Summary
- Darth Vader's armor plays a crucial role in his strength and power, making him the toughest opponent for any Jedi to face.
- The armor includes a life-supporting system and protects Vader from enemy attacks, even lightsabers. It also gives him an imposing presence and advantage in duels.
- Despite its limitations and weaknesses, Vader's armor makes him virtually unstoppable and turns him into a tank, allowing him to relentlessly advance against opponents.
Darth Vader’s armor, whose importance to Vader is sometimes overlooked in the Star Wars universe, helps explain why he is the toughest opponent a Jedi can run into. Whether Anakin Skywalker would have been more powerful had he not fallen to the dark side is open for debate. However, the fact is that Anakin had to change most of his fighting style after losing a significant portion of his body in Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith. Instead of the sleaky Jedi Knight from the Clone Wars, Anakin was “more machine now than man.”
Palpatine rescued Anakin Skywalker in Mustafar and replaced what had been lost from his body with special armor. Darth Vader’s armor includes a life-supporting system, which is why targeting Vader’s suit can be key to defeating him. Not only does Darth Vader’s armor have an imposing presence, but it also comes in handy whenever Vader is dueling a Jedi.
Darth Vader's Armor Can Resist Enemy Attacks - And Even Lightsabers
It is widely assumed that Darth Vader’s armor is nothing but a heavy and clunky addition that only makes Anakin’s body slower. While Darth Vader’s armor does impose some limitations, it still is a formidable addition to the Sith Lord’s arsenal that makes him the perfect Jedi killer. Canon Star Wars comics have shown that Vader’s armor can resist Force lightning, although there is a limit to this resistance. Vader’s armor also protects him from flamethrowers and blaster bolts, meaning that a regular soldier would never even have the chance of hurting the Sith Lord. When it comes to Jedi business, Darth Vader’s armor is even more impressive.
A small detail in The Empire Strikes Back helps put in perspective how resistant Darth Vader’s armor can be against a lightsaber. When Luke and Vader are dueling in Cloud City, Luke’s lightsaber bounced off Vader’s neck. Of course, Vader’s armor has weaknesses, most likely the joints. In addition, there are examples of how Darth Vader’s armor and mask could not completely save him from an attack. This includes Luke cutting off Vader’s hand in Return of the Jedi, Ahsoka destroying half of Vader’s mask in Star Wars Rebels, and Obi-Wan defeating Vader in Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Darth Vader's Armor Makes Him A Tank
In addition to essentially replacing what was gone from Anakin Skywalker’s body, Darth Vader’s armor makes him into a tank. Vader can advance relentlessly against any opponent, regardless if they are wielding a lightsaber. Even if a Jedi manages to get past Darth Vader’s guard, which by itself is a huge challenge considering how skillful with a lightsaber Anakin is, the armor will still protect the Sith Lord. This is why Darth Vader can be such a tough opponent even for those who are trained in the ways of the Force. Those who fared better against Darth Vader in a fight managed to use the Sith’s weight against him.
Obi-Wan Kenobi’s Darth Vader vs. Obi-Wan rematch is one of the best illustrations of what it takes to defeat Vader in a fight. Likewise, Vader vs. Luke in Return of the Jedi shows how much intensity someone must have to even cause some sort of damage to the cyborg Sith. That said, it is interesting to imagine how powerful Darth Vader would have been in Star Wars had Anakin Skywalker not lost most of his body during the fight against Obi-Wan in Revenge of the Sith.