Luke, I Am Your Father

Luke, I am your father refers to one of the most notable misquotations of movie history, attributed to Darth Vader in Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back.

Originally, the character says the line “No, I am your father”, however the first and biggest Star Wars meme went down in history as “Luke, I am your father”.

Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back was debuted in movie theaters on May 17^th, 1980.

In one of the scenes, Darth Vader incapacitates Luke Skywalker (portrayed by David Prowse and Mark Hamill respectively) and proceeds to confront him about his father.

When Luke says, “You killed him” Vader counters with the line “No, I am your father.”

In the following decades, the moment had become an iconic trope, often being referenced in other movies, like Austin Powers and even Toy Story 2, as well as real life, although the most common reference remained “Luke, I am your father”.

The first Urban Dictionary entry on the line was uploaded by Dan Jewell on March 22^nd, 2005.

Starting in 2007, various YouTube parodies of the scene started surfacing, followed by YTMND sites.

Translations of “Luke, I am your father” to various spoken languages, as well as codes like morse or binary ASCII became rampant online, mostly surfacing on forums and message boards, like 4chan or Reddit.

“Luke, I am your father” remained a popular trope in the 2010’s, despite the rising popularity of Prequel Memes, like I am the Senate or Hello There! General Kenobi!

• Newyorker.com – The Most Misquoted Movie Lines of All Time
• Verfiythis.com – No, Darth Vader does not say, ‘Luke, I am your father’
• Filmthreat.com – The Secret Origin of “Luke, I am your father.”
• Tvtropes.com – Luke, I Am Your Father