The faraway galaxy first came into being in 1977 and has since grown exponentially, through countless stories across all forms of media, with many powerful entities! But who is the most powerful Jedi?
Even outside the Skywalker saga's trilogy of trilogies, there are three other movies, three (canonical) animated shows in the form of The Clone Wars, Rebels, and The Bad Batch, and live-action shows such as The Mandalorian.
Between all the movies, shows, video games, and all forms of literature, we've met more Jedi than you can shake a lightsaber at (and many you would be well-advised not to). But who is the most powerful?
Well, before we can answer that, let's look at some hand-picked qualifying contenders, in no particular order...
Ahsoka Tano
Since being introduced in The Clone Wars in 2008, Ahsoka Tano went on to become not only a ‘fan favorite' as she's so often dubbed, but one of the most iconic characters from the Star Wars universe altogether.
The young Togruta Padawan starts her career with the Jedi Order as the apprentice to Anakin Skywalker, and over the years fights alongside him in the Clone Wars.
Though she eventually resigns from her duties after being framed for murder and consequently losing her faith in the Order, Ahsoka goes solo.
But her return in Season 7 of The Clone Wars gives us a far more level-headed, focused and mature Jedi, who is able to stand her ground against the likes of disgraced yet deranged Sith Lord Darth Maul, and even Darth Vader in Rebels many years later.
Even before her resignation, though, Ahsoka is a truly formidable opponent, but her ‘recreation' is a force to be reckoned with, and her fighting skills naturally mirror those of her Jedi Master.
When she appears in The Mandalorian Season 2 decades later, both her skills and powers are shown to be even more refined, and she's also able to speak telepathically with Grogu.
In 2023, Ahsoka finally got her own show, named after her.
Obi-Wan Kenobi
Obi-Wan Kenobi is undoubtedly one of the more powerful Jedi. After all, he does train Anakin Skywalker, molding him into a feared Jedi, even if Anakin does eventually become an equally feared Sith Lord.
But long before, when Anakin becomes a fully-fledged Jedi Knight, master and apprentice fight side-by-side during the Clone Wars.
Obi-Wan also goes on to train Luke Skywalker, and though he dies before completing the boy's training, he does leave Luke with more than enough to make him an equally powerful Jedi.
Obi-Wan possesses incredible physical abilities, but is also a true master of Jedi Mind Tricks, which he uses several times throughout The Clone Wars and the original trilogy.
And let's not forget that he is also able to defeat Darth Maul in The Phantom Menace, while only in training.
In later years, at a ripe old age, Obi-Wan even holds his own against Darth Vader. While he does lose that battle, he transcends the mortal world, ultimately proving he is far stronger than the Sith Lord.
Qui-Gon Jinn
While his time as a Jedi is short-lived – at least on screen – Qui-Gon Jinn remains one of the most powerful Jedi ever, and also one of the more passionate, happy to challenge the status quo of the Jedi Order, unafraid to disagree with their strict code of discouraging attachment.
In the field, however, Qui-Gon goes head-to-head with Darth Maul, Sith Apprentice to the Emperor.
Sadly, Qui-Gon dies by Maul's blade, but only moments before, he is seen meditating, demonstrating his deep connections with the Force.
Even throughout The Phantom Menace, we learn just how attuned to the Force Qui-Gon is: he talks to Anakin about midi-chlorians, and even senses that the young boy is the Chosen One, who he believes will bring balance to the Force.
But it's Qui-Gon's transcendence to the Force that shows just how powerful he is, which is something we learn in The Clone Wars – in that, even after death, Qui-Gon is able to commune with living Jedi as a disembodied voice.
The reason he has no Force Ghost, though, is because his training was incomplete, but the fact he is still able to become one with the Force regardless, speaks volumes.
By the end of the Obi-Wan show, even that changes, as Qui-Gon finally appears to his former apprentice.
Anakin Skywalker
There's no denying that Anakin Skywalker is among the most powerful Jedi of all time.
Not only is he without father, and therefore the Chosen One in human form (Qui-Gon Jinn theorizes that he was conceived by midi-chlorians, microscopic organisms that are connected to the Force), he goes on to become an incredibly powerful Force user, and then, of course, one of the most powerful Sith Lords too.
With that said, the fact that he surrenders to Palpatine's coercion and becomes a Sith Lord does demonstrate signs of weakness.
However, in turn, his 'career' as Darth Vader is further proof that his Force-wielding abilities are quite remarkable.
During the Clone Wars, Anakin is the most feared Jedi, and his reputation is somewhat poetically repeated when he becomes the Sith Lord.
And let's not forget that he's also father to Luke Skywalker, a Jedi with equally astonishing powers.
Even after he is 'reconstructed' following his disfiguring and disabling burns on Mustafar, Anakin's connections to the Force grow stronger.
Before his turn to the dark side, Qui-Gon observes that "The Force is unusually strong with him". and after his turn, the Emperor describes Darth Vader's powers as "unparalleled".
Luke Skywalker
There are countless fans who would scoff at the suggestion that Luke Skywalker isn't the most powerful Jedi, but this is, of course, subjective.
And, with so many varying Force powers, there is no ‘algorithm' to measure such a thing other than pure observation.
Nevertheless, Luke is a remarkably powerful Jedi, so much so that he is, at times, as intimidating as any Sith Lord.
In the original trilogy, Luke is able to defeat Darth Vader while also resisting the temptation to turn to the dark side, a path he comes so close to crossing over to in Return of the Jedi.
Throughout the trilogy, Luke grows from farmhand to a feared Jedi Knight, with his specialties including Jedi Mind Tricks and good old-fashioned swordsmanship (or lightsabermanship?).
In the sequel trilogy, however, Luke is able to ‘project' himself between planets through Force meditation.
Even in hologram-form, he's able to use his powers and his lightsaber (and even sport a Force-haircut).
His cameo in The Mandalorian Season 2 finale also sees him lay waste to the formidable Darktroopers, like a hot knife through butter.
Yoda
Yoda is perhaps the most legendary of the Jedi. His species remains unknown, but now that we've also met Grogu in The Mandalorian, we know that they're a
Force-sensitive species regardless of their name and origin. In the prequel trilogy, he's an extremely fast and evasive fighter.
And while he doesn't have the same spring in his step in the original trilogy, he can still lift X-Wings with his delicate mind.
Yoda is also around 800 years old by the time he becomes one with the Force in Return of the Jedi, an age that undoubtedly makes him the wisest and most experienced Jedi we know of.
He is, of course, not without weakness and flaws, failing to identify the wolf among the sheep in the form of Palpatine during the Clone Wars, but he makes up for this in wisdom, courage, and his Force abilities.
His connections with the Force are unusually powerful too, and in The Clone Wars, he is even summoned to Dagobah (long before his retirement there), where he becomes even more attuned to the cosmic netherworld.
And being such a powerful and fully trained Jedi, he unlocks the secret to immortal life, becoming a part of the Force once he crosses over at his ridiculously old age.
So, now that we've gone through some carefully selected Jedi, it's time to find out who we think the most powerful is...
Related: Is Jar Jar a Sith Lord?
Rey Skywalker
The character of Rey is a bone of contention with many fans, as they consider her to be a conveniently written character who faces no true challenges on her path from amateur Force user to fully-fledged Jedi Knight.
But while that may hold some truth, with Rey being canon and also an extremely powerful Jedi, she qualifies for the top of this list, and deservedly so.
Regardless of the controversy surrounding her character, Rey wields the Force in ways never before seen.
Beyond Jedi Mind Tricks (which she is quick to master), telekinetic abilities, hyper-agility and generally being highly skilled with a lightsaber, she also develops other impressive Force-born abilities, as seen in The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker.
She's able to speak with Kylo Ren through the Force and also see him (in fact, we hereby coin the term ‘ForceTime', not unlike FaceTime), teleport objects back and forth between her nemesis ( ‘ForceEx'?), levitate, resurrect the dead, and, of course, channel the power of all the Jedi before her and use it to obliterate the Emperor, all of which make Rey the most powerful Jedi of all.
Who has 'unlimited power' now, Palpatine?
Are we yet to meet more Jedi who will quickly become as iconic as the likes of Ahsoka Tano and Rey Skywalker? This is Star Wars we're talking about, so it's more than likely. But there are already far more Jedi in existence than you can possibly imagine.
With decades' worth of material, whether it's an ongoing comic book series, a Star Wars video game, or upcoming movies or shows such as Ahsoka, Andor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, The Book of Boba Fett, and Star Wars: Visions, it's fair to say that there are countless Jedi spread across the galaxy.
But if you wish to find out who they are, you'll have to start hunting them down one by one...
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