Skere Kaan Skere Kaan was a male Human Jedi Master who served the Jedi Order in the last years of the New Sith Wars before defecting to become a Dark Lord of the Sith and creating the Brotherhood of Darkness within the reorganized Sith Empire , earning him the nickname of the " Dark One " . Ruling the Sith for a decade , Kaan ' s reign was turbulent as the Brotherhood was rife with civil unrest , and conflict with the Jedi saw his numbers dwindle . A few Sith were starting to question his beliefs , including Darth Bane . At the end of the bloody Ruusan campaign , Kaan , his followers , and much of the Jedi Army of Light were destroyed by a thought bomb of his own creation during the Seventh Battle of Ruusan . In Kaan ' s place , Darth Bane , who tricked the entire Brotherhood into its destruction , set up a new Sith order with the Rule of Two : one master and one apprentice . Biography . Early life . A Force - sensitive Human from Coruscant born during the Republic Dark Age , Skere Kaan was born a commoner before being discovered by the Jedi Order and training in the ways of the Force at the Jedi Temple . Sophisticated and knowledgeable of economic policy and fleet command , Kaan became a Jedi Knight and a beacon for hope among members of the Jedi High Council who hoped to finally destroy the reformed Sith Empire which had been plaguing the Galactic Republic for nearly two centuries . Having perfected the art of battle meditation , Jedi Kaan was considered a valuable asset by the High Council , despite his radical belief that the Republic and the Jedi were responsible for the anarchy which plagued the galaxy . In an effort to moderate Kaan ' s extremist views , the High Council awarded him the title of Jedi Master . Seeing the High Council as overbearing , Kaan led a group of loyal Knights away from Coruscant and formed the Brotherhood of Darkness in 1010 BBY . Declaring himself Dark Lord of the Sith , his supporters referred to him as the " Dark One . " At the time of Kaan ' s ascent , the Sith Empire had fractured , with dozens of Sith Lords claiming the title of Dark Lord and waging endless campaigns against each other , rather than uniting to bring down the ailing Republic . Sensing that their endless quest for supremacy and power would destroy the Sith , Kaan set about reuniting the various splinter states under his banner , destroying all those who refused to bend the knee . The two most powerful Sith warlords — Kopecz and Qordis — pledged themselves to his cause , and they were followed by others , such as Kas ' im , LaTor and Kaox Krul . Still unwilling to see what was growing to become an even worse threat , the Jedi High Council issued congratulatory thanks to Kaan for killing the worst of the Sith warlords during his campaign to amass power . However , Kaan had not been able to lull all Jedi into a state of ignorance ; indeed Jedi Lord Hoth saw Kaan for the threat he was and left Coruscant to gather his own forces . His idea of cooperation and equality among the Sith Lords was unique in their history . Rather than challenge each of the self - proclaimed " Dark Lords " and threaten the war effort , Kaan acquiesced to their vanity , and named them all " Dark Lord of the Sith " , and declared " " All are equal in the Brotherhood of Darkness . " " But he forbade any Sith to take the historic title of " Darth " , since he held that title as being solely responsible for the jealousy and infighting that had destroyed the Sith in the past . With his charisma and power , the Sith struck back at the Republic and the Jedi Order . However , the Republic and the Order were not without their defenders . Having seen Kaan for what he truly was , Lord Hoth of the Jedi Order rallied the banners of the Jedi Grand Council and formed the Army of Light through the support of all standing Jedi Lords . Once amassed , Hoth led his armies on a hunt for Sith , a decade - long war that would see great casualties on both sides . Although the conflict was widely regarded as an all - out war , the Republic claimed that it was simply fighting a series of engagements against an illegal organization . Despite Hoth ' s best efforts , a startling early victory at the Battle of Korriban enabled the Sith to retake their ancestral homeworld . Kaan authorized the reopening of the Sith Academy there , and placed Qordis in charge to begin training the next generation of warriors . The reinvigorated Sith pushed the Jedi back , winning great victories against the Army of Light . Kaan proved to be a brilliant strategist , and an excellent tactician , capable of winning victory after victory against the Jedi forces ; all the while putting his charisma to good use by luring many Jedi to serve him . While Kaan was a charismatic and skilled general , his rule was more fragile than it seemed , a weakness that would be exploited as the war ground on . As long as the victories continued , however , the Sith would remain united behind him . Nearing the end . Kaan tried to provoke Hoth into a confrontation , laying waste to worlds such as Bespin , Sullust , and Taanab , but his main strategy seemed to have already been to push towards the Core Worlds , with Sith armies seizing Kashyyyk as a staging - ground in the Mid Rim , and winning battles on Trandosha and Phaseera . Kaan ' s next target was Ruusan , a world near Kashyyyk , mostly insignificant except for its crucial role as a staging ground for attacks on Sith - held Kashyyyk . Striking without warning , the Sith fleet staged a devastating assault on the unprepared planet , completely overwhelming the planet ' s meager defenses . From his flagship " Nightfall " , Kaan directed the campaign , utilizing his skill in Battle meditation to confound the Republic defenders and bolster his own forces . The First Battle of Ruusan was an absolute victory for the Sith . Republic forces were repulsed again from Ruusan in the Second Battle of Ruusan , and Kaan launched an ambitious invasion of the Core with his fleet , thrusting into the Bormea sector to conquer Chandrila , Corulag , and Brentaal IV . The Sith seemed almost poised to conquer Coruscant , and the Jedi seemed not to be attempting to defend the Core . However , Lord Hoth had gathered a Jedi army , known as the Army of Light , and had arrived on Ruusan to defeat the remaining Sith forces in the Third Battle of Ruusan , and wipe out the Brotherhood , once and for all . By the Fourth Battle of Ruusan , the war had moved to the surface of the planet itself , and , though outnumbered and out - manned by the Army of Light , Kaan sensed victory — the Jedi had spread themselves far too thin in a vain attempt to protect the inhabitants of Ruusan . In addition , the defection of the Jedi Githany gave the Sith vital intelligence on the Jedi battle plan . Though the Sith were suffering high casualties , Kaan believed he would prevail , and sent for reinforcements . While most of his followers remained loyal , a few prominent Dark Lords within the Brotherhood began to question his leadership : Githany , Kopecz , and most notably , Darth Bane . With the attentions of the Sith Lords focused against the Jedi on Ruusan , the tide of the war seemed to be turning against the Sith , with the Republic reclaiming areas like the Stenness Node . Bane was opposed to Kaan ' s battle tactics against the Jedi , believing that Lord Kaan was acting more like an ordinary military commander than a Dark Lord of the Sith , and was not properly using the dark side of the Force . Lord Kaan tried to kill Bane — first , by sending Kas ' im to murder him , then , when that failed , by having Githany poison him . Bane was too strong — and survived both assassination attempts . Bane returned and declared Kaan unworthy of his title , but not before sending to Kaan a peace offering — a scroll inscribed with an ancient Sith ritual — the thought bomb . While surprised at Bane ' s survival , Lord Kaan accepted Darth Bane ' s tactical advice . Using the Force and attacking as one , the members of the Brotherhood meditated and focused their dark energy into Bane . The combined power of the Sith devastated the Army of Light , and victory was in the Sith grasp . Even as the Jedi defeat was imminent , Lord Kaan and the other members of the brotherhood broke the meditation circle . Impatient and overconfident , Kaan believed that the Jedi could be quickly and easily defeated if the Sith took to the field . Secretly , Kaan and his followers were jealous of Bane and his power , and felt that Darth Bane was using their energy for his own benefit . The thought bomb . When the Sith Masters broke their meditation and took the field , however , the Jedi counterattacked , and the Sith took severe losses . This was caused in part by Darth Bane ' s machinations , having signaled the Sith armada in orbit to break formation and attack the opposing Republic fleet , allowing Jedi reinforcements to land . Most of the Sith Masters died in the battle . Following one last discussion with Bane in his tent , Kaan took his defeated forces into a deep caves to wait for the Jedi ' s final strike . There he used his ultimate tactic : a " thought bomb " . Kaan believed that the thought bomb would destroy the Jedi , but that he and the rest of the Sith would be strong enough to survive . That belief would lead to not just his own doom , but that of every Force - user within the radius of the explosion . With the aid of LaTor , Kaan studied and refined the thought bomb ritual until he and the other Dark Lords were ready to unleash it . With Qordis dead , and Githany and Darth Bane having left the Brotherhood , it was left to Kopecz to defend against the approaching Jedi forces under Valenthyne Farfalla . When Lord Hoth and his retinue finally arrived and confronted the Sith , Lord Kaan detonated the thought bomb , killing himself , his Sith followers and Lord Hoth ' s Jedi . The New Sith Wars were over and the Sith presumed extinct . The caves where Kaan and his Brotherhood had died would eventually be known as the Valley of the Jedi . Darth Bane , his apprentice Darth Zannah , and her cousin Darovit were those that survived the bomb , being distant from its effects and suffering little damage . Bane ' s callous assessment of his rival and former leader was that Kaan ' s " suicide " was his " smartest decision " . Legacy . Oddly , although the Force ghost s of all the Jedi and the Sith were thought to have been trapped in the Valley of the Jedi , Kaan ' s consciousness seemed to have escaped his own trap and communicated with Bane . Along with Qordis , who had died before the detonation of the thought bomb , he appeared to him after the battle . Former acrimony apparently forgotten , Kaan guided Bane on Dxun to a Sith holocron that would help him restore the Sith Order — and also tricked him into symbiosis with the orbalisk s that would become his living armor . For most of the Sith that followed the Rule of Two , he was considered symbolic of the flawed Sith of old — his narcissistic , paranoid , and backstabbing cowardice representing the Brotherhood of Darkness as a whole . Not all of Bane ' s order dismissed Kaan , however — the apostate Darth Millennial considered Kaan ' s philosophy of " Rule by the Strong " as superior to Bane ' s " Rule of Two " and Millennial left his own master over such a disagreement . Centuries later , Darth Vader , one of the last Dark Lords of Bane ' s order used one of Kaan ' s indestructible Sith amulet s in the construction of one of his own gloves . Personality and traits . Unlike many Sith Lords , Kaan was handsome , charming and charismatic , claiming that all were equal in the Brotherhood of Darkness . Nevertheless he was manipulative , frequently using mind tricks to ensure the loyalty of his followers . He chose those who were weak willed to ensure their loyalty , though certain members of his Brotherhood were strong willed enough to resist him , notably Bane and Kopecz . Bane regarded Kaan as both a coward and a fool and believed that he did not deserve the title of Dark Lord of the Sith . Ironically , despite his mastery of mind tricks , Kaan himself was weak willed and preached Rule by the Strong to hide his own weakness . It was this weakness that allowed his defeats in the last days of his life to drive him insane , which eventually led to his death . Powers and abilities . Kaan was exceptionally skilled in the use of mind tricks which he used in an attempt to ensure the loyalty of his followers . Certain members of the Brotherhood of Darkness were able to resist him , notably Bane and Kopecz , though Kopecz had to use more effort than Bane . In addition to his mastery of mind tricks , Kaan was a master of battle meditation , a skilled military strategist , and a powerful warrior . It should be noted that although Darth Bane thought he was a fool , when asked by his newly acquired apprentice , Darth Zannah , if he was weak , he thought to himself that Kaan was many things , but weak was not one of them . Behind the scenes . Although there are some differences characterization in " Bane of the Sith " , Kaan ' s appearance here after Ruusan presumably remains canon ical . Kaan ' s birthdate is unknown , but author John Jackson Miller briefly joked that Kaan would be in " high school " during the events of " Knight Errant " . If this were true , Kaan would have been born around 1 , 045 BBY . Skere Kaan ' s given name was first revealed in the 2012 " The Essential Guide to Warfare " . It was chosen as a reference to , the tiger antagonist from .