Although the arguments for both side are great, i'll have to go with Revan on this one..
Why? Because quite frankly i find what he has done more impressive.
Revan never faced 10.000 Jedi sure, but he faced some of the most powerful Jedi and killed them all, he faced entire army's and killed them all. Not to mention that when he was on the star forge it did not give him power but it did make Malak and every Sith on it stronger. Revan being there meant a huge disadvantage for him, would he have fought on a normal ship he would have beaten them all a lot easier and faster and he still beat those 50+ Sith easily. Of course that doesn't mean that Exar couldn't have done it, but he would have had just as a hard time with it. Or easy.
No Revan never walked in to Coruscant to freeze the Senate and kill a Jedi Master, but he had no reason too. A lot of what Exar did was because he had too, what reason would Revan have had to do that? What reason would Revan have had to destroy an entire race? None at all, the entire republic was slowly dying or joining his forces, killing entire races would be a waste of time and possible troops for him.
After all if you're winning a war you don't exactly have a reason to blow up something that could help you later on. It has no real use for him to do something like that. If it would have had some use i'm sure he could have done it. Afterall Kotor II says that Nihillus could do it, he destroyed a planet using the force, and he was definitly weaker then Revan.
frankly, you all say his tactics would lead him to a win, but how would that help in a one on one fight? Really what is he going to do.
And about him being silver tongued, again, how does that help him in a battle, unless he talks Exar to sleep, it does nothing for him.
Also, about your reasoning that Revan never did that because he didn't have to, true, but I also noticed what you said about Revan not wiping out races because it would waste troops. In that statement, you basically said Exar had more power than Revan, because Exar just used the force to kill the massassani, no troops at all.
His tactics would help him win in a one on one fight because he learned everything he could from the Jedi and from the Sith, and he was a military genius. Now the military genius part wouldnt help him much, but he knows exactly how to kill or turn Jedi. Remember how many ways HK-47 had to kill Jedi? All of those came from Revan. He knew to corrupt their will, what weapons to use, how to kill their allies, etc. HK even knew how to kill Sion, another technique he learned from Revan.
Nextly, when Fishy said killing an entire race would be a waste of time and possible troops for him, you totally misinterpreted it. Revan can turn almost anyone to his cause, thats why the Sith greatly outnumbered the Republic in KOTOR. So instead of killing an entire species he would simply turn them to his side. Revan doesnt need to use troops to fight, he could easily do it on his own.
Like Darth Revan33 said he didn't let the troops live because he couldn't win without them he let them live because the victory would take less work from him and would be much easier to gain.
Besides killing an entire planet isn't exactly the best to get people to join you. Some would join you out of fear, but those are weak and you wouldn't want them in yuor army anyway. But many more would join the Republic and start fighting because they think the Sith are to cruel for them. (just look at the computer in the shadowlands, when you say that the dead of those people would only make your forces fight better it agrees with you... Besides thousands of generals from history would agree with you) It would simply not be a tactical move to blow up an entire planet.
And like i said before if Nihillus can do it who is clearly weaker then Revan, Revan can sure as hell do it.
And no his military genius would not help him in a fair fight between the two, but all his tactics about fighting against and killing Jedi would. Maybe not much but they still would. Besides Exar did die, Revan didn't... He has never been defeated in a fight... Ever. Even when bastila came on his ship it was probably just tactics, the fact that Malak decided to kill him from far away becuase he was to scared to face him one on one was the only reason he was ever defeated. Exar was already losing before he was killed...
Revan never had a real challange in a fight, never fought against somebody that could match him let alone stand best him. Exar did, we have no idea on how powerful Revan trully was. Only that he was the most powerful Jedi of that time and nobody ever thought they could win from him.
From all i gather though Revan more then had the power to destroy planets with the force he could have easily beaten every Jedi at that time. He just never wanted too because there was a tactical advantage to be gained if they survived. And the fact that Revan would risk his enemy's staying alive just to have a chance of turning them pretty much means he didn't really fear them either.
actually at the height of his power, nobody could challenge Exar either, he only lost to Vodo when he was an apprentice. And if Revan and Kreia duelled when he was still an apprentice, he would have lost to.
And yes, Revan did know how to kill jedi, possibly better than Exar did, but Exar did invent his own style of lightsaber combat, the double blade, also, his double blade was different than any other double blade. He was able to move it faster and aim more than with the double blade that was used during Revan's time. So Revan would have no experience fighting Exar's style, he would still be able to use the style he knows, but it would throw him off guard and he wouldn't be as prepared.
Also, Exar wore armor with a cortosis weave in it, that would allow him to be able to outlast Revan. And it would be a long duel, so Exar's added defense and new style, would carry him over to a win.
Exar's armor would definately help him, as Revan's robes weren't really defensive based. But as for Revan being ignorant or otherwise incapable of dealing with Exar's fighting style, that's ridiculous. It was only forty years after Exar's death, and Revan's lust for knowledge would have him on the cutting edge of combat lore of the era.
true, but Exar invented his own fighting style, which was never written down and was never taught to anyone, even when he was still living. The jedi/sith at the time did have the double blade lightsaber, yes, but it had a longer handle than Exar's did, allowing them to put more power behind their attacks. Exar's handle was short, more like a single blade, except it could have a blade coming out of both ends. It allowed him to strike EXREMELY quickly and accuratly. Since Revan never faced that in combat, and would only possibly have heard about it, since none ever lived in a duel with Exar, knowledge about his fighting style would be forgotten. So actually I find it quite concivable that Revan would have little or no knowledge about Exar's fighting style.
Well, Exar wouldnt have any knowledge of Revan's fighting style either. He can use single, two, or double bladed. And Exar Kun fought against Jedi that had never seen a double bladed lightsaber before. That's part of the reason he was so deadly, no one expected that other side to be ignited. Revan fought against hundreds with a double bladed one, and (mine) uses a double bladed with mantle of the Force. So they would pretty much cancel each other out. And I truly doubt that of the "thousands you said went to fight him" none would remember his style or record it for 40 years time. Besides, I've never seen anyone hold their lightsaber like Revan did on his ship. Maybe he had his own unique style to strike extremely quickly and accurately.
And his armor giving him an advantage? yeah right. We see something that was probably like what Exar had. No proof, your right, but Revan can wear many many types of armor with a cortosis weave as well. The Star Forge, one of the strongest dark side emanations, created robes that the Jedi council feared, precisely for Revan. Those robes are far superior to any cortosis laced armor that he could otherwise wear. And he has many dozens to choose from.
So Exar's style might give him a SLIGHT advantage, but I think Revan's robes would make up the difference.
I've noticed a few things about Revan's stance and movements that have given me some insight into his fighting style, or at least, the one he was using...
It is not aggressive, or else Revan would not have stood patiently waiting for three Jedi to encircle him and attack. Obviously he was of the "bait and take" persuasion. By that I mean he was more of the counterattack mindset, and often let his opponents take the offensive, capitalizing on any openings they presented.
It was fluid. Obviously the style depended on flowing and connected movements. It would probably be more like a dance anyways. And considering he defeated the leader of the Echani (What is his name anyways...) in melee combat, I'm assuming he was a very dextrous and agile fellow. Also, the illusion of Revan that the Exile sees (which is obviously drawn from his own memories) uses two blades with deadly accuracy. Though that spectre still fights like everyone else (Because of game mechanics) the idea is there that Revan could and perhaps often did use dual lightsabers. And they were of equal length, too. The idea that Revan wasn't using but one lightsaber in KOTOR I was perhaps one of two things: not being presumptuous with a character people would customize as they saw fit; and also the man was obviously confident that one saber could do all the work he wanted.
I'm curious which battles Revan may have actively fought in. I'd like to see perhaps flashbacks in KOTOR III showing Malak, the Exile, and Revan fighting in the Mandalorian Wars.
Originally posted by Naga Sadow
well, think of it this way. if exar wouldnt die, the republic would collapse. and that would ruin the whole movie script. revan however, didnt have to die to preserve any story.
so its all basicly GL's fault.
On that point, i THINK and remember THINK if i'm wrong please don't rip into me for this, that the republic may have collapsed at one point, around about a 1000 years before Episode 1, as in episode 2, Palpatine says "I won't let this republic which has stood for a thousand years fall". SO Technically if i'm right the republic could've fallen cause it got itself back together.
Bah, that site has some good information, but I must question its validity. Sure it says that lucasfilm said that, but that site totally contradicts the official KOTOR 2 website when it says that Malachor caused Revan to fall, and that Revan only discovered it just before the final battle. It even goes against what Kreia says in the game. Not to mention it says Canderous is BELIEVED to be Mandalore in Kotor 2. The site doesn’t know that there is proof of it. So I must argue that that site is not too reliable. It doesn’t say anywhere on starwars.com, the games, or the official kotor 1 and 2 websites that Revan went light. And it sort of says in the official kotor 2 website that he went dark. So I will stay with the whole either one thing.