Was Darth Vader Actually Created By Brian DePalma?

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The similarities between Brian DePalma's misanthropic main character in rock opera Phantom of the Paradise and Darth Vader of Star Wars (and heavy breathing) fame are undeniable, and one of the most overlooked influences in the history of geekdom.

Here's a blurb which describes the Phantom and illustrates the similarities between the two characters:

He’s a character of superhuman power and strength, clad in black leather and a flowing cloak, with a stylized helmet to cover hideous scars on his face. The damage to his vocal cords means he breathes with an eerie rasp, and has a box with lights and switches on his chest to help modulate his voice. He retreats to an egg-shaped chamber where he can meditate and find peace. He’s not wholly evil, but has been enslaved by someone who is: a cruel master who exploits his unique powers in order to further his own, evil ends.

DePalma's Phantom of the Paradise came out in 1974, he conceived of the story well before it was released, and Lucas and DePalma are close friends.

So, is Darth Vader a Phantom ripoff? Lucas ran with a different idea, and created a more fully realized character so I wouldn't say it's a total ripoff. But did the Phantom influence Lucas' "vision", and help bring Darth to the big screen? No question.

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This is pretty old news. It's a similarity that was pointed out on the great Phantom of the Paradise fan site, the Swan Archives, at http://www.swanarchives.org , eons ago. Their take on it: "The Phantom's heavy breathing on the soundtrack reminds us a lot of the wheezing noise made by another famous damaged villain, who will make his first appearance a couple of years later, in Star Wars. But that's where the similarities end; it's not like that other character has injuries that require him to wear a voicebox with switches and dials on his chest to enable him to talk, wears a cape, mask and black leather from head to toe, or...oh, wait. Yes he does. (As is well known, Lucas and De Palma were friends, and even collaborated at times: they ran joint auditions for Star Wars and Carrie; De Palma wrote the opening crawl for Star Wars; and Lucas hired editor Paul Hirsch to work on Star Wars having been impressed with his work on Phantom.) We think it's impossible that Darth Vader's look was not inspired, in part, by the Phantom's."