Darth Vader’s mask

I think it’s no coincidence that Darth Vader was a masked figure.

It helped to hide the huge spoiler that he was Luke’s father.

Otherwise, unmasked, we’d be able to spot the resemblance or guess a connection too easily.

Then, I think, in order to make Darth Vader’s mask less suspicious George Lucas gave all the storm troopers masks.

Back that up with an early introduction to these masked characters and a norm is established.

The audience then has no reason to believe there’s anything special hidden under the masks, it’s just the fashion in this science fiction world.

And just like that, the granddaddy of all movie plot twists is expertly concealed with some subtle tactical decisions.