Star Wars: 10 best Empire ships ranked from worst to best

The Empire is known for its flashy, self-announcing, and beautifully menacing ships. Let's see how they rank among each other.

By Camila Domingues | Jan 26, 2024, 1:15 PM EST

A First Order Stormtrooper stands guard in a Star Destroyer hangar bay beneath a docked TIE fighter in Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, the groundbreaking new attraction opening Dec. 5, 2019, inside Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Florida and Jan. 17, 2020, at Disneyland Park in California. Guests enter the hangar bay after their ship is caught in the Star Destroyer’s tractor beam. (Matt Stroshane, photographer) /

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3. Executor-class Star Dreadnought

Alright, Star Destroyer fans, gather 'round. Let's talk about the big, bad, and absolutely massive Executor-class Star Dreadnought, or as the cool kids call it, the Super Star Destroyer. This ship is like the Empire's prize-winning show horse, except it's the size of a small moon and could obliterate the stable. It's a ship so gigantic, it's as if a skyscraper had a baby with a space station. It's the kind of ship that, when it cruises into a star system, you just know nothing good will come out of this. This mammoth of metal boasts enough firepower to throw a party no one wants an invite to. It's decked out with enough lasers and turbo cannons to make any Rebel's hair stand on end. And the best part? It can carry whole fleets of other ships inside it.

It's not just a ship: it's a floating, menacing, space-faring fortress. It's freaking gorgeous.

But it ain't perfect. It's so unbelievably massive that it's like trying to ballet dance with an elephant. Sure, it's awe-inspiring and can stomp on anything in its path, but when it comes to sharp turns and nifty dodging? Not so much. It's the ultimate embodiment of "slow and steady wins the race," except this slowpoke is armed to the teeth. Imagine trying to parallel park this behemoth at the local space mall – it'd be a nightmare.

This size does make it a rather juicy target in space battles, kind of like a colossal bullseye that screams, "Shoot here!" But make no mistake, the Executor-class Star Dreadnought is a symbol of the Empire's power and grandeur, the kind of ship that makes you look up at in and marvel at its beauty and the utter amount of terror it could unleash.

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