George Lucas had to think a lot to achieve the goal he had set for himself with what would become the most iconic character in the Star Wars saga.

Darth Vader had to be as scary as possible

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Darth Vader is one of the few characters that you can exploit endlessly through movies, television shows, books, animated series and in any way you can imagine and still, He will remain one of the best villains of all timeespecially when we stick to the original Star Wars trilogy.

Vader is an example of a perfect villain, he is terrifying, deadly, threatening, determined and tactical, unlike today's villains, although that will be a topic for another time. He is a terrifying presence in this trilogy, and yet he manages to redeem himself from a life full of terrible acts.

George Lucas had to overcome a huge challenge while creating Darth Vader

Just a helmet and an imposing presence would not be enough

When director and screenwriter George Lucas had the first Star Wars movie in front of him, he had a clear objective: make your great villain impose fear. It wasn't enough to be just another villain, Darth Vader had to be an abominable presence from the beginning.

The audience had to be able to see it and immediately know that bad news was coming. –the qualities of the villains of before, which are now very scarce–. Fulfilling this purpose is really not an easy task, and even Lucas knew it.

If you've followed the Star Wars series and movies at all, you know that Darth Vader is Anakin Skywalker, a prophesied figure who could “restore balance to the Force.” But, Anakin eventually succumbed to the temptation of the Dark Side. and, from that moment on, he dedicated himself to committing a number of terrible acts, destroying everything that stood in his way. But in the process, he was also severely disfigured, so he ended up donning a semi-robotic suit, full of buttons on the chest that helped him stay alive.

But to the public, all this was a secret. When we first got into Star Wars, we didn't have the slightest idea of ​​Vader's story. We literally just knew he was a terribly evil character. That's why George Lucas had to figure out how to make his mysterious villain terrifying too, and that had a fairly high degree of difficulty.

Lucas said in an interview with Rolling Stone that he had to make Darth Vader scary without the audience seeing his face. And having only a black mask was a complicated task, so he asked himself: “How can I make him evil and scary?” Lucas thought that despite being big, Being dressed in black, having a cape and a samurai helmet, are not things that necessarily have to be scary.

How to make Darth Vader scary?

Lucas knew that The most appropriate way to make Darth Vader dark was not in his appearance, but in his behavior.. His character had to cross all the limits that existed, that's how they achieved that impersonal way of dealing with things. George Lucas stated that: “He's done a lot of horrible things in his life that he's not particularly proud of. Ultimately, he's just a pathetic guy who's had a very sad life.”

And well, Lucas certainly achieved what he had in mind. Darth Vader was scary. While the iconic – and incredible – suit had something to do with it, we cannot discredit the physical performance of David Prowse and the voice work of James Earl Jones. Making Vader a terrifying character was the combination of many elements that worked hand in hand to create one of the most memorable villains of all time, who left us with some of the best battles and iconic phrases.

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