Darth Vader

Darth Vader (41 BBY–4 ABY) is a fictional character in the Star Wars Universe. He is widely considered to be one of the most iconic movie villains of all time.

Cultural figure

Due to his central role, Vader has entered the public consciousness as the quintessential villain; the American Film Institute's list of the greatest movie villains placed him third, after Hannibal Lecter and Norman Bates. His powerful, baritone voice coupled with his heavy breathing is easily recognizable to moviegoers. He has been parodied by such figures as "Dark Helmet" from Spaceballs and countless other parodies from cartoons, such as "Duck Vader" from Tiny Toon Adventures and "Darth Koopa" from The Super Mario Bros. Super Show. Another kind of tribute to Darth Vader comes from Stargate SG-1, in which there are similarities between Anubis and Vader which are sometimes chilling and other times hilarious.

Related Topics:
American Film Institute - Greatest movie villains - Hannibal Lecter - Norman Bates - Baritone - Parodied - Dark Helmet - Spaceballs - Tiny Toon Adventures - ''The Super Mario Bros. Super Show - Stargate SG-1 - Anubis

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Vader's name has become a synonym for evil; for example, political strategist Lee Atwater was known as "the Darth Vader of the Republican Party." Vader's leitmotif, "Imperial March," is sometimes used as the leitmotif for Mr. Burns on The Simpsons to show a comical comparison between the two fictional characters. George Lucas has pointed to Vader's iconic status as a reason he made the prequel movies, since he felt the icon overshadowed the fact that Vader was intended to be a tragic character.

Related Topics:
Synonym - Lee Atwater - Republican Party - Leitmotif - Imperial March - Mr. Burns - The Simpsons

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Vader's revelation to Luke that he is his father is one of the most famous movie plot twists of all time. An IMDb poll on 10 November 2003 asked users to choose which one of a set of movie spoilers was too infamous to be considered a spoiler anymore; Vader's true identity was a clear winner, by a forty-percent margin. (Other choices included the "secret identities" of Keyser Soze in The Usual Suspects; the killers in Psycho, Basic Instinct and Jagged Edge; the planet in Planet of the Apes; "Rosebud" in Citizen Kane; and the contents of the delivery box in Se7en.)

Related Topics:
IMDb - 10 November - 2003 - Keyser Soze - The Usual Suspects - Psycho - Basic Instinct - Jagged Edge - Planet of the Apes - Citizen Kane - Se7en

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During a major renovation, Washington National Cathedral held a competition for children to design new gargoyles for the west towers. One winner was a design featuring Darth Vader. http://www.cathedral.org/cathedral/discover/darth.shtml

Related Topics:
Washington National Cathedral - Gargoyle

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The professional wrestler Leon White wrestled under the names, "Big Van Vader," "The Man Called Vader," and just "Vader." The name and gimmick, which originally included a large gargoyle-like helmet worn to the ring, were based on Darth Vader. Vader wrestled in Japan and WCW, where he was their world champion, and in the WWF (now WWE).

Related Topics:
Professional wrestler - Leon White - Gargoyle - Japan - WCW - WWE

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With the release of Revenge of the Sith, Vader's popularity has seen an increase. His exaggerated and mournful howl of "NOOO!" also achieved notoriety.

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