120 kg265 lb
Darth Vader weighs 120 kg (about 265 lb) in his armour, according to DK’s official reference book Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know, which also puts him at 2.03 m tall. That is the whole package: what is left of Anakin’s body, his cybernetic limbs and the life-support suit. Older Legends books said 136 kg.
| Vader in armour, LegendsStar Wars: Head-to-Head Tag Teams; repeated in a 2020 encyclopedia booklet | 136 kg300 lb |
|---|---|
| Vader in armour, canonStar Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know (DK, 2015) | 120 kg265 lb |
| Anakin Skywalker before Mustafar, LegendsStar Wars: The Clone Wars: Head-to-Head; canon gives no weight | 84 kg185 lb |
The number is from Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know, a 2015 DK reference book published as part of the lead-up to The Force Awakens. It gives Vader 120 kg and 2.03 m in his armour, and Wookieepedia uses both figures for the current canon. The weight covers Vader as you see him on screen, body and suit together. No official source splits it into how much is man and how much is machine.
Before Disney reset the canon in 2014, the Expanded Universe (now called Legends) had its own numbers: 136 kg in armour from the book Star Wars: Head-to-Head Tag Teams, and 2.02 m from the old StarWars.com databank. Those figures still turn up. A 2020 French and Spanish partwork, Star Wars Encyclopedia, opened with a Darth Vader booklet that printed 2.02 m and 136 kg, which Wookieepedia lists as an error against the canon 2.03 m and 120 kg.
As a Jedi, Anakin Skywalker stands 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) according to the official StarWars.com encyclopedia, so the suit adds about 15 cm. Canon gives no weight for him out of armour. Legends does: Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Head-to-Head lists Anakin at 84 kg (185 lb).
On Mustafar he loses both legs and his remaining natural arm, and they are replaced with prosthetics inside the suit. Comparing like with like in Legends, 84 kg as Anakin against 136 kg as Vader is a gain of 52 kg from the machinery. Against the canon 120 kg the gap would be 36 kg, but that mixes two continuities.
The comics make the weight a plot point. In Darth Vader (2015) #23, Doctor Cylo can switch off the suit’s cybernetics and Vader drops to his knees under their weight, and in Darth Vader (2017) #18 he leaves deep, tank-like tracks in the mud.
John Mollo designed the original costume from Ralph McQuarrie’s concept art, and Brian Muir sculpted the mask. The Hollywood Reporter’s obituary of David Prowse says the fiberglass and leather outfit weighed about 40 lb (18 kg) and was extremely hot to wear.
Prowse, a 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) bodybuilder and British heavyweight weightlifting champion, weighed around 128 kg (283 lb) in his prime, according to Wikipedia. On his own he was already heavier than the official figure for Vader in full armour.
For Revenge of the Sith, Hayden Christensen asked for a Vader suit built to his own frame, with extensions to bring him up to Vader’s 6 ft 6 in. For Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022) he told Fatherly he put on 25 or 30 lb over nine months to fill out the suit.
In canon he is 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) in his armour, and Anakin is 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) without it. David Prowse, who wore the suit in the original trilogy, was 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in).
Canon has no official figure. The Legends book Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Head-to-Head gives him 84 kg (185 lb) before he became Vader.
The original trilogy costume, made of fiberglass and leather, weighed about 40 lb (18 kg), according to The Hollywood Reporter. Actors who have worn later versions describe it as hot and heavy.
136 kg (300 lb) is the older Legends figure from Star Wars: Head-to-Head Tag Teams. The current canon figure, from Star Wars: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know, is 120 kg.
Around 128 kg (283 lb) in his prime, according to Wikipedia. He was a champion weightlifter who could deadlift 785 lb (356 kg).
Last checked October 3, 2026.
