Darth Vader vs Kylo Ren: Here's Who Would Win

I wouldn't want to be Ben right now.

Darth Vader 

Darth Vader always knew how to pose.

Anakin Skywalker, the Chosen One, who was destined to bring balance to the Force was a legendary Jedi with near-unlimited potential, a brave and wise General in the Clone Wars and one of the most potent Force users to have ever existed. After his eventual fall to the dark side and his transformation to Darth Vader Anakin embraced the Dark Side of the Force, losing himself in the progress, to serve his master and his Galactic Empire. Since then he dedicated his life to hunting and exterminating Jedi who survived the purge of Order 66, having trained his signature team, Vader’s Fist, as well as the Inquisitorium, with Jedi who fell to the Dark Side and now serve under him to assist him in his hunt. Vader has a vast arsenal of skills and abilities, used to intimidate, torment, and harm his enemies, or sometimes even allies.

Darth Vader Powers and Abilities:

Force Valor: Despite the damage inflicted to his internal organs, and the loss of two limbs, after his battle with his former master Obi-Wan Kenobi, Vader has proven to be a formidable opponent in battle, showing remarkable feats of strength, endurance and speed,  despite being hindered by his cumbersome suit, which in turns enables him to breathe and function despite the critical damage inflicted on him. 

Telekinesis: Vader is adept in the ways of the Force, having mastered techniques from both the Light and the Dark side. He can Force Pull, Push and Force Throw people and objects, as shown in his battle with his son, Luke Skywalker, and the massacre of the Rebel soldiers during the extraction of the Death Star plans. His go-to ability, the Force Choke, is widely used to inspire fear and crush his enemies by simply closing his fingers. He has also demonstrated these abilities from a distance, by choking people flying on ships simply by looking at them through a view screen, or by sensing their presence without needing to physically detect them. 

Saber Throw: Another technique that Vader uses to catch an enemy unaware from a distance, it combines his strength and accuracy with his Force Pull ability, allowing him to hurl his saber at his opponent while keeping it powered on, before returning it to his. This technique was used to force Luke Skywalker to lose the high ground during their duel in the Second Death Star

Force Sense: A gift that many Jedi share, Vader can sense “disturbances in the Force” across the galaxy, usually to detect and hunt down Force users, and sense other major events. He can also use it to detect life forms around him, another ability he uses both in combat and during his many hunts, as it allows him to not be taken by surprise and plan.

Master Manipulator: Combining his battle experience as a duelist and his immense Force power, Vader can manipulate his enemies to instill fear, uneasiness, or cloud their minds with anger to distract them Vader can also utilize a technique called Dun Möch, used to probe his opponent’s mind and enhance the above, by finding their weaknesses, fears, and deepest thoughts to break their concentration.  This was used in both confrontations with his son, Luke, to draw him to the Dark Side.

Superhuman Strength and Durability: Anakin’s feats of strength were legendary, even before his fall to the Dark Side. As Vader the enhancement on his suit, along with the robotic limbs, allow Vader to lift and throw people with one hand, as shown when he lifted a Rebel to interrogate him at the beginning of a New Hope. Due to his burns and severe damage inflicted on his body during his duel on Mustafar some of his nerve endings are fried, giving him an incredibly high tolerance to pain, although Vader is capable of shrugging off immense pain and even channeling it into rage, to make himself stronger even without his suit, although he needs it to survive.

Kylo Ren

The crossguard always adds cool points.

Ben Solo is the son of Princess Leia Organa and General Han Solo, born shortly after the Batlle of Endor and the fall of the Galactic Empire. Sensing his potential as the grandson of Anakin Skywalker, Luke Skywalker took him on as one of his first Jedi students, promising to train him to use his full potential. Unknown to Luke, Ben was haunted by dreams and thoughts sent to him by a mysterious being called Snoke, which in turn was a clone puppet made by the surviving Emperor, Sheev Palpatine. Snoke secretly influenced Ben and drew him to the Dark Side, taking advantage of the boy’s doubts and his admiration for Darth Vader, and grooming him from a young age to sow seeds of conflict in the young man. 

Sensing the darkness inside him Luke Skywalker snuck into his room one night, and in a moment of weakness and fear thought about striking him down, with Ben reacting in fear and rage by pulling the building on top of them with the Force. Losing complete faith in Luke, he massacred his fellow students who stood against him, and along with a group of like-minded students, he fled, pledging allegiance to Snoke.

 Soon, he was renamed Kylo Ren, making his own red Sith lightsaber, which has a unique crossguard design added to allow the excess energy to flow, after Ren accidentally cracked his kyber crystal by filling it with his rage for Skywalker. After betraying and murdering his master he took over as Supreme Leader of the First Order, seeking to hunt down Ray, the last Jedi.

Kylo Ren is a powerful Force user, having inherited his family’s affinity for the Force. That, along with his training with both Skywalker and Snoke, makes him a powerful opponent with limitless potential, like his grandfather and uncle before him.

Kylo Ren Powers and Abilities

Proficient Swordsman: Kylo Ren was trained to be the best lightsaber user in Luke Skywalker’s new academy, surpassing his fellow students, and being an expert in many forms of combat. His training with Snoke further enhanced these abilities, with Ren being able to slaughter several of his former students in the academy, as well as the highly-skilled Praetorian guards, even taking on four of them by himself. His only loss at the hands of Rey was a product of his injury, as well as his unstable mind after murdering his father. Ren uses his skill in combination with his rage and superior strength to overpower his opponents, making him the greatest asset the First Order has.

Telekinesis: Kylo Ren is the son of Princess Leia Organa and grandson of Anakin Skywalker, granting him a powerful connection with the Force and the potential to match those before him. During his first appearance, Ren effortlessly Force Sensed and managed to Force Freeze a blast from Poe Dameron in midair, suspending it in place while he interrogated his prisoner. He also used Mind Probe on the Resistance pilot, easily extracting the information he needed. Later, he managed to easily Force Freeze Rey, a novice Force User and granddaughter of Darth Sidious, and knock her out with his mind.

Focused Rage: Kylo Ren’s conflict with the Dark Side and his hatred for his uncle and father allowed him to use his rage to destructive results. Armitage Hux of the First Order feared and respected him despite his disdain for him, calling him a “One-man Starkiller”, Kylo Ren, despite not being able to match his uncle’s proficiency or knowledge more than makes it up in a feral rage, using his pain to enhance his power. That makes him a very dangerous duelist, showing no fear towards his opponent and instead of getting stronger with each hit blown to him.

Expert Manipulator: When Ren manages to avoid being distracted by his unrelenting rage, he can be an extremely manipulative warrior, able to trick, play and coerce his opponents, with a combination of his intimidating Vader-like mask and voice modulator, imposing height, and physique and his powerful Force powers. That was shown during his encounters with Ray, when he almost managed to persuade her to join him in his crusade, as well as him managing to murder Snoke, an extremely powerful being, by tricking him and misdirecting his intentions.

How the Battle Would Go Down

Pitting these two is a tough match. While Kylo Ren is an extremely powerful and skilled Jedi he has not reached his potential, as the conflict inside him kept him back. In the scenario, these two would meet Kylo will have to use different means to distract and have a chance against his grandfather.

Choosing the place for the duel is the first step. Going up against an enemy like Vader, with the protection of his armor and his Force Sense he can’t hope to take him by surprise. His only hope is to enrage, belittle or distract him with past events, feelings and thoughts to give himself the upper hand. Such a place would be the same place where Obi-Wan and Anakin faced off, and the place where Anakin tried to murder his love, Padme, in a fit of jealous rage, lost his limbs and was left dead by his master: Mustafar.

Mustafar is a place of Dark Power and deadly landscapes.
 

The place, where Vader’s castle is located and the perfect place for a battle against the Jedi. Lava, old memories and the connection the planet has to the Dark Side will grant both combatants enhanced abilities. Additionally, the many platforms, machinery and cogs, and wheels could give Ren a reprieve against his grandfather’s attacks.

Those Force powers are no joke.

The face-off between these two would start on unequal footing, with Ren meeting Vader on higher ground, similar to his former master’s position. Vader would undoubtedly see through the trick easily and he would harl his lightsaber at Ren, who has the chance to freeze it in midair. The trick here is for Ren to tap into the negative feelings about Vader and his legacy and properly take control of the Dark Side. Vader is undoubtedly the superior duelist and strategist but Ren’s strength lies in his Focused Rage. If he can match Vader’s powers even for a second by freezing the lightsaber mid-air and keeping it suspended, he might earn his respect enough for him to not try the Force-choke and give him a fair chance at a duel.

In turn, Vader, sensing Ren’s fear and confusion, will attempt to taunt and confuse the young man, enough to turn him or end him in a moment of weakness. Ren will have to power through that and play with Vader’s visions of Padme and his actions towards her. Taunting Vader is a dangerous strategy but making him unstable will play into Anakin’s biggest weakness: His unstable emotions. 

Kylo Ren has one thing that Vader doesn't: Agility.

While Vader is seemingly distracted Ren will ignite his saber and jump from platform to platform, forcing Vader to chase after him in his cumbersome armor. He can also use the lava against him, throwing pieces of it in an attempt to intimidate him. Finally reaching a platform that he can use Ren will turn and fight him. The small space is the key here, as Vader will have trouble navigating it and Ren can use the crossguards on his saber to trap the lightsaber and score a few blows against the Sith Lord. The goal is to attempt to weaken the armor enough so he loses basic life support, the armor, however, is highly durable and even Ren’s feral strength will have trouble getting through, even if he could get past Vader’s expert swordsmanship

Those robes don't look very Lightsaber-resistant.

Unfortunately, the whole battle is futile. as Vader is a much superior combatant, having bested countless Jedi, along with his old master and his son, one of history’s most powerful Jedi. He would take or block the hits until Ren would have no chance but go for the defense and Vader would have to toy with him until the young man slipped up, allowing Vader to end him with one swift swing if Ren is lucky. Pleading would not help either, since Vader had no qualms about taking his own son’s hand to turn him to the Dark Side.

And the Winner is… Darth Vader

The man knows he is cool.
 

Talk about unfair here, we really wanted to give poor Ben the benefit of the doubt but Anakin Skywalker was always ahead and we all knew it. If the article got you hungry for more Star Wars trivia here are some more articles related to Darth Vader and the upcoming Star Wars: The Old Republic Remake:

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