Since most of the Sith's first goal is either increase his/her own power, or something require great power to do so. They usually focus on increase their own power and can use any evil method such as devour a lot of people's life forces. The Jedi usually are not allowed to focus too much to grow power, those who focus too strong on this usually fall to the Dark Side. However because of this, the Sith usually could not form a firm alliance, they always betray and backstab each other and this usually caused their downfall.
There are more ways to utilize the productivity of another than to ally with them: Sith thrive on manipulation. The "best" (and I use the term very loosely) Sith were able to become strong because they used others as tools, all the while making their tools think they were acting in their own best interests. A Sith who is a pure loner and individualist is unlikely to be very successful at all, because you can only go so far with brute strength. That said, Sith philosophy is pretty silly and awful in general.
I don't understand the comment about Jedi not being able to grow in power. Whether or not they focused on personal power, there were Jedi like Yoda and Obi-Wan who were extremely powerful in terms of Force power and lightsaber combat, powerful enough to even defeat Sith Lords in single combat. So what is the question here?
The best manipulator is also the most powerful one, Palpatine knows he could not do everything, but he always focus on increase his power. Yes they will manipulate others, but they are also self centered, only make benefit for themselves and sometimes ignore the others are manipulating them as well.
So they will not spend so much effort on increase their own power, they also aren't encouraged to use very aggressive Force moves too much because it may lead them to the Dark Side. Compare to the Sith they don't grow that much. Yoda got pwned by Palpatine in the novel, Obi Wan got owned by Dooku badly.
If we pick out individual instances where Jedi/Sith defeated each other...we could go back and forth all night. Mace Windu pwned Palpatine. Anakin pwned Dooku as well. So there is never any clear distinction that the Sith are more powerful.
So I'm talking about overall situation. Jedi are not allowed to focus on grow power like Sith and they won't use those evil method to increase their power, also they can't use aggressive skills like Force Lightning, Force Choke or Force Crush too much because it's easy to turn to the Dark Side. BTW Anakin went the "Sith way" to take out Dooku.
I think the Sith are "technically" more powerful in the sense that they will go to any level to meet their needs.. Say for example a Sith is used to assassinate someone, they will hurt, maim, kill anyone or anything that creates a roadblock for them.. A Jedi, who is a hero, would never do anything like this. Its the same thing in comics, the enemy always has to seem more powerful, or there is no point to the story. The hero has to sense some actual danger, be in peril for his/her life and the life of others. So possibly, what you've seen or read, makes the Sith seem more powerful because of how they have no limits. I do see where the TS is coming from though, but I feel its because there are much fewer Sith than Jedi, so you see the Jedi falling to them more often.. Plus the Sith you see are the most powerful ones, there are only 2 and if the master is secretly training another apprentice that one will replace the other, while the Jedi don't operate this way, leading to many lame duck Jedi... Not all Jedi are powerful like Kenobi, Anakin, Yoda, and Mace But im certain if there were equal number Sith as Jedi, youd have as many Sith deaths... Because youd have many lame duck Sith to go along with all the lame duck Jedi that are around.
Still, some Sith (such as Palpatine) did rather well. Palpatine stabalized the Galaxy. The Sith always had more extreme Force powers. For example, Darth Nihilus could kill off the whole population of a planet just by using the Force.
saying Palpatine "STABALIZED" the galaxy is quite misleading... Ive heard that before but I don't see how it makes any sense....
Afraid thats not true. There are several cases where Jedi used these powers without showing a hint of falling to the dark side. Using force lighting in no way guarantees a downfall for a Jedi.
The Republic was corrupt. Cargo ships were attacked by pirates. The Outer Rim was ruled by scum. By centralizing power, decisions were made more quickly. The Senate would only prolong things. The Navy and the Army made sure everyone was safe. The only thing the people had to give up was their freedom. => What is more important? Security and stability or your own freedom?
well if the real world teaches you anything its that people from all eras fought to have their freedom. Trading in security while living under a dictator of centralized power is not what history has taught us the people have wanted.. and just like in star wars all the security and safety was an illusion. The empire was evil, commonly did evil disgusting things, and no one is truly free or safe under that rule.
Do not get me wrong. I think every type of government has its flaws. No perfect form of government did ever exist.
Nevermind the fact that the Rule of Two Sith are adherents to the good old principle of creating a problem so you can be the one to solve it, thereby empowering yourself. From Darth Bane down to Palpatine and Plagueis they cite the corruption and flaws of the Republic as evidence that the Sith need to rule, so they can "save the galaxy from itself". Yet they further that corruption and chaos at every turn, from supporting insurgencies, to working with crime cartels, to encouraging conflict between different systems of the republic, to creating turmoil in the Senate, to subverting the Jedi efforts every chance they get. That being said, the Sith do seem stronger than the Jedi. Yes, Yoda fought Palpatine on even standing, yet Yoda had been a Force user for centuries, while Palpatine had been a Force user for only decades. And Yoda still lost. - Naga Sadow causing stars to go Supernova - Nihilus and Vitiate's planet draining - Plagueis' midichlorian manipulation( which, provided Palpatine had not killed him, would have allowed him in time to become by far the most powerful being in the SW universe) - Palpatine's planet-destroying Force Storms - Krayt's nigh invincibility/immortality All of these feats are unrivaled by the Jedi.
The Darth Plagueis novel hints that none of these were "true" Force Lightning- Plo Koon's Electric Judgement ability is probably what they were closer to.
Yeah, Force "lightning" is a bit of a misnomer, as while the Jedi basically are just playing with electricity in the same way they play with gravity, the ability the Sith are using just looks like lightning but at a fundamental level is more like shooting bolts of dark energy. Cosmetically it's the same, but the implication is it's different on an actual structural level.
That's not a very strong arguement, seeing as how a younger Mace Windu defeated Palpatine, who had been a Sith Lord far longer than Mace had been a Jedi. And the same for Anakin vs Dooku. Dooku had been a Force user for decades, Anakin only a decade. By the same logic it could be argued that Jedi are more powerful.
Did he though? As far as I know, this has always been a very debated topic. In my opinion, Mace defeated Palpatine in the lightsaber part of the duel, at best. That's assuming Palpatine didn't throw the fight intentionally in an effort to turn Anakin. Also, Palpatine had to presumably exhaust a part of his power killing the 3 other Jedi Masters first, so there's that... Far longer? By my calculation Palpatine was with Plagueis about a decade longer than Windu was with the Jedi. One could argue that Anakin was a special case, what with him being the person with the highest midichlorian count/force potential, wouldn't you say? And Anakin was very hoped up on rage and hate, which was very un-Jedi of his part.
So when the Sith win duels they are more powerful...but when the Jedi win its a "special case"? Unbowed.Unbent.Unbroken your losing me man.
If we include being a youngling or padawan, Mace had been a Jedi his whole life. This is longer than Palpatine had been a Sith.