Sith Order

The Sith Order was a sect of Force-sensitives who utilized the dark side of the Force. The term "Sith" originally referred to a species of aliens native to the planets Korriban and Ziost, who were later enslaved and ruled by exiled Dark Jedi from the Galactic Republic. These Dark Jedi had once been members of the Jedi Order, a monastic Force religion dedicated to peace through the use of the light side of the Force. The Dark Jedi, who refused to rely exclusively on the light side, challenged the Jedi by giving in to the dark side, which started the Hundred-Year Darkness. However, they had been defeated and subsequently exiled from known space, which led to their discovery of the Sith species. Following centuries of interbreeding and mixing of cultures between the aliens and the exiles, the Sith would no longer be identified by their race, but by their dedication to the ancient Sith philosophy. This religious order would survive in many different incarnations throughout multiversial history.

History[]

Before the founding of the Jedi Order and the discovery of the dark side, the Sith species evolved on Korriban. The Sith species began to coalesce as a society some time prior to roughly 100,000 BBY, when their culture and religion developed. Early on, they immersed their culture in rites and lore of the dark side. Coming together as a species, they were able to fight off a Killik incursion circa 30,000 BBY, presumably resulting in an eventual Killik Sith taking up residence on Alsakan, although how this Sith was able to break from the hive-mind is unknown. Around 28,000 BBY, legendary Sith King Adas ruled his people and their Empire.

Having ruled as a warlord for some time, he was able to unite the peoples of Korriban, and was pronounced the Sith'ari, or overlord. Adas's reign lasted for several centuries, ending only after the invasion of Korriban by the Rakata of the Infinite Empire. Initially friendly, the Rakata taught Adas how to create holocrons, and lent their knowledge of space travel to the Sith. However, it soon became apparent that the Rakata intended to take the Sith people as slaves, and Adas launched a war to rid his world of them. After driving them from Korriban, he hijacked several of their ships and used them to spread the Sith species to Ziost, Tund, and Malachor V, and was eventually successful in driving the Rakata from Sith space entirely. However, the victory cost him his life.

The Rakata left behind a Star Map on Korriban, and possibly the origin for the Darth title. The death of Adas threw Korriban into civil war, with many different Sith scrambling for power. The world was devastated from the years of conflict, and no new leader arose from the ashes. The horrors of this war continued during the second civil war of 7000 BBY, when Dathka Graush destroyed most of the cities on Korriban, possibly resulting in the backwards, primitive cultural regression of the Sith species (ultimately witnessed by the exiled Dark Jedi, upon reaching Korriban). The Sith people moved their center of government and culture to the world of Ziost, and left Korriban, with that planet becoming a tomb world for their fallen leaders. A millennium prior to this, in 8000 BBY, humans and aliens escaping the oppression of the Tapani Dynasty arrived through the Stygian Caldera, possibly accounting for the Sith influence upon the future Mecrosa Order in later centuries. In 25,053 BBY, elsewhere in the galaxy, the Galactic Republic was forming.

On the planet Tython, scholars, scientists, warriors, and religious figures met to discuss an anomalous energy field present in the galaxy that would become known as the Force. In these discussions, several individuals advocated the use of Bogan, what would become known as the dark side, to gain power. The followers of the light, who used the Force to gain knowledge, rejected this idea and defeated the followers of Bogan in the Force Wars of Tython. Following the conflict, the victors established the Jedi Order, a group of warrior-monks who followed the light side. Around 24,500 BBY, a libertarian Jedi named Xendor turn to the teachings of the dark side and left the order, along with many other students calling themselves the Legions of Lettow who lived to their passions and rejected order and structure. The resulting conflict, known as the First Great Schism, ended with Xendor dead and the Legions of Lettow defeated by the Jedi Order.

Philosophy[]

The Sith believed that conflict was the only true test of one's ability, and so emphasized its importance. It was their belief that conflict challenged both individuals and civilizations, and so forced them to grow and evolve. They believed that harmony and the avoidance of conflict and that the pacifist teachings of the Jedi resulted in stagnation and decline.

Another purpose conflict served was the elevation of the strong and the death of the weak. By encouraging strife, the strong were able to exercise their power while the weak were weeded from the ranks of the Sith. A core tenet of Sith philosophy was self-reliance and the idea that an individual only deserved what they were strong enough to take. Likewise, morality was treated as an obstacle to be overcome, as it got in the way of a Sith's ability to recognize and seize opportunities for advancement and self-empowerment.

According to the Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi shortly before dueling his former friend Anakin Skywalker, turned Sith Lord Darth Vader, a Sith's essential characteristic is "dealing in absolutes."Such philosophies were embraced and taught at Sith academies, where students were encouraged to challenge one another and fight for prestige that would be recognized by the headmaster of the academy. At the academy on Korriban during the Jedi Civil War, students were tasked with gaining prestige so they might become one of the "chosen few" accepted into the ranks of Darth Malak's Sith Empire. The strife to achieve prestige caused rivalries and animosity between the students, as there were few tasks that offered prestige, and many prospective Sith. Similarly, the students of the academy during the New Sith Wars were pitted against each other in dueling sessions atop the academy. It was during these dueling sessions that intense rivalries were formed - rivalries that resulted in the deaths of students Fohargh and Sirak at the hands of Darth Bane.

Sith Order

Contents

History[]

Philosophy[]

Notable Sith Lords[]

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

Notes[]