Star Wars: 10 Most Powerful Things Darth Vader Ever Did

Vader was always strong with the Force, no matter what side he was using it for, and the brutal ways in which he would utilise it against his opponents just goes to prove this.

The 2014 novel Tarkin chronicles the life and experiences of (drum roll, please) Wilhuff Tarkin before his first appearance in A New Hope (1977) as a stern and ruthless Grand Moff. In the novel, we see Tarkin in the lower ranks of the Republic, making contacts with the then-Senator Palpatine before he demonstrates his worth as a military commander under the Galactic Empire. Early on the book, Darth Vader joins Tarkin in a mission to the planet Murkhana to confront a gang of criminals, which is where Vader demonstrates his aptitude with the force.

When the talks begin to turn violent, Vader decides to take action in a particularly aggressive way, this being to use the Force to crush one of the criminal's hearts so that he dies quickly and painfully. Even for Vader this is exceptionally vicious, especially considering a simple Force push or lightsaber strike would seem bearable in comparison. This is more akin to a Mortal Kombat fatality, not something anyone expected from the more or less light-hearted and family-friendly Star Wars franchise.

Maybe he got bored after one too many Force chokes?