The canon Star Wars movies have so many great lightsaber battles, it is difficult to determine which specific duelist was the best. There are stories and legends from outside of canon that boost the resumes of some, but it does not all translate in the final film product. While perhaps controversial, here is my ranked list of best Star Wars lightsaber duelists.

5. Yoda

Yoda was a Jedi Grandmaster who had been studying the Force and training Jedi for centuries. He also trained many, if not all, of the people on this list. Yoda’s initial lightsaber duel in Attack of the Clones highlighted his agility and speed in spite of his advanced age at that point in his career. However, we did not see Yoda win any lightsaber duels. He drew, and arguably conceded losses to both Count Dooku in Attack of the Clones and Darth Sidious in Revenge of the Sith. If Yoda had won either of those duels, the storyline would have been much different.

4. Mace Windu

Mace Windu was a famed duelist with a unique fighting stance and a staunch reputation as one of the most noted Jedi swordsmen ever…but not in canon. The only time we saw Mace Windu canonically enter into a lightsaber duel was in Revenge of the Sith when he went to arrest Darth Sidious. He outlasted the three other Jedi Masters with him, Kit Fisto, Agen Kolar, and Saesee Tinn, but in the end he did not achieve victory. Anakin interrupted the duel and eventually assisted Darth Sidious in defeating Mace Windu. While this was a tough match and not a one-on-one encounter, we did not have much else to go off in canon in terms of dueling ability for Mace Windu. I agree that his defeat of Jango Fett on Geonosis was cool, but it was technically not a lightsaber duel.

3. Count Dooku

Many people may be surprised as to why Count Dooku is ranked so high. His great dueling skills had been demonstrated many times in the films. He beat Obi-Wan and Anakin in a one-on-two fight in Attack of the Clones before drawing with and successfully avoiding capture from Yoda. Later in Revenge of the Sith, he again knocked out Obi-Wan in yet another one-on-two battle against Obi-Wan and Anakin before Anakin eventually prevailed with Darth Sidious’ encouragement. In spite of his older age, he had a great record in lightsaber dueling against other greats on this list.

2. Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader

Anakin was the Chosen One and a great lightsaber fighter and pilot, but was he the best duelist? He had a long history of lightsaber duels, but he did not always come out victorious. He lost an arm in the first duel with Count Dooku in Attack of the Clones, and then defeated him in Revenge of the Sith. His arrogance caused him to lose his duel against Obi-Wan Kenobi on Mustafar. He did later beat a surrendering Obi-Wan on the Death Star, and took off Luke’s hand on Bespin. He then lost the final lightsaber duel to Luke on the Second Death Star, although he won the ultimate battle when he destroyed the Emperor. While the Chosen One was very skilled with the lightsaber, he had too many losses to be considered the best duelist.

1. Obi-Wan Kenobi

The controversial #1 is none other than Obi-Wan Kenobi. Obi-Wan may not have the perfect record of the most illustrious reputation, but in the end, he beat the best of the best. He did lose to Count Dooku twice, but he defeated the person who bested Count Dooku. His defeat of Anakin on Mustafar puts him over the top at #1, but that was not all he did. He also bested General Grievous on Utapau in the midst of a large chaotic battle. Obi-Wan was not the flashiest and not the most brash, but he was consistently victorious. His defeat on the Death Star was intentional as he knowingly sacrificed himself, knowing that his death and ascension to the Force would make him stronger.

Honorable Mentions (Why These Popular Characters Did Not Make The Cut)

General Grievous

General Grievous had such a cool and intimidating fighting style should have made him a top choice. Even though he killed many Jedi and obtained their lightsabers, he himself was not Force sensitive which put him at a disadvantage. He was also 0-2 in his two lightsaber battles above Coruscant and on Utapau in Revenge of the Sith.

Luke Skywalker

It is hard to ignore the star of the original trilogy, but Luke was not as well trained as the majority of the other combatants mentioned before. His lightsaber training was from his time on the Millennium Falcon on the way from Tatooine to Alderaan and his time on Dagobah with Yoda. That was tough to compare with the prequel trilogy fighters who had significantly more training. He also did lose to Darth Vader on Bespin, although he did have the upper hand on the Second Death Star.

Darth Sidious

While impressive, we really only saw Darth Sidious in two lightsaber duels: opposite Mace Windu and Yoda. While he defeated Mace, it was only with Force lightning and Anakin’s help and not purely his skills with the lightsaber. The battle with Yoda was only a slight victory or a draw and that was also largely due to his use of the Dark Side of the Force than the lightsaber itself. Darth Sidious may be an evil mastermind, but his genius was not in lightsaber dueling.

Rey

Rey had an impressive track record, but she was just starting out in the sequel trilogy. Her training was minimal in The Force Awakens, though her skills did improve in The Last Jedi and Rise of Skywalker. The only issue is that her only opponent had been strictly Kylo Ren. We do not know how she, or Kylo would have fared against other Force users.

Kylo Ren

Likewise, with Kylo, we only saw him fight Rey. While he was intimidating and had put on a strong face, he also lost to Luke’s projected Force image.

While it is tough to differentiate between such skilled duelists, Obi-Wan’s victories over General Grievous and Anakin put him over the edge in ranking Star Wars duelists in canon.

Source(s): Screen Rant, May 4 Be With You, Wookieepedia

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Top 5 ‘Star Wars’ Lightsaber Duelists In Canon RANKED