The first time you saw Star Wars (the originals) how did you figure out why Vader wore the mask?

I didn't actually see it when it first came out in theaters or anything, but for years I really didn't know why he wore the mask/outfit, what the point was. I personally didn't look it up and just thought it was odd for many years until the first 3 episodes came out, but I just wondered if anyone actually knew why he wore it at the time they orignally came out. Or if everyone just thought like me and just thought it was their way of making him different and that was what was so cool about him, was the outfit.





Also, was anyone else an idiot like me and couldn't figure out for a while why he was in that one room being dressed why it was he was in there...it took me a while to figure out that it was a medical type room filled with good air.The first time you saw Star Wars (the originals) how did you figure out why Vader wore the mask?
When I first saw the movie (I was 10 in 1977), I noticed Vader's breathing was regular and that it continued without missing a beat even while he talked. That made me think that Vader was some kind of robot (not a bad guess, as things turned out) or that he was on artificial life support like a ';breathing machine'; at a hospital. That's how I thought of it at age 10, anyway. :-)The first time you saw Star Wars (the originals) how did you figure out why Vader wore the mask?
In 1978 or 1979 I read in Starlog magazine that Vader had been injured during a battle with Ben on a lava planet.
Never thought why Vader wore the mask until the 5th part came out where in a scene you can see Vaders head all disfugurated.
George Lucas never changed why Lord Vadar had to wear the suit, but it never specifically told why. Although Obi-wan and Yoda both dropped hints along the way that Vadar was disfigured and more machine then man.





Lucas also put Vadar in the suit to symbolize the identity of Vadar/Anakin. There was still good In Lord Vadar, the part of Anakin that wasn't twisted by the sith, but it was hidden and covered by evil and darkness (Suit is black and covering him.)
when i was younger i always just thought he had a jacked up face, and to be scary he wore all black and a mask/helmet, then i learned why, and it was because he had a jacked up face, to be really advanced in technology where they can give you robot arms and everything, couldn't they have found something better than a huge helmet like that?
actually in the original book series (which i read around the same time) talks about the battle between Obi-wan and ANakin





so i knew what to expect just didnt know how it would be portrayed.
I was like 5 when I watched these first and it never occurred to me to even question why- he just did. I didn't think anything of it until he took it off when he was dying to talk to Luke. Yuck- poor guy!