It's hard to think of a character as iconic as Darth Vader as a throwaway. His arc pretty much defines the Star Wars saga as we know it; he's the most important character in the entire series of the films, with the story pretty much revolving around him. In early drafts of the script, however, George Lucas didn't have the whole Darth Vader thing worked out at all; Vader appeared as a minor character called "General Vader," whose function was to just turn up in a few scenes, dispense some expositional dialogue and leave. The big bad in the story was a Sith named "Prince Valorum," who would eventually be merged with General Vader character in later drafts to create the Darth Vader we all know, love and fear. Can you imagine Star Wars being so great with the ultimate villain of the saga instead being some random underling? Nope, me neither. Like this article? How many of these facts did you know about Darth Vader? Got any more to add to the list? Let us know all your thoughts in the comments section below.
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
