How Powerful Is Darth Vader? Compared to Other Sith & Jedi

We know that the world of Star Wars is full of some of the most powerful characters in the history of sci-fi. That’s because the powerful characters of Star Wars are either Jedi or Sith, strong wielders of a cosmic energy called the Force. Arguably the most iconic of all of the strong Force wielders in Star Wars is none other than Darth Vader himself. So, how powerful is Darth Vader?

Darth Vader is incredibly powerful and is right up there at the top of the list of some of the strongest characters in Star Wars. His affinity with the Force is unparalleled, and he is also one of the best lightsaber duelists of all time. However, it is unlikely that he is stronger than Palpatine or Yoda.

The fact that Darth Vader was the most fearsome person in the galaxy during the reign of the Empire says a lot about how strong he is. No one would dare cross him because of his incredible prowess with the Force. As such, it was understandable that he was uncontested during the Imperial era. Now, let’s talk more about just how strong Vader is.

Anakin was destined to be the strongest

Before he became Darth Vader, Anakin Skywalker was a Jedi Knight that had the potential to be the greatest Jedi of all time. Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn found him when he was still a boy, and that was when he tested him for midi-chlorians. Qui-Gon found out that Anakin had midi-chlorians higher than anyone else in the history of the Jedi, and that meant that he was the Chosen One that was supposed to bring balance to the Force.

So, as far as his potential was concerned, Anakin was supposed to be stronger than anyone else. His potential in the Force made him the prime target of Palpatine’s machinations. As such, Palpatine turned him to the dark side so that he could have a powerful apprentice that he could control. And when the time was right, he wanted to take over Anakin’s body so that he would become the strongest Sith of all time.

Nevertheless, Anakin Skywalker suffered fatal wounds during the Duel on Mustafar. He got his limbs sliced off and replaced by cybernetic parts. On top of that, he had to spend his entire life living inside a life-support suit to continue living. And because he was now more machine than man, his potential in the Force diminished, much to Palpatine’s dismay.

Vader’s power is on the upper tiers

Even though Anakin’s unrivaled potential diminished, he was still incredibly powerful after turning to the dark side. As Darth Vader, his rage and anger made him stronger than ever. So, even though he now had a lower ceiling in terms of his potential, he became stronger due to his unprecedented rage and anger.

As such, Vader became a ferocious lightsaber duelist that could overpower just about any Jedi with his strikes. The power and force in every single strike of his lightsaber were enough to pin down any Force user. He was also the master of Form V: Djem So, which excelled in using defensive stances that allowed him to launch quick counterattacks and flurries designed to overwhelm his opponents.

Darth Vader’s abilities with a lightsaber were almost unmatched during the reign of the Empire as there was hardly any Jedi that could actually go toe-to-toe with him in a straight-up fight. Probably the only one who could match his saber skills was Obi-Wan Kenobi, and that’s something that we are going to get to later. But other than that, his abilities as a duelist were almost unmatched.

Even though he didn’t focus on training his Force abilities when he was still a Jedi, Vader became more reliant on using the Force during his time as a Sith Lord because it aided him in the many battles he had against the Jedi during the Imperial era. He excelled in using Force choke, which allowed him to remotely choke anyone using the Force. And he was able to do so from a vast distance.

Darth Vader was also one of the strongest when it comes to using telekinesis. He was so strong that he could use this power to hurl entire boulders and destroy the earth’s foundations. Vader also used his telekinetic abilities to pull down an entire ship about to leave a planet. As such, not many characters can match his abilities as a Force user.

All in all, Vader is somewhere up there in the upper tiers of the Star Wars world because there aren’t many characters that could match his power and sheer ferocity in a fight. That explains why it took over 20 years for someone eventually became strong enough to take him down.

How Darth Vader compares to other powerful Sith and Jedi?

Darth Sidious/Palpatine

Palpatine was known by his Sith name Darth Sidious. He served as the galaxy emperor and was the Sith Lord that manipulated the events of the Clone Wars to make way for the Jedi’s destruction and the Empire’s rise. Palpatine was also Darth Vader’s master as he was the one that turned him to the dark side and taught him the ways of the Sith.

If he didn’t get injured on Mustafar, Vader would have been much stronger than Palpatine, as he admitted when he told Yoda that his apprentice was now growing more powerful than ever and would eventually surpass them. However, Vader’s potential diminished, so he couldn’t become more powerful than his master. On top of that, Palpatine had Force Lightning, which could disrupt the electronics in Vader’s suit and kill him.

Yoda

Out of all of the Jedi surviving Order 66, Yoda was the only one on par with Palpatine’s power as they fought and stalemated one another during the end of ‘Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.’ Of course, the consensus is that Palpatine was slightly stronger than Yoda.

Even though Palpatine may have been a bit stronger than Yoda, the little green Jedi Master was still strong enough to take on Darth Vader. Yoda’s lightsaber skills and command over the Force were at the upper tiers of the Jedi. And his experience as a 900-year-old Jedi would have been enough to allow him to match Darth Vader’s abilities.

Obi-Wan Kenobi

Obi-Wan Kenobi was Anakin Skywalker’s master, so Darth Vader sought to kill him. Normally, Vader’s strength would have been superior to Kenobi’s because his raw power was always unmatched in the galaxy. But there were a lot of reasons why Obi-Wan served as the perfect foil to Darth Vader.

For one, Kenobi mastered Form III: Soresu, which is the most defensive lightsaber form and is a style that focuses on depleting the opponent’s stamina and forcing them to leave openings that the duelist could take advantage of.

Mastering Soresu allowed Kenobi to stay in step with Vader’s moves while waiting for the right opening. On top of that, Kenobi knew all of Anakin’s habits because he was the one who trained him. As such, while Vader should be stronger than Kenobi, Obi-Wan was the perfect foil to the dreaded Sith Lord.

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