In any case, some of Star Wars’ best villains are more powerful than others. But power isn’t the only factor when considering the best villain. For example, Grand iral Thrawn possesses no unique Force powers or abilities. Instead, he utilizes his intellect to wisely pick the battles he knows he can win, while avoiding the ones he can’t.

15 Asajj Ventress

The disgraced Sith apprentice

She isn’t the strongest or smartest villain in Star Wars, but Asajj Ventress makes up for it with her iconic betrayal story. Like Maul before her, she was promised a place among the ranks of the Sith. But like Maul, she was cast aside long before her supposed promotion came to fruition.

Rejected and abandoned, Asajj spent the latter half of Star Wars: The Clone Wars charting her own path in the galaxy. Recently, Asajj has reappeared in The Bad Batch season 3 as a lone bounty hunter of sorts. Its clear she’s miraculously survived the events of Christie Golden’s Dark Disciple novel, so her story in Star Wars is far from over.

14 Supreme Leader Snoke

The artificial leader of the First Order

In Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Supreme Leader Snoke commands Starkiller Base, one of the most powerful superweapons the galaxy has ever seen. With the ability to destroy five planets simultaneously, Snoke briefly wielded more destructive power than Palpatine did during the Empire. Nevertheless, Snoke was beneath Palpatine since he was an artificial clone made on Exegol.

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Snoke was set up to become the main villain of the sequel trilogy, only for him to be unceremoniously sliced in half midway through the movie. His shocking death may have detracted from his character, but the potential Andy Serkis’ villain had earned him a place among some of Star Wars’ best villains. Hopefully, the New Republic Era will further flesh out how he came to be installed as the leader of the First Order.

13 Grand Moff Tarkin

The destroyer of worlds

While Darth Vader stole the spotlight in A New Hope, many people tend to forget that Vader obeyed Tarkin’s wishes; the two mutually tolerated each other to help strengthen the Empire’s grasp on the galaxy. In A New Hope, when Vader Force chokes iral Motti, it is Tarkin who tells Vader to release his grasp. Tarkin wasn’t stronger than Vader, but he earned his respected nonetheless.

Unlike some other villains in the franchise, Tarkin had very few morals. He did not hesitate to incinerate the two billion citizens of Alderaan in front of Princess Leia. He sacrificed an entire world for the sake of sending a message to the Rebellion. And in Rogue One, he also sacrificed the Empire’s own base on Scarif to stop the Rebels’ heist.

12 Cad Bane

The renowned bounty hunter

First appearing in The Clone Wars, Cade Bane made history as one of the boldest and baddest bounty hunters in the galaxy. He held the Republic Senate hostage, stole a holocron from the Jedi Temple, and broke Ziro the Hutt out of a high-security Republic prison. While he sometimes seems to fly by the seat of his pants, his plans somehow tend to work out in his favor.

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Similar to Asajj Ventress, Cad Bane also recently reappeared in The Bad Batch season 3. He clearly still has plenty of fight left in him. However, he comes to an abrupt and gruesome end at the hands of an old rival in The Book of Boba Fett finale. Overall, he remains one of Star Wars’ most accomplished bounty hunters.

11 Jabba The Hutt

The tyrannical Crime Lord

Physically speaking, Jabba the Hutt may be one of Star Wars’ least powerful villains. Nevertheless, his criminal empire was vast. While the rest of the galaxy bothered about whether the Republic or the Empire ruled the masses, Jabba sat on his pedestal in his palace on Tatooine, raking in the profits from the war, indifferent to who won and who lost.

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He may have inherited his organization from the Hutt family, but his own cunning allowed him to expand his empire even further. Jabba surrounded himself with as many lackeys, slaves, and soldiers as possible, yet he could not escape the fact he was an immobile slug. Princess Leia ultimately exploited his hubris in Return of the Jedi by bringing an end to him and his organization once and for all.

10 General Grievous

The cyborg Jedi hunter

Not only did General Grievous have one of the most illustrious lightsaber collections in the franchise, but he also had enough arms to actually utilize them. Grievous’ first appearance in Genndy Tartakovsky’s Clone Wars micro series remains one of the most chilling and haunting scenes in Legends. And while his Canon counterpart is far more of a coward, he still stands out as a ruthless Jedi killer.

Voiced by Matthew Wood, Grievous was an intensely slippery foe who almost always managed to escape whenever the battle turned against him. At times, it was his own brilliance that allowed him to win battles. But in the end, Obi-Wan Kenobi managed to bring him down in Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith moments before he almost got away.

9 Moff Gideon

The would-be Mandalorian ruler

Giancarlo Esposito’s Moff Gideon ravaged The Mandalorian for three seasons. At the end of The Mandalorian season 1, he wielded the famous Darksaber while attempting to hunt Grogu down. And in The Mandalorian season 3 finale he revealed his own horned Mandalorian armor. His obsession with ruling Mandalorians ultimately became his downfall, but his journey was glorious nonetheless.

Moff Gideon’s final plan at the end of The Mandalorian season 3 was an idea he stole directly from Palpatine. Like Palpatine, Gideon attempted to improve himself by creating Force-sensitive clones for himself. Nevertheless, Gideon was more dedicated than Palpatine since he was willing to step down and allow his clones to take his place, whereas Palpatine wished to transfer his spirit into his clones and become immortal.

8 Boba Fett

The father of bounty hunting

All Mandalorians in Star Wars owe their iconic look to Boba Fett, who was the first to don the mysterious armor in The Empire Strikes Back. Boba Fett’s ruthless legacy was somewhat marred by his own show, where he traded his illustrious bounty hunting career to become the benevolent Daimyo of Tatooine. But he still remains one of the franchise’s most iconic and easily-recognizable villains.

On the other hand, Boba Fett’s career in Star Wars Legends had far more panache than his Canon story. After surviving the Sarlacc, Boba Fett actually led his fellow Mandalorians in the Yuuzhan Vong War. And he even helped train Han Solo’s daughter, Jaina Solo.

7 Count Dooku

The Separatist leader

The late Christopher Lee’s Count Dooku was the perfect blend of poise, clarity, and refinement. Dooku was not an unsightly or fearsome villain, but a noble gentleman who led the Separatist army with tact. Nevertheless, he too was swayed by Palpatine’s lies, believing himself to be indispensable and irreplaceable.

Despite faithfully serving Palpatine throughout The Clone Wars, Dooku was unable to realize when his usefulness had run its course. There were times when he wished to overthrow Palpatine and claim his place as the Sith Master of the galaxy, such as when he attempted to recruit Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones. But ultimately, he fell victim to Anakin Skywalker.

6 Kylo Ren

The grandson of Darth Vader

Kylo Ren’s booming voice shakes characters to their core at the beginning of The Force Awakens. He slaughters an innocent village in search of the map to Skywalker, proving just how ruthless he can be. Nevertheless, he becomes more and more human as the sequel trilogy progresses, culminating in his return to the light side of the Force.

Despite his best efforts, Kylo Ren proves that no one can replicate Darth Vader. He attempted to sink into the dark side just as his grandfather had, but he ends up walking the same path back to the light side in the end. His sacrifice to save Rey at the end of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker may have been premature for his character, but there’s still hope Star Wars utilizes him elsewhere in Canon.