When Vader told Luke, “I am your father,” he was not speaking as Anakin Skywalker. He was speaking as Darth Vader, the name he used to bury his old life, his Jedi past, and everything Anakin had lost.
So when Vader looked at Luke, did he see him as Vader’s son, or Anakin’s?
Vader Knew He Was Anakin, But He Denied That Life
Vader did not truly believe Anakin Skywalker was a different person. He knew the truth. He knew Anakin and Vader were the same man. But Anakin was the name tied to everything he hated remembering, the Jedi Order, Obi-Wan, Padmé, Mustafar, and the life he believed had failed him.
So Vader treated Anakin like someone dead because it made the pain easier to bury.
When he wanted to reject his past, Anakin was gone. When he wanted to serve the Empire without looking back, Anakin was dead. When others spoke of Anakin Skywalker, Vader could act like they were talking about a man who no longer existed.
But that was denial, not truth.
Under the mask, Vader still carried Anakin’s memories, anger, guilt, and attachments. He remembered Padmé. He remembered the Jedi. He remembered what happened on Mustafar. Saying Anakin was dead did not remove Anakin from him. It only gave Vader a way to keep moving forward without admitting what he still was.
One clear example comes in Marvel’s Darth Vader (2020), when Vader searches for answers about Padmé after learning about Luke. He goes all the way to Naboo and stands before Padmé’s tomb. That is not the action of someone who has truly erased Anakin Skywalker. Padmé still matters to him. Her death still haunts him. And even decades later, Vader is still being pulled back to the life he claims is dead.
Luke Forced Vader To Face Anakin Again
When Vader learned the name “Skywalker,” it hit the part of him he had spent years trying to bury. Luke was proof that Padmé’s child had lived. He was proof that Palpatine had lied to him. And he was proof that Anakin’s life had not been completely destroyed on Mustafar.
In The Empire Strikes Back, Vader tells him directly, “I am your father.” He does not say Anakin was his father. He does not put the truth on another dead man. He claims it himself, even while standing there as Darth Vader.
But Vader still wanted Luke through the identity he had chosen. He wanted Luke beside him as a Sith heir, someone who could help him destroy the Emperor and rule the galaxy. That was Vader trying to turn fatherhood into power.
By Return of the Jedi, Luke keeps reaching past Vader and speaking to the man underneath. When Luke says he has accepted that Vader was once Anakin Skywalker, his father, Vader answers that the name no longer has any meaning for him. But Luke pushes back and tells him it is the name of his true self, only forgotten.
Vader saw Luke as his son because he knew he was still Anakin. But he wanted to claim Luke as Vader’s son because that was the identity he was still hiding behind.