The Sith Order had countless incredibly powerful members in their ranks, such as Count Dooku, Darth Sidious, Darth Maul, and others. However, none were probably as intimidating and brutal as Darth Malgus of the Sith Empire during the Great Galactic War and Darth Vader near the end of the Republic Era. So, if the two fearsome Siths ever fought, who would win?
As powerful as Darth Vader is, Darth Malgus was essentially a Sith Lord with no apparent weaknesses in his skills. He could even completely break the shackles of emotion and embrace the Dark Side, something that Vader couldn’t do. It would be a tough fight, but Darth Malgus would likely win.
Before Vader fans Force-choke me, I’m not saying Darth Vader doesn’t stand a chance. I mean, he is one of the most powerful Force users of all time in Star Wars . However, the strengths of Darth Malgus can play directly into the weaknesses of Darth Vader, which is why I’m picking Malgus as the potential winner. Keep reading the article to hear more.
Strength
Before becoming Darth Vader and falling to the Dark Side, Anakin Skywalker was a powerful Jedi. He could augment his straight levels by using the Force to help, but when it comes to just pure, raw, unaugmented strength, Anakin was average. Meaning he possessed the strength of an average human being.
That changed when he turned to the Dark Side and lost that dreaded battle against Obi-Wan Kenobi on Mustafar. Anakin became Darth Vader, augmented heavily with cybernetics. And, over the years, he worked hard to make himself even stronger, enhancing the augmentations to maximize efficiency.
In the end, it led to Darth Vader being a force to be reckoned with without even having to use the Force. He is a powerful individual physically, thanks to intense skill training and the perfected cybernetics allowing him to achieve incredible strength skills.
That being said, I don’t think it comes near Darth Malgus. His real name is Veradun, and he was a colossal human being – over 7 feet (over 213 cm) tall. He dropped his birth name and adopted the Sith name, Darth Malgus.
Malgus was absolutely ferocious – a physical beast with genetics that made him stronger than most individuals he had faced. His preferred battle tactic was always just mauling and overpowering his opponents.
After getting hit with a bomb in the face, he was forced to use a cybernetic mask for the rest of his life. But, he continued obtaining cybernetic enhancements willingly – not because he needed them, but because he wanted them.
There were situations where we saw Darth Malgus kick people through concrete walls without using the Force. His strength is unmatched, despite how strong Darth Vader is. I’m giving Dath Malgus the first point here.
Point: Darth Malgus (1:0) Darth Vader
Durability
Darth Malgus is insanely durable – he mostly uses his Force abilities to create a sort of shield around himself, preventing even the most powerful attacks from coming through. After Malgus had a bomb explode right next to his face, it injured him severely, making him wear the cybernetic mask he’s so recognizable for.
After that, however, Darth Malgus started making defense his most trustworthy weapon in combat. He still had an aggressive battle style but learned how to sort of coat himself in the Force so effectively that he essentially couldn’t be harmed.
The guy survived several direct tank-crushing projectile hits, survived staying on an exploding space station, and even survived a mountain collapsing onto him after a duel between himself and the Jedi Grand Master Satele Shan. Clearly, he can take physical hits, but they do little to no damage.
On the other hand, Anakin Skywalker also proved incredibly durable. I highly doubt he could take such brutal hits as Darth Malgus, though, at least not before his cybernetic enhancements. He did, however, survive being cut into pieces and then bathed in molten lava – but pure rage kept him alive.
As Darth Vader, riddled with cybernetics, he lost limbs several times, only to replace them with an even more advanced version of what he had. So, perhaps Darth Malgus is more durable physically in terms of not taking damage, but Darth Vader is just as durable – if not more so – when it comes to taking damage and surviving. That’s why I think both deserve points here.
Point(s): Darth Malgus (2:1) Darth Vader
Lightsaber dueling
Anakin Skywalker was an incredible duelist, but his mixed emotions made him malleable. That’s why he lost to Obi-Wan Kenobi on Mustafar despite being arguably more powerful. However, his dueling skills improved dramatically once Darth Vader embraced the Dark Side.
He was a phenomenal duelist – one of the best, in fact. He used the Force to enhance his lightsaber dueling skills purposefully and used a dual-phase saber, allowing him to alter its length at will. You couldn’t find many lightsaber wielders who could take down Vader in combat – neither on the Jedi nor the Sith side. However, you could find one in Darth Malgus.
Malgus absolutely owned the lightsaber dueling department, potentially being among the very best – if not the best – duelists of all time. He studied several lightsaber forms, but form V was his preferred choice. He was able to maximize and capitalize his brute force and overpower his opponents almost with ease.
Malgus killed about a dozen of Jedi single-handedly while leading the attack on the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. He also wiped out an entire Dark Council, single-handedly killing twelve highly-skilled Sith Lords. I could ramble on and on about his skills and feats, but all you need to do is check out the Book of Sith: Secrets from the Dark Side.
The book states that Malgus submitted utterly and completely to the Dark Side, and his ‘battlefield skills have never been duplicated.’ Darth Malgus never lost a one-on-one fight, let alone a lightsaber duel, and I doubt it would be different against Darth Vader.
Point: Darth Malgus (3:1) Darth Vader
Force
This is a category that Darth Vader takes against anybody, except for maybe Master Yoda, but not because they were equal in Force power, but rather because Yoda was much more knowledgeable.
Anakin skywalker has one of the highest Midi-chlorian counts in the history of the Galaxy. Midi-chlorians are tiny organisms living in every living being’s cells that determine whether one is Force-sensitive or not. The higher the Midi-chlorians-per-cell count is, the more Force-sensitive a person is.
Not only was Darth Vader one of the most Force-sensitive people in history, but he cultivated his Force skills as much as possible and dedicated time to learning various Force skills. He was trained as a Jedi and then as a Sith, meaning he has profound skills in both the Light and Dark sides of the Force.
On the other hand, Darth Malgus is also a highly skilled and powerful Force-used. His Force scream was strong enough to crush pillars and huge buildings and even take down an entire squadron of Starfighters. He could produce Force lightning and was highly skilled at it, as well as using Force shields and producing a Force maelstrom.
After his ‘death,’ Darth Malgus was one of the few Sith Lords (and Star Wars characters in general) who became one with the Force, meaning he had a deep, immense understanding of both sides of the Force despite committing to the Dark Side completely.
With all this being said, Malgus would take down almost anybody in the Force category – but Vader is simply on a different level.
Some argue that his defeat on Mustafar actually made him lose a lot of his Force power, and that’s true – but over time, Darth Vader regained his full power and even exceeded it with skill – especially in Disney Star Wars Canon. Without a doubt, Darth Vader takes this category.
Point: Darth Vader (2:3) Darth Malgus
Weaknesses
Last but not least, a Sith Lord is only as strong as his most evident weakness. That fact proved to be Darth Vader’s downfall several times, as his greatest weakness was his emotion. After all those years, Vader still couldn’t cope with what he had become and couldn’t fight his emotions.
He could never fully embrace the Dark Side due to his emotions and attachments, and he could never fully embrace the Light Side due to his rage and resentment – at least not until the very end, but that’s another topic. That made him vulnerable, but it wasn’t the only glaring weakness.
Another weakness that Darth Vader had was his suit. Knowing how dangerous Anakin was, Darth Sidious intentionally made Vader’s armor vulnerable to electricity to defeat him should he ever try to attack the Emperor and usurp the throne. That’s why anyone skilled with Force lightning could harm Vader and exploit that weakness.
And, to his dismay, Darth Malgus was highly skilled in that particular Force move and the Force maelstrom – something not many could achieve.
As for Malgus’ weaknesses, there basically aren’t many. He had an emotional connection – a Twi’lek girlfriend named Eleena Daru. However, after Aryn Leener used Eleena to lure Malgus into a duel, the Sith Lord realized Eleena was a weakness and actually killed her himself.
It was painful, but it broke the shackles of emotion for Darth Malgus, and he could channel that pain and rage into fully embracing the Dark Side. I’m not sure what I’d point out as a weakness of Darth Malgus, and his strength can play directly into Vader’s weaknesses, which is why I believe he deserves a point in this category as well.
Point: Darth Malgus (4:2) Darth Vader
Darth Malgus vs. Darth Vader: Who wins?
Ultimately, I believe that Darth Malgus has too much skill and power and that he’d eventually destroy Darth Vader. The score suggests it would be a fairly easy battle, but that’s actually misleading.
Vader’s brutal power in the Force cannot be disregarded, and he would stand a chance against Malgus. But, I believe Darth Malgus has the upper hand because he is unprecedented in battle skills, and he has killed his biggest weaknesses, whereas Darth Vader has at least two.
Darth Malgus and Darth Vader are both among the most powerful Sith Lords ever to exist, but Malgus is simply more well-rounded and brutal, and I would put my money on him in a fight against Vader at least 7/10 times.
