Star Wars has created some truly memorable heroes over the years and there are few as memorable--or as complicated--as Anakin Skywalker. Anakin's life as a Jedi wasn't easy--coming of age during the tail end of the Republic, forced into a galactic war, feeling unappreciated for what he was doing, and getting manipulated by a Sith Lord. He was pretty much doomed to fail, no matter how many people tried to help him.
During his time as a Jedi, Anakin faced down a lot of opponents but some were more dangerous than others, challenging the Chosen One and everything he knew.
10 Entire Armies Of Battle Droids Greatly Outnumbered Him
Anakin Skywalker was known for being headstrong and impetuous--personality traits that explain his later fall to the dark side--and was known for throwing himself at his foes. During the Clone Wars, Anakin led his troops from the front and was known for charging entire armies of battle droids, throwing caution to the wind.
Individually, battle droids are kind of pathetic, but armies of them were quite dangerous, and Anakin never hesitated to throw himself at massive groups of the droids. There's a reason his clones respected Anakin so much--he never asked them to do things he wouldn't do himself.
9 Aurra Sing Was One Of The Most Deadly Bounty Hunters In The Galaxy
One of the most dangerous bounty hunters in the galaxy, Aurra Sing worked for the CIS multiple times over the Clone Wars, trying to assassinate Senate members, including Anakin's secret wife Padme Amidala. Sing was a skilled marksman and a powerful fighter, clashing with Jedi repeatedly during her career.
Sing was able to pull off a feat that few non-Force users were able to do--knock Anakin out. She and Cad Bane's bounty hunter team stormed the Senate building, taking hostages to try and secure Zero the Hutt's release. Sing and another bounty hunter attacked Skywalker and were able to take him down, which was no easy feat.
8 Cad Bane Was A Witty & Skilled Bounty Hunter
After the death of Jango Fett, Cad Bane was considered the most dangerous bounty hunter in the galaxy. He would prove to be a thorn in the Jedi's side throughout the Clone Wars, clashing with the Order's members on multiple occasions. Bane didn't have the Force or anything like that, but he was still quite dangerous to Jedi, always proving to be a challenge for them.
Bane and Anakin would have several confrontations during the Clone Wars, with Bane proving just how much skill counted in battles against the Jedi. Bane also was no dummy--he knew that the best way to fight Jedi was with numbers and often worked with teams of bounty hunters. Bane was the total package--smart and skilled.
7 The Jedi At The Temple Made It Difficult For Anakin To Keep A Clear Mind
While it's quite hard to call the Jedi villains, Anakin did feel they were from his point of view. It's still a pretty difficult argument to make but Star Wars has long been known for the whole "certain point of view" thing. Fans never really got to see too much of the Anakin and the 501st's attack on the Temple, but it was surely a harrowing battle for the newly minted Sith Lord.
The real hard part of the battle for Anakin would have been what was going through his mind the whole time, as he had to destroy people he had grown up around and fought next to. This was probably the most dangerous part of the fight for him--keeping his mind clear enough to not fall to the people he had grown up with.
6 Admiral Trench's Tactical Prowess Made Him One Of The Best Admirals Of The CIS
Admiral Trench wasn't a physical threat to Anakin--he was able to easily dispatch the Separatist commander in a one-on-one fight. However, it was his tactical prowess that made him so dangerous. Trench was one of the best admirals the CIS had in the field, and he and Anakin would have many battles against each other, battles that tested Anakin's skill as a general.
In battling Trench, Anakin had to use a different skill set; Anakin was used to fighting his opponents with his lightsaber and the Force, but battles against Trench forced him to use his brains, evaluating tactics and identifying feints, using all of the skills he learned during the Clone Wars.
5 Durge Threatened With His Heavily-Armed Armor & Years Of Experience
Durge hails from Legends continuity and was one of Dooku's chief commanders. A member of the Gen'Dai species, Durge was over 2,000 years old and had a great hate for Mandalorians, which was how Dooku was able to convince him to join the Separatists. Durge took to killing clone troopers with relish and found himself battling Anakin, Obi-Wan, and other Jedi as well.
Gen'Dai were notoriously hard to kill, and Durge was no different. His heavily-armed armor and years of experience, combined with his durability made him a difficult opponent to fight, and Anakin was only able to kill him by using the Force to push him into a star.
4 Asajj Ventress Was Armed With Two Lightsabers
Asajj Ventress was Count Dooku's most dangerous servant and battled Anakin many times over the course of the war. A former Nightsister of Dathomir, Dooku would make her his apprentice and chief assassin. Armed with two lightsabers and powerful in the dark side of the Force, a duel with Ventress was always a difficult challenge.
Anakin and Asajj had a lot of harrowing battles with each other, with one always surviving to bedevil the other again. Eventually, Asajj would break away from Dooku and again embrace her Nightsister heritage, endeavoring to assassinate her former master.
3 Obi-Wan Kenobi Gave Anakin One Of The Greatest Lightsaber Duels In Star Wars History
This one is another certain point of view one, but Obi-Wan and Anakin would come to blows at the end of the Clone Wars. This one is sort of easier to explain if one looks at it from Anakin's point of view--he truly believed his old friend had turned his wife against him. The whole situation turned into a terrible tragedy and one of the greatest lightsaber duels in Star Wars history, if not the greatest.
The battle was the ultimate expression of the Jedi way against the darkness of the Sith, with both abandoning years of love and friendship for a savage battle. The battle ended with a great loss for both men--Anakin losing his limbs and Obi-Wan losing his best friend.
2 The Son Embodied The Dark Side
The Mortis Arc of The Clone Wars was highly underrated as it contained one of Anakin's greatest challenges. Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Ahsoka found themselves investigating a monolith in space, where they would make a startling discovery--the denizens of the monolith were the embodiments of the Force--the Son being the dark side, the Daughter being the light side, and the Father being the entirety of the Force.
The Son and Anakin would clash, as they were the two most alike, and Anakin would be able to defeat the being who embodied the dark side. The Son was one of the most powerful and dangerous foes Anakin ever faced, and the result of their battle would be a harbinger of what was to come in the Jedi's life.
1 Count Dooku Forced Anakin To Escape On Multiple Occasions
The leader of CIS, Count Dooku was once one of the greatest swordsmen in the history of the Jedi before becoming disillusioned with the Order and leaving it. He would join up with Darth Sidious and become Darth Tyrannus, the other half of the shadow war the Sith had set up to defeat the Republic and take power.
Dooku and Anakin would clash many times over the years of the Clone Wars, with Anakin always able to just barely escape the more skilled Sith Lord. Their final fight during the Battle of Coruscant would see Anakin finally defeat Dooku with one of the coolest lightsaber deaths in the Saga.
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