The Skywalker saga of Star Wars is built upon grand battles, and beautifully crafted characters, with the central one being Anakin Skywalker. His rise and fall throughout the saga are what shapes the timeline as we know it, and his story helps develop the journey of numerous characters throughout the franchise.
Anakin's fall to Vader makes him the most iconic villain in cinema, but also an immensely tragic character. While he does some deplorable things, some heinous acts, Anakin is also a sympathetic character numerous times throughout the franchise, helping enhance his incredible character.
Felt Bad - Small Moments With Vader
There are a lot of small moments with Vader that give slight glimpses into the tragedy of Anakin Skywalker.
There is the moment when he looks at Luke getting tortured by the Emperor and realizes what must get done. Also, there is the moment in The Clone Wars finale when Vader picks up Ahsoka's lightsaber, and various moments in the extended canon show how much pain and suffering Vader is going through.
Hated - Capturing The Rebels On Bespin
The entire of The Empire Strikes Back inspires a lot of hate for Vader, with him hunting down the rebels.
The defining moment of evil was when he tracked the Millenium Falcon, and its crew to Bespin froze Han Solo in carbonite, planned to take Leia and Chewbacca prisoner, and set a trap for Luke. Pure villainy.
Felt Bad - Shmi's Death
Probably the first time we truly see the darkness within Anakin is when we witness his slaughter of not just the men but the women and children too.
But, it is also perhaps the first time we feel really badly for Anakin, save for his leaving his mother. Seeing Anakin hold his dead mother is an essential image in the franchise, as it is a crucial factor in Anakin's eventual turn.
Hated - Killing Obi-Wan
The very first lightsaber duel in all of Star Wars is one of the most iconic, and all the much more impactful with all the content to come after the original movie.
When Obi-Wan sacrificed himself to let the heroes escape, it is one of the original heroic acts of the franchise. In killing Obi-Wan, Vader murdered one of the most beloved characters in the franchise.
Felt Bad - Vader Unmasked
After three movies, Vader's redemption is one of the most emotional, and brilliant moments of the original trilogy.
When he asks to see Luke with his own eyes and tells him he was right, it is powerful and an emotional end for such a tragic character, a tragedy that is exemplified in this scene.
Hated Him - The Turn
The turn everybody was waiting for from Anakin was immensely emotional, particularly following the events of The Clone Wars, and was as frustrating as it was sad to watch.
Of course, fans feel bad for Anakin. Still, the turn itself, where he helps kill Mace and pledges himself to the Emperor, is so incredibly infuriating and emotional to watch, we hate Anakin and Palpatine.
Felt Bad - Ahsoka Leaving & General Mistreatment From The Council
Undoubtedly one of the saddest moments in The Clone Wars, and in the life of Anakin, is when Ahsoka is let down by and leaves the Jedi Order.
It is not the only occasion the Jedi Council lets down Anakin, such as when they use him to spy on Palpatine or hide Obi-Wan's plan from him. Every time it happens, we understand why he turned that little bit more.
Hated - His Actions After His Turn
What came after Anakin pledged his allegiance to the Dark Side and to Darth Sidious was actually much worse, and much more abhorrent than the turn itself.
Slaughtering the Separatists leaders and younglings were terrible, as too was marching on the temple and causing destruction. The cherry on top, though is his attempt to kill Obi-Wan and Force choking of Padmé before him and Obi-Wan's duel.
Felt Bad - Padmé
Speaking of Padmé, she is one of the most heartbreaking aspects of Vader, knowing he done it, and is enduring all of this suffering and pain out of his love for her.
As Vader gets his mask put on, you can hear him calling out to Padmé for help in an easy to miss moment which is heartbreaking when you listen to it. As well as that, Vader finding out he had killed Padmé, or so he was told, let you know how much he loved her.
Hated - Hunting Jedi, Training Inquisitors, & Battling Ahsoka
But, when he put that suit on, he was officially no longer Anakin Skywalker, he was Darth Vader, to everybody, no exceptions, not even Ahsoka.
For years following the events of Order 66, Vader trained Inquisitors whose job was to hunt down and kill any Jedi who survived, even hunting a few down himself to kill. This included Ahsoka on Malachor, whom he attempts to kill in one of the most emotion-filled few minutes of Star Wars.