Discussions Top 10 Greatest Swordsmen/women in the EU.

I've personally been waiting for a Zannah/Cognus Duology since the final novel of the Bane trilogy.

LOL I say that Mace and Depa together would've owned Sidious.

 

@ Darth Jenari, do you think that they should have a novel featuring each and every Sith Lord of the Bane tradition? I for one would love to know of all the Lords that came before Palpatine, Plagueis, and Tenebrous.

 

Darth Traya could even fight others without actually holding a lightsaber in her hand.

 

Not every single member, but more definitely. I personally think some things should always be left a mystery. Like the Dawn of the Jedi thing. I never once thought that needed a story, and should only have been referred to and hinted at, without it actually going in depth into it. Same with Yoda's origin. I want to see the origin, but do I want to see every detail of his 800 years? Absolutely not. Even with the last Sith novel I didn't want to learn all we did about Sidious, but that was inevitable with him having mentioned his master's death already. So I want a duology on say Zannah and Cognus, then a novel on Cognus and MIllenial, but i'd like it to branch off into something dealing mostly with Millenial and his own group, then we go back to Cognus and it's her new apprentice killing her and taking over. That kind of thing.

 

I've always loved the idea of Palpatine as a duelist. I would love to see an Empire era novel that shows him taking on another lightsaber dueling foe, be it Jedi or darksider, whatever. Like, early Empire. Hell, why not have Mace Windu survive his fall out of the window and challenge Palpatine once again, many years later?

 

Obi-Wan vs. Jaina for a spot on the list!

 

LOL Obi-Wan stomps the hell out of Jaina. Girl doesn't even begin to touch him in this area. Far out of her weight class.

 

SO far out of it. I would love to have Obi-Wan high up on the list, but I'm just not sure that he could defeat somebody like Kas'im.

 

A top 10 is a little difficult to deduce in this aspect, but I believe there's a handful that are in the same level or very close to one another, with (imho) one clear number one:

1. Luke Skywalker.
After his father's death, the rise of the NJO, and the following events, Luke eventually achieved his full potential and became the most powerful Jedi to ever live. Forcewise, and bladewise, there's yet to exist a Jedi who surpasses him in virtually every aspect.

2. Darth Bane (DoE) / Darth Sidious.
Overall, both of these are in the top five most powerful Sith Lords ever. As swordsmen, few (if none) were considered above them. Sidious is Yoda's equal, who in turn was the most powerful Jedi up to the PT. He completely destroyed three (and I quote) "celebrated swordsmen" and members of the Council in mere seconds, and Windu only was able to defeat him due to his mastery of Vaapad and his Shatterpoint ability. After his "death" in RotJ, he only became more and more powerful. By DE, he had surpassed his previous self, and by extension, Yoda and every other Jedi before him. Sidious is undoubtedly one of the most accomplished swordsmen ever.

Bane has some insane feats by DoE, so if you don't know what I'm talking about you should read the novel.

3. I'll have to think about this one...

 

True, I suppose that some of the ones on the list would be equals with each other. Although, I do see Sidious being above Bane, as for the longest time, Bane was encased in armor and was pretty much invincible, therefore he didn't have to focus quite as much on bladework as he normally would.

 

Also, I like to think that the skill level of Palpatine, Mace, and Yoda would be nearly identical, with Yoda just barely above Palpatine, Palpatine just barely above Mace, etc.

 

I agree with this. Some of them are so close it's really hard to find a distinction in skill.

 

If you were to count the three as one, that would open up a few extra slots...

 

Yeah but it kind of kills the spirit of a Top 10 List I think lol because then you just start creating a list based on ranking/level where characters near each other in strength go in certain tiers...Though that could pave the way for possible comparisons and battles, where the outcomes could be used to create a Top 10 list.

 

Perhaps that's exactly what we should do! A good old fashioned bracket.

 

Maybe. It would serve to establish a set list for the forum that's generally agreed upon, and can be challenged at any time by any poster.

 

Yes, Mace and Yoda follow closely behind those I said, imo, along side Darth Caedus and possibly Revan...

I'd include Vitiate but we know next to nothing of his bladework.

Also, I'm thinking Maul, Starkiller and Kenobi. In no particular order.

 

So, I say we set this up! Set up the bracket. Feel free to nominate any NOTABLE swordsmen. I nominate Palpatine, Plagueis, Bane, Zannah, Dooku, Ventress, Kas'im, Vader, Maul, Anakin, (yes, I consider their styles to be separate), Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon, Yoda, Mace, Luke, Jacen/Caedus, Tahiri, Mara, Ganner, Kyp, Luke, Corran, Kyle Katarn...I'm drawing a blank...feel free to include others, then we can set up the bracket.

 

Exar Kun, Darth Krayt, Uliq Qel Droma, and Revan (Maybe, gonna be honest and say I haven't read his novel in a long time now and I don't fully remember the extent of his saver skills in it) are all people that come to mind as nominations.

We should find a way to inform more people of this.

 

Perhaps we make this a literature thread? After all, all of our info comes from the books. I'm sure there are some higher ups that run the forums that would know how to best organize the bracket.

 

Indeed, as I feel that we should have as many people as possible involved to be able to give their opinions and arguments.

 

Excellent. I'm going to post this in the Lit room. Look for it.

 

I threw together a list.

1) Luke - Just a huge body of wins.
2) Yoda - His performance in the movies, plus everyone in the OJO saying he was the best, and him proving it in sparring.
3) Mace - One of the three clear cut elite of the OJO, I give him the win over Palpatine in ROTS.
4) Palpatine - His performance in the movies and recently in TCW.
5) Darth Bane - His performance in the Bane trilogy.
6) Obi-Wan - His massive overall resume.
7) Anakin Skywalker - Could have been #1 if he ever reached his potential, but he didn't. He did earn this spot with actual performance, however.
8) Dooku - The third of the elite of the OJO, embarrassed Obi-Wan in AOTC.
9) Exar Kun - His performance in TOTJ is incredible, he pretty much went undefeated and beat his master, perhaps the most venerated swordsman in the galaxy at the time, twice.
10) Jaina Solo - She is the SWORD OF THE JEDI, after all....

It was difficult deciding 10th place, so here's a few more that I considered.

Raskta Lsu, Kyle Katarn, Ulic-Qel Droma, Darth Malgus, Darth Maul.

 

I posted two new threads where you can actually vote on the duelists. Check them out! I'm giving them a few days before I put up any dark side duelists.

 

There are loads of Jedi that stand out to me (Obi-Wan, Katarn, Revan etc), but how do you compare Ulic Qel-Droma to Yoda? I think that a 'hall of fame' is more realistic than a ranked top ten.

I don't think that I've seen anyone that liked TDN trilogy at all. Jaina suffered more than most, I think.