The 15 spookiest moments in the Skywalker Saga

1. Vader’s first appearance in A New Hope

When Darth Vader first makes his appearance in the opening scene of A New Hope, he’s a towering menacing presence in black mechanical armor and a mask. And then we notice the breathing, which sounds labored and somewhat distorted. It becomes a signature sound of impending danger. We don’t know anything about the person behind the mask, but we get the impression, probably at about the moment he chokes Captain Antilles to death, that he’s someone we’d never want to come in contact with. His voice, performed by legendary actor James Earl Jones, rounds out the complete package of terrifying intimidation that is Darth Vader.

As the saga continues, Vader proves to be an unpredictable force of violence and rage as he executes those who disappoint him, tortures his own daughter (though he didn’t realize who she was at the time), and slices his own son’s hand off. He even tries to murder Obi-Wan Kenobi, who was once his best friend, and he was instrumental in the death of his wife. Although Vader achieves redemption at the end of Return of the Jedi, the Skywalker Saga paints him in the darkest of moral colors possible, making him one of the spookiest aspects of the Star Wars franchise.