One Quality Separates Anakin from Vader in Star Wars Even at his most monstrous -- as when he murders the younglings in the Temple during Revenge of the Sith -- he acts to protect the people he cares about (in this case, Padmé). The events of the prequels and The Clone Wars slowly strip those loved ones away from him.
They were the same individual. Taking on a "Darth" moniker is as much a part of being Sith as the red lightsaber. Yet, only Darth Vader fully adopted that title, erasing his past identity.
What if Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader Were DIFFERENT People?
Who was more powerful Anakin or Vader?
According to Lucas, Vader operated at twenty percent less strength than the Emperor. While this was still impressive, it also shows how much more powerful he could have been as Anakin. Had he emerged unscathed from his duel with Obi-Wan, conquering the galaxy would have happened much faster.
It's because they're two different actors, and Vader (David Prowse) is taller than Anakin (Hayden Christensen). Originally, Lucas wanted Vader to look huge and intimidating, so cast a really tall guy. Later, he needed Anakin to be an emotional young man, so couldn't have someone who looks like a giant.
He eventually became so desperate to find a way to prevent Padmé from dying that his fear was ultimately the main reason that led to his fall to the dark side. Vader screaming for the loss of Padmé. Even as a Sith Lord, Anakin still loved Padmé very much, but felt great guilt for his actions against her.
R2-D2 was present when Padmé gave birth to Leia and Luke, so he knew Luke was Anakin's son – but what he didn't know was that Anakin became Darth Vader. In addition to that, Anakin's fall was surely a painful event in R2-D2's life, one that he definitely wouldn't like to remember or even talk about.
Darth Vader didn't learn he had a daughter until Return of the Jedi, when he stood before Emperor Palpatine. The Emperor's power probed Luke's mind, attempting to goad him to fall to the dark side, and he discovered Leia's existence. "Sister," the Emperor taunted.
Anakin absolutely did regret many of his bad choices. After becoming Darth Vader, he pushed the regret down for awhile by dissociating himself from Anakin before the suit.
Padme's death fuels his rage, and his rage dictates his actions. It is only when he saw Luke, when he lost his anger for a second and felt his love for his son.
In Star Wars Legends and Canon, Galen Marek (Starkiller) is the only Jedi (other than Obi-Wan Kenobi) to put a beat down on Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker. Galen was secretly trained as a Sith Lord apprentice to Vader, but returned to the light side and the Jedi.
On the contrary, Tarkin was above Vader in the Imperial hierarchy. Vader had no real ranking, but since he was the Emperor's right hand man, he could often order officers around and, occasionally, even Moffs. Tarkin was something different.
Darth Vader acts like he doesn't even know C-3PO or R2D2. They were with him since he was a child. He did everything he could to forget his past. Also, his plating had been replaced many times, and protocol droids all look very similar.
The sequence calls back to a similar scene in Revenge of the Sith, when Bail Organa orders Threepio's memory be erased to prevent him from sharing information about Anakin Skywalker's fall to the dark side.
The question being answered is: “Do R2D2 and C3PO know that Darth Vader is Anakin?” C-3PO? Definitely not. As many other have pointed out, C-3PO had his memory wiped at the end of Episode III, so it is almost certain that he does not know.
However, the animated series and comics are now revealing that the Sith Lord showed what Padmé meant to him even after his transformation. Considering his position as a servant of Emperor Palpatine, it can be assumed that Vader eventually moved past his feelings.
The marriage, witnessed by the droids C-3PO and R2-D2, was kept secret due to Amidala's place as a prominent Senator in the Galactic Republic and because of Skywalker's membership in the Jedi Order; the Jedi Code prevented Jedi from falling in love and forming attachments such as marriage.
Luke and Leia weren't Clones either, which is the other means of reproducing in SW. They were non-identical twins, they weren't grown in a vat like the Clone Troopers but born as a result of a normal pregnancy. So yeah, Anakin and Padme obviously had sex at least once, but since SW is for kids we don't need to see it.
Anakin is a taller-than-average 1.88 meters (~6'2”), but Darth Vader's canonical height is a staggering 2.03 meters (~6'9”), meaning Darth Vader's armor, which Anakin dons in Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith after the near-fatal duel, increases his height by approximately 7”.
Darth Vader wasn't weaker than Anakin. If anything Vader was much stronger because of his powered armored suit. And Vader's ability to manipulate the Force wasn't any lesser than Anakin's. The one area where Anakin had him beat completely was in his agility.
