Star Wars: How Tall Is Darth Vader?

Cinema was forever changed the first time Darth Vader stepped onto the silver screen in 1977's "Star Wars." The imposing figure of the all-black, Dark Lord of the Sith stepping into the hallway of the Tantive IV in search of the Death Star plans made the audience instantly aware of how truly dangerous Vader is. On top of that, he holds a man up by the throat, using only one arm, and kills him. That's not something your average person can do, even in a galaxy far, far away.

Regardless, Vader did that and Force-choked numerous people, and while his prowess with the Force is certainly impressive, another aspect of Vader that's undeniable is his height. He stands over most people, which adds to the fear he instills in others. It's difficult to determine the character's exact height from the movies, but fortunately, StarWars.com lists Darth Vader's height at an impressive 6-feet-6-inches, making him taller than his son by one foot.

While Anakin Skywalker was no slouch, Vader is considerably taller, and the reason for this is his cybernetics. After Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) slashes off his remaining arm and legs during their fight on Mustafar, Anakin (Hayden Christensen) is outfitted with cybernetic replacements. These add to the character's overall height, and while the franchise website lists quite an impressive height, it's not as simple as that, because the original actor who played Vader, David Prowse, was unusually tall even without boots or a helmet.

One of the reasons David Prowse was hired for the role was his height after George Lucas noticed him in "A Clockwork Orange." He was given the choice of playing either Vader or Chewbacca, a role that ultimately went to Peter Mayhew. Because Prowse was 6 feet, 6 inches, it's likely Vader was slightly taller, by as many as 2 inches. This is because he wore boots and a helmet, which would have added to his height.

Vader has been played by over a dozen actors, but when looking at heights, Prowse and Hayden Christensen are front and center. That's largely because Prowse established the character in costume, while Christensen did so without. He eventually stepped into the Vader costume at the end of "Revenge of the Sith," but most of his time on screen had been as Anakin Skywalker. Christensen is 6 feet tall, which suggests that the cybernetic legs he received when he became Vader added six inches to his height.

When Disney purchased the "Star Wars" franchise from George Lucas in 2012, the company placed almost all expanded universe content into Legends. This separated decades of books, comics, games, and more from canon. Oddly enough, Vader's height in Legends is listed at 6-feet-8-inches. This accounts for the costume's added padding that Prowse wore in the Original Trilogy. It's unclear why Disney shorted Vader a couple of inches, but even his originally listed height makes him taller than most.