Rogue One: A Star Wars Story has become one of the most popular contributions to the Star Wars franchise for its compelling characters, exciting storyline, and the inclusion of one very popular character from the Skywalker Saga: Darth Vader. Despite only being tangentially connected to the Star Wars episodic films, it finds new and interesting ways to feature the Dark Lord of the Sith and cinema's greatest villain.

RELATED: LOTR Vs. Star Wars: 5 Reasons Why Sauron Is The Best Fantasy Villain (& 5 Why It's Darth Vader)

Though Vader only appears in a handful of scenes in the film, and has about fifteen minutes of screen time, director Gareth Edwards and his creative team make sure his presence is never wasted. Despite his brief appearance, Vader's storyline is expanded upon in ways that even the most stalwart of his fans might not have realized.

His Costume Was Identical To What He Wore In A New Hope

Darth Vader uniform rogue one

In order to seamlessly transition from Rogue One into Star Wars: A New Hope, Darth Vader's ensemble needed to be a perfect match to his original look. In A New Hope, his chest plate is visibly covered, with his Sith robes worn over his chest plate, unlike The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.

Since the events of Rogue One occur just a few days before the original Star Wars, every detail of his suit had to be meticulously recreated, right down to the red lenses in his mask's eyeholes (a trick of the light in the original film that would later be edited out in the Special Edition version).

His Castle Was Created Decades Before Being Seen

Ralph McQuarrie concept art for Vader's castle

Acclaimed concept artist Ralph McQuarrie, who designed some of the most influential and provocative elements of the Star Wars Universe during the release of the original trilogy, envisioned Vader's castle on Mustafar after the release of A New Hope but before the plot for The Empire Strikes Back was fully developed.

RELATED: Star Wars: 10 Secrets Hidden At Darth Vader’s Castle

A history of Vader's castle by Gizmodo explains McQuarrie's process, and how he decided the castle should resemble the shape of a tuning key, representing Anakin Skywalker's turning to the dark side. Similarly, the Jedha temple was a near mirror image of the same shape only in white.

Hayden Christensen Almost Reprised His Role As Vader

Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker with Darth Vader

Prior to filming there was a rumor that Hayden Christensen was going to reprise his role as Lord Vader for the scenes when he wasn't in his suit, but the only scene that was left involved Vader suspended in a Bacta Tank, barely visible behind a cloud of particles and vapor.

Christensen would have been clearly visible in the tank, a shell of his former Jedi self, badly burned and missing limbs. When pulled from the bacta fluid, he would have been shown being fitted with, and imprisoned in, his armor.

Some Lore From The Expanded Universe Was Used To Enhance His Story

Rogue One Concept Art Shows Darth Vader’s Extended Bacta Tank Scene

Vader's use of a bacta tank for its healing properties goes back to a similar scene in The Empire Strikes Back when, after being savagely attacked by a rampaging Wampa, Luke is badly in need of its rejuvenating powers after being wounded.

In Star Wars Legendselements of the Expanded Universe contain a history of Vader's bacta use in which he spends extended amounts of time in a bacta tank in the vain hope that the practice will repair the extensive damage to his lungs from the lava rivers on Mustafar.

A Line Of Dialogue Was Meant To Be Humorous

Darth Vader in his base in Rogue One

When Director Krennic goes to seek council from Lord Vader on Mustafar, their meeting isn't as conciliatory as he would have hoped. Vader ends up Force choking him for his insolence while delivering the line, "Be careful not to choke on your aspirations." The line, while humorous, has another intent.

RELATED: Star Wars: The 10 Most Powerful Darth Vader Quotes

In The Empire Strikes Back, after Force choking Captain Needa for losing the Millennium Falcon, Vader says, "Apology accepted, Captain Needa", indicating not only that he can be deliberately humorous, but that he takes sadistic glee from inflicting pain on others.

His Alternate Theme Was Used

Darth Vader In Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

After Vader's servant informs him that Director Krennic has landed on Mustafar, Vader's form is raised from the bacta tank so that he can be refitted with his Sith armor. As his body travels upwards, an ascending leitmotif consisting of four notes is used as transitional music.

The four-note leitmotif, an identifying musical tag John Williams has given many characters in Star Wars, was used in A New Hope, composed by Williams as a theme to play when Darth Vader or other Imperials came on screenWhen Williams composed the Imperial March, it became so synonymous with Darth Vader that the leitmotif was used solely for Imperial representation.

His Home Was Built With A Specific Purpose

Darth Vader's Castle in Rogue One

For Darth Vader, the planet Mustafar holds a place of significance in his personal history. It's the site of his complete corruption by the dark side, where he perceived to have killed his wife in anger, and where his master and "brother" Obi-Wan Kenobi betrayed him.

Deciding to erect his castle on Mustafar puts Vader in an environment strong with anger, rage, and loneliness. This is even further chronicled in Marvel's Darth Vader comic series, which focuses on the time period surrounding Rogue One and beyond. In its hallowed halls of relentless emotional torment, his castle becomes a great place of power from which he can draw on the dark side of the Force.

The Slaughter Of Rebel Troops Proved His Lack Of Humanity

Darth Vader attacks Rebel soldiers in Rogue One hallway scene

Prior to the terrifying moments at the end of Rogue One, Darth Vader had never displayed such savagery. Even when he murdered younglings at the Jedi Temple and the rest of the Separatist leaders on Mustafar, he was never so unhinged and bloodthirsty.

RELATED: Star Wars: 5 Times We Felt Bad For Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader (& 5 Times We Hated Him)

According to director Gareth Edwards, the scene in which he indefatigably mows through Rebel troops aboard the Tantive IV is meant to convey how brutal he has become since last being seen in Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the SithThe most fast-paced battle Vader has been in to date shows Anakin Skywalker is truly no more; only Darth Vader remains.

He Was Shown To Be Vulnerable

Darth Vader concept art rogue one floating in bacta fluid

Years had passed since the rise of the Galactic Empire and the execution of Order 66, in which Vader helped his master hunt down the remaining members of the Jedi Order. Yet despite being encased in his armor and assuming the role of Darth Vader, Rogue One's director Gareth Edwards made certain to remind fans that beneath it all, Anakin Skywalker was a tragic figure twisted by loss.

Edwards explained in an interview with Vocal that, "Vader’s very, very bad... so you try and just glimpse something of him that gives him some humanity, or it makes you empathize with him.”Rogue One displayed him suspended in a bacta tank, helpless and malformed, an amputee, struggling for life in a way that made him far more vulnerable than fans had seen him before.

His Villainy Needed To Be Absolute

Rogue One Official Trailer 2 Still - Darth Vader - featured

In the Original Trilogy, much of Vader's lethality is implied. He is capable of massive amounts of destruction (as seen during his first duel with Luke in Cloud City), but the films are tempered by his eventual redemption arc. Only in the comic books and some of the video games have fans been able to see Vader march into battle, or perform the sort of horrifying acts of violence as seen in Rogue One.

The movie very specifically portrays Vader as the villain that fans have always seen him as through the Star Wars franchise, and in an interview with Cinema Blend, Rogue One writer Gary Whitta explains how the "elements of horror" were necessary remind them exactly the sort of monster Vader is.

NEXT: Star Wars: 5 Reasons Why Darth Vader Deserves His Own Movie (& 5 Why He Doesn't)