Was Palpatine the most powerful Sith that ever lived?
Well, he certainly has competition from Vader, Valkorion, Starkiller and Plagueis, as well
as many others…
Most fans would agree that Vader was going be the most powerful Sith to ever live, as
he was created from the Force itself, but the duel on Mustafar destroyed such a possibility.
The cyborg Vader wasn’t able to tap into the Force as effectively as his old self.
Some would even argue that Palpatine was the most powerful Sith due to the fact that he
was able to control Vader …without Vader, his powers would have been significantly less…
What Palpatine can probably boast of is being the most successful Sith ever.
He actually managed to do what the Sith had been trying to do for as far back as we know
– he destroyed the Jedi and conquered the galaxy, establishing an entirely new galactic
government that far outlived him.
Even the Yuuzhan Vong failed to achieve those goals as completely as he did, and they were
an actual existential threat to all life in the galaxy.
Sure, he had the plans long laid down and implemented by Darth Bane, but Palpatine was
the one who finally brought it all to fruition, and that was no easy task.
Anyway, let’s try and find a definitive answer to the question…
Was Sidious the most powerful Sith to ever live?
According to the old pre-Disney canon, which is now considered legends, the answer is YES…
In the old canon, Sidious was the Master of the seven lightsaber forms, ambidextrously,
moved at super speeds, created wormholes that ripped through the space-time continuum and
destroyed fleets and moons and drained an entire planet with a population of 20 billion.
He erased the minds of an entire world's population, was immune to Darth Nihilus' drain, had arguably
the most powerful Force Lightning, studied from numerous holocrons including Naga Sadow's,
Bane's (which holds all of Revan's knowledge), Freedon Nadd's, and even some Jedi ones.
He was also a master of Essence Transfer and is the only one who involuntarily uses it.
If none of that convinces you, there’s more…
In the New Essential Chronology, it is stated that:
“Yoda went after Palpatine in the empty Senate chamber, but could not defeat the most
powerful Sith Lord in history.”
The Dark Side Sourcebook mentions: “When the Sith finally emerged from a thousand
years of watching and waiting, they numbered—in accordance with the tradition set down by
Darth Bane, only two.
The most powerful of these was Darth Sidious, an ice-cold, diabolically calculating genius
equipped with the strength of the dark side of the Force, as well as an enormous wealth
of Sith artefacts, equipment, and knowledge.”
The Revenge of the Sith novel, which for some reason is now legends says the following:
“And then there was Palpatine, of course: he was beyond power.
He showed nothing of what might be within.
Though seen with the eyes of the dark side itself, Palpatine was an event horizon.
Beneath his entirely ordinary surface was absolute, perfect nothingness.
Darkness beyond darkness.
A black hole of the Force.”
The Death Star novel states: "The Emperor had known it would be thus, of
course that the Rebel Alliance would be troublesome; the resistance had not been a surprise to
him.
The Emperor was completely in concert with the dark side of the Force.
He was the most powerful Sith who had ever existed.”
There are many more references in the old canon….
Now onto the new canon…
As far as Palpatine’s ascension to power and his reign as Emperor is concerned, the
two continuities are actually fairly identical.
The biggest difference lies in the lack of detail in the new canon, especially with regards
to Palpatine’s powers.
The novel Shattered Empire takes place after Palpatine is already dead.
The most revealing source could be the Tarkin novel…
Tarkin has confirmed (or at least confirmed through implication) that the events of the
book Darth Plagueis are canon in the new continuity.
As a result, we can assume Palpatine’s backstory is by and large the same as before.
In the novel, Plagueis fights at such speeds that onlookers viewing his contest with Venamis
perceive it as lightning streaking through the forest.
Palpatine can fight faster than Maul can see and kills two Dugs as if they were butchered
by a phantom.
As impressive as Plagueis' feats are in this regard, Palpatine seems to be slightly faster,
as Maul can just about see Plagueis but not Palpatine when they are moving at super speeds.
So Palpatine seems to have a slight speed advantage.
When it comes to strength, Plagueis has smashed skulls through helmets and has punched through
armoured torsos while severely injured.
Before receiving any training in the Force, Palpatine could crush the skulls of guards
and tear off their limbs.
So, they seem even in this area.
When it comes to endurance, Plagueis has fought on while having lost a heart (and in danger
of losing another), lost a trachea and had several blood vessels severed, and was still
unaffected by Quara and Kaleesh's attempts to attack him.
Palpatine has crawled across a tundra while suffering wounds from Plagueis' lightsaber
and has fallen thirteen stories without harm.
When it comes to telekinesis and lightning, Plagueis has atomized half a dozen enemies
with a Force Wave while severely injured, and shook the ground with enough force to
knock assassins off their feet.
Palpatine has thrown a TD-D9 across a room with enough force to destroy it, has smashed
together boulders, collapsed ceilings, shattered doorways, and killed members of his family
while having no training in the Force….
They seem to be even in just about everything - for physical qualities, neither exceed each
other in duelling, strength, speed or durability.
As far as Force powers go, they are roughly even in telekinesis and Lightning, which are
about the only powers that would influence a fight between the two.
So, it seems like this is a perfect split as far as feats go…
But the author of the Darth Plagueis novel, James Luceno, has implied that Plagueis is
slightly more powerful…
unfortunately, he’s killed by Palpatine…
so it’s hard to gauge this one…
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