The Completely Unofficial Star Wars Encyclopedia

Dark Lord of the Sith

Category: Affiliations
Type: Force Users
Affiliation: Dark Jedi and Sith

This was the name that was generally used to describe the most powerful of the Force users who tapped into the energy of the Dark Side of the Force by using the ancient magic of the Sith. Any of the most powerful students of the Sith teachings were candidates to become a Dark Lord of the Sith, which was considered the equivalent of an all-powerful Jedi Master. Although it was believed that the original Dark Lords descended from true Jedi Knights many millennia before the Great Sith War, certain Jedi Holocrons described Exar Kun as being the first Dark Lord of the Sith. Other sources claim that Exar Kun was not the first Dark Lord of the Sith, but was the first being to take on the title since the era of the Great Hyperspace War.

What was known for sure was that a group of adherents to the Dark Side of the Force were cast out of the Jedi Order for their forays into the use of Dark Side magic, in the wake of the Hundred-Year Darkness. These Dark Jedi, including Ajunta Pall, were exiled for their use of the Dark Side, and found their way to the planet Korriban. There, they interbred with the native Sith race, growing stronger and more powerful as a result of the genetic combination. They expanded their realm into several nearby systems, and individual factions grew out of the isolation. Thus, many scholars believed the title of Dark Lord of the Sith was a way to describe the Dark Jedi who first controlled the Sith race.

The ancient laws of the Sith dictated that only one Dark Lord could rule at any time. A ritual of ascension was performed, with the candidate being subjected to the bites of three deadly insectoids. If the candidate survived through the use of intense Sith magic, they were declared the next Dark Lord of the Sith. They were forever marked by the bites, with a flaming sun scar on their forehead. Naga Sadow was one of the first Dark Lords to break away from the established ascension rituals, claiming himself Dark Lord after the death of Marka Ragnos without the consent of the other ruling Lords. Several centuries later, Freedon Nadd was unlucky enough to begin learning the Sith teaching under a young Dark Lord, and yearned to take the position from him. It was for this reason that Nadd went to Onderon. The ancient remains of the Dark Lords before Exar Kun were entombed on Korriban, in the Dark Side nexus known as the Valley of the Dark Lords.

During the era of the New Sith War, the Sith had grown in numbers, and there were many individuals who were considered to be Sith Lords. With the Battle of Ruusan, however, all but Darth Bane were killed. It was Bane who reinstituted many of the ancient traditions, including naming of all Sith with the title Darth, since he believed that the title Dark Lord of the Sith had become trivialized. However, Bane's most important decree was the reduction of the number of Sith to two individuals at any one time: a master and an apprentice. In this way, the Sith Lords could concentrate and build up their strength for a time when they could take control of the galaxy. This tradition was passed down for the next thousand years, culminating with Darth Sidious' success in becoming Emperor. Sidious' apprentice, Darth Vader, was thought to have been the last Dark Lord of the Sith, although several pretenders thought themselves worthy of the title.

Source Abbreviations Listing - E4, TOJ, DLS, TSW, GAS, JS, UVG, EGF

For more information, please read or view the following material(s):

Jedi Search, by Kevin Anderson, copyright 1994, from Bantam Spectra Books

Jedi vs. Sith: The Essential Guide to the Force, by Ryder Windham, copyright 2007, from Del Rey Books

Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, by George Lucas, copyright 1977, from Twentieth-Century Fox Film Distribution

Star Wars: The Ultimate Visual Guide, by Ryder Windham, copyright 2005, from DK Publishing

Tales of the Jedi, by Tom Veitch, copyright 1994, from Dark Horse Comics

Tales of the Jedi: Dark Lords of the Sith, by Kevin J. Anderson and Tom Veitch, copyright 1994, 1995, from Dark Horse Comics

Tales of the Jedi: The Golden Age of the Sith, by Kevin J. Anderson, copyright 1996, 1997, from Dark Horse Comics

Tales of the Jedi: The Sith War, by Kevin J. Anderson, copyright 1995, from Dark Horse Comics

Legend:

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