Luke Skywalker vs. Anakin Skywalker: Who Would Win & Why?

We all know the fact that Luke Skywalker was able to defeat Darth Vader and allowed his father to fulfill his duty as the prophesized Chosen One by killing the Emperor. Nevertheless, we also know that, at his peak, Anakin Skywalker was said to have the potential to become the strongest Force user in existence. But what if Luke had to battle Anakin instead of Darth Vader. Who would win in a battle between Luke Skywalker and Anakin Skywalker?

While Anakin is stronger in terms of skills and raw power, Luke will win the battle against his father because he has more patience and discipline. Throughout his many battles, the only reason why Anakin lost was due to his lack of patience and discipline. As a result, Luke could use that to his advantage.

In a fight, raw power and skills will not always allow a person to win. No matter how strong Anakin may have been, he was never the wisest nor the most disciplined Force user, and that was always his downfall in all of the fights that he lost. So, in that regard, let’s look at who between Luke and Anakin will win in a fight and why that is the case.

Lightsaber Skills

Anakin was a master swordsman during his time and was probably behind only Yoda and Mace Windu in terms of his skills as a lightsaber duelist. He was the master in Form V, as no other Jedi could match his skill and ferocity in that form. Using this form, he was able to show his versatility in battle and could even wield two lightsabers proficiently in battle. And his skills as a lightsaber duelist allowed him to best Count Dooku, one of the most gifted swordsmen in Star Wars.

Luke never truly had a style that he favored, but he did use Form V and Form VI effectively during his time. He was able to use his mastery over those forms effectively to defeat Darth Vader and fight Kylo Ren on par. Despite the fact that he doesn’t fight with the same kind of ferocity that other Form V users have, he is quite skilled, proficient, and disciplined in terms of his fighting. And this allowed him to easily defeat an entire platoon of Dark Troopers, arguably the strongest soldiers in the entire Star Wars continuity.

Despite the fact that Luke was able to show exceptional skills in the lightsaber, Anakin was the more gifted swordsman of the two, especially before he became Darth Vader, as he could easily make use of spinning moves and counters against his opponents.

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Force Powers

Anakin had the greatest potential out of all of the Force users in terms of his connection with the Force, and that means that he was exceptionally strong with the Force. George Lucas once said that he could have been twice as strong as Palpatine had he not gotten injured severely at the hands of Obi-Wan. Nevertheless, even though he wasn’t able to reach his full potential, he was still very dangerous when it came to his Force powers because he could make use of the Force to deflect lightsabers and even use his patented Force choke remotely.

Luke, considering that he was the direct descendant of the Chosen One, was exceptionally gifted with the Force as well and had a connection with the Force that was nearly as strong as his father’s. He could easily use the Force to move fighter ships. But his greatest feat in the entire Star Wars continuity was the fact that he was able to create a projection of himself through the Force when he fought Kylo Ren remotely through his projection even though he was lightyears away from him.

The fact that Anakin was the Chosen One speaks volumes of his greatness as a Force user. Meanwhile, Luke himself was also quite powerful during his prime, even though he may not have the same connection with the Force that his father had. In that regard, we cannot say which one is the better Force user.

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Wisdom

As powerful as Anakin was, he was never the wisest Jedi. He did have a lot of words of wisdom for Ahsoka, who ended up becoming a very wise and gifted Force user herself. However, it was Anakin’s headstrong nature that got him into trouble a lot of times. Even though he had the gift of foresight in the sense that he could use the Force to sense danger, he always rushed into things headstrongly without even thinking of a plan of approach first.

Luke inherited his wisdom from the teachings of Obi-Wan and Yoda as he ended up becoming incredibly wise, especially when he was mentoring Grogu during the events of The Book of Boba Fett. His wisdom allowed him to avoid making the same mistake that the Jedi once made in the sense that he was able to give Grogu a choice instead of imposing his Jedi roots on him. Nevertheless, he wasn’t wise enough to keep Kylo Ren away from the dark side, and the fact that he still had much to learn was seen when Yoda’s Force Ghost appeared before him during the events of Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi.

Even though Luke wasn’t the wisest Jedi, he was still incredibly wise when compared to Anakin, who was never the wisest Jedi of his time. It was probably Anakin’s lack of wisdom that prevented him from becoming a Jedi Master.

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Patience And Discipline

Obi-Wan Kenobi always told Anakin to stay patient because he was always someone who lacked the discipline to discern the situation first before rushing headstrong. It was always his lack of patience and discipline that led to his defeats, as this was seen in the flashback spar between him and Obi-Wan. Meanwhile, in the events of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, it was his lack of patience and discipline that led to his defeat at the hands of Obi-Wan, who wasn’t even as powerful as he was.

Luke was just as impatient as Anakin during the start of his training, and Yoda quickly lost hope for him when he sensed that he wasn’t patient enough. But Luke quickly became incredibly patient and disciplined after completing his Jedi training with Yoda as he was able to match Darth Vader’s ferocity by becoming the more patient and disciplined fighter. And it was the fact that he was patient and disciplined that frustrated Kylo Ren in their final duel in The Last Jedi.

Anakin’s losses could always be attributed to his lack of patience. He lost against Count Dooku and Obi-Wan because he rushed into things headstrong and without discipline. In that regard, it was this lack of patience that led to his downfall to the dark side.

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Luke Skywalker vs. Anakin Skywalker: Who Would Win & Why

As seen from the fact that Luke is the more patient and wiser Jedi between the two, he would probably win in a fight against Anakin. There is no doubt that Anakin is one of the most powerful Force users of all time and could have been the strongest had he been allowed to reach his prime. Nevertheless, strength alone would not have allowed him to win a fight against Luke, as Obi-Wan himself was able to defeat him numerous times due to his lack of patience and discipline.

Luke vs. Anakin: Who Is Stronger?

In terms of raw power, Anakin was always the stronger Jedi when compared to Luke because he was the Chosen One and was able to compile feats and experiences that Luke could only dream of having. The fact that Anakin was able to defeat a lot of different powerful warriors during the time of the Clone Wars speaks volumes of his strength. And he had the highest Midi-chlorian count in history.

But the fact is that, despite being more powerful than Luke, he didn’t have his son’s wisdom and discipline. That was always his biggest weakness as he always rushed into things headstrong while relying more on his emotions rather than his training and wisdom. And that is why, no matter how powerful Anakin may be, he is likely to lose to Luke in a fight, just like how he lost to Obi-Wan twice.