Few Star Wars villains strike fear into the heart of a Jedi like Darth Vader. He is an indomitable adversary with an impressive winning record of duels. However, there are a select handful of opponents who went toe-to-toe with the Dark Lord of the Sith and lived to tell the tale.

It's no easy feat to clash lightsabers with the most famous Sith Lord and be able to walk away. Counting Anakin as Vader from his fall to the Dark Side in Revenge of the Sith, there's no way of knowing how many Jedi and Padawans he slayed during the execution of Order 66 at the Jedi temple. But Star Wars canon can at least reveal how many faced him and survived.

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Obi-Wan Kenobi

Obi-Wan Kenobi fights Anakin Skywalker in a lightsaber duel on Mustafar in Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith

Obi-Wan survived his first fight against Anakin Skywalker, newly rechristened Darth Vader, on Mustafar in Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. In one of the franchise's most impressive lightsaber duels, Obi-Wan famously bested Vader by getting the high ground. The steadfast Jedi Master reluctantly battled his former apprentice in hopes of preventing Anakin from fully embracing Dark Side.

Not only did Obi-Wan fight Vader and live, he won decisively by severing three of Vader's limbs and nearly killing him. The second time, however, Obi-Wan was not so lucky. In A New Hope, when the two met again for a much more subdued rematch, Obi-Wan allowed himself to be struck down by Vader to ensure Luke and Leia's escape from the Death Star. Still, it was Obi-Wan's choice to be killed by Vader, which leads us to wonder whether the Jedi  Master really lost.

Kanan Jarrus & Ezra Bridger

Kanan Jarrus was a Padawan who survived the Great Jedi Purge and joined a Rebel cell, where he met young Ezra Bridger. A Force-sensitive freedom fighter in the early days of the Rebellion, Ezra became an apprentice under Kanan. The two fought Vader during their escape on Lothal, when Vader stops them from leaving on an Imperial shuttle with stolen shield generators. Vader nearly kills Ezra by using the Force to navigate Ezra's lightsaber to the his own neck, but Kanan intervenes to save his Padawan's life. The Sith was easily able to overpower them, until Rebel allies used thermal detonators to cause an AT-DP to fall on Vader, allowing the Jedi to escape.

Although Kanan and Ezra did fight Vader and live, it seems likely that if the Rebels didn't intervene, they would have fallen victim to his blade like so many before them. Ezra faced the Sith Lord again on Malachor in a fight that cost the young Jedi his lightsaber and, very nearly, his life.

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Ahsoka Tano

Although, Ahsoka never graduated from Padawan and was excommunicated from the Jedi Order, those are technicalities easily overlooked by her skill and heart. Ahsoka was Anakin's Padawan during the Clone Wars, making her encounter years later with Vader an emotional duel of the fates. She met her old Master on Malachor and saved Ezra Bridger from being killed by Vader.

Following an intense battle and an emotional revelation, Vader was about to strike down Ahsoka when a future Ezra pulled her through an inter-dimensional portal and saved her. Ahsoka entered the World Between Worlds — a realm of the Force independent of space and time — and technically died a spiritual death, but survived in the end.

Cal Kestis

Cal Kestis is the Jedi Padawan protagonist of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. He faces Vader at the finale of the game and, surprisingly, gets a few good licks in before escaping. Cal had just defeated the Second Sister on Nur when Vader emerged from the shadows and killed her himself for failing. During the duel, Cal received a little help from his droid BD-1, who messed with the circuitry of Vader's suit. That Cal a chance to impale Vader, but Vader quickly regained his control of the fight. After Vader stabbed Cal in the abdomen, the Jedi used the Force to break glass holding back water. The area flooded, making Vader use the Force to hold back the deluge, which then gave Cal an opportunity to escape with his life.

Cere Junda

Also from Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Cere is the mentor of Cal Ketsis and a former Jedi Knight herself. She quit the Force cold turkey after admitting she had some dangerous proclivities to turn to the Dark Side. She attempted to fight Vader on Nur before he reached Cal, but was quickly flung aside by a flick of Vader's hand. She returned during Cal's fight, and almost overpowered Vader by tapping into the Dark Side. Sensing her anger, Vader tried to convince Cere to give into the Dark Side, but Cal talked her down. As Vader closed in on the two Jedi, Cere escaped with Cal after he broke the glass that unleashed a torrent of water. If she had given in to the Dark Side, this fight might have gone a different way.

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Kirak Infil'a

Kirak Infil'a was a Jedi Master who took a Barash vow that forbade him from interacting with the Jedi Order. That solitude allowed him to escape Odder 66. Kirak encountered Vader when the Sith Lord traveled to the river moon Al'Doleem looking for kyber crystals. Kirak smartly ascended a mountain, which Vader had great difficultly climbing in his robotic suit. During the battle, Kirak threw Vader off the summit and won the fight. Vader recovered from the fall and sought to fight Kirak a second time at Am'balaar City, where the two dueled on top of a dam. Vader took advantage of Kirak's care for the citizens by breaking the dam. Distracted, Kirak pleaded with Vader, who snapped his neck in a Force choke. Kirak was lucky enough to beat Vader once, but not twice.

Luke Skywalker

luke confronts vader in Bespin in Empire Strikes Back

The golden boy Jedi faced his father three times in modern canon: briefly during the Attack on Cymoon 1, as depicted in Marvel's Star Wars comics, and then, far more famously, in The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi. During the Empire duel, Luke lost a hand, but gained an absent father, as the two battled in the underbelly of Cloud City. Luke escaped Vader by allowing himself to fall down a chute to the base antenna of the city, where he used the Force to call for Leia. In the second battle, Luke faced off against Vader, coached by Emperor Palpatine on the Death Star. Vader could have won if he chose to kill Luke, but while watching the Emperor use Force lighting against his son, the Sith Lord had a change of heart. Vader killed the Emperor instead, allowing Luke to walk away from this fight, but Vader, for the last time, does not.

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Honorable Mention: Leia Organa

Leia and Vader interact in A New Hope

While not a Jedi, Leia was still a Force-user who stood face to face with Vader and got away with talking some serious trash. While being held prisoner in A New Hope, Leia had some verbal spars with Vader about his Death Star plans. Considering Vader's temper and poor reaction to criticism, Leia deserves an honorable mention for surviving the wrath of Vader without even needing a lightsaber. With the help of Luke and Han, Leia escaped the Death Star and lived a long life after unknowingly back-talking her dad.

That most entries on this list require a "technically" proves just how formidable an adversary Darth Vader was. Most Jedi required help to escape the clutches of Vader before he struck them down.

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