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

4. Vader Is Basically A Samurai

Darth Vader Pose Star Wars
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 almost nine years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. He has been writing and video editing for 10+ years, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers and uploading them to YouTube (they're admittedly a bit rusty by today's standards). If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order or to tell you about the making of 1988's Remembrance of the Daleks, Danny is the person to ask.