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As the franchise has grown, myths about Star Wars have taken hold, most famously a misremembering of Darth Vader’s infamous line, telling Luke that he is his father. Several of these myths are common knowledge among Star Wars fans, but are completely wrong.
5) Darth Vader Says, “Luke, I am your father.”
The reveal that Darth Vader was actually Luke Skywalker’s father is one of the most pivotal points in The Empire Strikes Back, and with good reason. Darth Vader is Luke’s worst enemy and the face of everything the Rebel Alliance is fighting against, so the reveal that they are related turns everything upside down for Luke — and for the audience.
The reveal scene is so famous that Rick Moranis’s Dark Helmet lampoons it in Spaceballs, saying, “I am your father’s brother’s nephew’s cousin’s former roommate.” Contrary to popular knowledge, however, Darth Vader does not say, “Luke, I am your father.” The actual line is, “No, I am your father,” and it is in response to Luke accusing him of killing his father.
4) Darth Vader’s Name Was a Clue That He Was Luke’s Father
Many fans have latched onto the fact that “Vader” means “father” in Dutch. This coincidence makes it seem as if the reveal was planned all along and that George Lucas named Darth Vader to give fans a hint of his true identity.
However, this “fact” is nothing but a coincidence. Lucas didn’t plan on Luke being Darth Vader’s son when he started writing the original Star Wars — the idea didn’t come to him until he was writing The Empire Strikes Back. Furthermore, if Lucas had wanted to foreshadow the relationship between Luke and Darth Vader, he would have used a less obscure clue. Most Americans do not speak Dutch, and thus wouldn’t recognize the meaning of the word.
3) George Lucas Knew From the Beginning He Wanted Three Trilogies
The Star Wars movies fit together so well that fans often assume that George Lucas planned it that way from the beginning. However, Lucas never expected to write one trilogy when he began, let alone three.
Lucas has never been completely clear about his original intentions — sometimes he says he always planned for a sequel, while other times he states Star Wars (later renamed A New Hope) was originally intended to be a standalone. In any case, he certainly had not planned for the prequels when he wrote the first movie — at the earliest, he began planning a bigger saga while writing The Empire Strikes Back.
