Fans of George Lucas’ famous sci-fi films - Star Wars - have long argued over which characters would win in theoretical battles against other Jedi, Sith, and everyone in between. Conversation of this sort was particularly prevalent in the years leading up to the prequel trilogy, as the first three films alluded to tons of epic battles and moments which we, at that time, had yet to see. It was known that Obi-Wan Kenobi had bested Darth Vader in some forgotten fight decades ago, but it wouldn’t be until 2004 that audience would actually get to see it.
More interesting still were the fight scenes featuring Yoda, a powerful Jedi who was revered mostly through hearsay and was never actually shown in combat at any point during the original trilogy. Yoda may be physically gone following his departure in Return of the Jedi, but his presence is far from absent in the new movies. It’s hard to know if we’ll ever again watch him wield a lightsaber, but, in celebration of that line of thinking, here are twelve characters stronger than Yoda.
Updated April 10, 2022, by Gabrielle Huston: With several television shows keeping the love for Star Wars alive, even after the end of the prequel trilogy, there are more characters than ever to pit against Yoda. After all, he can totally take ’em… right?
14 Mace Windu
Mace Windu may seem like an out-of-left-field pick for a list of characters stronger than Yoda, but he was a Jedi council member of equal ranking to the little green Jedi of unknown origin. Yoda was most likely the wiser of the two, but the deciding factor comes in the form of Windu’s fight against the outed Sith Lord Darth Sidious in Revenge of the Sith. Some have argued that Sidious lost the fight on purpose in order to sway Anakin to the Dark Side, but he didn’t need to make his defeat at the hands of Windu so totally convincing. Yoda couldn’t beat Sidious, but Mace Windu could.
13 Revan
Revan is among the most interesting characters to come from the overwhelmingly-extensive Star Wars expanded universe, and he needs to be included in an upcoming film in some capacity, though he lived several thousand years before the events of Lucas’ original trilogy.
Revan was a gifted force-sensitive human male who rose to join the ranks of the Jedi Knights before falling to the Dark Side and helping to establish the Sith order. He fought in many timeline-altering battles and was nearly successful in his attempt on the life of the Sith Emperor.
A relatively underappreciated character among those unfamiliar with the expanded universe, Revan may well have given Yoda a run for his money… or, more aptly, his credits.
12 The Father
Yoda may have a domineering command over and knowledge of the Force, but his skills still don’t compare to those of The Father’s.
In a way, this could never be a fair fight because The Father and his family, collectively known as The Ones, are thought to be the progenitors of the Force and are widely considered to have had something to do with its origins. Yoda may be a disciplined and wise combatant, but he could never hope to defeat an entity possibly responsible for the creation of the Force.
Given The Father’s protective and generally peaceable nature, these two probably would never have fought, but this ancient protector of The Ones likely would have come out on top if they had.
11 Emperor Vitiate
Vitiate, an extremely powerful Sith Lord who ruled much of the galaxy and controlled the Sith Empire for around 1500 years, was known by many names, and is sort of an enigmatic figure in Star Wars lore. Vitate was never featured in any movies, and most references of him only occur in relatively obscure expanded universe content, most of which has since been decanonized by Disney.
That said, Vitiate, sometimes better known as the Sith Emperor, is often thought to have been stronger than Darth Sidious thanks to his mastery of the Dark Side of the force which granted him a ridiculously long life. The Sith don’t believe in an afterlife and seemingly can’t live on as Force ghosts, so they focus all of their energy on life extension. Were he stronger than Emperor Palpatine, he would certainly be stronger than Yoda.
10 Galen Marek
Trained in secret by none other than Darth Vader, Galen Marek, better known by Starkiller, his call sign, was a Force-sensitive human male used by Vader as a Jedi hunter.
Though his presence in Star Wars lore smacks of retroactive continuity thanks to his total absence from canonical material following the two games in which he starred, Marek seems to have been one of the strongest Force wielders to ever live. Able to hunt down and defeat several high-value Jedi targets and infamously pull an entire Star Destroyer out of the sky, Yoda would probably have his hands full with this one.
9 Ki-Adi Mundi
Ki-Adi Mundi was, despite being a member of the Jedi Council during the prequel films, one of several important Jedi to take a back seat to the likes of Yoda, Mace Windu, and Qui-Gon Jinn. Mundi was notable for several reasons, the least of which being his notorious duels with the Dark Jedi Knight Asajj Ventress and the four-armed Jedi hunter General Grievous.
As a member of a species with an incredibly low birth rate, Mundi was one of the only Jedi to receive express permission to marry. He was also one of a very small number of Jedi Knights to be allowed a seat on the Council before being granted the rank of master, a position which Anakin Skywalker would later rebuke.
8 Darth Bane
Darth Bane was said to be the only surviving Sith following the end of the Jedi-Sith war, which saw the total destruction of his kind at the hands of the Jedi order. Bane was prompted to enact a plan of revenge that would circumvent the Sith’s previous failures which were caused by their power-hungry natures.
Bane instated what would come to be known as the Rule of Two, a principle which held that there could only ever be two Sith in the galaxy at a time: a master, and an apprentice. This ensured that the Sith could hone their skills in secret without fear of betrayal from rival Sith factions. More cunning and devious than all but the most attuned Force-sensitive beings, Darth Bane could more than likely defeat Yoda in a battle of both strength and wit.
7 The Daughter
The Daughter is, along with the Father and the Son, one of “the Ones,” who are embodiments of the Light, Dark, and Grey Force itself.
The Daughter embodies the Light Side of the Force, which Yoda practices himself. Though she’d probably never pick a fight with him, being very serene and peaceful, the Daughter is the epitome of the power that Yoda wields. She could definitely take him down if she had to.
6 Darth Plagueis
Darth Plagueis was an extraordinarily powerful Sith Lord who often serves as a cautionary tale against the corrupting forces of absolute strength and partial immortality. He was the Master to Darth Sidious, the Sith Lord who would eventually go on to enact Darth Bane’s revenge against the Jedi.
Plagueis was said to have been able to instill immortality in those for which he cared deeply. That said, he was destroyed by his own hubris, as Palpatine eventually turned on him. Despite his mistakes, Plagueis was a formidable Sith Lord who would certainly have given Yoda quite a bit of trouble had they ever dueled.
5 The Son
As previously mentioned, The Ones were a family of ridiculously powerful Force-wielders who are thought to have had something to do with either the creation or discovery of the Force thousands of years before the films. Fearing that their existence may bring about an end to the galaxy, The Ones exiled themselves on the extraplanar planet of Mortis where The Son and Daughter constantly warred with each other.
The Ones were able to outmatch even the most skilled Jedi and even disrupt lightsaber blades with their bare hands. Power of this sort could only be contested by another member of the family, and, as a result, the Dark Side practitioner The Son would easily defeat even Yoda. He ranks higher than his sister and father on this list merely because he would be the most willing of all to actually fight Yoda in the first place.
4 Qui-Gon Jinn
Qui-Gon Jinn was a bit of an outsider in the Jedi Order because he never fully committed himself to the doctrine and beliefs of his peers. His refusal to fully embrace the Jedi Code likely barred him from a position on the Jedi Council, and his regular defiance made him a controversial figure in the Star Wars universe.
That said, his powers may well have exceeded Yoda’s because he was the first Jedi to have been able to return to the realm of the living as a Force ghost. He passed on what he knew to his peers, and they too were able to replicate the ability. However, his mastery of such skills seem to have surpassed those of even Master Yoda.
3 Jaina Solo Fel
Jaina Solo Fel might be a decanonized character, but she still deserves recognition on this list. In the expanded universe before Disney bought Star Wars, Jaina Solo Fel was the daughter of Han Solo and Leia Organa Solo, and the twin sister of Jacen Solo. She took after her father’s expert mechanical mind and her mother’s innate skill in the Force.
Jaina was recognized as one of the most powerful force users in the expanded universe. She was given the title ‘The Sword of the Jedi’ and was believed to be an avatar of a trickster goddess, Yun-Harla. Though she was tempted by the Dark Side, she successfully emerged as a devotee of the Light. The same could not be said of Jacen; he emerged as Darth Caedus, and Jaina was forced to take him down. Though Yoda didn’t live long enough to meet Jaina, we think we know who would have won.
2 Luke Skywalker
Yoda’s trainee and protege, Luke Skywalker is often thought to be one of the most powerful and influential Jedi to ever live, thanks to his role in the destruction of the Empire. He was instrumental in the destruction of both versions of the Death Star, and he single-handedly faced off against both Vader in the Emperor while maintaining his Light Side convictions.
Though Yoda was extremely powerful in his own right, Luke, in bringing an end to the Emperor’s reign, was able to accomplish what his master never could. Yoda faces off against Darth Sidious in Revenge of the Sith, but isn’t able to accomplish his mission. This may not be finite proof of Luke’s strength, but it implies that his power may have grown to eclipse that of Yoda’s.
1 Abeloth
The closest thing the Star Wars universe has to H. P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu, Abeloth was originally a human servant for “the Ones” we’ve discussed - The Son, The Father, and The Daughter. While those three characters appeared in the Clone Wars TV show, Abeloth did not. She only appears in the (now decanonized) expanded universe.
Over time, she became known as the Mother, helping the Father to keep peace between his children. When she eventually grew old, Abeloth sought immortality in the hopes that she could stay with her new family forever. Subjecting herself to elements of the Force not meant for mere mortals, she was transformed into a twisted Force monster that was eventually imprisoned.
Though Luke Skywalker was said to have bested her in an expanded universe story, there really isn’t a clear way to completely defeat Abeloth, other than imprisoning her, as she is a Force entity in-and-of-herself, and altogether more chaotic and powerful than any single Jedi.
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