Heinz Darthenshmirtz was a human Imperial scientist and the inventor of the superweapon known as the Death Star, though its intended design—the Doof Star—was a nutcracker. Unhappy with the Empire's treatment of him, he intended to gain his superiors' admiration with a new invention—the Sith-inator. Although his ultimate goal was to use the invention to turn himself into a Sith, in 0 BBY he accidentally used it to turn the moisture farmer Ferb Fletcher into one while attempting to test the device on rebel operative Perry the Rebel-pus.
However, Perry's eventual escape resulted in Darthenshmirtz having to fight to salvage his plans. He was ultimately met with defeat and frozen in carbonite while Fletcher returned to the light side of the Force and his droid Norm-3PO was deactivated, his plans foiled. However, the scientist melted out of the carbonite and escaped Perry's clutches, vowing his eventual return.
In 6 BBY, the human scientist Heinz Darthenshmirtz purchased a timeshare on the planet Alderaan. By 0 BBY, Darthenshmirtz created the design for the Doof Star, its intended use being as a nutcracker. However, the Galactic Empire stole and scaled his design significantly, turning it into the planet-destroying superweapon known as the Death Star. Darthenshmirtz eventually came under the Empire's employ, though he retained negative reservations about the Empire's misappropriation of his idea.
Darthenshmirtz fights Perry using the Super Normtrooper V3.0.
By 0 BBY, Darthenshmirtz had begun working in the Death Star, where he deployed Normtroopers to combat Perry the Rebel-pus, an Alliance to Restore the Republic spy. Upon encountering Perry, Darthenshmirtz used the Normtrooper-inator starship to indispose the rebel's wrist magnet and fight him, though he eventually lost and retreated to rework his invention. Later, the scientist again fought Perry using the Normtrooper-inator and refused to reveal his new invention, the Sith-inator, although he was forced to admit the existence of his weapon as he retreated in defeat. Darthenshmirtz and Perry faced each other a third time, with the former now utilizing an upgraded Super Normtrooper V3.0. Darthenshmirtz was defeated in his third bout against Perry and retreated once more.
Darthenshmirtz demonstrates the power of the Doof Star.
While traveling to the Death Star in 0 BBY, Darthenshmirtz echoed his misgivings about the Empire's plagiarism of his invention to his droid, Norm-3PO. The scientist expressed that the station's current size was impractical—as it would completely obliterate a walnut—and believed the Sith-inator would sway the Empire in his favor. However, when Darthenshmirtz noted that the invention required the Force to operate, Norm-3PO replied that the Force surrounded and bound everything, which annoyed the scientist.
Upon finally docking his ship, the Darthenshmirtz Sith Inc, in the Death Star, Darthenshmirtz ordered Norm-3PO to bring his gear to his lair and grew frustrated when the droid referred to it as an abandoned recycling compartment. While on the way to the lair, the scientist took an interest in the moving walkway he was on before getting distracted by the Sith Lord Darth Vader. Darthenshmirtz shoved past and climbed over other people and droids on the walkway while attempting to get the Sith Lord's attention, asking him to "spare a little Force" for the Sith-inator. Vader, however, ignored Darthenshmirtz entirely. Meanwhile, on the planet Tatooine, Perry the rebel-pus received orders via hologram from Major Hologram, who informed the Alliance to Restore the Republic operative of Darthenshmirtz's plans to create the Sith-inator and ordered him to infiltrate the Death Star and stop the scientist from completing the invention.
Darthenshmirtz loses his timeshare on Alderaan.
In his lab alongside Norm-3PO, Darthenshmirtz searched the Internet on how to power his invention with the Force, eventually discovering he could extract the Force from Darth Vader's garbage. While on the Internet, Darthenshmirtz also learned that his Alderaan timeshare had decupled in value since he had purchased it. Unbeknownst to Darthenshmirtz, however, his own invention—the Death Star—was in the process of destroying Alderaan. As the planet was decimated, Darthenshmirtz watched the Internet angrily as his timeshare's value plummeted to zero, only learning of the world's fate afterward.
Later, Darthenshmirtz supervised as Norm-3PO poured Vader's garbage into the Sith-inator, though an alarm blared as Perry the Rebel-pus appeared behind the lair's entrance. Darthenshmirtz acknowledged his adversary before apologizing for the door, which had jammed, and explained that it would not be repaired until the coming Thursday. The scientist then pointed out to Norm-3PO that Perry was standing on a red "X" he had placed on the floor before the rebel agent dropped into a trapdoor, freezing him into carbonite. Ferb Fletcher—a Force-sensitive moisture farmer who had infiltrated the station alongside Perry—sensed the danger his friend was in and made his way toward Darthenshmirtz's lair to aid his friend.
Darthenshmirtz gloats over the frozen Perry.
After admiring the now-frozen Perry the Rebel-pus hung on the wall of his lair, Darthenshmirtz performed a musical number explaining his machinations and the Sith-inator's purpose—to turn him into a Sith so he could grow more evil and powerful than Darth Vader and gain his superiors' respect. After the performance, he thanked the backup dancers and contemplated performing a victory number should his plans succeed. The scientist then prepared to use the Sith-inator on Perry, intending to ensure it was safe and commenting that—should it succeed—they could be "Sith buddies." Ferb Fletcher, however, suddenly arrived and intercepted the machine's blast, sparing Perry from its effects. After deactivating the Sith-inator, Darthenshmirtz checked if Fletcher was okay before discovering that his weapon was drained of Force energy.
After instructing Norm-3PO to help him collect more of Vader's garbage, the scientist further commented that he, Fletcher, and Perry would be the "Three Sith-keteers." Norm-3PO asked his master who he could be, prompting Darthenshmirtz to respond that the droid would be the horse. Entering the Death Star's trash compactor, Darthenshmirtz goaded the resident dianoga toward him. The beast gave the scientist miscellaneous garbage such as Vader's inhaler and a bantha cheese hoagie, though Darthenshmirtz decided he had enough garbage when the dianoga tried to give him the moisture farmer Luke Skywalker and left the trash compactor. Upon exiting, Darthenshmirtz activated and nearly crushed the rebels Leia Organa, Han Solo, Chewbacca, and Skywalker inside, uncaringly departing for his lair with Norm-3PO.
Darthenshmirtz falls into the lair during Phineas and Darth Ferb's fight.
Just before Darthenshmirtz returned, Perry's carbonite casing malfunctioned due to the impact of Fletcher's actions, releasing him from captivity. Upon entering the lair, Darthenshmirtz inspected the Sith-inator and ordered Norm-3PO to check on Fletcher, only for the scientist to be crushed under his now-deactivated droid by Perry. Darthenshmirtz confronted the rebel when he attempted to deactivate the Sith-inator, and the two started fighting. Eventually, the pair entered the Imperial Credit Union, though they crashed through the bank's wall opposite where they had entered not long after.
As their fight continued, Darthenshmirtz grabbed his flashlight from his belt, believing it to be his lightsaber. After briefly mocking own mistake, he fled from Perry who chased him into one of the Death Star's cavernous rooms. Darthenshmirtz deactivated a bridge and mocked the rebel Platypus, who he believed could not reach the other side. Perry instead latched onto Darthenshmirtz himself with his grappling hook, dragging them into the chasm below and kicking the scientist repeatedly until they burst through another wall. Meanwhile, Fletcher—now the Sith "Darth Ferb"—modified Darthenshmirtz's Sith-inator, intending to use it to create an army of Sith warriors.
After falling back into his lair, Darthenshmirtz continued mocking Perry as he fled but promptly fell into the same trapdoor Perry had earlier and was frozen into carbonite. Darth Ferb activated the upgraded Sith-inator in an attempt to convert his stepbrother, Phineas Flynn, to the dark side. However, the turncoat stormtrooper Candace soon arrived and prevented Darth Ferb from using Darthenshmirtz's device. The Sith warrior attacked Candace in retaliation, cutting through Darthenshmirtz's carbonite casing but missing the scientist himself.
Darthenshmirtz escapes imprisonment.
Flynn now cornered by his fallen brother, Candance placed chunks of Darthenshmirtz's broken carbonite slab into the socks she had purchased for Darth Vader—as Darthenshmirtz warned her she would stretch the socks' elastic—and threw them at Darth Ferb to deter him further. His brother distracted, Flynn threw his destroyed lightsaber into the Sith-inator's self-destruct port, prompting Darthenshmirtz to lament that he had not ray shielded the port. His invention was destroyed, and Darth Ferb became Ferb Fletcher once again. Perry pushed the frozen scientist out of the room, who complained that the rebel was transporting him face-down.
Perry escaped with Darthenshmirtz just before the Rebellion destroyed the Death Star, and Hologram congratulated the operative on his success, though he also mentioned that copies of the Death Star's plans were still out there. Just as the transmission ended, Darthenshmirtz escaped his carbonite prison and jettisoned himself from Perry's starship using an escape pod. While in the escape pod, Darthenshmirtz lamented his lack of foresight, recognizing the pod's Platypus-sized build and the fact that he was sitting on his keys.
Darthenshmirtz tries to get Darth Vader's attention.
Darthenshmirtz had light skin, dark blue eyes, and black eyebrows. He had a sharp chin, a long, pointed nose, and dark bags under his eyes. Darthenshmirtz considered himself evil and "mean," hoping his malicious nature would grow larger than Darth Vader's if he became a Sith. He was loyal to the Galactic Empire and sought out the admiration and respect of his superiors in the regime, though he also held contempt toward them due to their plagiarism of his Doof Star idea in creating the Death Star, as well as their treatment of him as a joke—the "lowest of the Darths." Darthemshmirtz was somewhat cocky, as he felt that Vader could "kiss his bantha" and gloated over Perry. He considered Alderaan to be a peaceful place. Darthenshmirtz had a low midi-chlorian count of twelve.
Darthenshmirtz was intelligent, having been the inventor of the Doof Star—and, by extension, its significantly larger copy, the Death Star—as well as the Sith-inator. Darthenshmirtz also created the Normtroopers, Normtrooper-inator, and Super Normtrooper V3.0. He had some skill in dance and song, and Norm-3PO complimented him on the success of a musical number he had performed.
Darthenshmirtz in his aquasuit
Darthenshmirtz wore a black suit of armor resembling that worn by Darth Vader—complete with a button pad on the chest and a cape—though the helmet was maskless and left the scientist's actual face visible. He also had an aquasuit fashioned in the same manner as his usual outfit, though it lacked the buttons on the chest and instead had large air tanks on the back, as well as a red breathing apparatus.
The helmet also had a fin on top while the shoes were flippered. The scientist had a lightsaber, though, during the Battle of Yavin, he had instead carried a flashlight. He also had multiple inventions, including the Sith-inator, the Doof Star, and both iterations of the Normtrooper-inator—the former of which was equipped with the Anti-Magnet-Antennae V2.0—as well as a starship, Darthenshmirtz Sith Inc.
Heinz Darthenshmirtz was created for and identified by his first name in Phineas and Ferb: Star Wars, a non-canon crossover special with the Disney Channel series Phineas and Ferb that premiered on July 26, 2014. Prior to the special's premiere, Darthenshmirtz was first mentioned in "Phineas and Ferb Meets Star Wars In Special Episode," an article published to StarWars.com on July 19, 2013. The article erroneously refers to the character as "Darth Enshmirtz." He first appeared and was re-identified as "Darthenshmirtz" in Agent P: Rebel Spy, a promotional tie-in web browser game released on June 20, 2014. The character traits and design of Darthenshmirtz are based on those of his counterpart from Phineas and Ferb, Doctor Heinz Doofenshmirtz. The character was voiced by Dan Povenmire. Though Vanessa Doofenshmirtz—Doofenshmirtz's daughter in Phineas and Ferb—has a counterpart in Phineas and Ferb: Star Wars, they are never stated or implied to have a familial relationship with Darthenshmirtz.
The original sketch of Darthenshmirtz
A rough joke sketch of Doofenshmirtz mixed with Darth Vader marked the conceptual beginning of Phineas and Ferb: Star Wars. After The Walt Disney Company's acquisition of Lucasfilm Ltd., Povenmire drew the sketch and sent it to the head of the studio with the caption "I smell crossover!" The studio head later showed the sketch to Disney CEO Bob Iger, who then motioned to fast-track the production of the crossover special that would become Phineas and Ferb: Star Wars. Tweets posted by Povenmire in 2018, indicated that Darthenshmirtz was originally going to use a backpack giving him tentacles similar to the Marvel Comics supervillain Doctor Octopus in his fight against Perry. An additional post from Povenmire in 2022 confirmed—with concept art from artist Kyle Menke—that Darthenshmirtz's tentacles were in fact the dianoga, which was intended to be his pet.
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