Once you've been introduced to the instantly imposing figure, his screentime is relatively brief in that first film. The idea that with only a little crawl of backstory, and just a few moments of establishing shots, a villain of this magnitude could be introduced in such a nonchalant yet impressive way is so foreign to modern cinema.

From the moment the black-caped and armored character marched onto the screen, surrounded in starkly contrasting white stormtroopers, you knew: this guy is bad. As with most of these columns, the reasons why Darth Vader is unique also reach into why he's the best.