Darth Vader with Vader. The original design of Darth Vader's costume did not originally include a helmet. The idea that Vader should wear a breathing apparatus was first proposed by concept artist Ralph McQuarrie during preproduction discussions for "Star Wars" with George Lucas in 1975. In an interview with "Star Wars Insider" Magazine, McQuarrie stated that Lucas's artistic direction was to portray a malevolent figure in a cape with Samurai armour. "For Darth Vader, George [Lucas] just said he would like to have a very tall, dark fluttering figure that had a spooky feeling like it came in on the wind." McQuarrie
Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire the job after writing the novelizations of "The Mask" for Bantam, and "Aliens" based upon graphic novels by Dark Horse Comics, which had been licensed by Lucasfilm to create "Star Wars" comics. In addition to the original "Star Wars" trilogy, Perry read the first spin-off novel in the franchise, "Splinter of the Mind's Eye", to get an idea of how to write for Vader. A prequel novel was planned, to be written by author Charles Grant, but was cancelled due to a Lucasfilm Licensing move from Bantam to Del Rey Books. The comic book emphasizes the destiny of Boba Fett