10 Facts Everyone Always Gets Wrong About Star Wars

10. Vader Was Always Luke's Father

The Misconception: Darth Vader is Anakin Skywalker. It's one of those twists so ingrained in popular culture that it doesn't need a spoiler warning, like Bruce Willis being dead in The Sixth Sense or Bruce Willis being dead behind the eyes in A Good Day To Die Hard. We've had a whole trilogy of films made just to explain it. And while it may have sparked debate in playgrounds back in 1980, the saga-defining twist was always in George Lucas' mind. Why else would there be so much talk about Anakin pre-reveal? His name translates into Dark Father in Dutch - that alone should give it all away.

The Truth: Vader wasn't Luke's father until the second draft of The Empire Strikes Back. Not the first, but the second; the original story for the first Star Wars sequel didn't have the twist. It was only put in because Lucas thought it would be cool. And that really should be obvious; it retroactively makes Obi-Wan the biggest white liar this side of Corellia.

All through the saga Vader kept being developed and, believe us, he could have turned out very different. A deleted scene from A New Hope sees Luke meet Red Leader, where the two discuss how great a man his father was. This scene is partially reinserted into the Special Edition, but had to feature a massive cut to avoid the contradictory account of Anakin.

As for that oft-quoted Dutch translation, Dark Father becomes Donkere Vader, but the latter is pronounced nothing like (in)vader.