Star Wars: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Darth Vader's Suit

4. Vader Is Basically A Samurai

darth vader the empire strikes back
Disney

It's no secret that George Lucas was a fan of director Akira Kurosawa's work, with the Star Wars creator openly acknowledging that he took heavy inspiration from Kurosawa's 1958 samurai movie, The Hidden Fortress.

When looking at Star Wars as a whole, these samurai elements become readily apparent: the robes everyone wears, the Jedi/Sith both fighting with sword-like weapons, and the Jedi pledging to keep peace throughout the galaxy. Japanese cinema also influenced the creation of Vader and the design of his suit, but in a much subtler way.

When Vader dons his cape it's a bit more difficult to tell, but without it, his look is clearly reminiscent of the Kabuto armour worn by Japanese warriors; specifically, the thick shoulder pads and dome-shaped helmet.

antique japanese samurai kabuto
Ivan Fourie (Via Wikimedia Commons)

It's also said that Lucas and McQuarrie were inspired by one samurai in particular: Date Masamune. Masamune was a legendary Japanese warrior who fought in many battles during his rule from the late 16th century to the early 17th century.

So yeah... Darth Vader is a samurai.

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Danny has been with WhatCulture for over ten years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. In 2022, he took charge of WhoCulture and has grown it into the biggest Doctor Who channel on YouTube, and one of the biggest Doctor Who communities on the web full-stop. He has been writing and video editing since his early teens, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers, off the back of a burning obsession with the Matt Smith era of the show. Like many his age, he first got into Doctor Who with the 2005 revival, but has since gone back and fallen in love with the classic years too. If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order, or to give you a random factoid about the making of Gridlock, Danny is the person to ask!