Star Wars Villains: The Strongest & Weakest Siths

Throughout the Star Wars franchise we see a range of Sith Lords and followers of the Dark Side come and go. Some killed off our favourite characters – who will ever forget the heart-breaking fight between Qui-Gon Jinn and Darth Maul – and scared our younger selves stiff. In this post, we will look at the strongest and weakest of the Sith seen throughout the Star Wars franchise and unpack the characteristics of some of the best Star Wars villains. After all, what would this franchise be if not for its cunning villains.

Let’s start with a quick rundown of the Saga’s original Sith Lords:

We’ll start things off with the most powerful Sith in the Star Wars universe. Darth Sidious has been a character in many storylines over the years, most notably in the Old Republic comic books. Sidious is the High Chancellor of the Empire, and if you’ve read the comics or watched The Clone Wars you know that Sidious is a master manipulator. Darth Vader is the most feared in the galaxy, but you would be hard pressed to find someone more powerful than Sidious. After the fall of the Jedi, Sidious brings order to the universe and we are introduced to his apprentice, Anakin Skywalker (Darth Vader). Sidious spends much of his time as a character exerting control and has most of the galaxy at his beck and call.

Palpatine’s True Identity

For those of us who were alive in the ’80s we remember well the revelation that Palpatine was actually the evil Darth Sidious, a Sith Lord who had been hiding in plain sight and was now the lead authority of the Republic. This was a startling revelation at the time as Dooku had been the Emperor’s right hand man, seen as one of the good guys.

In many ways, Darth Vader was the star of the first three Star Wars films. He was the force that pulled Han Solo and Luke Skywalker together and the focus of almost every scene he was in. Vader’s weakness comes from the fact that there really is no equal for him in the movies, meaning that you can see Luke Skywalker use the Force in a battle against Vader to achieve near fatal success. Vader is also a physical monster, able to hold his own against the entire Rebel Alliance single-handedly.

Let’s start with the strongest. First, we have Darth Vader. He managed to avoid his destiny for decades, choosing to travel the universe killing people instead. However, the fact that he eventually took on the role of the Emperor was a testament to his fighting skill and ability to harness the dark side. With that said, Darth Vader could also be seen as one of the weaker Sith Lords, due to his ties with the Emperor. The Emperor controlled Vader’s actions and we could argue that we don’t see the full extent of Vaders potential as a dark lord because he just simply acts out the will of the emperor.

How could we talk about the strongest Sith Lords without talking about the (almost) immortal Palpatine or also known as his Sith Lord name, Darth Sidious. Darth Sidious was considered a natural prodigy of the force, much like Yoda. However, Sidious was capable of using every Sith ability to its highest extent. At will he could drastically enhance his speed, agility, reflexes and strength. His signature ability of course was his ability to use Force lightning, he would unleash a powerful torrent of lightning from his fingertips strong to incinerate any being, fry any droid and even bend lightsabers. However, what pushes Darth Sidious to being the strongest Sith Lord is perhaps not his abilities but His knowledge of the dark ways of the Force. Before killing his master Darth Plagueis, Sidious had harnessed the ability to live past death through possession. Sidious possessed many bodies which is how we see him appear in the final episode of the sage, The Rise of Skywalker.

The first thing we need to do is discuss the most terrifying but easily disarmed member of the Sith, Darth Maul. LucasFilm Star Wars is a franchise that prides itself on murderously tough characters, however there were some that didn’t quite live up to the narrative of the dark Sith, and even some characters that up-right disappointed the fans. While he had a short lived role in the Saga, Darth Maul didn’t quite live up to the notoriously cunning edge you might expect from a Sith. Throughout the Saga, we see the Sith put on show stopping fights where they bait and almost play with their opponents. Darth Maul misses the mark slightly in this area, he gets too caught up in putting on a show and that extra boost of confidence after killing Qui-Gon Jinn is ultimately what leads to Obi Wan striking him to his death. Darth Maul was stronger than Obi Wan, he proved that when he killed Qui-Gon but he was over primed and traded being a showman for his life.

Another contender for the weakest Sith could be Count Dooku, or has he’s also known Darth Tyranus. Dooku was a cunning and talented Sith Lord, known for his swift skills with a lightsaber and his ability to manipulate populations. However, whenever Dooku encounters the Jedi we see him almost show leniency which ultimately leads to his demise by Anakin in Revenge of the Sith. Of course this could be due to the fact that he was once a Jedi, but as a Sith Lord this made him weak.

So who do you think is the most dominant and important of the Sith Lords seen throughout the Star Wars franchise? And who is their biggest Jedi counterpart? are Jedi’s Stronger or weaker than one another? Who is the strongest Jedi?