The 10 Best Star Wars Lightsaber Duels Of All Time, Ranked

Summary

• Lightsaber duels in Star Wars are iconic, from epic battles like Yoda vs. Count Dooku to emotional moments like Luke vs. Vader.
• The choreography and narrative impact of lightsaber fights vary, with some battles standing out more than others across the series.
• From the epic Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, and Darth Maul showdown to Vader's intense battles in Jedi: Fallen Order, lightsaber duels are key.

Star Wars is one of the greatest franchises of all time, and there's certainly not another phenomenon in cinema quite like it. From the original trilogy to the prequels of the early 2000s to the animated shows, live-action shows, and sequel trilogy movies in between, Jedi, Sith, and lightsabers are the winning formula that persists.

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As a result, lots of exciting lightsaber duels have taken place across the series during the runtime of all the films and throughout the countless episodes of The Clone Wars, Rebels, and live-action shows, not to mention Star Wars video games. We'll consider it all and dive deeper into the duels that stand out above the rest.

10 Yoda Vs. Count Dooku And Darth Sidious

Attack Of The Clones And Revenge Of The Sith

Yoda's Jedi glory days were behind him in the original trilogy, but the prequel films and Star Wars: The Clone Wars series expanded on this beloved character and gave him some pretty epic lightsaber battles. Yoda's strength and skill go beyond just words of wisdom, as clearly demonstrated in Episodes Two and Three.

With Count Dooku in Attack of the Clones, Yoda must first repel his Force Lightning before jumping around Christopher Lee's character and parrying his saber attacks. In Revenge of the Sith, Yoda and Palpatine take their lightsaber fight to the Galactic Senate chamber, with Yoda dodging repulsorpods as Sidious cackles like a maniac. Both had excellent quotes from Yoda as well.

9 Luke Skywalker Vs. Darth Vader

The Empire Strikes Back And Return Of The Jedi

From a narrative standpoint, Luke and Darth Vader's lightsaber fights bring some of the most impactful moments. However, they're still not the best choreography of the entire series. In Empire Strikes Back, the best part of the fight probably comes with the suspenseful cat-and-mouse pursuit between Luke and Vader, along with the dialogue where Darth Vader ultimately reveals himself as Luke's father.

In Return of the Jedi, you do have their most pivotal match that concludes the original trilogy and sets up the sequels to come. Vader and Luke battle each other in front of the Emperor, as Luke tries to reason and convince his father to betray Darth Sidious. That's what eventually happens and Vader throws him off the Death Star, himself not surviving in the end.

8 Cere Junda Vs. Darth Vader On Tanalorr

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As many could've predicted for Jedi: Fallen Order's sequel, the Darth Vader rematch did indeed come, though in a more unexpected way. Cal's companion, Bode Akuna, betrayed them to the Empire, and Vader and his Imperial forces descended on the Jedi Archives on Tanalorr. You're also given control of Cere Junda in this battle to finish what they started in the previous game.

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Vader will come at you with heavy lightsaber attacks and frequently use Force pull to bring Cere toward him, with QTEs and cinematic cutscenes woven in between the gameplay. From the very intro, you'll know this will be a serious fight to remember, and then it ends with the very emotional and shocking death of Cere.

7 Obi-Wan Kenobi And Asajj Ventress Vs. Darth Maul And Savage Opress

Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season 4, Episode 22

Some of the best lightsaber fights in the animated Star Wars: The Clone Wars series all have one thing in common – Darth Maul's presence. There are a lot of epic Maul fights and his character is certainly why the series is so well-loved, but the best one happened during the Season Four finale with him and his brother dueling with Obi-Wan and Asajj Ventress.

Obi-Wan takes on Darth Maul using Asajj Ventress' lightsaber before eventually reclaiming his from Maul, while she fights Savage Opress. There are two great moments here. One, you see Asajj Ventress holding her own with just her fists in a fight against a double-bladed wielder. Most importantly, you see Obi-Wan's rage boil over when Maul taunts him about Qui-Gon's death.

6 Finn And Rey Vs. Kylo Ren On Ilum

The Force Awakens

The Force Awakens was off to the right start for the sequel trilogy, but then The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker ruined any momentum it built. Nonetheless, the sequel trilogy does have one fantastic lightsaber battle in it, and it comes at the end of Episode Seven when Kylo Ren confronts Rey and Finn in the forest outskirts of the Starkiller Base.

Finn is up first and impressively does well against a powerful Sith like Kylo Ren, even managing to inflict some wounds. The moment that will give you goosebumps is when Rey wakes up and uses the Force to get her lightsaber back, shocking both herself and Kylo Ren. Her fight with Kylo will have them chopping down trees left and right in the snowy environment until the whole forest collapses.

5 Kao Cen Darach And Satele Shan Vs. Darth Malgus And Lord Vindican

Star Wars: The Old Republic 'Return' Cinematic Trailer

Star Wars: The Old Republic is a free-to-play MMORPG that received some pretty stellar cinematic trailers featuring lightsaber fights and animations that can put even the Clone Wars series to shame. Released in 2011 and remastered in 2021, the trailer features Jedi warriors Kao Cen Darach and Satele Shan going up against Malgus and Vindican in the docking zone of a space station.

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The battle is a solid length and has story beats throughout. As Kao Cen Darach and Satele Shan engage the Sith with their lightsabers, smuggler Nico Okarr is trying to get his ship ready for launch to get everyone off the station. The teamwork between the two Jedi only goes so far and Satele eventually escapes on the ship, leaving her master with her saber to prevail, but the opposite occurs, and Darach is slayed by Malgus.

4 Cal Kestis And Cere Junda Vs. Trilla Suduri And Darth Vader At The Fortress Inquisitorius

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

The Fortress Inquisitorious on Nur was one of the best new additions to Star Wars lore that's also now been featured in live-action for the Obi-Wan Kenobi series. Part of what makes it so compelling is that it has levels that extend well below the ocean surface, and this plays into the final lightsaber battle in Jedi: Fallen Order.

After Cal Kestis' final boss fight with Cere's former padawan-turned-Inquisitor, Trilla Suduri, or The Second Sister, Darth Vader will make his entrance by striking her down himself. Vader then tosses Cere off the platform and tries to stop Cal from escaping. Their fight continues in the underwater section of the base, where Vader makes Cal's own lightsaber stab him and Cere briefly grapples with the Dark Side before putting up her Force shield as Cal breaks the glass to let the water flood in.

3 Qimir Vs. The Jedi On Khofar

The Acolyte

The Acolyte is a slow-burn mystery-thriller Star Wars show that follows twin siblings Osha and Mae, who are on opposite sides of the Force. Osha is a former Jedi padawan, and Mae is an acolyte assassinating Jedi Masters under the guidance of a new powerful Sith character. It all comes together in the fifth episode when Mae's companion Qimir reveals himself as the Sith in the Elden Ring-inspired Knights of Ren getup.

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What ensues is one continuous and lengthy high-stakes lightsaber battle between Qimir and the Jedi hunting him and Mae, where no character is safe. Qimir has cortosis armor, which temporarily disrupts the Jedi's lightsabers, and he can impale Jedis like a shish-kebob.

He easily cuts through the entire group, leaving only Osha and Sol alive. And that also means Yord and Jecki sadly perish in the aftermath.

2 Obi-Wan Kenobi Vs. Anakin Skywalker On Mustafar

Revenge Of The Sith

Revenge of the Sith has the most amount of lightsaber fights ever in a Star Wars film, and they don't disappoint. The most important, however, is the one between Anakin and Obi-Wan on Mustafar, when Anakin is already on the fast track to the Dark Side and his injuries and burns result in him becoming Darth Vader.

The environmental conditions of the magma and the Uncharted-esque set piece sequences of Obi-Wan and Anakin jumping from platform to platform and nearly falling to their deaths from collapsed structures are still unlike anything else that's been done. The emotional performances by Hayden Christensen and Ewan McGregor are also very palpable.

1 Qui-Gon Jinn And Obi-Wan Kenobi Vs. Darth Maul

The Phantom Menace

The most iconic lightsaber battle in the history of Star Wars is gifted by The Phantom Menace. John Williams' score, the arena, and the brilliant choreography, coupled with the heartbreaking loss of Qui-Gon Jinn is what puts this last-stand battle over the edge. The fight really moves with tenacity and suspense to the Duel of the Fates.

Obi-Wan's saber connects with one end of Maul's and Qui-Gon's the other, Maul backflips and kicks, and everyone is falling and jumping off platforms at various points. Then, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan become separated by a series of laser wall barriers, leaving the former to take on Maul one-on-one, which ends up costing his life.

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