Summary
- Galen Marek/Starkiller is one of the most powerful characters in Star Wars. He bested Darth Vader in battle, displaying exceptional Force abilities.
- Darth Krayt, a Tusken Raider turned Jedi turned Sith, became corrupted by the Dark Side and led an army of Sith into battle.
- Darth Bane implemented the Rule of Two, saving the Sith from self-destruction. He was a skilled lightsaber wielder and used his enemies' suffering to heal himself.
Star Wars is filled with a plethora of powerful characters. Some are physically stronger than others, while some are more powerful in the Force, so even if they might lose a hand-to-hand fight, they can hold their own in other ways. Not all of these characters have appeared on-screen though.
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Prior to Disney's acquisition of Lucasfilm, Star Wars introduced hundreds of characters through books, comics, and video games. After Disney took over, they deemed these characters not seen on screen as Legends. Still, Star Wars Legends features some of the strongest characters in the entire universe.
Updated on June 16, 2024, by Jake Fillery: Whilst Star Wars has a constant stream of new characters thanks to its time on Disney Plus across a multitude of shows, there is still a place for Legends and the Expanded Universe to shine. Many characters known and unknown have flourished in Star Wars Legends, presenting the franchise with some of the most powerful and interesting characters to this day. Fans of Star Wars can find the most powerful Legends characters below, alongside some interesting tidbits that might make them wish they could see these characters in animation or live-action in the main Disney canon.
16 Darth Sion
A Sith Lord Kept Immortal Through Hate
- First Appearance: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2
Known as the Lord of Pain for a reason, Darth Sion fought for decades, calling upon all the emotions that can forge a great Sith. Through pain, anger, and hate, Sion rises above death to achieve immortality. Sion cheats death every day at the cost of a constant agony that beckons him to give up and take his final sleep. Whilst this constant pain is more of a curse than a blessing, it still means Sion is extremely powerful, for he cannot, and will not, be killed.
Whilst Sion's body decays and fractures, his will in the dark side of the Force only bolsters his hate and strength, allowing for a powerful warrior to remain alive indefinitely. All Sion has to do to leave immortality is to find peace, but that is a hard ask of a selfish Sith Lord.
15 Bedlam Spirits
Manipulators of Space and Time
- First Appearance: Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back Monthly #154
The Bedlam Spirits are an oddity in Legends, for they did not exactly appear much across Legends. Their brief time in the spotlight in a distant Marvel comic from 1982 doesn't cement them as entirely memorable, but some writers have not forgotten them, as they have been mentioned a few times across Legends. No matter how frequently they feature, the Bedlam Spirits are worth discussing as powerful beings.
The Bedlam Spirits are extremely powerful, and they can bend time and matter to their will, physically altering themselves and the space around them with ease. Yet, the Bedlam Spirits were also childish in nature, showcasing how their omnipotence could be their undoing.
14 Darth Sidious
The Ability To Cheat Death Multiple Times And Predict Greater Threats
- First Appearance: Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
For those who have watched the Skywalker Saga, they know of the conniving power of this Sith Lord. Sheev Palpatine was the one to finally vanquish the Jedi, and ruled the galaxy for a time. Yet, his reign was short-lived, but he managed to transfer his spirit to a clone. However, in Legends, this was done by Palpatine before, in a far younger and stronger body.
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The Palpatine from Legends is far stronger than his canon version, and he has cheated death multiple times. His power seems boundless to a physical form, and his motives were not always just for power, but for defense, as Palpatine could sense a far greater threat looming in a distant galaxy.
13 Grandmaster Luke Skywalker
The Greatest Jedi Who Ever Lived
- First Appearance: Star Wars: A New Hope
Luke Skywalker may have begun his journey as a farmboy from Tatooine, but he was always destined for greatness. As the son of The Chosen One, Anakin Skywalker, Luke was trained in the ways of the Force and the Jedi by Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda, and he quickly became the best of them through his combat training and his growing abilities within the Force itself.
After the collapse of the Empire, Luke furthered his training, remaining calm in the face of danger, and only growing as a fighter and a Jedi Master. Luke's abilities ascended his predecessors, and his years of training helped him become one of the most powerful Jedi Grand Masters, who rebuilt the Jedi Order to not make the same mistakes as before. Star Wars Legends had Luke at the height of his deserved power, and it never corrupted him.
12 Abeloth
The Bringer of Chaos With Dark Side Powers & Immortality
- First Appearance: Fate of the Jedi: Outcast
While the Gods of Mortis represent the father, son, and daughter, Abeloth, the mother is almost as powerful as the other three by herself. Drinking from the Font of Power and then bathing in the Pool of Knowledge, Abeloth is an immortal Force demigod. She overpowered both the Son and Daughter before the Father jumped in to bring balance, but with their deaths, she was free after thousands of years.
Abeloth is able to possess multiple people at one time and can re-form after suffering any damage. Luke Skywalker described Abeloth as beyond human comprehension. She can be defeated but never killed, making her the most powerful character in Legends.
11 A'Sharad Hett/Darth Krayt
Dragon of The Sith, A Former Jedi Master, Now Sith Lord
- First Appearance: Star Wars # 10 – Outlander, Part 4
Growing up on Tatooine, A'Sharad Hett was a Tusken Raider with Force powers. Trained by Ki-Adi-Mundi and An'ya Kuro, Hett was able to survive Order 66. After abandoning the Jedi following the rise of the Empire, Hett returns to Tatooine to be a Tusken Raider once again.
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Krayt was as despicable as the original Sith Lords, and his corruption by the Dark Side at the hands of the Yuuzhan Vong sent the galaxy in another turmoil, where Coruscant was once again under threat. Darth Krayt created a Sith army, and far into the future of the galaxy far, far away, he was finally bested by none other than Luke Skywalker's grandson, Cade Skywalker.
10 Darth Bane
Implemented The Rule of Two
- First Appearance: Bane of the Sith
Darth Bane is one of the most famous and powerful Sith ever introduced in Star Wars. Following the Sith Civil War, Darth Bane brought order back to the Dark Side of the Force by implementing the Rule of Two. The greedy and power-hungry teachings of the Sith led to infighting that made it easy for the Jedi to defeat them.
The Rule of Two allowed the Sith to continue their teachings and save themselves from self-destruction. Bane was also incredibly skilled with a lightsaber and used his enemies' suffering to heal himself. While Bane has appeared in canon thanks to a brief appearance in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, most of his lore comes from Legends.
9 Exar Kun
A Betraying Jedi Who Murdered His Own & Used Manipulation On Others
- First Appearance: Star Wars: Jedi Search
Living 4,000 years before the Battle of Yavin, Exar Kun was one of the first Jedi to fall to the Dark Side. As a newly minted Sith, Kun waged war against his former friends and the Old Republic. As part of the Old Sith Wars, he used Sith sorcery to hypnotize the Galactic Senate, killed countless Jedi, and nearly destroyed the Old Republic single-handedly, until he retreated from a losing battle, evoking an ancient ritual to free his spirit from his body.
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This ritual was not entirely successful, and Exar Kun's spirit was trapped on Yavin 4 for thousands of years. Kun attempted to influence Luke's apprentices, manipulating them into doing his bidding. Despite teething with the concept, Skywalker's apprentices managed to resist and helped to banish Kun's Force spirit, ending his evil once and for all.
8 Galen Marek/Starkiller
Vader's Secret Apprentice Who Harbors Incredible Power
- First Appearance: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
Galen Marek debuted in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, committing to some unwaveringly dark and powerful abilities within the Force. Also known as Starkiller, this secret Sith apprentice to Darth Vader was of great power, committing to the video game fantasy of being able to pull Star Destroyers from orbit, plunging them down to the surface seemingly with ease. Vader chose his apprentice wisely, but the manipulation of this apprentice would lead him down a different path.
Trained through rage and Sith teachings, Marek didn't know how to hold back, nor was he aligned with the Jedi training that his master knew. Marek was a Sith apprentice, the polar opposite of the canon apprentice of Anakin, Ahsoka. Nevertheless, Marek's skills are grand, and he even managed to best Darth Vader in battle.