Darth Vader is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise. He was first introduced in the original film trilogy as one of the leaders of the Galactic Empire. The prequel trilogy chronicles his transformation from the Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker into the Sith Lord Darth Vader. His metamorphosis begins when he is lured to the dark side of the Force by Chancellor Palpatine, who later becomes the Emperor. After a lightsaber battle with his former mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi, Vader is severely injured and is transformed into a cyborg. He serves Palpatine for over two decades, hunting down the remaining Jedi and attempting to crush the Rebel Alliance. When Palpatine tries to kill Vader's son, Luke Skywalker, the Sith Lord turns against his master and destroys him. Vader is the husband of Padmé Amidala, the father of Luke and his twin sister Leia Organa, and the grandfather of Ben Solo.
Obi-Wan "Ben" Kenobi is a character in the Star Wars franchise. In the original film trilogy, he is a Jedi Master who trains Luke Skywalker in the ways of the Force. In the prequel trilogy, he mentors Luke's father, Anakin Skywalker. Obi-Wan is portrayed by Alec Guinness in the original trilogy and by Ewan McGregor in the prequel films. McGregor also plays the character in the television series Obi-Wan Kenobi. Guinness' performance in Star Wars (1977) earned him the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor, as well as a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Yoda is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise. He is a small, green humanoid alien who is powerful with the Force. He first appeared in the 1980 film The Empire Strikes Back, in which he is voiced and puppeteered by Frank Oz, who reprised the role in Return of the Jedi (1983), the prequel trilogy, the sequel trilogy, and the animated series Star Wars Rebels. Other actors who voice Yoda are Tom Kane, Piotr Michael, John Lithgow, Tony Pope and Peter McConnell. In addition to films and television series, Yoda appears in comics, novels, video games and commercials.
Star Wars: Customizable Card Game (SW:CCG) is an out-of-print customizable card game based on the Star Wars fictional universe. It was created by Decipher, Inc., which also produced the Star Trek Customizable Card Game and The Lord of the Rings Trading Card Game. The game was produced from December 1995 until December 2001. Since 2002, the game has been maintained by the Star Wars CCG Players Committee, with new virtual cards being released every few months and the capability to play both in person and online.
"The Imperial March (Darth Vader's Theme)" is a musical theme present in the Star Wars franchise. It was composed by John Williams for the film The Empire Strikes Back. Together with "Yoda's Theme", "The Imperial March" was premiered on April 29, 1980, three weeks before the opening of the film, on the occasion of John Williams' first concert as official conductor-in-residence of the Boston Pops Orchestra. One of the best known symphonic movie themes, it is used as a leitmotif throughout the Star Wars franchise.
Admiral Firmus Piett is a fictional character from the Star Wars franchise, first introduced and portrayed by Kenneth Colley in the 1980 film The Empire Strikes Back. As a supporting villain in command of Darth Vader's flagship, Executor, Piett is generally considered to be the most prominent Imperial officer in the film. He subsequently appeared in the sequel Return of the Jedi, making him the only officer in the original trilogy to appear in more than one film and be portrayed by the same actor. Piett also appears in the canon Star Wars novel Lost Stars, and is featured in several more novels, comic books, and video games within the Star Wars Legends line.
Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire is a 1996 multimedia project created by Lucasfilm. The idea was to create a story set between the films The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, and to explore all commercial possibilities of a full motion picture release without actually making a film. The venture was intended to reinvigorate interest in the franchise ahead of the theatrical Special Editions of the Star Wars trilogy released the following year.
The original Star Wars trilogy, formerly marketed as the Star Wars Trilogy, is the first set of three films produced in the Star Wars franchise, an American space opera created by George Lucas. It was produced by Lucasfilm and distributed by 20th Century Fox, and consists of Star Wars (1977), The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983). Beginning in medias res, the original trilogy serves as the second act of the nine-episode Skywalker Saga. It was followed by a prequel trilogy between 1999 and 2005, and a sequel trilogy between 2015 and 2019. Collectively, they are referred to as the "Skywalker Saga" to distinguish them from spin-off films set within the same universe.
Star Wars is an action game based on the film Star Wars. It was released by Victor Musical Industries for the Family Computer in Japan on November 15, 1991 and by JVC Musical Industries for the Nintendo Entertainment System in North America in November 1991 and in Europe on March 26, 1992. An official mail order "Hint Book" was available for the game upon its release.
Over one hundred video games based on the Star Wars franchise have been released, dating back to some of the earliest home consoles. Some are based directly on films while others rely heavily on the Star Wars Expanded Universe.
Super Star Wars is a 1992 action video game developed by LucasArts and Sculptured Software for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It is based on the 1977 film Star Wars. It was released by JVC Musical Industries in Japan and North America in 1992 and Europe in 1993. The game was followed by two sequels based on the subsequent Star Wars films, Super Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1993) and Super Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (1994). The game was re-released in November 1996 as part of Nintendo's Player's Choice series. It was released on the Wii’s Virtual Console by LucasArts in 2009.
Super Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, also known as Super Empire Strikes Back, is a 1993 action video game developed by LucasArts and Sculptured Software and published by JVC Musical Industries for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It is based on the 1980 film The Empire Strikes Back and is the sequel to Super Star Wars. The game was followed by a sequel, Super Star Wars: Return of the Jedi in 1994. Unlike its predecessor, Nintendo wasn’t involved in its publishing. The game was re-released on the Wii's Virtual Console in North America on August 24, 2009 and in the PAL regions on October 2, 2009, alongside the other games in the Super Star Wars series.
Super Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, also known as Super Return of the Jedi, is a 1994 action video game developed by LucasArts and Sculptured Software and published by JVC Musical Industries for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It is a sequel to Super Star Wars (1992) and Super Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1993) and is based on the 1983 film Return of the Jedi. It was ported to the Game Boy and Game Gear by Realtime Associates, which were published by THQ in 1995. The game was re-released on the Wii Virtual Console in North America on September 7, 2009 and in PAL regions on October 16, 2009, alongside the other games in the Super Star Wars series.
Star Wars Infinities is a graphic novel trilogy published by Dark Horse Comics from 2002 to 2004. It tells a non-canon alternate version of each film in the original Star Wars trilogy in which a point of divergence occurs and changes the outcome of the story. Each individual Infinities story is unrelated to the others and is set within the timeline of their original film.
Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire is a third-person shooter video game developed by LucasArts and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. A port for Windows was released by LucasArts in 1997. It is primarily a third-person shooter, with multiple types of vehicular combat sequences.
Star Wars Miniatures is a 34mm scale collectible miniatures tabletop game based on the Star Wars fictional universe that was produced by Wizards of the Coast. The game was originally released in September 2004 and continued production until May 2010. Star Wars Miniatures players build point-based squads from one of ten different in-universe factions then conduct battles between those squads. The game mechanics are a simplified version of the d20 roleplaying game system. Multiple maps, scenarios, and set themes from different settings and time periods from within the Star Wars universe are available.
The Empire Strikes Back is a science-fiction novelization written by Donald F. Glut and first published by Del Rey. It is based on the screenplay to the film of the same name by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan. Along with the film, it introduces new characters, most notably Lando Calrissian and Boba Fett.
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is a 2008 action-adventure game developed and published by LucasArts, and part of The Force Unleashed multimedia project. It was initially developed for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii, and Xbox 360 consoles and on iOS, second-generation N-Gage, Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable, and Java-equipped mobile phone handhelds. The game was released in North America on September 16, 2008, in Australia and Southeast Asia on September 17, and in Europe on September 19. LucasArts released downloadable content for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles. An Ultimate Sith Edition of the game, containing both new and previously released downloadable content, was released in November 2009, and later ported to Mac OS X and Windows. An enhanced remaster of the Wii version, developed by Aspyr, was released for the Nintendo Switch on April 20, 2022.
"Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II" is a 2008 episode of the television comedy series Robot Chicken, and the sequel to the Annie Award winning "Robot Chicken: Star Wars", which aired as a one-off special during Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block on November 16, 2008. Like "Robot Chicken: Star Wars", it has been released on its own DVD on July 21, 2009, and will not be part of a season box set. The DVD contains the original broadcast version, and the "Extended Version", which features an additional 15 minutes of footage cut from the broadcast version. It was nominated for a 2009 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program.
