Darth Vader vs. Darth Maul: Which Sith Lord Would Win

The Sith in Star Wars have always been popular because they come with the coolness factor that the Jedi don’t always have. Of course, two of the most popular Sith Lords tend to be two of the coolest as well because both Darth Vader and Darth Maul are very iconic in their own right. They have always occupied special places in the Star Wars lore because of their coolness and might. But who between Darth Vader and Darth Maul would win in a fight?

Darth Vader is the stronger of the two Sith Lords because he is one of the strongest Force users of all time. His connection with the Force is almost unparalleled, and that made him a menace throughout his entire existence. Darth Maul might give him a tough saber fight, but his Force powers are unmatched.

It is worth mentioning that there is a good reason why Darth Sidious never had the same trust in Darth Maul as he did with Darth Vader, who he has always known to be one of the most powerful beings in history. And it is the fact that Vader’s connection with the Force is unparalleled that makes him a lot stronger than Maul. But we’ll discuss this battle in greater detail in this article.

Lightsaber Skills

As Anakin Skywalker, Darth Vader was no slouch as a lightsaber combatant. With his use of Form V or Djem So, he was a master of using solid blocks and quick counterattacks that allowed him to defeat Sith and Jedi alike. It was the fact that he could quickly counter an opponent’s move that helped him defeat a powerful combatant like Count Dooku. Of course, even though he had become slower as Darth Maul, his abilities with Djem So were almost never diminished due to the fact that this form didn’t rely on acrobatic moves and quickness.

Darth Maul has always been one of the flashiest and nimblest lightsaber combatants we have seen in Star Wars, as his acrobatic skills are probably second only to Yoda’s. He was a master of Form VII or Juyo, which relies on the use of anger or the Dark Side, and was also proficient in Jar’Kai, which is the art of using two lightsabers in combat. It was through his mastery of using dual-bladed lightsabers and his acrobatic moves that allowed him to take on Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi, two skilled combatants, both at the same time.

Even though Darth Vader was a powerful Sith Lord that could take on any Jedi or Sith in a lightsaber fight with ease, he didn’t have the quickness and mobility of Anakin Skywalker. Anakin might have been able to take on Darth Maul and defeat him, but Maul should be able to give Vader a lot of trouble in a saber fight.

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Force Power

There was a reason why Darth Sidious was so obsessed with Anakin Skywalker, as he was basically created by the Force. That means that his connection with the Force was unparalleled as his midi-chlorian count was the highest that the Jedi have ever encountered. As such, his Force abilities are so powerful that he could easily bend and move things without effort, especially when an outburst of rage at the end of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith destroyed some droids in the room. On top of that, he was easily able to use his telekinetic abilities against Kenobi in the Obi-Wan Kenobi series.

Probably one of the things that we didn’t see a lot from Darth Maul was his Force abilities. Of course, like any Sith Lord, he was proficient with the Force and could do all of the basic things that most Force users are able to do. However, he is not as proficient as the other Sith Lords because he never showed the same kind of control and efficiency as someone like Count Dooku. Maul also never used Force Lightning, a staple Sith Force power, in any of the movies or shows in the Star Wars canon.

Not a lot of Force users, even the powerful ones, could stand up to what Darth Vader could do. In all of his incarnations, he could use the Force to control heavy objects with relative ease. There is not a lot that Darth Maul, a mid-level Force user, could do against that.

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Intimidation Factor

Throughout the entire reign of the Empire, Darth Vader acted as Emperor Palpatine’s enforcer because he hunted down Jedi and Rebels alike in the two-decade Imperial rule. The moment rogue Jedi and Rebels saw him, they knew it was game over because there was almost no escaping him because of his control over the Force. Of course, the fact that Vader looks large and imposing in his all-black suit and his heavy robotic armor adds the intimidation factor that makes people cower in fear at the sight of this menacing Sith Lord.

Darth Maul himself was one of the most intimidating characters in Star Wars history because this Zabrak had a demonic appearance with his horned head and red and black markings. Anyone would be scared when seeing Maul, but he was never too intimidating that characters like Ezra Bridger in Star Wars: Rebels were afraid of him the moment they saw him. In that regard, he was quite scary, but not to the people who have seen worse.

There is no doubt that Darth Vader was the most intimidating force we have seen in recent Star Wars history. That slow walk and heavily armored appearance made him as intimidating as he was dangerous.

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Feats

Darth Vader was never short on feats throughout his history as a character. In Episode III, he singlehandedly defeated a powerful Sith Lord like Count Dooku in lightsaber combat as Anakin Skywalker. He has also killed numerous Jedi during the Inquisition period and was so much more powerful than Kanan Jarrus, Ahsoka Tano, and Ezra Bridger that they couldn’t do anything but run from him. Vader, after losing to Kenobi in Episode III, toyed with him in the Obi-Wan series and killed him in Episode IV: A New Hope.

Probably the greatest feat that Darth Maul has ever achieved was killing Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn, who he was able to counter with a smart move. However, he struggled to earn wins since then because he couldn’t defeat Obi-Wan Kenobi in any of their encounters and was finally killed for good in Star Wars: Rebels. Meanwhile, in Star Wars: Clone Wars, he couldn’t even give Darth Sidious any trouble, even with the help of his brother, Savage Opress.

As impressive as it was that Darth Maul was able to kill Qui-Gon Jinn, Vader’s feats were far better. Darth Vader proved to be too much of a match for old Obi-Wan, who was the very same person that killed Maul in Rebels. As such, this point goes to Vader.

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Experience

As Anakin Skywalker and as Darth Vader, we know that this Sith Lord had plenty of experience under his belt because he was a Jedi that was on the frontlines during the Clone Wars and was at the head of the Inquisition during the Jedi Purge in the Empire’s reign. As such, he fought a lot of different enemies and killed all types of combatants throughout his entire life. He was one of the most experienced fighters alive during the Imperial reign because he outlasted almost every experienced fighter that was alive during the Republic’s existence.

Darth Maul would have had a lot of experience had he not spent years in isolation in between Episode I: The Phantom Menace and the Clone Wars. He also spent a lot of years alone during the events after Episode III as he kept a low profile throughout all those years he spent searching for Kenobi. He did have a lot of experience fighting during the Clone Wars, especially in the Mandalorian arc, but he just didn’t fight as often as all of the other Force users.

As experienced as he was, Maul did not have the same kind of experience as Vader, who was always on the frontlines in all of the wars he fought. That is why the experience factor also goes to Darth Vader.

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