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5 Reasons Kylo Ren Is Better Than Darth Vader (5 Reasons He Isn’t)

Kylo Ren is now the villainous Big Bad of The Last Jedi Trilogy. After an ‘on again-off again’ relationship with the Force, Kylo has completely embraced the Dark Side. Like Darth Vader, his intentions were originally pure, to begin with. But time, circumstances and betrayal from his closest allies pushed the greatest warrior of the Force into the Dark Side. So are Darth Vader and Kylo Ren the same or is one better than the other??

Kylo >>> Vader

5. Better Force Powers

Kylo Ren has shown impressive abilities while manipulating the Force. Right from the very moment he sets foot into the Star Wars Universe, he caught a blaster shot mid air with his mind. He has shown been able to choke opponents with a flick of the wrist and even probe minds. He is young but much more effective when it comes to tapping force and use it for his own advantage.

Compared to that, Vader can only detect other’s foremost emotions and his Force Powers only give him blunt force tactics like lifting and pushing back. The force powers does not come naturally to him and there is only so much damage that he can do whereas Kylo Ren can do untold amounts of damage if he set his mind into it.

4. Better reason for turning Evil

Kylo Ren is much more relatable than Vader ever was. Granted Vader was a victim of petty politics and non confirmation with obsolete Jedi Laws, his reasons were too simple for turning to the Dark Side. He was born of the Force but still could not resist the Dark Side. It was just too obvious and less intriguing.

Kylo Ren was a victim of worse circumstances. His own master tried to kill him and the Galaxy’s greatest Dark Side manipulator was toying with his head when he was just a Padawan. He had a messed up childhood and he spent much of his time trying to discover who he really is. He got seduced by the dark side as he did not see any other way of fighting his inner demons.

3. Better relatability

Kylo is a much more humanized villain than Darth Vader. All we ever saw of Vader was a mask and his formidable force powers. The Prequel Trilogy and the original classic trilogy gave us some insight into his backstory but it never was enough.

Kylo, on the other hand, had a character that blossomed in a pile of internal conflict. His intentions were exposed to the audience from the start and his character development never stayed aloof like Vader’s did. He war torn from inside struggling to maintain even a semblance of sanity due to all the anger buried deep within.

2. Openness to Change himself

To say Kylo Ren is conflicted would be the understatement of the Century. The Force Awakens showed him as the greatest Big bad after Vader. Everyone thought he was the ultimate bad guy. Well, he showed Supreme Leader Snoke in ‘The Last Jedi’ that he can play the mind games too.

When The Last Jedi exposed his doubts about his ways, people realized he wasn’t as bad as they thought. Vader only changed at the climax. But Kylo’s flame has been flickering since the very beginning.

1. No qualms about killing

Now we are not saying Darth Vader is a hipster who hugs trees as a hobby. He did kill an entire room full of diplomats and even innocent young Jedi Padawans. But he still could not bring himself to kill his own son, Luke Skywalker who was in the same room. And that was when he became the good guy again.

Kylo Ren never had that problem. He has killed his own father by his own hands. You may think of him as a softie now but Kylo is more ruthless in ways that Vader could never even imagine. He did not hesitate one bit when he killed Han Solo and in ‘The Last Jedi’ he ordered all guns to fire at will on his former master Luke Skywalker.

Vader >>> Kylo

5. Respect

There is no planet in the entire universe, let alone this galaxy, that won’t cower in fear when they hear Darth Vader’s name. His very own Generals tremble when they try to talk to him. No one talks to Vader by making eye contact. When Vader Speaks, everybody listens. He is the man who sends shivers down everyone spine.

But Kylo Ren is almost always treated as a child in The First Order. General Hux, the guy who Kylo can choke with The Force whenever he wants, regularly insults him and treats him like a kid. He was never given his due, neither by Leia & the Resistance nor by Supreme Leader Snoke which is the reason why he is angry at everyone all the time.

4. Lightsaber Skills

Kylo’s ability to use the Force to his advantage somewhat compensates for his inability in raw Lightsaber battles. But it is nonetheless embarrassing that a warrior who trained for years in Martial arts was bested by a girl who never even held a Lightsaber before. To be fair, the girl is no ordinary girl and Kylo Ren did not really bring his A game to the fight as he was torn on whether he should kill her.

Vader’s Lightsaber skills are a force to be reckoned with. The only guy who could match Vader in a one on one laser-blade battle is Jedi Master Yoda and that’s saying something. Vader was always a superior fighter and not even Luke could easily beat him.

3. Maturity

Both Kylo and Vader are prone to fits of rage. But where Vader just kills the highest ranking officer in command to make them atone for their failures, Kylo just thrashes around like a toddler who did not get enough treats on Halloween. He never demonstrated to “The First Order” that he could be the one who can one day rule the galaxy, although he was “the chosen one”.

Vader’s rage is legendary compared to Kylo’s, but he has the ability to handle it in a mature, adult-like fashion. Kylo doesn’t.

2. Inner Conflict

The Last Jedi wonderfully portrayed the conflict within Kylo Ren. But it had one major flaw. Kylo has trouble staying on the side he was most familiar with. Sometimes he is good, sometimes he is bad. He even offered Rey to come by his side and together they would demolish the old guard of the galaxy to pave the way new world order.

Vader on the other hand, was crystal clear on his alignment until the very end. Vader’s inner conflict was momentary but had a much more lasting effect than Kylo’s.

 1. OriginalityKylo Ren

A villain must be able to stand on his own. Darth Vader did. But what Kylo has been doing till date is trying to mimic Vader. He has no intentions of creating his own persona. He just wants to replicate whatever his Grandfather stood for.

Even his attire screams Vader; the helmet is what we are talking about. Vader needed a helmet to breathe, but why is Kylo wearing one pointlessly. In the race to become more like Vader, Kylo has lost the ability to carve out his own identity.

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Bibhu Prasad

Do I really look like a guy with a plan? You know what I am? I'm a dog chasing cars. I wouldn't know what to do with one if I caught it! You know, I just... do things
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