Darth Vader is easily one of the most powerful Force users in the history of Star Wars, though that doesn’t mean he’s totally unbeatable. In fact, there have been a fair number of combatants who have actually gotten the better of Vader over the years. Sometimes these fighters’ victories over Vader are just temporary advantages that Vader ultimately recovers from, and other times they’re actually able to take the Dark Lord out of the fight completely. Either way, Darth Vader still tastes defeat during these particular battles.
It seems almost impossible to consider that anyone could beat Darth Vader in a fight, especially after everything fans have seen him do throughout the franchise – both in canon and Legends. For instance, Darth Vader once murdered a squad of Jedi Masters in Star Wars: Purge, he killed a mythical kaiju called the Ender in Vader: Dark Visions, and he massacred three Rebel squadrons in Vader Down. Time and again, Darth Vader’s incredible feats of power make it seem like he’s totally unstoppable. However, these 10 Star Wars characters prove that’s not true, as they have actually defeated Darth Vader.
10 Darth Vader is Defeated by Ambushing Jedi (but They Fail to Finish the Job)
Star Wars: Purge by John Ostrander and Dough Wheatley
Right after Emperor Palpatine wipes out the Jedi during Order 66, a small squad of Jedi Masters hatch a plan to take out Palpatine’s deadliest living weapon: Darth Vader. They knew that Vader was searching for Obi-Wan Kenobi, so they sent a message that they knew the Empire would intercept, giving their location with the promise that Obi-Wan would be there. Vader goes there alone, hoping to kill Kenobi himself. However, what he finds are the surviving Jedi committed to taking him down. And that’s exactly what they do.
While the Jedi beat Vader, and even have the chance to kill him, they hesitate too long, giving Vader (and his Stormtroopers) the upper hand. Vader and his squadron murder the Jedi, but only after they defeat him – they just fail to finish the job.
9 Boba Fett Beats Darth Vader Twice in One Fight
Star Wars: Boba Fett – Enemy of the Empire #4 by John Wagner and John Nadeau
Before Boba Fett became Darth Vader’s go-to bounty hunter, Fett had something that Vader wanted: the sentient head of a woman who could see the future. Vader tracks Fett to a planet covered in active volcanoes and rivers of lava. When Vader arrives, Fett ambushes him before pretending to fall into a lava river. After Vader looks over the edge to check, Fett shoots Vader in the head – earning his first victory.
Fett’s only mistake is that he didn’t kill Vader when he had the chance, but even after Vader got the upper hand, all Fett had to do was knock the head into the lava river, and Vader was too distracted to worry about Fett’s escape. As Vader tries to pull the head to safety with the Force, Fett has the chance to kill Vader again, but he doesn’t – earning his second victory.
8 Celeste Morne Uses the Power of the Muur Talisman to Send Darth Vader Running
Star Wars: Vector Part 6 by Mick Harrison, Dave Ross, and Doug Wheatley
Back in the age of the Old Republic, Jedi Master Celeste Morne finds the Muur Talisman, which attaches itself to her, and possesses her with the spirit of a dead Sith Lord, Karness Muur. After finding herself trapped in a stasis coffin for four thousand years, Celeste is awakened by Darth Vader and a squadron of Stormtroopers. Upon realizing that she was in the presence of the Sith, Morne springs into action, attacking Darth Vader relentlessly with her lightsaber.
However, Vader and his troops prove too much for Celeste to handle alone, so she uses the dark power of the Talisman to mutate the Stormtroopers into rakghoul, and sic them on Vader. Realizing that he, now, is outnumbered, Darth Vader runs for his life, marking this battle as a victory for the ancient Jedi, Celeste Morne.
7 Grand Moff Tarkin Successfully Hunts Darth Vader, Outwitting the Sith Lord
Darth Vader #18 by Charles Soule and Giuseppe Camuncoli
Grand Moff Tarkin is known as the Imperial in command of the Death Star, but what Star Wars fans may not know is that he once bested Darth Vader. In Darth Vader #18, Vader requests that Tarkin hunt him to test the Imperial’s skills (and because he’s bored). While Vader is able to kill every one of Tarkin’s soldiers, he isn’t so lucky with the Moff himself.
When all hope seemed lost of Tarkin winning this contest, he lures Vader out into an open clearing that he was all-too familiar with. This clearing is known as the ‘Bad Grounds’, as anyone who stands there will most certainly get struck by lightning – and with Vader’s mechanical body, he is guaranteed to get hit. Once Vader is struck by lightning, Tarkin claims the victory, and escapes certain death.
6 The Schism Imperial Paralyzes Darth Vader and Leaves Him for Dead
Star Wars: Darth Vader #48-49 by Greg Pak and Raffaele Ienco
In an effort to usurp Emperor Palpatine, Darth Vader becomes the leader of a group of Imperials known as the Schism Imperial who also want to see Palpatine dethroned. However, in these two issues, it seems the Schism Imperial realized that Vader was more trouble than he was worth, so they took him down.
The Schism Imperial used a large piece of red kyber to create a weapon that is effectively a ‘hand-held Death Star’, and they used it against Darth Vader. One shot from this weapon rendered Vader paralyzed, at which point the Schism Imperial left him to the mercy of the M.A.R. Corps (a team of cybernetic Rebels), who want nothing more than to see Vader dead. Darth Vader was taken down and left for dead, giving the Schism Imperial a sound victory in this storyline.
5 The Sole Survivor of Anakin Skywalker’s Tusken Raider Massacre Seeks Vengeance Against Darth Vader
Star Wars: Perfect Evil by Hiromoto-SIN-Ichi
A Force-sensitive Tusken Raider named KkH’Oar’Rrhr (or Hoar) has an interesting history in
Star Wars
lore, one that is admittedly mostly implied.
Hoar made his debut in a Play Station 1 Star Wars video game, after which his backstory was more fleshed out, making him the sole survivor of Anakin Skywalker’s Tusken Raider massacre in Episode II. Hoar doesn’t get revenge on Anakin until the manga Star Wars: Perfect Evil, which shows Darth Vader getting attacked by a crazed Tusken who’s implied to be Hoar given the lack of any other Tusken ‘Jedi’ in Star Wars.
Hoar attacks Darth Vader on Shumari when Vader’s already gravely injured, giving the vengeful Tusken the upper hand. However, while Hoar defeats Vader in combat, he doesn’t get the chance to finish him off for good before he’s cut down by Vader’s apprentice, Tao. While it’s only implied, it’s still awesome to see Vader paying for the sins of his past in this way, even if he wasn’t destroyed by them.
4 Luke Skywalker Defeats Darth Vader in Their Final Star Wars Duel
Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi
While Darth Vader has suffered many defeats in Star Wars comics, he’s had a couple of losses in the films as well, including his climactic fight against his own son, Luke Skywalker. In Return of the Jedi, Luke is brought before Palpatine on the second Death Star by Darth Vader, resulting in a lightsaber duel between father and son. Initially, Darth Vader has the advantage. However, Luke quickly turns the tide as he beats Darth Vader into the floor with his lightsaber, before ending the fight by cutting off Vader’s hand.
This fight not only proved Luke Skywalker’s immense power as a Jedi Master, but also his commitment to the teachings of the Jedi and the ways of the light side of the Force. Luke beat Darth Vader, but he didn’t kill him, which ultimately led to Vader’s redemption.
3 Obi-Wan Kenobi Puts Darth Vader in His Iconic Armor with a Brutal Victory
Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith
Obi-Wan Kenobi vs Anakin Skywalker aka Darth Vader is arguably the greatest lightsaber duel in Star Wars history, not just because it’s insanely epic, but also because of how significant it is to Darth Vader’s wider lore. The two battle on Mustafar in Revenge of the Sith, escaping collapsing refineries and riding down rivers of lava as they do so. By the end of the fight, Obi-Wan takes the high ground, resulting in him slicing off one of Anakin’s arms and both of his legs before leaving him to burn alive on the lava bank.
This is Darth Vader’s most detrimental loss, leaving him permanently injured and reliant on technology just to survive. It also completes his descent into the dark side, cementing the death of Anakin Skywalker, and the birth of Darth Vader.
2 Emperor Palpatine Crushes Darth Vader During Their Battle on Exegol
Star Wars: Darth Vader #11 by Greg Pak and Raffaele Ienco
Before becoming the leader of the Schism Imperial, Darth Vader tries to usurp Palpatine alone by tracking the Emperor to his secret base on Exegol to catch him off guard. Unfortunately for Vader, Palpatine was very much expecting his arrival. The Emperor lures Vader deep into his Exegol base, allowing him to see all the twisted experiments and terrifying weapons he had stored there. Then, Palpatine shows Vader the mountain of red kyber that he’s harvesting, which directly leads to Vader’s defeat.
Palpatine uses the power derived from the kyber’s pain and anguish to literally crush Darth Vader with pure, dark side energy, all while Palpatine himself stands at the center of it, seemingly fueled by the kyber’s immense suffering. In the end, Darth Vader admits defeat, and even reaffirms his commitment to his Sith Master.
1 Jedi Master Kirak Infil’a Beats Darth Vader in a One-on-One Fight (but Underestimates His Cruelty)
Darth Vader #3 by Charles Soule and Giuseppe Camuncoli
The Jedi Vader’s hunting in this issue is Master Kirak Infil’a, and when Vader so arrogantly comes knocking on his proverbial door, the young Sith quickly finds that he’s simply no match for the more experienced Jedi. Kirak Infil’a beats Vader in one-on-one combat before throwing him off a cliff into the forest below. While the Jedi thought that was the end of it, Vader proved that – while brash – he’s not so easily dispatched.
Vader returns and destroys the entire community Kirak Infil’a is watching over, before seizing the opportunity to kill the Jedi while Kirak Infil’a is struck by the horror of what Vader had so callously done. While Darth Vader bounced back (as he so often does), Kirak Infil’a still beat him during their first fight in truly spectacular fashion – and he was only one of the 10 Star Wars characters to do so.
Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader
Conceived by the will of the Force itself, Anakin Skywalker was the prophesied Chosen One, destined to bring the Force into balance. Anakin struggled to balance competing attachments to the Jedi Order and his wife Padmé Amidala, and ultimately fell to the dark side, becoming Darth Vader. For years he served as Palpatine’s right hand man, but he was ultimately redeemed by the faith of his son, Luke Skywalker. Now a Force Ghost, Anakin continues to act as an agent of balance.
