Top 10 Darth Vader Moments Only Seen in Star Wars Comics

Star Wars: 10 Major Darth Vader Moments Fans Never Saw On-Screen

Darth Vader Star Wars Comics Custom Image

By Kevin Erdmann Published 29 minutes ago Since 2019, Kevin Erdmann has been one of Screen Rant's Senior Staff Writers, covering all kinds of Superhero and Star Wars media with Easter egg breakdowns, theory pieces, breaking news, and more. A huge Star Wars & MCU fan, Kevin also loves Batman (because he's Batman), but could talk for hours about why Nightwing is DC's greatest hero. With 8 years of total experience covering entertainment and pop culture, Kevin has gotten the chance to interview top creatives and talent, and has also attended major media events like Disney's D23 convention. Majoring in Cinema Studies with a minor in Comics and Cartoon Studies from the UofO, Kevin lives in Oregon with his wonderful wife, adorable dog, and sinister cat who is no doubt currently plotting his demise. Sign in to your ScreenRant account Summary Generate a summary of this story follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Thread Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap

Darth Vader’s reputation as Star Wars' greatest villain is not built on the Skywalker saga movies alone. Some of his most intense and shocking stories have instead happened on the page in canonical comics.

These off-screen moments have expanded the Dark Lord of the Sith beyond the movies, games, and shows like 2022's Obi-Wan Kenobi. The Star Wars comics have shown some of Darth Vader's most important moments, so here are 10 of our favorites that we don't see in the movies.

Darth Vader Building His First Sith Lightsaber

Following his fall to the dark side serving Emperor Palpatine in Revenge of the Sith, Darth Vader had to construct a new weapon worthy of his new Sith apprentice status. Hunting down surviving Jedi Master Kriak Infil'a, Vader fought and killed the Jedi Master before taking the green kyber crystal that powered his lightsaber.

In accordance with Sith tradition, Vader had to “bleed” the kyber, pouring his rage into the living crystal and corrupting it to create the iconic red blade he'd wield until his death.

A major moment in Charles Soule's 2017 Darth Vader series and in 2025's novel Master of Evil by Adam Christopher, Vader's lightsaber was proven to be a physical manifestation of his pain and dark transformation. The act of bleeding the crystal reinforced how Darth Vader had embraced and committed to the darkness.

Darth Vader Tries Resurrecting Padmé

One of Vader’s darkest and most tragic comic storylines involved his attempt to bring Padmé Amidala back from death at the end of Darth Vader (2017).

Building his iconic fortress atop a locus of dark side power on Mustafar with a design specifically meant to amplify his power, Vader entered a surreal Force vision where he walked through memories, regrets, and symbolic illusions, culminating with a confrontation with Padmé.

Vader's late wife refused to go with him, not recognizing the monster that he had become. Vader would also try to bring Padmé back again in the canonical Vader Immortal VR game, only to also fail in his efforts, deepening his ongoing pain while proving how his longstanding grief very much shaped his dark side path as a Sith.

Darth Vader vs A Kaiju

Darth Vader flying toward a fire-breathing dragon with his lightsaber drawn.

In one wild but fully canonical storyline seen in Marvel's Star Wars Vader: Dark Visions #1, Vader single-handedly fought a colossal creature while briefly stranded on a hostile planet.

Using the Force, his lightsaber, and even a horse-like mount, Vader dominated the beast in a confrontation that blended massive spectacle with the Sith Lord's signature brutality. However, the unique twist was that the planet's more remote people, ignorant of greater galactic affairs, saw Darth Vader as their dark savior, "The Black Knight" with his flaming sword.

Darth Vader Learns Luke Skywalker Is His Son

Darth Vader Learns Luke is His Son Comic

Star Wars fans knew Darth Vader discovered Luke’s identity sometime between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, but the comics reveal exactly when and how he learned the truth.

Seeking information about the pilot who blew up the first Death Star, it was Boba Fett, who was hired by Vader to learn the truth, who eventually learned and reported the Rebel hero's name to the Dark Lord: "Skywalker."

As seen in both 2015's Star Wars #6 and Darth Vader #6, the Dark Lord was shocked and enraged by this revelation, so much so that his barely contained fury began cracking nearby viewports. Expressing anger toward his master's deceptions, Vader vowed to find and make Luke his, the driving force behind his multiple efforts to betray Palpatine between the original trilogy films.

Vader Down: The Dark Lord Takes On The Rebellion Himself

Vader Down comic

During a massive battle between A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back, Darth Vader was shot down behind enemy lines and surrounded by Rebel troops in Marvel's incredibly popular Vader Down event.

Outnumbered, Vader fought his way through entire battalions on his own. The comics frame the moment like a horror sequence, with Vader advancing relentlessly through smoke, fire, and explosions. It also contains one of the best Darth Vader quotes of all time after a Rebel captain tells him he's surrounded: "All I am surrounded by is fear. And dead men."

Without a doubt, Vader Down is one of Star Wars' best examples of his terrifying presence on the battlefield, even when he doesn't have the might of the Empire at his back.

Darth Vader Investigates Padmé's Death

Darth Vader reaching out with the Force to the left and Padme lying in her casket to the right in a combined imageCustom Image by Debanjana Chowdhury

Following Luke's rejection in The Empire Strikes Back, Darth Vader became obsessed with seeking answers about Padmé and the truth of her final hours, as seen in Marvel's 2020 Darth Vader series by Greg Pak.

Vader's investigation brought him into contact with the remaining members of her loyal handmaidens, who fought fiercely to protect her legacy (particularly Sabé). Visiting his wife's grave on Naboo, Vader comes face to face with the group known as the Amidalans, seeking to avenge both Padmé and Anakin Skywalker's deaths at the Dark Lord's hands.

Emperor Palpatine Punishes Darth Vader

Having ignored his master's summons while searching for his answers, 2020's Darth Vader series also saw the Sith apprentice brutally punished by Palpatine.

Reminding Vader of his place and seeking to recenter his unbalanced apprentice in the dark side, Palpatine stripped Vader of his armor and cybernetics before dumping him back on the lava banks of Mustafar, commanding him to rebuild himself and survive without the Force.

The punishment demonstrated how ruthlessly the Emperor maintained control over his apprentice. Sure enough, Vader's resulting journey proved his resilience and sheer willpower. Crawling back from near death, he embraced the darkness once more while also seeking revenge against his master (as is expected of Sith apprentices).

Vader Attacks The Emperor's Exegol Sith Temple

Darth Vader And Exegol Star Wars Custom Image

Custom Image by Kevin Erdmann

Long before The Rise of Skywalker, the comics revealed that Darth Vader discovered the Sith world of Exegol and confronted the Emperor there following his brutal punishment.

Inside Palpatine’s hidden Sith temple, Vader learns about the projects and fleets being built in secret, discovering for the first time the full extent of his master's power. While Vader defeated several of Palpatine's Sith Eternal cultists and genetic monstrosities, he eventually knelt before Palpatine and his overwhelming power.

Darth Vader Returns To Podracing (Briefly)

In a surprising story between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, Darth Vader encounters a podracer on a remote world built by none other than Anakin Skywalker's childhood friends, Kitster and Wald. The duo had grown up to become refugees under the oppression of a corrupt Imperial governor secretly affiliated with the crime syndicate Crimson Dawn.

Using the podracer, Darth Vader fought and defeated the governor (while reliving his old podracing days at the same time).

His skill behind the controls hadn’t faded, but the joy once tied to it was of course, long gone, a key reminder of the life he'd lost after embracing the dark side.

Darth Vader's Droid Hivemind

Darth Vader getting infected by the Scourge in Star Wars: Dark Droids.

When a sentient droid virus known as the Scourge sought to claim the entire galaxy between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, it attempted to turn Darth Vader into a powerful puppet by linking him to their mechanical hivemind in 2020's Darth Vader series.

However, Darth Vader managed to hijack the network, bending thousands of droids to his will in a bid to overthrow his master once more, a powerful example of his technological prowess beyond his great power in the dark side of the Force.

Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader Split By a Lightning Bolt

Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader Created By George Lucas Cast Bob Anderson, Hayden Christensen, James Earl Jones, Matt Lanter, Matt Lucas, Jake Lloyd, David Prowse, Sebastian Shaw First Appearance Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope Died Star Wars: Episode VI - Return Of The Jedi Alliance Jedi, Sith Race Human

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Comics
Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader
Star Wars

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