STAR WARS: 8 Things You (Probably) Never Knew About Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader

STAR WARS: 8 Things You (Probably) Never Knew About Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader

With Hayden Christensen making his return as Anakin Skywalker in Ahsoka's latest episode, we thought now would be a good time to look back at Darth Vader's place in Star Wars with some little-known facts!

Feature Opinion
By JoshWilding - Sep 09, 2023 12:09 PM EST
Filed Under: Star Wars
Source: SFFGazette.com

Darth Vader first stepped on to the screen in 1977's Star Wars: A New Hope. After serving as the big bad of George Lucas' original trilogy, his origin story was later revealed in the prequels, a series of movies recounting Anakin Skywalker's fall to the Dark Side. 

Since then, we've seen him make his terrifying presence felt in the likes of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Star Wars Rebels, and Ahsoka. But you knew that already, right? In this feature, we've rounded up some facts about everyone's favourite Sith Lord that we're pretty sure you won't know. 

From his suit's secrets to little-known behind-the-scenes stories and even how he manages to use the bathroom (it's not pretty), Darth Vader is a character who continues to fascinate Star Wars fans. In this feature, you might just learn something new about him!

You can check out these little-known facts about Darth Vader by clicking on the "Next" button below. 
 

8. Darth Vader Can Use Force Lightning (But It's Also His Weakness)

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While we never see Darth Vader use Force Lightning, it's been established that he is able to use it. However, in doing so, it severely damages the suit keeping him alive, hence why it's not a regular - or even infrequent - part of the Sith Lord's arsenal. 

The one time Vader did unleash Force Lightning, it was to corrupt the Kyber Crystal which he used for his red lightsaber. However, the impact that had on his suit nearly killed him, something Emperor Palpatine is well aware of. 

The villain ensured Vader's life support system was vulnerable to Force Lightning, ensuring he would always have the upper hand over his powerful apprentice. This obviously explains why Anakin failed to survive the events of Return of the Jedi.
 

7. He Didn't Always Wear A Helmet

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Darth Vader's silhouette is instantly recognisable, and the villain's iconic black helmet is a big part of the reason why. However, there was a time when he looked completely different, with the helmet used solely as part of a spacesuit he'd don when travelling from ship to ship. 

In place of that intimidating helmet, George Lucas' original plan was to have Vader cover his face with a scarf. That's not exactly the stuff of nightmares.

Somewhere along the way, the scarf idea was dropped (likely thanks to Ralph McQuarrie's incredible concept art) and we ended up with the Vader we all know and fear. Needless to say, without the helmet, this would have been a very different character. 
 

6. His Suit Causes Constant Pain

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Revenge of the Sith finally revealed what it was that left Anakin trapped within that suit, and it was clear he'd been left in immense pain after losing an arm and two legs on top of being horrendously burned by Mustafar's lava. 

We've since learned that Vader regularly uses a Bacta Tank to ease his suffering, but the suit does help...at least to some extent. With so much of the armour literally hard-wired into his body, a neurotoxin is deployed that makes it easier to bear.

However, the suit itself was designed by Emperor Palpatine with Vader's continued discomfort in mind. He wanted to leave his apprentice in a status of continued anger and frustration, ensuring he'd remain loyal to the Dark Side. 
 

5. Orson Welles Nearly Voiced The Sith Lord

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When David Prowse learned his strong South West accent wouldn't be heard in theaters around the globe, the actor was understandably unhappy with George Lucas. While he'd played Darth Vader on set (and continued to do so), American actor James Earl Jones was later brought in to lend his voice to the Sith Lord.

It's now hard to imagine anyone else playing Vader, but Lucas did consider other actors. Among them was the legendary Orson Welles. 

While the Citizen Kane and War of the Worlds star sounded suitably formidable, the filmmaker reportedly decided he was simply too well-known. However, we also can't help but wonder whether he'd even want to be part of what was then a weird, relatively low-budget sci-fi flick!

4. Luke Skywalker Was Supposed To Become Darth Vader

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George Lucas was making up the Star Wars trilogy as he went, an approach Disney attempted to take with the sequels which, unfortunately, didn't pay off. The writer and director had a lot of wild ideas over the years, including making Luke Skywalker the new Darth Vader.

One early version of Return of the Jedi called for Vader's death to be followed by Luke picking up his father's helmet and picking up right where Anakin had left off. 

"Luke puts it on and says, 'Now, I am Vader.' Surprise! The ultimate twist," Lucas once suggested to co-writer Lawrence Kasdan. "'Now I will go and kill the [Rebel] fleet, and I will rule the universe.'" Thankfully, the idea was very quickly dropped.

Click HERE to head over to SFFGazette.com where you
can read the rest of this feature on a single page...
and learn how Vader uses the bathroom!

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FireandBlood
FireandBlood - 9/9/2023, 12:07 PM
That last one tho 😬
bkmeijer1
bkmeijer1 - 9/9/2023, 12:13 PM
The only two I didn't knew were that Orson Welles almost voiced him, and how he uses the lavatory. Then again, I actually never thought about the latter either
Origame
Origame - 9/9/2023, 12:41 PM
Yeah, this is why the "plan" people kept talking about I didn't view as the reason the sequel trilogy was bad. As stated here, neither was the original trilogy. Hell, early drafts of empire had anakin's force ghost speaking to Vader, making it clear they were two separate people. The original intention was as explained by obi wan in the original movie.

The only trilogy that was planned out from the beginning was the prequels.

Focusing on making individual movies instead of planning out the trilogy in full can and has worked many times. The problem with the sequel trilogy was simply incompetence.
TheEddy
TheEddy - 9/9/2023, 10:07 PM
@Origame - there's a profound difference between the creator developing and adding as he is going (obviously with help from different people) and several different creative coming in and adding without any conversation with what came before or what could be going forward
Origame
Origame - 9/9/2023, 10:21 PM
@TheEddy - ...dude, what more do those other creatives need than to watch the previous movie?
dragon316
dragon316 - 9/9/2023, 1:07 PM
Life support is weak to force lightening but he can breath without helmet on
PapaBear562
PapaBear562 - 9/9/2023, 2:00 PM
Ok, where are the last three items? The list went 8 thru 4. That's only five items, there's supposed to be eight. Why do we have to go to another website the view the other three?
AnthonyVonGeek
AnthonyVonGeek - 9/9/2023, 2:26 PM
I always wished that in the end of Revenge Of The Sith Vader would have first appeared in an early prototype suit.
hartley07
hartley07 - 9/9/2023, 2:47 PM
lol well we used to know everything about darth vader until disney threw out the entire lore for no reason. so yeah i guess youre right, we didnt ever really know anything about darth vader for 35 years, did we.
Feralwookiee
Feralwookiee - 9/9/2023, 3:04 PM
"Click HERE to head over to SFFGazette.com where you
can read the rest of this feature on a single page...
and learn how Vader uses the bathroom!"

Deklipz
Deklipz - 9/9/2023, 4:44 PM
“ However, we also can't help but wonder whether he'd even want to be part of what was then a weird, relatively low-budget sci-fi flick!”

Wells voiced UNICRON in the Transformers movie so yeah he’s likely have been up for it. It’s also probably close to what his Vader would have sounded like for those interested.
Lokiwasright
Lokiwasright - 9/9/2023, 4:58 PM
Darth helmet always looked funny to me.
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