The Truth About Darth Vader's Momin Helmet
Following his Revenge of the Sith duel against Obi-Wan Kenobi and the execution of Order 66, the newly-christened Darth Vader began his rise to galactic prominence. Now the public figurehead of the Empire, he spent the coming years hunting down the last vestiges of the Jedi, with the help of the infamous Imperial Inquisitors. Despite his success, his relationship with his master, Darth Sidious, began to sour thanks to the limitations of his cyborg form. As a result, the Emperor sought out new apprentices to eventually replace Vader and rule at his side — obviously finding no substantial success.
Knowing full well what was going on, Vader continued his galaxy-wide crusade that his master sent him on — fueled by his hatred for the monster he'd become and his clear lack of agency. Simultaneously, Sidious helped Vader hone his abilities by assigning him mission after mission and finding new ways to push the limits of his life-supporting armor, ensuring he got the most out of his imperfect apprentice. From time to time, he'd even employ more unorthodox methods to further Vader's fall to the Dark Side.
A prime example of this is when the Emperor gifted him a helmet that once belonged to a Sith Lord named Momin, which was recovered from the Jedi vault on Coruscant. In no time at all, this Dark Side relic turned out to be more than Vader bargained for. Here's what you need to know about it.
An artifact of darkness
Introduced in the Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith comic series from Charles Soule, Momin was once a twisted artist whose works landed him in prison for their offensive nature. Recognizing his potential, Darth Shaa took him as her Sith apprentice until he betrayed and killed her, going on to study the Dark Side at his own pace. His education led to him creating a superweapon capable of freezing its victims so that he could admire their terror. Luckily, the Jedi of the pre-Clone Wars era put a stop to his plan, causing the dissolution of Momin's physical form and his mask becoming the new home for his consciousness.
Many years later, Darth Vader wound up with Momin's headpiece and he took it with him to Mustafar where he planned to construct his castle. The helmet told the Dark Lord of its owner's past and even convinced him to allow it to transfer its spirit to the body of a Mustafarian, granting Momin a physical form once again. Now among the land of the living, Momin and Vader got to work on a fortress capable of tuning the Dark Side locus on the planet. Although, after its completion, Momin turned on Vader and reconstructed his original body via a Dark Side gateway, but was killed after their brief skirmish.
Even in death, Momin wasn't finished tormenting Vader. The former Anakin Skywalker stepped through the portal Momin opened and saw a vision of his late wife, Padme Amidala. He attempted to revive her, but she denied his efforts since he was now a slave to the Dark Side of the Force. Crushed, Vader departed the gateway, destroyed Momin's work, and fell deeper into his new persona as a Sith Lord — just as the forward-thinking Emperor Palpatine intended when he chose to give him Momin's helmet.