Dark Side (Star Wars) - Original Trilogy

Original Trilogy

The dark side is first mentioned in A New Hope as Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness) is explaining the Force to Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill). When speaking of his former pupil, Darth Vader, Kenobi says "Vader was seduced by the dark side of the Force." Vader is later shown using the dark side to choke Admiral Motti, an ability portrayed in greater detail in subsequent films. Luke Skywalker uses the same move to choke the guards at Jabba the Hutt's cave in 'Return of the Jedi', which may mean that this is not specifically a dark side power, or to signify potential darkness in Luke, or that it is simply a form of applied telekinesis.

Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back elaborates on the dark side's power. Yoda (Frank Oz) tells Luke that fear and anger will pull him to the dark side, and that there is no turning back from a dark path; Vader, meanwhile, entreats Luke to "know the power of the dark side" and become his apprentice.

In Return of the Jedi, Luke comes perilously close to succumbing to the dark side during a duel with Vader, in which the Sith Lord suggests turning the young Jedi's sister Leia to the dark side, sending Luke into a rage in which he nearly kills his father. Vader claims to Luke Skywalker that by joining him on the dark side both of them can channel their powers together to bring an end to the Galactic Civil War and bring order to the Galaxy. Palpatine plays on Luke's fear for the safety of his friends to release his anger and kill Vader, which would turn him to the dark side. Luke, horrified at his own actions, refuses to deliver the killing stroke. He then foolishly ignores Yoda's warning not to underestimate the Emperor's power, and he tosses his lightsaber aside. This leaves him vulnerable to attack, and Palpatine attacks with a torrent of Force lightning. His son's cries of pain break the dark side's hold on Vader, and he turns on Palpatine, throwing him down the Death Star's power reactor to his death; in the process, he is mortally wounded by Palpatine's lightning. With his dying breaths, the redeemed Anakin Skywalker (Sebastian Shaw) admits to his son that the good within him had not been destroyed after all, and then becomes one with the light side of the Force.