A Dynasty of Evil: A Sith Lord Timeline
Calling Star Wars popular is an understatement. It’s one of the biggest films of all-time, while also becoming the rare franchise to build a very large and devout following. It’s spawned six films, countless books, a few tv spin-offs, video games, cartoons, action figures, and countless other media and collectibles. And despite George Lucas’ best efforts, it remains popular all these years later.
Darth Nihilus
If you were to ask fans who their favorite character is, the most common choices would be Darth Vader or the “I shot Greedo first” Han Solo. If you limit the selection to characters new to the prequel trilogy, Darth Maul’s name comes up often. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that the Sith Lords in general are considered the ultimate of cool among Star Wars characters.
Vader was a bad ass in the original trilogy, choking the life out of anyone who displeased him complete with James Earl Jones’ imposing voice. And he had great theme music, the Imperial March. Then Episode 1 rolls around with Darth Maul and his double bladed lightsaber. He stole the show in that movie (not hard when your competition is a mini-Anakin and Jar Jar Binks) even though he’s barely on screen. But how much do you really know about these dark lords? Unless you dress up like a Stormtrooper every Halloween or worship the ground that Mark Hamill walks on, your knowledge of anything Star Wars probably derives solely from the motion pictures. But beyond the films is a whole Universe of information, ranging from books to cartoons. These other sources help supplement the original material and form and even more in-depth look at a galaxy long ago and far, far away.
Examining the Sith is no easy task. Their history is long and complex, spanning tens of thousands of years. And really, we don’t want to go into that kind of detail. However, you might remember this exchange concerning the Sith from Episode 1:
Yoda: Always two there are, no more, no less. A master and an apprentice.
Mace Windu: But which was destroyed, the master or the apprentice?
This brings up the Rule of Two in the Sith Order. The idea that at any time, there are only two Sith Lords in existence. That should make tracing their lineage somewhat easier, much like the chronology of kings and queens of Russia or France. It’s this segment of Sith Lord history that I wish to examine. Who were the Sith Lords before Darth Vader? How far back can we trace the line? One problem with that logic is that the Sith didn’t always operate under the Rule of Two. A little history is needed before the doctrine comes into play.
Darth Revan
The Sith initially started as a humanoid species that was Force-sensitive, with their home on the planet Korriban. A warlord named Adas managed to briefly unite the inhabitants and a culture formed. Think of him as an ancient Genghis Khan. This cohesion would not last, however, foreshadowing the tension that would always exist between followers of the Sith philosophy. Sith itself became more of a religion, and the term evolved to describe those dedicated to the ancient Sith philosophy, not the people of Korriban. Many schisms would occur among its followers, leading some to follow the Dark Side and others the Light Side of the Force. Those on the dark side would become known as Dark Jedis, a term that soon became synonymous with Sith. It also led to the first use of the title Dark Lord of the Sith, a title bestowed upon the Sith leader. As the terms Dark Jedi and Sith merged into one, a Sith Order was formed representing the sect of the dark side of the Force. In a classic tale of good an evil, the Sith became known for being bent on destroying the Jedi.
Over the years, the Sith spent much of their time battling with the Republic or biding their time in anticipation of their next strike. One of the more famous names in Sith lore is Darth Revan. Here’s an amazingly in-depth article on him and his history. The Sith were constantly fighting the Jedis of the Republic, but often found themselves on the losing end of the skirmishes. But while the Sith often were defeated, their battles often hurt the strength of the Jedi Order as well. This would led to certain Jedis falling to the dark side and renewed conflicts. It wasn’t all defeat, however, as at one point the Siths conquered most of known space. But the Sith nearly proved to be their own undoing as they turned on each other, all but destroying their order. After the Great Sith War, only one Sith Lord survived: Darth Bane. To guard against the Sith destroying themselves or losing sight of their “ideals” once again, Bane took only one apprentice, restarting the tradition of the one master, one apprentice and that of passing the name Darth to each of his successors.
Thus starts the Rule of Two in the Order of the Sith, a doctrine which ushered in a new age of secrecy. Here is the known history of the Sith Lords under the Rule of Two from Darth Bane to Darth Vader in chronological order:
Darth Bane
Born Dessel, he was raised as a poor miner on the Outer Rim planet Apatros. After killing a Galactic Republic ensign, he was sought by the authorities. On the run from the Republic, he was recognized as a Force-sensitive, and taken to the Sith Academy on Korriban.
He studied there for a time, quickly becoming one of the best students. He was taught the ways of the Sith under the existing masters, and on his own initiative frequented the archives in the academy to learn more about the Dark Side and the history of the Sith. He quickly realized true power came from knowledge, and to that end he devoted much of his life locating and studying the ancient teachings of the Sith. These actions were something that was discouraged by the current Sith Masters who emphasized their teachings, rather than continuity to the ancient Sith. Bane, as he was now known, would lose confidence in the Siths and its leader, Kaan. He deserted the order for a time, studied the holocron of Darth Revan, and, armed with new knowledge, helped destroy the existing Siths at the sixth battle of Ruusan.
This allowed him to create his own Sith Order where he promulgated a harsh new directive, the Rule of Two to avoid the infighting that had plagued the Sith for millennia. As he later stated to his apprentice Zannah, “There are no other Sith. There never will be, except for us. One Master and one apprentice; one to embody the power, the other to crave it.” Bane also began the teachings of patience, planning, and secrecy, and each Sith was to take on the title of Darth, a tradition that had dated back to the time before the Jedi Civil War.
Master: Various, before the Rule of Two
Apprentice: Darth Zannah
Fate: Unknown, probably killed by Darth Zannah or possibly the Jedi.
Darth Zannah
Known in her youth as Rain, Darth Zannah was born on the planet Somov Rit. She was one of many children recruited by the Jedi to the Army of Light in order to fight the Sith. However, she was presumed dead when she fell out of the starship that was carrying her. She survived the fall and was rescued by the Bouncer Laa, whom she befriended. Rain was one of the few survivors of the sixth battle of Ruusan, but soon turned to the dark side when Laa was haplessly killed by two Jedi. Overcome with with grief, Rain lashed out and killed the Jedi. Shortly after, she was found by Darth Bane who decided to make the young girl his apprentice in his his fledgling Order of the Sith Lords. She once stated of her master, “I am Darth Zannah, apprentice of Darth Bane, Dark Lord of the Sith. And one day I will destroy my Master and choose an apprentice of my own, continuing the legacy of the dark side.”
Master: Darth Bane
Apprentice: Unknown
Fate: Unknown
Darth Cognus
The timeline is murky between Darths Zannah and Cognus, but we know Cognus was a female Sith Master, or Dark Lady of the Sith, of the Iktotchi species that descended in the Sith lineage from Darth Zannah. Precognition is a natural ability of her species, and her name is probably an allusion to that. She took on an apprentice by the name of Darth Millennial, but he abandoned her teachings and she eventually took another apprentice as a replacement. Or you could say that Cognus. angered by the beliefs of her apprentice, drove him away. Either way, in her mercy, she allowed Millennial to live.
Master: Unknown, somewhere down the line from Darth Zannah
Apprentice: Darth Millennial, another
Fate: Unknown
Darth Millennial
Millennial was a three-eyed mutant trained as an apprentice under Darth Cognus. He proved to be a talented user of the Force, but often disagreed on many aspects of the Sith with his master, Darth Cognus. She was firmly entrenched in Bane’s philosophies, including the rule that only two Sith Lords would exist at any one time. He was in disagreement with that principle, instead believing that there should be many Sith, with the leader being whomever was the strongest at any one time. A true Darwinist, he insisted it was natural for the strong to rule over the weak.
Millennial eventually split from his Cognus and fled to the remote planet of Dromund Kaas, where he sought refuge from his Master’s wrath. He started his own Sith tradition, the Prophets of the Dark Side, while his ideas were codified into the Dark Force religion. You might remember a line from The Phantom Menace, wherein a shocked Jedi Council member asserts that, “The Sith have been extinct for over a millennium!” Darth Millennial is believed to have become a Sith close to the time the Sith were believed to have become extinct, making his name literally prophetic.
Master: Darth Cognus
Apprentice: None
Fate: Millennial became the Supreme Prophet of the Dark Side as founder of a religion outside the Order of the Sith.
Darth Vectivus
There again is a gap between Darth Cognus and where Darth Vectivus fits he. Known as a shrewd but fair business man, he got his start as the administrator of a mine on an asteroid near Bimmiel. I guess not every Sith can be as evil as Sidious, Vader, or Bane, although these days corporate businessmen seem pretty evil themselves.
The inherent dark side energies of the asteroid had been enhanced and as someone Force-sensitive, Vectivus could feel the energy held in the asteroid. He began to study it, performed experiments, and started to acquire new powers. After the dark side energies slowly began to drive his mining crews insane and the grade of the ore began to decline, Vectivus shut down the mine. He departed to seek out the Sith and years later returned as a a full-fledged Sith Lord. As a Sith, he was known as a master of long-distance manipulation.
Master: Unknown
Apprentice: Unknown
Fate: He lived out the rest of his days surrounded by friends and family on the asteroid.
Darth Plagueis
Also known as Darth Plagueis the Wise, he was a Muun and a very powerful Sith Master, although little was known of his origins. He was obsessed and spent an enormous amount of time trying to cheat death and create new life from the midi-chlorians that influence the Force. He did manage to learn how to use the Dark Side to control the midi-chlorians, even how to manipulate the Force to extend his own life. It is unknown how long Darth Plagueis lived, but he did not cheat death forever. Despite his great power and discoveries with the Force, his most infamous action came when he took Palpatine as his apprentice and named him Darth Sidious, although no one is sure how he came to train Palpatine.
Master: Unknown
Apprentice: Darth Sidious
Fate: Sidious, concerned with being replaced as Plagueis’ apprentice, eventually killed him in his sleep. As Palpatine said to Anakin Skywalker, “He became so powerful, the only thing he was afraid of was losing his power, which eventually, of course, he did. Unfortunately, he taught his apprentice everything he knew. Then, his apprentice killed him in his sleep.”
Darth Sidious
We have now reached the part of the timeline which the movies cover. Palpatine, aka Darth Sidious, was the last Chancellor of the Galactic Republic and after he engineered its collapse, the first Emperor of the Galactic Empire. He was able to take control of the galaxy and bring about an age of the Sith by finally triumphing over the Jedi. For these feats, many consider him to be the most powerful Sith Lord who ever existed. He was a calculating man with foreknowledge of the future that slowly built his dark empire.
He was able to establish his Empire by concocting a complex master plan, which involved starting the Clone Wars, a galaxy-wide conflict that cost billions of sentient lives. A native of the planet Naboo, Palpatine worked his way up in politics to become that sector’s senator in the Galactic Senate, gaining political support along the way. Unbeknownst to everyone, Palpatine also learned the ways of the Dark Side of the Force and became a Sith Lord. He orchestrated the Invasion of Naboo to win election as Chancellor, replacing then Chancellor Valorum with a no-confidence vote. Now Supreme Chancellor, he utilized Darth Tyranus to start the Clone Wars. Palpatine himself headed both factions of the War, the Galactic Republic as Chancellor and the Confederacy of Independent Systems through Darth Tyranus. This allowed him to prolong the conflict in order to gain more executive powers from the Senate. He played both sides to gain all the power he could, and when his power as Chancellor had reached its dictatorial peak, Palpatine abolished the Republic and replaced it with the first Galactic Empire with himself as leader.
As the Clone Wars ended, Palpatine fabricated a Jedi plot to overthrow the Republic, and instigated the great Jedi Purge that all but wiped out the Jedi order. Taking Darth Vader as his apprentice, he ruled the galaxy through fear, later disbanding the Galactic Senate all together. It would take many years before a rebellion was organized and strong enough to rise against him.
Sidious was always planning ahead and scheming. As an apprentice of Darth Plagueis, he began training his own apprentice, Darth Maul, without Plagueis’ knowledge. He may have trained other apprentices before Maul as well. But Sidious was no fool, he would not kill his master until he understood the lessons of Plagueis and had become powerful enough to defeat him. Although known for his scheming and great foresight, Sidious was a plenty good fighter as well:
and against Yoda…
Master: Darth Plagueis
Apprentice: Darth Maul, Darth Tyranus, Darth Vader
Fate: He was killed by his former Sith apprentice, Darth Vader, who dropped him down a reactor shaft during the Battle of Endor.
Darth Maul
Darth Maul was a Zabrak born on Iridonia, the home planet of his species. Much of his early life is unknown, including his real name, but it is known that his Master, Darth Sidious, took him from his family at a very early age to be trained in the ways of the dark side of the Force. His training was complete when he was willing to kill his own Master in a duel. It has been said that he was forged by the hateful energies of the dark side to ensure the victory of the Sith over the Jedi. Simply put, Maul was a creature of pure evil, having no personality beyond his ultimate devotion to his Master. And his life goal was a simple and singular one, to exact vengeance upon the Jedi.
He is a key character in the Invasion of Naboo that takes place in Episode 1 when the Sith reveal themselves after their disappearance from the galaxy for the last millennium. The goal of the Invasion was to get Sidious, as Senator Palpatine, elected Supreme Chancellor of the Republic. Maul scouted the galaxy for the missing Queen Amidala before returning to Naboo for a battle against Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi. Though he killed the Jedi Master, he underestimated Kenobi’s skill, and was slain by the Padawan. Here’s some video of his undeniable skill:
Maul was a master of Juyo, Jar’Kai, and Teräs Käsi, and chose to use a red double-bladed lightsaber for combat.
Master: Darth Sidious
Apprentice: None
Fate: Cleaved in half by Obi-Wan Kenobi on Naboo.
Darth Tyranus
Following the death of Darth Maul, Lord Sidious sought out another apprentice. With time of the essence, he was unable to train a new apprentice from birth, so he turned to the Jedi ranks. Dooku was a powerful, yet unsatisfied Jedi Master that had grown unsettled with the restrictions the Jedi put on the studies of the Force. Additionally, he was unsastified how the Jedi became entangled with politicians. After nearly seventy years as a Jedi, a disastrous battle on Galidraan shook Dooku’s faith in the Jedi and the Galactic Republic and he fell under the influence of Senator Palpatine, leaving the Jedi Order.
The heir to vast wealth and the noble title of Count on the planet Serenno, Dooku reclaimed his birthright and his vast fortune. After learning that Senator Palpatine was secretly the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, he turned to the dark side and became a Dark Lord of the Sith himself. As Sidious’s new apprentice, he was given the Sith name Darth Tyranus. He conspired with Sidious to force the galaxy into a war that would bring the Sith to power. He forged ties between corporations and planets discontented with the Republic, and became the leader of the Separatist movement that coalesced into the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Thousands of star systems flocked to Dooku’s banner and seceded from the Galactic Republic.
On Geonosis, the first battle of the Clone Wars broke out and Tyranus was confronted by Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker. As a Jedi, Dooku became a respected instructor in the Jedi Temple and more importantly one of the most renowned swordsmen in the galaxy. Dooku had even trained Obi-Wan’s master, Qui-Gon Jinn, as a Padawan. He bettered the duo before Jedi Master Yoda interrupted him. Here’s the Sith Lord in action:
Master: Darth Sidious
Apprentice: None
Fate: Executed by Anakin Skywalker at the instigation of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine. Such is the way of the Sith.
Darth Vader
Believed to have been conceived by midi-chlorians, Anakin Skywalker was born to Shmi Skywalker with no known father. At age three he moved to Tatooine where he and his mother fell under the domain of the Hutts. Anakin would win his freedom by capturing the famed Boonta Eve Pod Race, and quickly showed to be Force-sensitive. In fact, it has been said he had the most potential of any Jedi or Sith. Trained by Obi-Wan Kenobi in the ways of the Light Side of the Force, he soon became good friends with Chancellor Palpatine, who was almost like a second Master for him. His first obvious step towards the Dark Side came when he slaughtered an entire camp of Tusken Raiders over the death of his mother. Anakin also engaged in a forbidden love with the former Queen Amidala, and he and Padme were married soon after the start of the Clone Wars.
Throughout it all, Anakin continued to carry with him a great sense of loss in addition to great anger. He killed Count Dooku in cold blood at Palpatine’s insistence, taking another step towards the Dark Side. He had a vision that foresaw that Padme would die in childbirth, and became preoccupied with trying to save her. His inability to control all these traits led to his downfall when he turned to the Dark Side. Sadly, his fall to the Dark Side ultimately drove off the one thing he most loved in the galaxy, Padme. Apprenticing to Darth Sidious, he became Darth Vader and the Galactic Empire was founded with Palpatine at the helm. Vader was the Emperor’s right hand man, constantly on the move and traveling throughout the galaxy to defeat rebel uprisings or arrest corrupt Imperials. As a master of the Dark Side, Vader became the scourge of the Jedi, as the warriors were exterminated in the Great Jedi Purge, with only a few surviving. In a vicious lightsaber duel on Mustafar between him and his former Master Obi-Wan, Anakin was horribly wounded and burned, which is why he wears the trademark protective black armor and breath mask.
Padme did give birth to twins, Luke and Leia, although Vader remained unaware of their existence. It was only after Luke destroyed the first Death Star that Vader knew he survived. Initially, he fought the Rebel Alliance while concocting a plan to turn his son to the Dark Side. However, in his last confrontation with Luke, Vader finally returned to the Light Side by throwing Palpatine into the reactor core to save his son. Here’s Vader in action:
and in A New Hope…
and in Return of the Jedi…
Master: Darth Sidious
Apprentice: None
Fate: When he tossed Sidious down a reactor shaft, he was badly wounded by the Emperor’s Force lightning and his breathing apparatus short-circuited.
When Sidious is dropped down a reactor shaft, there was a presumed extinction of the Sith Order, thus fulfilling the Ancient Jedi Prophesy of the Chosen One. Of course the Expanded Universe of Star Wars knowledge doesn’t agree with this, as there are many stories that take place after the events of the Return of the Jedi. And logically, anyone can become a Sith Lord with the right Force-sensitive nature and with some of the teachings. But this ends the Rule of Two, so you’ll have to do further research on the other Sith Lords post-Vader.
Correction: Starkiller = Darth Vader’s apprentice.
Source: Force Unleashed
Darth Tyranus had Asajj Ventress as a Sith Apprentice.
Source: The Clone Wars (Cartoons)
Excellent dude, well done!
RT
http://www.anonymity.eu.tc
Very very interesting page. I really like reading up on these histories of famous pop culture lore. I am pretty torn on whether or not I want Lucas to make movies predating Episode 1 now, or maybe just a History of the Sith documentary? That is something I would definitely watch.
What about Darth Cadeus? nd for those intereted the rule of two is sucseeded by Darth Krayt’s Rule of one, being one sith order.
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Galen_Marek
For all the people mentioning all the missing Sith we read about, it should be noted that this timeline is talking specifically about the Sith Lords adhering to the Rule of Two. Any other apprentices taken by the apprentices of the highest Sith Lord aren’t counted, like Starkiller. He may have been Vader’s apprentice but he was not one of the two Sith Lords.
How does General Grievous fit in? I thought he was Dooku’s apprentice.
Grevious was never a Sith, he was a cyborg created with Jedi blood, and trained in the Jedi arts, but never a Force user.
What happened to General Greivous? I was really wondering where he fit in….
The writer of this based so much of it off games, movies, and cartoons that have been warped from there original story to fit some retarded bastard child of old Lucas and new age Hollywood.
Source: Force Unleashed
Source: The Clone Wars (Cartoons)
Are you kidding me? You’re sourcing things that Lucas doesn’t even have a hand in.
Oh and Starkiller was the origianl intended name of Skywalker but someone felt that having killer in the hero’s name was a bad idea.
I thought Grevious was a fierce general of a conquering army. As I understand it, he had no force ability but was very powerful. In order to capture and exploit him, the Sith bombed a train he was on, and then built the cyborg body to keep him alive, much like Vader is kept alive. I also believe this is the reason he is constantly coughing, but that could be from when he got his chest blown open.
Can’t remember where I heard all of this…
You fanboys are sad.
[...] A Sith Lord Timeline As much as I hate to admit this, I’m not that huge a fan of the Sith. Maybe it’s the fact that they’re all evil, or maybe i’s because all of them seem to adorn strange headgear – either way, the Dark Side just doesn’t do it for me. [...]
@ LesterTheMo: The cartoons are produced by Lucas himself.
The only cannon to Star Wars are the movies, the clonewars cgi movie + series.
All games, novels, are not official cannon.
@ Michal Mirasoi: Any Fanboy is sad.
darth sidious seems to have started the sith rule of two plus one. two sith lords, plus one apprentice to the apprentice kept secret from the master, in an attempt to secure a powerful yet loyal sith lord pet to do your bidding after youve destroyed your sith master.
he does it to plaguies by training maul. who by all accounts is the loyal pet intended. but when replaced by dooku, dooku uses the plus one rule with ventress. then vader with starkiller (though maybe not cannon yet, there is a live action tv show that takes place during this part of the timeline very soon. im willing to bet that starkiller becomes cannon somehow on that show, even if its just a rumor mentioned at a cantina… or maybe we find out that starkiller built the cantina as a child.)
There’s no evidence that Palpatine was the pupil of Darth Plagueis… he just happened to know his story. There could be 500 years between the two of them.
no mention of Exar Kun?
Asajj Ventress and Starkiller weren’t Sith. The were acolytes training to become Sith. If Sidious had died when either of them were in training they would then have become the lesser of the Two.
i have a bit of a quibble with you calling Darth Millenial a “True Darwinist”. All evolutionary biologists today don’t believe that natural selection is so much “Survival of the fittest (or strongest)” its more like “Survival of the good enough”. What you described was more closely akin to a eugenecist, which is bunk evolutionary theory.
Uhm… His name is mentioned here as Darth Raven, but its Revan. Probably just a typographical error. Anyone worth their salt has played Knights of the Old Republic.
lucas has said many of the games and books are cannon. if it is on the official star wars web site then it is probly consided cannon.good list though.
You guys are all nerds. All of you.
LOL, says the Star Trek dork.
what about Darth Cheney?
i have a bit of a quibble with you calling Darth Millenial a “True Darwinist”. All evolutionary biologists today don’t believe that natural selection is so much “Survival of the fittest (or strongest)” its more like “Survival of the good enough”. What you described was more closely akin to a eugenecist, which is bunk evolutionary theory..
What about Sith Lord Exar Hun? Luke encountered him at the Jedi Temple on Yavin 4.
If a work is published by LucasArts then im pretty sure its canon, that includes many games and comics and animated shows. And how is info from a different period convoluted and useless to the point that it is no longer ’star wars’ enough?
I’m disappointed that not a single person correctly commented on this time line. Yes, starkiller was Vader’s secret apprentice. Therefore, he was outside the rule of two. The Jedi VS Sith source book states that Palpatine was in fact Darth Plagueis apprentice. It is the nature of the Sith for one to hold the power and the other to covet. This explains Ventress and Starkillers roles in the Sith. And furthermore, every expanded universe novel since the Thrawn trilogy must have Lucas’ approval before any book is sent to production, so that makes every book afther ROTJ cannon.
Be sure brain is engaged before your mf mouth is in gear. F*ck Star Trek!
What about Darth Revan and Darth Malak?
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Revan
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Darth_Malak
[...] Dynasty of Evil: the Sith Lord Timeline [...]
You fanboys are sad..
I know for a fact that this isn’t all of the Sith Lords. This mentions nothing about the truly great dark lords. What about Karness Muur, Ajunta Pall, Marka Ragnos, Naga Sadow, Exar Kun, Darth Andeddu, Lord Kaan and the rest of them?
Let me give you some closure…..
KARNESS MUUR Lord of the Sith (7,003 bby) Karness was one of the first Sith Lords and was among the Jedi who turned to the Dark Side and caused the Second Great Schism. He created the Muur Talisman that infected all non-Force-empowered beings with the Rakghoul Plague. Following his death, his spirit lived on inside the Muur Talisman, which was later found by Zayne Carrick and Celeste Morne. Muur’s spirit was ultimately destroyed by Cade Skywalker when he destroyed the Talisman.
DREYPA Lord of the Sith (7,003 bby) A rival of Karness Muur, Dreypa created the Oubliette, a stasis chamber designed to imprison Muur and the power of his Talisman. Muur died before he could be put in the oubliette, but it was later used to encase Celeste Morne who had taken control of the Talisman.
DATHKA GRAUSH Dark Lord of the Sith (7,000 bby). “Dathka Graush was a pureblooded Sith Dark Lord, a conqueror whose forces won one of Korriban’s cyclical civil wars over seven millennia before the Battle of Yavin. Though assassins eventually ended the Graush dynasty after fifty years of bloodshed, the Sith Lord by then controlled two-thirds of the planet. Graush’s reign was one of terror and cruelty even by Sith standards, and researchers at the Jedi Academy think they know why. Dathka Graush literally had no heart. Using Sith magic and the most advanced technology he could find, Graush replaced his own heart with a Force-sensitive crystal capable of keeping him alive (some said invincible). The crystal was of the same kind used to entomb defeated Jedi in other Sith crypts, but it held Dark Side spirits collected over thousands of years. No one is sure who made the Heart, but Graush put it to good use. When his mummified corpse was entombed in the Valley of Golg, the Heart was entombed with it. The Jedi have been unable to locate the artifact to this day, despite a thorough survey of Graush’s tomb made at great risk to the surveyors.” (from Star Wars RPG as posted on http://www.wizards.com)
XOXAAN Lord of the Sith (6,900 bby). Xoxaan was one of the first Sith Lords, one of those who abandoned the Jedi Order to seek a darker path to truth. Her spirit lay in wait in a tomb on Korriban for several millenia until the arrival of A’Sharad Hett. Ready for a new path, A’Sharad became her apprentice and reestablished new Sith Order.
AJUNTA PALL Dark Lord of the Sith (6,900 bby). Ajunta Pall was one of the first great Sith Lords. He was one of the Jedi that first rebelled against the old Light Side teachings in favor of the Dark Side. They rebelled against their Jedi Masters and were eventually driven off into hiding. It was then that the outcast Jedi encountered the Sith race and began building their empire. He was famed to have created a sword of terrible Dark Side power. The sword is rumored to still lie within his tomb on Korriban.
TULAK HORD Dark Lord of the Sith. Perhaps the greatest Sith swordmaster ever. Very little else is known of Tulak Hord, only that this tomb is located in the Valley of the Dark Lords on Korriban. His tomb is guarded by a pack of tuk’ata beasts.
SIMUS Lord of the Sith (?-5,100 bby). Marka Ragons defeated Simus and became the next Dark Lord.
MARKA RAGNOS Dark Lord of the Sith (5,100-5,000 bby). Ruled approximately 5,200 years before Darth Vader. Ragnos was a hafl-breed Sith, a warlord of tremendous physical power and frightening grasp of the Dark Side of the Force. He rose to prominence through a series of short, ruthless campaigns against his enemies. Once he gained control of the Sith Empire, he maintained dominance by pitting his detractors against one another, manipulating them into challening him, or simply assassinating them. Among the Sith, Marka Ragnos was feared, obeyed, and admired. Marka Ragnos retained power for over a century, crushing all resistance – but he expanded the Sith Empire only slightly in all that time. Ragnos was one of the few Sith alive who had researched the history of his people and knew of the Old Republic and its defenders, the Jedi Order. Ragnos knew that if the Sith Empire were to expand too far toward their ancestral home, they would encounter the Republic. He believed the Sith were not yet ready to enter into a protracted war with the forces of the Republic, especially if the Jedi were still as strong as they had been when they defeated his ancestors. Obviously, his views were not shared by all the Sith. Many was his lack of expansion as a sign of weakness and took it as an opportunity – a justification, even – to unseat the Dark Lord of the Sith. At fist irate that the other Sith would so blindly endanger his empire with their ambition, over time Ragnos came to realize that while they were focusing their efforts on him, they were not actually expanding the borders of the Sith Empire, and thus, not precipitating contact with the Republic. Marka Ragnos elected to play to the aggression of the other Sith, to distract them from making a mistake that could bring the Sith Empire to ruin.
NAGA SADOW Dark Lord of the Sith (5,000 bby). “He ruled approximately a thousand years before the time of Exar Kun. A member of an elite priesthood of pure Sith blood.” At the funeral of the previous Dark Lord of the Sith, Sadow chalenged his arch-rival, Ludo Kressh, for the title of the next Dark Lord. Sadow felt the Sith Empire was stagnating and should expand its territory, while Kressh wanted a more isolationist approach to governing the Sith Empire. The duel was interupted by the arrival of Gav and Jori Daragon, unlucky explorers that hyperspaced to the wrong place. Kressh wanted them executed as precursors to an invasion, but Sadow saw it as an oportunity to expand the Sith Empire. Gav and Jori waited in their cells, sentenced to be executed, despairing . . . not realizing that they had become pawns of a Sith Lord. With his fierce loyal Massassi warriors, Naga Sadow secretly stole strange Republic weaponry from Gav and Jori’s impounded ship, Starbreaker 12, and staged a commando raid to free the prisoners, killing a prominent Sith Lord in the process. Sadow whisked them off to his private fortress. The Sith Lords were thrown into an uproar, seeing the weapons, the evidence, and assuming they had been attacked by Republic forces. In turmoil, they turned to Naga Sadow for leadership and named him the Dark Lord of the Sith. Outraged, Ludo Kressh stormed off, taking his supporters with him. Discovering Sadow’s trickery, Kressh mounted an armed rebellion against the evil Dark Lord, vowing to fight to save the Sith Empire from Sadow’s reckless plans. While attacking Sadow’s decoy fortress on Khar Shian, Kressh had inadvertantly waltzed into an ambush set by the Dark Lord. With Ludo Kressh out of the way, Naga Sadow rallied all the Sith Lords for the comming conquest. During Kressh’s attack, Sadow had tricked Jori into fleeing back to the Republic without her brother, who was being held elsewhere, and with a hidden homing beacon led Naga Sadow right to the Republic. He began teaching the Force-sensitive Gav Sith magic, and later gave him command of the Sith invasion fleet; Sadow himself would watch the battle from his meditation sphere orbiting Primus Goluud, where he used forbidden Sith magic to rally his forces and create the illusion of a more massive invasion force than it actually was. But Gav could not stand being the commander causing all the death and destruction, and instead attacked Sadow himself. With his meditation sphere damaged, his Massassi armies began losing, and the Republic fleet set out to hunt down Sadow. Causing the Primus Goluud star to explode, Sadow tried to hide his escape back to the Sith Empire. In Sadow’s absence, Ludo Kressh retook control of the Sith Empire and had his fleet waiting for Sadow’s return. But Kressh’s fleet was still no match for Sadow’s already depleated fleet. Just as Sadow destroyed Kressh’s ship, and Ludo Kressh with it, the Republic fleet arrived, led there by Jori. “He escaped across the galaxy, engaging Republic gunships in a cataclysmic battle at the Denarii Nova. Eventually, he and his followers ended up on Yavin Four, with his followers devolving into the primitive Massassi warriors over the centuries.”
EXAR KUN Dark Lord of the Sith (3,997-3,996 bby). “As a Jedi, he was apprenticed to Master Vodo-Siosk Baas, who admitted that Kun was the most formidable student he ever had. He was seduced by the dark side and drawn to the planet Korriban, where the spirit of Freedon Nadd enticed him to let the dark powers of the Sith enter him. On Yavin Four, he discovered ancient Sith temples guarded by the Massassi, whom he eventually conquered. He confronted Master Odan-Urr in the library of Ossus, and after killing him, took the Sith Holocron in order to further his dark powers,” (from A Guide to the SW:Tales of the Jedi Universe by Bob Cooper). Four thousand years before the time of Darth Vader, Kun precipitated the Sith War which was one of the most destructive conflicts in the entire history of the Republic. With the help of Ulic Qel-Droma, the Krath illusionist Aleema, and the warlord Mandalore they built up an army that rivaled the Republic’s own. While Ulic and Mandalore waged a huge military battle against Republic outposts, shipyards, and eventually Coruscant itself, Kun was busy seducing other Jedi trainees to the Dark Side to do his bidding. With his new Sith initiates, Kun waged a covert war against what he called the aging and outdated Jedi Masters, sending them out to kill their old Jedi masters. During the attack on Coruscant, Ulic Qel-Droma was captured and later charged with treason against the Republic. In the middle of his trial, Ulic was rescued by Kun and Mandalore as they barged into the courtroom filled with thousands of Jedi that were imobilized by Kun’s Sith spell. During the rescue, Exar Kun killed his old master Vodo-Siosk Baas in a rematch of their previous duel in which his master won. Exar Kun later sent the treacherous Aleema to Kemplex Nine with the intent to ambush the Republic/Jedi forces using an ancient Sith superweapon that was aboard Naga Sadow’s ship, recently unearth from the Yavin temples. The weapon tore the core of a sun in the Cron Cluster and hurled it at the Republic fleet, but also caused the sun to catastrophically supernova, destroying everything in the system including the Great Jedi Library on Ossus. The war ended with all the Jedi banding together and laying waste to most of Yavin 4, but not before Exar Kun absorbed the life-energies of the entire Massassi race to entomb his spirit in a Sith Temple. Four thousand years later when Luke Skywalker establishes his Jedi Academy on Yavin 4, Kun once again made his bid for galaxy domination by attempting to sway Luke’s new trainees to the Dark Side. Exar Kun almost succeeded with Kyp Durron, but not before Luke, the Jedi trainees, and the spirit of Master Bodo Baas together destroyed Kun’s spirit forever.
DARTH ANDEDDU Lord of the Sith (dates unknown). Andeddu studies the knowledge left behind by Karness Murr. His dangerous old Sith knowledge made many enemies for him, including his fellow Sith. He ultimately hid from his enemies in his hidden fortress on Prakith where he encased his spirit in a holocron, his body seemingly dead to all. Approximately 16 months after the Battle of Geonosis this holocron was discovered on Korriban in a fake tomb to Andeddu and was brought to Darth Tyranus by the double-agent Quinlan Vos. Years later this holocron fell into the hands of Darth Wyyrlok who returned to Andeddu’s fortress in an attempt to learn the dead Sith Lord’s secrets of extending life. Andeddu’s spirit was released from the holocron when it was placed on his dessicated body in the sarcophagus, but the spirit was no match for Darth Wyyrlok who destroyed him.
DARTH KARNAGE Lord of the Sith. Little is know of this Sith Lord other than his name (mentioned on Leland Chee’s blog).
DARTH TENEBROUS Lord of the Sith. Little is know of this Sith Lord other than his name (mentioned on Leland Chee’s blog).
DARTH RIVAN Lord of the Sith. Rivan lived during the time of the Sith War. He is most notable for teraforming the planet Almas. Originally an inhospitable planet with a molten core and an ice covered crust. The atmosphere consisted primarily of methane and phosphorus. Darth Rivan chose Almas for his home and he built a fortress partly underground, and enclosed the whole in a dome. An expert in biology and Sith alchemy, Rivan created a new grass-like plant called kaluthin, and spread it across the planet’s surface. Kaluthin’s unique properties include the ability to synthesize methane from the air and create oxygen. Darth Rivan was driven from Almas by the Jedi during the Sith Wars, and his dome-like home blasted into pieces. The central fortress remained, somehow impervious to blaster fire. The Jedi, thinking that the fortress was not worth the continued effort, decided to leave it. Centuries passed, and the kaluthin continued to prosper. They spread across the whole planet and eventually made the atmosphere partially breathable, except for trace elements of methane and phosphorus which made the air slightly poisonous. On one side planet, however, there is a desolate wasteland where even kaluthin cannot grow anymore. The center of this wasteland is the ancient Sith fortress. Slowly, the wasteland grows… (info on Darth Rivan and Almas from Star Wars RPG)
DARTH REVAN Dark Lord of the Sith and DARTH MALAK Dark Lord of the Sith (3,959-3,956 bby). Following the Sith War and the fall of Exar Kun, the Republic was at its most vulnerable state. Sensing this weakness, the warlike Mandalorians began a series of brutal attacks against worlds throughout the Outer Rim. In desperation, the Republic turned to the Jedi Council for aid. The learned Masters wanted to proceed with customary caution and due care before embarking on a long and destructive military campaign; however, more immediate help came in the form of two young Jedi Knights named Revan and Malak. Ignoring the dictates of the Jedi Council, the charismatic pair recruited many to their cause, rallying the impulsive youth of the Order with cries of victory and glory. With Revan and Malak at the head of their great fleet, the Republic set forth to drive the invaders back. The Mandalorian Wars were long and bloody, and many Jedi perished in the struggle. Yet, at its end, the Republic emerged triumphant, and Revan and Malak were hailed as heroes. But the heroes did not leave the war untouched; something about the Outer Rim worlds twisted and corrupted them. On Korriban, Revan uncovered the lost secrets of the Sith and became the heir to an ancient and evil legacy. Succumbing to the lure of the dark side, the fallen Jedi assumed the title of Darth Revan, Lord of the Sith. Revan’s friend Malak grudgingly took the mantle of the Dark Lord’s apprentice. The great fleet under their control abandoned the Republic and swore fealty to their new Sith masters. With their army of followers, Revan and Malak returned not as saviors, but as conquerors. For two years battles raged on the perimeters of Republic space. The Sith gained victory after victory, until the Jedi set a trap to capture Revan and Malak. But during the chaos of battle, Malak turned on his master and tried to destroy both Revan and the Jedi, but his plan failed. Revan was captured by the Jedi, while Malak escaped and proclaimed himself the new Dark Lord, swearing revenge on the Jedi and Revan. But the Jedi had other plans. They used the brain-washed Revan to help track down Malak. On the ancient Star Forge station, Master and former-apprentice faced off one last time, ending in Malak’s defeat. Having regained his memory and the title of Dark Lord, Revan renewed his crusade against the Jedi. Just as the Sith were nearing victory, having nearly wiping out the Jedi, Revan mysteriously left his Sith followers to hide in the Unknown Regions… never to be seen again. The Jedi Civil War would drag on for years to come, the Sith hunting down the Jedi and the Jedi managing to survive.
DARTH TRAYA (Kreia) Lord of the Sith (3,959-3,951 bby). Jedi Master to Revan, Keria became consumed by guilt after Revan’s turn to the Dark Side, wondering if her teachings led to Revan’s fall. Following the Jedi Civil War Keria left the Jedi Order. Her search for Revan led to Malachor V, where she discovered an ancient Sith academy. Corrupted by the Dark Side presence of Malachor, she embraced the Dark Side and became Darth Traya. She began training new Sith followers, and her teachings incorporated both the Light and the Dark Sides of the Force. Her two most notable pupils were Darth Nihilus and Darth Sion, who in true Sith fasion, betrayed their master, stripped her of her powers, and exiled her. She later joined up with The Exile, and together they regained their lost Force powers. Unbeknownst to the Exile, Keria was using him to track down the Sith leadership, Sion and Nihilus, and kill her rebellious pupils. Ultimately the Exile discovered her plans and defeated her.
DARTH BANDON Lord of the Sith (3,959-3,956 bby). “Like most of Malak’s followers, Bandon was once a student of the Jedi. But though the Force flowed through him, Bandon could never accept the Jedi teachings. Powerful emotions like anger and hate raged within him, and they fueled his strength. When the Sith rose to power, Bandon rejected his old Master and fled to the Sith Academy on Korriban. There he embraced the dark side and the way of the Sith with every fiber of his being. His great strength in the Force, his natural cruelty and his absolute ruthlessness in his quest for power soon set him apart from his fellow students, and drew the calculating eye of Lord Malak himself. In the tradition of their order, Malak sought a single pupil from among his many followers to become his chosen apprentice: one who could learn the terrible secrets of the Sith and use them to destroy the Jedi and the Republic. So far, Darth Bandon has proven himself to be an excellent choice. Many Jedi have fallen beneath the blade of his lightsaber, and he has yet to meet his equal in combat. In time, Bandon may even challenge Malak for the mantle of Dark Lord, for this is the way of the Sith: the strong must rule, and when the apprentice surpasses the Master, the Master must fall. But such ambitions are for the future. For now, Bandon is focused on the destruction of the Republic and the slaughter and extinction of the entire Jedi Order.” (from lucasarts.com)
DARTH NIHILUS Lord of the Sith (3,955-3,951 bby). “Darth Nihilus consumes the Force from Force-sensitives in order to stay alive. He can even consume entire Force-sensitive planets. Little is known of Nihilus’s true beginnings, other than the fact that he was a survivor of the Mandalorian Wars, and may or may not have at one point been a prisoner of the Mandalorians. After the war he was found by Darth Traya to be Force-sensitive, and she began training him in the ways of the Sith at the Trayus Academy on Malachor V. After his true powers and potential were realized, Nihilus, along with fellow Sith student Darth Sion, plotted and turned against their dark mistress Traya. They cast Traya down, stripped her of her power, and expelled her from the Sith Order. Nihilus and Sion had now begun their shadow war against the remnants of the Jedi Order. They hunted Jedi to the brink of extinction.” (from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sith). Nihilus was eventually tracked down and killed by the Jedi Exile.
DARTH SION Lord of the Sith (3,955-3,951 bby). “A twisted wreck, Darth Sion is a Sith Lord held together only by sheer force of will. Every bone in his body has been shattered and rebuilt, turning his skeleton and his flesh into a patchwork mass of bruises and scraping bone. He is in constant pain, and only his hatred and the power of the Dark Side keeps him alive.” (from lucasarts.com) Sion was eventually tracked down and killed by the Jedi Exile.
DARTH PHOBOS Lord of the Sith (3,600 bby). Master to Darth Desolous. A Theelin female born on Korriban, her mental Force powers made her a fearsome Sith adversary, eventually leading to her Sith brethren turning on her. She fled and formed her own fanatical cult, assassinating both Jedi and Sith leaders. The Jedi and Sith grudgingly joined forces and killed her. Phobos’ spirit would later attack Starkiller in the ruins of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant.
DARTH DESOLOUS Lord of the Sith (3,540 bby). A Pau’an Jedi Master who fell to the Dark Side. He led a war with his Sith minions against the Jedi, killing nearly two thousand Jedi. He was killed after being lured into a trap on Yaga Minor. The spirit of Darth Desolous confronted Starkiller when he attempted to enter the ruins of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant.
DARTH RUIN Lord of the Sith (2,000 bby). Jedi Master Phanius leaves the Jedi Order to reestablish the Sith, and takes the name Darth Ruin. This Fourth Great Schism would be the beginning of the New Sith War.
LORD KAAN Lord of the Sith (1,000 bby). Self-proclaimed leader of all the Sith Lords, Kaan led the Sith army against the Jedi in their final stand on Ruusan. When outright battle would not win the war, Darth Bane brought the Sith Lords together for a Dark Side meld. While lowly Sith minions engaged the Jedi in battle, the Sith Lords combined their Dark Side powers and began to annihilate the battlefield with Dark Side energy. However, Kaan had other ideas. Breaking the meld and insulting Bane, Kaan took the other Sith Lords to ambush the Jedi while they were recovering from the Dark Side energy assault, wanting to kill the Jedi with their own hands. Jedi reinforcements arrive just as the Sith Lords attack and drove them off. Beaten yet again, Kaan desperately decided to work together with the other Sith Lords (as long as HE was leading them) and planed to detonate a thought bomb. Delusional of their own power, Kaan thought that the Sith were strong enough to withstand the detonation of the bomb. As the Jedi army cornered the Sith Lords in a cavern, Kaan detonated the thought bomb, killing all the Jedi and Sith… save one, Darth Bane.
QORDIS Lord of the Sith (1,000 bby). A powerful Sith Master under the leadership of Lord Kaan. He assisted in the training of many Sith followers, including Darth Bane. Qordis was killed on Ruusan by the Sith thought bomb, but his spirit survived to torment the lone Sith survivor of that battle, Darth Bane. Qordis’ spirit caused Bane to crash-land on Dxun, having fled there after the Battle of Ruusan.
DARTH BANE Lord of the Sith (1,000 bby). Two thousand years before Palpatine’s Empire, a group of Jedi broke from the order to form their own Sith order. Believing that true power lay not in the Light Side of the Force, but in the Dark, they waged a bloody war against the Jedi. Based on ambition that excluded the sharing of power, the Sith began conspiring against each other, undermining their own war against the Jedi. He had adopted patience as a virtue when the others had forsaken it. He had adopted cunning, stealth, and subterfuge as the foundation of his way – old Jedi vitrues the others had disdained. He stood aside while the Sith tore at each other for supremacy. The Jedi/Sith war came to a climax on the planet Ruusan, where both armies were taking great losses. Knowing that the only way to defeat the Jedi was by working together, Bane proposed a Dark Side meld to combine their Sith powers. While lowly Sith minions engaged the Jedi in battle, the Sith Lords, channeling through Darth Bane, combined their Dark Side powers and began to annihilate the battlefield with Dark Side energy. However, Lord Kaan had other ideas. Breaking the meld and insulting Bane, Kaan took the other Sith Lords to ambush the Jedi while they were recovering from the Dark Side energy assault, wanting to kill the Jedi with their own hands. Kaan and the Sith Lords were driven off when Jedi reinforcements arrived. In desperation, Kaan planned to detonate a thought bomb and destroy all the Jedi at once, feeling the Sith Lords powerful enough to withstand the bomb’s effects. As the Jedi army cornered the Sith Lords in a cavern, Kaan detonated the thought bomb, killing all the Jedi and Sith… save one, Darth Bane. When the carnage was complete, he went into hiding, biding his time, waiting for his chance. Bane was forced to crash-land on Dxun, a moon of Onderon, after the vengeful sprit of Lord Qordis disabled his ship. At the tomb of Freedon Nadd he discovered a concentrated region of Dark Side power. Within the tomb he discovered a Sith holocron, and used it’s teachings to build his own power. However, while retrieving the holocron, Bane was attacked by armoured creatures called orbalisks that attached to his body and would eventually form a symbiotic suit of armor that fed off of Dark Side energy. With his ship destroyed, Bane escaped Dxun by subjugating a giant flying beast and rode it to Onderon where he would find his apprentice. But from now on there would only be two Sith at any one time. There would be no repetition of the mistakes of the old cult. Their common enemy was the Jedi, not each other. It was for their war with the Jedi they must save themselves.
DARTH COGNUS Lord of the Sith. Master of Darth Millennial.
DARTH MILLENNIAL Lord of the Sith (1,000 bby) The Dark Force religion was brought to Dromund Kaas by the Sith apprentice Darth Millennial. The apprentice abandoned his master to focus on the philosophy of Rule by the Strong, espoused by the “Dark One” Lord Kaan, rather than on Darth Bane’s restrictive Rule of Two. (from http://www.wizards.com)
DARTH VECTIVUS Lord of the Sith (dates unknown). Info coming soon.
DARTH PLAGUEIS Lord of the Sith (? – 43 bby). A very powerful Sith Master, Plagueis learned how to use the Dark Side to control the very midi-chlorians that influence the Force. With this ability he was able to manipulate the Force to create and extend life. It is unknown how long Darth Plagueis lived, but even with this great power he could not prevent his own death. He was killed in his sleep by his apprentice, Darth Sidious
DARTH SIDIOUS (Senator/Emperor Palpatine) Lord of the Sith (43 bby – 11 aby). A native of the planet Naboo, Palpatine worked his way up in politics to become that sector’s senator on the Galactic Senate. Unbeknownst to everyone, Palpatine also learned the ways of the Dark Side of the Force and became a Sith Lord. Palpatine played both sides to gain all the power he could. As Sith Lord he began building his dark empire, scheming and causing problems for the rest of the galaxy. As senator he feigned to solve those same problems while at the same time gaining more political support. 32 years before the first Death Star was destroyed, collaborating with the Trade Federation Palpatine instigated an invasion of his home planet of Naboo that caused an uproar in the Galactic Senate. The Trade Federation, Sidious’ pawns, failed and the invasion was defeated, but for Senator Palpatine it was a success; The result was his being elected to Supreme Chancellor of the Republic, replacing Chancellor Valorum with a no-confidence vote. During that same campaign, Palpatine sent his apprentice, Darth Maul, to kill the Jedi Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi who were meddling in his plans. Maul was killed by Obi-Wan, but not before he killed Obi-Wan’s master, Qui-Gon. Palpatine wasted not time, and quickly found another apprentice to further his work: Count Dooku. Unsatisfied with the Jedi Order, Dooku was quickly turned to the Dark Side and began helping his master with Galactic conquest. Dooku learned of the Republic’s clone army on Kamino that was ordered by Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas. With the Jedi Master’s death before anyone else in the Republic could find out about the army, Palpatine instructed the Count to ensure the Republic’s army remained a secret. The Republic would not find out about its clone army for another 10 years. In that time, Palpatine’s power and supporters grew in the Senate, and Dooku began convincing sector after sector to secede from the Republic to join his Separatist movement. With tension rising between the Republic and the Separatists, just as war was about to flash, the Senate voted emergency power to Supreme Chancellor Palpatine. Using his new-found power, Palpatine ordered the use of the clone army in stopping the Separatists. Thus began the Clone Wars. Throughout the War, more and more power was passed from the Senate to the Supreme Chancellor in the name of expediency in making military decisions. As the war ended, Palpatine fabricated a Jedi plot to overthrow the Republic, giving a “legitimate” reason to the Senate for eradicating the Jedi. In his victory speech to the Senate on the defeat of the Separatists and the Jedi he outlined his plan for a new Galactic Empire… with himself as Galactic Emperor. Taking Anakin Skywalker as his apprentice, renamed Darth Vader, they ruled the galaxy through fear. These two Lords of the Sith instigated the great Jedi Purge that all but wiped out the Jedi order. Palpatine would later disband the Galactic Senate, furthering the seeds of rebellion against his magnificent Empire. Emperor Palpatine entrusted Vader with the annihilation of the Rebellion that had risen against him. During that time he also commanded Vader to give Luke Skywalker an ultimatum: “Join us, or die!” Above the moon of Endor, in the final battle of the Galactic Civil War, Emperor Palpatine was killed when Darth Vader threw him into the Death Star II’s reactor core. Luke Skywalker had managed to bring his father back to the Light Side, to the dismay of the Emperor. For six years after the Battle of Endor, it was believed that the Emperor was no more. Utilizing Sparti Cloning Cylinders left over from the Clone Wars, the Emperor had the foresight to clone himself. It was into one of these clones that he transferred his spirit at the instant his mortal body was thrown into the reactor core by Vader. Six years after that fateful day, the Emperor emerged from hiding with a new army to conquer the galaxy. Utilizing super-weapons like the World Devastators and the Galaxy Gun, Palpatine made another bid for galactic domination. His last clone was finally destroyed and the Emperor was finally gone. Many years after, it seemed like the Emperor had returned yet again; But it was just a small group of Imperial Royal Guards that were using the Emperor’s persona to their own gain, splicing holo-footage to make it appear as if the Emperor were alive.
DARTH MAUL Lord of the Sith (43-32 bby). Darth Maul was a weapon forged by the hateful energies of the dark side to ensure the victory of the Sith over the Jedi order. A creature of pure evil, Maul had no personality beyond his ultimate devotion to his master, Darth Sidious. His goal was singular — to exact vengeance upon the Jedi for the decimation of the Sith ranks. Born on Iridonia, his training was harsh and cruel. Maul’s training culminated with one final challenge: a survival test on a savage planet where he was ultimately forced to face his own master in a duel. Only when Maul’s turn to the Dark Side was complete and he was willing to kill his own master was he deemed worthy of becoming a Sith Lord. While Qui-Gon Jinn was escorting the fugitive Queen Amidala from Tatooine to Coruscant, Darth Maul swept down from above, lunging at Qui-Gon from his rocketing Sith speeder. Maul’s attack was relentless; he hammered down lightsaber strikes against the accomplished Jedi Master, forcing him back time and again. It was only the timely interception of Qui-Gon by the Queen’s Royal Starship that spared him. Qui-Gon was utterly surprised and unprepared for such an attack. The Sith, everyone knew, were extinct, disappeared from the galaxy for a millennium. Yet the evidence was there — a dark attacker, trained in the Jedi arts, brandishing a lightsaber no less. Maul was dispatched by Darth Sidious to track down the Queen, a feat he accomplished through mysterious yet effective means. Traveling aboard his sleek Sith Infiltrator, Maul scouted the galaxy for the missing monarch, and reported his findings to his master. When Amidala returned to Naboo, Maul was there, waiting to face the Jedi once more. As an undeniable example of his skill and devotion, Maul plunged headlong into battle against two Jedi warriors. Using his double-bladed lightsaber, Maul held off both Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn in the heart of the Theed Royal Palace. When the Jedi became separated, Maul killed Qui-Gon with a well-placed saber strike. Kenobi, enraged, attacked Maul. This barrage was deflected by Maul who used Obi-Wan’s touching of the dark side as a conduit for a Force attack; using the Force, Maul pushed Obi-Wan into a deep mining pit. Kenobi held onto an outcropping for dear life. Calming himself by calling upon the light side of the Force, Kenobi was able to surprise Maul, and cleave him in half with his saber.
DARTH TYRANUS (COUNT DOOKU) Lord of the Sith (32-19 bby). Following the death of Darth Maul, Lord Sidious sought out another apprentice. With his plans quickly coming together, Sidious did not have time to train a new apprentice from birth. He instead turned to the Jedi. Focusing in on a powerful, and unsatisfied Jedi, Sidious recruited Count Dooku and quickly turned him to the Dark Side. Unsettled with the restrictions put on the Jedi in their studies of the Force, and feeling the Jedi betrayed themselves by serving the politicians, Dooku was quick to embrace Sidious’ ideals, and took the tile of Darth Tyranus. Shortly after joining with Sidious, he was informed by his new Master of the secret clone army ordered by Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas on Kamino. Sidious ordered Tyranus to kill Sifo-Dyas and erase all reference to Kamino from the Jedi Archives. Tyranus also secretly funded the clone army, since it would play a vital part in Darth Sidious’ master plan. The Republic did not find out that a clone army was being made for it until ten years later… just in time to prevent the Separatists from overthrowing the Republic. On the planet of Geonosis, the first battle of the Clone Wars broke out. Tyranus was confronted by the Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker. An incredible lightsaber duel ensued, but ended with both Jedi being wounded, and Anakin loosing a hand. Before Tyranus could finish them off, Jedi Master Yoda interrupted him and showed Tyranus a thing or two about lightsabers. The duel ended in a draw as Yoda saved Kenobi and Skywalker from being crushed by a falling pillar, while Tyranus escaped in a shuttle. Returning to Coruscant, Tyranus joined up with his Master and began working on the next phase of their plans for galactic conquest. Count Dooku visited the planet Rattatak, looking for another world to add to the Separatist fold. What he found instead was far more promising. Asajj Ventress, a Dark Side warrior trained in the ways of the Jedi displayed her raw talent and fierce determination which impressed Dooku. The charismatic leader of the Confederacy was able to recruit the young warrior by appealing to her disgust with the Jedi and the Republic. Though Ventress longed to identify herself as a Sith, she did not receive Sith training. Although Dooku helped hone her talents, he taught her none of the knowledge unique to the Sith. Dooku would use Asajj as a deadly tool against the Jedi and the Republic. Having been the leader of the Separatists, Dooku’s only chance for regaining power after the war was by allowing himself to be captured by the great war hero, Anakin Skywalker, so that after Palpatine establishes his Empire, Dooku could be instated as his right hand man. The plan was for Anakin to become the “greatest warrior in the galaxy” by defeating Dooku and the Separatists, and later to lead the Empire’s new armies. During the Separatist attack on Coruscant and the kidnapping of Chancellor Palpatine, Tyranus fought against the rescuers Anakin and Obi-Wan aboard General Grievous’ flagship. Having been “defeated” and disarmed by Anakin and expecting to be imprisoned, Tyranus was dumbstruck that Palpatine/Sidious prompted Anakin to kill him in cold blood. Dooku discovered too late that Sidious’ plans were for Anakin to become his new apprentice, and that Dooku’s death was just another part of Sidious’ plan for pushing Anakin to the Dark Side. Such is the way of the Sith.
DARTH VADER(ANAKIN SKYWALKER) 12th Dark Lord of the Sith (19 bby – 4 aby). Born to Shmi Skywalker, and believed to have been conceived by the midi-chlorians. Moved to Tatooine at age three. Anakin and his mother were sold as slaves to Gardulla the Hutt, but Gardulla lost them to the Toydarian junk dealer Watto while betting on a Pod Race. Anakin was a young hot-shot pilot with force abilities. Very adept mechanically, Anakin built his own Pod Racer as well as building C-3PO. Anakin won his freedom by winning the famed Boonta Eve Pod Race, with a little help from the Force. Accompanying the Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn, his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Queen Amidala to the planet Naboo, Anakin inadvertently joined in the space battle above the planets surface. He “accidentally” managed to knock out the power generator of the Trade Federation cruiser, destroying the battle droid control computer and winning the battle. Anakin was later apprenticed to Obi-Wan Kenobi in the ways of the Light Side of the Force before being seduced by the Dark Side. Anakin stayed on the path of the Light Side for more than a decade, sharing many adventures with his master. However, in that time, Anakin became good friends with Chancellor Palpatine, who was almost like a second Master for him. Palpatine encouraged Anakin to be the best Jedi ever, and even then began bending him to his will. Ten years after the battle of Naboo, Anakin and Obi-Wan were assigned to protect Senator Amidala from mysterious assassins. Master and apprentice would be forced to split up, with Kenobi tracking down the assassin and Skywalker acting as Amidala’s bodyguard. Anakin an Padme spent much time together, hiding out in sparsely populated areas of Naboo. At first they denied their love for each other, but eventually gave in to it. Unable to stomach the constant nightmares about his mother, Anakin returned to Tatooine to find her. When he and Amidala arrived on Tatooine, they tracked her to a moisture farm, where Shmi’s new husband Cliegg Lars told them what had happened to his mother: She had been taken captive by Tusken Raiders. Enraged, Anakin frantically searched for his mother… and found her just as her life slipped away. Seething with anger from watching his mother die in his arms from the beating the Tuskens had inflicted on her, Anakin slew the entire camp with his lightsaber. Men, women, and children. That was Anakin’s first, irrevocable step toward the Dark Side. As fate would have it, Kenobi got himself captured by the Separatists on the planet of Geonosis, and Anakin and Padme decided to rescue him. They too were captured and the three sentenced to death in the arena. They managed to stay alive long enough in the execution arena for the Jedi to arrive and intervene. The Jedi were greatly outnumbered by the Separatist’s droid army, but the tides turned when Yoda showed up with the Republic’s new clone army. The battle on Geonosis would be the start of the Clone Wars. In the battle, Kenobi and Skywalker chased Count Dooku to a hanger bay and entered aggressive negotiations… with lightsabers. Dooku’s superior swordsmanship prevailed, resulting in both Jedi being wounded and with Anakin losing his hand. Yoda showed up to fight Dooku, but the Count escaped to wreak more havoc in the universe. In a brief respite after Geonosis, Anakin and Padme returned to Naboo and were married. The two of them spent what little time they could together, while surviving in a galaxy torn by war. Anakin would again encounter Dooku while rescuing the kidnapped Chancellor Palpatine. The duel ended with Dooku disarmed and expecting to be imprisoned. Knowing what a danger Dooku would still be, Anakin killed him in cold blood… taking another large step toward the Dark Side. Anakin was full of both joy and despair with Padme’s pregnancy, for he foresaw that she would die in childbirth. Wanting nothing more in the galaxy than to keep Padme from dying, Anakin succumbed to the lure of Darth Sidious’ revelation that there were Dark Side powers that could keep her from dying. Sadly, his fall to the Dark Side ultimately drove off the one thing he most loved in the galaxy, Padme. In a vicious lightsaber duel on Mustafar between him and his then-master Obi-Wan, Anakin was horribly wounded and burned, which is why he wears the trademark protective black armor and breath mask. Before Anakin found out that he had children, the twins Luke and Leia, Kenobi hid them from him to protect them from their father and the Dark Side. Even Palpatine told Vader that Padme and his child were dead, knowing that if he knew he had children we would not be able to focus on running a galaxy. Seething with anger, Vader tapped the vast amounts of Dark Side energy through the ancient Sith teachings, and later became the Dark Lord of the Sith. As Emperor Palpatine’s right hand, Darth Vader chased the Rebel Alliance to the far reaches of the galaxy. While trying to find the fabled Kaibur Crystal of Mimban, Vader finally encountered and fought his son, the young Luke Skywalker. In his last confrontation with Luke, Vader finally returned to the Light Side by throwing Palpatine into the reactor core to save his son.
KYP DURRON Self-proclaimed Dark Lord of the Sith (8 aby). Born on the Deyer colony of the Anoat system. Kyp’s parents were outspoken polititians who openly protested the Ghorman Massacre and the destruction of Alderaan. One night stormtroopers barged into their house and sent Kyp and his parents to the prison colony on Kessel, and sent his brother Zeth to the Imperial Stormtrooper Academy on Caridia. Kyp’s parents were executed when Moruth Doole took over the Kessel facilities. Kyp survived and met a fellow inmate, Vima-Da-Boda, who taught him the basics about the Force. Later, Kyp escaped from Kessel with the help of Han Solo and managed to be captured again by Admiral Daala while fleeing into the Maw. Narrowly avoiding a death sentence from Daala, Kyp escaped again with Solo and the scientist Qwi Xux. While training at Luke Skywalker’s newly established Jedi Academy, Kyp encountered the spirit of the long-dead Exar Kun and began gaining power through the Dark Side and ancient Sith teachings. Pissed off at the Empire for all the pain it has cause him and his family, Kyp furiously waged a one-man war against the Empire using the Sun Crusher and his newly acquired Sith powers. While visiting the site of Darth Vader’s funeral pyre on Endor, Kyp claimed the title of The Dark Lord Of The Sith (he was able to claim this since no other known Sith existed to challenge him, although in my opinion Kyp had not reached a high enough level to rightfully claim the title). Kyp eventually returned to the Light Side after Kun’s spirit was destroyed by the other Jedi trainies and thus was no longer under Kun’s influence.
DARTH CAEDUS (Jacen Solo) Lord of the Sith (~40 aby). Famous first-born son of Leia and Han Solo, Jacen grew up exposed to the Galaxy’s wars. His accumulated experiences of the Universe’s pain, suffering, injustice, and chaos eventually led him the Dark Side. (expanded bio coming eventually)
DARTH KRAYT Lord of the Sith (125 -132 aby). Ancient and deadly, Darth Krayt has created a Sith order that is fully immersed in the Dark Side. For over a hundred years, Krayt’s Sith have hidden on the planet Korriban, using the miasma of the Dark Side that permeates the planet to conceal themselves. The Rule of Two is gone, banished by the Sith’s new leader. Now there is only the One – the Sith order itself.* But Krayt was not always a Sith. He began his life as A’Sharad Hett, a Jedi Knight. Raised by his Tusken Raider father (a Jedi himself) A’Sharad was a devoted Jedi, but frequently questioned Jedi teachings. He survived the Jedi Purge and went into hiding on Tatooine, becoming a Tusken Raider warlord, but was later disarmed and humiliated by Obi-Wan Kenobi. This was the turning point that put A’Sharad Hett on the path of the Dark Side. For a time he made a living as a bounty hunter, until one bounty lead him to Korriban where he encountered the ancient spirit of Xoxaan, Sith Lord, who would teach him the ways of the Sith. After leaving Korriban and discovering that the object of his revenge, Palpatine and Vader, were already dead, he fled to the Unknown Regions where he encountered and was captured by the Yuuzhan Vong. While their prisoner he fell further toward the Dark Side, and was also subject to their biological experiments. Now intent on reforming a new Sith order, Darth Krayt escaped and returned to Korriban. Nearly a century later, after establishing a new Sith Order, Krayt masterminded a new war between the Gallactic Alliance and the New Empire. After the Alliance was defeated, Krayt proclaimed himself the new Emperor. But all was not as he wished it, for the former Emperor Roan Fel had escaped assassination and still had a sizeable Imperial force loyal to him, and Krayt had also learned of the last surviving Skywalker, Cade Skywalker. Krayt’s body was slowly being consumed by the Vong growths that covered his body, but after hearing of Cade’s strong Force healing powers Krayt captured him and planned to turn him to the Dark Side and have Cade heal him. But Cade wanted no part of it, and with the some opportune help… escaped. Krayt would later encounter Cade, as well as Celeste Morne, on Had Abbadon. With the help of the Muur Talisman, Celeste defeated Krayt and flung him off the cliff. But even after the fall, Krayt lived long enough for Darth Wyyrlok to find him… and kill him.
DARTH RUYN (132 aby) Sith master who apprenticed Darth Talon and taught her to be an assassin. Talon’s final lesson was killing her own master on the orders of Darth Krayt.
DARTH TALON Lord of the Sith (132 aby). One of Krayt’s “Hands,” the purpose of her existence is to execute Krayt’s will. Talon’s tattoos were earned in ritual combat and inscribed by Krayt himself.* It is Talon who first exposes Cade Skywalker’s Jedi heritage while pursuing Roan Fel’s daughter. Talon is also the one who defeats and captures Cade during his attempt to rescue Jedi Hosk Trey’lis. But during Cade’s successful escape attempt he kills Talon.
DARTH STRYFE Lord of the Sith (132 aby). Perhaps the most brutal of Darth Krayt’s followers, Darth Stryfe is an explosion of raw power.*
DARTH NIHL Lord of the Sith (132 aby). The other of Kray’ts Hands, the Nagai warrior is the top enforcer of Krayt’s will both within and outside of the Sith Order.* Unfortunately, he was demoted after unsuccessfully keeping Cade Skywalker from escaping the Sith Temple, during which Nihl lost his arm.
DARTH WYYRLOK Lord of the Sith (132 aby). Third of that name, Wyyrlock is Krayt’s most trusted lieutenant, master of ritual lore of the Sith and all the ways of the Dark Side.*
DARTH MALEVAL Lord of the Sith (132 ABY) He supervised the 908th stormtrooper squad in their attack on the traitorous 407th squad on Borosk. After the battle, Maleval was shot by his own troops who disapproved of his merciless tactics.
DARTH MALADI Lord of the Sith (132 aby). Head of Sith Intelligence and Assassination, Maladi is also an expert in the ways of torture.* She interrogated/tortured Jedi Hosk Trey’lis to get information on Cade Skywalker.
DARTH KRUHL Lord of the Sith (132 ABY) Sith assassin who infiltrated Bastion in a failed attempt to kill deposed Emperor Roan Fel. Kruhl was killed by Fel, who is an accomplished Knight.
DARTH AZARD Lord of the Sith (132 ABY) This Sith commander was tasked with tracking down the renegade Republic fleet led by Admiral Stazi. When Imperial Admiral Sha Dun was unsuccessful for too long, Azard killed him and appointed Admiral Valan to the task of tracking down Stazi.
DARTH REAVE Lord of the Sith (132 ABY) Sith Lord in charge of Imperial Garrison planet Had Abbadon. He failed to repel Cade Skywalker’s infiltration of the Imperial palace, and during the attack was infected with the rakghoul plague. He survived long enough to give his report to Darth Krayt, but was killed by Darth Stryfe when he succumbed to the plague.
There are some sith lords that aren’t mentioned in here, but I just posted this so everyone knows about the Dark Lords that were the balls behind the operation
Hey he says he kills the jedi “master” Qui-Gon but i remember specifically obi-wan saying that Qui-Gon wasn’t on the council, because he always does whatever he wants even if it goes against the judgment of the council, so how is he a jedi master?
Couldnt be arsed readin beyond the first dozen or so replys so sorry if someone has mentioned this:
the rule of two goes like: (as cronalogicaly as i can make it)
master apprentice apprentices apprentice
Darth Revan Darth Malak Darth Bandon
Darth Bane Darth Zannah (possibly) Darth Cognus
Darth Cognus Darth Milennil
Darth Vectivus Lumiya Jacen Solo
Darth Pleguis Darth Sideous
Darth Sideous Darth Vader Starkiller (Galen Marak)
Darth Ceadus Tahiri Velia
There are probably (and i know this to be true) more sith lords than i’ve mentioned. and i also know that there is the other sith philosiphies : the rule of the strong, the sith triumitave, the rule of one, and any others that ive not mentioned.
but thats a matter for another user. now i depart forever to the unknown regions to create my own sith empire… ermmm… i mean go kill some gungans and jawas.
my apoligies for the bad spelling and any slight mistakes i made. but im never returning so HA TO YOU!! may the dark side plague the jedi forever!
looks worse than i meant it to. oh well
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Actually, Darth Maul never ‘underestimated’ Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan, powered by grief and anger, unleashed a small hint of the dark side, allowing him to attack faster and more powerfully.
Just because you are not on the Jedi Council, doesn’t mean you aren’t a master and vice versa.
Please continue discussion on the forum: link