Why does Vaders suit make him slow and less powerful?

[GeneHunt]

Other people who have become almost all machine don't have that problem, look at general grevious.

"The Dark Lord" said that its because the droids were in a hurry so didnt do as good a job as they could have, I can buy that in the short term but why not upgrade him?

And why does a suit have anything to do with ones afinity with the force? Surely you could be little more than a head and still be strong in the force?

 

[Mr Light]

The Force comes from life and matter. Losing body mass results in a loss of Force ability. Since Vader ain't got no arms or legs, he lost what about 50% of his mass? And thus about 50% of his power.

I'm sure if Lucas had made the OT today, Vader's cybernetics would have made him be able to move faster than the eye could see and fly around on boot-jets

 

[RoJoHen]

Half of his midichlorians got eaten by lava!

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Only two people were capable of beating Vader one-on-one, the Emperor and Luke. Luke couldn't beat Vader until the very end. On the other hand, the Emperor could always beat Vader, until the very end.

The Emperor would have no interest in letting Vader get any stronger. Yet Vader was already powerful enough to serve the Emperor's ends.

I suspect that a fully matured Anakin could have beaten the Emperor.

In other words, the Emperor gimped Vader on purpose.

 

[the G-man]

I always saw it as Vader appeared to move slow because he was basically an unstoppable, methodical, killing machine. He didn't need stealth or speed because he had no match and very little was a threat to him.

Furthermore, in the OT there were examples of him moving fast when need be, such as during the first death star dogfight and later when he blocked Han's blaster ray with his hand.

 

[Derishton]

I just assume that his suit is a prosthetic device which augments his badly wounded body, combined CorporalCaptain's observation that the Emperor possibly struck a balance between a suit that made Vader useful without being too dangerous to him.

I also agree that Vader could move fast when he wished, but would add that Anakin was already inclined to a straightforward unstoppability as early as the attack on the young Jedi kids.

 

[Mach5]

Vader wasn't slow. He was just never in a hurry. This is the most badass villain in history we're talking about. I think TESB showed us that his force powers were still formidable, if not intact. And the only real reason he never shot force lightning bolts was because they would have fried the circuits in his mechanical arms.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

There's no evidence that either Anakin or Vader rose to the level of being able to generate Force lightning. The only use of Force lightning by Vader was a) in the EU and was b) only possible because Vader was in close proximity to the Kaiburr crystal; normally Vader didn't have enough Force power to generate Force lightning [http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Force_lightning#Force_lightning_users].

I agree with the G-man that Vader was intentionally depicted as an "unstoppable, methodical, killing machine".

 

[Timelord79 (he/him)]

There's no evidence that either Anakin or Vader rose to the level of being able to generate Force lightning. The only use of Force lightning by Vader was a) in the EU and was b) only possible because Vader was in close proximity to the Kaiburr crystal; normally Vader didn't have enough Force power to generate Force lightning [http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Force_lightning#Force_lightning_users].

I agree with the G-man that Vader was intentionally depicted as an "unstoppable, methodical, killing machine".

The Old Republic (I know ,not canon) is totally contradictiing that statement, where every other Sith is doing it even before becoming an apprentice.

 

[Disruptor]

According to the Revenge of the Sith visual guide and IIRC, Lucas himself, Vader's loss of both his hands means he cannot use force lightining or even defend against it.


Vader vs. Grievous...I think Grievous' lungs were good, while Anakins were barely working and required an oxygen rich mixture. Of course, it's absurd that with all the tech they couldn't fix Anakin's lungs, but that goes back to Palpatine keeping Vader a semi-cripple.

 

[Mach5]

There's no evidence that either Anakin or Vader rose to the level of being able to generate Force lightning.

Evidence. Pffft.

 

[Dream]

It's been 20 years since Vader last got a tune up for his suit. Cut the guy some slack!

 

[Satyrquaze]

According to the Revenge of the Sith visual guide and IIRC, Lucas himself, Vader's loss of both his hands means he cannot use force lightining or even defend against it.

Actually, he'd defend against force lightning the same way most Jedi would who weren't stupid enough to throw away their lightsaber...

 

[C.E. Evans]

I like to think that Vader is now more machine than man, with even some of the remaining ruined flesh he had at the end of Episode III gone by the time of Episode IV.

 

[Nociod]

“Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you? Hmm? Hmm. And well you should not. For my ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is. Life creates it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us and binds us. Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter. You must feel the Force around you; here, between you, me, the tree, the rock, everywhere, yes. Even between the land and the ship.”

If size doesn't matter, should it matter that Anakin lost a lot of body mass?

But yeah, maybe the emperor didn't want Anakin to be too strong, so he makes sure Anakin never fully recovers

 

[Robert Maxwell]

The Force comes from life and matter. Losing body mass results in a loss of Force ability. Since Vader ain't got no arms or legs, he lost what about 50% of his mass? And thus about 50% of his power.

I'm sure if Lucas had made the OT today, Vader's cybernetics would have made him be able to move faster than the eye could see and fly around on boot-jets

So the fattest person in the galaxy would also be the most powerful?

 

[Satyrquaze]

The Force comes from life and matter. Losing body mass results in a loss of Force ability. Since Vader ain't got no arms or legs, he lost what about 50% of his mass? And thus about 50% of his power.

I'm sure if Lucas had made the OT today, Vader's cybernetics would have made him be able to move faster than the eye could see and fly around on boot-jets

So the fattest person in the galaxy would also be the most powerful?

So, a force sensitive Hutt would be more powerful than Yoda could ever hope to be?

 

[Mr. Adventure]

I always saw it as Vader appeared to move slow because he was basically an unstoppable, methodical, killing machine. He didn't need stealth or speed because he had no match and very little was a threat to him.

Furthermore, in the OT there were examples of him moving fast when need be, such as during the first death star dogfight and later when he blocked Han's blaster ray with his hand.

Maybe this is a difference in perception based on exposure to media outside of the OT? Growing up with the movies that's how I had perceived Vader as well. I've always thought what made him great as a villain was his calmness. When a guy promotes you while nonchalantly dispatching your predecessor, that's one bad MF.

 

[Set Harth]

Losing body mass results in a loss of Force ability.

Fanon myth.

Half of his midichlorians got eaten by lava!

OT Vader has the same midichlorian count as PT Anakin.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

The Force comes from life and matter. Losing body mass results in a loss of Force ability. Since Vader ain't got no arms or legs, he lost what about 50% of his mass? And thus about 50% of his power.

I'm sure if Lucas had made the OT today, Vader's cybernetics would have made him be able to move faster than the eye could see and fly around on boot-jets

So the fattest person in the galaxy would also be the most powerful?

Slave Leia took care of that slug.