by Steve Kallenberg

Created on: November 10, 2008

If we are talking about sheer power, then I have to go with the dark side. If we analyze the typical good versus evil stories, at least when examining elite battles between heroes from either side, they often involve multiple good guys working together to defeat bad guy. They tend to do this to send a message the the audience that promotes teamwork and unity.

I am going to use that point, however, to infer that most one-on-one battles in the Star Wars stories would not bode well for the light side.

Let's start with the first movie. Darth Maul shows up to attack Qui-Gon Jinn and Anakin Skywalker as the run to their ship on Tatooine. An intense lightsaber battle ensues, and Qui-Gon barely escapes with his life and jumps onto the ship as it takes off for Coruscant. Qui-Gon appears exhausted on the ship after the duel and it seems that Darth Maul simply was faster, stronger, and better with the lightsaber. This of course sets up the super sweet, yet dialogue-less, showdown between Darth Maul and the combination of Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi. The entire fight, Darth Maul exerts superior skill as a sith, fighting off two of the most prominent Jedi in the movies. Darth Maul manages to separate Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan so he can target the older, slower jedi. He kills Qui-Gon and then forces Obi-Wan to hang on for dear life at the top of an incredibly deep shaft. Darth Maul's only problem was that he underestimated Obi-Wan's skills. After, okay I'll admit it, a ridiculously sweet jedi move, Obi-Wan takes Darth Maul by surprise and kills him. All this to say, however, that not only did Darth Maul best the two jedi one-on-one, he managed to hold them both of at the same time. He was clearly superior with the saber.

In the second movie, Count Dooku becomes the prevalent villain. His forces manage to capture Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, and Queen Amidala. At the end of the movie, Obi-Wan and Anakin have the opportunity to fight the sith lord. Here again, note that it's a two-against-one with the jedi supposedly at the advantage. Obi-Wan flat out tells Anakin that they have have to work together because neither of them are powerful enough to kill the count on his own. But in his anger and pride, Anakin storms into battle. Dooku dispatches him and even cuts of his arm, leaving Obi-Wan all alone. The sith bests Obi-Wan but does not kill him because of the arrival of Yoda. After a stalemate of a "who's stronger with the force" battle, they turn to lightsabers.

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