Who Star Wars’ Most Powerful Villain Is (Besides Palpatine & Vader)
Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader are the two most powerful villains in Star Wars, but who is the strongest after them? Palpatine’s raw strength in the dark side, coupled with his mastery of lightsaber combat and his shrewd manipulation and leadership skills made him the most threatening individual in the galaxy. His apprentice, Vader, with his seasoned combat experience and legendary intrinsic strength in the dark side, made him easily the second most powerful Star Wars villain.
Besides those two, there are many strong villains in the Star Wars movies and the non-film material from both canon and the old Expanded Universe (now known as Legends). Outside of the films, a case could be made for Legends figures Vitiate, Abeloth, or Lumiya. In canon, characters such as Darth Maul and Supreme Leader Snoke show an impressive array of Force abilities, but don’t quite make the grade as the best outside of Palpatine and Vader.
Instead, the most powerful Star Wars villain besides Palpatine and Vader is Count Dooku, aka Darth Tyranus. Once a Jedi and political idealist, Dooku felt frustrated with the Republic’s corruption and the various flaws of the Jedi Order he served. The disastrous Mandalorian massacre on Galidraan and the loss of two of his Padawans were his final straws, and he left the Jedi, becoming one of “The Lost Twenty,” and eventually leading him to the Darth Sidious, who he eagerly allied himself with. Though he’d been a Jedi for over 70 years, Tyranus unlearned all he’d been taught by the Jedi Order and became a Dark Lord of the Sith. Like his master, Sidious, and his successor, Vader, Tyranus has the potent mixture of lethal fighting abilities, astounding strength in the dark side, and a strategic, manipulative mind.
Dooku was one of the greatest lightsaber duelists in the Star Wars saga. Specializing in Form II, which put a particular emphasis on one-on-one fights between lightsaber users, Tyranus was able to easily defeat Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, as well as fight the legendary Yoda to a standstill in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones. Though over 80 years old, Tyranus used the dark side to augment his strength and speed to the point where his age was irrelevant. In canon, Dooku prevailed against Asajj Ventress and two other Nightsisters while surprised, half-awake, and poisoned. He also fought Anakin repeatedly throughout the Clone Wars, defeating him or fighting the formidable Jedi to a standstill each time. In Legends, Tyranus dueled Mace Windu to a standstill during the Clone Wars, and was allegedly one of only two Jedi to have bested him in a sparring match.
Darth Bane’s Rule of Two resulted in each new generation of Sith being more powerful than the last, and Tyranus was one of the last of Bane’s millennia-long dynasty. If he wasn’t one of the most powerful Force users in the galaxy, Sidious wouldn’t have chosen him as his Sith apprentice in the first place. In both canon and Legends, Dooku defeats opponents like Sora Bulq, Asajj Ventress, and Savage Oppress without his lightsaber, but his signature Force Lightning instead. Tyranus also cured himself of a lethal, fast-acting pathogen in Jango Fett: Open Seasons, and often brutally strangled opponents with Force choke.
Like all the deadliest Sith Lords, Darth Tyranus’ skills with the dark side and a lightsaber were matched by his ability to manipulate enemies, corrupt people into allies, and orchestrate events that affect galactic history. Although he was following his master’s grand plan, Dooku eliminated his rogue former Padawan and found the ideal clone template in one move. He founded the corrupt corporate oligarchy, the CIS, for the purpose of giving the Republic the perfect enemy. Most notably, Count Dooku trained the Legends version of Grievous in psychological warfare as much as he did lightsaber combat. Tyranus ingrained in the droid general that battles should be fought against opponents who are off-balance and intimidated. The Legends-era Grievous is one of the most terrifying villains in the Star Wars franchise, but for every horror he inflicts, Tyranus is capable of worse.
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