10 Most Powerful Dark Side Force Users in Star Wars, Ranked

The Star Wars universe is filled with powerful Force users, each tapping into the Dark Side to achieve their goals. The allure of the Dark Side lies in its promise of power, allowing its followers to wield incredible abilities that surpass those of the Light Side. These users are often driven by ambition, anger, and a desire for control, making them formidable adversaries. Their mastery of the Dark Side gives them abilities such as Force lightning, telekinesis, and mind control, making them nearly unstoppable in battle. However, this power often comes at a cost, as the Dark Side corrupts and consumes its users, leading them down a path of destruction.

Throughout Star Wars history, several Dark Side users have risen to prominence, leaving a lasting impact on the galaxy. These individuals have harnessed the Dark Side to achieve feats that are both awe-inspiring and terrifying. Their legacies are marked by the devastation they leave in their wake and the fear they instill in others. The most powerful Dark Side Force users showcase their immense strength and influence with no remorse, making them adversaries to be feared and respected.

10 Darth Maul Petrifies His Opponents With His Brilliant Mastery of the Lightsaber

Deadly, precise, and a criminal mastermind, Darth Maul has one of the most recognizable faces in the Star Wars universe. Agile in combat, Darth Maul can hold his own on the battlefield. His iconic weapon, a double-bladed lightsaber, enables him to attack multiple targets at once. Trained to be a living weapon of the Sith, Maul is considered one of the deadliest, most efficiently trained Sith in the Order’s history. Maul himself is a natural acrobat, and he will tirelessly pursue enemies until they simply cannot run anymore.

Not only is Darth Maul an expert with a lightsaber, but his Force powers are terrifying as well, and he is proficient in the Force enough to survive being cut in half. Maul believed his hatred of Kenobi allowed him to survive. Maul can also deflect blaster bolts using Force telekinesis and probe the minds of his enemies with telepathy. Even with all of these skills, his true talent lies in manipulation as a skilled military and political strategist.

9 Asajj Ventress Assassinated Her Way to the Top of the Order

It’s always tragic to see someone fall from the Light Side, and in Ventress’ case, she is no different. Ventress grew up in horrible circumstances, ripped away from her family, enslaved, and then orphaned. As a Jedi Padawan, she attempted to keep hope only to be orphaned again after the death of her Jedi Master. Ventress then embraced the dark side and was eventually recruited by Count Dooku (otherwise known as Sith Lord Darth Tyranus).

Asajj Ventress is a master of Jar’Kai, a style of lightsaber dueling she trained in after taking her first master’s lightsaber and using it alongside her own. While her combat prowess and assassination skills are terrifyingly impressive, her Force-wielding is really where she shines. Obi-Wan Kenobi admitted that she had immense willpower. Darth Sidious himself even feared that Count Dooku would use her to overthrow the Sith. Ventress uses the Force to leap great distances and hop around her enemies, making it impossible for them to hit her, and she is also skilled in telekinesis. Mind tricks are another tool in her arsenal, and not many can beat her on the battlefield.

8 Savage Opress Fights Relentlessly, Fueled by Pure Rage to Power the Force

A long-lost brother to Darth Maul, Savage Opress is a brutal warrior in touch with Nightsister magick. Nightsister witches employed dark magick to give Opress the ability to better serve Ventress, allowing him to tap into the Force in a raw way rarely seen. Opress eventually joined his brother as an acolyte of the Dark Side by force in accordance with the Rule of Two.

Because Opress’ use of the Force is so raw and unchecked, this allows him to take on even more powerful Sith and Dark Side users such as Ventress and Dooku with no problem. When Opress succumbed to his rage due to abusive training, he took it out on Dooku and Ventress at the same time, not an easy feat. Using the Force, Opress also throws his weapons, employing lethal combat training he learned as a tribal leader, amplifying their range with the Force. Brutal on the battlefield, Savage Opress combines magick and the Dark Side of the Force to take down his enemies.

7 Darth Vader Used To Be the Chosen One and Loss Turned Him to the Dark Side

Anakin Skywalker was one of the most powerful Jedi and Sith in galactic history. The Force is especially strong in the Skywalker bloodline, making Darth Vader an exceptionally powerful opponent. Anakin Skywalker led a life full of loss, which made him bitter to the point that when he finally did turn to the Dark Side, his Force powers were strong enough to help him survive being boiled in lava.

Impressive reflexes were the first sign that Anakin Skywalker had a lot of talent regarding the Force. Always advanced for his age (the Star Wars equivalent of a gifted and talented kid), Anakin was pushed too hard. Telekinesis came easily to him, and his abilities only advanced further after his cybernetic reconstruction. Now Darth Vader, he demonstrated enough telekinetic powers to stop an AT-AT in its tracks and rip it apart. Darth Vader wasn’t all strength, though. He could also use the Force for delicate, precise tasks, like fixing his own cybernetic components and, of course, torture. Vader can augment his speed and strength with the Force as well as probe minds with telepathy, making him someone no one in the galaxy wants to mess with.

6 Darth Plagueis Manipulates Life Using Alchemy and the Force

Not a lot is known about the mysterious Darth Plagueis. With an insatiable lust for immortality, Plagueis believed that the Force could actually be best understood through science. Once he came to that conclusion, his next step was to bioengineer not only himself but others around him, influencing midi-chlorians to create life. He learned a lot about the Force, and also unnaturally extended his own life.

As with all things, Plagueis was murdered by his apprentice, Darth Sidious, following the Rule of Two. Darth Sidious himself said that Plagueis could cheat death. Plagueis did eventually unearth that secret, and the method consisted of transferring his consciousness to another body and using it like a vessel (maybe even an important vessel like Emperor Palpatine). Darth Sidious would eventually use this tactic to survive his first death, though the method itself was imperfect. Plagueis was also rumored to be a prophet, using the Force to see the future, but apparently, he couldn’t see his own apprentice betraying him in the cards.

5 Count Dooku Manipulated the Force With Expertise, Understanding Both the Light and Dark Side

Count Dooku (otherwise known as Darth Tyranus) abandoned the Jedi Order because he believed they were not acting effectively, taking his destiny into his own hands. Darth Sidious sought Dooku out to use him as a political powerhouse in a secessionist movement against the Republic, leveraging Dooku’s power, position, and political expertise to his advantage. Unfortunately for Dooku, he never realized how expendable he was. Maybe, at the end of the day, he was actually trying to double-cross the Sith. Who can say?

Just because he was a pawn doesn’t mean he wasn’t powerful. Even in his old age, Dooku was terrifying with a lightsaber, and while he was a Jedi, he was known as one of the Order’s finest swordsmen. Only Yoda was his superior. Dooku’s specialty in the Force was Force lightning as both a means of torture, execution, and combat. Using powerful telekinesis, Dooku could channel the lightning and send a person flying, or even levitate them and then zap them. Dooku’s telekinesis was so powerful that he could even bend someone to do something against their will, like pulling out their blaster and shooting their comrade, for example. An ultimate puppet master, Dooku was a force to be reckoned with.

4 Darth Revan Commanded Vast Armies Using the Dark Side of the Force

In another unfortunate case where a Jedi Knight fell to the Dark Side, Revan goes by many titles. Originally the Prodigal Knight, he soon picked up other names like Revan the Butcher. Revan experienced a lot in his life, whether that was mastery of the Force during his time in the Jedi Order, having his mind wiped by the Jedi Council, or torture at the hands of the Sith.

Revan’s powers grew and grew as he studied the Force as a Sith. Even after his forced redemption at the hands of the Jedi Council, he retained abilities far beyond that of a normal Padawan. Once he recovered his lost memories, all of his abilities came flooding back, and he was able to channel both the Light and Dark Sides simultaneously. As a result, Revan could unleash the Force in its purest form by opening himself up to both sides of it in battle. His skill with telekinesis was so strong that he could throw boulders at a moment’s notice, Force choke opponents, and influence others’ bodies to do what he wished. Revan’s strongest power, however, is his Force sense. Without fail, he can sense beings, their feelings, danger, or even the future. Nearly indestructible, Darth Revan can use the Force to resist poisons and drugs. Darth Revan isn’t a stranger to Force lightning and the strength of his will was so powerful that he held himself back from death. Also, he’s one of two Star Wars characters to have the coveted purple lightsaber.

3 Darth Bane Created the Rule of Two and Shaped the Sith Order

Darth Bane is the original Sith, the one who started it all. He survived the destruction of the Brotherhood of Darkness at the hands of the Jedi Order and then created a new order as the only surviving Sith. To prevent the Sith from being wiped out forever, he created the Rule of Two, stating that there could only be two Sith (a Master and an Apprentice) at any time. Then, slowly but surely, they would rise up and destroy the Jedi Order once and for all.

Not much is known about Darth Bane, but what is known is that he was a master of Sith sorcery. Without it, he would not have been able to survive for as long as he did. Using the Force, Darth Bane manipulated his opponents mentally and physically. While a lot of the details about Darth Bane have been lost to time, one thing is for certain: his legacy influenced the Sith for generations.

2 Darth Sidious Used the Dark Side To Orchestrate the Fall of the Republic

Emperor Palpatine had his fingers in all pots at all times. A master of manipulation and control, Emperor Palpatine ran the Galactic Empire and the shadowy workings of the galaxy behind everyone’s backs. Using his public face to hide his nefarious activities, Palpatine orchestrated the fall of the Galactic Republic and the Jedi Order through the Clone Wars and then took control until his death.

Darth Sidious’ source of power in the Dark Side is pure hatred. His abilities stretched far beyond those of many Jedi Masters, and because of this, he was considered one of the most powerful Force-users in galactic history. Darth Sidious is one of the most impressive users of Force lightning, and on some occasions, the lightning was powerful enough to completely char his opponents. Bolts of lightning jump from victim to victim like a chain. Darth Sidious’ telekinesis is also quite strong, strong enough to give Yoda a run for his money. Arguably, though, Emperor Palpatine’s strongest abilities are these: his ability to see the future and Sith magic. Illusions, accessing the World Between Worlds, and the ability to summon energy are all things Darth Sidious uses to manipulate the world around him. He can communicate with individuals via his mind alone, hundreds of light-years away, so nothing can stop Emperor Palpatine from being in all places at once.

1 Darth Nihilus Was So Powerful He Was Capable of Consuming Entire Planets

Nihilus’ entire planet was utterly destroyed in a battle against the Mandalorian Neo-Crusadors, and he barely survived, but lost everything in the process. Nihilus found that, as a survivor of their Mass Shadow Generator superweapon, he now craved Force energy, and this affliction painfully ravaged his body. Eventually, he began studying under Darth Traya who taught him how to feed on the Force in others, satiating his hunger… for a time.

Worlds rich in the Force and Force-sensitive people drew him in like a bee to honey, and his skills eventually grew to the point where he could feel Force users throughout the galaxy. Then, he would cleanse the planets they were on entirely, killing everything that was touched by the Force to feed on it. His cravings only grew more intense with each feeding, and soon his hunger controlled him, not the other way around. Even his mere speech could suck the Force out of someone, and this allowed him to become effectively a Force battery, granting him the abilities of Dark rage, Farsight, Force lightning, Force resistance, and Force exhaustion. Unstoppable and insatiable, Darth Nihilus was truly a destroyer of worlds.