Darth Bane Darth Bane was a human male Dark Lord of the Sith and the sole survivor of the destruction of the Sith at the hands of the Jedi Order during the Jedi – Sith war , a thousand years before the Clone Wars . As the only surviving Sith , Bane recognized that Sith infighting had weakened them to the point that the Jedi could destroy them . To rectify this , Bane reformed the Sith and created the Rule of Two , mandating that there could be only two Sith — a Master and an apprentice — at any given time . These new Sith would begin a plot to destroy the Jedi in secret . Bane was later defeated by the Jedi , who wrongly believed that the Sith were defeated with him . The vendetta Bane held against the Jedi was fulfilled during the Clone Wars , when Supreme Chancellor Palpatine , secretly the Sith Lord Darth Sidious and a follower of the Rule of Two , transformed the Galactic Republic into the Galactic Empire and destroyed the Jedi Order . The victory was short - lived , however , as the redeemed Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker defeated the Sith twenty - three years later . Biography . Establishing the Rule of Two . Darth Bane was a Dark Lord of the Sith who lived during the Dark Age of the Republic , a thousand years before the Clone Wars . In his time , the Sith were often fueled by their own individual lusts for power , with Sith turning against their own . The infighting led to the defeat of their dark side order , as the Jedi Order was able to all but destroy the weakened Sith . Bane was the sole survivor of the Jedi – Sith war . Recognizing that it was infighting that destroyed the Sith , Bane created a new Sith philosophy , the Rule of Two , in which there could be only two Sith at a given time : a Master to embody power and an apprentice to crave it . Bane took on an apprentice of his own and began passing on his knowledge , all while establishing the new Sith way of pursuing power and revenge against the Jedi through manipulation and subterfuge . The Jedi learned of Bane ' s new philosophy and , while defeating Bane himself , falsely believed that they had destroyed the Sith forever . However , Bane ' s plans continued through his apprentice . After Bane ' s death , his remains were placed into a sarcophagus in the Valley of the Dark Lords on Moraband , the ancient Sith homeworld . As of the Clone Wars , Bane was the last Sith Lord to be buried on Moraband . Legacy . In the years following Bane ' s death , the Sith continued their quest for revenge , working in secret as they plotted their return to galactic dominance . These plans continued through Darth Sidious , publicly known as Supreme Chancellor Palpatine , who engineered the Clone Wars to gain more power over the Galactic Republic . He also manipulated the war , fought between the Republic and the Separatist Alliance , to turn public opinion against the Jedi , who were serving as leaders in the Grand Army of the Republic . Doing so would allow him to justify his eventual destruction of the Jedi Order . During the war , Jedi Grand Master Yoda ventured to Moraband on a journey to discover the secrets of immortality . He entered Darth Bane ' s tomb and encountered a fiery vision of the ancient Dark Lord . The vision , conjured by the Force Priestesses as part of Yoda ' s trial to learn the power of immortality , attempted to convince the Jedi Master to turn to the dark side . Yoda refused , remarking that Bane was dead and that what appeared before him was simply an illusion who had nothing to offer . Yoda ' s defiance banished the specter back into the sarcophagus , while Yoda continued on his journey . The war ' s end saw the culmination of the Sith ' s millennium - long vendetta against the Jedi . Sidious declared himself Emperor and reformed the Republic into the Galactic Empire . To destroy the Jedi , Sidious issued Order 66 , a command implanted in the clone trooper s of the Grand Army of the Republic to kill the Jedi as traitors . In addition , Sidious turned to the dark side Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker , believed by the Jedi to be the Chosen One of prophecy who would destroy the Sith . The plans that started with Darth Bane had thus been fulfilled . The Sith victory was short - lived , however , as Sidious met defeat twenty - three years later . A redeemed Skywalker killed the Emperor , resulting in his own death but also ending the rule of the Sith that Darth Bane had set in motion over a thousand years earlier . Personality and traits . Darth Bane was a human . Having witnessed the destruction of the Sith , Bane believed that their infighting and greed led to their downfall . In order to preserve the Sith as its last survivor , Bane adopted the Rule of Two , believing that limiting the number of Sith to one Master and one apprentice would allow the Sith to survive in secret so they could plot their revenge against the Jedi . Behind the scenes . Creation . Darth Bane was created by George Lucas as part of the backstory for the prequel trilogy and was first mentioned in the of , written by Terry Brooks and published in 1999 . Bane ' s story was expanded upon in a number of reference books and comic books before being made the subject of a book trilogy authored by Drew Karpyshyn : " " , " " , and " " . These stories are part of " Star Wars " Legends , previously known as the Expanded Universe , and are therefore not official canon . " The Clone Wars " . During the writing of " Ghosts of Mortis , " the seventeenth episode in the of the television series " " , Lucas wanted to include two ancient Sith Lords who could serve as an " uber evil influence guiding the Son , " the villain of the episode . The production team decided that Darth Revan , the main character of the now - Legends video game " " , and Bane would be the two Sith Lords . The two characters were styled and modeled for " Ghosts of Mortis " based on their appearances in the Expanded Universe , but the scene , despite being laid out , was never animated . Dave Filoni , the show ' s supervising director , was apprehensive of the idea that Sith Lords could return as spirits , believing that Bane and Revan ' s appearance would have greater implications than the episode was exploring . Lucas thought about it as well and eventually agreed that the scene should be removed from the episode due to those implications on his ideas about the Force . The unrealized scene , called " Son Confers with Ancient Sith Lords " and released in an uncompleted form on the " Jedi Temple Archives " feature for , depicts Bane and Revan speaking to the Son in the Well of the Dark Side on Mortis . The Son , who has been guided by the two Sith Lords in the past , questions why he feels pain over the events of the two previous episodes , " Overlords " and " Altar of Mortis , " and the Sith Lords tell him it is because he has not embraced his pain and resentment . When the Son demands to know their true identities , the two spirits reveal themselves as Bane and Revan and tell him that controlling Anakin Skywalker , the Chosen One , is the key to controlling the galaxy . Despite being cut from " Ghosts of Mortis , " a specter of Darth Bane appeared in " Sacrifice , " " The Clone Wars " series finale . Cutting the previously planned appearance allowed the show ' s team to redesign the character and define what Bane would look like in the official " Star Wars " canon . Concept art for the character was created by Darren Marshall , which included full armor as well as a " Sith warrior lightsaber pike . " In the episode , Bane ' s specter was voiced by Mark Hamill , best known for his portrayal of Luke Skywalker . Prior to taking on the role of Bane , Hamill did not know of the character or how Bane fit into the overall arc of " Star Wars " . His son Nathan Hamill knew about the history of the character and was able to explain it to his father once he took on the role .