My good friend in high school was fond of saying that Vader/Ani had dissociative identity disorder.
In fact, I’d say Vader make such an effective villain because he *isn’t *insane. He’s intensely loyal, highly disciplined, deeply principled and has a strong work ethic. Where’s the crazy?
Well, he throws his boss down a deep hole to his death, so he’s not THAT loyal.
Only because he stopped acting rationally and let sentiment get the better of him.
Or maybe he reached the conclusion that loyalty to family was more important than loyalty to liege.
I like Lore Sjöberg’s explanation, personally.
the rub is, it’s at the moment where he stopped being loyal that he stopped being a villain. i agree that vader was a great villain because he was such an automaton, and robots make for the best villains because they don’t screw up. think of how much more terrifying the droid army would be if they were actual robots programmed and designed to kill? the irony of course being that the biological clone army is the more efficient, ruthless militar