Originally posted by: MeBeJedi
In the Annotated Screenplays, Lucas said he didn't want Vader to be this over-the-top ultra-powerful bad guy, because it would be too easy to do with the powers that he had. Thus, Tarkin was put in authority over him.
Similarly, in the ANH novelization, Vader is one of many Sith, who are as much a servant of the Empire as the Jedi were for the Republic. Palps isn't even a Sith - just a politician who actually became overwhelmed and controlled by the very Empire that he was put in charge of, and became little more than a puppet.
Of course, all this changed much later, but the effects of these remnants remain, thus the questions of relative power between Tarkin and Vader.
In the Annotated Screenplays, Lucas said he didn't want Vader to be this over-the-top ultra-powerful bad guy, because it would be too easy to do with the powers that he had. Thus, Tarkin was put in authority over him.
Similarly, in the ANH novelization, Vader is one of many Sith, who are as much a servant of the Empire as the Jedi were for the Republic. Palps isn't even a Sith - just a politician who actually became overwhelmed and controlled by the very Empire that he was put in charge of, and became little more than a puppet.
Of course, all this changed much later, but the effects of these remnants remain, thus the questions of relative power between Tarkin and Vader.
Exactly. His role fit a very standard mold, wherein there is the brain and the brawn: an intelligent evil entity with his muscle to do all the dirty work for him. And that was pretty much the role of Tarkin and Vader in the first movie. The higher-ups don't get as involved with the main characters as the henchman does, so that would be Vader's job. His presence and his actions solidify him more with the audience, like the more involved thugs usually do.