Darth Bane

> "But from the ashes of destruction, I was the last survivor. I chose to pass my knowledge onto only one. I created a legacy so resilient, that now you come before me."
> — Darth Bane's specter to Yoda
>
>

**Darth Bane**, born under the name of **Dessel**, was the Sith'ari and the Dark Lord of the Sith responsible for creating the Rule of Two. Initially serving as a foot soldier in a military unit for the Brotherhood of Darkness, he was recognized as a Force-sensitive, and taken to the Sith Academy on Korriban. Bane, as he had been christened, quickly became one of the best students at the Academy before he lost his faith in the Dark Side of the Force after killing a fellow student. Although Bane was able to regain his confidence in the dark side, his trust in the Brotherhood of Darkness was broken, as he believed it to be a flawed organization whose leader, Sith Lord Skere Kaan, was a coward and a fool.

Deciding to desert the Order, he went to the planet Lehon and studied the holocron of Darth Revan, and, armed with new knowledge, helped destroy the Brotherhood, allowing him to create his own Sith Order. He then instituted a Rule of Two, which stated that there could be only two Sith to avoid the infighting that had plagued the Sith for millennia. He also took the title of Darth and an apprentice named Darth Zannah. In addition to the Rule of Two, Bane and Zannah also founded an organization of non Force-sensitives which they named the Sith Eternal, a group of loyal followers who would faithfully serve the Sith by ensuring their plans for total galactic domination succeeded. At some point, fearing the danger posed by Revan's descendants, Bane enacted a purge against the bloodline to ensure they could not become a threat, though unknown to him or Zannah, one of them managed to escape and continue the lineage for the next millennia.

Approximately ten years after the destruction of the Brotherhood of Darkness, Bane sought to learn how to create a holocron, through which he would be able to pass down his knowledge to future Sith Lords. The Sith journeyed to the Deep Core world of Tython to locate the Sith holocron of the ancient Dark Lord Belia Darzu. However, while Bane was on Tython, the Jedi Order learned of his existence, and sent a group of Jedi to kill him and his apprentice. Once the Jedi arrived, they confronted the two Sith in Darzu's fortress. Though outnumbered, the Sith were able to defeat the Jedi; however, Bane was grievously injured. Zannah took him to Ambria, where she convinced the healer Caleb to help them. Caleb notified the Jedi Council, only to have Zannah use her powers to drive Caleb's assistant Darovit insane. Zannah killed Caleb, then hid herself and Bane. When the Jedi arrived, they killed Darovit, believing him to be the Sith Lord. Thus, the Sith were believed destroyed.

A decade later, Bane began to worry that his apprentice was too weak to overthrow him and assume the mantle of Dark Lord of the Sith, as was necessary under the Rule of Two. He began to research the secrets to prolonging his life by transferring his essence to another body, and traveled to Prakith, where he claimed the holocron of the ancient Darth Andeddu. After returning from Prakith, Bane was ambushed by a team of assassins hired by Caleb's daughter, Serra, and was captured. Taken to Doan, Bane was imprisoned and tortured, only to covertly gain his freedom soon afterward. Encountering Zannah on Doan, Bane dueled his apprentice, who sought to become the new Dark Lord. The fight ended in a draw, with Bane escaping and heading to Ambria with Darth Cognus, an Iktotchi assassin skilled in use of the dark side whom Bane planned to take as his apprentice if Zannah proved herself weak and unworthy. There, Bane and Zannah engaged in a fateful duel that resulted in the death of the Sith'ari and Zannah claiming the title of Dark Lord. Bane tried to initiate the ritual of essence transfer but failed to control his apprentice's body. Part of Darth Bane's soul lived in Zannah's body after the failed ritual. But the majority of his spirit was thrown into the void, causing him an eternity of suffering.

Nearly a millennium later, Bane's Sith Order defeated the Jedi Order and overthrew the Galactic Republic, seizing control of the galaxy as the rulers of the Galactic Empire. However, Bane's failure to completely eradicate the Shan bloodline would have disastrous consequences, as Revan's last living descendant Jedi Master Jarik Shan, would become a key figure in the battle against the Sith.

## **Appearances**

* *Forbidden Love* — "Chapter 1: Life Changes" (mentioned only)
* *Legacy of Jarik Shan - Volume 1: Beginnings* — "Chapter 4: Introductions" (mentioned only)
* *Legacy of Jarik Shan - Volume 2: The Clone Wars* — "Chapter 62: Sacrifice" (first appearance) (ghost or spirit)
* *Legacy of Jarik Shan - Volume 2: The Clone Wars* — "Chapter 70: Getting in a Mess" (mentioned only)
* *Legacy of Jarik Shan - Volume 3: Revenge of the Sith* — "Chapter 7: Teachings of the Sith" (mentioned only)
* *Legacy of Jarik Shan - Volume 4: A Jedi in Exile* — "Chapter 54: Catching Up" (indirect mention only)
* *Legacy of Jarik Shan - Volume 4: A Jedi in Exile* — "Chapter 83: The Daring Escape" (mentioned only)
* *Legacy of Jarik Shan - Volume 4: A Jedi in Exile* — "Chapter 88: Shroud of Darkness Pt 1" (mentioned only)
* *Legacy of Jarik Shan - Volume 5: Rebirth* — "Chapter 29: A Galaxy in Uproar" (indirect mention only)
* *Legacy of Jarik Shan - Volume 5: Rebirth* — "Chapter 72: World Between Worlds" (mentioned only)