The Skywalker lineage, starting with Shmi Skywalker and her fatherless son, Anakin, and ending with Ben Solo, aka Kylo Ren, was arguably the most important bloodline in the Galaxy.
The decisions of the members of this family were major factors in shaping the Galaxy’s future at any given time. So, we thought that the Skywalkers could do with a little family feud.
It is finally time to determine who the strongest Skywalker has been throughout the Skywalker Saga. And while the answer might surprise you, be sure to let us know if you want a comparison using just the Legends canon.
The next face-off in our series of battles is more than just a head-on hypothetical fight between two characters from the Star Wars Universe.
This time, our match-up will answer more than just the question of who is stronger? We will find out who is the strongest Skywalker in the Galaxy, along with answering the question that out of Luke and Anakin, who is truly the Chosen One?
These questions, along with others that will be addressed below are ones that fans, both new and old, love to dive into. The question of who the real Chosen One is, and who was meant to bring balance to the Force, has been as mysterious as the Force itself.
The question that frequently enters people’s minds is, “Who would win between Anakin vs. Luke?” So, we are going to delve into Anakin and Luke Skywalker’s abilities in this article. And perhaps, in the end, we will be able to figure out who was the strongest among these two.
So, without further ado, let us get into the details of who exactly will win in this father and son face-off. (Unless you think Rey is the strongest Skywalker. In which case, keep an eye out for our match-up between the winner of this article and Rey)
Disclaimer: We will be using information from the Legends continuity because Anakin from Revenge of The Sith and Luke from Return of the Jedi are not comparable.
Table of Contents
Is Luke Stronger Than Anakin?
If we compare Anakin vs. Luke in terms of physicality, Luke and Anakin were in very comparable shape at the time of ROTJ and ROTS, with Anakin possibly being a little more fit, but this isn’t Luke’s prime. Luke would have been in his prime during the events of the NJO when he was in his early 60s and the Grandmaster of the Jedi Order.
They were athletically built and possessed incredible speed, agility, and strength. As a result, Anakin is one of the 20 Jedi who survived the arena fight on Geonosis and fought Assajj Ventress on Yavin IV for the entire combat.
Anakin has a high pain tolerance, as seen by his fast recovery from Count Dooku’s Force Lightning barrage on Geonosis. The Count chopped off Anakin’s right arm in that same duel, and later Anakin replaced his hand with a mechanical arm.
The new arm was far more powerful and long-lasting than his flesh-and-blood counterpart. But, of course, it wasn’t without flaws. It might still be shortened by Force Lightning or even manipulated by the Force, as Obi-Wan did with the servo drives in Matthew Stover’s Revenge of the Sith novel.
Luke was also given a mechanical hand, similar to Anakin’s, which could be more vulnerable to damage. On the other hand, Luke Skywalker maintained his extraordinary levels of strength and agility, as he grew older.
He was able to keep up and easily harmed Darth Caedus, who was considerably younger than Luke. Luke’s deep connection to the Light Side of the Force also aided his endurance and fitness, keeping him exceedingly strong, especially during the Crucible novel.
Is Luke or Anakin The Chosen One?
Luke was not technically The Chosen One, but he did orchestrate the events that brought the empire to an end. In the end, Anakin was the one who killed Sidious, fulfilling the prophecy and completing his part.
This demonstrates that Anakin, despite becoming Vader, was still The Chosen One. So, while Luke may not be The Chosen One, he is the son of The Chosen One according to prophecy.
Can Luke Beat Anakin?
Luke Skywalker was everything Anakin Skywalker should have been. Anakin had the highest levels of raw potential ever seen in a force-sensitive person. However, this does not imply that they are limited in their abilities.
Anakin had more potential than Luke because, as The Chosen One, he would have had an abnormal level of potential that was higher than anybody else since he was not classified in an average manner whether gifted or non-gifted, but as a whole different class because he was so far ahead.
Skill With Blade
If we talk about skill with the blade between Anakin vs. Luke, Anakin had a lot of experience in this area, as he was one of the most skilled duelists in the old Jedi Order. His lightsaber was relatively smooth, and he used a blue Ilum crystal to prepare it.
Obi-Wan Kenobi developed in Skywalker a unique heritage of lightsaber combat training. Anakin was exceptionally skilled with the lightsaber when he was younger, impressing many Jedi Masters. Anakin specialized in the Form V style of battle, particularly Djem-So.
Anakin was a Djem-So expert, which relied on quick, heavy moves to weaken the opponent. It was beneficial when the user was physically stronger than the opponent or when the opponent’s shielding skills were severely limited.
For example, a much older man utilized Makashi, a form that combined beauty and fencing techniques, against Dooku. Anakin was leagues ahead of Dooku in strength at the time of their most recent encounter, and he used this form to rip through Dooku’s defenses, securing a victory.
Even Count Dooku and Durge were particularly impressed by his speed, and he became known for it. Anakin’s offensive was primarily motivated by emotion. Anakin learned this method from his master.
In contrast, Obi-Wan uses tight, precise movements to improve his protection; Anakin uses them to increase the speed and strength of his strikes. Anakin has a great deal of dueling and fighting experience, and he is a master of the lightsaber.
If we compare Anakin to Luke, Luke Skywalker fashioned his lightsaber after losing his father’s lightsaber on Cloud City. His design was skeletal and closely resembled Obi-Wan Kenobi’s third and final lightsaber.
Luke finally replaced his fake crystal in the blade with a fragment of Kyber crystal, which gave the lightsaber more living Force attunement. Luke also had a red blade, which he could employ in duels with Lumiya, the Dark Lady of the Sith.
Luke has already outperformed Anakin in every way. Even as Vader, when Anakin had progressed to the level of a master duelist, Luke continued to outperform him.
Anakin was obliged to adopt his form as Vader, using his new cybernetic improvements while augmenting it with additional forms to protect his new defects, such as his control panel. Vader used Anakin’s Djem So form and vastly refined it, adding new shapes, polishing it, and ultimately establishing his unique style.
Luke used Djem So at the time of Return of the Jedi and his application of the form was comparable to his father’s; nevertheless, where Luke shines is in his training with Obi-wan and Yoda.
Whereas Anakin wanted to demonstrate his own abilities by doing things his own way and finding his own path, Luke sought advice from his masters, learning Soresu, the defensive form, from Obi-wan, and mastering Ataru, the acrobatic form, from Yoda, who were both true masters of it.
Luke gained adaptability as a result of this. Luke nearly equals Vader’s strength in combat, but thanks to his training, he has other options, such as back flipping over the railing like Yoda to create space and pushing back Vader’s attack on Obi-wan.
Although Luke triumphed partially due to Vader’s emotions weakening him, it’s still worth noting that Luke, who had the same age as Anakin in Revenge of The Sith, defeated Vader, who had out-skilled Anakin.
Taking this into account, Luke, at the peak of his power, went even further, mastering all seven styles of a lightsaber battle, possibly becoming one of the greatest lightsaber duelists of all time. Furthermore, he employed the ideas given to him by Obi-wan and Yoda as a starting point for mastering all of the other forms and pushing his abilities to their limits.
In summary, Prime Luke takes Anakin’s form and masters it much more than Anakin did, in addition to mastering the other forms. As a duelist, he is superior to Anakin.
Force Power
Anakin vs. Luke in terms of force power is quite interesting. More than any other living entity in Galactic History, Anakin Skywalker is strongly connected to the Force. As a result, he implied that he could easily access the Force. Even though Anakin focused solely on lightsaber battles rather than the Force, he was still a formidable opponent.
Anakin was a frequent telekinesis user and would employ it in the fight, primarily by hurling objects at his opponent. However, Anakin also demonstrated that he would use the ability casually while having a meal with Padme in Attack of the Clones.
Anakin later learned Force Choke, force energy that he could employ during the Clone Wars for the rest of his life. Throughout the Clone Wars and as he evolved into Darth Vader, Anakin used this power on several occasions.
Even though it alarmed a few Jedi in the Order, it became his favorite interrogation tool. Anakin regarded the Force primarily as a tool. He could regularly use Force to strengthen himself to give him greater power and enhance his reflexes because he was mostly a duelist; this is what he primarily used as a child.
Anakin could also anticipate the future regularly in visions and dreams, which became a unique skill. This was also related to his telepathy since he was highly skilled with thoughts and hints and could easily carry them out, even on large numbers of people at once.
In summary, Anakin could be the most powerful Jedi of all time, surpassing Yoda and Darth Sidious. However, due to his horrific injuries on Mustafar, this potential was no longer near being achieved or acknowledged.
Instead, it was destroyed; as Darth Vader, he would grow powerful, but he could no longer be as effective as the Emperor. On the other hand, this potential would be handed down to his children, with Luke Skywalker possibly becoming what his father should have been.
Anakin is like a massive battery with a wire half his size attached to it. Although this battery is massive and carries a lot of power, he is limited in how much Force he can exert because the wire is so thin.
Obi-wan is a considerably smaller battery with a cord that is about the same size as him. Overall, less powerful but capable of utilizing all of it. Luke combines these two concepts, being an immensely large conduit for the Force, with the proper ability to wield it.
He outperformed Anakin in this fashion, demonstrating why he is the more powerful force user because he has a battery of nearly equal size to Anakin. He has a cable that is almost the same size as this massive battery.
Luke obtained such a thorough comprehension of the Force that he could become enlightened for a brief period. Luke possessed Anakin’s power levels and Obi-Wan’s connection to the Force because he was never taught as a child that he was better than other Jedi or that he didn’t have to work as hard.
Luke was told he was a Jedi and had to work hard to defeat Vader, which he did. Luke put in many hours of training to improve his connection to the Force. He never thought he owed himself his power simply because a prophecy said he was because he realized true power came from intelligence and experience.
Therefore, at the time of Return of the Jedi, we would rank Luke higher than Anakin in terms of power. As a child, he never had these limitations imposed on him, and he never expected things to be easy for him; instead, he worked hard for them.
So, even though Anakin had more power than Luke, it didn’t matter. Luke was still a long way from matching Anakin’s strength, but he won out because he knew how to use it.
Conclusion
So, Anakin vs. Luke, who would win after the day? This is where we will want to provide our viewpoint, which is mainly based on scenarios. If we set Anakin Skywalker against Luke, if Anakin had reached his full potential and Luke had reached his, we think it would be a near-death duel for both.
Anakin, on the other hand, has the potential to be Luke’s equal. Anakin was exceptionally powerful because he was The Chosen One. Luke, as The Chosen One’s son, may no longer possess the same abilities as Anakin. However, we believe Luke can also win if he properly uses his Force skills.