# Why did Obi-Wan call Vader "Darth" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 23, 2009, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-obi-wan-call-vader-darth/500698 "2009-06-23T09:20:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-obi-wan-call-vader-darth/500698/1 "2009-06-23T09:20:37Z")
In a new hope when they had their duel? Yes yes, I know the real resaon is at the time the writers had not made Darth Vader=Anakin Skywalker, but in Starwars Universe would it not make much more sence for him to call him “Anakin”? Especially since we now know that “Darth” is a title. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-obi-wan-call-vader-darth/500698/2 "2009-06-23T09:40:37Z")
I once worked with a man who had legally changed his name to “Lorenzo”. Although most of us knew what his prior name had been, we did not use it, we used “Lorenzo”. Anakin used the name “Darth Vader” by the time of _A New Hope_, he’d changed his name. As for using “Darth” - how is it different from referring to a “Dr. Jones” as “doctor”? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-obi-wan-call-vader-darth/500698/3 "2009-06-23T09:41:07Z")
Bitterness. A reflection of his complete rejection of the friend he used to be. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-obi-wan-call-vader-darth/500698/4 "2009-06-23T09:42:26Z")
^ I thought that leaving him burning on a volcanic planet had already signified that? ---
**Author:** ![Jman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jman/32/4416_2.png) [@Jman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jman)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-obi-wan-call-vader-darth/500698/5 "2009-06-23T09:45:48Z")
Well, the real reason is that Darth wasn’t made up as a title yet, I believe. I don’t think Lucas had it in mind at the time the first film was made that it was to be a title. I’m not up on any of the EU stuff, though, so I have no idea when that came up. I could be completely wrong, though. Of course, in reality, much like Dumbledore calls Voldemort ‘Tom’ in the Harry Potter books, Obi-Wan would have likely called him Anakin if this were not a work of fiction where you are trying to keep the ‘big secret’ until the next film. Unless, of course, his betrayal to the dark side hurt Obi-Wan so badly that he truly considered Anakin dead and murdered. ---
**Author:** ![Scougs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scougs/32/3158_2.png) [@Scougs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scougs)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-obi-wan-call-vader-darth/500698/6 "2009-06-23T10:08:42Z")
I definitely don’t think Darth was a title at this point in the evolution of the story. I think it was his first name, which Obi-Wan used in a kind of belittling way. Kind of like “Only a master of evil, Bob”. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-obi-wan-call-vader-darth/500698/7 "2009-06-23T10:49:24Z")
In terms of fanwank, **Broomstick** has it: Obi-Wan is essentially calling him “Doc”. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-obi-wan-call-vader-darth/500698/8 "2009-06-23T10:55:14Z")
It can easily be considered a dismissive reference to his so-called “title”. There isn’t any real vitriol in it, making it all the more hurtful. This is, of course, all just retroactive fanwank. ---
**Author:** ![cactus\_waltz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@cactus\_waltz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cactus_waltz)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-obi-wan-call-vader-darth/500698/9 "2009-06-23T12:36:25Z")
“Only a master of evil, Darth” is a pretty corny line any which way you look at it. ---
**Author:** ![johnspartan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a183cd/32.png) [@johnspartan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnspartan)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-obi-wan-call-vader-darth/500698/10 "2009-06-23T12:52:00Z")
Right. The real quandary isn’t why he doesn’t refer to him as Anakin (Obi-Wan has made it pretty clear that he considers Anakin dead)… the real question is as we eventually learn Darth is a title or rank of some sort, so it would be like saying “Alright, duke. Yes, duke.” But then, they do seem to have a habit of referring to the emperor as the emperor. So you could just write it up as “regional” social norms. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-obi-wan-call-vader-darth/500698/11 "2009-06-23T12:58:24Z")
This is one of the lamest Star Wars nitpicks, and that’s saying a lot. Barack Obama’s name is not “president”, but no alarms would go off if you said, “Hello, president.” ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-obi-wan-call-vader-darth/500698/12 "2009-06-23T13:28:46Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > This is one of the lamest Star Wars nitpicks, and that’s saying a lot. Barack Obama’s name is not “president”, but no alarms would go off if you said, “Hello, president.” I don’t think it’s _that_ lame. I’m as big a Star Wars geek as any, and this line sticks out like a sore thumb to me. It can be wanked away, sure, but it’s the only time Darth Vader is ever referred to as Darth, not Vader or Darth Vader. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-obi-wan-call-vader-darth/500698/13 "2009-06-23T13:29:10Z")
My old college roommate, as debauched a libertine as I’d ever encountered, became a Presbyterian minister later in life. I never miss an opportunity to call him “Reverend.” ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-obi-wan-call-vader-darth/500698/14 "2009-06-23T13:35:43Z")
I don’t find it that big of a hurdle one needs to dismiss for the prequels to mesh with the original. The bigger hurdle has always been why they let Luke keep his last name “Skywalker” when he was supposed to be hidden from his father “Skywalker”. ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-obi-wan-call-vader-darth/500698/15 "2009-06-23T13:42:14Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > This is one of the lamest Star Wars nitpicks, and that’s saying a lot. Barack Obama’s name is not “president”, but no alarms would go off if you said, “Hello, president.” ..because that’s the social norm, you don’t call the king of Spain “King” you call him “Your majesty”. There’s a difference between the title and the style. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-obi-wan-call-vader-darth/500698/16 "2009-06-23T13:51:27Z")
> [@Krokodil](#): > > ..as debauched a libertine as I’d ever encountered.. Since this _is_ Cafe Society, I’ll go ahead and say that it warms my heart to read such a phrase used seriously in 2009. Worth the subscription right there. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-obi-wan-call-vader-darth/500698/17 "2009-06-23T13:54:43Z")
To me, the line is dismissive. Had he held any affection for him or recognized any glimpse of remaining humanity, he might have called him Anakin, or Skywalker, or even Vader, but calling him Darth was like calling him simply “Sith.” It’s like if I went to a former friend’s restaurant and called him “waiter” instead of “Steve.” ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-obi-wan-call-vader-darth/500698/18 "2009-06-23T14:11:06Z")
Seems like a good rib/taunt/“making a point” to me. Sith Lords are called Darth. So in saying “Only a master of evil, _Darth_” makes the point that he’s not the man he used to be, that he’s gone from being a Jedi to being a Sith Lord. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-obi-wan-call-vader-darth/500698/19 "2009-06-23T14:42:24Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > I don’t find it that big of a hurdle one needs to dismiss for the prequels to mesh with the original. > The bigger hurdle has always been why they let Luke keep his last name “Skywalker” when he was supposed to be hidden from his father “Skywalker”. Because they were passing him off as the son of the other skywalkers… ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-obi-wan-call-vader-darth/500698/20 "2009-06-23T15:49:08Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > Because they were passing him off as the son of the other skywalkers… You know, those _other_, no-relation Skywalkers who just happened to leave their boy with Anakin’s half-brother. In the place where Anakin’s mother is buried. On the planet where Anakin was born. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-obi-wan-call-vader-darth/500698.md?page=2)