Why Darth Malgus Could Use Force Lightning But Darth Vader Could Not.
Force lightning was one of the most powerful force abilities, reserved only for the most powerful Sith Lords. Force lightning drew heavily upon the dark side, most notably pure hatred. Vader was filled with nothing but hatred and at least in canon, was one of the only force users with the potential to use force lightnings most powerful variation, red force lightning. Despite this crazy amount of potential, Vader never used force lightning. However, the Darth Vader of the Old Republic era, Darth Malgus, was extremely proficient with force lightning, despite also requiring a cybernetic suit to survive. Malgus was even able to use force maelstrom, an extremely dangerous variation of force lighning similar to the force lightning bomb ability used by starkiller. So how come Malgus could use force lightning while Vader could not? This video will first explore all the reasons why Vader could not use force lightning, before explaining why Malgus did not suffer from the same weaknesses.
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But before we start, a little disclaimer because I know there will be loads of comments about it if I dont mention it first. There were a few times where Vader might have used force lightning, although I would argue that he didn’t. in canon, Vader was seen using something very similar to force lightning when he bled his kyber crystal. However, this action very nearly kills him and I would argue that it was just the energy from the bleeding process. In legends, we see him use a similar ability called Kenetite. However, this wan’t actually force lightning, but kinetic force energy. This is not channelled through the body like force lightning but rather is created remotely outside of the body, with the dark lord only really able to do this due to the effects of the Kaiburr crystal.
So with that out of the way, why didn't Vader use force lightning? Well it certainly wasn't because he couldn't use it. As already mentioned, in canon Vader had the potential to wield red force lightning, the most powerful form of force lightning that not even Palpatine could master. However, as we know Vader never reached his potential thanks to his little accident on mustafar. Force lightning needed to be channeled through living flesh before being discharged through the fingers. After the events of mustafar, Vader no longer had limbs, therefore preventing him from channelling and dischartging the energy effectively. However this wasn’t the main reason. Palpatine purposely didn’t give Vader a state of the art suit. In fact, it was pretty outdated. This made it highly susceptible to force lightning and therefore making him far easier for the Emperor to control. As we saw in Return of the Jedi, just a short burst of force lightning was enough to fry his life support and kill him, showing just how dangerous this ability was to him. If Vader had tried to channel force lightning, it would likely have done more damage to himself than his opponent.
So why could Malgus use force lightning? Afterall, he also relied upon a cybernetic suit to survive. Again, there are a few reasons. Malgus’ injuries were far less dramatic than Vaders. Therefore his cybernetics did not encompass sso much of his body. It was said that over 50% of Vaders body was machine, significantly more than Malgus. As Malgus still had more of his organic flesh, most importantly his arms, he was able to channel the lightning more effectively.
Despite living almost 4000 years before Vader, his cybernetics were far more sophisticated. As we discussed earlier, Vader was deliberately weakened by Palpatine to make him easier to control. Malgus did not have this issue and was able to get his hands on a state of the art cybernetoic asuit which was likely insulated from force lightning. Whats more, Malgus was likely more well trained in the mysteries of the force than Vader. He has been seen using force maelstrom as well as tutaminis, suggesting a degree of control over the ability matched by very few. Tutaminis is the ability most famously used by Granbd Master Yoda to absorb force lightning, while force maelstrom was essentially a violent burst of lightning energy, requiring immense control and skill. This degree of control over force lightning likely allowed him to keep lightning away from any sensitive electronics in his life support system. Vader was never taught how to control force lightning, as this would have posed a threat to Palpatine.
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