When he is spoken of, images of death and fear are conjured up. This is because Vader did kill thousands, of people, either Jedi Knights or innocent populations of peace-loving planets. He seemed to have no compassion, only hatred. But the truth was that he did have compassion, feelings, the ability to love. Although Vader was virtually all machine, he was a man. Under all those circuits, electronics and breathing apparatus, lived a real human being. Since meeting Luke, Vader was constantly fighting a battle within himself, man against machine, light against dark, good against evil. As shown in the second Death Star, the good side won, with Darth saving Luke by throwing Palpatine into the core of the Death Star.

Luke had been right about Vader, there was good in him. Nobody had believed him, not even Obi-Wan, but in the end, the love between father and son won the day.

But why did Vader turn into the monster that he became? Before the black suit, there had been a man: Anakin Skywalker. Anakin was a good man, and a highly skilful pilot. When he set out to become a Jedi, he followed the light path of the Force. But the temptation of the dark side overcame him and he began to follow the dark path, with the help of a Senator Palpatine. Obi-Wan realised this and knew he had to put a stop to it, therefore he confronted Anakin after trying to turn him back to the good side. But the dark side had already consumed Anakin, and a vicious battle ensued. They were both strong in the Force, but Obi-Wan carried with him the experience of many duels, whereas Anakin had little or no experience. It was therefore inevitable that Obi-Wan would win, though it was due more to luck than anything else. Anakin fell into an open lava pit, and was left for dead by Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan picked up Anakin's lightsaber, which was later handed down to Luke. What Obi-Wan did not realise was that Anakin had escaped from the lava pit, and it had its toll on him, leaving his whole body burned and scarred, his lungs burnt practically to a crisp. Palpatine took him under his wing, knowing that Anakin possessed a power potent enough to help him wipe out the Jedi Knights and take control of the galaxy. Therefore, Anakin was encased in a suit, which would allow him to walk among all sentient beings, and which made him almost invincible. It was only fitting that the suit should be black, to match his heart, and mask to be as menacing as possible. That was after all the doctrine of the Empire: rule by fear.

Palpatine rose to power, became Emperor, and Vader became his second-in-command. He had the Emperor's complete trust, well almost complete. His allegiance came into question after his battle with Luke on Cloud City, where he offered Luke the chance to rule the galaxy with him. Vader always thought that Palpatine never knew of that conversation. He underestimated his master's powers, and was then used to get to Luke, so that he could prove that he was still loyal to his Emperor, by bringing his own son before Palpatine. Even though Vader was so favoured by the Emperor, he still had enemies within the Empire. The most danegrous of these was Prince Xizor, head of the Black Sun organisation. Xizor, when he learned of what Vader had been sen to do he had toknow what was so important about Skywalker. He of course knew a little about Vader#s past, but was extremely surprised to find out about Luke#s heritage. It was with this information that Xizor formulated a plan to destroy Vader#s influence within the Empire. If he could kill Luke, not only would he have destroyed what little remainbed of the Dark Lord#s family, but he would also gain great favour with the Emperor.

Vader found put about the plan, and sought out to destroy Xizor once and for all. He eventually cornered the prince on his skyhook about Coruscant, and there Vader used his super star destroyer to oblitereate the skyhook. With Xizor out of the way, Darth was able to comeplete his quest to find his son and bring him before Palpatine. Just one question remained in the Vader#s mind: would he be able to strike down his own flesh and blood as he had struck down Ben on the forst Death Star? Of course in the end he could not, and he died in the process. As he was dying in the arms of his son, he told Luke that he had been right about him: there was good in Vader, there was Anakin. With that, one of the most feared beings in the galaxy became one with the light side of the Force, having sent the most feared being into the madness that is beyond death which is the punishment for using the Dark Side..

Vader died a reprieved man, he died as he came into the universe. He died as Anakin Skywalker.

But Vader only died a reprieved man in the eyes of his son, and not his daughter. Leia could not accept that the man who had destroyed her planet, killing her foster parents. She did not want to believe that the blood of the man who had murdered countless thousands was running in her veins. She only accepted the truth after Vader, in the form of Anakin, visited her during the crisis at Bakura. His soul was not at peace, for he had not been forgiven by one whom he held dearly to his heart. He explained to Leia about himself, why he had done what he had done. He begged for forgiveness, not absolution, for he knew that he would never be granted that. Leia turned her back on him, even when he told her that he would never be able to see her again. As he faded away forever, he told Leia that although unseen, he would hear her when she called. Leia still could not forgive him, but during the battle of Bakura, she finally came to understand what Anakin had done, and why. It was then that she realised that she could, and would, forgive him. With this, Anakin's spirit was freed, never to return, but always there to listen.

So maybe there is some good in everyone, even the most evil of people. But then again, there may not.