Was Darth Vader's armor unique?

[Gorn Captain]

So what happens?
Anakin gets burned to a crisp. The Emperor gets his crew to fix him up, and voila, meet Darth "where's my inhaler" Vader.

Question remains: was this outfit custom made, or did the Emperor get it at Darths R Us? Could we possible see more guys walking around in that outfit, but maybe in a nice purple version?

Stuff like this keeps me up at night....

[ctc]

Hmmmm....

I think it was custom made, since we didn't see anyone else wearing anything like it. (Although the Marvel comic DID have someone in a simialr suit show up; but I suspect that one was custom too.)

Don C.

[Brazoo]

I'm not sure what the exact influence was - but as a kid I always had it in my head that Vader's physical transformation was an evolving and more gradual event - from various injuries fighting Jedi over several years. I even played this backstory out with my action figures.

I never did see Part 3, but the idea of him getting deep fried (or whatever happens) is WAY less cool, in my opinion.

[Mikey]

The Emperor said ... I want an exaggerated nazi helmet with a skull face look --- the rest make up as you go along

[jwyblejr]

Hmmmm....

I think it was custom made, since we didn't see anyone else wearing anything like it. (Although the Marvel comic DID have someone in a simialr suit show up; but I suspect that one was custom too.)

Don C.

Dark Horse comics gave him a white version. So not so sure.

[huedell]

I'm not sure what the exact influence was - but as a kid I always had it in my head that Vader's physical transformation was an evolving and more gradual event - from various injuries fighting Jedi over several years. I even played this backstory out with my action figures.

I never did see Part 3, but the idea of him getting deep fried (or whatever happens) is WAY less cool, in my opinion.

Why can't it be both?

The reason I say that, is I particularly relish the fact that he needs his costume to breathe... following injury. Being burned almost to death
seems like good reasoning for such a suit.

You could also add that he's indeed been injured over the years
and needed parts replaced... as he was in Ep. 2, having his
arm cut off by Tyrannus albeit BEFORE the aforementioned suit.

[Brazoo]

Why can't it be both?

The reason I say that, is I particularly relish the fact that he needs his costume to breathe... following injury. Being burned almost to death
seems like good reasoning for such a suit.

You could also add that he's indeed been injured over the years
and needed parts replaced... as he was in Ep. 2, having his
arm cut off by Tyrannus albeit BEFORE the aforementioned suit.

I haven't seen parts 2 or 3, so I guess I shouldn't judge what I haven't seen - but from what I've heard it sounded like he was pretty much the Vader we all know at the end. I think from the way Ben describes it to Luke in the original trilogy I always pictured Vader becoming less and less human over time - in a series of epic duals as he hunted down and killed off the Jedi one-by-one.

Again, I probably shouldn't judge without seeing it - but getting his body sizzled and ending up in the Vader suit just seems too neatly wrapped up or something to me. That's just my personal impression.

[stevenlore]

He was always meant to be sizzled. It was in the original SW novelization, if I recall correctly. Alan Dean Foster got much of the backstory from Lucas' note, early scripts and Lucas himself.

[Brazoo]

He was always meant to be sizzled. It was in the original SW novelization, if I recall correctly. Alan Dean Foster got much of the backstory from Lucas' note, early scripts and Lucas himself.

Hey - fair enough - I'm not arguing that it should be any different. Personally I just liked my misinterpretation more.


Plus I'm just agreeing with Gorn Captain - it makes less sense to me that the Emperor had a ready-to-wear Vader suit siting in his closet.

[johnmiic]

I bet there would be info on the Star Wars website. There's plenty of info there that never made it into the films.

[LadyZod]

I always looked at Vader's armor as a further embelishment of the Stormtrooper outfit.

It was probably customised obviously to work as a life support system as well.

But he wasn't the first. Look at Grevious. That's one Darth that went overboard in cybernetics.

But in regards to him slowly becoming less human through the years hunting Jedis, I can see that. Losing his legs and surviving his burns didn't make him less human. He's in full lifesupport Vader armor at the end when you hear him wail after being told his woman died.

There WAS still a human in that suit, tho badly burned and injured. His way of thinking was skewed. He blamed the Jedi for the death of his woman... sure he'd slowly lose his humanity.

He gains it back in jedi, when Luke forgives him, and he realizes his son needs him and that he's been the emperor's buttboy all this time.

Vader died with his humanity restored.

[Sandman9580]

I have to think it was unique, handcrafted by Twi'lek slaves in the bowels of Mordor. Or wherever.

[SUP-Ronin]

The Emperor said ... I want an exaggerated nazi helmet with a skull face look --- the rest make up as you go along

I realise the original question pertains to the storyline, but I always thought lucas based his design on a samurai armor.



Apparently he has various sets of armor. There are some good ones here, I like the Hoodie version. The Emperor probably wanted him to wear that when they went clubbin.

Rain City Stylistas: Darth Vader: Fashionista

[Hector]

Yes...Vader's helmet was based on the Samurai...not Nazis.

However...the Stormtroopers are definitely a blend of the two.

[Bruce Banner]

The idea of Vader being burned in lava during a duel with Obi-Wan goes way back to the first ever SW lore revealed back during the time of the original movie.

Debate over the decades had always centred around whether the duel occured well into Vader's Jedi-exterminating purge, or (as we finally saw in ROTS) at its very outset.