Sith present in work Star Wars
The Sith are the main antagonists of many works in the fictional universe of the Star Wars franchise. They are the antithesis and ancient enemies of the Jedi. The Sith Order is depicted as an ancient monastic and kraterocratic cultist organization of supernaturally gifted Force-wielders driven by a machiavellian-imperialist agenda of galactic domination and revenge against the Jedi Order. The various antagonistic factions in the franchise, namely the Separatist Alliance, the Confederacy of Independent Systems, the First Galactic Empire, the Imperial Remnant, and the First Order, all originated, either directly or indirectly, from the Sith.
Sith are ruthless and totalitarian by design, in which supreme autocratic authority is concentrated in a single individual granted the honorific Dark Lord of the Sith. Sith culture is of perpetual self-destruction and reinvention; transfer of power is conducted through state-sanctioned assassinations: Sith Lords who grow complacent and exhibit weakness are eventually killed, and their property and authority are transferred to the apprentice who killed them. Robberies, betrayal, and sabotage are commonplace; murder is acceptable so long as the culprit is not caught. Sith teach their apprentices to revere the dark side of the Force and to believe that the galaxy was theirs to rule by cosmic right. This kraterocratic system ensures that Sith society nurtures some of the most vicious and competitive individuals in the galaxy and is only governed by those strong enough to seize control.
Like the Jedi, the traditional weapon of the Sith is the lightsaber, a device that generates a blade-like plasma powered by a kyber crystal and uses modulation circuits and an energy gate or other focusing systems. In contrast to the Jedi, who primarily use blue and green lightsabers, among other colors, the usual color for a Sith lightsaber is red, born of an unnatural corruption of the kyber crystal through the dark side's malignancy, causing it to "bleed". This even affects the sound of ignition, with a harsher hiss.Overview
Timeline
Before the films - At an unknown point in time, numerous Jedi become disillusioned with the Order and exile themselves, forming the Sith Order. Thousands of years later, a centuries-long war between the Jedi and the Sith takes place, which culminates with the apparent death of all the Sith. The sole survivor, Darth Bane, takes an apprentice and goes on to create the Rule of Two, beginning the era of the modern Sith, who live in secrecy. Almost 1000 years after Bane's death, Darth Plagueis trains Darth Sidious, who ultimately kills his master and takes Darth Maul as his first apprentice.
Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace - Sidious and Maul are the only known Sith in the galaxy. The latter kills Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn but is defeated by his padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi and is presumed dead.
Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones - Sidious has replaced Maul with Darth Tyranus who had formerly been a Jedi Master and was once the mentor of Obi-Wan’s late master Qui-Gon Jinn.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars film and television series - Sidious and Tyranus are the main pair of Sith in the galaxy. Tyranus takes Asajj Ventress as an informal apprentice, and later replaces her with Savage Opress. After betraying Tyranus, Opress finds his lost brother, Maul, who resurfaces as a Sith Master to rival Sidious and takes Opress as an apprentice. Sidious later kills Opress, and Tyranus kills Ventress.
Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith - Tyranus is killed by Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, who later turns to the dark side and becomes Sidious' third apprentice, Darth Vader. The Sith effectively take over the galaxy by nearly exterminating the entire Jedi Order and converting the Republic into the Galactic Empire, which Sidious rules as Emperor.
Star Wars Rebels - Sidious and Vader are the main pair of Sith in the galaxy. Vader trains the Inquisitors, most of whom are former Jedi, to hunt down surviving members of the Order hiding from the Empire. Maul lives in exile and no longer sees himself as a Sith; he later tries to take Ezra Bridger as an apprentice, but fails, and is eventually killed in a duel against Obi-Wan.
Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back, and Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi - Sidious and Vader are the only Sith in the galaxy. Vader eventually kills Sidious to save his son, Luke Skywalker, redeeming himself and returning to the light side at the cost of his own life. The deaths of Sidious and Vader signify the end of the Sith for the following three decades, and the beginning of the downfall of the Galactic Empire, which eventually collapses one year later.
Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens - Snoke and his apprentice, Kylo Ren, Vader's grandson fill in the power vacuum left by the absence of the Sith in the galaxy. Snoke serves as Supreme Leader of the First Order, which emerged from the remnants of the Galactic Empire, while Kylo leads the Knights of Ren, a group of Force-wielders who take their strength from the dark side. None of them are official Sith.
Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi - Snoke is killed by Kylo Ren, who replaces him as Supreme Leader.
Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker - Sidious is revealed to have been resurrected and to have manipulated Kylo Ren's actions. He leads the Sith Eternal on Exegol and attempts to reconquer the galaxy for the Sith, but is ultimately killed by his granddaughter Rey, the last living Jedi. Kylo is redeemed like Vader before him and kills the Knights of Ren, before giving his own life to help Rey defeat Sidious. Without its leadership, the First Order eventually collapses, marking the definitive end of the Sith.Darth Vader
Darth Vader (Anakin Skywalker) was a human-cyborg Dark Lord of the Sith and the third and final apprentice of Darth Sidious, who first appeared in the Star Wars original trilogy, and later in the prequel trilogy. As the Jedi hero Anakin Skywalker, he fought alongside his master Obi-Wan Kenobi during the galaxy-wide Clone Wars, but was slowly seduced to the dark side by Darth Sidious. After helping Sidious kill Jedi Master Mace Windu, he swore allegiance to the Sith and was given the name Darth Vader before setting out to destroy all Jedi left on Coruscant. After being sent by Sidious to assassinate the Separatist council members on Mustafar, Vader was badly injured in a duel with Kenobi, resulting in the loss of his remaining organic arm, both legs, and severe burn injuries. He was saved by Sidious, and encased in a black suit of armor with extensive cybernetics which kept him alive. As the Galactic Empire was established and continued to grow, Vader became the Emperor's immensely feared second-in-command and was given the task of finding surviving Jedi and the Rebel Alliance's base. After the destruction of the first Death Star, Vader was charged with tracking down the Rebel Alliance and destroying their headquarters. However, the actions of his son, Luke Skywalker, eventually turned Vader against his master, resulting in both Sidious' and Vader's deaths, as well as the fulfilment of the Chosen One prophecy.Darth Bane
Darth Bane (Dessel) was a human Dark Lord of the Sith and the sole survivor of the Sith Order in the aftermath of the ancient war between the Jedi and the Sith. He is best known for establishing the Rule of Two, which was considered the beginning of the modern Sith within the Star Wars canon. This law stated that there must be only two Sith Lords at a time: a master to embody power, and an apprentice to crave it and eventually overthrow his/her master and adopt an apprentice of his/her own. He is the main character of the Darth Bane Trilogy by Drew Karpyshyn, which part of the Legends continuity.
In the Star Wars canon, Darth Bane's backstory as the only Sith survivor of the Jedi-Sith war and the creator of the Rule of Two is mostly unchanged, though not much else is known about him. His only canonical appearance was in the episode "Sacrifice" of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, where his spirit was encountered by Yoda on the Sith homeworld of Moraband. It is revealed by the novelization of The Rise of Skywalker and Darth Sidious in his book, titled The Secrets of the Sith that the Rule of Two is said to merely be a pale imitation, an unworthy but necessary successor to the Doctrine of the Dyad, a concept centered on two Force-sensitive beings who had an unbreakable Force-bond—which made them one in the Force—collectively known as a Force Dyad.Darth Momin
Darth Momin was a humanoid Dark Lord of Sith who appeared in the comic book Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith and briefly in Lando. Once a sculptor, he was imprisoned at a young age for his creations, which scared most people who saw them. Momin was eventually rescued by a Sith Lady named Shaa, who trained him in the dark side of the Force until he became more powerful than her and killed her. Momin then built a superweapon to destroy a city and perished when the Jedi intervened to stop him, losing control over the energy he wielded and causing his physical body to be destroyed, leaving behind only his mask with his spirit inside. Many years later, the mask was retrieved from the Jedi Archive vault by Darth Sidious, who gave it to Darth Vader as a gift for his journey to Mustafar, which Vader sought to make his personal stronghold. After Momin's spirit killed some of his personnel, Vader examined the mask and learned of Momin's past, before letting him possess the body of a Mustafarian and build a fortress for him. Shortly after Momin finished building of the fortress, Vader was distracted by an invasion of Mustafarians, which Momin took advantage of to open the door to the Dark Side and resurrect himself. However, after challenging Vader to a duel, Momin met a quick demise by being crushed with a giant rock. Despite Momin's death, his dark essence remained in the mask for several more years. At one point, Momin's mask was aboard the Imperial yacht Imperialis, when a group of thieves led by Lando Calrissian attempt to rob the ship. After Momin's spirit possessed the bodies of two thieves, the others were forced to abandon them and blow up the ship, seemingly destroying Momin's mask, and his spirit with it. Luke Skywalker later learned about Momin and his history during his travels across the galaxy, and described the Sith Lord's role in building Vader's fortress in his book, titled The Secrets of the Jedi.Other canon Sith Lords
Darth Atrius – Ancient Dark Lord of the Sith who lived before Darth Bane and the modern Sith. He owned two crossguard lightsabers, which were found and given away by the smuggler Sana Starros after the Battle of Yavin. The anger possessed by Atrius when wielding both these crossguard lightsabers at the same time, carried over to the weapons themselves, and can transfer over to their new owners. These lightsabers were eventually destroyed by Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker, thus possibly erasing all knowledge about Atrius himself.
Darth Caldoth – Duros Dark Lord of the Sith mentioned in the 2019 novel Myths & Fables. He lived at an unknown point in time before Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace and wrote a book titled The Bestiary of Darth Caldoth, which mentioned various Sith warbeasts. According to the legend, Caldoth eventually gained a Sith apprentice, the Twi'lek Ry Nymbis, and they were considered the two most powerful individuals in the galaxy at the time. Caldoth killed his own apprentice with a Sith ritual that turned the person's body into stone when he felt Nymbis was going to betray him. With the ritual, Nymbis was trapped in an eternal nightmare.
Darth Krall – Dark Lord of the Sith born as Radaki, who lived at an unknown point in time before Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. He was first mentioned in the 2019 audiobook Dooku: Jedi Lost. Krall was seduced to the dark side after losing his faith in the Jedi Order, believing that the Jedi should retain their family ties and wealth. During his life, he fought in the Battle of Wasted Years, where the Sith emerged victorious, and tamed the Nightmare Conjunction. His lightsaber would later be stored in the Bogan Collection at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant.
Darth Skrye – Dark Lady of the Sith mentioned in the audiobook Dooku: Lost Jedi. She lived at an unknown point in time before Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. Her voice was heard by Count Dooku during his time as a Jedi Padawan, in a Force vision that he had after encountering the Presagers of Hakotei on Asusto. In this vision, Skrye claimed that the Sith were reborn and activated a superweapon called the Cauldron, which destroyed a planet. She also owned an artifact called the Hand of Skrye, which would eventually be found by the Jedi Lene Kostana and Sifo-Dyas on Rishi.
Darth Wrend – Dark Lord of the Sith mentioned in the novel Master & Apprentice. He lived at an unknown point in time before Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, and was best known for coming back to life after being killed by the Jedi Order, in order to fight them once again. The legend of Darth Wrend would come to Qui-Gon Jinn's mind during his time as a Padawan, who opened the holocron of prophecy, which contained numerous prophecies, many of which dated from ten thousand years ago. One of the prophecies said that evil would disappear yet appear again once the righteous had lost its light, which many believed that was referring to the return of the Sith. At that time, Qui-Gon believed that the prophecy talked about Darth Wrend's return from the dead and that it had already been fulfilled; it would later be revealed that the prophecy was actually about the return of the Sith after living in secrecy for almost a millennium.
Darth Tanis – Ancient Dark Lord of the Sith who lived at least 4000 years before Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, as Sith accounts from the year 3966 BBY describe kyber weaponry developed by him on the planet Malachor. Darth Tanis is only mentioned in The Rise of Skywalker: The Visual Dictionary, where it is revealed that Darth Sidious' Sith Eternal cult named the 17th Legion of Sith Troopers after him.
Darth Revan – Ancient Dark Lord of the Sith mentioned in The Rise of Skywalker: The Visual Dictionary, as the namesake of the 3rd Legion of Sith Troopers from Darth Sidious' Sith Eternal cult. Darth Revan is a more important figure in the Legends continuity, where he is main protagonist of the video game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and a major character in related works. Once a Jedi hero of the Old Republic who led the Jedi to victory in the Mandalorian Wars, Revan later searched for the secret Sith Empire and was captured and tortured by the Sith Emperor, turning him to the dark side. After breaking free of the Emperor's control, Revan and his friend and Sith apprentice, Darth Malak, created their own Sith Empire using the ancient Star Forge to wage war on the Republic, but Malak eventually betrayed Revan and ordered his soldiers to fire on his ship during a battle against the Jedi. The wounded but still alive Revan was then captured by the Jedi, who erased his memories and gave him a new identity so that he could fight on their side once again. In the end, Revan defeated Malak and his Sith Empire and was seen as a Jedi hero once again, but was later captured by the Sith Emperor again and his psychic broke into a lighter half and a darker half. After being rescued by his descendant Satele Shan 300 years later, Revan's darker half sought to resurrect the Emperor's physical form so that he could kill him for good, but was defeated by the combined efforts of the Jedi, Sith, and his lighter half. The two halves of Revan then merged in peace and died for the final time.
Darth Andeddu – Ancient Dark Lord of the Sith mentioned in The Rise of Skywalker: The Visual Dictionary, as the namesake of the 5th Legion of Sith Troopers from Darth Sidious' Sith Eternal cult. Darth Andeddu is a more important figure in the Legends continuity, where he is one of the first known Sith Lords to have lived, as he preceded the creation of the "Darth" title. After being forced to flee from Korriban, Andeddu created the world of Prakith, which he ruled as a deity for several centuries, before tombing himself to prevent his followers from stealing his secrets after his death. During his life, he created the first ever Sith holocron to store his knowledge, and discovered the ability to cheat death by transferring one's essence into another vessel.
Darth Tenebrous – Dark Lord of the Sith mentioned in The Rise of Skywalker: The Visual Dictionary, as the namesake of the 26th Legion of Sith Troopers from Darth Sidious' Sith Eternal cult. Darth Tenebrous is a more important figure in the Legends continuity, where he was Darth Plagueis' master and possessed an unusual ability to foresee the future, including his own death. He maintained a public persona as Rugess Tome, a legendary artisanal starship designer, and was forced to wear a breathing apparatus. Tenebrous hoped to possess the Chosen One once they would be revealed and gain immortality, but he was eventually betrayed and killed by Plagueis. Although Tenebrous managed to cheat death by entering his apprentice's body, he couldn't do anything when Plagueis was killed by his own apprentice, Darth Sidious. Unable to return to his original body or possess another person, Tenebrous was cursed to remain a vague spirit for the rest of eternity.
Darth Phobos – Ancient Dark Lady of the Sith mentioned in The Rise of Skywalker: The Visual Dictionary, as the namesake of the 39th Legion of Sith Troopers from Darth Sidious' Sith Eternal cult. Darth Phobos also exists in the Legends continuity, where she was a seductive Theelin Sith with mind manipulation abilities. She killed many of her fellow Sith in a bid of power and formed a cult to worship her, but was ultimately killed by the combined forces of the Jedi and Sith. Her image was later incorporated in the training simulations at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. This virtual representation of Phobos was fought by Starkiller in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.
Darth Desolous – Ancient Dark Lord of the Sith mentioned in The Rise of Skywalker: The Visual Dictionary, as the namesake of the 44th Legion of Sith Troopers from Darth Sidious' Sith Eternal cult. Darth Desolous also exists in the Legends continuity, where he was a Pau'an warrior expelled from the Jedi Order due to his violent nature. He trained an army of fellow Pau'ans to fight them, but ended up falling into a trap set by the Jedi and perished in battle. His image was later incorporated in the training simulations at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. This virtual representation of Desolous was fought by Starkiller in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.Canon
Asajj Ventress
Asajj Ventress was a Dathomirian Sith Shadow Hand trained under Darth Tyranus (Count Dooku) and an antagonist of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars. She first appeared in the 2003 microseries Star Wars: Clone Wars, in which Darth Sidious assigned her to kill the then-Padawan Anakin Skywalker. After tracking the young war hero to the planet Muunilinst, Ventress engaged Anakin's Republic fighter forces fighting above the Separatist-occupied world and baited him in a chase to Yavin 4, where a fierce battle from the forest to the Massassi temple took place. Though she initially gained the upper hand in the ensuing lightsaber duel, Anakin called upon his immense connection to the Force to brutally overpower her, causing the Dathomirian to fall over the edge of a cliff. However, survived the landing and continued to serve her master throughout the Clone Wars on several occasions.
In Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Ventress was a recurring antagonist during the first seasons, as she assisted Dooku with several schemes, most of which were thwarted by the Jedi. After being replaced with Savage Opress for her failures, Ventress returned to the Nightsisters until General Grievous led a massacre against them, which only she and Mother Talzin survived. From there, she helped Boba Fett's team of bounty hunters on a dangerous mission, which thus marked the start of her own bounty hunting career. Ventress later appeared in the novel Star Wars: Dark Disciple, which was intended for a story arc in the TV series. In the novel, she teamed up with Jedi Quinlan Vos to assassinate Dooku, and, along the way, the two fell in love. However, their attempt to kill Dooku failed, and Dooku captured Vos, turning him to the dark side. Ventress managed to turn Vos back, but died saving him from Dooku. She was buried on Dathomir, amongst her fallen sisters.Sith Eternal
The 2019 film Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker depicts thousands of Sith cultists and loyalists known as the Sith Eternal. They are the main antagonistic faction of the Star Wars sequel trilogy. They are located on the Sith planet Exegol, which is described in the film as the "hidden world of the Sith". The film depicts the Sith loyalists as having built the Final Order, a massive fleet of Xyston-class Star Destroyers, at the behest of Darth Sidious. They are also revealed to have artificially created and cloned Snoke, whom Sidious used as a puppet to control the First Order and seduce Kylo Ren to the dark side. At the end of the film, the Sith Eternal cultists are present during Sidious' rejuvenation through the Force and his demise at the hands of Rey, the last Jedi and Sidious' granddaughter. The Sith Eternal cultists are disintegrated in the explosion following Sidious' death.The novelization of The Rise of Skywalker goes into more detail about how Sidious transferred his consciousness into the cloned body the Sith Eternal prepared for him.
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