Sith Species (SWAU)

The **Sith**, alternatively known as the **Red Sith** or **Sith Purebloods**, were a species of red-skinned humanoids native to the world of Korriban, before eventually resettling on the ice-world of Ziost. The Sith were distinct not only for their skin colour, but for their bone spurs, facial tentacles, and fascinating genetic predispositions such as left-handedness and attunement to the dark side of the Force. The Sith species were a tribal, warlike people who maintained a rigid caste system for nearly a hundred thousand years. Their first epoch of glory came in the form of the ancient Kingdom of the Sith during the time of the Infinite Empire. Many millennia later, the exiled Dark Jedi defeated in the Hundred Year Darkness arrive on Korriban and claimed lordship over the Sith.

Through interbreeding and genetic manipulation enhanced by Sith Alchemy, the genetic line of the Human Exiles gradually supplanted that of the original species. By the time of the Great Hyperspace War, there were few Sith who had no genetic link to the original Dark Lords, and by the time of the Great Galactic War, there were virtually none; by that time, all Sith who showed any major signs of the Red Sith, usually skin colour and bone spurs, took to calling themselves "purebloods," even if they were all human-Sith hybrids to one extent or another. In 46 ABY, a scientific expedition funded by the Fel Empire concluded that the Sith species was extinct.

## Society and culture

### Caste system

The Sith society was very hierarchical, utilizing both a rigid caste system and a stratified rank structure to put its subjects in their proper place. Due to how long Sith society has separated the Sith into castes (across approximately 100,000 years), each caste is sometimes referred to as a sub-species of Sith. All Sith castes were red-skinned humanoids with distinctly sharp, predatory features and tentacle beards. Among the Sith, the stroking of a right cheek tendril was a sign of thoughtfulness. After interbreeding with the Dark Jedi exiles, the original members of the species became known as **Red Sith**. Their caste system included the skilled and intelligent Zuguruk caste, the priestly Kissai caste, and the war-like Massassi caste.

The **Sith**, known alternatively as **Red Sith** or **Sith Purebloods**, were a species of red-skinned humanoids that originated on the world of Korriban, before eventually resettling on the ice-world of Ziost. Also distinct for their bone spurs, facial tentacles, and genetic predispositions toward both left-handedness and the dark side of the Force, the Sith species coalesced into an empire ruled first by kings and later by Dark Lords. After the arrival of the Human Exiles on Korriban in 6900 BBY, interbreeding and genetic manipulation altered the Sith species; over the course of several generations the original species became a hybrid race of Sith and Human heritage. Original Sith blood became a symbol of pride among the Sith, with the term "Sith Pureblood" referring to Sith who had a higher than average concentration of Sith blood.

Despite a society dominated by barbarism and infighting, Sith civilization culminated in a Golden Age, after which the species was scattered across the galaxy. An eponymous dark side tradition took the species' name, one that, despite numerous manifestations over time, maintained foundations borne of the customs, science and magic practiced by the ancient Sith species.