This is purely speculation, but, I've already kind of asked a similar question, so, I'll take a shot at this. I'm pretty sure Vader slept. I don't see why he wouldn't. He's technically a cyborg; but, he's still need to perform basic biological functions, which would include eating, sleeping, and even going to the bathroom.
How'd he do that?
Well, we really don't know what's going on inside of that suit. I'm guessing Vader "ate" intravenously. The suit was supposed to be a self-contained, mobile life support system, as I understand it. Given the extent and severity of his injuries, maybe Vader couldn't really eat normally. So, instead, he's fed through IV needles that are hidden beneath his armor. The suit probably also "fed" Vader painkillers in controlled intervals, since, having most of his body covered in third degree burns must have been excruciating to say the very least.
Also, if Vader's genitalia were damaged, as I said in a different post, his hormones levels would likely have dropped fairly rapidly. If he's got IV's for feeding and painkillers, he was probably also receiving testosterone supplements as well. And, depending on the amount, this might have caused changes in his voice, and could also have augmented his physical strength as well. But, I mean, he's wearing a mask that's a sophisticated piece of robotics. It probably had volume control and other speech amplifiers which caused his voice to sound really deep and intimidating.
Similarly, I'm guessing that Vader's suit also took care of other biological functions like urination. While it might not sound very pleasant, Vader probably had some sort of catheter device that allowed him to keep his bodily functions in check. I would also not be surprised if Vader had a colostomy bag which drained feces from his colon.
So yeah, there we go. Not a very pretty picture. But I guess that does answer the question.
Oh, also, on the subject of sleeping, while I hate to reference other materials outside the movies, there are descriptions of Vader outside of his armor while in his meditation chamber. Based on that and what we can infer from scenes in the movie, Vader can probably survive outside of his armor while he's in his meditation chamber. So, he probably sleeps in his meditation chamber.
johnnycancer
This post has been edited by johnnycancer: 26 August 2006 - 04:31 AM