We all know what Darth Vader was capable of when he was the enforcer of the Empire and was the dark lord that struck fear into the hearts of the Rebels during the height of the Empire’s power. In that regard, there is no doubt that he was responsible for killing countless people both directly and indirectly, as he was someone who ended up doing whatever was needed to be done to further the goals of the Empire.
Even before he became Darth Vader, Anakin Skywalker killed many people not because he wanted to but because he had no choice. But when he became a Sith Lord, that was when things changed because he no longer cared about whether it was right or wrong to kill. This led to numerous Jedi, Rebels, and innocent people getting killed at the orders or even at the hands of the dark lord. So, with that said, let’s look at Darth Vader’s kill count in the movies and the TV shows of Star Wars.
How Many People Did Darth Vader Kill in the Movies?
Anakin Skywalker officially became Darth Vader at the end of the Clone Wars in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. This happened when he surrendered himself to Darth Sidious by assisting him in the murder of Jedi Master Mace Windu. Anakin cut off Windu’s arms and allowed Sidious to kill the mighty Jedi Master. That was when he became a Sith Lord and was named “Darth Vader.”
The first character that Darth Vader ever killed after he became a Sith Lord was, unfortunately, a male youngling in the Jedi Temple when he was sent by Sidious to massacre everyone in the Jedi Temple during the events of Order 66. After that, he killed seven more younglings, two Jedi Padawans, and Jedi Battlemaster Cin Drallig. He officially killed 11 Jedi in the Jedi Temple, but that number could be more.
After the events of Order 66, Darth Vader was sent to the Mustafar system to “take care” of the Separatist leaders still alive after the fall of the Separatists. Under the orders of Darth Sidious, Vader killed Chief Aide Denaria Kee, Nank Tun, Magistrate Passel Argente, Senator Po Nudo, Archduke Poggle the Lesser, Settlement Officer Rune Haako, Rute Gunnay, Viceroy Nute Gunray, Senator Tikkes, Cat Miin. Presidente Shu Mai, Chairman San Hill, Emir Foreman Wat Tambor, and two Neimoidian guards. This means that he killed a total of 15 kills in Mustafar. As such, Vader killed at least 26 people in Revenge of the Sith.
Darth Vader killed countless more people during the events that transpired between Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. He killed many people in the comic books, novels, and video games he appeared in during the 19-year gap between the two events. One of his most notable kills was in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, where he killed the Second Sister after she failed to kill Cal Kestis.
Meanwhile, in A New Hope, Vader’s first official kill in Star Wars movie history was Captain Raymus Antilles, who was strangled to death by Vader using the Force. After that, he and Obi-Wan Kenobi engaged in the very first lightsaber duel and killed his old master, who allowed the dark lord to kill him in that duel. Vader eventually boarded his TIE Fighter in the Battle of Yavin and killed Dex Tiree, Jon “Dutch” Vander, Davish “Pops” Krail, Theron Nett, Puck Naeco, Garvin “Dave” Dreis, and Biggs Darklighter. That means that he killed a total of nine people in A New Hope.
More events transpired in the books and novels between Episode IV: A New Hope and Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. In Episode V, Darth Vader used Force choke against an Imperial officer named Admiral Ozzel for dropping out of lightspeed too close to the Rebel base. He later killed Captain Needa after losing track of the Millennium Falcon. In that movie, he killed only a total of two people as he left the dirty work to his men.
Finally, during the events of Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, Darth Vader wasn’t on the ground to battle the Rebels in the Rebellion’s climax. Instead, he took Luke Skywalker to see the emperor in the second Death Star, as the father-and-son duo battled before Darth Sidious. After Luke defeats his father and is able to bring him back from the dark side, Darth Vader kills Emperor Palpatine, who was the most important person he killed in the Star Wars storyline.
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Overall, in the four movies he appeared in as Darth Vader, Anakin killed 38 people. Of course, he killed many more people indirectly by ordering his underlings to kill the Rebels and those who were against him. But directly, he contributed to 38 deaths.
How Many People Did Darth Vader Kill in the TV Shows?
On top of the fact that Darth Vader appeared in four movies and killed many people during his run as a villain in the Star Wars movie franchise, he also appeared as a notable figure in two different Star Wars series. According to the Star Wars timeline, the first series he appeared in was the Obi-Wan Kenobi series.
In Obi-Wan Kenobi, Darth Vader used Force to kill two innocent people out of anger while searching for his old master. This happened in the third episode of the series. And while Vader ordered his men to kill a lot of different insurgents during the events of Obi-Wan Kenobi, he was responsible for only two deaths directly.
Darth Vader returned as a villain during the events of Star Wars: Rebels season 2, where he killed more people. The most notable kill he had was Minister Maketh Tua. He killed five members of the Phoenix Squadron before killing an Imperial officer. Those were the only people he killed in Rebels, as he was directly responsible for seven deaths in that series.
While we all know that Vader had plenty of different appearances in other Star Wars media, such as the books and the comics, he was directly responsible for only a total of nine deaths in the Star Wars TV shows. But he is often credited for killing thousands or even millions of people all over the galaxy since he was the one in command of the different troops that were responsible for killing innocent lives and Jedi during the reign of the Empire.
