Darth Ruin Darth Ruin , formerly known as Phanius , was a male Umbaran who reigned as a Dark Lord of the Sith at the beginning of the Draggulch Period in around 2000 BBY . Previously an esteemed Jedi Master , Phanius gained notoriety within the Jedi Order due to his prominently self - centered philosophy — the idea that his very will superseded everything in existence . At odds with the Jedi tenets , Phanius eventually abandoned the Order in pursuit of his individualistic ideology , steering him towards the dark side and leading him on an alternate path — the way of the Sith . Intent on reviving the Sith into a new empire , Phanius rallied various surviving Sith clans under his banner . The fallen Jedi Master then declared himself a Dark Lord of the Sith under the new identity of Darth Ruin , simultaneously converting fifty additional Jedi in the Fourth Great Schism . Finalizing the Sith resurgence , Lord Ruin gave rise to a galactic - scale conflict — the New Sith Wars — against the Jedi Order and the Old Republic . The reign of Darth Ruin met an untimely end due to the Dark Lord ' s own ruthless egomania , evoking the wrath of his Sith disciples and resulting in his assassination . In spite of Ruin ' s death , his machinations left behind an enduringly bloody legacy ; the Sith crusades — while frequently plagued by disagreement and backstabbing — continued for a millennium in his absence , bringing galactic civilization to the brink of collapse . Biography . Rise of the New Sith . A Force - sensitive male Umbaran , Phanius was a Master of the peacekeeping Jedi Order who lived near the advent of the Draggulch Period , an era beginning in 2000 BBY during the time of the Old Republic . Up to this point , Phanius had attained a polarizing reputation in his Jedi career . While highly regarded for his intellect and charisma , the Jedi Master unsettled many of his peers — even facing condemnation from the Jedi Council — by exhibiting solipsistic traits ; the Umbaran had begun to perceive his own mind and , by extension , himself , as the only thing to truly exist . Upon realizing the Order ' s refusal to accept his stance , Phanius chose to abandon the ways of the Jedi , driven to uncover alternate teachings that would allow him to fully embrace his individualistic ideology . Having renounced his place among the Jedi , he became formally recognized as one of " The Lost " — Jedi Masters who voluntarily left the Order over ideological differences . At some stage in his quest for knowledge , Phanius managed to obtain a holocron — a crystalline data storage device — from a Jedi temple . The device in question contained teachings of the millennia - old Sith Order , a cult that adhered to the ways of the dark side of the Force . By around this point , Phanius himself had fallen under the dark side ' s corruptive power , though his former Jedi allies remained completely oblivious to his conversion at the time . Armed with his new - found knowledge of the dark side , the fallen Jedi Master set out to recruit more disciples to the ways of the Sith , vowing revenge against the Jedi Order for dismissing his beliefs . In an effort to revive the Sith Order , Phanius sought out a number of Sith clans that had survived throughout the galaxy , disproving the common belief that the dark side cult had been destroyed for centuries up to this time . Working outside of the Jedi Order ' s notice , he managed to infiltrate and unite these clans , paving the way for what would ultimately become a new empire of the Sith . In the process , Phanius relinquished his former identity — determined to break his mental barriers in pursuit of egocentric self - interest — and declared himself a Dark Lord of the Sith under the new moniker of Darth Ruin . With his new title , the Dark Lord convinced fifty additional Jedi to leave the Order and rally behind his cause , resulting in the Fourth Great Schism . The culmination of Darth Ruin ' s machinations gave rise to the New Sith , a resurgent Sith faction that engaged the Jedi Order and the Republic in a galactic conflict called the New Sith Wars . By the time of his reign over the Sith , Darth Ruin had enlisted a squire by the name of Eradicus . The Dark Lord held his disciples in low regard , viewing them literally as " nothing " in the grand scheme of his individualistic obsession . This attitude led Ruin to sacrifice many of his Sith followers seemingly on a whim , provoking their ire and eventually driving them to conspire against him . Despite the murderous intent of his disgruntled underlings , Lord Ruin never even considered the possibility that they would bring about his demise . This single - minded confidence facilitated a premature end to the reign of the new Dark Lord , resulting in his assassination . Legacy . The actions of the late Darth Ruin brought about a new age of expansion and reclamation for the Sith . Even in his absence , the New Sith Wars persisted for a thousand years . During this time , a number of Dark Lords rose to leadership in various destructive campaigns against the Jedi and the Republic , pushing the latter to the brink of collapse . Among these leading figures was Darth Rivan , a Sith Lord who at one point owned a scripture containing a text passage in the Sith language — titled the " creed of ruin " — reminiscent of Ruin ' s solipsistic philosophy . Despite a string of crushing victories achieved by Ruin ' s successors , the treachery that originally led to his death continued to plague the Sith ranks , with many subsequent Dark Lords falling to the same fate . At some point during the Republic Dark Age that began in 1100 BBY , the Sith finally turned against one another in a bloody period of civil war , fracturing the empire that Ruin had founded . The Sith remnants were later reorganized into the Brotherhood of Darkness , only to meet their ultimate demise at the conclusion of the New Sith Wars in 1000 BBY . A lone Brotherhood survivor — Darth Bane — went on to establish a new Sith doctrine to overcome the pitfalls that destroyed Ruin and his successors , of which Bane discussed in a historical compilation called the " Book of Sith " . The Jedi Order expressed a grim view of Ruin ' s legacy in a guidebook titled " " , stating that his revival of the Sith nearly led to the end of galactic civilization . In 40 ABY , an about the Force — compiled by Jedi historian Tionne Solusar — briefly explored details regarding Ruin ' s former life as a Jedi Master , as well as his motivations for leaving the Order and establishing the New Sith . Personality and traits . A pale blue - skinned member of the Umbaran species , Master Phanius stood among the most charismatic and talented Jedi of his time . In spite of this , the Jedi Master stirred controversy with his intellectual pursuits , particularly his growing fascination with the philosophy of solipsism . An ambitious , abstract thinker , Phanius believed that his own perceptions superseded all things in existence , meaning that — from his point of view — he was essentially the " only " thing to exist . This self - centered mindset led Phanius to resent the Jedi Order for not accepting his vision ; he came to view the Jedi teachings as a hindrance , one that would prevent the Umbaran from fully realizing that he was , in fact , " everything " . Determined to obliterate these inhibitions , Phanius fell to the dark side and pursued the alternate path of the Sith , assuming the identity of Darth Ruin as a Dark Lord . Throughout his campaign to revive the Sith , Ruin grew increasingly consumed by his individualistic obsession , developing a sense of utter detachment from his Sith disciples . Many of Ruin ' s followers fell victim to his ruthless impulses , making him a widely detested leader and , ultimately , a target for assassination . Nonetheless , the Dark Lord maintained an unyielding confidence in his monomaniacal pursuit , leaving him completely blind to the treachery that would bring about his death . Behind the scenes . Darth Ruin was first mentioned as an unidentified Jedi Knight - turned - Sith in the of " " , written by Terry Brooks and published in 1999 . The book incorrectly cites Ruin as the original founder of the Sith Order as a whole . In 2000 , this error was corrected in " The Essential Chronology " , establishing the still - unidentified Ruin as the creator of a successor faction — the New Sith . The character was officially named Darth Ruin by author Abel G . Peña in " " , a limited edition magazine released in 2005 . To this end , Peña saw the name Ruin — derived from the Latin word " ruīna " , meaning " fall " — as a fitting representation of the character ' s fall to the dark side , as well as the destructive chaos following his demise . Several other Darth titles were considered , such as Reaper , Fatalis , Necro , Mortalis , Eradicus , Execute and Solopsis . While creating Ruin ' s backstory , Peña envisioned him as an intelligent and wise — albeit evil — individual in the same vein as Dooku from the " Star Wars " prequel films , as well as Darth Traya from the video game " " . In 2006 , Peña further expanded Ruin ' s history in an article titled " " , confirming his species and former identity as a Jedi Master named Phanius .