# How did Vader know?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-vader-know/174392
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [May 10, 2003, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-vader-know/174392 "2003-05-10T21:43:06Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Earthworm\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthworm_Jim)
#### Post date: [May 10, 2003, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-vader-know/174392/1 "2003-05-10T21:43:06Z")
So, one thing has bugged me for a while -
How did Vader find out that he was Lukes father? Obviously, Obi-wan and Yoda knew who was who. But presumably (from Obi-wans little speech in Jedi) neither Vader nor the Emperor actually knew that he had sired any children. So, how did he go about verifying paternity, as it were, between ANH and Empire?
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### Author:  [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)
#### Post date: [May 10, 2003, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-vader-know/174392/2 "2003-05-10T21:46:06Z")
I’m gonna go out on a limb, here, but…the force?
“…Luke is your sooooooon…”
Not sure who’d get to do the voice, seeing as Mr. JEJ is already taken. Perhaps his father. Now wouldn’t that be ironic.
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### Author:  [@Anamorphic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anamorphic)
#### Post date: [May 10, 2003, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-vader-know/174392/3 "2003-05-10T21:49:55Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Eonwe \*
> **Not sure who’d get to do the voice, seeing as Mr. JEJ is already taken.**
Hmm… never had reason to wonder before, but I’d like to think of Gilbert Gottfried as the voice of ‘the force’, should one ever be needed. 😃
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### Author:  [@jack\_ss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jack_ss)
#### Post date: [May 10, 2003, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-vader-know/174392/4 "2003-05-10T22:05:31Z")
Um, maybe the fact that his last name was ‘Skywalker’, heralding from Tatooine, and being trained by Obi Wan Kenobe had something to do with it.
Maybe he heard Luke whining “It’s just not _fair_”.
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### Author:  [@Orual](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orual)
#### Post date: [May 10, 2003, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-vader-know/174392/5 "2003-05-10T22:28:31Z")
Agreed. the name “Skywalker” was probably the biggest hint.
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### Author:  [@Reverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reverse)
#### Post date: [May 10, 2003, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-vader-know/174392/6 "2003-05-10T22:29:40Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by jack@ss \*
> **Um, maybe the fact that his last name was ‘Skywalker’, heralding from Tatooine, and being trained by Obi Wan Kenobe had something to do with it.**
Yes, I would think that if someone called Skywalker from planet Tatooine would do something like blow up a space station might ring some bells in Vader’s helmet. I mean, that’s what _he_ did. Little bit of a déjà vu there.
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### Author:  [@Goodbeem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Goodbeem)
#### Post date: [May 10, 2003, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-vader-know/174392/7 "2003-05-10T22:35:25Z")
In line with the OP, but a slight hijack
how could Palpatine or Anakin **not** have known he had [alec guiness]any offsping[/alec guiness]? I mean, even for a powerfull Jedi, sleeping with Amydala must have been a memorable experience. So why didn’t they start looking sooner? Two jedi children seem cerainly worth the effort.
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### Author:  [@Reverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reverse)
#### Post date: [May 10, 2003, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-vader-know/174392/8 "2003-05-10T22:39:24Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Goodbeem \*
> \*\*In line with the OP, but a slight hijack
>
> how could Palpatine or Anakin **not** have known he had [alec guiness]any offsping[/alec guiness]? I mean, even for a powerfull Jedi, sleeping with Amydala must have been a memorable experience. So why didn’t they start looking sooner? Two jedi children seem cerainly worth the effort. \*\*
Maybe Anakin was like a lot of young people and didn’t know that sex could lead to pregnancy?
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### Author:  [@Fiat\_Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiat_Lux)
#### Post date: [May 10, 2003, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-vader-know/174392/9 "2003-05-10T22:44:21Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Reverse \*
> \*\*Maybe Anakin was like a lot of young people and didn’t know that sex could lead to pregnancy? \*\*
Judging by his oh-so-smooth performances hitting on Amidala all through AotC, I think it’s a fair bet the lad doesn’t know much about women point blank.
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### Author:  [@Skott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skott)
#### Post date: [May 10, 2003, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-vader-know/174392/10 "2003-05-10T22:49:26Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by arisu \*
> \*\*Agreed. the name “Skywalker” was probably the biggest hint. \*\*
If Yoda and OB1 were trying to hide Luke from his father, why did they allow him to grow up as with a last name of Skywalker anyway?
However, I don’t think Vader was written as Luke’s father in “A New Hope” and the line about Vader killing Luke’s father was true (i.e. it wasn’t from a “certain point of view”).
Still, after Vader tracks down the one who is “strong with the Force” using his spies in the rebellion, and finds out it’s a guy named Skywalker, it may still be a leap to think that he’s his son. I think the story was written in order to give the father/son confrontation without much concern as to how they got there.
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### Author:  [@Goodbeem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Goodbeem)
#### Post date: [May 10, 2003, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-vader-know/174392/11 "2003-05-10T23:23:42Z")
True, he hasn’t been Mr Smooth (Amydala takes all the credit for the conception of Luke and Leia), but what about Palpatine?
Shouldn’t The Emperor at least have asked Anakin what was going on with his floozie?
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### Author:  [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)
#### Post date: [May 10, 2003, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-vader-know/174392/12 "2003-05-10T23:25:02Z")
Vader always knew. His father and Owen fight about the boy. He even left his lightsaber for Luke when he got old enough.
Missing word in your sig Skott.
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### Author:  [@jab1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jab1)
#### Post date: [May 10, 2003, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-vader-know/174392/13 "2003-05-10T23:46:22Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Anamorphic \*
> \*\*Hmm… never had reason to wonder before, but I’d like to think of Gilbert Gottfried as the voice of ‘the force’, should one ever be needed. 😃 \*\*
Him or Bobcat Goldthwait. Or maybe Mel Brooks. 😃 😃
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### Author:  [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)
#### Post date: [May 11, 2003, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-vader-know/174392/14 "2003-05-11T00:01:14Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Skott \*
> \*\*If Yoda and OB1 were trying to hide Luke from his father, why did they allow him to grow up as with a last name of Skywalker anyway? \*\*
Because on Tatooine, the name _Skywalker_ is as common as Johnson is in the US. You can’t swing a dead womp rat without hitting a damn Skywalker.
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### Author:  [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)
#### Post date: [May 11, 2003, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-vader-know/174392/15 "2003-05-11T00:07:00Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Fiat Lux \*
> \*\*Judging by his oh-so-smooth performances hitting on Amidala all through AotC, I think it’s a fair bet the lad doesn’t know much about women point blank. \*\*
Take out “the lad” and replace it with “George Lucas” and I’ll agree with you.
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### Author:  [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)
#### Post date: [May 11, 2003, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-vader-know/174392/16 "2003-05-11T03:04:42Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Fern Forest \*
> \*\*Vader always knew. His father and Owen fight about the boy. He even left his lightsaber for Luke when he got old enough.
> \*\*
Hmm. Never considered that. Vader kills all the Jedi, but purposely lets Obi Wan live and escape with his son, hoping his son will live in obscurity on Tatooine and _not_ end up like his dad. Poignant, foreshadows his eventual redemption, gives his character depth and pathos. I like it!
Needless to say, it’s _not_ going to happen like that in the last movie.
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### Author:  [@Goodbeem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Goodbeem)
#### Post date: [May 11, 2003, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-vader-know/174392/17 "2003-05-11T03:41:17Z")
Yes, that’s how it should go! **Fern Forest** for scriptwriter.
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### Author:  [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)
#### Post date: [May 11, 2003, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-vader-know/174392/18 "2003-05-11T05:12:25Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Miller \*
> \*\*Hmm. Never considered that. Vader kills all the Jedi, but purposely lets Obi Wan live and escape with his son, hoping his son will live in obscurity on Tatooine and _not_ end up like his dad. Poignant, foreshadows his eventual redemption, gives his character depth and pathos. I like it!
> \*\*
Why not off Obi Wan? Kid grows up, doesn’t have a mentor, misses the whole big space war. Give him to some peasant woman (Man!).
Though this’d probably lead to hack fantasy plot #3: Adopted child has special powers and turns out to be related to the Big Bad Guy.
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### Author:  [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)
#### Post date: [May 11, 2003, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-vader-know/174392/19 "2003-05-11T05:19:12Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Why not off Obi Wan?
Cause Obi Wan kicks his ass in Episode III :D.
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### Author:  [@Lizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lizard)
#### Post date: [May 11, 2003, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-vader-know/174392/20 "2003-05-11T05:26:21Z")
I think it’s obvious the Force makes it known. After all, Luke figures out Leia is his sister without being told, and Leia does the same regarding him in RotJ. (“I know. Somehow, I’ve always known. . . .”)
The question is, why couldn’t Luke figure out Vader was his _father?_ Perhaps believing his father was dead caused him to ignore what he felt around Vader, or think it meant something else?
My geek quotient for the week is filled.
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