Who are the most powerful beings in the Star Wars universe?
Star Wars is one of the largest and most diverse franchises in entertainment history, and with the comes thousands of characters and a vast history. With such varying levels of power, there are many discussions about which characters are the strongest, who would win in the craziest of duels, and innumerable hypothetical scenarios. What follows is a ranked list of the ten most powerful characters in the lore in terms of dueling power, Force powers, and ability to affect events in the universe. As such, spoilers will follow for all forms of media.
10. Darth Nihilus
Darth Nihilus is attacked aboard his ship, the Ravager.
Darth Nihilus was present at the end of the Republic’s war with the Mandalorians about 4,000 years before the Battle of Yavin, where a new weapon destroyed his planet and left him with a hunger for the living Force and made him a wound in the Force. Nihilus gained the ability to consume the Force, entire planets at a time and even to cut people off from the Force. After some time, his hunger became so much that his spirit became part of his mask when his body was destroyed by the hunger.
Nihilus faced a constant struggle against his insatiable hunger, which served as both a source of strength and a hindrance. While being a great strength, it was also something of a hindrance as he had to constantly hunt and consume large deposits of Force energy. Even though this was the case, he still used his affliction as a means to exterminate the Jedi Order.
Nihilus was an incredibly strong character being able to consume an entire planet of its energy. In addition to this, he was able to detect people through the Force across the Galaxy in order to find planets to consume. Each time he fed, he became stronger, but so did his hunger, and even his voice was capable of harming and killing others. Combat-wise, Nihilus was also quite adept.
While Nihilus is able to consume an entire planet, his primary weapons are Force Drain and Force Sever. However, opponents who can block these abilities, such as the Sith Lords of later eras, would be relatively safe if they are competent duelists. Beyond this, even though his physical form is dead, his spirit is still alive in his mask, making him quite powerful. In summary, Darth Nihilus is incredibly dangerous to the majority of the population, but is relatively weak when compared to other Force users.
Fans of Darth Nihilus appreciate him for several reasons, here are some:
- Darth Nihilus gives fans a look at a Force power nearly as strong as the Death Stars, being able to eliminate an entire planet in one go, something never seen before.
- Darth Nihilus’ appearance and existence as a literal mask is a unique one in the universe, and one enjoyed heavily by fans.
- Being a man of few words, his mere presence is felt by fans when Nihilus is on screen, especially when he does decide to speak.
- Nihilus was one of the first boss characters in Star Wars gaming history, which left him in a very memorable position for fans.
9. Darth Revan
Darth Revan when he was a Jedi.
Darth Revan was a Force-sensitive born about 4,000 years before the Battle of Yavin who fought in the war between the Mandalorians and the Republic. After being turned to the Dark Side, he and his friend became Sith Lords and started their own sect. Finally, Revan had his mind wiped by the Jedi and turned back to the Light.
Since Revan was on both sides of the conflict, all three main factions, the Jedi, the Sith, and the Mandalorians, served as his nemesis. However, Revan’s former friend and current enemy Darth Malak became a recurring nemesis throughout and after his time as a Jedi. Malak betrayed Revan to the Jedi and then attacked him and his family.
Described by one of his opponents as “the single greatest warrior of this age,” Revan was strong in the Force, was an exceptional duelist, and an outstanding strategist. Revan is known for his defeat of the Mandalorian leader, a feared warrior, in one-on-one combat. Being both a Jedi and a Sith, Revan was able to use both the Light and the Dark Sides of the Force, a rare feat.
Revan gained his power by alternating between the Sith and Jedi multiple times after his mind was wiped. A major aspect of his abilities was his proficiency in sensing both other individuals and future events. Additionally, he demonstrated remarkable skill in adapting his enemies' strategies to his advantage. Finally, Revan was so strong in the Force that he was even able to allow Force insensitive people to feel the Force.
Revan quickly became a fan favorite, here are some reasons why:
- Revan uses both the Dark Side and the Light Side, earning him use of his purple lightsaber blade. In addition to his purple blade, he also used a red blade to showcase his darker side.
- Revan was a playable character with customization options. Because of this, players felt closer to him during gameplay.
- Despite customization, Revan covered his face with a Mandalorian mask, combining Jedi with fan favorite Mandalorian culture.
8. Dessel (Darth Bane)
Darth Bane’s spirit tries to tempt Yoda.
Darth Bane was the last Sith before they went into hiding and lived 1,000 years prior to the Clone Wars. He is known for establishing the Rule of Two: the rule that there should only ever be two Sith Lords at a time. Bane is also believed to be the Sith’ari, the Dark Side version of the Chosen One. Bane was led by the recognition that the Sith were too power-hungry and led to their own destruction and laid the groundwork for the Sith’s 1,000-year plan to get revenge on the Jedi. With his death, the Jedi thought the Sith to be destroyed until they discovered Maul in the lead up to the Clone Wars.
As a Sith, Bane had a natural enemy in the Jedi Order. After the Jedi left him as the lone surviving Sith, he made plans to eliminate the Jedi from the Galaxy by limiting the Sith’s numbers and taking on a hidden role instead of building an army of Sith warriors. His actions led to the downfall of the Jedi and the uprising of the Sith a millennium after his death.
Darth Bane came to be the Sith’ari, or the “perfect being” for the Dark Side and learned everything that Darth Revan left in a holocron 3,000 years prior. In addition to his raw physical strength, Bane possessed armor resistant to Lightsaber blades. He learned everything that Darth Revan knew via holocrons left behind, and his mastery of the Force was such that his Lightning attacks were lethal upon contact.
At the age of 18, Bane, before learning about his Force sensitivity, accidentally used the Force to kill his father after being bullied and beaten. During his fateful duel, he attempted to send his consciousness into his apprentice, but failed to do so and ended up dead.
Fans of Star Wars have been captivated by Darth Bane since his introduction, here are some reasons why:
- Ever since its debut in 1999, the Rule of Two was a mysterious Sith law. Darth Bane finally gave fans a history to go with this secret.
- Darth Bane, in his creation of the Rule of Two, is indirectly responsible for Sidious’ plan and the eventual downfall of the Jedi - over 1,000 years later.
- Darth Bane has one of the most unique backstories, showing his rise from a bullied child-worker to becoming the Sith’ari.
7. Darth Plagueis
Darth Plagueis takes up a stance.
Darth Plagueis was a Sith Lord whose obsession was immortality who lived until around the time of the Battle of Naboo. His path led him to discover a powerful Force-sensitive named Sheev Palpatine, whom he took on as an apprentice. Plagueis performed biological experiments on midi-chlorines in an attempt to attain his immortality and was close to discovering it, but his time was cut short by Palpatine murdering him in his sleep.
Even though he was Palpatine’s mentor, Palpatine was trying to kill Plagueis in order to take over his spot as the Sith Lord and to continue the search for immortality as part of the “Rule of Two.” While being his apprentice, Palpatine was also his greatest enemy.
Plagueis was powerful in the Dark Side and the sciences. Palpatine attacked Plagueis in his sleep while he was drunk and Plagueis was still able to survive for a significant amount of time before eventually perishing. In addition to his physical strength, Plagueis was strong enough in the Force to indirectly cause the birth of Anakin Skywalker.
In the words of his apprentice, “Darth Plagueis was a Dark Lord of the Sith so powerful and so wise, he could use the Force to influence the midi-chlorians to create life. He had such a knowledge of the dark side, he could even keep the ones he cared about from dying.” In fact, this ability is what led Anakin to turn to the Dark Side.
Audience members are fans of Plagueis for many reasons, here are some:
- Despite not making a physical appearance in the main movies, Plagueis plays an important part in Revenge of the Sith. He is able to affect multiple plotlines without even being present.
- Plagueis is incredibly strong, being able to withstand minutes of Palpatine’s Lightning while very drunk and asleep.
- While other Sith focus on strength and power, Plagueis gave the audience a unique perspective in his focus on his education, focusing on science rather than magic and earning him the moniker “the Wise.”
6. Galen Marek (Starkiller)
Starkiller brings down a Star Destroyer.
Unlike the usual renaming of Sith warriors, Galen Marek and Starkiller are technically two characters. Galen Marek is a Sith-trained Force user and Starkiller is his Force-sensitive clone. Galen Marek was taken to be Vader’s secret apprentice shortly after Vader killed his father in front of him. In the years after Order 66, Galen was taught the ways of the Dark Side in order to hunt down the remaining Jedi. However, Vader was secretly using Galen to get the entire Rebel leadership together in order to eliminate them. After being betrayed by Vader, Galen turned on Vader and Sidious and was able to beat Vader.
Despite spending a large amount of his life hunting Jedi, his real archenemy was Vader. Vader was directly responsible for the death of Galen’s father, made Galen’s life torture, betrayed and used Galen, and killed him in the end.
Galen was one of the first Force users to show just how powerful the Force is by pulling an Imperial Star Destroyer from orbit and was so powerful that Vader thought he was sensing a Jedi Master instead of a child. Beyond eliminating large groups of Stormtroopers and Rebels at a time, killing large and powerful beasts, and even killing some Jedi Masters, Galen’s true feat was defeating Vader and fighting Sidious. In something of a “What If?” series, we also see what would happen if Galen hunted the Rebels with more vigor and witness him killing Vader, Obi-Wan, Han, and Chewie, and defeating “Maul” and Luke. Although we do not see it, it is implied that he proceeds to take on Sidious again.
Although the second half of his story is considered non-canon, it still shows how powerful Galen would have been if he truly unleashed his power. Even just seeing the canon portions of his story, we get to see amazing feats of the Force never seen before, and it’s made better by the fact that we get to experience it through gameplay.
What We Like About Starkiller:
- Starkiller gives us the ability to experience this power: Starkiller’s game was the first time that audiences got to see what the Force is actually capable of. Not only this, but it gives that power to us to control, instead of passively watching on a screen.
- Instead of following the familiar trope of a “redemption” story that is so familiar to this genre, the player’s choices actually allows us to experience one of three outcomes; a redemption, a true, full Dark Side story, or something of a sad adventure.
- Despite all of his shortcomings, Galen Marek is directly responsible for the formation of the Rebel Alliance by getting its future leaders together to fight under one cause. Not only this, but they also decided to honor his sacrifice by using his family’s crest as their logo.
5. Sheev Palpatine (Darth Sidious)
Emperor Palpatine attempts to enter the World Between Worlds.
Palpatine was found by Sith Lord Darth Plagueis when he was a child, but was so powerful in the Force that he was able to hide his Force power. From a young age, Palpatine devised a plan to take control of the Galaxy and managed to succeed, although his reign lasted only about two decades. Palpatine was able to wage a Galaxy-wide war by playing both sides while tricking the entire Jedi council and Senate.
Throughout his life, Palpatine had two goals; conquer the Galaxy and defeat the Jedi. While he didn’t have one specific Jedi in mind, he despised them all and sought to destroy them. One could argue that Yoda, being Palpatine’s Jedi equivalent, would be the closest thing that Palpatine had to a nemesis.
In addition to his natural power in the Dark Side, Palpatine possessed thousands of years of Sith knowledge to draw upon. He demonstrated mastery over various Force powers, including Force Storm, an immense destructive ability similar to Force Lightning. Palpatine was impervious to Force Drain and was capable of using the Light Side to heal himself. Furthermore, he could project dreams, voices, and thoughts into the minds of others, even across the Galaxy. In combat, Palpatine was a formidable duelist, capable of besting multiple Jedi Masters simultaneously. Above all of this, Palpatine’s real power was his foresight, planning, and his silver tongue. Palpatine planned the entire Clone War a decade in advance and planned the downfall of the Rebel Alliance over the course of years as well. Finally, Palpatine was able to prevent his death after the Battle of Endor through the use of cloning and using the Force to transfer his consciousness.
Even though Palpatine was powerful from birth, two things led to him becoming one of the most powerful Sith lords. The first is the knowledge left behind from previous Sith lords and warriors. This gave him knowledge such as additional Force powers, tactics, and defenses. The second part is his cunning ability to bend others to his will and foresee events before they occur. This gave him the ability to become Supreme Chancellor, commission a Clone army, and then become Emperor.
While many people dislike Palpatine for obvious reasons, here are some traits that fans enjoy:
- Palpatine gave rise to the Galactic Empire and the impressive Imperial Army. Many fans enjoy seeing Stormtroopers in action and even making Stormtrooper collections. Not only this, but Palpatine is also responsible for giving us the immaculate Imperial space vessels such as the Imperial Star Destroyer.
- Palpatine’s planning and cunning are awe-inspiring to all who take time to understand just how in depth his plans are, often stretching over years or decades.
- In this age of memes, popularity is often driven by meme potential; and Palpatine is full of meme material. From the encouraging “dewit!” to the intriguing “have you ever heard…”, Palpatine is always giving audiences enjoyable moments.
4. Abeloth
Abeloth - The “Beloved Queen of the Stars.”
Abeloth was a human born about 100,000 years before the Galactic Civil War took place and came to be a helper to the Ones of Mortis. Since she was a mortal and the Ones were immortal, she was tempted to drink from a Nexus of Dark Side energy, which turned her into a Force entity capable of many great feats. Despite this, she was defeated four decades after the Civil War’s end.
After Abeloth drank from the Nexus, the Ones left her abandoned and imprisoned on the planet. At times, she managed to escape her imprisonment on the planet until being confronted and returned by the Son and Daughter.
Abeloth was an immensely powerful entity capable of controlling the flora on her home planet. She possessed incomprehensible power, described as beyond mortal understanding. She could influence the minds of Force-sensitives across the galaxy, inducing them to seek her out, only to consume their energy upon their arrival. Additionally, she could assume the appearance of those she consumed and manifest multiple forms simultaneously
At the time of her defeat, Abeloth was 100,000 years old. Despite the Republic defeating all of her manifestations, it was still believed that she would eventually return after a sufficient amount of time to recover. Regardless, it was said that the Dagger of Mortis would be able to kill her once and for all.
Star Wars fans enjoy Abeloth for several reasons, some follow here:
- Abeloth shows fans an extreme level of power never seen before, leading to a scene on Coruscant that fans would never forget. As such, Abeloth gives a Galaxy-wide threat level and something for every citizen of the universe to rally together against, something that the Star Wars universe severely lacks.
- For fans of the odd, Abeloth also serves to bring a mixture of Lovecraft and Star Wars, something especially enjoyed by fans of Cthulhu.
- In addition to being a big threat, Abeloth also retells the story of the Garden of Eden in a fantasy setting.
3. Anakin Skywalker (Darth Vader)
Darth Vader discovers the Hidden Path.
Anakin Skywalker was born of the Force as a direct reaction to Darth Plagueis’ experiments with midi-chlorians as a way to counteract the artificial effects on the Force. As such, Anakin was a naturally incredibly strong Force user, having more midi-chlorians than even Jedi Grand Master Yoda himself. Anakin was seen as the “Chosen One” in the Jedi legacy. Despite achieving the rank of Jedi Knight and receiving an honorary seat on the Jedi Council, Anakin ultimately succumbed to the Dark Side, becoming the Sith Lord known as Darth Vader. Two decades later, he was redeemed by his son and turned back to the Light, fulfilling his destiny and bringing balance to the Force.
Anakin has had many enemies over his life, but possibly his biggest was his former master: Obi-Wan Kenobi. Anakin spent nearly two decades being haunted by his defeat at Obi-Wan’s hand before eventually meeting his mentor again and taking his revenge.
Anakin is incredibly powerful and became a vicious duelist. His Force powers were so strong that he was able to overpower the Son and the Daughter simultaneously to save his Padawan and his Master, and was meant to replace the Father keeping the balance. Anakin was born with the highest midi-chlorian count but unfortunately started his training late and focused more on his saber skills, which means he could have been even more powerful. Because of this choice, however, he went on to be considered one of the greatest duelists in galactic history.
After losing his limbs on Mustafar, many people like to mention that Anakin lost part of his midi-chlorian count and therefore is weaker after becoming Darth Vader. However Vader still remains stronger than Anakin was. Despite this, Vader would have been much more powerful if he hadn’t been defeated at Mustafar. Additionally, Vader’s suit has two purposes; the first is that it actually inhibits him and makes him more susceptible to Palpatine’s lightning attacks. The second purpose is that it is in fact painful for Vader, but this pain makes him stronger in the Dark Side.
There are many things that fans enjoy about Anakin, here are some of them:
- Anakin has the typical “tragic hero story,” one of a rise, a fall, and a redemption.
- Anakin is the main character of the entire Star Wars movie line, most of the shows, and many of the games and other extra media, giving him an instant boost in favorability.
- Anakin is a complex character, going from a tragic backstory as a child slave, to a Jedi learner, to a child murderer, and beyond. Having so many traits gives more potential for fans to feel connected to the character.
- Being one of the most powerful characters lends to his favorability, as people tend to enjoy showcases of immense power and mastery of one’s skills.
- From his debut in 1977, Vader has been a mysterious and imposing figure and became an instant favorite with James Earl Jones’ voice.
2. The Father (Mortis Gods)
The Father catches a Lightsaber by its blade.
The Father was one of the trio of the Ones, or the Gods of Mortis, which were celestials in the living Force over a million years before the Clone Wars. He was accompanied by the Daughter and the Son who represented the Light side and the Dark side of the Force, respectively. In contrast, the Father assumed the role of maintaining balance between his children. The family was served by the Mother and led to her rise to power. He learned of the finding of the Chosen One and decided to test him to see if he was indeed the Chosen One. After determining that Anakin was the Chosen One, the Father asked Anakin to replace him, as the Father was dying.
The Father’s existence was dedicated to keeping his children from fighting as well as keeping Abeloth contained in her prison. As the keeper of the balance of the Force, he was required to keep his children from fighting each other and had to keep them contained on Mortis.
The Father was an incredibly powerful Force entity capable of controlling his children and defeating Abeloth. He demonstrated proficiency in using the Force, maintaining the Force realm Mortis, teleporting others, and distorting time perception. Remarkably, he could handle Lightsaber blades without sustaining physical damage.
While the Father is one of the most powerful beings in the Galaxy, he, along with the other Mortis beings, has one huge weakness: the Dagger of Mortis. Unfortunately, he was also prone to aging, being over one million years old. With these two facts and the betrayal by the Son, he was defeated.
As the embodiment of balance, fans have come to like the Father, here are some reasons why:
- The Father is favored by fans for his role in finally proving that Anakin is indeed the Chosen One.
- Being the representation of balance, this character is likable by both the followers of Light and of Dark.
- The Father showed fans a rare ability: the ability to grab Lightsaber blades, something used by very few other characters.
1. The Whills (Force Priestesses)
The Whills confront Yoda.
The Whills are immortal entities which represent the consciousness of the Force and are more powerful than even the Mortis Gods and live in between the Living Force and the Cosmic Force. As immortal entities embodying the consciousness of the Force, the Whills possessed knowledge of immortality and imparted this wisdom to Qui-Gon Jinn, who was the first Jedi to learn how to become one with the Force and live past death. This secret was shared with Yoda during the Clone Wars and, later, Obi-Wan Kenobi. The Whills exist to record the events of the Galaxy, and it is said that one learned the story of the Skywalkers from R2-D2.
Being the literal personification of the Force, the Whills generally did not flex their combative powers, however they were still affected negatively by those that could bend the Force to their will, such as Darth Krayt.
The Whills are arguably the most powerful entity in the Star Wars universe. They control the events of the universe and create destinies for mortals, such as Anakin Skywalker. Even though we have never seen the Whills in a fight, it is commonly believed that they are unbeatable.
The Whills were the focus of George Lucas’ plan for a sequel trilogy. Unfortunately, these plans were canceled when he sold the rights to Disney, but the Whills still made an appearance in the Clone Wars named the Force Priestesses. They showed Yoda how to become one with the Force under the guide of five emotions.
Some reasons that fans enjoy the Whills are:
- The Whills, being Lucas’ original idea for the Sequel trilogy, are incredibly liked by fans.
- The Whills gave the secret to becoming a Force Ghost to Qui-Gon, and are therefore directly responsible for Obi-Wan and Yoda being able to assist the Rebels in taking down the Empire.
- The Whills are the group that created Anakin in response to Plagueis and Sidious messing with midi-chlorians, thereby causing the story of Star Wars to happen.
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