How did Luke not know Vader was his old man?

I know this has been discussed ad nauseum and I searched a few times but couldn't find much. This just randomly popped into my head today after not thinking about it for a long time.

So, everyone who's connected in the galaxy must know the name Anakin Skywalker. Jedi Knight, war hero, etc. Anakin turns, kills Jedi, and becomes Vader. Of course Obi-Wan tells Luke that his father was killed in the Clone Wars.

Then I wonder what people around the galaxy think. Do they know Anakin became Vader? Did Obi-Wan and Yoda successfully cover up Anakin's turn to the dark side? If so, how would Vader's origin be explained to people who don't think/know he is Anakin?

I think I read one rationalization that Skywalker is a common name and people would have no reason to connect Luke to Anakin. Still, I can't wrap my head around it. If there was even a smidgen of knowledge that Anakin became Vader, it seems implausible that news wouldn't spread and eventually reach Luke one day.

If nobody really knew Anakin became Vader, how would Vader's rise to power be explained around the galaxy? Did people just think he was some hired goon who was working for the Emperor?

Dammit, I haven't thought about this kind of SW stuff in quite some time. I haven't followed any EU things (Clone Wars, comics, books, games, etc.) since before ROTS came out.

I guess I'm just wondering what is the fanbase consensus on this?

Anchorhead said:

From 1974 to 1980 Vader wasn't Luke's father.  Changing the story a few years after the first film was released created the plot hole you're struggling with.

No struggling here. It's just a point for discussion and doesn't affect my life or enjoyment of the (original) movies in any way.

I was always under the impression (pre-PT, of course) that everyone thought Anakin died, and didn't know that he assumed the identity of Vader.

I really never thought about who everyone thought Vader was or where he came from all of a sudden. But the emperor being who he was, I guess it wouldn't be that difficult for him to say "this is my new guy- you take orders from him now" and nobody would question it.

Yeah, I just assumed everyone though Ani was dead and Vader was just Palpatine's new crony. This is, of course, how the PT should be edited anyway.

CO said:

This was the first fatal plot hole of the SW movies when Darth Vader's name appeared in ROTJ.  If Luke was hidden from his father, why the hell would they use his same last name???????

Who said Skywalker was such an unique name?

It's a big galaxy.

Alexrd said:

CO said:

This was the first fatal plot hole of the SW movies when Darth Vader's name appeared in ROTJ.  If Luke was hidden from his father, why the hell would they use his same last name???????

Who said Skywalker was such an unique name?

...and Kenobi, same problem there ;)

Who's to say that the general public would have known that Anakin did anything.  It was probably assumed by the general public that Anakin died with all the rest of the Jedi when they "betrayed" the republic.  After killing Mace, Anakin pledges loyalty to Palpatine and he takes the 501st to the Jedi Temple to kill all the Jedi while Palpatine issues Order 66 to kill all the other Jedi.  Anakin is also cloaked and the operation is carried out under the cover of darkness so it's likely that if anybody saw the Jedi heading toward the Temple, they likely would not have known who it was.  The only recordings of Anakin's dark deeds were made at the Jedi Temple and possibly at Mustafar.  But since the Jedi Temple was under martial control by the Clone Troopers, who by the way, told any outsiders that came by that there had been a rebellion, then it would be reasonable to assume that these recordings were covered up and any Mustafar security recordings that may have existed were probably either destroyed by the destruction of the facility or seized by the Clones when they arrived with Palpatine to rescue the burned Anakin.  So really the only people who knew what Anakin did where the clones who carried out the sedge and rescue missions and they would not have disclosed classified military information.  Yoda and Obi-Wan obviously knew and it's reasonable to assume that Bail Organa could have known of Anakins betrayal but as Obi-wan and Yoda had already parted ways by the time Vader would have been revealed then he would have had no way of knowing Vader was Anakin as he assumed that Anakin had been left for dead.  And, even if Ob-wan, or Yoda, had specifically said, "hey, Anakin's been calling himself Vader these days" and Bail had put it all together after this dude Vader starts showing up then it still doesn't mean that he would have started spreading it around like wildfire enough to reach the ears of Luke Skywalker living on a backwater planet with little ties to the dealings of the Empire.  The planet was outside the republic under the control of the Hutts until probably very recently before A New Hope.  Remember the Luke and Biggs conversation about the empire won't even mess with this rock and things can change, you know they've already started to nationalize commerce, and pretty soon your uncle will be a slave working for the greater glory of the empire or something like that.

Owen and Beru definitely knew.

"He has too much of his father in him."

"That's what I'm afraid of."

I always figured that Obi-Wan kept up with news around the galaxy by visiting Mos Eisley or talking to other people. It probably didn't take him long to figure out Anakin was Vader. Plus, I remember in ROTS that Obi-Wan watches a video of Palpatine calling him "Lord Vader."

Put Captain Solo in the Cargo Hold said:

I'm always under the assumption that the general public (I mean the people in the Star Wars universe) doesn't know Vader and Anakin are one and the same. That it's a dark secret known to only to Obi-Wan, Yoda and the Emperor. Though in order for this to work, you have to disregard the prequels and EU.

That won't be a problem ;).

georgec said:

Owen and Beru definitely knew.

"He has too much of his father in him."

"That's what I'm afraid of."

I always figured that Obi-Wan kept up with news around the galaxy by visiting Mos Eisley or talking to other people. It probably didn't take him long to figure out Anakin was Vader. Plus, I remember in ROTS that Obi-Wan watches a video of Palpatine calling him "Lord Vader."

No, not definitely.  I doubt they knew that Anakin was Darth Vader as Obi-wan would have had no way of that Anakin was still alive and would likely not have gone into too great detail. 

I kind of thought that when they said the whole to much like his father thing that they were referring Anakin being a space adventurer rather than a homely farmer like Lars.  

Now, if you are disregarding the continuity of the prequels, then Beru and Lars lines still wouldn't apply to them knowing that Anakin was Vader because, as Anchorhead said, the concept of Vader being Luke's father hadn't been created yet. 

It's hard to say, from a 6-movie perspective, what Owen and Beru know or don't know. They know that Anakin left suddenly, immediately after his mother's funeral, following Obi-Wan on some damn fool idealistic crusade. Obi-Wan must have given them some sort of explanation for who he was and why he was giving them this baby.

Put Captain Solo in the Cargo Hold said:

I'm always under the assumption that the general public (I mean the people in the Star Wars universe) doesn't know Vader and Anakin are one and the same. That it's a dark secret known to only to Obi-Wan, Yoda and the Emperor. Though in order for this to work, you have to disregard the prequels and EU.

Even if you do regard the prequels then you only really have to add Bail Organa, a battalion of Clone Troopers, and perhaps that blue dude with the horns.

If you follow the line of Anakin from the moment he falls to the dark side to him going into the suit, then there are only a few stops along there way for people to see him doing evil stuff out of the suit and pretty much all of those people are dead.

He leave the Senate, hooded mind you, directly to the temple with the 501st, who actually probably picked him up from the Senate and flew him straight there.  After killing EVERYONE in the temple, he then leaves for Mustafar making only a pit stop at Padme's apartment alone the way.  He's in a Jedi starfighter so he presumably came straight from the temple to Padme's and wouldn't have had to make any stops between there and Mustafar.  He kills all the separatists on Mustafar and other than a few aliens doing some mining who have no idea what the hell is going on, nobody sees Anakin from that point until he goes into the suit except for the Emperor and the Clones.  

Anakin's actions where not great public spectacles .  They happened in the shadows.  So the only way to assume that the general public of the galaxy knew that Anakin fell, is if you assume that one of the few people who did know went announcing the fact to everyone.  Which you can't assume.

timdiggerm said:

It's hard to say, from a 6-movie perspective, what Owen and Beru know or don't know. They know that Anakin left suddenly, immediately after his mother's funeral, following Obi-Wan on some damn fool idealistic crusade. Obi-Wan must have given them some sort of explanation for who he was and why he was giving them this baby.

I always thought that there might have been a bit of dialogue there that was cut out.  Beru does turn and walk away pretty suddenly directly from a cut.  Having dialogue there though would have broken the mold of all the movies ending with a few minutes of stuff happening on screen with no dialogue as the music swells.