Darth Vader’s revelation at the climax of The Empire Strikes Back, and Luke Skywalker’s anguished “Noooo!” has become a joke among fans, a gif on social media, and one of cinema’s all time great moments.
It wasn’t original.
The abandoned child and the absent father who turns out to be a villain echoes through story after story.
“Give your hero family problems!” demanded my screenwriting tutor. “The hero must suffer from an inner wound,” he continued, “his quest to find healing accomplishes three aims: it drives the hero forward, gives the story heart and captures the compassion of the audience. The most powerful inner wound is the Father wound.”
He then went on to explain what makes for a believable villain. “Nobody gets up in the morning deciding to be evil. For the villain to be real you have to understand how he believes what he is doing is good.”
To make the story really have juice the villain needs to have a deep link with the hero. “The hero and the villain have the same ideals,” he continued, “but the villain has chosen to pursue them by evil means. The best way to establish the link between the villain and the hero is for the villain to be a family member — usually the hero’s father.”
He then went through the list of screen heroes who are orphans with relatives…