Throughout Galactic History, there has been one family that has helped shape the events of significant events throughout the years. They are the Skywalkers. The Father and Son (and eventually daughter) were Jedi Knights and the mother and daughter were politicians. However, two of the most famous Skywalkers, were Anakin and his son Luke. Anakin was the chosen one of Jedi prophecy and was thought to have been conceived by the Force itself. Therefore, the Force was very strong in the Skywalker line. Both Jedi were extremely strong in the Force and were some of the most powerful. However, the question that comes to mind quite often is “Who is the strongest?” With this post, I intend to dive into the powers of Anakin and Luke Skywalker. And hopefully at the end, we can have a guess on who the most powerful one was. Also, remember this is just my opinion. With that said, let’s begin.
Anakin and Luke Skywalker were both in very good shape. They were athletically built and had great agility, speed and strength. Anakin was able to be one of 20 Jedi who survived the arena battle on Geonosis and endured the entire duel against Assaij Ventress on Yavin IV. Anakin has a relatively high pain tolerance as he was able to quickly recover from Count Dooku’s force lighting barrage on Geonosis. In that same duel, his right arm was sliced off by the Count and Anakin received a mechanical arm in replacement. The new arm was very strong and a lot more durable than his flesh and blood one. But of course, it wasn’t free from damage. It could still be shorted by electricity and even manipulated by the Force such as when Obi-Wan manipulated its servo drivers in the Revenge of the Sith novel by Matthew Stover.
Luke was also a recipient of a mechanical hand, much like Anakin, it could take more damage. Even as Luke Skywalker grew older throughout the years, he still retained his high levels of strength and agility. He was able to keep up and injure Darth Caedus (who was much younger than Luke) with no difficulty at all. Luke also had such a deep connection to the Light Side of the Force that it essentially helped him with his endurance and health and kept him very strong especially by the time the events in the novel Crucible happen.
When it comes to lightsaber dueling, Anakin was quite strong in this area. He was easily one of the best duelist of the old Jedi Order. His lightsaber was quite sleek and was equipped with a blue Ilum crystal.
Anakin Skywalker’s Lightsaber
Skywalker obtained a special tradition of lightsaber combat training from Obi-Wan Kenobi. At a young age, Anakin would be incredibly talented with the lightsaber impressing may Jedi Masters.
Anakin was a specialist in the Form V style of combat, particularly Dejem So and used his brute strength to overwhelm his opponents. He was able to fend off attacks and usually instantly ready to counter. His speed was incredible, and he was recognized for it particularly by Count Dooku and Durge, (a well-known Jedi killer) Anakin essentially fueled his offensive with emotion. His personal technique was learned from his master, but while Obi-Wan relied on those tight precise moves to maximize his defense, Anakin used them to enhance his speed and power of his attacks. Anakin has had much dueling and combat experience and is very good with the lightsaber.
Luke Skywalker constructed his lightsaber after losing his fathers on Cloud City. His design had a skeletal look to it and closely resembled Obi-Wan Kenobi’s third and final lightsaber. Luke eventually would replace his synthetic crystal in the lightsaber for a shard of kaibur crystal which gave the lightsaber more attunement to the living Force. Luke also had a red shoto blade he would use particularly in duels with the Dark Lady of the Sith, Lumiya.
Luke Skywalker’s Lightsaber
Luke was the greatest lightsaber duelist of his era and one of the best of all time. He had over 50 years to develop his lightsaber techniques which is something Anakin didn’t have. While Anakin and Luke both learned from Obi-Wan, Luke was more so taught by Grand Master Yoda himself. When it came to dueling, Luke mastered all 7 forms of lightsaber combat. However, he specialized in forms III, IV, and V. He has also been known to interchange these styles in his combat.
Anakin Skywalker had possibly the greatest connection to the Force than any living thing in Galactic History. A Force anomaly, Anakin had the highest amount of midi-chorians in history. Thereby suggesting that he could easily tap into the Force. However, although Anakin did really focus on lightsaber combat, rather than the Force, he was still incredibly strong with it. Anakin used telekinesis very regularly and would implement it in his combat, particularly by throwing objects at his opponent. In Attack of the Clones, Anakin also showed that he would even casually use the ability when eating a meal with Padme. Later in the Clone Wars, Anakin learned a force power that he would use for the rest of his life, Force Choke.
Anakin using Force Choke on Poggle the Lesser
Anakin use this ability several times throughout the Clone Wars and of course when he became Darth Vader. It became his favorite interrogation tool though it did worry some Jedi in the Order. Anakin essentially viewed the Force as a tool and often, abused it. An ideology that was often encouraged by Chancellor Palpatine. Since he was primarily a duelist, he would often use to Force to enhance himself to give him more strength and enhance his reflexes which is what he primarily used as a child. He used this in combat when he was trained and even questioned why all Jedi didn’t learn and practice it. Anakin could also predict the future, the form of visions and dreams on a regular basis, which was a special gift. This also tied into his telepathy as he was quite skillful with mind tricks and could easily execute them, even on large groups of people at a time.
Anakin, in short, had the potential to be the most powerful Jedi ever, surpassing Yoda, and Darth Sidious. However, this potential was not even close to being achieved or recognized and was destroyed due to his extreme injuries on Mustafar, as Darth Vader, he would become powerful, but he would not have the potential to be as powerful as the Emperor.
However, this potential would be passed on to his children and Luke Skywalker would be the one who became what his father should have been. Luke became very powerful and applied his methods with a wide variety of disciplines both conventional and non-conventional. Luke was able to enhance his physical capabilities to the nth degree. He has also been described as wielding over 20 lightsabers due to his incredible speed. His telekinetic abilities were used to blast his enemies was something he would do quite commonly such examples included when he sent a powerful wave of the Force out to push back an army of Yuuzhan Vong soldiers. (Remember, the Vong were immune to most Force based attacks)
Luke Skywalker vs Yuuzhan Vong
Luke can easily perform a mind trick and is even capable to erase knowledge of himself from a target. Luke was also able to use Battle Meditation, a rare ability that boosted morale of allies and decreased it from enemies. He was even able to pinpoint it to certain spot and create an illusion of himself, such as when he made Darth Caedus think he was fighting him, when it was actually Jaina Solo. Luke also was able to use the tutaminis ability to block blaster bolts, objects and even Force Lighting. Luke was also talented in the electric judgement technique. (Force Lighting on a reduced level) and Force choke. Like Mace Windu, he also has shown strengths in the Shatterpoint ability.
So, at the end of the day, who was the strongest of the two? This is where I need to give my viewpoint based on two scenarios. If we take Anakin Skywalker and pit him against Luke if Anakin had met his full potential and Luke had met his, I believe it would be a near death duel for both, however I believe Anakin would best Luke. Anakin was the Chosen One, so I believe he would have been more powerful. Luke being the son of the Chosen One, would not have the potential Anakin would have. However, I do believe case could be made that Luke may win if he utilized his Force abilities appropriately he may be able to have the perfect time to strike such as when Obi-Wan did on Mustafar. However, I do believe Anakin, being a strong duelist would still give Luke a run for his money.
However, if we stick to the continuity and the duel was Grand Master Luke Skywalker vs Anakin Skywalker from Revenge of the Sith, I believe Luke would be able to easily defeat his father. The reasons for this are simple. Anakin had not reached his full potential by 19 B.B.Y. and he forfeit that potential due to Mustafar’s lava.
Luke was trained in an unconventional way yes, but he was able to learn more even after the Battle of Endor. After the Emperor’s final death in 10 A.B.Y. Luke was at the level of Jedi Master and would continue to grow powerful in the Force and by the time of the Yuuzhan Vong War, Luke Skywalker easily was the most powerful Jedi around and began to represent what Anakin could have been. With his mastery of lightsaber combat and his strength in Force, I believe Luke Skywalker is the superior.
Remember though, even though I think Luke would win, I need to again reiterate that this is simply MY OPINION. If you disagree, that is totally fine, and I’d love to hear your views and thoughts in the comment section. Let’s Discuss! Anyways, thanks for reading, and May the Force be With You!
To see more from Spencer, click here!