Ukraine's Darth Vader loves embroidery, walking his dog and local politics.
While the world is waiting for the latest Star Wars movie to hit the screens, people of Odessa, Ukraine, can see Darth Vader walking around the city.
The Ukrainian, who had officially changed his name to Darth Mykolaiovych Vader, ran for the office of Mayor in October. He came in 15th among 42 candidates.
His supporters, dressed as Star Wars stormtroopers, backed him up.
A photo essay called "Being Darth Vader" by Reuters Photographer Valentyn Orgirenko called had captured the man in the costume living a normal life, doing everyday things.
The photographer said that the surprising result of the mayoral polls is less to do with the love for this fictional evil and more with the disillusionment with the political leadership in the country.
An online petition to make Darth Vader Prime Minister garnered more than 25,000 signatures.
When asked about his plans for his political future, Darth Vader told Reuters, "Considering the more than 25,000 signatures on the petition, (one plan is) to oust (Prime Minister Arseny) Yatseniuk and put me, Darth Vader, on the throne as prime minister."
In October, local artist Alexander Milov redid a Vladimir Lenin statue into a Darth Vader statue. The move came after a new legislation -- decommunisation laws -- was passed. The law aims at removing all remaining symbols of the country's communist past.
The refashioned statue has a Wi-Fi hotspot in its head and the artist hopes that it would attract Star Wars fans from all over the world.
