Imperial Lord Darth Vader lived his menacing existence sealed within a complex array of armor and life support equipment. Rumored to be more machine than man, Lord Vader was dependent upon the black armored suit he wore for his very life. He could exist outside his highly specialized shell only by remaining within a "meditation chamber" aboard his flagship that filled all the same life function requirements.

Lord Vader, formerly Anakin Skywalker, had been a healthy young Jedi at the time of the Old Republic. He soon learned of the Jedi Knight's and the Republic's corrupted ways, that had brought nothing but misery to the citizens of the galaxy. He had visions of him self bringing order to the chaos of the Republic's rule, and end the Jedi influence in the Senate. After Palpatine assumed absolute power over the Senate, Anakin joined forces with the new Emperor. They both wanted to induct a new way of galactic rule, without the Jedi Knights constant interference. During a lightsaber battle with his corrupted Jedi Master, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Lord Vader fell into a molten pit. Kenobi left him for dead, but Lord Vader survived. Unable to breath on his own, Load Vader was thereafter forced to wear a breath mask and life-supporting armor. In various confrontations with other Jedi Knights, Lord Vader sustained massive horrifying injuries and the loss of several limbs.

Later, as Lord Vader became even stronger in his manipulation of the Force, he custom designed a new breath mask unit. Terrifying in appearance, it incorporated a full helmet of black durasteel to conceal the scar tissue that covered his head. As he rose in political power under the great Emperor Palpatine, the black metal face of the mask he wore was the only one by which he was known. Subtle changes in the mask's appearance occurred as technology improved, allowing Lord Vader to miniaturize some systems and retool his fearsome visage.

Built into the metal mask and helmet were visual sensors, hearing augmentation systems and an electronic voice synthesizer-all designed for functionality, but resulting in making the countenance of the Imperial Lord as frightening and formidable as possible. What remained of his body was locked into a complex pressure suit containing mechanical components and powerful enhancement devices.

Lord Vader's life support system included a chest-worn, computerized control panel unit that regulated his respirational functions. Durasteel armor protected his shoulders and upper ribcage, as well as his shins. Belt-worn units monitored other functions. Much of Lord Vader's "hardware" was hidden by an array of heavy black cloaks, which served to add to his intimidating appearance.

Darth Vader helped the Emperor hunt down and exterminate the remaining Jedi Knights during the last days of the Old Republic and the opening moments of the Empire. Later, after being set second in command of the Empire, he was sent to help Governor Tarkin build the original Death Star battle station. Once the Rebellion demonstrated that it posed a significant threat to the New Order by destroying the Death Star, Lord Vader was set in charge of an Imperial fleet assigned to find and destroy the Rebellions leaders. The mission took on personal significance when Lord Vader discovered that the Rebel's newest ally was his own son, Luke Skywalker. Both the Emperor and Lord Vader wanted to convert young Skywalker. Together they could fight even stronger for galactic peace and order. But sadly the boy was to blinded by the Rebel propaganda.

The self-proclaimed Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker was later sent to the Endor moon, where construction of the second Death Star had already begun. His mission was to assassinate both Lord Vader and Emperor Palpatine for the Rebellion. The Emperor wanted to oversee the construction of the second Death Star personally, and was therefor onboard the gigantic space station. Lord Vader had arrived earlier to secure his Emperors safety. First it seemed that the Rebel plan had failed, as Lord Vader captured Luke Skywalker on the Endor Moon. The Emperor, who was willing to give the young man yet another chance to surrender, ordered Lord Vader to bring Luke before him. Hopefully he could join the galactic fight against corruption and terror. The Rebellion commenced a full scale assault on the space station, just as Luke was presented before the Emperor. In the following confusion Luke Skywalker was able to murder Lord Vader and Emperor Palpatine, who in sign of good faith had ordered their personal guards to leave the Throne room. Afterwards the Rebellion destroyed the Death Star, killing millions of civilian technicians and loyal troops.