LOTR: Sauron Is A Maiar Just Like The 5 Wizards, So Why Is He So Much More Powerful?

gamerant.com:

For those who haven’t heard of the term before, a ‘maiar’ is basically a powerful being or spirit with Tolkien’s legendarium. The maiar have been around for thousands of years, and some of them even chose to take physical form and come across to Middle Earth. There are many characters in the Lord of the Rings trilogy who are actually mair, including the 5 wizards, of whom the audience can see Saruman the White, Gandalf the Grey and Radagast the Brown in Peter Jackson’s film adaptations, and Shadowfax the white steed, lord of all horses.

Interestingly though, Sauron, the supreme dark lord that is trying to overtake the world and fill it with his malice and scorn, is also a maiar. In contrast to each of the aforementioned characters, who are all pure maiar that use their power for good (except Saruman in later years, because he is twisted and corrupted by the promise of power) Sauron is an evil character, and used his substantial powers to dupe and deceive those around him. But many fans have begun to question, if all of these characters are maiar, and started with similar origins before Middle Earth, why does Sauron seem so much stronger than the others? Why do they all greatly fear and revere him?

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First of all, it is important to note that even though they are all maiar, this has never meant that they are all equal. Tolkien explains clearly within his texts that there is an order of the maiar, and that they each have special abilities and uniqueness that the others do not possess. This can be seen in the fact that Saruman is of a higher power and greater skill than Gandalf and Radagast, which is why he is the head of the white council.

However, this