfortable & painful.
'Shadows Of The Empire' suggested that Vader thrived on the pain somewhat to fuel his rage, don't recall if it said anything about the suit itself.

All there is in the films is his meditation chamber in ESB, in which a number of fans have spotted medical equipment which looked as if it was there to keep him alive & reduce basic pain. GL has referred to Vader's suit as "a walking iron lung", i.e. a life support system, so one would expect that there would be some sort of painkilling function to it.

However, given the twisted nature of a person whose power is derived from anger, I can still see Vader using the physical pain as a driving force.

 

@ Darth_Nub

Never got this part in Dark Lord. Seemed like illogical hogwash to me.

@ theman

Medicine in Star Wars isn't very good and too much morphine creates an addiction. Something that Vader can't allow himself to have. I think he uses painkillers to remove most pain but some pain remains.

Or maybe he thrives on the pain. With Vader that wouldn't come as an surprise.

Are you serious?

Firstly it isn't wise for Palpatine to deny his pupil this. Vader is much more easily persuaded by stroking his ego and giving him the attention he needs. Fighting with him however is going to get him angry, and angry is bad even for the master. Vader might do something horrible with the imperial fleet if the stakes were raised. Worst case scenario: He defects to the rebellion. Palpatine isn't a fool. He knows "my friend" works like a charm. Sure, Vader knows it is a lie, but he's lonely. Even the illusion of affection is better than nothing.

Secondly there's no logic behind denying him painkillers. It would just make Vader less effective if the pain were to strong.

 

It sort of made sense to me - it's the abusive attitude of certain masters towards their subjects, in order to keep them subservient. Vader may have considered himself the Emperor's right hand, Palpatine himself probably regarded Vader as little more than a powerful attack dog. Beat it, deprive it, keep it completely dependent - then, when it's needed, it'll be particularly vicious towards whatever target the master decides has to be ripped to pieces.

"Governor Tarkin. I should have expected you to be holding Vader's leash."

Of course, a good few of these savage beasts eventually turn upon their masters, just as Vader did.

 

Well, Palpatine has given him control of the imperial fleet and enough might to sacrifice star destroyers with impunity. Abusing a man with such power is foolish. In TESB at least Vader had enough power to stage a military coup and destroy Palpatines rule, especially if he allied himself with the Alliance. A beast will bite sooner than a civilised man and Vader is all but civilised.

I don't believe Palpatine to be foolish. What I think is that he increasingly lost his sanity through the course of the movies. In ANH his increased hunger for power shows when he dissolves the senate. In TESB he is first wisely careful by wanting Skywalker eliminated, but then his greed (and Vaders manipulations) gets the better of him. In ROTJ he completely looses it with his insanely risky Endor trap and torturing the son of his second in command in front of him.

 

The burns from Mustafar were eternally painful? I would've expected them to heal at some point.

 

Except for that miracle fluid known as bacta, that heals just about everything. Oh, and if it can't be healed they'll just give you a cybernetic replacement.

Indeed. Furthermore, I would think most of his nerve endings would have been destroyed, dulling his sensitivity to pain.

 

I could counter that with "she lost the will to live" and the use of prosthestics instead of regenerating tissue. Also they seem to use no painkillers or anesthetics.
Medicine in Star Wars ... a plot device?

 

The Answers you seek are in the novel "Dark Lord"

 

Agreed. I was just gonna say, Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader gives some interesting insight to the pain and discomfort Vader experiences as he's getting used to his new mechanical suit-mainly the legs, if I remember correctly.

 

Do some reading on burn victims and skin graft transplantees. The skin is always hard and brittle, causing constant pain and discomfort; it always cracks and bleeds creating new wounds, and infection is a constant threat; at best the skin becomes numb and inflexible. The skin itself is an organ. Further, it's implied in the movies because of the iron lung breathing, but expanded upon in SOTE, his air sacs in his lungs are burned from inhaling the hot ash on Mustafar, which is supposedly also very painful in real life when breathing in scorching hot air and volcanic dust. His lungs are essentially destroyed. In SOTE he meditates on breathing on his own using the dark side but can only sustain it for short periods of time, even with all of his rage.

 

Pain? Of course not.

 

i should think painkillers do not actually help much, not with the injuries he sustained. and physical pain is also emotional pain.

one of the things i was always struck by when i saw ROTS was that he basically loses all contact with the outside world. he cannot feel anymore, he becomes completely alienated from himself. i wonder how that works for multiple amputees as well, what happens when you are so limited in feeling yourself?

 

Fighting myself not to make any innuendo jokes... but you're right, even with the artificial limbs, Vader can't really touch his own skin anymore. His body is fundamentally altered both inside and outside the suit.

I think his scar tissue might cause him pain whenever he moves.

 

har, i did have a lot of innuendo at the ready myself!

 

I believe you feel nothing. And i believe that is worse than actually feeling pain. Pain is a compass, without pain you are lost.. Vader needed pain; if he did not feel all that pain he wouldnt have saved Luke!