Put yourself in the shoes of having a decapitated arm and losing the love of your life while being one of the most popular characters in media history. Darth Vader has had a very popular and unfortunate background. But, out of all of the debates this is one it sticks out the most. Some fans say that has been answered but others say not. That debate is whether Darth Vader is a villain or hero. Darth Vader is a hero for being the savior for many people, depicting right from wrong, and having leadership qualities.
Despite being one of the most notorious villains in all of movie franchises, Darth Vader, Anakin Skywalker, has done his fair share of good things; one of those including being the savior of many people. For example, in episode one The Phantom Menace when Anakin was around the age of ten he entered a pod race to help Qui-Gon, Padme, and Obi-Wan to get enough money to afford a hyperdrive. Anakin did in fact win the pod race but if he didn’t, that could have left Qui-Gon, Padme, Obi-Wan, and Anakin on the planet of Tatoonine taking weeks if not months to continue their adventure. Not winning the race could have also had Qui-Gon die from Darth Maul early as well. He also had the potential to be one of if not the strongest Jedi in all of Star Wars; all of his potential was shown in episodes 1-6 The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, Revenge of the Sith, A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi. This potential really did show in episode 3 Revenge of the Sith with him cutting off the head of Count Duku, one of the strongest sith in Star Wars. The killing of Count Duku also most likely saved hundreds if not thousands with him leading droides to capture other planets and taking many lives with them. The killing did help him lead him to the “dark side” but he also did other good things while being on the “dark side”.
From him being depicted as “a bad decision maker” other fans including me think that he has made some good decisions over the course of the franchises history. There are countless amounts of good and bad decisions but this one sticks out to me the most. This is the fight between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader in episode 6 Return of the Jedi, one of the most notable and resizable fights in the Star Wars franchise. While many enthusiasts do understand that Vader was fighting Luke, his son; near the end of the fight Vader sacrifices himself despite being weakened by Luke with him cutting off Vader's hand and getting tortured with force lightning, lightning coming from the user's hands while using the force. When the fight was over Vader's boss (Palpatine) died, but Vader also died never getting to redeem himself ever again for the trouble he made. Another example is in episode 5 The Empire Strikes Back where Vader spares Luke in a duel while only cutting off his hand despite Luke being one of the strongest jedi of the time. At least Vader didn’t kill him!
Being a leader of the most powerful army in the galaxy at the time would make you think that Vader is a pretty good leader. Right? Well if you thought that then you are correct. For example in the tv show Star Wars: The Clone Wars and in the movie Revenge of the Sith, Anakin was leading one of the best armies in the galactic army at the time named the 501st Legion. This army had notable names including, Captain Rex and many more. Vader also led the storm troopers to be one of if not the most powerful galactic army, in episodes 4-6 or A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi. Storm Troopers were the equivalent of clones but instead of being clones they are real people. Once Vader died his legacy hand continued onto Kylo Ren, making him the new galactic empire’s “Darth Vader”. But, the only thing that changed was the new “Darth Vader” meaning he changed nothing!
In conclusion Vader has yet to become a villain for the dark side, and never will be in the eyes of many fanatics. Yes, he has not made the best decisions but no one in the Star Wars franchise has made a perfect decision. This debate of whether or not Darth Vader is a hero or a villain has been closed. Darth Vader is inde ed a hero.