Sith magic Traditionally , Sith magic , also known as Sith sorcery , was an arcane expression of Force ability first developed and practiced by the original Sith species through which they manipulated the power of the dark side . The very name of the Sith was adopted by the Dark Jedi Exiles of the Hundred - Year Darkness , who combined Sith mysticism with their own experiments into dark side power to create even more strange rituals and alchemical sciences . Sith magic , while as much a part of the dark side as endowments like Force lightning , was accessible only to those Force - sensitives who possessed an intrinsic relationship with the dark side . Through the recitation of spells , execution of hand gestures , and or the handling of various artifacts , darksider s were able to channel the raw power of the Force ' s malignant side to warp minds , alter the environment , and obliterate whatever obstacles stood in their way . Males who achieved mastery were known as Sith sorcerer s , mages , magicians , or wizards , while females who practiced Sith sorcery were referred to as Sith sorceresses or witches . Sith magic was prevalent among the citizens of the ancient Sith Empire , and its disciplines were adhered to throughout the span of galactic history , predating even the inception of the longstanding Galactic Republic . Its effectiveness in battle was realized during the Great Hyperspace War of 5000 BBY , up to and beyond the Great Sith War a thousand years later . Lords and Inquisitors of the reconstituted Sith Empire were armed with Sith magic during the Great Galactic War of 3681 BBY . Proponents of Sith magic revived its practice briefly during the New Sith Wars , but it became something of an oddity following the reformation of the Republic in 1000 BBY . By then , a lone Sith apprentice was its only active student . Still , the allure of Sith magic survived through the fall of the Republic in 19 BBY and the subsequent Galactic Civil War , and curious Force - sensitives learned to harness its power from obscure temples on long - forgotten planets and moons . By 137 ABY , the magic of the Sith was studied by the foremost loremaster s of Darth Krayt ' s One Sith Order . Description . Nature . By those against whom it was used , Sith magic , also called Sith sorcery , was described as the full destructive power of the dark side of the Force . Its strength was derived from negative emotions , and grew stronger and more corrupting with each expression . Sith magic was every bit a part of the dark side as conventional Force powers , and when the Dark Jedi Exiles of the Hundred - Year Darkness found Korriban and conquered the Sith people , they incorporated the magic of the Kissai priests into their own mastery of the dark side . Sith sorcerer s of later generations learned to combine their exotic spells with traditional Sith talents while in the midst of battle , but when engaged in lightsaber combat , those who wielded said weapons were often forced to divide their concentration between casting spells and their bladework . The magic of the ancient Sith was a complex power that assaulted an individual ' s psyche in ways that were both difficult to comprehend and defend against . Only beings with considerable strength of will were able to resist its psychological effects . Conversely , a Sith sorcerer ' s concentration was able to be interrupted by Force - users skilled in the art of Jedi battle meditation , and their magical creations could be undone by pure manifestations of the light side of the Force . Sith magic was perceived differently by those who were subjected to its power . Some Force - sensitive beings felt as though it consumed their life energy , while others became physically weaker and felt like all their strength was being siphoned . Some sensitives without any Force training suffered from headaches while in an atmosphere permeated with the residual energy of Sith magic . Its power was enticing , and sometimes manifested as a musical undercurrent — beautiful to some , hideous to others — to lure the unsuspecting . Sith magic tempted the curious with what was believed to be limitless dark side power , and such an opportunity compelled many to explore further . Each interpreted their experience differently ; Sullustan pilot Dllr Nep described visually seeing it as the ripple effect of disturbed water , while Beast - Lord Oron Kira saw the sky above him literally become overcast with the power of dark side . Those who practiced Sith magic found its power as a viable means of bringing their goals to fruition . Members of the planet Onderon ' s Naddist Sith cult , many of whom were seasoned magicians , believed themselves to be indomitable so long as Sith magic was theirs to command . Its power was used for a variety of purposes through a number of techniques , ranging from mind and reality - altering spells to powers that impacted the physical world directly . Some sorcerers applied Sith magic during their endeavors to control life and death . Despite the various reasons individuals aspired to learn the ways of the dark side , two common themes were found in all those who subscribed to the study of Sith magic : reaching their full Force - potential and the pursuit of ever - greater power . Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Bane believed that beings with a true affinity for Sith magic were few and far between . To him , Sith magic allowed an individual to channel the dark side with maximum effect in ways that he , even as the prophesied " Sith ' ari , " was unable to do . To King Ommin of Onderon , Sith magic was only attainable after breaching a barrier that resided deep within himself . At the behest of his Sith Master and forefather Freedon Nadd , Ommin was required to abandon his fears and doubts , lest through them he was consumed by the power he sought to control . According to Nadd , Ommin was only able to penetrate that barrier after he had fully embraced his hatred of everything — including the dark side of the Force . Once he accomplished that goal , Sith sorcery granted Ommin an amplified sense of his environment ; he was able to influence the malevolent sensations of millions of beings and fill those unsuspecting individuals with a hatred that was not their own . Such an exertion of the dark side was not without its detriments , however . Mastery over Sith sorcery demanded that Ommin sacrifice motor control over his body in exchange for access to the unlimited power of the dark side . Fear of Sith magic . Since the days of the Old Republic , Sith magic had elicited fear from the Jedi . Members of the Order actively pursued practitioners of Sith sorcery , and took painstaking measures to hide , destroy , or contain the objects that assisted Sith magicians in their conjurations . The Galactic Republic recognized the dangers posed by the Sith and their magics and so outlawed its practice by the time of 3998 BBY ' s Naddist Uprising . The Tomb of Freedon Nadd on Dxun was one such location where the Jedi hid a storehouse of magically - imbued Sith artifacts , as was the Sanctum of the Exalted on the planet Odryn . At the end of the New Sith Wars , the Jedi Council of First Knowledge was tasked with the eradication of Sith magic , which included the protection , or , if necessary , destruction of sorcerous Sith artifacts . Nevertheless , the prohibition was ignored , and Sith magic was the weapon of choice on more than one occasion for many who entered into battle with the Jedi and the soldiers of the Republic ' s armed forces . By the time of the Jedi Civil War , which ended in 3956 BBY , legislation had been passed into law by the Galactic Senate that banned all things Sith . Prior to the end of the Clone Wars in 19 BBY , the anti - Sith bill had been rendered void , as the Senate had since introduced new laws that strictly forbade religious persecution of any sort , including adherence to the ways of the Sith . Fear of Sith magic again began to trouble the Jedi by that time , as they suspected that the powers of the dark side were on the verge of throwing the Force into complete disarray . In the waning years of their Golden Age , some Sith feared the power commanded by the more prominent sorcerers of the Empire . Sith Lord Naga Sadow ' s forages into previously unexplored avenues of Sith lore and ritual were looked upon with scorn by his detractors , who openly challenged his idealistic ambitions . King Ommin , a man in the lineage of Freedon Nadd , was at first fearful of the sheer scope of Sith magic in his early experiences with it . Darth Bane , a Dark Lord who succeeded Naga Sadow circa four thousand years later , was also wary of Sith magic because he lacked an affinity for it . He nonetheless allowed his apprentice , Darth Zannah , to indulge herself in its mysteries , but threatened to destroy the girl if she attempted to use her charms against him . Sith magic survived Darth Zannah and was practiced with much less exposure than previous generations by subsequent members of her Order , including the sovereign of the Sith - ruled Galactic Empire , Darth Sidious , whose continued adherence to its rituals was known only to very few individuals . By the time of the rise of Darth Krayt ' s One Sith Order , Sith magic was studied by the loremaster s of Krayt ' s Order , showing familiarity with the names of past sorcerers like Karness Muur from having access to the works of sorcerers such as XoXaan . Darth Wyyrlock was particularly skilled with using Sith Magic to create illusions and was able to overcome the famed sorcerer Darth Andeddu in a duel with them . Applications . Acts of physical violence . Battle often required Sith sorcerers to unleash devastating spells to vanquish their enemies . Potent blasts of dark side energy were capable of causing physical harm to sentients , non - sentients , and spirits alike . Sometimes the sorcerer ' s hand was burned , but the power of the dark side made them impervious to the pain . King Ommin used the Force to blast several Jedi during the Naddist Uprising , and the royal tutor Korus , after having his tongue transformed into a snake and lips grafted together , was finally burned alive upon receipt of an inadvertent blast of Force energy from newly - trained Sith sorceress Aleema Keto . Then – Sith apprentice Exar Kun mastered the ability after acquiring a Sith amulet , one that augmented his already - increasing dark side strength to new levels . He destroyed the spirit of Freedon Nadd in this manner , and later incapacitated Aleema Keto the same way , after the sorceress attempted to attack Kun with her own blast of Force energy . When Kun returned millennia later to harass the students of Luke Skywalker ' s Jedi Praxeum , a trainee named Gantoris was incinerated with the power still wielded by the Dark Lord ' s ghost . Several Sith sorcerers possessed the ability to form iridescent bolts of pure hatred . When hurled at their enemies , the victim suffered from extreme agony as the voices of a thousand wretched souls screamed within their minds . Others were able to weave lattices of dark energy to physically torture opponents , while simultaneously severing their connection to the Force . Both Darth Zannah and Sith initiate Kyp Durron exhibited an even more sinister demonstration of Sith magic with their dark side tendrils ; mists of pure dark side energy in the form of tentacles that were capable of causing immense mental and physical pain , and even the instant disintegration of flesh and bone . Altering the perceptions of another . The domination of another being ' s mind and will was possible through Qâzoi Kyantuska , a spell that gave Sith sorcerers dominion over other beings and compelled those beings into actions they would have otherwise not performed . The more steeped in the dark side the sorcerer was , the easier it became to subdue the independent thought of another . Large - scale mind control was evidenced by Krath warlord Satal Keto ' s complete control over the pilots of his Chaos starfighters during the Battle of Koros Major , and Exar Kun ' s puppetry of the entire Senate assembly during the Trial of Ulic Qel - Droma . Many thousands of years later , an aspiring Devaronian Sith sorcerer named Cartariun enthralled the aboriginal Irrukiine species of Malrev IV . While searching for an apprentice of his own , Cartariun sensed and touched the minds of Rebel Alliance agents who had come to the planet , as well as those of the all - Bothan crew of the " Starfaring " . Besides direct control of another sentient ' s mind , Sith sorcerers were able to distort the Force perceptions of the Jedi by pretending to be followers of the light . This was done by creating a false light side aura , usually for the purpose of mingling with those who would have normally had a negative predisposition toward dark side adherents . Both Freedon Nadd and Darth Zannah were skilled in projecting false light side auras , the latter having learned the skill from the holocron of the former . Zannah displayed her cleverness with false auras of light while infiltrating the Jedi Temple on Coruscant in 990 BBY . Illusions borne of Sith magic were lifelike astral projections that touched all of an individual ' s sensory perceptions . Some Sith historians speculated that illusions disrupted the flow of the Force to the victim ' s mind , causing them to perceive their surroundings in ways that they otherwise would not . Illusions ranged from the transformation of one object into another , to the sudden materialization of beings seemingly from thin air , to the disappearance of objects that were in the victim ' s presence mere seconds before . Even computer systems were unable to discern the fallacy of the phantasmal images , which lent further to the dismay of those against whom the spell was directed . Only through intense concentration on the Force was an individual able to separate truth from falsehood . Naga Sadow was a consummate illusionist , as was the Krath sorceress Aleema Keto . Both made heavy use of illusions in their respective campaigns against the Jedi and Republic , but their projections were defeated differently . An interruption in Sadow ' s concentration caused him to lose control of his illusions , and the Jedi used the Force to pierce Aleema Keto ' s conjured deception . The Sorcerers of Tund , an ancient order of Sith sorcerers , also specialized in the creation of illusions . Aside from outwardly - expressed illusions , Sith magicians possessed the ability to create hallucinations within the minds of specifically targeted individuals by summoning their worst fears . After performing a series of intricate hand gestures , a Sith sorcerer was able to reach into a sentient being ' s mind and call forth that which scared the victim the most . The potency of the spell varied as the sorcerer saw fit . The longer they poured the dark side into the spell , however , the more likely it was that the victim would be unable to recover . An individual was able to survive if they possessed significant strength of will , though if not , there was a great possibility that the victim would descend into utter hysteria . Freedon Nadd had the ability to summon the fears of his enemies , and it was from the study of his magic that Darth Zannah learned to do so as well . The victims of Darth Zannah ' s summon fear spell were many , including her own Master , Darth Bane . Although Bane was able to overcome her trickery , others were less fortunate . On two separate occasions , those on the receiving end of Zannah ' s witchcraft were driven into an irreversible insanity . Rokur Gepta , a member of the Sorcerers of Tund , was also able to torture his enemies by creating terrifying illusions within their minds . Those who practiced Sith magic often believed themselves to be above reproach , and held no compunction about violating the sanctity of another sentient being ' s mind . With Sith magic , a sorcerer was able to tamper with the memories of another . " Memory rub s , " as they were called , erased or rewrote select recollections of any intended target . Sith initiate Kyp Durron learned to wipe memories from the spirit of Exar Kun , and with it violated scientist Qwi Xux so thoroughly that her mind had virtually become a blank slate . Sith magic also granted its masters with the ability to conceal themselves within the shroud of the dark side . When performed by a powerful sorcerer , the spell masked a person ' s strength in the dark side , preventing their presence or those of whomever they chose from being sensed in the Force even by Jedi Masters . Another of the spells learned through study of the transcript from Freedon Nadd ' s holocron , the spell of concealment was mastered by Darth Zannah , who used it to great effect against the Jedi on multiple occasions . Such was the power of Zannah ' s concealment hex that ten years after fooling a team of Jedi on Ambria with it , the spell violently repelled the Force probe of a powerful darksider known as The Huntress into the healer Caleb ' s shack . Artifacts , locations , and weapons . Holocrons were Force - activated teaching objects that held near - infinite amounts of information . Many sorcerers of the ancient Sith Empire fashioned their own holocrons to include the sum of their dark side knowledge . Those who specialized in particular aspects of Sith magic included only that area of ritual within their holocrons . Because of this , no complete repository of Sith magic was included in any one source . Others recorded their knowledge in spellbooks and scrolls , hoping to ensure the continued availability of Sith magic ' s teachings throughout the generations . Magicians also imbued their weapons with the power of Sith sorcery . Amulets that facilitated concentration , healing , shielding , ensnarement , and understanding , all did so because a Sith sorcerer chose to bequeath a measure of his power unto them . A young man named Shas Dovos created a suit of battle armor based on the designs included in an instructional tome he found on his homeworld . Infused with the power of Sith magic , Dovos was bound to his creation after being approached by the spiritual guardian of the compendium , who then decided to rename him " Warb Null . " Kaox Krul , a Dark Lord allied to Lord Skere Kaan ' s Brotherhood of Darkness , combined Sith alchemy and magic to reinforced his battle armor with dark side energy , which afterward offered nominal protection from Jedi attacks by emanating a defensive aura around its wearer . On planets and moons where the Force was strong , Sith sorcerers erected monumental edifices designed as focal points for their dark power . On the Inner Rim world of Ambria , a Sith sorceress built a massive obelisk imbued with the power of the dark side . The sorceress was killed , however , after failing to contain the released energies of an ill - conceived spell , resulting in the devastation of Ambria ' s landscape . Other examples of such structures include the temples on Yavin 4 , engineered to be dark side fulcrums by the Massassi servants of Naga Sadow , and later by Exar Kun ' s Massassi during the Great Sith War . In 14 , 000 BBY , pure - blooded Sith sorcerers built a Sith library - temple on the planet Krayiss Two where they meditated and performed experiments . Numerous Jedi were killed while trying to destroy the temple over the centuries , including Jedi Knight Vara Nreem , who visited the temple in 3997 BBY . She entered the building after reciting a Sith incantation to gain access , and was immediately descended upon and devoured by the spirits of many long - dead Sith . As the Beast Wars raged on the planet Onderon , members of the planet ' s royal family hollowed out a section beneath the royal palace of Iziz in which the remains of Freedon Nadd were kept . The tomb was the heart of Queen Amanoa ' s power , whereto she retreated to draw upon the dark energies that lingered around Nadd ' s sarcophagus . The subterranean fortress of her husband , Ommin , was where the king ' s sorcerous powers were the strongest . Millennia later , after the Republic had been reorganized into the Galactic Empire , its Emperor , a Dark Lord in the line of Darth Bane ' s Order called Sidious , discovered that the dark side suffused the atmosphere of the planet Malrev IV . He had a temple constructed there through which he intended to channel the power of Sith magic . Disturbing the natural order . At times , the dark side was visibly manifested in a planet ' s atmosphere when summoned through Sith magic . By summoning their deepest and most potent negative emotions , a Sith sorcerer was able to create waves of darkness , energy that radiated outward from the sorcerer in a spherical aura and instantly demoralized anyone caught within its radius . Individuals noticed that the area around them — whether within the confines of a building or outside in the skies above — became visibly immersed in absolute darkness . Thunder boomed and was accompanied by a roaring sound as the darkness spread . Anyone caught in the vicinity immediately began suffering from feelings of intense horror , pain , and bewilderment . Victims were tormented by whispers of the dark side that left them in a state of total hopelessness , and prolonged exposure robbed them of the will to fight . Jedi and other followers of the light felt stifled , as though their connection to the Force was being smothered . Many Sith sorcerers cared little for preserving the natural order of the universe , and held no reservations about disrupting it as a means to an end . Such was the contention of Naga Sadow , who used Sith magic to ignite solar flares around the star Primus Goluud , effectively escaping capture or destruction at the hands of the Koros fleet . Sadow later decimated Galactic Republic pursuers by wrenching free the cores of the binary Denarii suns , causing them to go nova and annihilating the entire star system . During the Great Sith War , sorceress Aleema Keto was taught by Exar Kun to harness Sadow ' s supernova - inducing power . She made use of her new talent during the Battle of Kemplex IX , agitating all ten stars of the Cron Cluster into a stellar explosion . The result was the formation of the Cron Drift , the devastation of the Jedi planet Ossus , and the death of Keto herself , who had not even been strong enough to control the power she had unleashed . Prior to his rise to power , the Emperor of the restored Sith Empire performed a ritual that resulted in the creation of The Void : an utter absence of all life , and of the Force . The Void subsumed light , sound , and even color , an effect which turned the world of Nathema brownish - gray in appearance . Even a thousand years after The Void was created , it threatened to discorporate Force sensitives who dared visit the abhorrent world . When he later established his Sith Empire , Lord Vitiate perfected and performed dark rituals that ravaged the atmosphere of Dromund Kaas and created frantic electrical storms . For thousands of years , the world of Ambria was suffused with the dark side , a side effect of a complex spell performed by the Sith sorceress who had once resided there . Unable to contain the vast quantities of energy her spell released , the sorceress was killed when it went awry , and the entire Ambrian landscape was ravaged as a result . It was only after the arrival of a Jedi Master named Thon and his subsequent battle with the residual spirits on Ambria that the planet ' s darkness was checked , having been trapped in a lake by the Tchuukthai Jedi . Healing . Sith magic also allowed sorcerers to expedite the convalescence of an individual . Karness Muur , one of the original Dark Jedi Exiles of the Hundred Year Darkness , delved into and practiced dark side healing . Rin Shuuir , a magician of the ancient Sith Empire , wielded a healing amulet with which he rejuvenated the wounded warrior Utris . Freedon Nadd used the dark side to mend Exar Kun ' s broken body after the latter had been pulverized by falling rubble within the Great Temple of Korriban . The injuries of Rogue Squadron pilot Wedge Antilles , and those of fellow pilot Dllr Nep , were repaired through Cartariun ' s use of Sith magic . Although healing through Sith magic was possible , returning the dead to life was not . Incantations . Spellcasting was an essential quality of Sith magic , as its practitioners believed that giving voice to an incantation tapped the strength of countless Sith sorcerers long passed . Any that required vocalization were only scribed in the Sith language , and could only be recited in said tongue . Necromancy . When a situation required a Sith sorcerer to utilize more of the dark side than they normally had access to , necromancy often granted them the power they sought . However , sorcerers ran the risk of becoming the puppets of the spirits they invoked . Queen Amanoa summoned the spirit of Freedon Nadd to assist her in battle against the Beast Riders of Onderon ' s wilderness , but his spirit abandoned her in the presence of the Jedi . To further his own Sith training , King Ommin also beseeched the spirit of Freedon Nadd , which came from the netherworld of the Force to complete Ommin ' s initiation into the ways of the Sith . Ommin also requested assistance from Nadd to combat the Jedi , but as it had been with his late wife , the Dark Lord ' s spirit forsook the king when Nadd realized that Ommin had failed him . Nearly fifty years after Ommin ' s death , four Sith Masters also attempted to resurrect the spirit of Freedon Nadd , but were thwarted by the efforts of Meetra Surik and her companions . Protection . Sith magic was used for defense as well as for attack . Sorcerers , fledgling or seasoned , were able to conjure shadows of uneasiness around themselves that repelled any non - sentient creature within range . The vague sense of discomfort caused by an aura of unease also affected cognizant beings , stirring in them feelings of sudden sickness and debility . Sith sorcerers were also known to perform magical experiments on inanimate objects , imbuing them with dark side power in attempts to ensure the safety and security of themselves or others . Sith Lord Ludo Kressh used magic in the creation of a device designed to protect his young son from harm . The gauntlet of Kressh the Younger was later obtained and wielded by a failed Jedi Padawan - turned - Sith acolyte named Haazen . The ancient Sith also used their wizardry to protect the things they deemed sacred . Such a spell guarded the entrance of the room within Freedon Nadd ' s sepulcher that hid his holocron . In the Valley of Golg on the Sith homeworld of Korriban , ancient magic in the form of wall inscriptions was utilized in the protection of the tombs of deceased Sith Lords . The magically created armor of Warb Null offered him greater protection in battle , as did that of the Sith Marauder Kaox Krul . Twisting life . As Sith sorcerers sought to bend the Force to suit their purposes , they delved into bizarre experiments concerning the manipulation of both life and death . Before the Dark Jedi Exiles arrived on Korriban and sullied the bloodlines of the native Sith species , a king named Dathka Graush combined alchemical sciences with his mastery of Sith magic to create an army of undead monstrosities from the corpses of those fallen during one of Korriban ' s cyclical civil wars . Graush also worked Sith magic in tandem with the most advanced and available technologies to fashion a dark side crystal , one imbued with more than a thousand Sith spirits , with which he replaced his own heart . When Graush was assassinated , the spirits of his Korriban zombie army joined those trapped within his crystalline heart . Among those who later arrived on Korriban and proclaimed themselves the first Lords of the Sith was a man named Karness Muur , whose magical endeavors surrounded the extension of life , and the preservation of a being ' s spiritual existence even after their corporeal death . Muur crafted a special talisman in which his essence was preserved , but allowed him to influence the physical realm when it was donned by a living Force - sensitive being . The Muur Talisman served another purpose as well : through Sith magic , it was able to transform non - Force - sensitive humanoids within its vicinity into Rakghoul mutant s , Sithspawn whose bite infected its victims — Force - sensitive or not — with an incurable plague that slowly transformed them into rakghouls as well . Following his defeat in the Great Hyperspace War and subsequent exile on the Yavin moon , Naga Sadow used a combination of Sith magic and alchemy to mutate the descendants of the Massassi crew - members of his starship , turning them into even more terrifying warriors . Darth Andeddu , an ancient Dark Lord of the Sith who ruled over the planet Prakith long before the New Sith Wars , based his studies on Karness Muur ' s life - altering experiments . Through Sith sorcery , he perfected the ability to transfer his essence into another vessel , thus achieving eternal life . On Yavin 4 , Naga Sadow used technology along with Sith sorcery to enter into a state of suspended animation before it was disturbed by a Nautolan Jedi Knight named Eison Gynt , into whom Sadow transferred his spirit . Many more also discovered the ability to refit their spirits with new bodies , some organic , others into machines . The Sith Lord Vitiate used the strength of eight thousand Sith Lords to perform an incredibly complex ritual of Sith magic that stripped all life from the planet Nathema , granting him immense strength in the Force and immortality as a result . During the final battle of the Great Sith War , Dark Lord of the Sith Exar Kun combined Sith magic with perverted Jedi techniques to drain the essences of all of Yavin 4 ' s indigenous Massassi . Kun ' s own spirit was sundered from his body during the ritual , but the combined might of the Jedi ' s wall of light succeeded in trapping Kun ' s wraith within the walls of his temple . He also used Sith sorcery to trap the spirits of the Massassi children within a Golden Globe for all eternity . In the early years of the New Sith Wars , a Zelosian Dark Lord of the Sith called Darth Rivan made use of Sith magic in the creation of his fearsome Sith battlelord s . The spell was perceived in the Force as a strand of black energy that unwillingly and inextricably bound senior soldiers to their subordinates , and caused severe pain the further apart a subordinate was from his or her master . The Jedi discovered that the spell was able to be broken with a blast of Force Light . Users . Sith magic predated the formation of the Galactic Republic , a democratic institution that served the galaxy for twenty - five millennia . Members of the indigenous Sith species pioneered and perfected these rituals by which they called on the power of the dark side , to a degree thought unreachable by ordinary sentient beings . A group of sorcerers who were exiled from the original Sith Empire relocated to the planet Tund , where they practiced their radical magics in total seclusion . Adas , an ancient Sith king who died circa 27 , 700 BBY , was a reputed master of Sith magic . Of the many Sith in Adas ' s entourage was Raspir , whom the King employed as a court magician . Dathka Graush , a tyrant who succeeded Adas more than twenty thousand years later , also had a flair for Sith enchantments . Roughly fifty years after Graush , Dark Jedi outcasts from the Jedi Order conquered the Sith species , and incorporated the species ' magical practices into their own dark side rituals . The Sith Lord Karness Muur was one such individual who , through Sith magic , developed ways to extend his lifespan far beyond what was natural . Around the time of the Great Hyperspace War , Sith sorcery was widely disseminated among the Lords of the Sith Empire . Ludo Kressh , Tritos Nal , Marka Ragnos , and Rin Shuuir were among them . One of the most famous of that era was Naga Sadow , whose studies into the nature of Sith magic were a cause for concern among his fellow Sith Lords . Prior to becoming Dark Lord , Sadow began to train another in Sith sorcery , a Human male named Gav Daragon . As Sadow engaged in the Great Hyperspace War against the Jedi and the Republic , a Sith dreadnaught under his command crash - landed on the planet Kesh . Stranded on the remote world , the leader of the all - Sith crew , Yaru Korsin , used Sith magic in his role as luminary of the Skyborn deities of Keshiri legend . Many sorcerers recorded their magical formulas in Sith tomes , scrolls , and holocrons , and many more learned to tap into that ancient power through intense study of those artifacts . Such was the case with Freedon Nadd who , prior to apprenticing himself to Naga Sadow , amassed a wealth of Sith knowledge from the holocrons of both Adas and Darth Andeddu . In the tradition of the Dark Lords who preceded him , Nadd recorded the sum of his sorcerous knowledge within the recesses of his own holocron . His descendants , King Ommin and Queen Amanoa , both practiced Sith magic , and dispersed its power throughout their Naddist cult . Among its most prominent wielders were the royal advisor Novar , and Warb Null , the guardian of Freedon Nadd ' s spirit . The Jedi attempted to prevent the spread of Sith magic by entombing Nadd ' s remains and his abundance of Sith relics in an impregnable tomb on Dxun , Onderon ' s fourth moon , but were unsuccessful . Despite the Jedi Order ' s best efforts , Nadd trained two aspiring Sith , Aleema Keto and her cousin Satal , in the ways of dark side magic , and both became powerful magicians under Nadd ' s guidance . Sith magic was then spread throughout the Empress Teta star system by way of the Krath organization , whose knowledge came from ancient texts and antiquities gifted to the Ketos by the ghost of Freedon Nadd himself . Nadd also took another as his apprentice , the fallen Jedi Exar Kun , whose aptitude with Sith magic far exceeded Nadd ' s expectations . After inheriting Nadd ' s position as Dark Lord of the Sith , Kun joined forces with the Krath and together they brought Sith magic to bear against both the Jedi and Republic in the Great Sith War . Exar Kun ' s Sith Brotherhood was ultimately defeated over Yavin 4 . Sith magic had been temporarily defeated , but resurfaced more than three decades later in the form of Karness Muur ' s spirit and his Muur Talisman . The same year , Celeste Morne , a Shadow working undercover for the clandestine Jedi Covenant , acquired Muur ' s talisman and was given access to its magical ability to transform Force - sensitives into Rakghouls , a form of Sithspawn that transmitted their eponymous plague through their bites . Morne continued to wield Sith magic for nearly the next four thousand years , her lifespan greatly extended because of both the Muur Talisman and prolonged periods in stasis . Not long after Morne entered stasis for the first time , the Covenant ' s de facto leader , an undercover Sith acolyte named Haazen , revealed that several artifacts in his possession granted him the ability to command Sith magic . During the Jedi Civil War , the Sith Lord Darth Malak was known to have practiced Sith sorcery . During the New Sith Wars , the Sith Lord Darth Rivan made use of Sith magic in the creation of his fearsome battlelords . His servant , Darsin , also possessed the ability . Kaox Krul , another Sith Lord from the era of the New Sith Wars , practiced Sith magic and alchemy in tandem . Roughly four years after the war ' s end , a twelve - year old named Zannah built the foundations of her Sith training on the sorcery of Freedon Nadd , which her Master had transcribed from Nadd ' s holocron . She obtained other sources of knowledge over the years , and by 980 BBY , had achieved mastery over Sith magic . In the centuries that followed , a fallen Anzati Jedi Master abandoned his light side path and became an accomplished Sith magician . By the time the Sith Order to which Darth Zannah belonged had succeeded in wiping out the Jedi and replacing the Republic with the first Galactic Empire , Sith magic had become something of a rarity . Some Force - sensitives , however , like the smuggler Len Markus , became enraptured with the Sith teachings . The Emperor , a Dark Lord in the line of Zannah ' s order called Darth Sidious , also studied Sith magic , and so did the Dark Side Adepts in his service . During the Galactic Civil War , Rokur Gepta practiced the magic of the Tund sorcerers . Several untrained Force - sensitives , like the Imperial technician Cartariun , chanced upon the Sith temple on Malrev IV , where he learned to harness the power of Sith sorcery . A Bothan named Girov Dza ' tey learned to tap into that same power through the Jeswandi meditation techniques of his native people . Seven years after the death of Darth Sidious , the spirit of Exar Kun returned to terrorize the trainees of Luke Skywalker ' s Jedi Praxeum . He taught one student , Kyp Durron , how to control the Force through Sith magic . Kun was eventually defeated by Durron ' s classmates , his spirit was forever destroyed , and Sith magic again was left without any known practitioners . When the dark side was again on the ascendant more than a century later in the form of Darth Krayt ' s One Sith Order , the regime ' s foremost loremasters , Darths Maladi and Wyyrlok , studied Sith magic extensively . The spirit of Karness Muur and his thrall Celeste Morne reappeared during that time , where they reintroduced the galaxy to Rakghouls and their plague . The members of the One Sith recognized the beasts as the product of ancient sorcery , and all were destroyed along with their creators in battle on the world of Had Abbadon . Behind the scenes . The concept of Sith magic was first mentioned in author Tom Veitch ' s " Dark Empire " endnotes , a series of essays that explored back - stories of characters included in the " Dark Empire " comic series , as well as those of several " " mainstays . While the endnotes simply referred to it as " primitive magic , " Veitch ' s " " was first to associate said magic with the Sith and the dark side of the Force . 1996 ' s " Tales of the Jedi Companion " explored further into the nature of Sith magic , explaining its relation to the eponymous species and subsequent adoption by the conquering Dark Jedi Exiles . Sith magic continued to be used as an underlying plot device extensively throughout several of the subsequent " " story arcs . It was also featured in the cut " Star Wars Adventure Journal " story " Light and Shadow " , written by Paul Danner . Sith magic also served as a plot device in the " " story arc of the " " comic series . Storyline developer Michael A . Stackpole noted in the that he intended to revive a bit of " Star Wars " mysticism by reintroducing Sith magic in the " Requiem for a Rogue " series . It received recognition in the expansive " " metaseries by way of the main antagonist Karness Muur , rakghouls , and the Rakghoul Plague , which were all associated with Sith magic . While they were never explicitly stated to be , several actions of the Sith Emperor of the resurgent Sith Empire fell well within the scope of Sith magic as described by sources such as the " Tales of the Jedi Companion " and " The Dark Side Sourcebook " . The same applies for the ritual employed by the four Sith Masters in " " , whose actions are synonymous with the description given in the " " The Supernatural : Dark Spirits " " section of the " The Dark Side Sourcebook " .