SPECULATION When was Darth Vader born ?

The question is yet very simple, but I assume we all have a different aswer to it.
What I want is know your point of view. We are not looking for one unique answer: there are tons of answers and each is arguable. Nobody will win nor fail responding to it : everybody has his own thought and that's fine. I just want to know what is yours.


So, the question is : when Darth Vader was born, to you ?


Below are several ways to respond ; perhaps you'll find yours, perhaps you'll have another idea.
Let us know why, or why not, you think this - or that - statement is good or bad.

1. Darth Vader was born the same day Anakin Skywalker was born.
You can say what you want : basically, Anakin is Vader and Vader is Anakin. They both coexist in the same body. They have always coexisted. Just, that dark part in Anakin's mind was once given the opportunity to develop and take advantage on the other part. But there has always been the first fruits of Vader in Anakin, and so has always remained in Vader some memory of Anakin, Luke will reveal later. They are inseparable. They are the same: one who balances between dark and light.

2. Darth Vader was born the day Anakin was separated from his mother.
All his life as a child, Anakin was dreaming of becoming a Jedi and a saviour. This was one of his childhood dreams. And one day, came two Knights, and the dream was about to be realized. But in order to become a Jedi, Anakin had to swap his life. And first of all : no more mother. He had to leave all that had been his universe till now. This is the very first significant wound. The very first opening to the Dark Side. The very first weakness, later exploited by Sidious.

3. Darth Vader was born the day the Tusken camp was decimated.
Not even because Anakin's mother is dead... of course, it is a deadly wound for the young boy. But the true reason, is because Anakin was a Padawan, and he savagely destroyed all the tuskens : men, women, children... he slaughtered them, like animals.
This is not a fair Jedi way... this is Darth Vader's very first show.

4. Darth Vader was born the day Anakin Skywalker married Padme Naberrie.
The Jedi Act is strict : no way for attachment nor possession. When Skywalker married Naberrie, this clearly constituted an action against the Jedi Act. Knowingly. Wittingly. When he was taken far from his mother, Anakin was a defenseless boy. When he decimated the Tusken camp, it was due to an uncontrollable outburst of anger. When he married the Queen of Naboo, it was a deliberate act, prepared in advance, premeditated. Calculated. And kept secret, even to his best friends.
By knowingly acting against the Jedi Way, Anakin wittingly opened his heart to the Dark Side. This is Darth Vader's very first step.

5. Darth Vader was born the day Anakin Skywalker committed his first cold-blooded murder, killing Count Dooku
The Tusken affair was due to a rash action, out of control. The marriage with Padme was not letal and did not led to any death. Right?
But Count Dooku's death truly reveals Darth Vader. Because it is not a Jedi way to achieve a disarmed man. Because at the outset, Anakin did not intended to kill the Count at all. But he did it anyway, and he did not chose that: he simply obeyed to Palpatine. Anakin obeyed to Palpatine... or, more likely, Darth Vader obeyed to Sidious' very first order - no less, no more.

6. Darth Vader was born the day Anakin disobeyed to Mace Windu.
Mace was clear, as he was leaving the Jedi Temple with Agen Kolar, Saese Tiin and Kit Fisto : Anakin had to stay there. This was an ultimate obedience test. And Anakin failed it... Remember this shot, when he is haunting the Jedi Temple, crying, because the 4 Jedi Master were gone to kill Palpatine, and Palpatine's death was directly leading to Padme's death. The choice was terrible to do. He made it.... or rather Vader made it, and chose Padme. He chose to disobey Windu's order. He chose to disobey the Jedi and go for himself. That means: Anakin wasn't a Jedi no more. That means: Darth Vader had truly come.

7. Darth Vader was born the moment Anakin cut Mace's hands.
Because this is a terrible act, above all. The Tusken were enemies. Dooku was an enemy.
Mace was a brother.
Mace was to terminate a tough duel in front of a Sith Lord who had just killed 3 Jedi Masters. And Anakin chose to save Palpatine rather than the Republic, he chose to save Padme rather than the Republic, he chose his own life rather than million ones... he chose a Sith Lord rather than a Jedi Master. Because Darth Vader made that choice.

8. Darth Vader was born the second Anakin Skywalker kneeled in front of Darth Sidious
All the preceding was just acts. Terrible, IKR, but basically acts. Acts can be forgiven.
When that desperate boy kneels in front of a Sith Lord, this is not a simple act, this is a commitment. From now, there is no more Anakin Skywalker, there is a Sith Apprentice, future Sith Lord, and his name is Darth Vader.

9. Darth Vader was born on the table of the Center for Surgical Reconstruction, in Coruscant
Because... because once for all, yesterday and tomorrow, and for the centuries to come, Darth Vader is not a man, is not even a semblance of man : Darth Vader is a machine, a black and terrifying cyborg. Perhaps something might be made with flesh behind this armor, perhaps there might be one or two eyes behind the mask... perhaps. But Darth Vader is certainly not a human. And nor is his sinister Master.
You know, this is why he is so terrifying for random humen.




What is you thought ?

 

This is the obvious answer if you speak in terms of "naming".

What about a more "psychological" point of view ?

 

for my part, I think he already was before that moment... being "knighted" is a culmination, not a starting point (to me)

That was my thought originally : but can one assume Vader was formally present in that young Anakin we meet in Tattooine as he is only 9 years old?




This is the very meaning of my OP...
Of course Vader was "biologically" born the same day Anakin was, as says CTrent29.
Obviously Vader became the only "Lord" Vader the moment Palpatine knighted him, as states AstromechRecords.
And between these two moments: a "yet-unhappened-future" in a newborn, or an "already-evil-person" knighted by a super-villain... when did Darth Vader show his nose for the first time, what event, what decision in Anakin's life can be attributed to Vader ? the pain (when he loses his mother)? the anger (when he slaughters the tuskens camp)? the cruelty (when he finishes Dooku)? the fear (when he dreams about Padme's death)?...

 

Thank you all for all your points of view !


Of course:

yes, you both meet here. The interesting thing in that question is, that it first implies something that is not clearly written: what is actually Darth Vader? Is that a Sith Lord, is that a mechanical cyborg, is that the dark deeds and thoughts in Anakin's mind before he turns to Evil... I did not specify that on purpose, because it is so interesting to first see how each of us conceives and states that.

Amazing. This is exactly why I wrote that question : to read other POV than mine. You point out a moment before Anakin's birth I didn't dare to include in my list. Well done and very judicious!
So, long before a young potentially-skilled baby appeared somewhere in the Galaxy, "Darth Vader" was rather to be considered as "the final step" in the Grand Plan, the final act that aimed to once and for all destroy the Jedi, and it was embodied by a fallen Jedi who joined the Sith Lords, and became the enforcer.
Very interesting interpretation of the OP.

This is what I think too. The very moment when he attacks a brother is unforgivable, above all.

Another interesting point of view I didn't put in my list, and is very valuable.
Padme is the future of Anakin. No more Padme = no more future, no more Anakin, enter Lord Vader. Well said.

Oh no please no. Like Yoda's tale, some things absolutely don't need to be explained. It's so much more interesting to compare our thought and visions as we tend to each have our own answer

Unfortunately... nothing. @singlern05 made the correct response 4 minutes before you. You lost Your Highness. Please insert coin and try again.