Origin of the name "Vader"

Darth Fanboy · Post by **Darth Fanboy** » 2005-09-15 11:40am

Is the name "Vader" based on on Vidar? If this is the case then it makes sense to have him be named after the Norse god of revenge.

Elheru Aran · Post by **Elheru Aran** » 2005-09-15 11:57am

There are also those who say 'Vader' comes from the Germanic 'vater', or 'father'. I believe there have been people on this board from that area who've mentioned that, even though the name was changed in translation, they could figure out he was Luke's father because of the remarkable similarity in the English name to their word for 'father'.

Spiny Norman · Post by **Spiny Norman** » 2005-09-15 11:57am

I understood that it was a derivation of the german words for "Dark Father".

If I am incorrect, I would love to know what the real source is!

Adrian Laguna · Post by **Adrian Laguna** » 2005-09-15 03:28pm

Darth inVader
Darth inSidious

It only works for those two particular Sith, but they fit remarkably well to the Dark Duo that took control of the Galaxy.

Lord Pounder · Post by **Lord Pounder** » 2005-09-15 03:43pm

I thought the Dark Father was actually Dutch.

Im can imagine the scene in theaters across Holland

Vader "Luke, I am your father"

Luke "NO, thats not true, thats impossible"

Crazy Dutch Bastard in Cinema " Ja Ja who wants a schmoke and a pancake"

Bounty · Post by **Bounty** » 2005-09-15 03:44pm

I thought the Dark Father was actually Dutch.

Hardly. "Darth" doesn't mean anything in Dutch.

" Ja Ja who wants a schmoke and a pancake"

Pancakes

HyperionX · Post by **HyperionX** » 2005-09-15 03:54pm

If Darth Vader is based on Darth INvader then what does he invade? All the Darth guys' names seem to have some relevance to the their style. Darth Sidious was very insidious at gaining power, Tyrannus was a tyrant, and Maul likes to maul people.

ds615 · Post by **ds615** » 2005-09-15 06:04pm

In the Annotated Screenplays GL makes it clear that he picks the names of people and things because they sound cool. Period. Vader doesn't "mean" anything.

Drooling Iguana · Post by **Drooling Iguana** » 2005-09-15 06:42pm

In the early drafts of Star Wars, Darth Vader was most certainly not the main character's father, yet he still had the same name. It's a coincidence, nothing more.

Havok · Post by **Havok** » 2005-09-15 07:00pm

1. Darth Vader = Dark Father
2. DARk lord of the siTH and Vader is just a name, or combine with #4.
3. Darth is Bane's first name and became a title over the years. Combine with #4
4. Vader is short for Invader, Sidious is short for Insidious, Maul is short Malicious (or it is just Maul), Revan is short for Revenge etc... combine with #2 or #3
5. Darth Vader just sounded cool.

These are some of the thing that I've heard.
In real life I think that, it's a combo of #1, #4 and #5 IIRC.
In the Universe, I think that #3 combined with #4, makes the most sense as older Sith Lords didn't have the Darth title... I.E. Exar Kun, oh wait in KOTOR they did use the Darth title... D'oh!!

Lord Revan · Post by **Lord Revan** » 2005-09-15 07:06pm

Vader=father has some weight has Lucas called Vader the "evil father" of mythology (while Anakin Skywalker was the "good father").

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2005-09-15 08:35pm

Drooling Iguana wrote:In the early drafts of Star Wars, Darth Vader was most certainly not the main character's father, yet he still had the same name. It's a coincidence, nothing more.

Exactly. Specifically, the character of Darth Vader in the early drafts was just an Imperial general, more along the lines of what became the Tarkin character (after being merged with another Imperial character, IIRC) in the later drafts and final film.

The name (although it's actually more of a title) Darth Vader doesn't mean or allude to anything, because Lucas creates character names by just making up syllable combinations and choosing the ones he likes or think works for the character, and then comes up with a phonetic spelling. That's it: literally random factors. There are only a handful of characters in SW that Lucas explicitly named with a reference in mind (such as Anakin, which is based on the last name of a friend from USC), but Vader isn't one of them.

Elfdart · Post by **Elfdart** » 2005-09-15 09:34pm

Someone at TFN showed pages of Lucas' high school year book. Lucas looks like your stereotypical nerd and a student named Gary Vader looks like a burly jock straight out of central casting.

Anakin Skywalker was named after director Ken Annakin and Loki the Skywalker from Norse mythology.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2005-09-15 09:45pm

Elfdart wrote:Anakin Skywalker was named after director Ken Annakin and Loki the Skywalker from Norse mythology.

I call BS. Skywalker was Starkiller throughout the various drafts, even the fourth shooting script until it was changed at the last minute. That and I've never even heard of this Loki explenation anywhere until just now.

Drooling Iguana · Post by **Drooling Iguana** » 2005-09-15 10:16pm

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:
Elfdart wrote:Anakin Skywalker was named after director Ken Annakin and Loki the Skywalker from Norse mythology.
I call BS. Skywalker was Starkiller throughout the various drafts, even the fourth shooting script until it was changed at the last minute. That and I've never even heard of this Loki explenation anywhere until just now.

Although there was a character named Luke Skywalker in the story from the beginning. His role was closer to Obi-Wan's than to the Luke we know, though.

ds615 · Post by **ds615** » 2005-09-15 11:46pm

Drooling Iguana wrote:Although there was a character named Luke Skywalker in the story from the beginning. His role was closer to Obi-Wan's than to the Luke we know, though.

There was not always a Luke Skywalker in the story.

The original characters change from Deak Starkiller and his two sons, (neither of which are Luke), to the Antillies family, to the really wierd idea of a wandering living embidiment of the Force named Angel Blue.

The names mean nothing, they just sound neat.

Drooling Iguana · Post by **Drooling Iguana** » 2005-09-16 12:37am

ds615 wrote:
Drooling Iguana wrote:Although there was a character named Luke Skywalker in the story from the beginning. His role was closer to Obi-Wan's than to the Luke we know, though.
There was not always a Luke Skywalker in the story.

The original characters change from Deak Starkiller and his two sons, (neither of which are Luke), to the Antillies family, to the really wierd idea of a wandering living embidiment of the Force named Angel Blue.

The names mean nothing, they just sound neat.

Deak Starkiller was Anakin's brother in the first draft of the screenplay (in which he is killed almost immediately) and Luke's brother in the second (in which he spends most of his time imprisoned and/or unconscious.) Deak was never the main character.

The only refrence to "Angel Blue" I could find was a code name for Luke Starkiller in the second draft, and I've never even heard of any version of the movie that centres around the Antilles family. The original one-sentence pitch named its main character as Mace Windu, Luke Skywalker (age 30, going on 40) was the main character in the treatment, Anakin Starkiller was the main character in the first draft, and subsequent drafts focused on Luke Starkiller, whose name was at the last minute changed back to Skywalker.

ds615 · Post by **ds615** » 2005-09-16 01:46am

Anottated Screenplays.
i don't have it here with me at work, but I can bring it with me tomorrow and post more specifics if you're intrested.

Meeper · Post by **Meeper** » 2005-09-16 07:36am

Adrian Laguna wrote:Darth inVader
Darth inSidious

It only works for those two particular Sith, but they fit remarkably well to the Dark Duo that took control of the Galaxy.

But as we all know, Darth Maul doesn't fit because he died like a tattooed little bitch.