What is your favourite lightsaber form and why?

Out of the following 7 forms, which is your favourite lightsaber form and why?

Ataru

Practitioners include: Yoda, Qui Gon Jinn, etc

Makashi

Practitioners include: Count Dooku, Darth Vader, etc

Djem So

Practitioners include: Anakin Skywalker, Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, etc

Soresu

Practitioners include: Obi Wan Kenobi, Depa, etc

Shii Cho

Practitioners include: Kit Fisto, etc

Niman

Practitioners include: Darth Maul, etc

Vapaad/Juyo

Practitioners include: Mace Windu, Darth Maul, Darth Sidious etc

Anakin's style

Sokan

Makashi - So elegant and precise. No wasted motion, and can hold against anyone except The Chosen One with massive plot armor.

For me, it has to be:

1. Djem So
2. Ataru
3. Soresu
4. Makashi
5. Juyo/Samuel L. Jackson-Pad
6. Niman
7. Shii Cho

Of course, the list is based on which ones I liked the most after seeing them for the first time, and learning more about them as I got more into Star Wars lore. And also because some of my favorite characters use them.

Makashi, suspecting that it has more to do with defense and protection. Additionally, my favorite Lightsaber blade color is white and blue respectively.

It's not plot armour, nor was it a knock on Dooku's style. Anakin was just too fast and strong for Dooku. That's what GL and Gillard had in mind with Anakin eclipsing Dooku.

@frozen: I said it tongue in cheek. Four people were in the room on the IH. Everyone knew which three were walking out.

Fair enough.

I'm not sure which my favourite style is, either Ataru or Djem So. The Ataru stance looks fierce and heroic. But it's quite an impractical style, and isn't well suited for ageing fighters. Yoda pulls it off because he's Yoda, but Qui Gon gassed should not have been using that style at his age of near 50. Its pretty much the primary reason he lost to Maul. His stamina couldn't justify the style. Had he used another form, he could have won (especially Makashi, given he was directly trained by Dooku and few practitioners use Makashi. Maul wouldn't have known what to do against it).

That said, it looks cool and is aesthetic to watch. TPM duel is a lot better than AOTC duels imo.

From worst to best:

7. Shii Cho: barebones, simplistic and easy to learn but pretty inferior to the other styles overall

6. Vaapad/Juyo: probably hard AF to master unless I’m a sort of force prodigy, also very likely to turn me to the dark side

5. Soresu: my enemy can’t hurt me, great, but I can’t really hurt them either.

4. Niman: decent, covers everything but doesn’t make you excel at anything particular.

3. Ataru: relies heavily on agility (leaving a lot of openings) and physically exhausting.

2. Makashi: the best form for dueling, but inefficient against multiple opponents.

1. Shien/Djem So: best all-around IMO, teaches both defense against blasters and offense for dueling. Physically demanding but superior to Ataru IMO, relies less on agility and focuses on applying constant pressure on your opponent.

I like Djem So and Makashi, but I think Niman is a highly underrated style and one that should really be showcased more often. Shii-Cho is also pretty cool. Love Kit Fisto so that helps a bit.

In general I like when characters mix and match forms to create their own unique styles. Dooku works fine as the ultimate Makashi master, but then everyone else almost seems like an imitator if they specialize in it. I love Vader’s hybrid form. It covers all the bases pretty damn well.

Makashi by far.

I love makashi. I wish more FUs used it.

@frozen: Very surprised there aren’t more people saying Vaapad or Juyo. I would have figured people would have been intrigued on where the line would be for this style.

As a very emotional person myself, I can imagine very much toe’ing the line of these forms out of necessity and strategy. A lot of good character potential for stories based around these.

Probably between Djem So and Shii-Cho.

I like both Obi Wan and Anakin's style. It's fun seeing how different their styles are from each other; Kenobi prioritizes more defense while Anakin is more offensive.

Both amazing styles.

Between Makachi and Djem So.

Makashi, Soresu and Niman

Makashi and Yoda's Ataru are the only ones that are visually distinct in the movies/shows. All the others kind of blend together. Like, the only reason we know Jinn uses Ataru is becase it's stated in guidebooks.

Jinn and Yoda both have the same stance. See the GIFs in OP.

@frozen: I'm talking about the fighting itself, not the initial stances.

Jinn's Ataru doesn't look similar at all to Yoda's.

We also have some quote about Ahsoka using Djem So iirc, even tho her fighting style is not looking like Anakin's at all. Or Kanan using Soresu.

Yoda is 3ft tall so it would be hard pressed to have him visually fight like Jinn.

@frozen: Ataru is about acrobatics, which Jinn doesn't do.

@darthadi:

Because he is ageing, so he is hindering himself by using an agility based form:

"the most acrobatic Form, filled with numerous elaborate moves, and relies heavily upon a Jedi's ability to run, jump, and spin using the Force"

Also emphasis on spin. We see Jinn spin a lot in TPM.

Soresu

Soresu + Makashi combo would be lethal.

I think the one from Dooku, i kind of feel that it must have a really good grip to hold and rotate.

With that said, Makashi.

@frozen: If it wasn't stated that Jinn used Ataru you would have never guessed based on choregraphy.

Anakin and Obi both spin more than him in their ROTS fight.

I would make the assumption based on the stance.

Soresu, since that’s what I used in the KOTOR games and never turned it off

Idk star wars that much but I pick the blue one

For me it's the elevated form of Shii-Cho from Fisto and Vader/Luke's versions of Djem So.

I really like Qui-Gon's unique Ataru style, however, having a fighting style based on the momentum of the user's movements while being strenght-oriented is quite unique.

Those would be my favorites.

Djem So

I've always had a soft spot for Soresu, particularly given the narrative bent around Jedi as it often is, as it really feels like the ideal form for them: defensive, non-aggressive, and patiently waiting for the enemy to choose how the fight ends: with them walking away (perhaps sans a limb), or not walking away at all (...perhaps sans a few limbs).

Vaapad feels like a more active and aggressive form for that, which is why its a second favorite (and unarguably a more effective combatant form for almost all purposes), but dancing the edge of the knife of force balance like that means when you're forced to push yourself to your limits (times when the stress is the greatest), you're also risking tremendously more than most.

For Sith lightsaber users, I like the aesthetic of Djem So: powerful, brutal, efficient, overwhelming - the form of a Dragon, narratively, that needs the right tool (or the same tool, but Bigger) to beat, like Darth Vader and Darth Malgus.

Makashi isn't too far behind for Sith, because focusing on being better at the Jedi at what the Jedi pride themselves on, and repeatedly demonstrating it with grace even with advanced years, is a great way to ego trip. Same inspiring qualities, without the gaudy showmanship of Ataru.

Most of the jedi who died in the Geonosian arena in EpII were Niman practitioners lol

@cosdaschitt: Just means we need a character who can fully show off the form then! I don't think there's a single mainline character that specializes in it. A bunch of random background Jedi that died off in a couple minutes is not a great showcase. Besides, from a simple coolness factor perspective, utilizing Force pushes and pulls and stuff mid-fight is awesome but barely ever done in Star Wars, despite it being a pretty useful tactic.

@a_fine_edition: Those background jedi died precisely because they were Niman users. Niman seems to be pretty trash

@cosdaschitt: those background Jedi died because they were background Jedi. Half of them could’ve been Ataru users or Makashi specialists and the story beat could still be the same. The writers can still portray a Niman user as highly competent if they want to. We haven’t had a single prominent or powerful character specialize in the form before, even though you can definitely do that and make it plausible.

This is _the_ answer!