Darth Vader Gets Turned Into A Hero, The Black Knight

Darth Vader might be Star Wars heavy-breathing baddie, but the iconic villain does seem to have his own heroic moments in Marvel's Star Wars: Vader series.

Sure, Star Wars fans might remember the Sith Lord's many crimes like the act of slaughtering innocent and defenceless younglings in Revenge of Sith, taking out an entire village of Twi'leks on Ryloth, and torturing his own daughter in A New Hope, but not everyone in the Star Wars universe is aware of Vader's reputation. Well, at least in Star Wars: Vader – Dark Visions #1.

In this comic by Dennis Hallum, Paolo Villanelli, Arif Prianto and Joe Caramgna, a naive child on a barren terrestrial planet comes across Vader, only to see him as, well, a hero. The comic starts in Cianap, a planet that was once advanced in nature, only to fall in ruins. Above the surface of the planet, the Galactic Civil War continues as the Empire and the Rebel Alliance battle against each other in a dogfight.

Underneath all this fighting on land is a blue-skinned alien child who dreams of a better life.

When Darth Vader's TIE Fighter gets hit, the Sith Lord is forced to make an emergency landing on the planet for repairs. However, as his ship crashes on to the surface of Cianap, the natives begin to scream in fear because of where the TIE Advanced is headed.

"Death from above," the natives yells, "Heading straight for the Ender!"

While the other natives start retreating to the tunnels, the boy decides to inspect the TIE Fighter. Before long, Darth Vader kicks down the door of the ship, immerging with his lightsaber. Right beneath him and his TIE Fighter is the massive Cianapan monster called the Ender.

The Sith Lord then slays the Ender, leaving the beast's exoskeleton just as damage to the beast and saving the boy from certain death in the process.

The boy thanks Vader, in his mind calling the Sith Lord his savior and his hero, the Black Knight.

It's a strange thing seeing Vader being a Black Knight, but then again fans are reminded of the time the villain decides to turn on Palpatine and save his son in Return of the Jedi. Guess heroism and villainy can always be seen "from a certain point of view."

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