Darth Bane vs Darth Malgus

While under the effects of drugs that reduced his ability to use the Force, he created an ionic storm, casually blasted out a door meant to stop bombs, and killed 12 guards barehanded. They had blasters.

His lightning also blasted through the duracrete wall to expose the explosive underneath.
Turned armored men to ashes.

None of that done of a nexus.

And overcharged his Orbalisks in a second or less. It was also called, "A million volts". (Which is a slight mistake on the authors part. It should be, "amps" since I believe amps are actually what kills you)

You have no reason to believe that Malgus is superior from what I see. Bane has better showings which you are attempting to low-ball. Malgus isn't even as strong as casual Bane during a fight?

Originally posted by Pwned
While under the effects of drugs that reduced his ability to use the Force, he created an ionic storm, casually blasted out a door meant to stop bombs, and killed 12 guards barehanded. They had blasters.

His lightning also blasted through the duracrete wall to expose the explosive underneath.
Turned armored men to ashes.

None of that done of a nexus.

And overcharged his Orbalisks in a second or less. It was also called, "A million volts". (Which is a slight mistake on the authors part. It should be, "amps" since I believe amps are actually what kills you)

You have no reason to believe that Malgus is superior from what I see. Bane has better showings which you are attempting to low-ball. Malgus isn't even as strong as casual Bane during a fight?

Originally posted by Vensai
If you want to compare, Malgus took a grenade to the face

gif fail

Twenty pieces of silver to the man who can make a funny joke about Nephthys's mother in the vein of this sentence.

My mom was a Sith Lord......

Till she took a grenade to the face.

Oh yes, hilarious. Oh man. So classic.

Originally posted by Pwned

You have no reason to believe that Malgus is superior from what I see. Bane has better showings which you are attempting to low-ball. Malgus isn't even as strong as casual Bane during a fight?

Read Deceived, if you didn't. One of the best books. While Bane is just a supercool badass as every character in Drew's books, Malgus is actually a real character who has sense of honor and even can love.

Malgus removing his respirator to kiss his girlfriend is clearly the best part of Deceived. 👆

Malgus:

-Kills Jedi with single bursts of Lightning
-Takes out the temple's battlemaster before he reached his peak
-Beat the shit out of Atris
-Overall pretty fantastic TK feats during the sacking of Corusant.
-Dueled evenly with a younger Satele Shan.

Bane:

-Extremely powerful lightning that leaves Jedi Charred
-Took out the temple's battlemaster while she was amped on BM
-Showed insane speed feats
-Shattered a pillar with TK with only moderate difficulty.
-In his elder years, almost defeated a peak Zannah

I think Bane's feats are ever so slightly superior here.

To sum it up:

Bane:

-Faster
-More powerful Lightning
-Superior bladework

Malgus:

-Stronger
-More powerful TK
-More Experience battling Force Users

Originally posted by Vensai
I'm not trying to lowball Bane. He's one of my favorite Sith. I'm just saying he's only killed featless fodder and hurt himself according to your feat post. If you want to compare, Malgus took a grenade to the face and was buried under a great deal of rubble but survived, he also killed two Jedi soon after, who are more impressive than random soldiers.

A human trooper also survived that same blast, while holding said grenade in his hand. The same human that Malgus couldn't kill with his lighting.

You can try and spin it as you like, but Lsu, Kas'im, Farfalla, and even Zannah herself weren't fodder. Your insistence that he never demonstrated powerful lightning while not amped were disproved above.

I think New Guy summed things up somewhat. Again, Bane's feats as a Sith of only what, two or three years, far outclass what Malgus demonstrated as the wars began during the Old Republic scape, and Malgus was trained in the Sith ways from childhood.

Ven Zallow is noted as Malgus' most famous kill: http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Ven_Zallow

Read that and tell me he's not garbage compared to blade masters like Kas'im and Lsu. He's not even on Qui Gon's level. You're going to try and tell me his is on par with the Sith who enstated the Rule of Two? Don't even try and tell me that Bane only killed fodder after that. We have Bane engaging in combat with three of the most noted duelists of the time, one amped by the same nexus that Bane was empowered by, and the other two aided by Battle Meditation.

Farfalla would likely even be capable of eating Malgus up by himself considering the combat he saw during the Sith War. I'm glad I looked further into it because Malgus' has no duels of worth to his name, nothing.

You can say that I'm wrong all you like, but I want examples. What prowess did he show in combat that proves him greater than Bane? He defeated ONE Jedi as his claim to fame. Bane survived as a trooper, defeated the entirety of his training class comprised of only those who had the potential to become Lords of the Sith, engaged in battle with and killed the greatest saber users of his day, showed speed and knowledge of saber combat that as his instructor put it took him beyond the forms into another realm of understanding of the blade, demonstrated abilities in the Force that Malgus didn't even hope to touch in his wet dreams, and survived his apprentice trying to kill him in an enclosed space despite having no saber to defend himself. He purged poison from his system by utilizing the Force, fed off of the fear and anguish of others in order to survive what should have killed him, unlocked holocrons that were only capable of being utilized by top tier practitioners of the Force, and pushed his own spirit into another in order to unlock its secrets. He survived an ambush by his apprentice, a Sith acolyte, and two Umbarran-trained assassins cloaked in the Force. He cowered one of the most feared Sith Lords of his day, and overcame the mind dominance of another who, as I noted earlier, had a Force reach great enough to empower his entire fighting force while at the same time crushing the battle coherence and capabilities of the enemy.

What did Malgus do that in any way shows that he is on Bane's level in terms of saber ability, Force affinity, and overall power as it relates to the other Sith Lords? He got screen time because of some cool looking cutscenes, but it seems what was revealed there was the entirety of his Sith legacy.

I await your retort. Again, please provide something of substance this time.

As far as I'm aware no one has said that Ven and Kao were exactly beasts in saber combat. But the opponents Bane fought are just as featless as Ven and Kao with a saber.

Ven killed, like, 3 sith and a couple troopers just before fighting Malgus. So aside from his rank, we got to see that feat.

And Tsu still has her huge kill-count ^^

Again, Bane's feats as a Sith of only what, two or three years, far outclass what Malgus demonstrated as the wars began during the Old Republic scape, and Malgus was trained in the Sith ways from childhood.

Mind, force-user growth rates can vary wildly and don't necessarily reflect final power very well.

Originally posted by Intrepid37
As far as I'm aware no one has said that Ven and Kao were exactly beasts in saber combat. But the opponents Bane fought are just as featless as Ven and Kao with a saber.

Do we see OMGWTFBBQGRASS! battle scenes with them? No. But we do have Lsu and Kas'im who are both blade masters for their order during a time of almost continual conflict. You don't put someone who's garbage in those positions. Secondly, though it's not a displayed feat, Lsu is again credited with having killed more Sith than the Thought Bomb, so 50 plus kills to her name. You're going to tell me that isn't of value?

Again, Tulak Hord is given most of his credence simply by way of having killed somewhere in the order of 300 or more in combat, many of whom were troopers, etc. Is he now a no one simply because he's "featless" and we don't have a written description or cinematic of him curb stomping three or four specific high-level opponents?

Joking aside, there have been valid arguments made by others for Bane in both his Orb and DoE incarnations standing against Windu, Yoda, Sidious, and prime Skywalker. While in some cases he would lose, no one ever said that it would be a day in the park for any of his opponents. Are you going to tell me that Malgus would even have a whisper of a chance against them? It's been argued as well that Bane takes Maul decidedly due to both his saber skills and Force abilities, outclassing the Zabrak in either category. Having looked at the little that Malgus displayed in terms of both feats and back story can you honestly tell me that you think that Malgus would ever be the victor if Darth Maul were dispatched to take his head?

I took the time to lay out what Bane did to demonstrate his prowess, as did others. If you can't bother to give specifics as to what Malgus has done to bolster him as a greater saber duelist, Force user, and Sith Lord then I'm just going to leave your statements be. An argument uses evidence to back up its position. I asked some very specific questions both here and above. Take the time to respond to them if you want me to take your points seriously, otherwise I'm just going to relegate your future posts to the junk pile and assume that the statements you make have nothing backing them up but empty opinion.

Originally posted by Ascendancy
Having looked at the little that Malgus displayed in terms of both feats and back story can you honestly tell me that you think that Malgus would ever be the victor if Darth Maul were dispatched to take his head?

Yes.

😬

Again, you mention Bane's lightning as able to reduce ash when in fact he has only done this while being enhanced by Orbalisks. I'm looking for feats either from PoD or DoE.

From Dynasty of Evil;

Three of the victims were electrocuted, dying before they even had a chance to scream. The fourth, however, managed to throw herself back from the balcony's edge, evading the deadly attack.

I'm fairly certain that is his best lightning feat from DoE. Very impressive but Malgus has done the same. In fact, he once killed three Jedi with lightning, just as Bane did;

Malgus, not to be outdone, picked a Jedi Knight at random, a human female ten meters away, held forth his left hand, and discharged veins of blue lightning from his fingertips. The jagged lines of energy cut a swath through the battle, harvesting two Padawans as they went, until they caught up to the Jedi Knight and lifted her off her feet.

She screamed as the lightning ripped into her, her flesh made temporarily translucent from the dark power coursing through her. Malgus savored her pain as she died.

-Deceived

He burns flesh with lightning;

As Aryn prepared to leap at Malgus, he held forth a hand, almost casually, and lightning sizzled through the space between them. Aryn interposed her lightsabers, but the power in the lightning exceeded anything she had felt from Malgus before. It blasted through her defenses and both lightsabers flew from her hands. The lightning seized her, lifted her up, and threw her from the top of the shuttle.

As she flew toward the deck, she smelled burning flesh, heard screaming, realized that it was her flesh, her screams. She hit the ground hard and her head bounced off the ground. Sparks erupted in her brain, pain, and everything went dark.

-Deceived

Burning flesh again;

Malgus held forth his hand and the rage within him manifested in blue veins of lightning that discharged from his fingertips and slammed into Adraas. The power stopped Adraas's charge cold, blew his lightsaber from his hand, caught him up in a cage of burning lightning. He screamed, squirming in frustration and pain.

"End it, Malgus! End it!"

Malgus unclenched his fingers and released the lightning. Adraas fell to the ground, his flesh smoking, the skin of his once handsome face blistered and peeling. Again he rose to all fours and looked up at Malgus.

-Deceived

Bane is impressive in the lightning regard but Malgus more so.

Then you choose to use his disintegration as a proof of his powers, while in fact this was again done whilst wearing Orbalisks.

Provide some telekinesis feats for Bane, preferably with quotes, then I'm gonna provide some of Malgus'.

Look in RoT. When he first had the Orbalisks attached, before he got the amp or anything from them, he reduced a dozen (?) armored men to ash.

Originally posted by Intrepid37
Provide some telekinesis feats for Bane, preferably with quotes, then I'm gonna provide some of Malgus'.

Heres one, I don't have the books on me so its all I have atm in terms of quotes:

Bane thrust out with the Force, and a dozen of the oncoming creatures exploded into dust and tiny flecks of small, twisted metal.

That enemy vanquished, he used the Force to disintegrate two more advancing technobeasts, then felt something bump against his foot.

He also demolished the temple on Lehon with a Force Wave powerful enough to pulp bones, and would have killed Raskta with a Force Push had Farfalla not protected her.

Also whatever Pwned mentioned.

Originally posted by Intrepid37

Then you choose to use his disintegration as a proof of his powers, while in fact this was again done whilst wearing Orbalisks.

p117, RoT, pre-Orbalisks Bane reduces one of his foes to ash. Only part of his mount, a two-ton winged lizard remained. There's an earlier example when he does the same to a few of the mercenaries that he kills, but I can't get the excerpt and I don't have the hard copy to give you the exact quote.

New Guy or Q99 already posted earlier in the thread what he managed after escaping his bonds in DoE, years after the Orbs were long gone.

I will say that what you posted from Deceived certainly gives Malgus more credence in terms of what he is capable of, but his lighting certainly isn't beyond what Bane manifested.

I've been willing to concede that the Force Void that Bane created on Prakith was only sustainable for so long because he was on a Dark Side nexus, but the technique itself is another attack that almost no other Sith have come close to, save the greatest in the order. It is not something that just any Sith could manage.

Beyond that, Bane's survival of Kaan's mental attacks and his ability to actually enter a holocron, destroy its guardian's essence, and extricate himself are again something very, very few others could manage. That is an understanding of the Force that is more than difficult to compete with.

As to TK, the Temple that he leveled was again, pre Orbs. Even something as simple as sending other Force users flying with his TK during training sessions and when they attempted to ambush him in the archives is something that not all Sith or Jedi were capable of, and he does so after a year's training. Other examples have been provided by others above.

@Nephthys

Done while wearing Orbalisks.

@Ascendancy

If he did indeed reduce enemies to ash without any enhancements then I concede the lightning part.

New post incoming with all of Malgus' feats.

1/2

The last word hung in the air, frozen in time, as Malgus drew on the Force and augmented his speed. The hilt of his lightsaber filled his hand and its red line split the air. He crosscut the guard before him, putting a black canyon in his chest, continued the swing through the guard on his left, and with his left hand used a blast of power to drive the third guard into the Temple wall hard enough to crush bones and kill him.

-Deceived

Malgus felt the sudden surge of terror in the two soldiers up on the ledge to his left, felt them take aim in sweaty hands, start to squeeze triggers. He flung his lightsaber at them, guided it with the Force in a flickering red arc that cut both of them down, then recalled the blade to his hand. He deactivated it and hung it from his belt.

-Deceived

Malgus, not to be outdone, picked a Jedi Knight at random, a human female ten meters away, held forth his left hand, and discharged veins of blue lightning from his fingertips. The jagged lines of energy cut a swath through the battle, harvesting two Padawans as they went, until they caught up to the Jedi Knight and lifted her off her feet.

She screamed as the lightning ripped into her, her flesh made temporarily translucent from the dark power coursing through her. Malgus savored her pain as she died.

-Deceived

Anger refilled him, overcame him. A shout of hate, raw and jagged, burst from his throat. Power went with it, shattering a nearby column and sending a rain of stone shards through the room.

-Deceived

He returned his gaze to Zallow and stalked toward him, his rage and power surging before him in a palpable wave. Another Jedi stepped in front of him, blue blade held high. Malgus barely saw him. He simply extended a hand, pushed through the Jedi’s insufficient defenses, seized his throat with the Force, and choked him to death. Tossing the body aside, he moved toward Zallow.

-Deceived

Malgus spun into a high, Force-augmented kick that hit Zallow in the chest and sent him flying backward ten meters.

-Deceived

Malgus, burning with hate, flung his lightsaber at Zallow. He guided its trajectory with the Force, and it spun a sizzling path through the air at Zallow’s neck.

-Deceived

While Zallow was still in the air, Malgus unleashed a blast of energy that caught the Jedi unprepared and sent him crashing downward into a pile of rubble. He lay there, prone.

Malgus did not hesitate. He mounted the column of his anger, shouting with hate, and leapt twenty meters into the air toward Zallow. Mid-jump, he used the Force to recall his blade to his hand, took a reverse two-handed grip, and prepared to pin Zallow to the Temple floor.

-Deceived

When the crowd did not respond to his demand, he slammed a fist into his palm and let anger-fueled power explode outward from his body. Screams sounded as the blast shoved everything away from him in all directions.

Bodies flew backward, slammed into one another, into the walls, against and through windows. The transport he’d rode on lurched from the blast. The doors of the medical facility flew from their mounts and crashed to the ground.

The ship descended to fifty meters. Below, the ruined Temple was dark, covered in the velvet of night. But he perceived the presence of Aryn Leneer as clearly as he would have under a noon sun.

He stepped to the doorway, drew on the Force, activated his lightsaber, and leapt out into the dark.

A ROAR, heavy with hate and rage, pulled Aryn’s eyes skyward. Malgus descended like a meteor. His cape flew out behind and over him, a comma of darkness, and he held his lightsaber in a two-handed grip. Power went before him in a wave of visible distortion. The shuttle out of which he had leapt flew off into the night sky.

Aryn fell fully into the Force, raised her defenses, took a fighting stance, and parried Malgus’s two-handed overhand slash. Still, he landed in a cocoon of power, hitting the ground in an explosion of might that shattered the stones around them and turned them into a hail of shrapnel. Unflinching, Aryn deflected them with the Force as she parried another slash from Malgus. The force of the Sith’s blow made her arms quiver, but she gave no ground.

-Deceived

She and Darth Malgus bounded across the ruins of the Temple, their blades flashing, locking, the speed of their duel so fast Zeerid could barely follow their movement. Despite himself, he found the combat beautiful.

-Deceived

She was unready for the blow. The Force-augmented impact exploded a spark shower in her brain and sent her cartwheeling away from Malgus; she slammed into a rock and landed on her side ten meters away. Adrenaline pulled her to her feet, though she swayed unsteadily. She spat a mouthful of blood and held both lightsabers at the ready.

-Deceived

Seeing an opportunity, she did not hesitate.

Using the Force to guide it, she hurled Master Zallow’s lightsaber at Malgus. The blade cut a glittering green arc through the air as it spun end over end toward Malgus’s head.

Despite his wound, the Sith slapped aside Aryn’s Force-hold on the blade and snatched it out of the air, as quick as a sand viper. He deactivated the blade, held the hilt in his hand, studied it. He looked up and over at Aryn, his eyes burning. She imagined him smiling under his respirator.

-Deceived

Malgus bounced up from the somersault and loosed a telekinetic blast that lifted Aryn from her feet and blew her across the hangar.

-Deceived

He recovered, roared, raised his blade high to cut her in two, and brought it down. But she had already summoned her own blade back to her hand and interposed it in a parry.

Malgus’s strength drove her to her knees.

-Deceived

He pushed her blade to the side with his own and kicked her in the face. The strength behind the blow blew through her defenses, caused her to see stars, loosed teeth, and sent her head over heels backward. She landed on her knees, stunned, seeing double.

-Deceived

As Aryn prepared to leap at Malgus, he held forth a hand, almost casually, and lightning sizzled through the space between them. Aryn interposed her lightsabers, but the power in the lightning exceeded anything she had felt from Malgus before. It blasted through her defenses and both lightsabers flew from her hands. The lightning seized her, lifted her up, and threw her from the top of the shuttle.

As she flew toward the deck, she smelled burning flesh, heard screaming, realized that it was her flesh, her screams. She hit the ground hard and her head bounced off the ground. Sparks erupted in her brain, pain, and everything went dark.

-Deceived

He focused on keeping his Force signature suppressed. He did not want anyone to learn of his presence prematurely.

-Deceived

He drew on the Force, gestured as if he were shooing away insects, and sent both of the troopers flying against the wall of the manse hard enough to crack bone. Both sagged to the ground, unmoving. The black eyes of their helmets stared at Malgus.

-Deceived

[/I]His Force-enhanced reflexes moved faster than their trigger fingers. Without slowing his pace, he pulled his lightsaber into his hand and activated it as the blasters discharged. The red line of his weapon spun so fast in his hand it expanded into a shield.[/I]

-Deceived

Adraas snarled and held forth his left hand. Force lightning crackled from his fingertips, filled the space between them.

Malgus interposed his lightsaber, drew the lightning to it, and started walking toward Adraas. The power swirled around the red blade, sizzling, crackling, pushed against Malgus, but he strode through it. The skin of his hands blistered but Malgus endured the pain, paid it as the price of his cause.

As he walked, he spun his blade in an arc above his head, gathering the lightning, then flung it back at Adraas. It slammed into his chest, lifted him bodily from the ground, and threw him hard against the far wall.

-Deceived

Malgus picked up his pace, turned the walk into a charge. His boots thumped off the wood floor of the hall. He did not bother with finesse. He vented his rage in a continuous roar as he unleashed a furious series of blows: an overhand slash that Adraas parried; a low stab that Adraas barely sidestepped; a side kick that connected to Adraas's side, broke ribs, and flung Adraas fully across the narrow axis of the hall. He crashed into a column and the impact split it as would lightning a tree.

-Deceived

Adraas loosed a flurry of strikes, his blade a humming, red blur as he spun, stabbed, slashed, and cut. Malgus backed off a single step, another, then held his ground, his own blade an answer to all of Adraas's attacks. Adraas shouted as he attacked, the sound that of desperation, filled with the knowledge that he was no match for Malgus.

Finally Malgus answered with an attack of his own, forcing Adraas back with the power and speed of his blows.

-Deceived

2/2

He deactivated his lightsaber, held up his left hand, and made a pincer of his fingers.

Adraas tried to use his own power to defend himself but Malgus pushed through it and took telekinetic hold of Adraas's throat.

Adraas gagged, the capillaries in his wide eyes beginning to pop. Malgus's power lifted Adraas from the floor, his legs kicking, gasping.

Malgus stood directly before Adraas, his hate the vise closing on Adraas's trachea.

"You and Angral caused this, Adraas. And the Emperor. There can be no peace with the Jedi, no truce." He clenched his fist. "There can be no peace, at all. Not ever."

Adraas's only answer was continued gagging.

Seeing him there, hanging, near death, Malgus thought of Eleena, of Adraas's description of her. He released Adraas from the clutch of his Force choke.

Adraas hit the ground on his back, gasping. Malgus had a knee on his chest and both his hands on his throat before Adraas could recover. He would kill Adraas with his bare hands.

"Look me in the eyes," he said, and made Adraas look at him. "In the eyes!"

Adraas's eyes showed petechial hemorrhaging but Malgus knew he was coherent.

"You called her a mongrel," Malgus said. He removed his gauntlets, took Adraas by the throat, and began to squeeze. "To my face you called her that. Her."

Adraas blinked, his eyes watering. His mouth opened and closed but no sound emerged.

"You are the mongrel, Adraas." Malgus bent low, nose-to-nose. "Angral's mongrel and you and those like you have mongrelized the purity of the Empire with your pollution, trading strength for a wretched peace."

Adraas's trachea collapsed in Malgus's grip. There was no final cough or gag. Adraas died in silence.

Malgus rose and stood over Adraas's body. He pulled on his gloves, adjusted his armor, his cloak, and walked out of the manse.

-Deceived

Malgus stood in a pocket under a mountain of rubble, legs bent, the power from his upraised hands preventing several tons of duracrete and steel from crushing him. Dust made his already troubled breathing more difficult. He coughed as the words of his father echoed in his mind.

He'd been sloppy, so lost in his need for revenge that he'd failed to properly evaluate the Jedi's power. He'd surrendered his reason to bloodlust. But no more. With an effort of will, he contained his anger, controlled it, made it a whetstone against which he sharpened his power. Using the Force, he blew the rubble up and away from him. It fell with a crash into the adjacent buildings. A Force-augmented leap carried him out and over the heap. The Jedi's eyes widened as Malgus hit the street. Malgus sneered and charged.

-The Third Lesson

He closed the distance between them rapidly. The red line of Malgus's lightsaber moved so quickly it blurred into a red smear.

-The Third Lesson

A human male in his twenties rose up out of ruins, dangling like a fish on the hook of Malgus's power. His legs kicked futilely; the green blade of his lightsaber cut at empty air; he gagged as Malgus's power squeezed shut his throat.

"Vorin!" shouted the Zabrak.

"So much for your ambush," Malgus said, and closed his fist, crushing Vorin's windpipe. He let the body fall to the charred earth.

-The Third Lesson

At 10 meters, Malgus extended his free hand and loosed veins of blue Force lightning. They struck the charging Jedi: swept through his defenses, swirled around him, and began to burn flesh.

Shouting with pain, the Jedi leaned forward into the lightning - teeth bare, blue blades held before him - and staggered toward Malgus. Despite his burns, he came onward. One step, another, another, but he was failing, wilting in the heat of the lightning. Malgus channeled more power and the Jedi fell to his knees, screaming. The lightning spiraled around the Zabrak, blasting dark holes in his body. The lightsabers fell from his hands and he writhed in agony, screaming his pain into the sky.

Malgus ended his attack. The Jedi, ruined, fell to the ground and rolled over onto his back. His breathing sounded worse than Malgus's.

The Jedi, his face twisted with pain, stared up at Malgus. One of the horns on his head had cracked from the heat of the Force lightning. The Jedi's eyes went to the deactivated lightsaber in Malgus's fist and he cocked his head.

Malgus read the question in his eyes. Mercy from a Sith? Malgus smiled. He stepped forward, activated his blade, and stabbed the Jedi through the chest. "Sleep," he said.

-The Third Lesson