Darth Vader proved himself to be an unquestionably talented and strong warrior. He was ruthless in battle and willing to do whatever it took to get the job done. This did not mean he was infallible, however.
Darth Vader sustained so many injuries that it’s sometimes baffling that he survived them. He was able to achieve impressive feats, but his wounds did not come without consequences.
Darth Vader lost all his limbs, had breathing problems, and a plethora of other injuries that would’ve ended the life of a regular person. Given the severity of his wounds, Lord Vader was in pain. There’s no doubt about that.
This raises the question of whether or not the Sith Lord was in constant pain. So without further ado, let’s dive into this topic.
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How Much Pain Was Darth Vader In?
As we briefly touched on before, Darth Vader had lost his limbs, obliterated his lungs, broken vertebrae, and had other bodily trauma. This left him in excruciating pain.
Darth Vader was consistently in pain, but surprisingly, this pain wasn’t all due to his injuries. Instead, the source of Darth Vader’s pain was his life support suit.
Darth Vader got into an intense fight with his former friend, Obi-Wan Kenobi, on the planet Mustafar (a lava-ridden planet).
Initially, Obi-Wan did not want to fight his friend. Rather, he thought he could reason with Vader, as he did not believe Emperor Palpatine had fully infiltrated his past apprentice’s mind.
But Darth Vader was already too far gone and was not willing to listen to anything Obi-Wan had to say. At that point, Vader saw Obi-Wan (and the entire Jedi Order, for that matter) as the enemy.
After an impressive battle sequence, Obi-Wan dealt the final blow. This sent Vader falling to the edge of a pool of lava, where he was externally and internally engulfed in flames.
Emperor Palpatine, not wanting to lose his prized Sith, retrieved Darth Vader and took him back to Coruscant, where his life support suit was built.
Struggling to breathe, suffering from third-degree burns, and missing all of his organic limbs, Darth Vader’s only hope for survival was the suit and pressurized mask built for him.
Little did he know, this suit was meant to keep him in constant pain.
His respirator was annoyingly loud, his suit was built with uncomfortable material, and there were pins constantly sticking into him. This was done purposefully, to ensure that Lord Vader would remain irritable and devoid of rest.
This played perfectly into the Emperor’s plan, as the more uncomfortable and irritable Darth Vader was, the angrier and more hate-filled he would become.
This would push him deeper into the dark side, making him an even stronger weapon for the Emperor. After all, an angry Sith is a powerful Sith.
Did Darth Vader Feel Pain?
As we can see, Darth Vader did feel pain.
First and foremost, Lord Vader was human, and we are all hardwired to feel pain. Even though some may have a higher pain threshold than others, all human beings can feel everything from mild discomfort to blinding pain.
Darth Vader was no stranger to pain. What’s more, he learned to manage his pain and still be an outstanding fighter.
To that end, it appears that the Emperor liked to keep the Sith Lord in pain. Although Darth Vader was intimidating to those he came into contact with, he resorted to somewhat of a lapdog role when around Palpatine.
This is in no small part due to the pain he inflicted on Vader. We have already established that Palpatine constructed Darth Vader’s life support suit to keep him in constant pain. Additionally, the suit was inherently flawed.
This helped to deter the Sith Lord from rebelling against the Emperor, as he had to depend on him for maintenance and some semblance of relief.
Working in tandem with the physical pain, Emperor Palpatine actively manipulated Darth Vader from the beginning.
He had gaslit Vader since his days as a Jedi, making him believe that the dark side was the answer to all his problems. Thus, Darth Vader was left feeling vulnerable both physically and mentally.
Was Darth Vader Depressed?
Right off the bat, it’s safe to say that Darth Vader was depressed.
As a child growing up on Tatooine, Anakin Skywalker and his mother, Shmi Skywalker, were both slaves, which could not have been easy on him. Anakin finally caught a break when he joined the Jedi Order as a Padawan.
Anakin was determined to become the greatest Jedi there was, and he was on track to do so. That was until his mother was attacked by Sand Men on their home planet. Anakin rushed home to try and save her.
Sadly, he was too late, and all he could do was hold his mother in his arms as she took her last breath. This broke the young Jedi, and he was filled with rage, unwavering grief, and guilt.
Eventually, Anakin fell in love with Padme Amidala and vowed to do whatever he could to avoid her suffering the same fate as his mom. Emperor Palpatine saw this as his golden opportunity to bend Anakin to his will.
He had the broken, impressionable, desperate Anakin convinced that the Jedi (and by extension, the Galactic Republic) were the enemy and that the dark side would be the only way to save Padme.
Unfortunately, Anakin failed to see through Palpatine’s tricks and played directly into his hands. In the end, he still lost the love of his life, which left him as a shell of the man he once was.
With the death of his mother, his wife, and later, Obi-Wan Kenobi plaguing his mind, Darth Vader was wracked with internal turmoil.
Lord Vader was filled with self-loathing, seething rage, and boiling hatred. Worst of all, Darth Vader was majorly depressed. Added to his physical pain, his discomfort was made even greater by his internal pain.
Conclusion
The story of Darth Vader’s life reaches tremendous depths.
On the surface, he was one of the greatest warriors the dark side had. He was so merciless and stony-hearted that the name Darth Vader instilled fear in the hearts of those around him.
Once we look a bit deeper, Darth Vader had a sad existence that led him to that point. As he was always on the front line, Darth Vader was no stranger to wounds.
Still, after his most major injuries, sustained on Mustafar, Darth Vader was on the brink of death. This is when the Emperor made him a life support suit to save the Sith Lord’s life.
The ultimatum that came with the suit was that Lord Vader had to be subjected to consistent pain. In addition to that, the severely broken down Sith Lord had mental and emotional turmoil.
These two worked in tandem to make Darth Vader’s life miserable. Yet, his ability to achieve the feats he did while in so much pain only proves how outstanding Darth Vader truly was.