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Thanks to NCAA basketball, there are plenty of tournament brackets floating around this time of year, but this is the only one with a video invitation from Darth Vader.

The quest to decide the greatest Star Wars character of all time begins Monday with the launch of This is Madness, a bracket-style tournament from Lucasfilm that pits characters from the Light Side against evildoers from the Dark Side.

Fans are meant to vote for winners every day until the ultimate victor is crowned with a lightsaber of glory on April 9.

Thanks to NCAA basketball, there are plenty of tournament brackets floating around this time of year – sitcom showdowns, pie battles, you name it – but this is the only one with a video invitation from Darth Vader. "As much as I hate democracy, vote now, vote often and vote Vader," says the dark lord.

The first round of the tournament has matchups that are ridiculously soft: Han Solo versus Lando Calrissian? Come on. Vader versus General Grievous? That's a joke.

But the second round could pit Yoda versus Luke. And the closer it gets to the final, the more the debate will reach the kind of geeked-out pitch usually reserved for arguing over who's the best captain of the Enterprise.

Will goodness triumph over the Dark Side? Will Dengar pull off the upset over Boba Fett?

As Yoda would say, wait to see you must.

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