Who Could Luke Skywalker NOT Defeat?

Luke Skywalker is the long-standing hero of Star Wars who made a rather jaded return in the sequel movies.

In The Last Jedi, he reclaimed his status as a Jedi leader by giving his life to allow the Resistance to elude Kylo Ren and continue the fight against the First Order. 

Besides Yoda, Luke may be the most powerful Jedi in the pantheon of Jedi. In The Return of the Jedi, he confronted Darth Vader and defeated him.

Yet, who could Luke NOT defeat? Some Sith seem likely to defeat Luke, along with a Jedi or two.

The Force Awakens in Luke Skywalker

Luke Skywalker is at the height of his power as a Jedi Master in the third original movie, The Return of the Jedi.

By reflecting on some of his accomplishments in this film we get a sense of who he can and cannot defeat.

Dressed in a black Jedi robe, Luke easily moves Jabba’s guards aside with telekinesis and defeats a Rancor under the palace before escaping a certain execution in the Sarlacc pit on Tatooine.

With lightsaber in hand, he also successfully defeats a barge full of Jabba the Hutt’s villains in the Battle of the Great Pit of Carkoon.

In Return of the Jedi, Luke defeats Darth Vader in the climactic scene in the Emperor’s Throne Room.

Although Vader may have declined in power and his doubts about the Dark side had surfaced, Luke was still more powerful. He beats him in the lightsaber battle, knocking Vader to the ground, and cutting off Vader’s right hand. 

Some fans have speculated that by the time of this movie, Luke was “at least an equal match to Vader” and surpassed the Jedi from the prequel movies.

As the son of Anakin Skywalker that makes sense, with Luke’s connection to the Force growing stronger across the original movies. 

The Mandalorian reveals Luke about five years after The Return of Jedi. By the end of the second season finale, we witness Luke decimating scores of Dark Troopers, while earlier Din Djarin struggled to defeat just one of them.

His display of power seems unmatched in this scene. 

Even in The Last Jedi sequel movie, about 30 years after the time of Return, Luke demonstrates his strong Force power.

In addition to the pivotal face-off with Kylo Ren (discussed more below), Luke effortlessly destroys a stone hut that Rey was communicating with Kylo in. When prompted, Luke is thus still quite powerful and ready for combat. 

Who Could Luke Skywalker NOT Defeat?

At the height of Vader’s power, Luke Skywalker could not defeat him. Audiences saw Vader toy with Luke in The Empire Strikes Back and as the better lightsaber fighter.

Once Vader put some effort into the fight, he beat Luke and cut off his right hand.

So, at this point, and with Luke’s lack of training, Luke could not defeat Vader. 

On that note, Anakin Skywalker would most likely have defeated Luke in combat.

Other articles tend to agree that “in his prime” Anakin would win in a one-on-one lightsaber duel.

Luke does not appear to have the same skill level with a lightsaber as Anakin does, with the latter even beating Obi-Wan when he was an apprentice.

As we saw in The Return of the Jedi, Luke could not defeat the Emperor, Darth Sidious.

The Emperor injected Luke with Force lightning, and Luke was on the verge of death before his father, Darth Vader, intervened.

Luke did throw down his lightsaber before the Emperor cast lightning at him, but it seems that even with that protection, Sidious would have probably prevailed. 

By extension, Luke most likely could not defeat the Emperor’s master, Darth Plagueis.

Known as the Dark Lord of the Sith, Plagueis acquired “a vast amount of knowledge about the dark side and its teachings” and trained Darth Sidious in his destructive abilities.

Although Sidious killed Plagueis, the latter possessed an immense dark Force power on the same level as the Emperor. 

As a fan on Reddit posted, Luke could not defeat Abeloth the Force entity. He only stood up to her with the “immense help from both Jedi and the Lost Tribe of the Sith.”

This post is a reference to a character in Legends that is also known as the Bringer of Chaos who possesses dark powers and immortality. As leader of the New Jedi Order, Luke fought and defeated Abeloth but needed help. 

Who Else Could Luke Skywalker NOT Defeat?

He may not have been able to defeat Kylo Ren. He battled him from afar as a projected image in The Last Jedi. In possibly the most iconic moment of the film, Luke bravely confronted “the First Order alone to give the Resistance time to escape.”

However, Luke was not really there, only his projected self, when he fought Kylo Ren. 

The lightsaber stab that Kylo landed on Luke probably would have killed him, along with the barrage of AT-M6 fire beforehand.

Then again, Luke does withdraw his lightsaber, in an Obi-Wan way, before Ren kills him, or tries to. So, this defeat is debatable, even Luke had been there in person. 

In terms of the Jedi, Rey would defeat Luke as her powers increased. Their brief fight in The Last Jedi was inconclusive, so we cannot base it on this scene.

Yet, by the end of The Rise of Skywalker, Rey is facing down the Emperor and all the Sith, which provides an indication of her powers. Given her pace of development, Rey may be more powerful than Luke and Anakin. 

Neiter could Luke defeat Yoda in his prime. Yoda’s lightsaber skills and Force power in the Attack of the Clones are “most impressive,” to the point of outmatching Luke.

In addition, as we saw in A New Hope, Luke was about to be defeated by a dianoga in the trash compactor scene. So, Luke could be vulnerable to opponents other than Sith and Jedi. 

Luke’s Defeats

Luke Skywalker is one of the top Jedi of all time. He has impressive Force and lightsaber skills and a list of victories.

Yet, he could not defeat Vader in his prime, the Emperor and his master, Abeloth, Rey, and Yoda.

That he would most likely lose to these characters does not diminish his importance to Star Wars. 

Todd Wahlstrom

Todd Wahlstrom is a creative and analytical freelance writer and life-long Star Wars fan. He has covered such topics as Darth Vader, the Jedi, Boba Fett, and AT-AT Walkers. Todd has published a non-fiction book, holds a Ph.D. in history, and enjoys hiking, running, and reading about science.