News / Star Wars
Darth Vader statue appears on empty Colston plinth
A statue of Darth Vader has appeared overnight in Bristol paying homage to actor Dave Prowse.
The statue – perhaps more accurately described as a figurine – is on the empty stone plinth in the centre on which the statue of Edward Colston used to stand before being toppled and thrown into the docks in June.
Prowse, who grew up in Southmead, played the role of the Sith lord in the original Star Wars trilogy. He died on Sunday at the age of 85.
Rather than being a slave trader like Colston, the fictional Darth Vader was in fact once a slave himself.
“Anakin Skywalker, the one destined to bring balance to the Force, and his mother were both bought and sold as slaves on Tatooine until a Jedi Master and his apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi, came into their lives,” writes Floor 8.
“After the events of The Phantom Menace, Anakin was taken on as Kenobi’s apprentice and the rest is cinematic history as he would eventually fall to the Dark Side, becoming the Sith Lord Darth Vader.”
Back in the real world, almost 500 people have already signed a petition to get a statue of Prowse on the empty plinth.
One suggestion is not to get Prowse to appear as Vader but as his other most famous character, the Green Cross Code Man.
Main photo and video: Martin Booth
Read more: Tributes paid to Bristol actor Dave Prowse
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