Star Wars is a saga that is marked by the struggle between light and darkness. Not only do the Jedi warriors of Star Wars have to battle their Sith counterparts along the lines of good and evil, but they also have to fight a constant internal battle not to let themselves slide into the dark side of the Force. And not every Jedi is successful in that fight.
Anakin Skywalker’s transformation into Darth Vader is Star Wars’ most famous example of a fallen Jedi, but it isn’t the only one, at all. Disney’s new Star Wars canon is filled with numerous examples of Jedi who turned to the dark side, and the “Legends” brand of non-canon books, video games, and comics is filled with even more examples. What we’re looking at is ranking the power levels of the 10 best Jedi who went to the dark side or turned full Sith. And spoiler! Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader isn’t No. 1!
NOTE: With both Star Wars canon and Legends characters in the mix, this list doesn’t have space in the Top 10 for Sith apprentices like Starkiller, Quinlan Vos, or Asajj Ventress, or the Inquisitors who were former Jedi. The rankings in our list start at a much higher power level and only get higher from there.
10. Baylan Skoll (Canon)
As a relatively new character, there is still so much to learn about Lord Baylan Skoll. But, there has also been a lot implied about the character that makes it clear he belongs on this list. Skoll was a Jedi Master and General in the Grand Republic Army, and one of the few to be cunning and powerful enough to survive Order 66. He survived the Imperial Era independently, working as a wiseman mercenary, and had such an infamous career that he obtained the title of a mercenary “lord.” In Star Wars: Ahsoka, he proved to be so adept with Force powers that it seems effortless for him to hurl a large boulder at a foe.
Baylan is also uniquely Force sensitive, able to read minds effortlessly, or exhibit the clairvoyance to sense the mysterious power source that’s connected to Grand Admiral Thrawn, all the way out on the planet Peridea, in the next galaxy. Most telling, however, is how effortlessly Skoll defeated Ahsoka Tano in a duel, a warrior trained by Anakin Skywalker who had gone toe-to-toe with both Maul and Darth Vader previously. Baylan Skoll is poised to grow into one of Star Wars’ most powerful Fallen Jedi, and he’s doing it according to his own terms.
9. The Stranger (Canon)
Lucasfilm
The High Republic Era was supposed to be a high point for the Jedi Order and the light side of the Force, but it wasn’t that way for everyone. “The Stranger” was once a Jedi Padawan who served under Jedi Master Vernestra Rwoh, a lifelong hero of the High Republic Era. For some reason, there was a major falling out, and the padawan was cast out – only to be found and trained by Darth Plagueis “The Wise,” the same Sith Lord that would go on to train Sheev Palpatine and turn him into Darth Sidious.
The Stranger became a rogue Sith warrior, who was seeking to help secretly rebuild the Sith by following the Rule of Two and turning his own apprentice. Star Wars: The Acolyte revealed The Stranger to be a Sith Lord in the truest sense, able to slaughter an entire squad of Jedi Knights on his own, successfully turning a powerful Force-sensitive girl to the dark side (Osha), and using advanced Force abilities like healing wounds and erasing memories. His cortosis helmet could block and short out lightsabers, at the cost of blocking his vision and hearing, suggesting The Stranger’s Force perception is incredibly advanced. Being an active Sith Lord during the High Republic Era is a flex on its own, and The Stranger was the early harbinger that the acolytes of Plagueis would be the ones to finally crush the Jedi Order and re-establish the Sith Empire.
8. Count Dooku / Lord Tyranus (Canon)
Lucasfilm
Count Dooku was a powerful and principled Jedi Master who started to become disillusioned with what the Jedi Order had become during the Republic Era. He fell to the dark side and was recruited to be the second apprentice of Senator Palpatine/Darth Sidious, after Maul. That recruitment alone speaks to how powerful Dooku was; the prequel trilogy demonstrated how good he was with a lightsaber, his Force abilities, and, most importantly, his intellect and cunning.
Dooku was a masterful manipulator who united the Confederacy of Independent Systems and pushed them towards secession, before acting as a secret architect of the Clone Wars. Dooku was so good that he might’ve one day rivaled his master, which is just one of the reasons why Sidious talked Anakin Skywalker into killing him.
7. Ben Solo / Kylo Ren (Canon)
lUCASFILM
Ben Solo fell to the dark side after his uncle, Luke Skywalker, showed doubt in the purity of his powerful Force abilities. The son of Leia and Han Solo, Ben was turned by Palpatine (while posing as “Supreme Leader Snoke”) and became “Kylo Ren,” one of the main leaders of the Empire’s successor, the First Order. Kylo Ren hoped to walk in his grandfather, Darth Vader’s, footsteps, but never quite measured up to the shoes. Really, Ben was more conflicted than “fallen” or “evil,” and was ultimately able to find his way back to the light. As part of the Skywalker bloodline, Kylo Ren is inherently one of the most powerful Force users around, just not as smart, cunning, or skilled in the Force (or combat) as some of his other family members.
6. Kreia / Darth Traya (Legends)
The Jedi Kreia sought to redefine the philosophy and practices of the Jedi Order in the time of the Old Republic. The historian and free-thinker tried to create a new Jedi Order, with the end goal of freeing all sentient beings in the galaxy from the influence of the Force. Kreia was banished from the order after she trained Revan, a Jedi Knight who fell to the dark side and became the architect of a new Sith Empire. She sought an alternative to the Jedi way and embraced the dark side of the Force, thinking she could find a balance between both light and dark. Instead, in the midst of the Mandalorian Wars, Kreia was corrupted by the dark side and became “Darth Traya,” seeking to create her own Sith Order. As a Jedi, she had been betrayed by her former student Revan; as a Sith, she was again betrayed by her students, Darth Nihilus and Darth Sion. They defeated Traya in battle and cut her off from the Force, leaving her exiled out in the galaxy. Kreia returned to the light briefly and started training another exiled Jedi, Meetra Surik, as her instrument of revenge; when the moment came, she turned to the dark side again, getting payback against both the Jedi and her former students, before dueling against Surik to the death on Malacor V.
Kreia was incredibly powerful in her usage of the Force and knowledgeable about it like few others before or after her. If her ability to move between the light and dark wasn’t impressive, Kreia was the teacher of some of the most powerful Jedi and/or Sith of the Old Republic Era. She was so adept with the Force that she could wield three lightsabers at once, without hands. At the moment of her death, Kreia was powerful enough to see through the span of time and predict the fates of the Jedi and Sith, generations later. She’s a Star Wars “legend” in the truest sense of the word (especially if you played the game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords).
5. Alek / Darth Malak (Legends)
Lucasarts
In the time of the Old Republic, Alek was a studious Jedi from the Outer Rim planet of Quelli, which the Mandalorians annihilated. Alek befriended a fellow Padawan, Revan, and fought by his side as they became Jedi Knights. Revan and Alek (now going by “Malak”) were key to ending the Mandalorian Wars; however, when they investigated clues about a Sith influence over the war, they found the Sith Emperor hiding in the Unknown Regions and were quickly captured and turned to the dark side.
“Darth Revan” and “Darth Malak” led a reign of terror against the galaxy, causing the Jedi Civil War (aka the “Second Sith War” or “Malak War”). Eventually, Malak turned on Revan, and they dueled, which resulted in Malak’s jaw being severed by Revan’s lightsaber. Revan was taken by the Jedi and pushed into rejoining the light side of the Force; Malak, meanwhile, continued his work as a Sith Lord, maintaining his Sith Order until he died, dueling Revan a second time. Like most of the Jedi and the Sith of the Old Republic Era, Alek was operating at a higher power level than his later descendants would be, as both a Jedi and a Sith, even though Revan ultimately proved to be the stronger of the pair.
4. Revan / Darth Revan (Legends)
Lucasarts
Revan’s story is so closely tied to Malak’s that we won’t reshash the major beats (you can do that by playing the game Knights of the Old Republic). Revan was a major critic of the Jedi Order’s decision to stay out of the Mandalorian Wars and sparked his own “Revanchist Movement” in protest of the order. He donned a Mandalorian mask and, with Malak, joined the Republic in the war effort, eventually becoming Supreme Commander of the military. Revan slew the enemy leader Mandalore the Ultimate, growing aware of his ties to the Sith, after the battle. After being turned into “Darth Raven” by the Sith Emperor, Raven and Darth Malak were sent as his heralds, re-establishing a Sith Empire in the known galaxy, with the Star Forge space weapon at their command.
Malak eventually betrayed Revan to lead the Sith Order himself; Jedi Knight Bastila Shan captured Revan and helped to wipe his mind, rebooting his life and identity into a Republic soldier. Revan eventually retrained as a Jedi, hunted down and defeated Malak, then afterward married Shan and settled down in the Unknown Regions. The story didn’t end there, though: Revan was eventually captured and tortured for centuries by the Sith Emperor, before being freed and dying while attempting to activate a killer army of droids to wreak havoc on the galaxy. Revan was uniquely powerful as both a Jedi and a Sith, and one of the greatest warriors of the Old Republic era. Greater than his power was his mind: Revan’s teachings and views would sustain the Sith for millennia after his life, including inspiring Lord Darth “Rivan” and Darth Bane’s creation of the “Rule of Two.”
Jacen Solo / Darth Caedus (Legends)
In the classic Star Wars “Legends” lore, the son of Han Solo and Leia Organa Solo is “Jacen Solo,” who is born alongside his twin sister, Jaina. At thirteen, after exhibiting Force powers, the twins were sent to study with their uncle, Luke Skywalker, in the ways of the Force; Jacen and his younger brother, Anakin Solo, would go on to serve as Luke’s apprentices.
Jacen was a peaceful, philosophical type. During one of the most pivotal missions of the Yuuzhan Vong War, Anakin was killed, and Jacen was captured and tortured for nearly a year. Those were the first seeds of darkness in the Jacen, who became obsessed with heeding Force visions that he believed would lead to stopping future atrocities like another war. Like his grandfather Anakin, he secretly wed and had a child (with a fellow Jedi), attachments which further fueled his obsession with predicting the future and preventing calamity. The visions led him to submit to the teachings of Lumiya, Dark Lady of the Sith, and as “Darth Caedus,” Jacen became the very calamity he had spent so much time trying to avoid. He took tyrannical control of the Galactic Alliance, killed Luke’s wife, Mara Jade, tortured his own former apprentice, Ben Skywalker, and committed all sorts of minor and major galactic atrocities along the way. In short, he’s the Darth Vader successor that the Disney version (Kylo Ren) wishes he could be.
Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader (Canon)
Lucasfilm
Anakin Skywalker was the “Chosen One” destined to bring balance back to the Force, though the pathway to do so was very winding. His very birth was influenced by manipulating the Force; he had great Force potential since childhood, and rose up through the ranks of the Jedi Order to become one of its greatest knights, and one of the Republic’s most heroic generals during the Clone Wars. However, Anakin’s passion and trauma were both weaponized by Darth Sidious, the most powerful Sith Lord ever, who wanted the most powerful Jedi ever as his Sith apprentice. Anakin’s power, turned to the dark side, proved to be the nail in the coffin of the Jedi Order, which died so that “Darth Vader” could be born.
Palpatine and Vader secretly ruled the galaxy as Sith Master and apprentice for decades, while constantly locked in their own chess game to destroy or undermine one another (as Sith are wont to do). In the end, no one was powerful enough to “defeat” Lord Vader; his son, Luke, instead used the light of peace and love to guide “Anakin” back from “Vader,” and redeem his father in the final moments of his life, as Anakin defeated Palpatine, once and for all (or at least until Palpatine returned). Vader’s Skywalker blood and legendary accomplishments for both the light and dark make him nearly unequaled amongst the fallen Jedi. Nearly…
A’Sharad Hett / Darth Krayt (Legends)
A’Sharad Hett was a Jedi Master and general of the Republic during the Clone Wars. He befriended Anakin Skywalker (despite knowing Anakin slaughtered a Tusken tribe) and was a survivor of both the Clone Wars and Palpatine’s Great Jedi Purge (Order 66) that ended the war. A member of the Tusken sand people, A’Sharad hid on Tatooine, where he became consumed with fighting the Empire. Obi-Wan Kenobi dueled Hett and banished him from the planet; Hett went on to discover that Darth Vader was Anakin, blaming himself for letting Anakin bring down the Jedi Order. He went ronin, becoming a bounty hunter, until he met a Sith Lord, XoXaan, who trained him; he was a prisoner of the Yuuzhan Vong during that war, where torture and cruelty bent him to the dark side.
As “Darth Krayt,” the Dark Lord of the Sith, he created a secret One Sith order that he hid from the Jedi for a century. He lived beyond his years in statis before emerging after the Galactic Civil War to help Luke Skywalker defeat the Force entity Abeloth. He sparked the Sith-Imperial War, which returned the Empire to being the ruling power in the galaxy, with the One Sith secretly controlling things for nearly a decade, while trying to destroy the New Jedi Order. After being betrayed by his own Sith advisor, Krayt proved he is the most powerful Fallen Jedi by becoming the Sith Lord who truly transcended death, able to rejoin his spirit with his physical body and heal it, so long as it was intact. He nearly plunged the galaxy into chaos and death again, but was finally slain by Cade Skywalker, Luke’s distant descendant.
Who are your favorite Jedi and Sith Lords? Let us know on the ComicBook Forum! Star Wars content can be streamed on Disney+.