Why do people love Darth Vader?

I'm writing a research paper and I would like everyone's expert opinion. Please stick to the Darth Vader Persona only, i understand what is likeable about Anakin Skywlaker. All help will be rewarded and will possibly be qouted in my paper.

 

he is just a cool bad guy, plus he throws the emperor down the deathstar exhaust shaft, and he force chokes people

 

Dave Prowse's stature, James Earl Jones' voice, a kick-ass costume, and a red saber. What more can you ask?

 

Mainly because he is a villain that has more to him than just being an evil guy that wants to take over the universe or some other plot. It's his actual character that makes him so easy to like, his relationship with the other main characters. Being Luke and Leia's father allowed some form of compassion to be expressed for them and even him, and Obi-Wan Kenobi's cryptic backstory that he gives to Luke adds to the mood and mysteriousness that makes Vader such a good character. Also, his aura of evilness and the casualness with which he destroys this and that makes him even better. His inhuman nature (covered by a mask) makes him more chilling, and knowing that bad as he is, he isn't actually the most evil thing in the galaxy tops it off. Very spherical character, with lots of backstory and fleshing out (as well as meching out, it seems) makes Darth Vader such a favorite.

 

Thanks you guys; i'm going to qoute you Gotterdammerung, which will be highly amusing to my professor since she is an expert on modern Germany.

 

Reason 1:

He's fearsome, menacing, and a total bad ass.

Reason 2:

He's got style to burn.

Reason 3:

His back story makes him even more interesting. That he was once a hero, but was corrupted from without and within add huge depth to his character. He's eventually redeemed, and he's the one who kills the main bad guy in Star Wars, not his punk kid.

Reason 4:

His dialoge is SUPERB in the flims and EU. They should make a book, the quotable Vader. Check my sig for some.

 

I walked into the theatre in 1980 expecting to still be rooting for the "hero" Luke Skywalker and his friends, instead I found myself entranced by this strange "dark lord", he gained so much depth and mystique in Empire Strikes Back, I've been a fan ever since.

He is one of today's modern mythical tragic heroes. He is dangerous and mysterious at the same time. There is an underlying honour about him that speaks to the depth of his character: his speech, diction, and very demeanor show his style. And to think he started life as a slave...

There is no using the force to show off, plotting to rule the galaxy for the sake of ruling it, or being evil for the sake of being evil for Vader. Everything he does is for a purpose - cold, calculating and precise. Almost the exact opposite of his alter ego, and most hated enemy - his true self - Anakin Skywalker. Although, like Anakin, he does these things out of a sense of what he thinks is right. He truly believes that the Rebels are a blight upon the Empire, because of the experiences he had with the Old Republic. He saw something wrong and he had to "fix" it.

In the mythological sense he is the "protector/father" figure, and fills this role nicely. As we have evidenced from the prequels, you don't hurt those that he holds dear, as you will ultimately pay the price. As MS said, he made the ultimate sacrifice for his son and killed the ultimate evil in the galaxy, fufilling his destiny.

 

Vader's character reflects two quite interesting and prominant aspects of human nature- the fallability of man, and the redemption of evil. Lucas' development of Vader explores both these themes, in the setting of both hope and of despair.

We are introduced to Vader, a man (if one could call him that) which is the very manifestation of evil. His costume reflects this- all human characteristics are supressed by it- his face by the mask, his body by the armour and cape, and his voice by a very artificial respirator. Most people would undoubtedly have questioned whether Vader was human at all. Vader is just pure evil, taking material form similar to a man's.

Then Vader develops into a person. We realise he is- or was- human. We realise his physical weakness in the breathing chamber scene in ESB, we realise his person weakness when we are made privy to the fact that Vader is actually Luke's father.

Then Vader, the epitome of evil, the perfect example of the evil which lies within ALL people, is turned. We see the conflict inside him and finally he returns.

But he is a tragic character. It was his own choices and his own decisions which led him into darkness, and his own decision which led him back to the light, but inevitably into death. He sacrificed himself to save others, and the question is raised as to whether he was actually a 'goodie' or a 'baddie'.

Most people, I imagine, treat Vader in ROTJ and Anakin in ROTJ as two different people, while acknowledgint that they are, in fact, one. It is a strange dichotomy, and one not at all removed from our own lives and experiences.


...and he's got a red lightsaber!!!!

Thats how I might approach it in an english essay.

However, I think that in reality, people are attracted to his evil.

It is so pure. And so reflected by his costume. The power he exudes is totally focused on fear, and that a person can evoke such a powerful response in people, and actually carry through with such threats in spite of his superiors is so cool. He has no emotion, at least in ANH. He is driven only by his anger, and by his goal, which seems largely distinct from that of the cause he is fighting with. It is personal.

 

As much as Vader is presented as an over the top villain, he always had a spark of vulnerability in his character. That's what made him so fascinating to me throughout the years. It's what makes him far more interesting and intriguing than the standard movie bad guy. The more we see Vader, the more we want to know exactly how he became the way he is and exactly what is fueling his rage.

 

Definitely the voice, gotta love the voice.

 

There are the superficial things--the voice, the costume, etc... all neat. But what really makes Vader tick is his duality, his sense of warped but very genuine idealism. From the beginning, he's shown as a man outside of all things--outside of the hero's realm of course, but also outside of the world of the Empire (I did an essay on the elements of Vader that are hints of his duality/transformation--You Can't Stop the Change).

Vader is a man who does horrible things, but is acutely aware of himself as being horrible and wretched ("It's too late for me, son"), which shows that he has a finely honed sense of morality and has classed himself as a monster.

Also, Luke believed in him, and if you can't trust Luke Skywalker in the SW milieu, who can you trust?

 

It's in my sig but it's just too PERFECT a Vader line not to post.

*After impaling Darth Maul*

Maul: "What... could you possible hate enough to destroy me?"

Vader: "Myself."

 

There just something about him that makes Vader a character people want to love despite the fact that he is a villian. Not just in Star Wars do we find villians that so many find as "attractive" as the heros are. Most villians, no matter where their found, seem more likely to have only a few love them and develop a fan base. Mostly, these villians are characters folks want to see get what's coming to them in the end.

But then there are the rare villians, the ones you can actually get attached to. Maybe you want to see them get it in the end, maybe you don't. Yet either way you always end up saying that they were great characters. Vader is just such a character.

Think about the first time he appears on screen. It's fairly dramtic. The corridor is filled with smoke and a pair of stormtroopers are surveying the carnage around where the boarding of Tantive IV occured. One looks down the corridor from which they had entered and then suddenly backs up against the bulkhead and stands at attention, giving us a glimpse of a black shape slowing coming towards us. As it gets closer and closer we finally get our first glimpse of Vader as he emerges through smoke. The other stormtrooper suddenly sees him pass through the hatchway and he comes to attention, body languague suggesting he's afraind of this man encased all in black. Vader then looks down at those who have fallen in battle, both friend and foe alike. And though we can't see any sign of emotion on his face, his body languague seems almost mournful.

How many other SW villians have had such a dramatic entrance into SW? Tarkin walks through a door on the Death Star, nothing really special about that. Palpatine makes his entrance as a hologram, which is a rather intresting entrance, but still lacking that same sense of drama that we get with Vader. His appearance in RoTJ is far more impressive as it really speaks of how very powerful a man he really is. Maul also makes an entrance as a hologram, but by this time villians appearing for the first time on screen as holograms is old shoe in SW. Yet this apperance is slightly more impressive than his first flesh and blood appearance. Count Dooku's first appearance is about like Tarkin's. The same thing can be said for Thrawn. Exar Kun's first appearance in DLotS really feels like a school kid being caught by their teacher while their in the midst of making a spit ball. Where as his first appearance in JAT feels more like how ghost villians often appear in movies. Not many SW villians, if any at all, give the same impressioin in their first appearance as Vader does.

Vader's first appearance also suggests to us that here is a man to fear. He is huge, encased all in black. Even his minions fear him. His breathing adds to his menacing appearance. And then there is the deep, threatening voice. All of this combines to make a character to be feared.

Yet at the same time there seems to be some kind of honor to the character. At least when he faces hero characters. He must be the one to face them, to kill them if it comes down to it. Almost as if he were saying that to let anyone else face/kill them would be a stain on their honor and he does not want their honor to be stained like that.

In the end, I must say that it's kinda hard to say what really causes folks to love Vader. There is just a certain mystique about him that no other SW villians seem to have. And it's really pinpointing that mystique that is required to explain why folks love Vader so much.

 

Thanks guys, I'm getting to see the appeal now.

 

Vader does have a great sense of Honor. Instead of being a coward and having his minions deal with Obi Wan or Luke, he faces them himself.

 

I'm not sure if thats honour so much as anger. I think his hatred drove him to that, and his obsession with jedi eradication... and family eradication... and friend eradication.... just eradication in generall...

 

He's certainly more than a butcher, he gives Valance every opportunity to return to work for him before he kills him. A anger happy idiot would have killed him on the spot. Vader fights from controled anger, not mindless fury.

 

George Lucas has mentioned that Vader represents the artificial, mechanized, exacting form of tyrannical government. He's the embodiment of artificial perfection carried to the extreme. Life overwhelmed by its own artifice. The dichotomy of man and machine. Plastic and organic.

 

"Apology accepted Captain Needa."

"Pray I don't alter it any further."

"If he deis, the Empire will Confiscate you."


"There is no conflict."


"You don't know the power of the Dark Side."


"I am your Father!"



...That sum it up for you?

He's just very cool. In my opinion, you can't hate 'em! (as a Villain) he's too cool. The Voice is cool too.

Darth Vader is a Major Classical Character.

 

Because he, in essence, is us.
He fell from the light side of the Force into the Darkness, only to be restored to the light.
It is this that many religions emulate.

 

Because he's living the American dream

From slave to one of the most powerful men in the galaxy

 

I don't agree, darthjarjarbinks. He could have choosen to disarmhis opponents rather than giveing them a fighting chance. He was certtainly confident in his abilities to defeat his opponents. But it seems that if he was merely facing his opponents out of anger, then he would most likely use the Force to disarm them and then kill them. Without offering them a fighting chance. Yet he gives them that chance, which is an honorable thing to do.

 

Given my fascination with evil overlords (Go here for more info)I'm fairly sure that Vader read and followed that list, except for the "I will not have a daughter/son" portion of it, which was something he did before becoming an Evil Overlord.

In short, he's a compotent, efficient villain, which is always a plus. He has worlds upon worlds of capability and experience over his fellow 1980s icons Skeletor and Mumm-Ra.

 

I like Vader because he's a 3 dimensional character. I think he is very complex. He's a character who was born out of emotional pain which I think it something everyone can identify with to a certian extent. I don't believe he's evil - just misunderstood!

 

He's so deliciously eee-viiiil. After all that has happened to him, he's doing what most of us only dream of: What ever he wants! Sticking it to those who have wronged him, and kicking butt. The way he treated Prince Xizor? Loved it. He has a cool snotty attitude, and wicked sense of humor. He's mean, but not totally irrideemable. If he were, then dusting Alderaan would have been his idea, and he would have killed Leia, and definitely Han. But he's not that bad. Just bad enough to be likable.