(Again I really wish we had a "Saga" blog Category. This mostly falls under "After the Helmet" though so I've placed it in Original Trilogy )
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Anakin Skywalker: I pledge myself, to your teachings.

Darth Vader: You don't know the power of the Dark Side!
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Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith, was the scourge of the Jedi, a master of the dark side of the Force, and one of the Emperor's most trusted servants.

The Emperor entrusted him with the elimination of the Jedi Knights. During these dark times, Vader and his agents destroyed the remnants of Jedi order.
-From the Star Wars Databank
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So a popular opinion going around right now is that Darth Vader (post-suit) was weaker than before he was put in the suit.
Wrong.

I'll give you the fact he had more mobility out of the suit, however these tales of woe and Vader losing up to (or even over!) half his power when put in the suit just don't work for me. Note the databank describes Vader as a master of the dark side, anyone who says Anakin could learn to be a master of the dark side before he was put in the suit is a fool, even if he did use force choke.

I'm not saying that he didn't have the same potential before being put in the suit, but agreements that Vader was weaker because of the style and speed with which he fought Obi-Wan in IV and Luke in V and VI can be dismissed fairly easily.
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Obi-wan IV - The old man is what put him in the suit in the first place. He knows Obi-Wan fights defensively and doesn't want to make the same mistake of underestimating our old fossil twice.

Luke V - He wasn't trying to kill Luke, just defeat and turn him to the dark side. That's the easiest to dismiss.

Luke VI - Ok, now this one is a bit harder. You can either choose to classify it as Vader not giving his all because there is indeed conflict within him about fighting his son. If you're of the thought that Vader doesn't stir until the final moment you can classify it as he's surprised by Luke's sudden aggression.
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Now of course we all know the real reason is that Lucas instructed stuntmen and the principal actors to act as if lightsabers were "Excalibur heavy". That doesn't mean we should accept Vader to be some weakling that lost all his true potential when defeated on Mustafar.

Could he have overthrown Palpatine and become the new lightsaber wielding, overconfident, force lightning controlling, Sith Lord and Emperor of the galaxy without the suit? Sure. Why not? (Though one could argue some of Vader's fights with Jedi Masters who escaped the purge could have been won through the intimidation factor of his new black armor ) That didn't happen though, he was overconfident and got his limbs cut off, got put in the suit (making him unable to defeat Palpatine's lightning wielding self theoretically), and most importantly became the Dark Lord of the Sith we all know and love.

In a nutshell: He was called The Scourge of the Jedi for more reasons than leading the assault on the Jedi temple! He had 19 odd years to become a feared and respected force throughout the galaxy and wipe out the remnants of the Jedi Order. To become a "master of the dark side of the Force" and thusly more powerful than any Jedi he eliminates during the ongoing purge. I don't think he'll be doing any of that convincingly with the perspective of him being weaker than before the helmet.

Prompt: So what's your percepective? Did Vader grow to be stronger than he ever was before the suit? Or was he always doomed to be hindered?
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◄Rive Caedo►
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