Darth Vader

Darth Vader is a central character in the Star Wars universe, appearing as one of the main antagonists in the original Star Wars trilogy. He is the Sith Lord persona of the fallen Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker after his turn to the dark side.

He remains an antagonist until the events of Return of the Jedi, when he eventually sacrifices his life to save his son Luke Skywalker from his master Darth Sidious, who was really the true traitor and enemy of the Galactic Republic that Mace Windu warned him of all those years ago in the Clone Wars and fulfilling the Prophecy as the Chosen One.

Personality
After finally embracing his inner darkness, the persona of Anakin Skywalker nearly ceased to exist, as the Darth Vader persona overtook him almost completely. Vader was now terrifying, driven by rage, and his overconfidence increased to the point of arrogance. However, after his defeat and mutilation on Mustafar at the hands of Obi-Wan Kenobi, he was no longer as arrogant and overconfident as he previously was. Although he eventually regained confidence in himself, it was never to the point of being outwardly arrogant or cocky.

Unlike most members of the Sith Order, Vader was capable of acknowledging his mistakes and learning from them as well, due to the events on Mustafar; he was emotionally traumatized by the experience.

Vader remained an impatient man; albeit to a far less extent, but generally presented himself as calm and level-headed, as he rarely lost his temper and usually had good control over his emotions (something he was not able to do in his youth). He had an extremely low tolerance for failure and any form of betrayal, and he did not get along well at all with naval officers in the Imperial military. He had little to no tolerance for incompetence or for those who disrespected him, nearly choking admiral Conan Antonio Motti to death when he disrespected Vader and challenged his powers of the Force. Vader telekinetically strangled Admiral Kendal Ozzel and Captain Lorth Needa for their incompetence respectively. Many higher-ranking officers despised the Sith Lord and his "sorcerer's ways" for no apparent reason.

Despite his bad relationship with higher-ranking officers in the military, Vader did get along reasonably well with the Stormtroopers because of his front line leadership; one reason Vader was popular with the troops that served under him was his willingness to fight in the front line, and not expect of anyone anything he was not willing to do himself.

As a general within the ranks of the Imperial Army of the Empire, Vader was renowned for his leadership skills and admired by clones, middle/low-ranking officers, Sith and politicians alike.

Despite what his actions wrought upon both himself and the galaxy, Vader apparently believed he was doing what was good for the galaxy and claimed not to feel regret. However, in truth, he secretly felt enormous guilt, shame and remorse for his actions, whether he wanted to admit it or not; so much that he developed a deep self-loathing, and even nearly committed suicide at one point.

Vader was determined to never talk about his old life, and wanted to distance himself from his painful past as best as possible. As a result, he detested anything that reminded him of his former self (which he deemed to be weak). It was for this reason that he had no desire to restore the bond he once shared with his former apprentice and friend Ahsoka Tano; she was a living memory of everything he once was, and in his own twisted way, he was angry at her for leaving him and the Jedi Order, something he perceived later on as a form of betrayal. Upon their fateful reunion, he did offer to spare her if she told him where the other lost Jedi were hiding, but cruelly resolved to kill her when she refused and even when she found out he was indeed her former mentor and showed him compassion.

Because of his former status as a slave, Vader also had distress when the concept of slavery was brought up. He also could not return to his home planet Tatooine, as the planet was a painful reminder of him losing his mother Shmi Skywalker. It was only after he found out about his son Luke Skywalker, that Vader was able to muster the ability to return to Tatooine once more, and only because it was in search of information; regarding his son.

Vader was cold, brutal, and ruthless towards his enemies, as he was perfectly willing to terrorize, torture and even murder them in cold-blood, but he did not take pleasure out of it. The exception to this might have been during his trip to Tatooine in search of information on Luke Skywalker, during which he slaughtered an entire tribe of Tusken Raiders (much as he had as Anakin) either out of vengeance or pleasure for what they did to his mother.

Vader was seemingly unfailingly loyal to his master Sheev Palpatine, the latter was the closest thing he had to a friend. However, in truth, he secretly hated his master for deceiving him and ruining his life, as he secretly planned to overthrow him one day with his own apprentice. The only reason why Vader continued to serve Palpatine after losing his wife was because the Emperor was all he had left; he was the only one that would accept him. All-in-all, Vader was only truly loyal to the people he still cared about, like his son Luke Skywalker, as he did everything possible to protect his son from Palpatine.

Despite these negative traits of his, there was still some good left in him; upon discovering the existence of his son, Luke Skywalker, Vader became emotionally conflicted, unsure whether to continue serving his master or overthrow him with his son. He displayed a sense of compassion for Luke, revealing that some hint of him still had love for his family. This attachment ultimately led to his redemption.

Before the Battle of Endor had begun, Vader strongly believed he was irredeemable and there was no good left in him. This belief was so strong that in a mental battle between his good and evil halves brought about after once being defeated by a powerful enemy, the evil Vader persona of his personality battled, defeated and destroyed the Anakin persona that represented his good side. However, when his son Luke was being tortured by Palpatine, he finally broke away from the dark side. At this point, Vader ceased to exist and Anakin returned in full.

Before succumbing to the injuries he received from Palpatine, when he sacrifices his life to save his son, Anakin reconciled with Luke and thanked his son for never giving up hope in saving him; he then died peacefully - becoming one with the Force.

Powers

 * The Force: As the Chosen One, Vader was immensely powerful and had an amazingly strong connection to the Force, stronger than any Force-user ever in existence. He also possessed the potential to become the most powerful light and dark side Force-user in the history of the galaxy; according to Obi-Wan Kenobi, Vader's Force potential surpassed that of even Yoda and Palpatine respectively; at the two latters' peaks. Vader's light and dark side Force potential is rivaled only by his son, Luke Skywalker at his peak. However, after being burned alive on Mustafar and forced to become a cyborg, he apparently never reached his full potential, as the physical and emotional trauma caused by his transformation greatly limited his ability to access and control certain aspects and abilities of the Force. His injuries were such that he was only able to reach about 8/10ths of his former strength. An example of this was that due to his prosthetic arms and hands, he would never be able to utilize or be immune to Force Lightning. The life support systems keeping him alive also made him incredibly vulnerable to such powers like Force lightning as without them, he would perish (however, he was able to block Force Lightning with his lightsaber, giving him a fair measure of protection against this power so long as he was armed) Vader also heavily relied on the Dark side of the Force to maintain his armor at peak efficiency. Despite these setbacks, Vader still became one of the most powerful Force-users in the history of the galaxy; only Palpatine, who was considered to be the strongest Sith Lord of all time, surpassed him due to his disabilities, and only Luke Skywalker, Vader's own son, rivaled Vader's power at its full potential; so it is likely if he had not been burned alive on Mustafar, Vader would have reach his full potential, as Luke is a mirror version of what Vader would have become.
 * Telekinesis: Vader was a master of Telekinesis, which he utilized either as offensive or defense. In one issue of Marvel Comics' Vader Down series, the Sith Lord was shown to be able to simultaneously fly his TIE Advanced x1 starfighter and use his telekinetic abilities to destroy Rebel starfighters, taking out three squadrons of X-wings in this fashion. Additionally, in the sixth issue of Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith: The Chosen One, Vader was shown to efficiently and effortlessly repair his damaged armor through manipulating multiple tools and the armor itself using telekinesis, all while limbless and recovering from his wounds inside a bacta tank. He could also effortlessly maintain an air bubble at crushing depths on the watery world of Mon Cala using telekinesis to prevent the water pressure from crushing him as was revealed in the the third issue of Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith: Burning Seas.
 * Force Push: Vader utilized Force Push to send his opponents flying through the air, causing them serious injury or temporarily incapacitating them/knocked them unconscious. In the Lords of the Sith novel, Vader's was strong enough to send a large telekinetic pulse capable of ripping apart several Lyleks simultaneously, despite the fact that the creatures' carapaces were impervious to even heavy blaster fire.
 * Force Pull: Vader utilized Force Pull to pull his opponents or objects towards him.
 * Force Choke: Vader utilized Force Choke to constrict the organs of living organisms in order to suffocate or strangle them, which he could use to either incapacitate or kill. He could also do this from a great distance simply by knowing the targets location relative to himself, as he choked Admiral Ozzel from several kilometers away on another ship while looking at him through a view screen. This is also one of his favorite moves.
 * Force Grip: Vader utilized Force Grip to lift his opponents off the ground and into the air, sometimes by the neck, to immobilize them.
 * Force Crush: Vader utilized Force Crush to crush objects or droids.
 * Force Throw: Vader utilized Force Throw to cause objects and even individuals, to be hurled toward a target at an astounding velocity; Vader used this ability in his second confrontation against his son Luke Skywalker.
 * Force Barrier: Vader utilized Force Barrier to create a barrier or wall of Force energy in front of or surrounding himself or his allies. He notably used this to shield himself from debris in Darth Vader 4: Vader, Part IV.
 * Saber Throw: Vader utilized Saber Throw to telekinetically guide his lightsaber towards his opponent; similar to a boomerang or shuriken.
 * Telepathy: Vader utilized Telepathy to mentally communicate over small or vast distances with other individuals, especially his son, Luke Skywalker. He used this ability in a deleted scene of Return of the Jedi, to mentally communicate with Luke.
 * Mind Probe: Vader utilized Mind Probe to sense and sift through the thoughts of sentient beings. This allowed him to sense the thoughts and feelings of Luke Skywalker when he was emotionally vulnerable, leading to him realizing that Luke had a sister.
 * Mind Trick: Vader utilized Mind Trick to control the minds of other sentient beings, however, it did not work on individuals who have very strong wills.
 * Force Vision: Vader utilized Force Vision, to have visions of the past, the present and the future. However, like all Force-users, his visions were not always clear or sometimes had visions even when he was not utilizing this power at will.
 * Force Sense: Vader utilized Force Sense to sense another sentient being's emotions, the future, ripples in the Force caused by momentous or traumatic events, impending danger and the presence of the dark side; his senses were so powerful, that he could not only sense the presence of his former mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi, on the first Death Star, but he could also sense the presence of his son Luke Skywalker, on more than one occasion.
 * Force Jump: Vader occasionally utilized Force Jump to jump or leap great distances, though he rarely used the ability due to the limits of his suit and heavy cybernetics.
 * Force Dash: Vader utilized Force Dash to move at greater speeds than normally possible.
 * Taming Beasts: As shown in Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith: Burning Seas- Part 3, Vader could use the Dark side of the Force to communicate with and control animals. In his attack on Mon Cala to hunt the Jedi Farren Barr, Vader used the Force to tame a large squid, convincing it to not eat him, bring him his lost lightsaber, and then carry him back to the surface depths.
 * Immense Strength: Vader used his Force powers to increase his physical strength; this made him physically stronger then most, if not all other sentient beings. His cybernetic enhancements also allowed him additional strength to overpower others with greater ease.
 * Cybernetic Enhancements: Vader utilized his cybernetic enhancements in combat, as it gave him greater strength to easily subdue, restrain and overpower his opponents. He can effortlessly lift humans off the ground with one hand while holding them by the neck, crush bones in his fist, or throw people across rooms. Despite his great strength, physically lighter opponents could still block him in a lightsaber duel; such as Kanan Jarrus, Ezra Bridger, Ahsoka Tano and even his son Luke Skywalker respectively. His cybernetic enhancements still did not make him as strong as a Wookiee and Trandoshan respectively.

Abilities

 * Lightsaber Skills: Vader was extremely skilled in lightsaber combat and an exceptionally formidable duelist. He also possessed the potential to become the greatest lightsaber duelist in the history of the galaxy; according to Obi-Wan Kenobi, Vader's skills in lightsaber combat rivaled, if not surpassed that of even Yoda and Palpatine respectively. However, after being burned alive on Mustafar and forced to become a cyborg, he apparently never reached his full potential, as his armored suit greatly limited his mobility. Despite this, Vader still became one of the greatest lightsaber duelists in the history of the galaxy. He specialized in using his skills, weight, endurance and sheer brute strength to overwhelm his opponents into confusion or exhaustion, such as his former mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi, his former apprentice Ahsoka Tano and his son Luke Skywalker respectively. Vader also regained some of his old agility, and his blade work became brutally effective. Vader's technique and fighting style was a combination of both his brute strength and impressive precision, as his armor hampered some of his movement and he needed to constantly protect the control panel on his chest from attack, when he would otherwise be vulnerable to it. The full extent of his skill was demonstrated during his duel with Ahsoka; however, it is unknown who ultimately came out on top in their duel, as the outcome wasn't seen. Despite this, his skill was such that he was extremely confident in his abilities, and during the events portrayed in the issues of the Marvel Comics story Vader Down, Vader was able to single-handedly take on a platoon of three squadrons of X-wing fighters, several Y-wings and hundreds of Rebel soldiers that surrounded him on the planet of Vrogas Vas, saying that despite their greater numbers, all he was surrounded by was fear and dead men before slaughtering them all with terrifying ease. He also was able, albeit with some assistance from Dr. Aphra, to kill Karbin, a Mon Calamari cyborg commander for the Empire (and Vader's intended replacement) in a lightsaber duel during the same battle.
 * Form I: Vader was very skilled in Shii-Cho.
 * Form II: After becoming a cyborg, Vader studied Makashi and became very skilled at it.
 * Form III: After becoming a cyborg, Vader studied Soresu and became very skilled at it; in fact, he was so skilled at it that Vader was able to overcome and defeat Obi-Wan Kenobi in their final confrontation, despite the latter being a master of the style in his own right.
 * Form IV: Vader was extremely skilled in Ataru.
 * Form V: Vader was a master of Shien/Djem So, considered by many to be the most proficient practitioner of the form. After becoming a cyborg, he created a personal varient that included elements of all seven forms.
 * Form VI: Vader was highly skilled in Niman.
 * Form VII: After becoming a cyborg, Vader studied Juyo/Vaapad and became very skilled at it.
 * Jar'Kai: Vader was highly skilled in Jar'Kai.
 * Master Pilot: Even before his fall to the dark side, Vader was praised as the most skilled star-pilot in the history of the galaxy, a reputation he lived up to when he single-handedly almost destroyed Phoenix Squadron in a lone TIE Fighter, easily out-flying their entire fleet and forcing their command to abandon ship. Vader's only equal is his son, Luke Skywalker.
 * Expert Hand-To-Hand Combatant: Vader was extremely skilled in unarmed combat, although he normally uses his brute strength against others, allowing him to defeat others with less of a need for skill.
 * Expert Marksman: Vader was highly skilled in the use of blaster pistols, although he rarely used any.
 * Master Engineer: Even before his fall to the dark side, Vader was amazingly skilled in engineering. He could personally repair starships to maintain his skill. Repairing such machinery and vehicles also acted as a form of meditation for Vader, and allowed him to focus and clear his mind.
 * Genius-Level Intellect/Master Tactician/Leader: Even before his fall to the dark side, Vader was amazingly intelligent and wise. His intelligence and wisdom rivaled that of even Yoda and Palpatine respectively. As a Sith General, Vader was a highly skilled tactician and a very capable leader. Due to his experience from the Clone Wars, he had an excellent reputation of never being defeated. Those serving in his unit, rarely if ever died under Vader's command. He could also use his opponents own tactics against them. Furthermore, Vader often used his environment to his advantage, using the terrain against his opponents by using whatever was at his disposal, such as throwing shrapnel and wreckage at his foes. In Vader Down, he used shrapnel and wreckage from his own TIE fighter to decimate his enemies on Vrogas Vas in conjunction with his Force skills and his lightsaber.
 * Intimidation: As an immensely powerful Force-user, Vader commanded an intimidating presence to the point that the majority of the galaxy, many members of Imperial Army and Rebel Alliance fear him, even exceptionally powerful force-users, such as Kanan Jarrus and Ezra Bridger respectively were terrified of him.
 * Multilingual: Mostly due to his interactions as Anakin Skywalker, Vader was capable of fluently speaking Basic, Huttese, Bith, and Sith tongue.

Lightsabers
Vader's valued weapon and possession was his lightsaber, he had two of them during his transition to a Sith and one during the time before the Clone Wars.
 * Jedi Lightsaber: Though technically the second lightsaber he owned after the first was destroyed, Vader built this blue-bladed lightsaber and used it throughout the Clone Wars. He used this weapon through Revenge of the Sith, even after falling to the dark side and becoming a Sith Lord. He lost this weapon to Obi-Wan when he was heavily mutilated on Mustafar, leading to the latter keeping it for nineteen years after. Luke Skywalker was given this weapon after meeting Obi-Wan and used it while part of the Rebel Alliance. Luke had no proper training and was forced to improvise his attacks with it. He lost it in his duel with his father, causing it to fall down Cloud City's airshafts. It then resurfaced and ended up in the hands of Maz Kanata, Finn and then Rey, the two latters who both fought Kylo Ren with it. It was later presented to Luke by Rey as a sign he was needed once again, only for Luke to reject it. Afterwards, Rey used it as her own. It was ultimately destroyed in a struggle between Rey and Kylo Ren over ownership of the lightsaber.
 * Sith Lightsaber: Vader built this lightsaber a short time after he became a cyborg. As was common to all Sith lightsabers, it was a red-bladed lightsaber. As was traditional with all Sith, Darth Vader's lightsaber crystal was made using the corrupted Kyber crystal taken from a Jedi's lightsaber and turned red through infection with the Dark side of the Force. The Kyber crystal he claimed once belonged to Jedi Master Kirak Infil'a, whom Vader killed in single combat shortly after becoming a Sith. Darth Vader would also originally use Infil'a's hilt for his lightsaber, but when it was destroyed in a fight with bounty hunters, Vader rebuilt his weapon into the hilt that was a twisted version of his very first lightsaber from when he had been a Jedi Padawan. It would remain in his possession until his final duel against his son, Luke Skywalker and was presumably destroyed when the second Death Star was destroyed. However, the post-empire Dark side fanatical group known as the Acolytes of the Beyond purchased what they believed to be Vader's lightsaber from a dealer on the planet Taris named Ooblamon, hoping to reunite the weapon with its master in death by destroying it. It remains unknown if the artifact in question actually was Vader's lightsaber or not, as not even the seller was certain of its authenticity. What became of this supposed "lightsaber" is also unknown.

Armor

 * Sith Armor: Vader's most important piece of equipment in his arsenal alongside his lightsaber was his armor. The characteristic armor also functioned as Vader's life support suit, as without it, Vader could not move or even breathe. Vader also, on Palpatine's suggestion, customized his armor to suit his life as a Sith and to suit his needs, combat style and personal preferences. Though he initially hated the armor for its encumbering nature, Vader grew to embrace how it isolated him from everyone and everything around him, allowing him to become a pure vessel of the Dark side of Force. The armor contained a breathing apparatus within to pump purified air through Vader's damaged lungs, as well as a control panel on his chest to modulate the armor's functions that gave him proper amounts of nutrients and medicine to maintain his body. His armor allowed him to walk without added protection on the icy planet of Hoth and survive in almost any environment or condition such as in the vacuum of space or on worlds with low amounts of oxygen. It even allowed him to breathe underwater, though if Vader sunk too deep, he was at risk from the crushing water pressure at greater depths. In addition to its function as his life support, Vader's armor, especially his helmet, gave him a frightening appearance. The helmet was undoubtedly the most important part of his armor, for the neural needles within allowed him, albeit painfully, to use the armor and move. Without those needles connecting to his skull and spine, Vader was utterly helpless and unable to survive outside of a bacta tank. Vader's armor had ten protective layers, making him highly resistant to damage and his boots had magnetic clamps within to allow him to stick to metal surfaces. In addition to this, the four prosthetic limbs he had as a result of his injuries on Mustafar made him stronger and taller than many other beings. But for all these strengths, Vader's armor was not without weaknesses or setbacks. Among these; Vader was no longer subject to the great agility he once had as Anakin Skywalker. Furthermore, his armor slowed down some of his movements and he was forced to readjust his fighting style accordingly, instead becoming more tactical, conservative and precise without sacrificing strength. Another weakness was his need to continually meditate on the Dark side of the Force to keep the armor fully functional and at peak efficiency. Lastly, the suit prevented him from being immune to or conjuring Force lightning, making him particularly vulnerable to that power, eventually resulting in his death at Palpatine's hands when he killed the emperor to save his son, Luke. After his death, Luke ceremonially burned Vader's armor on the moon of Endor to rid the galaxy of the last traces of the evil that Vader had left. The only thing to remain, the burned and melted helmet, eventually was found by none other than Vader's grandson, Kylo Ren, who took the helmet for his own and would model his own helmet on its design as part of his quest to become as evil and powerful as the late Sith Lord. Kylo would keep the helmet on a table filled with the ashes of his slain enemies and speak to it whenever he felt the pull of the Light Side of the Force.

Revenge of the Sith
Anakin found out that Palpatine was Darth Sidious, a Sith Lord who manipulated events regarding the Clone Wars to gain power, but was still led to believe the Jedi were traitors to the Republic. When Palpatine promised him a way to save his pregnant wife Padmé, Anakin turned to the Dark Side to become Sidious' new apprentice and was rechristened as Darth Vader. After slaughtering all the Jedi in the Jedi Temple, including the younglings, as part of the Great Jedi Purge, Vader was sent by Palpatine to the Mustafar System, where he eliminated Trade Federation Viceroy Nute Gunray and the other Separatist Leaders in equally quick order, saving Gunray for last due to the numerous attempts the Viceroy had made to assassinate Padmé previously.

On Mustafar, Vader is confronted by Padmé and his former master, Obi-Wan Kenobi. When he believes Padmé has brought Obi-Wan to kill him, he strangles Padme and engages Obi-Wan in a ferocious lightsaber duel. The duel sees the destruction of the Separatist holdout they are in. He ultimately loses the fight, as well his legs and left arm, and Obi-Wan remorsefully leaves him to burn to death beside a volcanic river.

Though horribly burned and disfigured by the flames of Mustafar, Vader manages to keep himself alive with the Force, through his unbreakable will and sheer hatred. Palpatine, now Emperor of the Galactic Empire, finds him and takes him back to Coruscant to be reconstructed with his iconic suit. When he is told that he had killed Padmé in his anger, Vader becomes consumed by his despair. In the film's epilogue, Vader is seen beside Sidious viewing the construction of the Death Star, setting up the events that follow to A New Hope.

A New Hope
When plans for the Empire's new weapon, the Death Star, were stolen by Rebel spies, Darth Vader was assigned to retrieve the plans. His Star Destroyer and men captured a Rebel Blockade Runner, the Tantive IV starship, where they captured Princess Leia Organa. Leia tries to talk her way out of the situation by threatening to have this reported back to the Imperial Senate on Coruscant, but Vader knows that Rebel spies transmitted the plans to her and demands to know where they are. Leia again tries to explain that she's an Imperial Senator on her way to Alderaan, but Vader condemns her as a member of the Rebellion and a traitor before ordering his 501st Legion Stormtroopers to take her away. When they could not find the plans aboard the ship, and an Imperial officer tells Vader that an escape pod was jettisoned during the fighting, but no life forms were detected aboard it, Vader assumed they were hidden in the escape pod that R2-D2 and C-3PO were in and sent a squadron of troopers down to retrieve them while he returned to the Death Star.

Vader tortured Leia with an Interrogator Droid to make her tell where the Rebels secret base was while she was incarcerated in the Death Star's Detention Block, but she would not give in. Vader instead brings her to the bridge of the Death Star to meet with Death Star commanding officer and Governor of the Outer Rim Territories, Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin, where Leia is threatened with having Alderaan destroyed by the Death Star's superlaser if she doesn't give up the location of the Rebel base. Despite Leia confessing to the base being on Dantooine, Vader holds her back as she helplessly watches as Alderaan is destroyed anyway on Tarkin's order. When the Empire captured the Millennium Falcon, a freighter that had recently blasted its way out of the Mos Eisley Spaceport on Tatooine and arrived in the Alderaan system, Vader ordered a scanning crew to check every inch of the ship. Meanwhile, through the Force, he began to feel the presence of his former master Obi-Wan Kenobi aboard the station. After many years, he came face to face with Obi-Wan once again and engaged him in a second lightsaber duel, though this time he was determined to win. While he sensed Obi-Wan was growing weaker, he had also learned from his mistakes on Mustafar. Vader said so, but Kenobi warned that he would become more powerful than ever before if Vader killed him. The duel carried them across the hangar where they could see Luke and friends boarding the Millennium Falcon, while the Stormtroopers that had been guarding it had moved to assist Vader if he required it. The battle ended when Obi-Wan deliberately dropped his defenses, allowing Vader to strike, ultimately leading to the Jedi Master's tragic fate. Vader was then prevented from pursuing Leia and the others as the blast doors to the hangar were sealed by the destruction of the control panel by Luke Skywalker.

When the Rebels commenced their attack on the Death Star, Vader joined the fight with two TIE Pilots beside him as his wingmen. He easily took out many of the fighters by himself, including the initial Y-Wing squadron making the first trench run and the X-Wing squadron that attempted the second run under the command of Red Leader Garven Dreis, and just when he was about to destroy Luke Skywalker, who was making the final run, Han Solo and Chewbacca appeared out of nowhere in the Falcon and fired on the Imperials, destroying one of Vader's wingmen while sending Vader spiraling away when the other wingman clips his fighter and sends it tumbling away from the Death Star. When the Rebels succeeded in destroying the Death Star, Vader managed to gain control of his ship and fled the scene.

The Empire Strikes Back
Three years later, Darth Vader tracked the location of the Rebels' new secret base on the ice planet, Hoth. From space, aboard his Imperial Star Dreadnought Executor, flagship of the Imperial Navy, he oversaw the Battle of Hoth, dispatching Imperial AT-AT and AT-ST walkers against Luke Skywalker and the other members of Rogue Squadron as the Rebellion attempted a desperate evacuation of Echo Base before it was overrun. Vader finally arrived on the planet with his elite 501st Legion after Imperial Army General Maximillion Veers destroyed the Rebel shield generator with his AT-AT, only to learn that Luke had already escaped, arriving in the abandoned hangar just as the Millennium Falcon made its escape. Vader has the Executor and the fleet pursue the Falcon into the nearby asteroid belt, unconcerned about the damage the fleet was taking from the asteroids as they hunted the Falcon down. However, Vader was soon informed that he was being summoned by Emperor Palpatine via hologram, and after having the Executor leave the asteroid belt to avoid interference in the transmission, he spoke to the Emperor in his personal quarters, where Palpatine confirmed that Luke is the offspring of Anakin Skywalker, and thus planned to seduce him to the Dark Side of the Force as well, or perish if he refused.

At Cloud City, on the planet Bespin, Vader arranged a trap for Han Solo, Princess Leia, and Chewbacca, aided by bounty hunter Boba Fett, as well as Han's friend Lando Calrissian, baron-administrator for Cloud City. Vader then began to arrange for Luke to be frozen in a carbonite chamber and delivered to the Emperor, but chose to test it first on Han. Afterwards, he handed him over to Fett, who flew the frozen mercenary to Jabba's Palace on Tatooine aboard his ship, Slave I, to collect the bounty that Jabba had placed on Han's head for failing to repay his debt. Upon failing to freeze Luke, Vader then engaged Luke in a lightsaber duel, which ended on a catwalk above a giant ventilation pit. Initially, Vader had held back, but after Luke wounds him on the right shoulder, now he decided to end the battle on his terms. After another flurry of swordplay, Vader severed the young Jedi's right hand and revealed to Luke that he is his father. He made a proposal for Luke to join him, where he would complete his son's training, and have him rule the galaxy alongside him, but Luke refused and narrowly escaped Cloud City.

Vader returned to the Executor just in time to learn that Imperial Admiral Firmus Piett's spies had deactivated the hyperdrive on the Millennium Falcon, so it was only a matter of time before the Rebel ship would be caught in the tractor beam of the flagship and brought aboard. During that time, Vader made psychic connection with Luke through the Force, asking him to come with him. However, R2-D2 is able to reactivate the hyperdrive, and the Falcon escapes into hyperspace to rejoin the Alliance Navy, leaving Vader to return to his personal quarters on the Executor without punishing Piett for failing to capture the Falcon.

Return of the Jedi
"The Emperor's coming here?!" "That is correct, Commander. And he is most displeased with your apparent lack of progress."

- Moff Tiaan Jerjerrod and Darth Vader

Darth Vader was first seen arriving on the second Death Star to "check on" everyone's progress. Death Star II commanding officer, Moff Tiaan Jerjerrod, tried to reason with him that he needed more manpower to finish construction, but when Vader warns him that the Emperor himself is coming to oversee the rest of the construction personally, Jerjerrod promises to double their efforts to finish on time, satisfying Vader, only to warn Jerjerrod again that the Emperor was not as forgiving as he was. When the Emperor arrived, Vader assured him that the Death Star would be finished in time. Once Palpatine settled into his throne room on the Death Star II, his orders to Vader are to deploy the main Imperial Navy fleet on the far side of Endor until called for. With that, he then dismisses Vader to the Executor to await further orders there. However, while on the Executor, Vader learns from Admiral Piett that a Lambda-class Imperial shuttle named Tydirium is requesting deactivation of the security shield for the Death Star II to land on the forest moon below. Suspicious, Vader asks where it is going and if they have a code clearance. When the reply comes back that the shuttle is carrying parts and technical crew for the forest moon and the code is an older Imperial code but is still valid, Vader hesitates as he discovers Luke is aboard the Tydirium through the Force. After a moment, he gives Piett the go ahead to let the shuttle through.

Returning to the Death Star II and Palpatine's throne room, Vader explains the situation regarding the Tydirium to the Emperor and his confirmation that Luke is with the Rebel strike team that was on the shuttle. Wanting to seize the moment, the Emperor tells Vader to head for the forest moon, foreseeing Luke willingly surrender to the Empire's forces in order to speak to Vader face-to-face. The Emperor is proven right as Luke surrenders to an AT-AT walker patrol and brought to the landing pad where Vader's shuttle touches down, where the AT-AT crew hands him over to Vader. Once alone, Luke and Vader speak to each other, but despite Luke's best attempts to convince Vader to return to the Light Side of the Force, Vader tells him that Anakin Skywalker is dead and he will always be Darth Vader and loyal to the Emperor.

Together, Vader and Luke met the Emperor in his throne room aboard the Death Star II, where the Emperor started playing upon Luke's fear for his friends' safety by revealing that Luke's friends on the forest moon of Endor and the Alliance Navy were walking into his trap. Intent on using Luke as a pawn to kill his own father, and thus take his place at Palpatine's side, he provokes Luke into engaging Vader in a fierce lightsaber duel. Vader assaulted Luke with Djem So, but Luke countered. When Vader probed his son's mind with the Force and found out that Leia was his daughter too, he threatened to corrupt her instead, which angered Luke enough for him to viciously attack Vader and brutally overpower him. But after cutting off his father's right hand and noticing mechanical wires underneath that match his own right hand, Luke threw aside his lightsaber and told the Emperor that he would never turn to the Dark Side, remaining loyal to resurrecting the Jedi Order.

Vader then watched as Palpatine viciously tortured Luke with fierce Force Lightning attacks in retaliation for his refusal to join the Sith. Writhing in agony, Luke pleaded for his father to save him. At that point, Anakin Skywalker resurfaces, killing the Darth Vader persona once and for all, along with the Sith Order as Anakin slays Darth Sidious and fulfills the Chosen One prophecy while also setting into motion the destruction of the Galactic Empire as well.

The Force Awakens
In the film, though Vader has been long dead for approximately thirty years, his burnt and distorted helmet is in the possession of his grandson, Ben Solo, who has turned to the Dark Side like him and assumed the identity of Kylo Ren, wanting to "finish what he started". To this end, Kylo Ren kept the helmet in his personal quarters and would place Vader's helmet on a table filled with the ashes of his slain enemies, speaking to it whenever he felt the pull of the Light Side. When Kylo has Rey hostage and tries to use the Force to probe her mind, Rey uses his own power against him and senses that Kylo is afraid that he will never be as powerful as Vader.

Rogue One
Darth Vader appears in the Anthology film, Rogue One. He is portrayed by former kick-boxing champion, Spencer Wilding, while his voice is provided by James Earl Jones.

Around some point before the battle of Yavin, Vader had established a personal abode on Mustafar, the very planet where he had been disfigured. Shortly after the an insurgency on the desert moon of Jedha, Vader was visited by Director Orson Krennic, who wanted to discuss the workings of the Death Star and the possibility of a weakness within the weapon. Choking him into submission, Vader ended the conversation.

When the Rebellion successfully gained possession of the plans for the Empire's new weapon, Vader engaged and pursued the Rebels who were attempting to make their escape with the plans aboard the ship Profundity. Though they attempted to fend him off, Vader's immense skill and power allowed him to easily slaughter the all-but-helpless Rebel soldiers. However, one of his victims managed to escape aboard the Tantive IV, which escaped into hyperspace and the Rebel gave the plans for the Death Star to Leia Organa, leading directly into the events of A New Hope.

Star Wars Rebels
Darth Vader appears in the Disney XD animated series Star Wars Rebels, once again voiced by James Earl Jones who originally provided his voice in the Original Trilogy and Revenge of the Sith. In the series, he tasks the Empire's Inquisitors to hunt down the remaining Jedi Knights who may have survived the Great Jedi Purge.

Season One
In the extended cut of "Spark of Rebellion", Darth Vader makes a brief appearance during the opening of the film where he is briefing his deadly servant, The Grand Inquisitor, with new orders from the Emperor.

Even though the Jedi have been wiped out, the Sith have foreseen a new threat: the Children of the Force. Under the command of his Master, the Emperor, Vader gave the Inquisitor the task to hunt down this new enemy and if they do not serve the Empire they should be eliminated along with any surviving Jedi who will attempt to train them.

In the end of the season finale; "Fire Across the Galaxy", Vader meets with Agent Kallus to deal with the Ghost cell personally.

Season Two
Following the rescue of Kanan Jarrus over Mustafar and the death of The Grand Inquisitor, rumors of what had happened became known, riots and uprisings begun to occur on several worlds. Concerned at the rise in Rebel activity, the Emperor sent Vader to Lothal with Grand Moff Tarkin to end the growing rebellion.

Following his arrival, Vader met with Agent Kallus and Minister Tua to discuss his plans on dealing with the Rebels. Vader then had Kallus escort the Minister to her shuttle, where she was killed and the incident was blamed on the Rebels. When the Rebels tried to steal a shuttle to make their escape, Vader and his stormtroopers surrounded them. Vader engaged the leader of the Rebels, Kanan Jarrus, and his apprentice, Ezra Bridger, in a lightsaber duel. He was easily able to overpower them and attempted to kill Ezra with his own lightsaber until Kanan intervened. Zeb and Sabine used thermal detonators to cause an AT-DP to fall on him, but he survived and used the Force to lift the burning walker off him. The Rebels fled the scene in a stolen shuttle and instead of pursing them, he lets them go, knowing they will not leave the planet just yet. Vader also orders Tarkintown burned to turn opinion against them.

Vader then allowed the Rebels to escape through the blockade, letting them lead him to his true target; the Rebel fleet. Vader took his TIE Fighter to attack the Rebel fleet, destroying most of the fighters and severely damaging the command ship. During the fight, Vader sensed that his former apprentice, Ahsoka Tano, was alive and part of the Rebel fleet. When two Star Destroyers arrived, Vader tried to stop the Rebels from escaping, but lost them when they jumped into hyperspace and he got caught in the tractor beam.

Following his victory, Vader contacted Palpatine and informed him that Skywalker's apprentice was still alive and in league with the Rebels. Both Vader and the emperor were pleased by this, knowing she could lead them to other Jedi survivors, even Obi-Wan Kenobi, whom Vader was still obsessed with seeking revenge upon for his defeat on Mustafar. Palpatine urged Vader to be patient when searching for his former master and then ordered him to send another Inquisitor to hunt the Rebels down. Vader later dispatched two new Inquisitors, Fifth Brother and Seventh Sister, to finish what he and the Grand Inquisitor had started.

Following the discovery of the Jedi Temple on Lothal, Vader later arrived at the Sith Temple discovered on Malachor after the death of the Inquisitors. Encountering Ezra, he questioned the boy as to how he opened the path to the Malachor Sith Temple; Ezra told him to find out himself and engaged Vader in battle, but the Sith Lord was too strong and easily destroyed Ezra's lightsaber. But before he could finish the boy off, Ahsoka arrived and engaged Vader. He eventually managed to knock Ahsoka out of the Temple and attempted to stop Ezra and a blinded Kanan from escaping. A recovered Ahsoka charged up behind Vader and slashed part of his mask off, knocking him down to the floor and exposing a considerable amount of his disfigured face, including his yellow right eye. Seeing that he really was her former master, Ahsoka refused to leave him again. For a few moments, Ahsoka's compassion appeared to have reached Vader, but he then shrugged it off; coldly declaring that she would die, he then ignited his lightsaber and moved to attack her again. As the pair resumed their battle, the temple collapsed and exploded around them, with Kanan and Ezra barely managing to escape. Vader survived the temple's collapse, but was badly wounded and limped away from the ruins.

Season Four
Vader makes a brief appearance in "A World Between Worlds" when he resumed his battle with Ahsoka from "Twilight of the Apprentice". It was revealed that Vader had the opportunity to strike Ahsoka down, but at that moment a time-displaced Ezra pulls Ahsoka into a portal with a dumbfounded Vader left alone in the collapsing temple. Vader escaped the temple unaware that Ahsoka was able to return to the temple's ruin some after his departure.

Printed media
Darth Vader appears in most of the new canonical novels and comics tied in with the films created after Disney's purchase of Lucasfilm and Star Wars' expanded universe.

Amongst his more prominent appearances, the novel Lords of the Sith by Paul S. Kemp focuses on his and Palpatine's personal assault on the planet Ryloth, in which they battle and destroy a resistance created by Cham Syndulla, resulting in the enslavement of Ryloth and his and Palpatine's slaughter of an entire village of Twi'leks.

Vader is briefly mentioned in the novel Ahsoka, when the Grand Inquisitor is asked to hunt down an unknown Force-wielder that caused trouble on the moon of Raada one year after the formation of the Galactic Empire.

Darth Vader also stars in his own comic series published by Marvel Comics (itself a Disney subsidiary since 2009). In these comics, he is shown hunting down Luke Skywalker and the other members of the Rebel Alliance as well as threats within the Empire itself. In one such confrontation in which he is defeated by a traitor to the Empire named Cylo IV, Vader then undergoes a mental battle between his good and evil halves (embodied by his Vader and Anakin personas, respectively) in which his evil half seemingly defeats his good half once and for all, suppressing it until the events of Return of the Jedi.

Disney INFINITY 3.0
Darth Vader appears in Disney INFINITY 's third installment as a playable character along with his original persona Anakin as a separate character.

Star Wars: Force Arena
Darth Vader is a playable character in Star Wars: Force Arena as a Legendary squad leader card. There are two variants of Darth Vader in the game. The first normal variant is based on his appearance in Star Wars: A New Hope and the second variant being a limited-time variant based on concept art of Vader in A New Hope released to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Star Wars.

Disney Parks
Darth Vader is featured in the show Jedi Training Academy at Disneyland and Disney's Hollywood Studios. He initially did meet-and-greets during Star Wars Weekends. As of now, he can be met in the Star Wars Launch Bay at Disneyland and Shanghai Disneyland. Vader formerly met in the Star Wars Launch Bay at Disney's Hollywood Studios in Walt Disney World, before being replaced by Kylo Ren in February 2016. Vader was temporarily replaced by Kylo Ren at the Star Wars Launch Bay in Disneyland from February 2016 until October 13, 2016 and returning the following day.

He also appears in Star Tours: The Adventures Continue.

Trivia

 * Darth Vader is one of the most iconic and popular of the Lucasfilm villains, with his popularity being comparable to that of the other Disney Villains.
 * Vader is briefly mentioned in the DuckTales episode "All Ducks on Deck", when the Phantom Blot is comparing himself to other villains: "I make Darth Vader look as scary as the hood ornament of a '53 Buick!" At the time the episode aired, Disney had not acquired the rights to Star Wars yet.
 * In Toy Story 2, there is a spoof of Vader's famous line (No, I am your father) when Emperor Zurg reveals himself to Buzz Lightyear. The same film also briefly had Buzz Lightyear mimicking Darth Vader's breathing in the beginning. In addition, Zurg, when encountering Buzz Lightyear in the beginning of the same film also paraphrases Darth Vader's line when about to duel Luke Skywalker on Cloud City from The Empire Strikes Back.
 * In the sequel, Toy Story 3, Big Baby throws Lotso into the dumpster, similar to Vader's redemption by defeating Emperor Palpatine.
 * Vader's line to Leia when ordering for her arrest was also parodied with Bad Buzz in the same film. Coincidentally, both Bad Buzz and Darth Vader were seduced by the bad guy (Lotso and Palpatine, respectively), although in the former's case, it was closer to being brainwashed.
 * In Wreck-It Ralph, which was released in theaters only four days after Lucasfilm was bought by Disney, Ralph mimics Vader's breathing when he breathes through a candy straw while hiding out in a chocolate pond.
 * His voice actor, James Earl Jones, would later go on to voice Mufasa in The Lion King. Ironically, the shoe would be on the other foot in these roles: Specifically, Vader, later revealed to be Luke's father, had Luke's uncle Owen Lars murdered, while Mufasa, Simba's father, would end up murdered by Simba's uncle. When Mufasa is a ghost, his voice sounded very similar.
 * A scuba mask was used to make Darth Vader's infamous breathing noise.
 * In the extended version of Star Wars Rebels: Spark of Rebellion, Darth Vader's character design is close to the original concept art by Ralph McQuarrie that was used during the early production.
 * Darth Vader was originally going to appear in the 2015 film Star Wars: The Force Awakens through Anakin's force spirit. His appearance would fluctuate between his Anakin and Vader personas, representing the character's duality.
 * He is also the first and only Sith Lord to become a force ghost, something the Sith are incapable of doing due to their obsession with the dark side of the force.
 * Darth Vader's burnt mask is in possession of his grandson Kylo Ren in The Force Awakens.
 * Prior to his death, despite being burned alive on Mustafar and forced to become a cyborg, Vader still became the most powerful Force-user in the Star Wars universe; the only individual who is equal to Vader's Force potential, is his son Luke Skywalker and possibly his daughter Leia Organa.