Mace Windu vs. Yoda: Which Jedi Master Is More Powerful?

During the time of the Clone Wars, there have been many powerful members of the Jedi Council. However, two were clearly a level above the rest – Mace Windu and Master Yoda. Both were prolific combatants and Force wielders who achieved feats hardly anyone else could achieve. The question is, which Jedi Master was more powerful overall – Yoda or Windu?

Yoda would most likely defeat Mace Windu in a duel. Although Mace Windu was extremely powerful and could potentially match Yoda in a pure lightsaber duel, he is no match to Yoda in knowledge, wisdom, experience, and mastery of the Force

Still, Windu was an incredibly powerful Jedi Master and could potentially have the upper hand in dueling against the Dark Side wielders. There’s a specific reason why I believe that to be the case, so if you want to hear more about Mace Windu and Master Yoda’s power, keep reading this article.

Force

This category is quite easy to gauge, regardless of how you look. Master Yoda is probably the most powerful and knowledgeable Jedi of all time. His species’ long life span allowed Yoda to study the ways of the Force for literally centuries, making him the most knowledgeable Force wielder ever.

Not only that, but his natural potential to use the Force was much greater than Windu’s. Yoda’s Midi-chlorian count was around 17700, whereas Mace Windu’s was around 12000. Now, Midi-chlorians are somewhat controversial, as they don’t indicate one’s power, but rather one’s potential in the Force – but I think it’s safe to say that Master Yoda even exceeded his potential in some ways.

Yoda is likely the most prolific Force user of all time, on both the Light and Dark side of the Force, so regardless of how skilled or powerful Mace Windu is in that regard, he is certainly inferior to Yoda.

Point: Yoda (1:0) Mace Windu

Lightsaber skills

I’ve seen the most differences in opinion among fans in this category – who is the better lightsaber combatant? Well, the answer is actually not that straightforward. Both Mace Windu and Master Yoda are incredible lightsaber wielders, mastering all seven lightsaber forms. However, both of them have a particular form that they prefer using.

Yoda preferred using Form IV, or Ataru – which is also known as The Aggression Form. This form included a lot of spinning, acrobatics, and quick, explosive offensive movement. 

Ataru worked for Yoda the best due to his size – utilizing his quickness and acrobatic prowess to maximize his lightsaber efficiency and minimize the ‘handicap’ he might have against bigger, taller enemies. That being said, Master Yoda was known as one of – if not the best – combatants in the Jedi Order, capable of using any of the seven forms at will.

On the other hand, Mace Windu was very skilled in all the forms as well, but he mostly used Form VII, known as Juyo. In fact, Windu developed his own variation of Juyo, later known as Vaapad. If you ever wondered why Mace’s lightsaber is purple, this is the answer.

You see, Windu knew that there was inner darkness within him. So, instead of trying to suppress it – and feed it as a result – Windu developed Vaapad to find a way to expend that darkness. He honed in on that inner darkness to boost his power and precision in combat, making him such a deadly lightsaber wielder.

Another thing that made Vaapad so deadly against the Dark Side wielders was the fact that Windu could create a sort of feedback loop that used his enemy’s Dark Side power and channel it back at them – the more powerful the Dark Side user was, the more power could Windu direct back at them.

It doesn’t work well against Light Side wielders, as Windu could only channel his inner darkness then. But, against Palpatine or other Dark Side users, one could argue that Vaapad allowed Mace to be even more prolific than Yoda.

So, overall, Yoda was probably more skilled with a lightsaber, but Windu was more powerful against the Dark Side users, as he could channel their own power against them. Therefore, I reckon both Yoda and Windu deserve points in this category.

Point(s): Yoda (2:1) Mace Windu

Wisdom

Let’s not waste too much time here, as we all know who the superior is in this particular category. Wisdom is one of the Jedi’s most efficient attributes. And Master Yoda is essentially the epitome of wisdom.

Surely, Mace Windu was smart, knowledgeable, and wise – after all, he was the leader of the Jedi Order alongside Yoda – but they simply aren’t on the same level. Yoda spent centuries – almost 900 years, to be exact – exploring, learning, and mastering his knowledge of the Force.

Not only that, but his experience throughout those centuries made him that much wiser. I would argue that you cannot find a wiser character in all of Star Wars – hence, this is Yoda’s category all the way.

Point: Yoda (3:1) Mace Windu

Physiology

One might say – Yoda is old and tiny, while Mace Windu was at the peak of his physical power. While that is true, one has to consider that Yoda was 800 years old. Yes, his mysterious species was capable of living such a long life. And even at the ripe age of 800 years old, Yoda could perform acrobatic feats that Mace Windu could only dream of. 

Windu, in all his physical strength and size, is only human. His lifespan is as long as Yoda’s days as a toddler. Size matters not my young ones. Yoda takes this category by a landslide.

Point: Yoda (4:1) Mace Windu

Greatest feats

For the argument’s sake, let’s figure out what the greatest feats of Master Yoda and Mace Windu were in the Star Wars films. Mace Windu had two major feats in Episodes II and III, respectively.

In ‘Attack of the Clones,’ Mace Windu effortlessly killed Jango Fett – one of the galaxy’s most prolific bounty hunters in history and the genetic template for all of the clones – by decapitating him with one swift move.

Even more impressively, however, in ‘Revenge of the Sith,’ he quickly beat Palpatine himself in combat, holding a lightsaber to his neck, ready to strike before Anakin turned and chopped his hand clean off. He was ready to deliver the final blow. Some argue that Palpatine deliberately let Windu defeat him so Anakin would turn to the Dark Side, but I’m not convinced.

Whatever may be the case, Windu won, fair and square, which is an astonishing feat considering Palpatine’s unfathomable power.

Master Yoda, on the other hand, held his ground and was even somewhat winning in his fight against Palpatine. However, before the fight could end with a decisive winner, Yoda had to retreat, as reinforcements were arriving to aid Darth Sidious. And, let’s not forget that Yoda was already over 800 years old when the fight took place – way past his prime physical years.

Other feats that Yoda accomplished included effortlessly stopping Count Dooku’s attacks in ‘Attack of the Clones,’ and mentoring countless Jedi to become the best versions of themselves, including Luke Skywalker.

The two have similar feats in terms of their difficulty and complexity, so I’ll give them points in this category.

Point(s): Yoda (5:2) Mace Windu

Windu’s own words

Finally, if all this wasn’t enough for you to understand who the more powerful Jedi Master was between Mace Windu and Yoda, how about listening to Windu’s own words then?

In the 2004 novel called ‘Yoda: Dark Rendezvous,’ written by Sean Stewart, Yoda fakes his own death to meet with Count Dooku in secret – who faked repentance to try and assassinate Yoda. During the time in which Yoda pretended to be dead, Palpatine approached Mace Windu, stating how he believed that Windu was the superior warrior between him and Yoda:

“He is a great being — perhaps the greatest in the Republic. But Master Yoda is a teacher at heart. You are a warrior. Regrettably, this sad age of the world may be your time more than his.”

While Windu was, indeed, flattered with Palpatine’s words, not for one second did he let himself – or anybody else – believe that he is Master Yoda’s equal, as he replied:

“Master Yoda is many things, and I am not his equal, in peace or war.”

In Mace Windu’s eyes, Master Yoda was not just a teacher at heart – but many things. He knew that Yoda could not be matched in any way by himself or anybody else who could use the Force.

Sure, the novel is nowadays a part of Star Wars Legends, but it still shows that even Mace Windu wasn’t foolish enough to believe he is equal – let alone more powerful than Yoda.

Point: Yoda (6:2) Windu

Mace Windu Vs. Yoda: Who is more powerful?

The results are evident – Master Yoda is the more powerful Jedi when compared to Mace Windu, and it’s not particularly close. That’s not to tarnish or disrespect Windu, though. He is incredibly powerful, experienced, and wise, but Master Yoda is simply on another level. 

He is the most powerful Jedi Master of all time, and comparing him to anybody else would wield the same results, even when you compare him to Darth Sidious, Luke Skywalker, etc.

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