Star Wars: 10 Things Luke Can Do That Anakin Can't | CBR

Two of the strongest force users in canon Star Wars are the father/son Skywalkers. Both were the chosen ones meant to bring balance to the force, and it can be argued which of them truly achieved this since they both lowered the ranks of the Sith and Jedi down to a symmetrical number— two and two in Anakin's case and just one for Luke.

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The real question is, was Luke more powerful than his father? The fact he beat his dad in a duel seems to point towards that, but their force abilities are close to equal. What sets Luke apart is his attitude, as it let him complete feats that his father never did.

10 Luke Had Exceptional Reflexes, Letting Him Dodge Strikes Without Ever Drawing His Lightsaber

Luke was the superior lightsaber practitioner of the two of them, shown in their final battle in Return of the Jedi. One of the things that helped set them apart is Luke's agility and ability to dodge without having a weapon. He didn't need to rely on parries or blocks when he was fast enough to avoid them completely. It's a skill Anakin never had as he always relied on strength to deal with his foes rather than the reflexes that Luke did.

9 Luke Had Such A Strong Connection To The Force That He Could Freely Speak With Force Ghosts

While Force Ghosts were free to roam as they pleased, as shown by Yoda popping up in The Last Jedi, it takes a strong connection to the force to see them. Luke was able to continue gaining tutelage from Obi-Wan and Yoda well after they died thanks to this, both masters looking on proudly at the end of Return of the Jedi. The ability to commune with them was rarely shown in the movies and only appeared with the protagonists of each trilogy.

8 Luke Was One Of The Few Force Ghosts Who Could Interact With The World

Unlike his father and even his mentor, Obi-Wan, Luke was able to tangibly manifest himself in the world as a force ghost. He wasn't just there to hand out advice that Rey needed. Luke could interact with the world in ways that were near unheard of for a force ghost.

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He helped raise his X-wing and helped repair it so Rey could go to Exegol, and he caught his father's old lightsaber. It was proof that he was as much the chosen one as his father was, with the entire bloodline strong in the force.

7 Luke Could Project A Copy Of Himself Across The Galaxy To Battle Kylo

All of Last Jedi seemed to be leading to a battle between Luke and Kylo, and while it wasn't the fight many fans wanted to see, it was still pretty epic to witness. Force Projection was a big part of the newest trilogy, and for better or worse, Luke managed to harness this ability to a degree that not even Kylo or Rey could compete. He projected himself with such perfection that droids like C-3PO and a force user like Kylo couldn't tell that it wasn't the real thing.

6 Luke Was Able To Speak Droid After Decades Of Working With R2-D2

One of the most underrated talents in Luke's arsenal is that he can speak droid and have full-length conversations with R2-D2. While other characters had connections with their droids, namely Poe with BB-8, none of them were as inseparable as R2-D2 was with Luke. Their years together grew a bond much like a dog and its owner, two knowing exactly what the other would do. That's no easy feat with how often R2-D2 would go off-script.

5 Luke Was Great At Reading Body Language, Helping Him Learn Chewbacca's Moods

Luke was a master at reading people's body language, a trait that thankfully came in handy when dealing with Chewbacca. Through most of the series, Han was the only one that could understand Chewbacca, two as inseparable as R2-D2 and Luke were.

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It forced Luke to rely on the Wookie's body language to understand what he was feeling. Given a Wookie's penchant for getting irrationally angry, this was a good talent for Luke to end up picking up. As Han said, you never want to make the Wookie angry.

4 Luke Was Skilled Enough At Unarmed Combat To Disarm Rey Of Her Staff

His agility was mentioned already, but it went beyond just his ability to dodge attacks. Luke was quite skilled as an unarmed combatant. On numerous occasions, be it on Nar Shadaa against a band of alien thugs or Horux III, where he battled an entire cantina of aliens, he showed he was more than his lightsaber. Luke wasn't as dependent on it as many Jedi were. The movies even showed that when he managed to easily disarm Rey of her staff with little effort.

3 Luke Was Capable Of Teaching Others In A Way Anakin Never Could

With Clone Wars canon, Anakin has a padawan of his own in Ahsoka, but even with that, his talents as a teacher are nowhere close to Luke. Luke was able to rebuild the Jedi Academy, teaching a whole new generation of Jedi. The fact Kylo destroyed it all thanks to the corruption of Snoke/Palpatine doesn't change that at all. He even made up for his mistake by showing Rey the ways of the force despite skepticism at first. Luke is up there with the greats of Yoda as far as being a proper Jedi mentor.

2 Luke Had A Stronger Will That Allowed Him To Confront His Inner Darkness Without Succumbing To The Dark Side

One of the key elements of the original trilogy was that Luke didn't give in to the dark side, that even when he got a taste of it in Return of the Jedi, he wouldn't fall as his father did. It's the big difference between the two powerful force users. Anakin was seduced by the power the dark side could bring him, doing anything he could to gain it. Luke had stronger willpower, fighting against that temptation and saving his friends in the process.

1 Luke Was Capable Of Impossible Feats Such As Destroying The Death Star Because He Let The Force Guide Him

Both Skywalkers were strong in the force. However, they had different ways of using it. Even before his fall into Darth Vader, Anakin had a habit of using the force rather than communing with it. To him, it was a tool to get him what he wanted. Luke was the opposite, letting the force guide his actions instead. It's why Luke was often able to do the impossible. An example is when he blew up the Death Star in the first movie. It let him pull off feats his father couldn't.

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