Darth Vader's armor

The construction of Darth Vader's armor involved a variety of materials, including obsidian, plasteel, durasteel, and plastoid. While its visual design was intended to evoke fear and represent the might of the Galactic Empire, it was fundamentally essential to Vader's very survival after his defeat on Mustafar.

The belt and chest plate of the armor housed the control mechanisms for its integrated life support system. This system was critical for ensuring Vader's body received the necessary oxygen, nutrients, and medicinal treatments. This allowed Vader to survive in almost any environment, including the vacuum of space and the depths of the sea. However, the suit's internal oxygen supply was limited, and the suit could be breached if exposed to sufficiently high external pressure. Vader could use the Force to manipulate external conditions around him to form an environment he could comfortably operate in, and even deactivate his breathing apparatus to approach a target stealthily, although the process greatly weakened him if prolonged. The suit could also withstand technopathy from Eternal Rur. The Sith Lord's helmet, aside from its life-sustaining capabilities, played a role in his intimidating presence. It could be detached to facilitate the use of a feeding tube within his private chamber, addressing his inability to eat normally. The high pressure and hyper-oxygen supplied while the private chamber was closed around him gave Vader a chance to safely live without his armor.

Constructed from a durasteel, plasteel, and obsidian alloy, the helmet's design featured a sloped rear and sides, reminiscent of ancient Sith armor. The helmet was responsible for producing Vader's menacing breathing sounds, compensating for the weakness of his natural voice due to vocal-cord damage. Neural needles within the helmet established painful connections with Vader's skull and spine, creating a unified cybernetic system. Without these connections, Vader's cybernetics would become unusable. Doctor Cylo's personal controller, carried with him at all times as a fail-safe, was linked to the suit's functions. With a simple activation, Cylo could disable all of the armor's cybernetic functions, causing Vader to collapse under their weight. However, Vader could use the Force to overcome this. The armor was composed of ten protective layers, each crafted from a high-strength alloy, providing protection against certain explosions and weapon impacts. Vader possessed four artificial limbs as a direct consequence of the injuries he sustained on Mustafar and at the hand of Dooku on Geonosis.

The boots incorporated magnetic clamps, enabling the suit to magnetically attach to metallic surfaces. The legs were heavily armored, capable of withstanding glancing blows from a lightsaber. When fully equipped, Vader's weight reached 120 kilograms, leaving deep impressions in soft ground. His height in the armor was 2.03 meters. The armor also included a remote control for preparing Vader's interceptor for battle. In the event of damage to one set of armor, Vader maintained a backup suit in his personal quarters on whatever ship he was traveling. This proved useful when he was attacked by unusual insects on Batuu, which encased much of his armor in stone.

Initially, Vader found the armor satisfactory, but he subsequently modified it to suit his preferences after it sustained initial damage. The leader of the Droid Crush Pirates of Bestoon described the suit as "junk," after Ochi of Bestoon had promised it contained advanced technology. Despite Vader's reputation as the Galactic Empire's most formidable weapon, scans of his armor revealed that it consisted of standard components, including life support, a fusion furnace, and a respirator. Furthermore, these components were no more advanced than the droids' own parts. The suit was also susceptible to hacking; a skilled operator could interface with Vader's central computer to transmit a holomessage on his behalf, manipulating his vocabulator and mechanical limbs.

During the Clone Wars, Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Ahsoka Tano accidentally discovered the Mortis monolith, which served as a gateway to another planet, while responding to an ancient Jedi distress code. Subsequently, the trio ventured into the realm of Mortis, where they encountered a family of Force wielders: the Father, the Daughter, and the Son. The Father had summoned Skywalker to Mortis, believing him to be the prophesied Chosen One. The family then subjected Skywalker to a series of trials to ascertain whether he was indeed the Chosen One.

During a confrontation between Skywalker and the Son, the Son offered Skywalker a vision of the future. Through the Force Skywalker saw his wife in distress, the deaths of many Jedi, the evasive Darth Sidious unleashing his full power, his duel with Kenobi, and the destruction of Alderaan. The vision concluded with a ghostly image of Skywalker's future cybernetic helmet. Although the Father later erased Skywalker's memory of these future events, each of these apparitions would eventually materialize.

Following his descent into the dark side of the Force and his transformation into Darth Vader, Skywalker was dispatched to Mustafar, where he assassinated the entire Executive Separatist Council, effectively ending the Clone Wars. In the wake of this massacre, Vader dueled his former Jedi Master, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Vader was defeated, losing both legs and his left arm to Kenobi's lightsaber. Vader then fell down the volcanic planet's surface, near a river of lava, where his robes burst into flames, consuming his entire body. Kenobi left his former apprentice to dead.

Unbeknownst to Kenobi, Vader's new Sith Master, Darth Sidious, would soon arrive to his Sith apprentice's aid. Sidious instructed the scientist Cylo to construct Vader's armor, which he promptly did in a long night of reconstructive surgery. Vader was shuttled to the Grand Republic Medical Facility on Coruscant, the capital of the newly formed Galactic Empire. A DD-13 medical assistant droid fitted him with cybernetic implants, while a 2-1B surgical droid removed any remaining charred clothing from the Dark Lord's body. An FX-9 medical droid provided Vader with blood transfusions throughout the procedure. As a result of his exposure to the flames, Vader required a permanent breathing apparatus, which altered his voice into a deep growl.

After being equipped with the suit, Vader described the armor as acceptable when asked about it by his master. Darth Vader wore the armor for over two decades, until his redemption and death. He initially hated the armor, but after living with it for five years, he embraced how it isolated him from the rest of the galaxy, allowing him to concentrate on becoming a pure instrument of the dark side. Almost immediately after recovering from his operation, Vader was sent by Sidious to collect a lightsaber for himself; to do so, Vader searched for takers of the Barash Vow who, having willingly isolated themselves from the Jedi Order, were more likely to have survived the Great Jedi Purge. Eventually, Vader located and attacked Master Kirak Infil'a, a Jedi solely dedicated to combat training, on the moon of Al'doleem. During their fight, Vader's armor sustained severe damage, leaving him crippled without his left leg and without his central computer.

To repair himself, Vader manipulated parts from Infil'a's droid Arex into usable parts to cover the gaps in his armor, successfully upgrading it to defeat the Jedi by endangering Al'doleem civilians. After killing Infil'a and bleeding his lightsaber's kyber crystal on Mustafar, Vader returned to Coruscant where he was allowed by Sidious to repair his armor as he saw fit, upgrading the unit to his liking. As a test of his new armor systems, Vader engaged the Grand Inquisitor in a duel Sidious manipulated into being, temporarily allowing himself to be challenged until he was certain all the suit's mechanic components worked as expected; he then swiftly disarmed the Inquisitor. At least one of Arex's parts, a knee piece, would continue to be part of Vader's armor for years to come.

Nine years prior to the Battle of Yavin, Vader engaged in a duel against his former master, Obi-Wan Kenobi on a small rocky moon. At the end of the duel, Obi-Wan damaged Vader's chest plate and cut open half his helmet, revealing the left side of his scarred face. Kenobi recognized it as he had last seen him after their duel on Mustafar, and addressed him as "Anakin," but Vader told him that he killed Anakin and he was all who remained. Kenobi accepted him no longer taking that name, and referred to him as "Darth" before leaving him. They would not see each other again until their final rematch on the Death Star, right before the Battle of Yavin. Vader later returned to his castle on Mustafar. After his armor was repaired, he spoke to his master, Sidious, whom he vowed to remain as his Sith apprentice, and never Kenobi's Jedi apprentice again.

Three years prior to the Battle of Yavin, Vader engaged in a duel against his former apprentice, Ahsoka Tano, inside the Malachor Sith temple. During the duel, Vader's helmet suffered considerable damage, disabling his vocal modulator and exposing his right eye. Vader eventually stumbled out of the temple alive, albeit exhausted and short of breath.

Vader had at least one backup suit of armor, which was onboard the Chimaera when Vader and Grand Admiral Thrawn went on a mission to Batuu.

Prior to the Battle of Scarif, he spent some time in a bacta tank in his castle on Mustafar before donning the suit again to meet Director Orson Krennic.

Shortly after the Battle of Hoth, Vader dueled his son, Luke Skywalker, aboard Cloud City, a mining city floating within the clouds of Bespin. Skywalker caused minor damage to his father's suit after slashing him on the shoulder. Vader retaliated by severing his son's right hand.

Vader's encounter with his son motivated his investigation into Luke Skywalker's childhood, which in turn led him to uncover details about the death of Padmé Amidala. Aware of Vader's actions and the grief that he experienced due to the memory of his late wife, Darth Sidious re-trained his apprentice in the ways of the Sith by inflicting pain on him. Through the Force the Emperor destroyed Vader's cybernetics and caused extensive damage to his armor, returning Vader to the limbless state that he was in after his duel with Obi-Wan Kenobi on Mustafar. Sidious then left Vader on Mustafar and ordered him to survive on his own, but without the use of the Force.

Hunted by the Emperor's assassin, Ochi and a group of droid pirates, Vader crawled to the abandoned facility where he executed the members of the Separatist Council. There he scavenged various battle droid parts to use as replacements for the cybernetic limbs that his master destroyed. The droids that aided Ochi did so for the opportunity to scavenge Vader's artificial components, believing that the cyborg Sith possessed advanced technology by virtue of his reputation as the Emperor's enforcer. However, a scan of the Sith Lord revealed to the droid captain that Vader's cybernetics were obsolete and not state of the art as he had been led to believe.

Following his journey to Exegol, Vader regained his place at Sidious' side and the two Sith Lords returned to Coruscant. Vader was then rebuilt at the same facility where he was first reconstructed as an armored cyborg. As a result, Vader gained new cybernetics and his armor was fully repaired. He allowed himself to experience the physical pain of undergoing surgical reconstruction, having elected to remain conscious throughout the procedure. After his restoration, Vader undertook a mission to hunt and kill his son in order to keep his place at Sidious' side.

After an encounter with the Handmaidens, Vader was unable to control the Force as the Force Wave returned, resulting in his out of control powers beginning to tear apart the Executor, thereby presenting another threat to the Empire: himself. Sabé, who quickly understood something had gone wrong with Vader's Force powers, took him to an astronomical object as it would give the Sith Lord a place to practice and rediscover control over his powers. However Vader threw her out into the sea in his next blast of power. Vader then lifted the wreckage of his Lambda-class T-4a shuttle and made repairs to his armor. Shortly after, Vader was attacked by a group of rebels. Using his modified suit Vader used a staff and personal energy shield to defeat them.

Aboard the second Death Star, Vader engaged Skywalker in their final duel in the presence of the Galactic Emperor, Darth Sidious. As the duel progressed, Skywalker retreated and refused to continue fighting. Vader attempted to provoke Skywalker by threatening to corrupt Skywalker's sister, Leia Organa. Consumed by rage, Skywalker emerged from his hiding place and launched a brutal attack on Vader, ultimately severing Vader's right hand. The Emperor, pleased, urged Luke to complete his embrace of the dark side by killing the defenseless Darth Vader and assuming his position, thereby betraying his apprentice. Despite his fury, Skywalker experienced an epiphany upon seeing the damaged stump of Vader's right forearm, mirroring his own mechanical hand. Realizing he had begun his descent into darkness, Skywalker chose to reject his anger and spare Darth Vader's life.

Enraged by the loss of a potential Sith, the Emperor tortured Skywalker with Force lightning, eventually resolving to kill him. Unable to witness his son's suffering, Vader returned to the light side and turned against his master, casting him down a reactor shaft, resulting in Sidious' demise. During this confrontation, the suit sustained critical damage from the Force lightning. No longer Darth Vader, the redeemed Jedi embraced his former identity as Anakin Skywalker. Sensing his impending death, Anakin asked Luke to remove his helmet so he could see his face one last time, a request the young Jedi Knight honored. Content, Anakin affirmed to his son that he had been right about him, before passing away peacefully and his body disappeared into the light side of the Force.

Luke escaped the second Death Star's destruction with his father's empty armor. After landing on the forest moon of Endor, Luke cremated the armor in a funeral pyre. Shortly before her wedding ceremony on Endor, Leia Organa came across Vader's funeral pyre. Realizing what it was, Leia started to become emotional but resolved not to cry for him. After gently tapping his helmet with her toe, Leia picked up the helmet, recalling the torture she had been forced to face at his hands on the Death Star. Leia then made her feelings known, angered at Vader's pride and letting him know that she was glad he was dead. She then hurled the helmet back into the ash of his funeral pyre, screaming that Vader would never be her father.

The mangled helmet, a relic of the infamous armor, was salvaged from the funeral flames. Ultimately, it fell into the hands of Vader's grandson, Kylo Ren, a Force-sensitive dark side user aligned with the First Order. Aboard the Resurgent-class Star Destroyer Finalizer, Ren kept this helmet in his personal chambers. He engaged in conversations with it whenever he experienced the "pull to the light." Although the helmet itself remained silent, Ren perceived a voice during meditation nearby. The entity he communicated with was not Vader, but the resurrected Sith Lord Darth Sidious. Following the Battle of Starkiller Base in 34 ABY, the mask remained on the Finalizer. However, Ren hesitated to approach it until he felt worthy of Vader, a sentiment triggered by Snoke's rebuke shortly after the destruction of Starkiller Base.

By 35 ABY, the helmet had been relocated to the Star Destroyer Steadfast. The Jedi Rey discovered it while searching for the belongings of the Wookiee Chewbacca, which had been confiscated by First Order stormtroopers. In Ren's suite, aboard the vessel in orbit above Kijimi, Vader's scorched helmet sat atop an obsidian pillar. During her duel with Ren, Rey's lightsaber shattered the pillar, disturbing the helmet. Due to their bond as a dyad in the Force, it was moved from the Steadfast to Ren's location in Kijimi City, revealing Rey's whereabouts to him.

Initially, George Lucas's early drafts for Star Wars did not include a mask for Vader. Ralph McQuarrie designed Darth Vader's armor, including a breathing mask deemed essential after reading a script portion indicating Vader's need for it while traversing space between ships. Lucas then crafted the backstory explaining Vader's need for the suit and mask following a fall into a volcanic pit during his duel with Kenobi. McQuarrie intentionally designed Vader's mask to resemble a human skull.

Costume designer John Mollo created a single suit for actor David Prowse, produced with a budget of $1,173. Brian Muir sculpted the mask. Mollo drew inspiration from McQuarrie's artwork, as well as samurai armor, World War I trench armor, and the Stahlhelm helmet. James Earl Jones provided the suit's voice, while Ben Burtt created its iconic breathing sound by recording himself using scuba-diving equipment. Burtt also ensured Jones's voice resonated as if emanating from within a helmet.

For The Empire Strikes Back, the suit was redesigned for improved comfort, with spares for looser sections. The helmet underwent minor adjustments to secure the domed top, and the triangular chin vent was enlarged to facilitate easier breathing and visibility for Prowse. A tinted acrylic helmet was created for Prowse's stunt double, Bob Anderson, to enhance visibility beyond the eyepieces. The costume remained largely unchanged for Return of the Jedi, although Fred Hole and Brian Archer designed and constructed a new helmet for the unmasking scene. Return of the Jedi introduced a new costume for Luke Skywalker, whose black attire was intentionally reminiscent of Vader's design.

Hayden Christensen, who played Anakin Skywalker, donned the suit for the conclusion of Revenge of the Sith. Don Bies and his team utilized molds of Christensen to craft the updated armor version. Ryan Church designed the interior of Vader's helmet, which was shown in the film for the first time. The mask was digitally printed, resulting in the first symmetrical iteration.

For Vader's appearance in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, the production design team, led by Doug Chiang, meticulously studied each version of Vader's costume from the original trilogy. They aimed to create a hybrid appearance in Rogue One that remained familiar. Costume designers visited the Lucasfilm Archives to examine the original Vader suit's cape. Their goal was to replicate the original films' cape movement caused by Vader's struts.

Kilian Plunkett, art director for Star Wars Rebels, noted limitations in experimenting with Darth Vader's appearance, emphasizing the helmet's resemblance to McQuarrie's design. Dave Filoni highlighted the necessity of Vader's cape, a costly requirement that led to redesigns for other characters, featuring form-fitting outfits.

In the Obi-Wan Kenobi series, Hayden Christensen, Dmitrious Bistrevsky, and Tom O'Connell reprised their roles as Vader. Christensen wore a Vader costume that was both extremely hot and heavy, but it included an under-layer with cooling liquid. Between scenes, Christensen was connected to a device that circulated the liquid, helping him to cool down. Christensen stated that the mechanical element made him feel more like Vader. The costume also included tinted helmet lenses. Olga Sokolova, a choreographer and "Vader movement specialist," ensured that Christensen moved and walked correctly in the suit. This was done because the actor wished to remain true to how Vader moves and how he is perceived by fans. Christensen spent nine months gaining 25-30 pounds to fit into the suit. Bistrevsky wore the suit during full body shots with the helmet on while O'Connell wore the suit during fighting scenes. Bistrevsky said that it was dark and heavy in the suit. Some scenes required switching back and forth between multiple actors.

Despite its establishment within Star Wars Legends continuity, Emily Shkoukani, a member of the Lucasfilm Story Group, stated in 2021 in a StarWars.com Inside Intel article that the functions of Vader's buttons remained a mystery.