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Darth Vader

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Revision as of 16:50, 14 January 2008 by 205.174.124.10 (talk) (→Appearances)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) For information on this character's appearance in the Star Wars prequel trilogy, see Anakin Skywalker.

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Darth Vader is a fictional character from the Star Wars universe. He was portrayed by bodybuilder David Prowse and a series of stunt doubles, most notably Bob Anderson, while his voice was supplied by actor James Earl Jones. The character is one of the most iconic villains in film history and was ranked third on American Film Institute's 100 Heroes and Villains list.

In the original trilogy, Vader is depicted as the cunning, brutal enforcer of the Galactic Empire's rule across the galaxy. Vader serves as the apprentice of Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid), using the dark side of the Force to mercilessly pursue the Jedi and the Rebel Alliance to the ends of the galaxy. The prequel trilogy recounts the heroic rise and tragic fall of Vader's former self, Anakin Skywalker. Anakin was portrayed by Jake Lloyd and Hayden Christensen in the prequel trilogy, while Sebastian Shaw played the role in Return of the Jedi.

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Born July 6, 1946 (1946-07-06) (age 61) New Haven, Connecticut, United States Political party Republican Spouse Laura Bush Residence White House (official) Crawford, Texas (private) Alma mater Yale University Harvard Business School Occupation Businessman (oil, baseball) Religion United Methodist Signature George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the forty-third and current President of the United States of America, first inaugurated on January 20, 2001. He previously served as the forty-sixth Governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000 and is the eldest son of former United States President George Herbert Walker Bush. President Bush's current term is scheduled to end on January 20, 2009.

After graduating from college, Bush worked in his family's oil businesses before making an unsuccessful run for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1978. He later co-owned the Texas Rangers baseball team before returning to politics in a campaign for Governor of Texas. He defeated Ann Richards and was elected Governor of Texas in 1994. Bush was elected to the Presidency in 2000 as the Republican candidate in a close and controversial contest, in which he lost the nationwide popular vote, but won the electoral vote.

As president, Bush signed into law a US$1.35 trillion tax cut program in 2001, and in 2002 the No Child Left Behind Act. In October 2001, after the attacks on September 11, 2001, Bush announced a global War on Terrorism and ordered an invasion of Afghanistan to overthrow the Taliban, destroy Al-Qaeda, and to capture Osama bin Laden. In March 2003, Bush ordered the invasion of Iraq, asserting that Iraq was in possession of weapons of mass destruction and that the war was necessary for the protection of the United States.

Running in the midst of the Iraq War, Bush was re-elected on November 2, 2004; his presidential campaign against Senator John Kerry was successful despite controversy over Bush's prosecution of the Iraq War and domestic issues. After his re-election, Bush received increasingly heated criticism. He has the distinction of having some of the highest and lowest approval ratings of any president in history during his term. His domestic approval has ranged from 90 percent (the highest ever recorded by The Gallup Organization) immediately after the September 11, 2001 attacks to a low of 24 percent, with a disapproval rating of 65 percent, the highest level of disfavor for any sitting presidents since Richard Nixon and Harry Truman. Internationally, Bush tops the list of the most unpopular politicians, with disapproval of 87% in France and Germany, and 88% in Spain.

Expanded universe

  • The Cartoon Network micro series Star Wars: Clone Wars chronicles Anakin's adventures and trials in the many battles of the Clone Wars. The series, which covers the period between just after Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones and just before Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, sees Anakin become a Jedi and galaxy-renowned war hero, and foreshadows the temptations to power and fear of loss that would transform him into Darth Vader. Among his most noted moments in the series are a battle with Dark Jedi Asajj Ventress (Grey DeLisle) in Chapters 6 and 7, which leaves him with a scar on his right temple. In Chapter 22, he singlehandedly liberates the Nelvaanians from the Techno Union. During the latter mission, he goes on a spiritual journey which gives him a cryptic glimpse of his future. It showed at the end what looks like Darth Vader's helmet. The ordeal costs Anakin his prosthetic arm, though he later creates a modified version.
  • As chronicled in James Luceno's book Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader, Vader sheds his identity as Anakin Skywalker shortly after the events of Episode III. In the months afterward, he systematically pursues and kills the survivors of the Great Jedi Purge (except for Obi-Wan and Yoda); in the process, he fully embraces his new identity as a Sith Lord and disavows any connection to his former Jedi self. The novel also reveals that Vader plans to eventually overthrow Palpatine and rule the Empire himself, and that his primary motivation for betraying the Jedi Order was that he resented their supposed failure to recognize his power.
  • In the comic book Vader's Quest, he hires bounty hunters to bring him information about the pilot who brought about the destruction of the Death Star, ultimately meeting his son Luke for the very first time. Later on, in the Alan Dean Foster novel Splinter of the Mind's Eye (which takes place shortly after the events in A New Hope), Vader meets Luke for the second time and combats him in a lightsaber duel on the planet Mimban. On Mimban, Vader is nearly defeated by Luke, who severed his right arm. After falling into a pit, Vader is left with massive injuries.
  • In The Star Wars Holiday Special, Vader searches for the Rebels responsible for the destruction of the Death Star, almost thwarting Han and Chewbacca's goal of reaching Kashyyyk in order for Chewie to reach his family for Life Day.
  • Vader also has a prominent role in the 1996 novel/comic/video game Shadows of the Empire, which takes place between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. In the story, Prince Xizor, leader of the crime organization Black Sun, plots to overthrow Vader and take his place as the Emperor's second in command. The story also reveals that he knows there is some good left in him, and that he wishes to use the Force to return his physical appearance to that of his former self.
  • In the Thrawn trilogy by Timothy Zahn, it is explained that Darth Vader is the first representative of the Empire to find the Noghri, a race with exceptional combat skills, whom he manipulates into serving as his personal commandos and revering him as their master. Later, Vader transfers their services to Grand Admiral Thrawn.

Behind the scenes

Creation and concepts

File:Vadersketch.jpg
An early conceptual drawing of Darth Vader by Ralph McQuarrie.

The character of Darth Vader was not originally planned to be a suited cyborg. The current image of the character was created when concept artist Ralph McQuarrie drew the opening scene where Vader and his stormtroopers board a Rebel ship. It was initially imagined that Darth Vader would fly through space to enter the ship, necessitating a suit and breathing mask. This was later made permanent and incorporated in the story.

The iconic breathing sound of his respirator was created by sound designer Ben Burtt, who created the sound by simply recording himself breathing into an old Dacor scuba regulator.

In a 2005 interview, Lucas was asked the origins of the name "Darth Vader", and replied: "Darth is a contraction of Dark Lord of the Sith. And Vader is a variation of father. So it's basically Dark Father." (Rolling Stone, June 2, 2005). In J.W. Rinzler's 2007 book, The Making of Star Wars, a vintage quote from Lucas states that the name came "out of thin air," and may have been a corruption of "dark water". In draft scripts for Star Wars, the name "Darth Vader" was given to a human Imperial general who assists a Sith lord named "Prince Valorum". The name itself sounds very much like the phrase "dark invader," a fact on which many aficionados have remarked.

Vader is called "Dart Fener" and "Dark Vador" in Italy and France respectively. In a China-produced bootleg DVD version of Episode III known as Star War The Third Episode: The Backstroke of the West, his name was displayed as "Reaching the west reaches". This was translated from "Daxi Weida", a Chinese phonetic rendering of Vader's name.

Portrayals

During filming of A New Hope, David Prowse played the role of Darth Vader. Prowse was originally given the choice between the roles of Chewbacca and Darth Vader, but chose Darth Vader because he said "people would remember him." To his dismay, after filming, James Earl Jones was hired to read Vader's lines over Prowse's performance. Series creator George Lucas eventually chose Jones to provide Vader's voice for all of the films in the original trilogy. Jones has since been closely identified with the role.

When National Public Radio commissioned writer Brian Daley to adapt Star Wars as a radio series, actor Brock Peters was recruited to provide the voice of Darth Vader when James Earl Jones proved not to be available for the purpose.

The character of Darth Vader was also played by several stunt doubles, most notably fencing instructor Bob Anderson. Anderson handled all of Vader's fight sequences in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Mark Hamill, who portrayed Luke Skywalker in the original trilogy, noted in a 1983 interview in Starlog #72: "Bob Anderson was the man who actually did Vader’s fighting. It was always supposed to be a secret, but I finally told George I didn’t think it was fair any more. Bob worked so hard that he deserves some recognition. It’s ridiculous to preserve the myth that it’s all done by one man."

In 1978, Jones returned as the voice of Darth Vader (footage of Prowse in the suit is actually unused footage from A New Hope) in The Star Wars Holiday Special, as well as to shoot new footage that was released with the Star Wars: The Interactive Video Board Game, when it was released in 1996.

Actor and former Industrial Light & Magic visual effects artist C. Andrew Nelson has also portrayed Vader at a number of events for Lucasfilm, as well as the video games Rebel Assault II and Dark Forces, and in new footage filmed for the Special Edition releases of the original three Star Wars films in 1997. Over the years Nelson has also appeared as Vader on various television shows and in numerous commercials.

For Revenge of the Sith, Hayden Christensen, who had played Anakin Skywalker since Attack of the Clones, wore the Vader armor rather than Prowse. However, as Christensen was shorter than Prowse, certain perspective trickery was used to make him seem as physically large as Prowse: a slightly scaled-down costume was created for him; the costume had extensions built into the boots and helmet; and some of the shots of Vader standing next to Palpatine were filmed using forced perspective. James Earl Jones again supplied Vader's voice.

Cultural figure

Due to his central role in the Star Wars films, the character of Darth Vader has entered the public consciousness as the quintessential villain. His powerful bass voice, coupled with his heavy mechanized breathing, is easily recognizable, and the American Film Institute's list of the greatest movie villains placed him third, beating the Wicked Witch of the West and coming just after Hannibal Lecter and Norman Bates. He has been parodied by such figures as "Duck Vader" from Tiny Toon Adventures, "Darth Benkyou" in an episode of Doraemon, "Dearth Nadir" as played by Gonzo on The Muppet Show's "Pigs in Space" sketch, "Girth Plotz" from an episode of Animaniacs that parodied the first trilogy, "Darth Koopa" from The Super Mario Bros. Super Show, "Dark Laser" from The Fairly OddParents, an episode of Codename: Kids Next Door where President Jimmy dressed in black and, now devoted to evil, takes over the school, country singer Darth Brooks in Late Night With Conan O'Brien, and Chef from South Park as Darth Chef in the episode The Return of Chef. Another kind of tribute to Darth Vader comes from Stargate SG-1, in which there are similarities between Anubis and Vader, played for both dramatic and comic effect (complete with Death Star-esque spaceship and superweapon), and his name is mentioned when the issue of Vala's immaculate birth is brought up. Marty McFly in Back to the Future (dressed up in a radiation suit) pretended to be "Darth Vader from the planet Vulcan" in an effort to get his science fiction-loving father to date his mother. The character the Huntsman from American Dragon: Jake Long was inspired by Darth Vader and a scene from the episode Act 4 Scene 15 parodies the scene in Empire Strikes Back where the back of Vader's head is exposed briefly before he redons his helmet.

In Mel Brooks' 1986 Star Wars parody Spaceballs, Darth Vader is parodied as Lord Dark Helmet (as played by Rick Moranis), a short man with an over-sized Darth Vader-like helmet, who occasionally opens it to reveal his face. Instead of using a lightsaber, he has a ring that gives him abilities similar to The Force (called the "Schwartz"). The Schwartz ring allows Dark Helmet to produce a lightsaber-like projection at the tip of the ring. He is given to making double entendres about his helmet and his ring sword ("I see that your Schwartz is as big as mine. Now— let's see how well you can handle it"). The film also parodies Darth Vader's revelation to Luke Skywalker in Empire Strikes Back; during their climactic battle, Dark Helmet declares himself to be main character Lone Starr's "father's brother's nephew's cousin's former roommate," before admitting that this means that they have no familial ties whatsoever.

Hot Shots! Part Deux stages Saddam Hussein in a lightsaber fight with the American president (Lloyd Bridges), citing the original fight between Vader and Obi-wan Kenobi in A New Hope. Even the lines are remembered: "I`ve been waiting for you, O big one, but now, I am the master!"

In 2006, Blame Society Productions created a series of short videos featuring Chad Vader: Day Shift Manager. Chad Vader is ostensibly the younger brother of Darth Vader, who wears the same armor and cape, and uses phrases and concepts associated with Darth Vader in the context of a modern-day grocery store.

More recently, Family Guy parodied Episode IV, with Stewie Griffin appearing as Darth Vader. In another episode, Darth Vader is shown attempting to take a loan out. When asked what the loan is for, Vader replies, "To build a battle station that can destroy a planet." When the accountant voices concern over his choice, Vader changes his answer to, "I want to open a sports bar."

The name Darth Vader as a cultural metaphor

Darth Vader's image and, indeed, his very name have both become synonyms for evil in the public consciousness and conscience. Lucas has pointed to Vader's iconic status as a reason for making the prequel movies, since he felt the icon overshadowed the fact that Vader was intended to be a tragic character.

  • On June 22, 2006, U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney referred to himself as the Darth Vader of the Bush administration. Discussing the need for vigorous pursuit of intelligence, he said to CNN's John King, "It means we need to be able to go after and capture or kill those people who are trying to kill Americans. That's not a pleasant business. It's a very serious business. And I suppose, sometimes, people look at my demeanor and say, 'Well, he's the Darth Vader of the administration.'" Jon Stewart put on a Darth Vader helmet to "talk" to Dick Cheney as a "kindred spirit" on The Daily Show on January 25, 2007. Cheney's wife Lynne presented Stewart with a Darth Vader action figure on her appearance on the show on October 10, 2007. Both Stewart and Stephen Colbert have referred to Cheney as "Darth Cheney" on occasion. In the satiric cartoon show Lil' Bush, Dick Cheney's father is portrayed as being Darth Vader. At her presidential campaign event on September 19, 2007, Hillary Rodham Clinton also referred to Cheney as Darth Vader.
  • In 2005, former Cornell University entomologists Quentin Wheeler and Kelly Miller named 65 new species of slime-mold beetle of the genus Agathidium, with one named after Darth Vader.
  • During a major renovation, Washington National Cathedral held a competition for children to design new gargoyles for the western towers. One winner was a design featuring Darth Vader.
  • Two significant office buildings in Brisbane, California are highly visible landmarks by the San Francisco Bay. The ominous-looking one made of all dark reflective glass has been dubbed the Darth Vader building. The other is the architecturally acclaimed Dakin Building, a brilliant white futuristic antithesis, and is known in the San Francisco Bay area as the Luke Skywalker building.
  • Then-Vice President Al Gore referred to TCI's John Malone as the "Darth Vader of cable."
  • Political strategist Lee Atwater was known by his political enemies as "the Darth Vader of the Republican Party."
  • In the 'Everybody Loves Raymond' Series, Season 5 Episode 'Young Girl', Ray Barone says to his brother Robert, that his wife Debra is a different person when she's angry. He calls her 'Darth Debra'.

See also

Notes and references

  1. AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes and Villains", American Film Institute, last accessed October 20, 2005
  2. "theforce.net/jedicouncil/editorials/012399.asp". Retrieved 2007-06-01.
  3. "www.theforce.net/jedicouncil/editorials/012399.shtml". Retrieved 2007-06-01.
  4. "transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0606/22/sitroom.03.html". Retrieved 2007-06-01.
  5. "www.news.cornell.edu/stories/April05/slime-mold.Bush.Cheney.ssl.html". Retrieved 2007-06-01.
  6. "http://www.cathedral.org/cathedral/discover/darth.shtml". Retrieved 2007-06-20. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
  7. "money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2005/08/22/8270018/index.htm". Retrieved 2007-06-01.
  8. "politics.netscape.com/story/2006/11/07/harvey-leroy-lee-atwater-was-a-republican-political-consultant". Retrieved 2007-06-01.

Sources

External links

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