Kyle Katarn vs Darth Maul

BIOGRAPHIES
Kyle Katarn was a Human male Rebel operative from Sulon and later a Jedi of the New Order. He was a former Imperial Stormtrooper who defected to the Rebellion. Katarn was later informed of his Force sensitivity, and taught himself to become a Jedi while in search of the Valley of the Jedi.  Katarn went on to become a Jedi Master, teaching at the Jedi Praxeum. He participated in the offensives against the Yuuzhan Vong and became a part of the High Council in the Jedi Order.

A deadly, agile Sith Lord trained by the evil Darth Sidious, Darth Maul was a formidable warrior and scheming mastermind. He wielded an intimidating double-bladed lightsaber and fought with a menacing ferocity. Though he fell in battle against Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Zabrak from Dathomir would prove to be much harder to destroy than originally believed. His eventual fate is unknown, although it is likely he rose to face the Jedi and his former Master once again.

MARTIAL ARTS
The New Jedi Orders premier Battle Master, Kyle Katarn was undoubtedly A absolute Master of the blade. Although he more than likely mastered all seven traditional Forms of Lightsaber combat, Kyle Katarn primarily practiced Form five, Dejem So, A mostly offensive style based around strong, kinetic blows and following up defensive moves up with immediate counter attacks. Katarn also mastered all three forms created by the New Jedi order, furthering his martial standing. In addition to His high degree of practical ability, Katarn was also very experienced with academic applications of the Lightsaber, being the new Orders battle-master and instructing younger Jedi in Lightsaber combat skills. Unsurprisingly, Katarn had no problem with facing down multiple opponents at once and had zero problem with blast deflection and firefights. Unlike most Dejem So masters, Katarn was far from A blunt and grounded warrior, being A very acrobatic fighter as well as quick moving, most likely thanks to the other Forms under his belt. A natural with the blade, Katarn capably engaged and overcame six increasingly powerful dark Jedi with little to no training. During the same event, Katarn proved to be the superior to A martial artist to the infamous Jerec, one of the most powerful dark Jedi and inquisitors serving the Galactic Empire. After this, Katarn became A fully fledged Jedi and A truly powerful warrior indeed: He helped defeat A  small army of Nightsisters, killed Emporers hand Jeng Droga, fought on the front lines of the Yuuzhan Vong war (The very fact of his survival cementing him as A force to be reckoned with) and even beat Mara Jade, although this was before either of them reached there prime and I personally believe Jade eventually came to surpass the Battle-master in terms of martial skill. Katarn was also one of only three (Possibly four) Jedi of the age who either matched or outright surpassed the exceedingly powerful Sith lord Darth Caedus with the blade: The two fought blow for blow, the Battle-master only being defeated when he was distracted by saving one of his fellow Jedi. Later in life, Katarn also fought against the Lost Tribe of the Sith and Abeloth.

Although (In my opinion) Darth Maul is the least skilled Sith from the films, that is Phantom Menace era Maul: Clone Wars era Maul is A different beast entirely. When he moved from loyal Sith assassin to A warlord who went rouge and embrace his Nightbrother heritage, he moved up from assassinating Anoon Bondara, slaying Qui-gon Jinn and killing Black sun to cutting down waves of Jedi, holding his own against the most powerful warriors of the time and killing armies of dedicated combat droids. A master of the seventh Form of Lightsaber combat, Juyo, Maul was A fierce martial arts enthusiast, his fighting style relying on aggressive charges and A never ending offensive drive. Constantly drilling himself and getting involved in battles against Jedi, Maul was also skilled in several other martial arts regimes, including Teras Kasi and Jerkai dual wielding. Unlike TPM Maul, TCW Maul's track record speaks for itself: Building off of his victory over Qui-gon Jinn, Darth Maul moved up to be considered one of the most imperative threats facing the current Order, having dozens of kills, most of which were Jedi masters, to his name. First and foremost, this Maul had zero problem engaging Kenobi, and although he was still less skilled than the negotiator he had defiantly come A long way from Naboo. The two became rivals of the highest degree, with Kenobi forced to escape or use wildly unexpected tactics to survive or (More rarely) triumph against the Fearsome Zabarak. Maul completely outranked his monstrous brother and cyborg general Grievous in terms of martial skill and even his former Master, Dark lord himself Darth Sidious, fought on at least close to equal ground with the Nightbrother, although it was obvious who was the greater warrior. One of his most impressive, although little known, accomplishments, was when Maul held off both Aayla Secura and Mace Windu at once, and although it was for A brief time, it did appear as if Maul was the slightly more dominant force involved. Considering both Jedi (Especially Windu) were some of the most accomplished warriors of the day, this feat alone moves Maul up from his status as the weakest Sith from the films, to A true dark lord.

In A way, this battle is kind of an "upgrade' to the duel of the fates, with Kyle Katarn standing in for Qui-gon Jinn and Darth Maul for, well, Darth Maul. A well respected Jedi battle master thrown up against A shadowy Sith warrior, the two engaging in A high octane battle for there lives. However, there are A few important distinctions to make from that engagement. primarily, whereas I am of the opinion that Qui-gon jinn was actually the superior martial artist to Maul, only losing due to A lack of stamina and energy, here I do not see such A distinction. Both of these are primarily offensive duelists, although the more aggressive Maul has A slight advantage in this area. However, Katarn makes up for this with A slightly better defense, as apposed to Maul's rather lack luster Juyo style. Both of them are comparable in terms of speed and have similarly impressive track records. Since all other abilities, such as blast deflection and fighting group opposition, are pointless abilities in one on one combat, this only leaves pure skill to be considered. And in this regard, Darth Maul pulls ahead by A VERY small amount. He has been involved in A few more fits, against warriors who were A bit more skilled, and has A bit more sophistication on his side. In general, this category is almost A tie, but in the end the Sith lord pulls ahead, if just barely. Darth Maul gets the martial arts edge.

FORCE POWERS
It has been A very well documented fact that my opinion of the Dark Side is not exactly one of high esteem. Whats more, I hold the same opinion for the attempts (both from official novels and the fan-base) to claim that there is any sort of moral ambiguity between the Light and Dark sides, as well as there followers. Call me old fashioned if you wish, but I will take slightly close minded hypocrites over uncontrollable bloodthirsty rage monsters any day. To me, it really is that simple: If you go against the Jedi dictates they won't appoint you to there High Council: if you go against the Sith dictates they will butcher your family. That being said, I will admit I do see more grey when it comes to Force POWERS: As with kyle Katarn (The reason I am going on this rant at all) I do not think any Force power is inherently evil, I believe it depends on how they are used and by who. Lightning, telekinetic strangulation and even drain can be powered by justice, compassion and other forces besides the blind homicidal rage of the Dark side. All the interesting moral debates aside, Katarn himself has never really demonstrated anything beyond the norm in his actual powers, only being shown to demonstrate abilities of the standard master level Force sensitive. Instead, he is notable because he can use both the standard Jedi AND Sith fare.

It has been A very well documented fact at this point that Darth Maul, whether as A Sith assassin or as A rouge would be Empire builder, frowns upon the use of the Force in combat, to put it mildly. In all actuality, Maul pretty much considered it straight up heresy to use such powers offensively, using it only as A very last resort. And it really is A shame, as Maul has demonstrated A high degree of natural power in the Force, as shown on several occasions. One of The best example being his battle against Pre Vizla, which he could probably win in seconds if not for his reluctance to use this power. In terms of telekinesis, the power the Sith lord seems most likely to use, Maul not only demonstrated A good deal of subtle manipulation and refinement but even more so A ridiculous amount of pure magnitude: Collapsing A starship and cliff face and, if you take deleted scenes as proper sources, even temporarily holding SIDIOUS in place with this power. Darth Maul had some degree of knowledge and skill with Sith lightning, even managing to shrug off attacks of this kind, although he could not withstand Sidious's powerful torrents. Maul was also skilled with Force augmentation, this almost certainly being how he survived being sliced in half, as well as with telepathic abilities, erecting A near perfect mental defense.

In hindsight, I really should have actually talked about Katarn's actual power in the Force, instead of ranting about the morality of the Saga. However, even with more focus put on his beliefs than his skill, It is still clear (At least to me) that Katarn still gets the supernatural edge. Yes, Maul has demonstrated more raw power behind his telekinesis, but this means NOTHING if he refuses to use it in combat ninety percent of the time. On the flip side, Katarn had no qualms about using his Force powers in suture with other attacks, and did have A good deal of strength behind his attacks as well. An advantage Maul might of had with his superb mental defense was almost certainly lost by his decade of madness and, although he had knowledge of Force lightning it was not practical knowledge. Maul can probably overcome Katarn's lightning, but it will be A very painful distraction indeed. Add to this Katarns many other abilities and, again, the fact he is almost three times as likely to use these powers, and the Jedi Battle master secures the second edge for the Light or, in this case, the gray.

PHYSICAL SKILLS
Born in 23 BBY, and last appearing in the Fate of the Jedi series (Which takes place in 44 ABY) Kyle Katarn was A human male of approximately 67 years of age. Although this would normally mean he was well past his prime, it has been well established that Jedi can remain physically active well into there eighties, so I am assuming Katarn is not greatly effected by being in the later years of his life. As per his Jedi training and time as A mercenary, Katarn was extremely skilled in unarmed fighting, had A good deal of strong kinetic force and was quick and agile enough to keep pace with the exceedingly quick Darth Caedus.

Darth Maul was originally A Zabarak from Iridonia, although he was eventually retconned to be the Nightbrother son of Mother Talzin (Yeah, I don't... understand why it matters either). Being in his early thirties, and thanks to A brutal Sith upbringing, Darth Maul was in INSANE physical shape, being much faster, stronger and tougher than even your average Jedi. However, he was not infallible and has been physically out performed before. Since his second pair of cybernetic legs were no different from organic limbs, they don't change much here.

As obvious as the Force powers edge was, the physical edge is even more clear cut. Katarn may not be affected all that much by his advanced age, but Maul is much younger and nearly legendarily tough, something Katarn can't really match, even in his physical prime. Although Maul's second pare of cybernetic legs are most likely susceptible to electrical attacks, this is not nearly enough to make up for the differences elsewhere. Finally, since these two are roughly equally agile and fast, Darth Maul gets A massive physical edge, for being practically unkillable.

WEAPONS & EQUIPMENT
Over the course of his life, Kyle Katarn wielded three separate Lightsabers, although only one of them was actually built by the Battle-master himself. It produced A blue blade and had A hilt of standard make, with no inherit pros or cons.

Since I am using Darth Maul from the Son of Dathomir comic, the Zabrak Nightbrother is not afforded either A saberstaff or dual wielding. Instead, he is left with only his stolen Darksaber, which has no advantages over A standard Lightsaber.

I chose not to give Kyle Katarn his blasters and light armor because firstly, they would have zero to no impact on this fights outcome beyond being brief distractions and secondly, because Katarn largely stopped using them by the point of the Fate of the Jedi series. On the flip side, Maul was not given his more iconic weaponry for the simple reason he was no longer in possession of them by the last time we saw. Thus, both warriors are left with completely standard weaponry. As such, no edge will be given for weapons and equipment.

THE VERDICT
Now, thanks to posting A picture for this match up very early on, I happen to know that no matter what I say here this is going to be an extremely controversial verdict. I only hope that I have done A proper job of describing why I believe what I believe about this battle. That being said, lets get on to the meat of this verdict. Kyle Katarn, despite once being THE video game Jedi, sadly suffers the same problem among the fan base as the other warriors of his age: What I call Clone Wars syndrome. Although members of both the new and old Jedi Order are easily comparable to Clone Wars era top tiers, they are almost always overlooked, thanks to the simply overwhelming amount of stories published for the era (Not to mention the films with the highest concentration of Lightsaber duelists). Thus, the rare times characters such as Saba Sebatyne are mentioned, it is as little more than cannon fodder, even though she should be mentioned as being on the same level as characters such as Plo Koon. Kyle Katarn, in just about every way, is roughly on par with the greatest Clone Wars era Council members: He is an extremely skilled battle-master, the duality of his Force powers giving him twice as many powers as most, and his long lived and varied life experience making him an extremely skilled warrior in almost every way. And yet, Darth Maul still wins. Kyle Katarn is, in my opinion of course, certainly more skilled than Qui-gon Jinn but Maul more than tripled his power and skill level by the time of Son of Dathimor. He is the better duelist, if not by much, can take much more damage before going down and, if he does get the chance to use his Force powers (However unlikely that is) it will even out any of Katarns edges. Make no mistake, this will be one of Maul's hardest fights of his life and don't be surprised if he needs new legs after this, but in the end, he is the more powerful warrior, if not by much. I declare the rouge Sith lord Darth Maul the winner.