Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader

"The Force is strong with this one." ― Vader in A New Hope

Darth Vader (Real name: Anakin Skywalker) is the pivotal antagonist in the original Star Wars trilogy. He is the father of franchise's main protagonist, Luke Skywalker and princess Leia Organa, husband of Padmé Amidala, and the grandfather of First Order leader Kylo Ren/Ben Solo.

He was portrayed by late stunt actor David Prowse and voiced by James Earl Jones in the original trilogy.

Why He Is Luke Skywalker's Father

 * 1) He has become one of the most iconic villains in popular culture, and has been listed among the greatest villains and fictional characters ever.
 * 2) * And even if you're never a fan or unfamiliar with Star Wars, you can still recognize Vader with his design.
 * 3) His line, "No, I am your father," (even though it's constantly misquoted as "Luke, I am your father" due to Mandela effect) is one of the most well known quotes in cinema history.
 * 4) He was portrayed very well by James Earl Jones.
 * 5) His iconic status has made the character a synonym for evil in popular culture.
 * 6) * This is quite ironic, though, considering his redemption at the end of Return of the Jedi.
 * 7) His design is nice to look at.
 * 8) The scene in Rogue One featuring Darth Vader himself is awesome.
 * 9) He is a very intimidating villain, especially his first appearance in A New Hope.
 * 10) His redemption can bring viewers to tears, because he sacrificed himself to save his son from Emperor Palpatine.
 * 11) Even if you hated his alter-ego as Anakin Skywalker, you can understand and feel the sense of tragedy that he was going through:
 * 12) * Anakin was born as a slave along with his mother in Tattooine, until he won the podrace and left his home planet and his mother to train and become a Jedi. Only just to find her tortured and dead when he first meet her again.
 * 13) *Being the Chosen One, Anakin is said to be the most powerful Jedi in history, but Obi-Wan quite literally holds him back out of jealously of his potential. This also made Anakin struggle to meet the expectations of the Chosen One.
 * 14) * He was disrespected and distrusted by the Jedi council, and was never made into a Jedi master, albeit after all the hard work and accomplishments that Anakin has done over the years. They also refused to acknowledge his sacrifices (most notably letting his Padawan be wrongfully kicked out of the order) he endure.
 * 15) ** Knowing him, Anakin would of likely rejected the Dark side if the Council understood emotions.
 * 16) * Since forming relationships is taboo according to the Jedi council, and Anakin wasn't allowed to form bonds with other people, he disobeyed the order to form a secret marriage with Padmé, and chooses to spend the rest of his life with her. That is until he had his anger get the best of him, which resulted in the death of his wife.
 * 17) ** He had gained strong friendships with Obi-Wan and Ahsoka, and having those bonds can make a person much stronger on the inside.
 * 18) * His uncontrollable anger and fear and having the will to turn evil, go into madness, and lose everything, was enough to make Palpatine manipulate him and turn to the dark side.
 * 19) * His decisions of wanting to save his wife from death costed him his love for Padmé, his friendship with Obi-Wan, his honor from the Jedi, and (nearly) his life.
 * 20) * After losing his limbs and burnt to a crisp by his former master, Anakin had to spend the rest of his life in a robotic suit that will have to keep him alive.
 * 21) *His line in Episode 3 "From my point of view the Jedi are evil" makes sense to his tragic story as:
 * 22) ** Jedi took him from his mother and wouldn't allow him to visit her which ultimately lead him be too late to save her and her painful death.
 * 23) ** They wouldn't allow him to be with woman he loves.
 * 24) ** Treated him like a pawn because they didn't trust him.
 * 25) ** Made him abandon his apprentice when Ahsoka needed them the most. They also refused to admit they were the one who betrayed her.
 * 26) ** Didn't grant him the rank of master, something he spend 13 years of his life to gain which basically led to him believe he wasted his life and they indirectly called him a failure for failing to train his apprentice to become a Jedi Knight when she left the order.
 * 27) ** Sees how the other Jedi disobeyed their code and hypocritically lecturing him of disobeying the Jedi Code when they did.
 * 28) ** The man he considered a brother used his wife to find him and doesn't even hesitate to assassinate him.
 * 29) ** Basically he believed the Jedi have destroyed his life.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) In the prequel trilogy, his relationship with Padmé in the second prequel as a young man feels very forced. At least The Clone Wars series and Revenge of the Sith made their relationship look real, genuine and cute without it being forced.
 * 2) Jake Lloyd (as child Anakin), and Hayden Christiansen (in Attack Of The Clones only), did a poor job portraying the character (though Christiansen's performance improved in Revenge Of The Sith).