Kylo Ren vs. Darth Revan: Who Would Win?

In Star Wars, some characters are well known for their strength, vigor, and accomplishments throughout galactic history. 

With such a broad array of characters, it’s natural for fans to want to pit them against each other. In this article, we will be comparing Kylo Ren to Darth Revan. 

The question of who would win arose, so keep reading as we dive into this topic. 

Kylo Ren

Kylo Ren was born as Ben Solo in 5 ABY when the Galactic Empire finally conceded to the New Republic. 

Ben Solo has a long bloodline of light-side heroes. All of whom greatly contributed to the Alliance to Restore the Republic. 

His parents, Han Solo and Princess Leia Organa were well-known advocates for the light side. Not only that but his uncle, Jedi Master Luke Skywalker, was known to be one of the most powerful Jedi in galactic history. 

What’s more, Ben Solo was the grandson of the notorious, ruthless Sith Lord, Darth Vader. This meant that Ben had Skywalker blood coursing through his veins. 

As a result, Ben had a natural inclination toward the Force and the potential to become just as powerful as his uncle, Luke Skywalker, or grandfather Anakin Skywalker.

We know that Darth Vader only became the stone-cold killer he was because of the influence of Emperor Palpatine (Darth Sidious). Of course, the Emperor knew the strength of the Skywalkers and wanted to have a hold on as many of them as he could. 

Thus, Palpatine used Supreme Leader Snoke to corrupt Ben Solo into becoming suspicious of his family and eventually fall to the dark side. This led to Ben relinquishing his name and adopting the new one of Kylo Ren.

During this era of his life, Kylo Ren was dubbed the “Jedi Killer” and was the leader of a group known as the Knights of Ren. As time went by, the First Order formed, and Ren became the Supreme Leader.

Kylo Ren did not permanently stay on the dark side and returned to his light-side roots before he died. 

Just like everyone else in the galaxy, Ren was not without fault, so without further ado, let’s dive into his strengths and weaknesses. 

Strengths 

As we briefly touched on, Kylo Ren had an intense connection to the Force. This is due in large part to his close kinship with the “Chosen One”, Darth Vader, as well as his outstanding mother, Princess Leia.

Kylo Ren was so skilled with the Force and its techniques that Luke was concerned about what his untrained power could become. This is exactly why Snoke believed that Kylo would be the key to unlocking unlimited power. 

Kylo Ren was trained in the techniques of both the light and dark sides of the Force, which allowed him to have incredible proficiency in the craft. 

Still, he had not reached his full potential, so he was not on the level of his grandfather, uncle, or even Supreme Leader Snoke.

Despite not being at his full power level, Ren could use the Force to better his fighting skills. Ren could channel the dark side through him to enhance his physical prowess. What’s more, Ren had impeccable telekinesis and telepathy skills. 

Additionally, Ren was one of the few characters who could draw from the teachings of both the light and dark sides to use in combat.

This, coupled with Ren’s clear intelligence and his command of piloting vessels, made Kylo Ren a force to be reckoned with. 

Weaknesses

Despite all his strengths, Kylo Ren was often regarded (by fans) as a weak villain. This isn’t exactly true, but he had multiple weaknesses that understandably led to that conclusion.

One of the most glaring ones was how wounded Ren was. He was wounded both physically and emotionally, which made him more vulnerable than most people. 

This vulnerability made it easy for others to take advantage of the young warrior. A prime example of this is how easy it was for Snoke to twist the narrative and manipulate Ren into joining the dark side. 

Yet another weakness of Kylo Ren’s is his apparent discomfort with the dark side. 

Usually, it’s shown that when someone falls to the dark side, they thrive. They finally embrace who they are and reach new heights of awesomeness. 

In the case of Kylo Ren, it seemed like the opposite was happening. He fell to the dark side because of internal hatred and anger, but he was also tempted by the light side. 

As stated by Ren himself, when he was speaking to Lord Vader’s helmet and said, “Forgive me. I feel it again. The pull to the light.” 

What this suggests is that Ren was being tempted by the light side. It was almost as though the Force was telling him that the dark side was the wrong path for him. 

This is quite a rare scenario as more often than not, the dark side is the one doing the seducing. To that end, this is theoretically why Kylo Ren was perceived as being weak.

Because he wasn’t quite comfortable on the dark side, he may have opted out of embracing his full potential.

Darth Revan

Similar to Darth Vader (and Kylo Ren, for that matter), Darth Revan once had a stint on both the light and dark sides of the Force. In particular, Revan had a turn as both a Jedi and a Sith during the Mandalorian and Jedi Civil Wars.

It is said that in approximately 3994 BBY, Revan was born in the Outer Rim Territories. He trained under multiple Jedi Masters until he became a Knight. 

In disagreement with the Jedi Order’s tactics during the Mandalorian War, Revan founded and led a renegade faction of the Order, known as the Revanchist. This was when he adopted the name Revan. 

Revan managed to defeat the Mandalorian ruler, Mandalore the Ultimate. Then he and his friend Alek (who took the name Malak) followed a peculiar Sith Trail where they found a rebuilt Sith Empire.

The pair were turned to the dark side by the Sith Emperor and became Sith Lords, Darth Revan, and Darth Malak. Luckily, the newly appointed Sith Lords escaped the Emperor’s control when they were sent to the Galactic Republic as secret agents.

It was then that the two Darths created their own empire on Star Forge and initiated a war against the Republic during the Jedi Civil War. 

Unfortunately for Revan, he was betrayed by his mentee and partner, Darth Malak. This led to him being apprehended by Jedi Master Bastila Shan, who eventually formed a Force Bond with Revan. 

Strengths

It’s clear that Darth Revan was an insanely powerful individual. 

 

Just like Kylo Ren, Revan was privileged enough to have learned both the light and dark sides of the Force. What’s more, he mastered many of the techniques that came along with both sides. 

In addition, Darth Revan was most likely an expert in many forms of lightsaber combat. In particular, it seems like Revan was an expert of Form Six as indicated by his signature dual lightsaber. 

Naturally, these attributes made him an outstanding Jedi and, later, a fantastic Sith Lord. 

Revan was resilient and proved he is well-deserving of being considered a strong warrior. He survived for hundreds of years through torment and other misfortunes life threw his way. 

Moreover, Revan had the intelligence to come up with a solution to any problem he encountered. 

Firstly, he created the Revanchist when he was displeased by the pace at which the Jedi Council was handling the Mandalorian attack. Then he went on to form his own empire and run that successfully as well. 

Furthermore, Darth Revan could have easily gone on to take over the entire Galactic Empire, but he was turned on by his apprentice and best friend, Darth Malak. 

Weaknesses

Darth Revan was regarded as one of the most powerful Force-sensitives in galactic history for good reason. He was the Jedi’s best chance at defeating the Mandalorians. 

This was proven to be correct when Revan defeated the head of the Mandalorians. Darth Revan was also a great asset to the Sith and would’ve continued to be if he hadn’t been betrayed by Darth Malak. 

This means that it’s theoretically possible that Darth Revan’s most pressing issue was his impulsive trusting nature. 

Essentially, growing up with Malak, it would be natural for Revan to put his trust in him. After all, he went through life making decisions with Malak at his side.

Therefore, Revan probably did not know he would be turned on by Malak, or more plausibly, he did not pay attention to the signs pointing towards his betrayal.

On top of that, Darth Revan was a part of both the light and dark sides of the Force, so there may have been an internal divide. 

This is not unlike Kylo Ren. The only difference between the two is that Ren returned to the light side, whereas Revan died as a Sith. 

Darth Revan vs. Kylo Ren

When comparing Kylo Ren and Darth Revan, it seems as though the fandom is in agreement that Revan would win. 

Ren is talented, there’s no doubt about that, but he was relatively amateur in comparison to Darth Revan.

Although Kylo Ren has a strong connection to the Force, Darth Revan is one of the most powerful Sith Lords the Empire ever had. Ergo, it would not take much for Revan to defeat Ren.

Darth Revan is in the same league as some of the strongest Sith of all time, like Darth Sidious and Darth Vader, while Kylo Ren sometimes struggles with combat. 

To that end, Ren struggled in a lightsaber battle against a stormtrooper and has been defeated a couple of times previously by some of the Jedi. 

Needless to say, if Ren was to face off against Darth Revan, he would have a hard time even striking the Sith Lord. 

In addition to that Revan had Force Powers that could have ended his fight with Kylo Ren before he even had the chance to respond to the Sith Lord’s attacks. 

Conclusion

Kylo Ren was a greatly misunderstood character. He was perceived as being far more inadequate than he truly was. 

Contrary to popular belief, Ren was quite strong and could hold his own against many of his opponents. 

Whether this is because of the Skywalker blood within him or the training he received, Kylo Ren has proven that he is a strong Force user.

Still, he would not be strong enough to win a fight against Darth Revan. Even though Ren isn’t weak, he is not even close to Revan’s power level in the Force or combat. 

Ergo, a fight between the two would be an easy win for Darth Revan.