If there’s one object that immediately comes to mind when thinking of the Star Wars movies in order and the franchise’s TV shows (which can all be streamed with a Disney+ subscription), it’s the lightsaber. As Obi-Wan Kenobi explained in A New Hope, it’s "the weapon of a Jedi Knight. Not as clumsy or as random as a blaster. An elegant weapon for a more civilized age.” Granted, we’ve seen characters like General Grievous who’ve wielded lightsabers and aren’t attuned to the Force, but for the most part, these are energy blades most closely associated with the Jedi and Sith.
Although lightsaber duels aren’t present in every Star Wars project, there have been a lot of them over the decades, with Light and Dark Side users showing off their swordplay in all sorts of environments. So, what are the cream of the crop with these battles? We’ve ranked the 10 best lightsaber duels across the movies and TV shows, both by simply how cool they look and the narrative importance to their respective stories.
10. Ahsoka Tano Vs. Baylan Skoll (First Fight)
Halfway through Ahsoka Season 1’s run, Rosario Dawson’s title character drew her white blades against the orange blade wielded by the late Ray Stevenson’s Baylan Skoll, a fallen Jedi who was in cahoots Morgan Elsbeth and, by extension, Grand Admiral Thrawn. Although these two would fight again before Season 1 finished, this was the superior lightsaber battle. You won’t get any flashy acrobatics between Ahsoka and Baylan, but the intense way they’re swinging their blades at one another more than make up for that. In this smaller fight, the tension is electric.
9. Rey Vs. Kylo Ren (The Rise Of Skywalker)
Although Rey put up a good fight against Kylo Ren in The Force Awakens, their duel in The Rise of Skywalker was more satisfying to watch. At this point, Rey is much more skilled in the ways of the Force, so it’s great to see her put those skills to good use in the rematch against Kylo Ren, who’s still no slouch. As with the previous fight on this list, intensity makes up for the lack of acrobatics, and it also ends on an unusual, but intriguing note when Rey stabs Kylo, then use the Force to heal him.
8. Ahsoka Tano Vs. Darth Vader
During Star Wars Rebels Season 2, Ahsoka Tano was shocked to learn that Anakin Skywalker, her former master, was not killed during Order 66, but was actually Darth Vader. That revelation was heartbreaking enough, but then these two came face-to-face on Malachor, and the close bond they once shared meant nothing to Vader, as he drew his red blade against Ahsoka’s white blades without any hesitation. This would be a powerful lightsaber duel for any Star Wars fan to watch, but The Clone Wars fans in particular get that added layer of appreciation knowing what kind of relationship Anakin and Ahsoka once had.
7. Yoda Vs. Count Dooku
Ever since he was introduced in The Empire Strikes Back, Yoda was cemented as one of the most powerful Jedi who ever lived, but it wasn’t until Attack of the Clones that we first saw him draw a lightsaber onscreen. He arrived just in the knick of time after Count Dooku defeated Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, drawing his red blade against the Sith Lord, who’d once been Yoda’s apprentice. Because his small statute required him to jump around a lot, this ranks as one of the more visually-interesting lightsaber duels, and I suspect Yoda would have won had Dooku not tried to crush Anakin and Obi-Wan with Force-pulled rubble.
6. Obi-Wan Kenobi Vs. Darth Vader (Obi-Wan Kenobi Series, Second Fight)
When Obi-Wan Kenobi first battled Darth Vader in his self-titled limited series, he was nearly killed. But when these two locked lightsabers again in the Obi-Wan Kenobi finale, Ewan McGregor’s character was better prepared and overpowered his former apprentice. Although the battle itself is incredibly well choreographed, it gets extra points for the emotional moment of Vader telling Obi-Wan he’s not the one responsible for “killing” Anakin Skywalker, allowing Obi-Wan to finally make peace with his friend being “dead.”
5. Luke Skywalker Vs. Darth Vader (Return Of The Jedi)
Although not the most emotionally impactful of the two duels between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader, there’s still a lot to appreciate from their clash in Return of the Jedi. The dueling itself is interesting to watch, at least by Original Trilogy standards, but it’s the stakes that truly make this battle stand out, namely how Palpatine wants to see which of them will emerge victorious so the winner will become/stay his apprentice. That ends up being Luke, but rather than kill his father, he tossed his lightsaber aside, showing how love can conquer hate.
4. Luke Skywalker Vs. Darth Vader (The Empire Strikes Back)
Luke Skywalker put up a pretty good fight against Darth Vader in their first showdown, though needless to say the latter was toying with the former. This duel in The Empire Strikes Back also kicked things up a notch from the duel between Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi in A New Hope by delivering more forceful blows and taking place across multiple locations. But, of course, what makes this duel stand out the most is how it ends with Vader cutting off Luke’s hand and revealing to him that he is his father.
3. Ahsoka Tano Vs. Darth Maul
While this lightsaber duel hasn’t gotten nearly as many eyes on it given that it happened in The Clone Wars Season 7 rather than one of the movies, there’s no question it deserves a lot more recognition. Even just from a technical standpoint, this duel was an enormous achievement because the movements were performed in motion capture by Ray Park, Darth Maul’s original actor, and Lauren Mary Kim, who stood in for Ahsoka Tano. From a narrative perspective, it was amazing to see Ahsoka defeat Maul immediately before the Clone Wars ended, providing one last positive moment before everything on the show went to hell.
2. Qui-Gon Jinn And Obi-Wan Kenobi Vs. Darth Maul
The lightsaber duels in the Original Trilogy weren’t boring by any means, but there’s no question that these kinds of battles were never the same after The Phantom Menace. When Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi faced off against Darth Maul on Naboo, the combination of the Sith Lord’s double-bladed lightsaber and the Force-powered jumping from the participants opened new doors for this franchise as “Duel of the Fates” played. Even beyond the flashiness, this duel still hits home with Qui-Gon’s tragic death and Obi-Wan avenging his master by slicing Maul in half.
1. Obi-Wan Kenobi Vs. Anakin Skywalker
It still doesn’t get any better than Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi’s epic clash in Revenge of the Sith on Mustafar. After executing younglings at the Jedi Temple and the Separatist leadership on the lava planet, these two drew their blue blades against each other after Anakin incorrectly assumed that Obi-Wan had turned Padme against him. The former master and apprentice with a brotherly bond fought across the hellish landscape with “Battle of the Heroes” as background music until Obi-Wan gained the high ground and sliced off almost all of Anakin’s limbs and left him horribly burned. If there’s a lightsaber duel that comes close to perfectly mixing action and emotion, it’s this one.
Keep checking back here as the Star Wars franchise keeps going to see if any new lightsaber duels result in these rankings being adjusted accordingly. As always, count on us to deliver the latest and greatest in coverage on upcoming Star Wars movies and TV shows.
