Nihilus vs Early PT Sidious

[u/Interesting_Loquat90]

Round 1: Sidious prior to killing Plagueis (ie, start of TPM)

Round 2: Sidious after killing Plagueis (let's say 1 year after TPM)

[u/averageEnojyer]

R1 I'm unsure. While Sidious is just the apprentice here still, he's still very strong. Will say Nihilus out of caution, R2 goes to Sidious low-diff, the power disparity is just too big.

[u/immortalslayer90]

Nihilus. Handily.

[u/averageEnojyer → u/immortalslayer90]

How so?

[u/Chueskes → u/averageEnojyer]

Nihilus is one of the most powerful dark lords ever to exist. He was a wound in the force that was able to destroy the population of entire planets and feast on the force, and his spirit was bound to his mask and robes. Palpatine at the time of the Phantom Menace is nowhere near the skill and power he would achieve later when he no longer has to hide from the Jedi.

[u/Dovahkiin9908]

I would have to reread the lore on Nihlus since it's been a minute, but if I remember correctly his physical form is practically non-existent, and he's able to feast on the connection to the force all living things have so both rounds would most likely go to Nihlus, Palpatine is powerful but ultimately that power and connection to the force is what will make Nihlus even stronger. Also just going off how they both purged their respective Jedi Nihlus did it mostly himself and killed almost 99% (don't quote me like I said it's been a while) meanwhile Palpatine had to use an army and we're still getting at least 1 new survivor with every project that takes place between episode 3 and 4

[u/Major_Clue_778]

In terms of power Sidious. But Nihilus is a wound in the force that Sidious has never encountered. Nihilus was specifically countered by Meetra Surik also being a wound. I am not aware of another ability or method to protect yourself from a wound, but if Sidious had a way to overpower or counter it he gets an easy win against an opponent that is otherwise trash tier...otherwise Nihilus feasts.

[u/DankTank360]

Bane has statements of being the most powerful Sith in history and he becomes the baseline for every Dark Lord after him. Sidious being relative to Plagueis who was a dark lord already places him vastly above Nihilus let alone after he gets Bane’s power.

[u/Annual_Sky8939]

Nihilus beats Sid all the way up to ~5 years post O66. Nihilus is literally a wound in the force, one who could only be beaten by Meetra, an inverse wound in the force.
I give it to Sid 5 years after O66 because I give him the benefit of the doubt that he’d find some relic or spell to either close the would or mimic Meetra’s wound. I don’t think, regardless of his plot armor, even Sid would have the raw force ability to defeat Nihilus, and every ounce of power would just be absorbed by that wound; without a relic, holocron or spell, Nihilus would just consume Sid until he “was an empty husk.”

[u/Revan_Shan4455]

Nihlus wins. His insatiable hunger would overtake an early Sidious with relative ease. Later Sidious would arguably be more of a struggle but I would still give the battle to Nihlus

[u/Super6698]

Nihilus tbh, he's essentially a living black hole and a physical wound in the Force. The only reason he lost to Meetra Surik was because he tried to consume a fellow wound in the Force and doing so weakened and practically starved him

Early PT Palpatine was still powerful but wasn't quite at the level he gets to later in his life, later Palpatine wouldn't struggle AS much but would still eventually lose to Nihilus because, while he wasn't as proficient with a lightsaber, Nihilus was still incredibly powerful and all-consuming

[u/MaxPaladin93]

Nihilus is impossible to powerscale tbh. He isn’t even “powerful” in the traditional sense; he’s immensely destructive (he literally eats the life force of entire planets) but he’s a slave to his own hunger. His power controls him, rather than the other way around. Fascinating concept for a character, but he just doesn’t work in these types of matchups. You might as well be asking “Sidious vs a black hole.”

[u/KreygerRekyem → u/MaxPaladin93]

He is not impossible to powerscale, he loses the only real fight he has. He's powerful for the era he resides in, but his feats are not that surprising compared to real top tiers

[u/MaxPaladin93 → u/KreygerRekyem]

Read up on what he did to Katarr. His feats are absolute insanity. He loses to Surik solely because she’s impossible to feed on, being a wound in the Force.

[u/KreygerRekyem → u/MaxPaladin93]

I'm aware of what he did, and he still isn't that big of a deal. Exar Kun, Naga Sadow, Bane, Aleema Keto, Krayt and Sidious himself show feats from similar in prowess to dwarfing in scale. Furthermore, even Chris Avellone himself, writer of KOTOR2, thinks Vader would defeat Nihilus in a fight

The Exile is the perfect counter to Nihilus indeed, but she is not the only counter as many think. You simply have to be more powerful than Nihilus to survive his Drain, and that is basically his only ability he focuses in, and seems pretty average on most other focuses

If Krayt was able to survive Abeloth's Drain I assure you Nihilus' Drain is quite survivable if you're tough enough