Kenshin VS. Darth Vader

[CimminyCricket]

The Force involves powerful telekinetic attacks. Kenshin is powerful and strong-willed, but he can't fight the supernatural. Vader can disable him at a distance, while Kenshin NEEDS to be able to get close to use any of his attacks.

As Kenshin is a speed-focused fighter and due to his natural physiology, his body is generally pretty light. Vader wouldn't have any problem force-grabbing him and flinging him around like a ragdoll.

Also, I'm assuming we're speaking of Himura Kenshin as opposed to the Hitokiri Battousai. As the Hitokiri Battousai, he's able to kill, which is essentially what it would take to defeat Vader. As Himura Kenshin, he has two extra attacks that make him quite formidable, but he loses the killing instinct. You can argue back and forth as to whether or not this is a weakness, but remember that Vader is almost completely a cyborg. Incapacitation isn't going to do it.

Returning to the force powers for a bit, Vader is also able to predict the moves before Kenshin makes them. While Kenshin can do much the same with his Hiten Mitsurugi's ability to read an enemy's movements, Vader's techniques are foreign to him and his cyborg body would likely make it more difficult to read, as Hiten Mitsurugi relies on reading body language, of which Vader's would be quite diminished.

Finally, we have weaponry. One block is all it will take for Vader to completely disable Kenshin, as a lightsaber can sheer through a steel katana (or sakabatou in this case) as if it were nothing. Craftsmanship aside, Vader still has the advantage in weaponry.

Really, this is just a mismatch. Generally, pitting supernatural characters against non-supernatural characters (even someone who gets as close to the supernatural as Kenshin does) doesn't go so well for the non-supernatural character. Unless the supernatural character's abilities are completely noncombative, the ability to bend and break the laws of physics generally wins.

Recently (2-4 years ago) there was an "alien" race that invaded the New Republic's galaxy. This "alien" race brought with them a strange type of metal that was able to withstand not only the force, but also the energy put out by the lightsaber. In other words, they couldn't be thrown and their weapons couldn't be cut. Now, they had the same physical features of a human, only they were much more grotesque in that they mutilated their own bodies. So we can assume that maybe the metal used in making swords could have been similar to the type of metal that made Kenshin's sword. The race was unaffected by the force because they came from a galaxy where they didn't believe in the force. And because Kenshin isn't from the New Republic's galaxy, where we can assume the force is most predominant, that he has no idea what the force is and can therefore not believe in it. Either way, the force has been removed.

The only thing that was cyborg about Vader were his limbs. His brain was still his, besides his insanity, which means that he would still move like a human. He could still move them as though he had never lost them. Which means that even though Vader is a "cyborg", Kenshin will still have no problem reading his movements. I'm pretty sure that Vader uses that thing on his chest to breathe anyway, so a few quick shots would most like cause the death of Vader, or even loss of concentration.

As for the force grip, even if Vader somehow managed to get Kenshin to acknowledge the force, allowing for Vader's force grip to take hold, Kenshin once fought a swordsmmen who was able to create gusts of wind with his slash that worked as a ranged attack. This attack could travel through the ground as well as the air. If I remember correct, Kenshin was able to learn, if not master, this technique. If Kenshin were to use this attack on Vader, most likely to knock out the little gizmo on Vader's chest, or perhaps to split Vader's arm down the middle (an easy feat as the attack was able to pierce the ground as well as trees), buying him enough time to regain his footing, breath and coordinate a somewhat more effective counter attack.

But wait, Cim, wouldn't Vader be able to read his mind with the force and thus defend against the impending attack?! No, in Episode One, that alien merchant was able to easily defend against the force intrusion Obi-Wan's master attempted, even though he acknowledged it. Regardless of how arrogant he was, he was more than able to train his mind against such intrusions. Kenshin was even more disciplined than that alien thing. Shouldn't Kenshin be able to defend against mental intrusions such as that? It takes severe mental and physical discipline to be able to master the sword style that Kenshin used.