Who is the Most Powerful Inquisitor in Star Wars?

The Inquisitors were a notorious group of Force-sensitives tasked to hunt down surviving Jedi following Order 66. A powerful group, they tortured and killed many, with some resorting to sadistic techniques. Who was the strongest Inquisitor and who was the Inquisitors’ master?

The Second Sister and the Grand Inquisitor were the most powerful since they felt a greater pull to the dark side. Darth Vader trained and served as the Master of the Inquisitors. While the Inquisitors were never strong, they held a high rank in the Galactic Empire. 

Who is the Most Powerful Inquisitor?

Since they embraced the dark side, the Inquisitors also developed Sith traits, which naturally included hunger for power.

While some Inquisitors, like the Twi’lek Inquisitor and the unnamed Red Inquisitor, formed friendships, others grew mistrustful of one another. This resulted in the Inquisitors forming rivalries.

They were sometimes willing to sacrifice their peers if it meant escaping a situation with their lives. 

One notorious incident occurred when the Tenth Brother was killed in a fight in Bel City. The Sixth Brother and the Ninth Sister tried to flee, only for the Sixth Brother to betray the Ninth Sister. 

Then there was the case of Jesera, who killed her Inquisitor master after the latter trained her in the dark side. 

So it’s clear the Inquisitors tried to one-up their brethren, with the Sixth Brother once hunting a Jedi over embarking on a mission when he sought a promotion within the order. 

With the Inquisitors seemingly battling for position, did one outlast the others? 

Of the most powerful Inquisitors in Star Wars, two prime candidates existed. The first was the unnamed Grand Inquisitor and the other, the Second Sister. 

Second Sister

The Second Sister served as the Padawan to Cere Junda under the name Trilla Suduri. After surviving Order 66, the duo managed to conceal themselves from the Empire before Imperials caught and tortured Junda. 

Under torture, Junda revealed Trilla’s hideout, leading Trilla to feel betrayed, allowing her to gravitate toward the dark side. She fell completely to the dark side and became the Second Sister after undergoing subsequent torture. 

Notorious for developing a sadistic yet tactful nature, the Second Sister wished for nothing more than to please Darth Sidious. She tortured her victims to death and eventually sought Cal Kestis. 

However, she could not destroy him and reverted to the light side before Darth Vader intervened and killed her. 

Despite her shortcomings against Kestis, the Second Sister was skilled in lightsaber combat, the Force dash, and preternatural ability. She was also skilled in telekinesis, able to use the Force push and the saber throw. 

Grand Inquisitor 

Having become disillusioned with the Jedi, the Grand Inquisitor led the team and his connection to the dark side of the Force trailed only Darth Vader and Darth Sidious. 

Featuring an intimidating presence, the Grand Inquisitor loved weaponizing fear against opponents. While Kanan Jarrus defeated him, the latter’s dark side knowledge and his incredible backstory indicated he was the most powerful. 

Once an accomplished Jedi, the Grand Inquisitor spent time in the Imperial Palace poring over Jedi Archives. This gave him knowledge needed to find and defeat Jedi who survived Order 66, allowing him to study and counter various fighting forms. 

Was Any Inquisitor Truly Strong in the Force?

While you can consider the Grand Inquisitor and the Second Sister the most powerful Inquisitors, descriptions from “quite weak,” to “pitiful” have often been used to describe them. 

One reason stems from Darth Vader. While Vader was a powerful Sith Lord, he did not display adequate teaching skills. 

Darth Vader was historically gifted in Force-sensitivity, whether through the light side as Anakin Skywalker, or the dark side. Though he was so gifted, he did not know Sith Lore nor did he possess the same background as his Master, Darth Sidious. 

Vader’s connection to the Force was akin to a gifted NFL quarterback like Peyton Manning. Manning is arguably the second-best quarterback of all-time, but he’s not on the field coaching. 

Meanwhile, perennial busts and career NFL backups like Byron Leftwich, Doug Pederson, Kevin O’Connell, and Kellen Moore have become successful coaches. 

Vader’s lack of ability to relay knowledge translated into the Inquisitors and was compounded with the group further lacking adequate tools to become powerful dark side wielders. 

This is because most Inquisitors were forced into embracing the dark side. A difference existed between truly embracing the dark side voluntarily, like Darth Vader and Darth Sidious, to embracing it through force. 

Who is the Master of the Inquisitors?

Darth Vader was the Master of the Inquisitors. He was tasked with transitioning the squad from the defensive fighting style they learned as Jedi to adopting an all-out offensive style more akin to the dark side. 

Despite the Inquisitors’ job of fighting and killing other Force-sensitives in the galaxy, Vader never trained the Inquisitors past a certain degree in the dark side. Which served as another reason the Inquisitors were never powerful. 

This is because the Inquisitors were never intended to rival Vader and Darth Sidious in their connection to the dark side. 

Another reason is that the most talented Jedi besides Yoda, Ahsoka Tano, and Obi-Wan Kenobi, among others, were killed in the initial Jedi purge, Order 66. So the Inquisitors didn’t need to become as powerful as fully-fledged Sith Lords. 

The Inquisitors were just there to provide mop up duty regarding young Force-sensitives and Padawans who survived the initial wave. This meant that Vader only needed to train the Inquisitors to a specific degree, then wipe them out once their work was finished. 

What Ranks are the Inquisitors?

Since they were Force-sensitive and skilled in the dark side thanks to Darth Vader’s training, the Inquisitors held a high rank, although they were not official members of the Imperial Military. 

However, they commanded officers who could not dissent from their orders. This further gave Inquisitors the power to command elite death squads of clone troopers, then known as Purge Troopers. 

Officers held the greatest responsibility in notifying Inquisitors when they located Force-sensitives. Upon locating a Force-user, they had to contact an Inquisitor, who then arrived to investigate. 

There were also times where multiple Inquisitors investigated specific cases regarding Force-wielders. This occurred when they identified a larger threat. 

However, in most cases, even if an Inquisitor was seemingly investigating alone, another often lurked nearby to provide backup. 

Conclusion 

The Inquisitors loved one-upping each other and they further displayed trust issues. The Second Sister and the Grand Inquisitor were the most powerful since they embraced the dark side more voluntarily than the others. 

Darth Vader served as the Master of the Inquisitors and he trained each of them. However, none of the Inquisitors grew beyond a certain level in the dark side because they were forced to embrace it and were never intended to advance above a certain level within it. 

Despite their weaknesses, the Inquisitors held a high rank within the Galactic Empire. They had power to command both Purge Troopers and officers. And while some officers clashed with the Inquisitors, they had no choice but to obey them.