Was the biggest Star Wars reveal hidden behind Darth Vader’s name?

Dressed in a long black cape, encased in heavy armor, hidden beneath a grim mask, and consistently preceded by an evil breath, Darth Vader is arguably one of the most iconic villains in film history.

From the opening scene of the first Star Wars feature film directed by George Lucas in 1977, he made an immediate impression as he strode along the corridors of a rebel ship and strangled one of his opponents for no small sum.

But it was The Empire Strikes Back, three years later, that the character really came into her own. At the end of a sequence that has been remembered for several generations today, we learned that Darth Vader was none other than the father of the saga’s young hero, Luke Skywalker.

A revelation that at the time some were wondering about the Sith Lord’s name did not resurface.

Instigated by George Lucas himself, the most famous and plausible theory thus attributed to the famous surname – Darth Vader, in the original version – of Dutch origin. However, in the Netherlands the word “vader” simply means “father”.

It may be that from his first appearance, under the name Darth Vader (or rather Darth Vader) carried Luke’s paternity in it? Nothing is less certain.

Indeed, as Phil Shostak (author of several Star Wars books) reminded us on his Twitter account As of 2019, Darth Vader would not become Luke’s father until April 1978, in the second version of The Empire Strikes Back storyline.

As for the invention of the name VaderAs Lucas himself explains between the pages The making of Star Wars, “It’s just one of those things that comes out of nowhere.”

“It popped into my head one fine day”explains the film director. “I had in mind a lot of Dart This or Dart That or Dark Lord of the Sith . first name It was actually dark water. Then I added many names like Weides, Wilsons, Smiths, and then ended up with a combination of Dart and Vader.

Judging by these notes, the fact that the word “vader” means “father” in Dutch would be a pure (and happy) coincidence. If George Lucas did not wait for the fate of his character from the very beginning, without putting it on paper, so that the secret remains well… But such a hypothesis is very unlikely.

(Re)discover our Darth Vader tribute video…