"I Am All The Sith": How Powerful Was Palpatine, Compared To Other Sith Lords In Star Wars?

Emperor Palpatine was one of Star Wars‘ most powerful Force users, but how strong was he compared to the other Sith Lords? The original Star Wars trilogy certainly made Palpatine seem like the most formidable pracтιтioner of the dark side, but then again, those movies only had him and Darth Vader. Despite the number of Sith and dark side users in the Star Wars movies and TV shows, very few could have usurped Palpatine’s тιтle.

However, most of these were Sith Lords who existed during Palpatine’s lifetime, rather than showing the Order’s entire history. The Star Wars books, comics, video games, and even more recent TV shows have shown the Sith who lived long before Palpatine in the current canon and the Star Wars Legends Expanded Universe. With so much information available, we have a better comparison between Palpatine’s power and that of his fellow Sith.

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Palpatine Was Undoubtedly One Of The Most Powerful Force-Sensitives Of His Time
- Very few Jedi or Sith could stand against him

Other Sith Lords Were Far More Powerful In The Past
- From the old Expanded Universe to the current Star Wars canon

Palpatine’s True Power Lay In His Cunning, Not In The Force
- He manipulated the entire galaxy in his rise to power

Palpatine Was Undoubtedly One Of The Most Powerful Force-Sensitives Of His Time

Very few Jedi or Sith could stand against him

Palpatine became a Sith Lord when there were 10,000 Jedi in the galaxy and encountered many other Sith and dark side users. While these Force users were strong in their own right, almost none could challenge Palpatine’s power. Even Palpatine’s master, Darth Plagueis, was killed by his apprentice while he slept, who eventually learned to cheat death when Plagueis could not.

Palpatine had become so powerful that he avoided death by transferring his spirit into a clone body on Exegol, and he restored himself by absorbing the power of a Force dyad.

None of Palpatine’s Sith apprentices surpᴀssed his power, despite their ambitions of replacing him. Darth Maul declared himself and Savage Opress the true Lords of the Sith, but both were bested in a lightsaber duel with Palpatine, and even Mother Talzin failed to challenge Palpatine when she allied with Maul. Count Dooku didn’t see Palpatine’s betrayal until it was too late, while Darth Vader was seriously injured before he could become more powerful than his master.

Several Jedi challenged Palpatine but ultimately failed to stop him: Mace Windu, Yoda, Ben Solo, and even Anakin Skywalker after he had returned to the light. Palpatine had become so powerful that he avoided death by transferring his spirit into a clone body on Exegol, and he restored himself by absorbing the power of a Force dyad. It was only Rey, backed by the spirits of past Jedi, who finally stopped Palpatine for good.

Other Sith Lords Were Far More Powerful In The Past

From the old Expanded Universe to the current Star Wars canon

The Sith existed for thousands of years before Palpatine, and many were arguably more powerful and physically stronger in combat. Plagueis mastered the Force enough to directly influence midi-chlorians, allowing him to create life and stop others from dying, which was explored in detail in Legends. This timeline also had Sith Lords like Darth Nihilus, who could absorb the Force energy of an entire planet, and the “Immortal Emperor,” who lived for thousands of years.

In canon, The Acolyte introduced the Stranger, who claimed to be a Sith and may have trained under Plageuis before Palpatine. The Stranger displayed many impressive Force abilities, and his ᴅᴇᴀᴅly lightsaber technique allowed him to single-handedly fight even more Jedi than Palpatine did. It’s hard to say for sure if all these Sith were more powerful or could beat Palpatine, but they definitely would have been more than a match.

Palpatine’s True Power Lay In His Cunning, Not In The Force

He manipulated the entire galaxy in his rise to power

Even if other Sith Lords were more powerful, Palpatine was the one who took over the galaxy because of his intelligence and long-term strategy. Darth Bane created the Grand Plan because he realized the Sith had tried countless times to conquer the Republic by force and had always failed. He believed the Sith needed to evolve and destroy the Republic from within, hence why he created the Rule of Two.

Darth Bane also believed that sharing the power of the dark side diluted it, which Palpatine took to heart by later developing a “Rule of One” philosophy in Legends.

More than any other Sith Lord, Palpatine embodied Bane’s vision of what the Sith could become. He was a master of manipulation, making himself appear as a great man who wanted to help the galaxy, while still making time to let his allies confide in him. All the while, Palpatine spent years engineering a galactic conflict that would lead to the creation of an Empire and the destruction of the Jedi Order.

READ STAR WARS: THE RISE AND FALL OF THE GALACTIC EMPIRE

Palpatine also created several contingency plans if the galaxy rose up and overthrew him. Operation: Cinder punished worlds loyal to the Rebellion, the First Order was Palpatine’s plan for a new version of the Empire, and the Final Order fleet was constructed in the depths of Exegol. Palpatine’s dark-side abilities may have helped in his rise to power, but this isn’t what made him the ultimate villain in Star Wars.