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

### ​Early Life

The Human male who would become Darth Bane was born as Dessel on the Outer Rim planet of Apatros in 1026 BBY to an abusive miner named Hurst. Des, as he was nicknamed, was often bullied by his father and the other miners. Hurst blamed his son for the death of his wife, who had perished during childbirth. Hurst also took to blaming Dessel for his own miserable life on Apatros, and considered his son to be the bane of his existence—so much so that he took to calling him "bane" frequently. In 1010 BBY, at the age of sixteen, Dessel began to work in the cortosis mines of Apatros under the direction of the Outer Rim Oreworks Company. He learned to fend for himself, ignoring the threats and insults hurled at him by his father and the other miners, and grew into a muscular young man as he worked deep in the cortosis mines. One of Dessel's few friends was Groshik, the Neimoidian owner of the local cantina. Unknown to anyone, Dessel was Force-sensitive, and he occasionally felt the call of the Force's dark side.

One day, when Dessel was eighteen, a drunk Hurst berated him until Dessel stood up to his father and challenged him to a fight. Irate, Hurst beat him until his ribs cracked, although Dessel withstood the pain without sound. That night, Dessel, filled with hate, envisioned his father dying by picturing a giant hand squeezing his heart. The next morning, Hurst was dead. Unknown to Dessel, he had used the Force to kill his father. After Hurst's death, his friends tried to continue with their harassment of Dessel, but the young miner now had the confidence to stand up for himself, and proceeded to best many of them in fights until they learned to leave him alone. On the fifth anniversary of Hurst's death, a man named Gerd—who had been friends with Hurst—decided that he would put Dessel in his place. In a drunken stupor, Gerd attacked Dessel and attempted to gouge out one of his eyes. With a premonition granted by the dark side of the Force, Dessel severed Gerd's thumb with his teeth.

Returning to town on a Galactic Republic cargo ship, Dessel began playing sabacc in Groshik's cantina against other miners and a group of Republic soldiers who had arrived to pick up cortosis shipments from Outer Rim Oreworks. A skilled gambler, Dessel proceeded to win many games while also tossing frequent barbs at the Republic to the soldiers in the cantina. Successfully driving every other player out of the game, Dessel played his final hand against a young ensign, and both ended up with an Idiot's Array, the rarest hand possible. In a final round where whoever was dealt the highest card would win, both players received nine. In the next sudden death round, Dessel got a nine, beating the ensign's eight, and giving him sabacc and the ten thousand credit sabacc pot. The irate ensign attempted to attack Dessel, but was stopped by Groshik. Groshik also ordered everyone but Dessel out, and explained to the Human that he was worried; Dessel had somehow played the soldiers, twisting them to his advantage and never relenting. Furthermore, the crowd had somehow fed off of Dessel's anger, Groshik believed. Dessel reassured his friend, but the Neimoidian warned him to be careful.