Luke, I am Your Father

About

“Luke, I am Your Father” is a misquotation of a line uttered by the villain Darth Vader in the 1980 science fiction film Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back.

Origin

On May 21st, 1980, the second film in the epic space opera series Star Wars was released, featuring a scene in which the antagonist Darth Vader reveals himself as Luke Skywalker’s father in an attempt to manipulate him into betraying his comrades (shown below).

Vader: “Obi Wan never told you what happened to your father.”
Luke: “He told me enough! He told me you killed him!”
Vader: “No, I am your father.”

Throughout the 1990s, the line subsequently became a widely used trope^[1] in television and film, including parodies in the 1999 comedy Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (shown below, left) and the animated children’s movie Toy Story 2 released the same year (shown below, right).

Spread

On January 12th, 2006, Urban Dictionary^[2] user Luke D. Lorenz submitted an entry for “I am your father,” citing the Star Wars film as the origin of the phrase. On February 14th, 2007, YouTuber Jimmania07 uploaded a video titled “Vader Makes Fun of Luke,” featuring the audio from Vader’s infamous “No!” clip in the film Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (shown below, left). In the next seven years, the video gained more than 2.39 million views and 3,900 comments. On May 2nd, YouTuber REALchexy94 uploaded an edited clip of the Star Wars scene with the word “mother” substituted for “father” (shown below, right), which was poorly received by the YouTube community earning over 9,000 down votes within the first six years.

On May 9th, 2008, the single-serving site No I Am Your Father^[4] was launched, featuring various translations of the Vader quote, including 1337 Speak, morse code and binary ASCII. On May 11th, 2009, The Guardian^[5] published an article identifying the line “Luke, I am your father” as a pervasive misquotation. On October 2nd, 2011, YouTuber bashthemonkey uploaded a recording of a 4-year-old reacting to the pivotal Star Wars scene (shown below), accumulating upwards of 3.97 million views and 4,800 comments in the following two years. On January 2nd, 2012, “Luke, I am your father” was added to Wikipedia’s “List of misquotations” page.^[3]

Notable Examples

Luke, Je Suis Ton Père

Luke, Je Suis Ton Père Parodies are a series of exploitable French comics featuring an illustrated depiction of Darth Vader (“Dark Vador” in French) and Luke Skywalker from the Star Wars“I am your father” scene. The comics were initially made with puns and rhyming captions before expanding to include versions in which Vader is substituted with celebrities and fictional characters.

Vader: “Luke, I slept with your mother.”
Luke: “No!”

Search Interest

External References