Discussions The Ultimate Swordsman (Part IV)

Alright, time for another round of darksiders! Let's see who takes it!

 

Darth Sidious and Darth Bane are the cream of the crop from this group, Sidious was a master of all of the forms and Bane was a practitioner of several forms.

I refuse to accept the existence of Darth Vader II (for those who don't know, I am referring to Darth Caedus, Jacen Solo fallen to the dark side), otherwise, I would also include him.

 

Have to agree with Bane and Sidious being the standouts.

Sidious again mastered all known forms and was able to effectively use them, while he took part in dueling. He went toe to toe with Yoda and Windu, two of the greatest duelists in the Old Jedi Order, and held his own. Now whether or not you believe he faked the loss to Windu or not, Windu was trying to kill him. Meaning he was giving everything he had in that encounter, but wasn't able to just cut Sidious down, like Sidious did to Fisto, Tiin, and Kolar (Each known as great duelists in their own right.) He had to push his limits to the brink to get to the point where Sidious was finally knocked down. Then with Yoda, a person acknowledged as a duelist on Windu's level he wasn't beaten at all, and the duel ended with Yoda realizing he simply couldn't win. Another impressive duel for Sidious is the one he had with Maul and Opress in the recently ended TCW. Maul is another person known of as an expert duelist, yet Sidious, to be frank, schooled both him and Savage like it was nothing.

Bane was a Master of Djem-So and Soresu, a mastery that gave him an excellent, powerful attack, and a quick, sharp defense. He held his own against Kas'im, who was the greatest Sith duelist of the era, and then pushed him into using his Jar-Kai lightsaber form, which apparently he always kept a secret last resort. Bane years later took on Raskta Lsu, who was known as the greatest Jedi warrior of the time, and was also fighting against 2-3 other opponents at various times during their duel. And every opponent he fought on Tython was being boosted by Battle Meditation as well. His final fight was with his apprentice Darth Zannah, and while he lost the duel, it wasn't due to him not being the superior duelists, but his weakness against Sith Magic, which Zannah specialized in to an extent.

 

Oh, how I would love to see more of Sidious as a duelist in novels. I really doubt that will ever happen, though.

 

I always thought Krayt was a great swordsman, but then Legacy: War issue 6 was published...
So, that is why I voted for Sidious.

 

I have yet to read Darth Plageuis, so I can't say for him. But, as I understand, he's a scientist. Not a warrior.

Sidious is, foremost, a Sith Sorcerer, not a Sith Warrior. Yes, he's an excellent duelist, studying and mastering all seven forms. But, that's not where his personal strengths lay. He defaults to lightning and other more mystical aspects of the Force, because he's better at them. Sidious is very well-rounded, but his strength is more towards Sith Sorcerery.

Darth Bane is a Sith Warrior. But, he's less of a man thank he is a Juggernaut tank doing a wheelie, while firing it's entire ordnance at a single target. He's just a physical mass of implacable malevolance. He is to lightsaber work as Sidious is to lightning storms. Like Sidious, he's very well-rounded and possesses skills in all areas, but his shining light is in the art of swordsmanship.

Kas'im was the Sith Blademaster who trained Bane and Bane only beat him by bringing a building down on top of him. Because Bane had the sense to multi-class and train more than one area of his skills. But, by the end of his career, I'd be willing to say Bane was superior. On the sole basis of him killing Raska Lsu and other Jedi Councilmen who outnumbering him and Zannah more than two to one, while being boosted by Battle Meditation. That's enough proof for me.

As mentioned, Zannah is a Sith Sorceress who uses Soresu, not a Sith Warrior. This doesn't warrant more explanation.

I'm not familiar with a lot of post-Bantem Era novels set after RotJ, so I can't give reasonable opinions. My vote, however, is for Bane.