Every one of the characters on this list so far have been heroes. This is probably not an accident. I have never been one to love the villains in a show or movie or book. I almost alway s pull for the hero. That’s what I like, a really great good guy. That being said, I have to recognize that every good story I like has a good villain or two. So, it’s not that I don’t like the villains, or appreciate the villains. It’s more that I identify more with the good guys. Most of the time.
Darth Vader
Darth Vader is THE bad guy of the Star Wars universe. You can have your Palpatines and your Darth Mauls or your Kylo Rens, just leave me Darth Vader. He was the faceless, half robot half machine terror of my youth. I remember thinking he was so terrifying as a kid. Watching his duel with Luke in Return of the Jedi was one of my favorite scenes from the original trilogy. And when he turns on the Emperor is one of my favorite moments. I just always thought Darth Vader was one of the coolest bad guys ever.
Why Darth Vader?
He is also one of the most tragic bad guys ever, in my opinion. I remember wondering, all growing up, how a great Jedi like Anakin Skywalker could turn to the Dark Side and betray all of his friends. Jedis were supposed to be the ultimate good guys. How could any of them turn to the Dark Side, let alone a super powerful one like Anakin? I think I dreamed about the events prior to the original trilogy a ton as a kid. That may be why I was somewhat disappointed with the prequels. They were never going to live up to the hype in my head.
The one thing that the trilogies did answer was how Anakin turned to the Dark Side. Although it was not super well executed, the tragedy was there. He turned to the Dark Side to save his family. He did not think the Jedi could help his wife survive, so he turned to a side of the Force he believed could save her. He was young, he was manipulated, and ultimately he was wrong, and ended up losing everything.
If faced with the same decision, I am not sure I would not be tempted to make the same choice. My wife and my kids mean everything to me, and I would do everything I could to help them or save them. If I knew something was going to happen to them, I would do everything I could to protect them and save them, and it would be tempting to do things that were illegal or against rules. I think most husbands and fathers would feel the same. Vader had to live the rest of his life with the choices he made, and the fact that ultimately, it was him that killed Padme. It’s sad, and it’s no wonder he was fixated on getting Luke to join him. He wanted to be with his son again. It was tragic. That’s why I love Darth Vader.
30 Days 30 Characters
We have one more post left our movies theme, and then it is on to Television. I have enjoyed putting these together and working on them almost every day. I hope you are following along on social media as each character is revealed. I recently updated our side bar to include links to my Facebook page, my Twitter feed, and the Geeky Mormon Facebook group. Please follow along on all these platforms to join in the conversations. You can also follow me on Instagram @thegeekymormon.
