- 2 days ago
You probably don't know Vader quite as well as you think.
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00:00Now there's no denying that Darth Vader is one of the most iconic villains in the history of
00:04not only cinema, but pop culture and storytelling in general. Even people who've never seen Star
00:09Wars can probably name him, and more than 45 years since he made his debut, he remains about
00:13as popular as ever. Yet, just because he's a beloved antagonist doesn't mean that fans have
00:18a 100% bead on everything about him, and in fact may have got some crucial facts about him totally
00:24wrong. Well don't worry, because I'm here to straighten the record, as I'm Jules, this is
00:28whatculture.com, and these are 10 things that everyone gets wrong about Darth Vader.
00:3210. His suit is designed to cause him pain
00:36While there are no arguments that Vader's iconic armoured suit helps keep him alive by basically
00:41functioning as a mobile life support system, it is a mistake to assume that its functions are all
00:45primarily curative. In actual fact, the suit is also designed to cause Vader pain. For starters,
00:51the helmet sticks needles into Vader's face whenever he's wearing it, with the intent of feeding his
00:55brainwave activity back to the central computer on the suit's chest. Also, in the extended universe,
01:01it stated that Palpatine designed the suit to be intentionally uncomfortable in order to keep
01:05Vader's rage free-flowing, and also to ensure that he could maintain a level of control over him
01:10while limiting his potential to rebel. Though aspects of this have been technically
01:14jettisoned from the canon continuity and are now considered legend factoids, it remains true that Vader's
01:19suit isn't an entirely restorative piece of wardrobe because it also causes him agony for a number of
01:24reasons. 9. He Actually Shouldn't Remember C-3PO
01:28It's often cited as a plot hole by fans that Vader doesn't recognise C-3PO in the original trilogy,
01:34despite the fact that young Anakin was revealed to have built him in the prequels. You can chalk
01:39this up to George Lucas not having this revelation in mind when he made the original Star Wars movies,
01:43but if you look at the facts, it actually makes total sense that Vader wouldn't pay C-3PO any mind at
01:48all. First and foremost, C-3PO isn't exactly the most distinctive-looking droid in the galaxy. I mean,
01:53we've seen hundreds of similar-looking droids throughout Star Wars media, so it's absolutely
01:57believable that Vader wouldn't give him much of a second thought. And even if that's not good
02:01enough, it's easy to accept that Anakin simply repressed large swathes of his past following
02:06his transformation into Vader, whereby C-3PO just simply wouldn't exist in his mind. After all,
02:11Vader told us in the recent Obi-Wan Kenobi series that he killed Anakin when he became Vader,
02:16so maybe all of his memories have gone as well.
02:188. He's in the original trilogy way less than you remember
02:22Vader casts such a long shadow, both literally and figuratively, over the original trilogy in
02:27particular that it's easy to assume that he has tons and tons of screen time throughout the three
02:32movies. But in actual fact, that's not the case at all. Though precise timings vary, it's generally
02:37accepted that Vader has around 45 minutes of screen time throughout the entire original trilogy,
02:43gaining slightly more in each successive sequel. Surprisingly then, despite A New Hope being his
02:48introductory movie, he appears for less than 12 minutes of the two-hour film. But like so many
02:53of cinema's finest villains, it's a classic case of Vader having such a show-stopping screen presence
02:58that it feels like he's in the movies so much more. Like the Joker in The Dark Knight and Hannibal
03:03Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs, Vader has a haunting, spectral quality that allows him to linger
03:08around the periphery even when he's not physically in a scene.
03:127. He's not superior to Grand Moff Tarkin
03:15Another mistake that casual Star Wars fans make is assuming that, outside of the Emperor,
03:20who was only briefly mentioned in A New Hope, that Darth Vader holds rank as the Empire's top
03:25villain. But in actual fact, Vader isn't at all superior to Grand Moff Tarkin in the Empire's
03:30pecking order. After all, it's Tarkin who commands the Death Star, has Alderaan obliterated,
03:34and actually gives Vader orders. Now, that's not to say that Tarkin is superior to Vader either.
03:39Vader is basically outside of the Imperial chain of command and answers primarily to the Emperor.
03:44Yet, it's reasonable to assume that he deferred to Tarkin on board the Death Star both to appease
03:49Palpatine and out of respect for Tarkin. After all, Tarkin's position surely commanded a measure
03:54of admiration from even someone as Force-choke-happy as Vader, right? In reality, they're basically
03:59separate but equal, and Vader knew that taking direction from Tarkin on his own ship was probably
04:04the right call.
04:056. He can actually survive without his helmet for a while
04:08In Return of the Jedi, a dying Anakin asks Luke to help him remove his helmet, to which Luke responds,
04:14but you'll die. Now, many fans have taken this as proof that Vader can't survive more than a few
04:19minutes without his helmet, but that isn't actually the case at all. In several Star Wars comics,
04:24Vader has shown himself to be able to last hours, even days, with the help of the Force,
04:28using hate alone to keep himself alive, no matter that his helmet and suit were compromised.
04:33Now, this isn't to say that Vader would want to be without his life-support apparatus permanently,
04:38given the obvious strain of using the Force to stay alive will take on his body,
04:41but he can most certainly survive without the helmet for more than just a few minutes,
04:45even in the most hostile of conditions.
04:485. The choke-on-your-aspirations joke wasn't out of character
04:52One of the most polarizing lines in recent Star Wars history occurs in Rogue One, where Vader summons
04:58Krennic to answer for the Death Star's attack on Jedha, and promptly force chokes the hell out of
05:03him. As Vader leaves, he cheekily tells Krennic,
05:06Be sure not to choke on your aspirations, director. Which was immediately met with a
05:10cringe-induced outcry from large swathes of the fanbase, who felt that it was out of character
05:15for Vader to make such a cute and punny quip. But that's not really true. Consider some of the
05:20wisecracks that Vader made in the original trilogy, perhaps most memorably telling Captain
05:24Nida, apology accepted, after force choking him to death. Plus, Vader isn't a literally robotic or
05:30inhuman entity, so what's the matter with a dark joke or two? It's not like Anakin was a total
05:35pillar of stoicism in the prequel trilogy, so it follows that Vader would have a penchant for
05:39gallows humor.
05:414. His corpse shouldn't have disappeared
05:43Another thing often brought up as a plot hole is Anakin's death. Namely, why doesn't his body
05:49disappear when he passes away? After all, we saw the bodies of Obi-Wan, Yoda, and later Luke Skywalker
05:54vanish into the ether upon their deaths. So why not Anakin? Moreover, why does his corpse remain in
06:00situ for Luke to burn? The prequels actually explained this well enough, given that we see
06:05numerous Jedi die throughout the prequel trilogy whose bodies remain in place without disappearing,
06:09most notably Qui-Gon Jinn. The vanishing act, it seems, isn't just something that all Jedi
06:14automatically know. Obi-Wan and Yoda specifically learned to become one with the force from Qui-Gon.
06:19That said, in the legend's continuity, it's nevertheless stated that Anakin's body did
06:24eventually disappear, and that Luke ended up burning his empty armor on Endor. But even
06:29accepting that, despite its dubious canonicity, it isn't a given that those at one with the force
06:34must immediately vanish the moment they die. 3. James Earl Jones didn't voice him in Obi-Wan
06:41Kenobi. Vader, of course, appears throughout the recent Obi-Wan Kenobi Disney Plus series,
06:46with many commending the great James Earl Jones for once again reprising his vocal role as Vader
06:50with sure villainous relish. Except, it's not quite true to say that Jones played Vader in the show,
06:56or at least not in the conventional sense. Indeed, that is Jones' voice that we hear throughout the
07:01series, but the lines weren't performed by the 91-year-old actor, who recently announced his
07:05retirement from voicing Vader. As a result, Vader's voice for Obi-Wan Kenobi was produced by
07:10Ukrainian machine learning startup ReSpeecher, whose software used Jones' voice from existing
07:16Star Wars media to generate new dialogue. It's a testament to the quality of ReSpeecher's efforts
07:21that the end result is basically seamless, and it's easy to see why so many assumed that Jones,
07:26despite his age, was still performing the part, and in a manner totally consistent with his
07:31decades-old portrayals, no less. 2. The I am your father quote
07:36Nothing separates an ultra-casual Star Wars fan from a more dedicated one quicker than getting
07:42Vader's iconic I am your father line wrong. Through pop culture osmosis, it's often repeated that Vader
07:48tells his son, Luke, I am your father, when in fact Vader replies, no, I am your father, in reference to
07:55Luke's belief from Obi-Wan that Vader killed his dad. Is it a nitpick? Perhaps. The context is
08:01more or less the same, and name-dropping Luke helps assure people that you're making a Star Wars
08:05reference in polite conversation, but considering how much we've surely all seen The Empire Strikes
08:09Back, we probably should know better by now. But nobody's perfect. If a friend of yours parrots
08:14the slightly incorrect quote, don't give them too much hell over it. Either way, you'll struggle
08:19to find a more misquoted movie one-liner, or something that more people have gone wrong about
08:23Vader.
08:241. Vader Definitely Kills Obi-Wan
08:28As iconic as the climactic lightsaber duel between Vader and Obi-Wan is in A New Hope,
08:33fans aren't all on the same page about the precise nature of Obi-Wan's exit from the scene. After all,
08:38Obi-Wan basically appears to give up fighting, and when Vader swings his saber at him, he vanishes
08:43into thin air. Then, the next time we see him, he's a Force ghost. Some fans maintain that Obi-Wan left
08:49the physical plane before Vader struck him, but that's not really true. The ambiguous manner in
08:53which the scene is filmed doesn't really help provide fans with clarity, but given that Obi-Wan
08:57literally tells Vader moments earlier, if you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can
09:02possibly imagine, it appears that he was genuinely killed by Vader, and then near instantaneously
09:08became one with the Force. It's a hair-splitting debate at the end of the day, but given that a
09:12necessity for becoming a Force ghost is, you know, dying, it's safe to say that Obi-Wan didn't find
09:17another way to just evaporate into the ether. He was, as he foretold, struck down.
09:23And there we go, my friends. Those were 10 things that everyone gets wrong about Darth Vader. I hope
09:27that you enjoyed that, and please let me know what you thought about it down in the comments
09:30section below. As always, I've been Jules, so you can go follow me over on Twitter,
09:33at RetroJ, but the O is a zero, or you can swing by Instagram, where it's the same handle,
09:38RetroJ, but the O is a zero. Hope to see you over there. But before I go, I just want to say one
09:43thing. I hope you're treating yourself well with love and respect, my friend, because you deserve all the
09:47best things in life, alright? And do not let anything or anyone else tell you otherwise.
09:51Big love to you. Now go out there and smash your life goals today. I believe in you.
09:56As always, I've been Jules, you have been awesome. Never forget that, and I'll speak to you soon. Bye.
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