The Star Wars franchise features one of the worst bad guys in the history of badass bad guys. Darth Vader. He was one of the greatest Sith Lords, but there have been several others; Darth Sidious, Darth Maul, Darth Tanis, Darth Tenebrous, Darth Tyranus, and Darth Plagueis, to name but a few. So what is a Sith Lord?
These four questions (answered of course) may help you…
What or who are the Sith?
Also referred to as the Sith Order, the Sith are an ancient religious order of Force-wielders devoted to the dark side of the Force. One could argue they are the opposites of the Jedi. They stand against them in the shadow of the dark side of the Force. Sith Lords are considered powerful practitioners of the dark side. They can essentially do everything Jedis do – they just do it more aggressively and with more nefarious intentions.
What does “Darth” mean?
Darth is the title given to certain Sith Lords. Darth is the embodiment of death and has become synonymous with the dark side of the Force. Those choosing to become a part of the Sith also use the term to symbolize they are giving up their old life. Classic examples of this are Anakin Skywalker becoming Darth Vader and Count Dooku being a fallen Jedi taking up the Sith Mantle.
In terms of the legacy of Star Wars, Darth Vader was the first and then-only Sith Lord to be known by the title of Darth. When Darth Sidious and Darth Maul were revealed in The Phantom Menace the popularity of the title was assured and is used widely in the expanded universe television shows, novels, and video games.
Image Courtesy of Lucasfilm
What is the so-called “Rule of Two”?
It is a pairing of Sith. One Sith Lord acts as the master to embody the power and one is led to crave it. The apprentice was trained by the master until he or she was strong enough in the Force to kill his or her master.
Sidious actually went through three apprentices; Darth Maul until he died at the hands of Obi-Wan, Count Dooku who was a “pretend” apprentice designed to be more of a puppet as part of Sidious' plans, and of course Anakin Skywalker.
Who was Darth Plagueis who was mentioned by Palpatine in Revenge of the Sith?
Plagueis was the master of Darth Sidious (known to many as Emperor Palpatine) and was said to be so powerful that he was able to create life itself. It's a shame he didn’t foresee his death when Sidious killed him in his sleep.
Palpatine used the story of Plagueis to suggest to Anakin Skywalker that he might be able to use this power to save Padmé Amidala.
We hope that helps you to understand more about who the Sith are and what being a Sith entails. There's plenty more information about the ancient order on our site, so feel free to take a look around.
This article was produced and syndicated by Wealth of Geeks.
Paul Rose Jr has worked as TV News Producer, Forensic Analyst, and Train Conductor, among many other things. He’s the former TV Editor for InfuzeMag and owns more books, DVDs, and comics than most people have seen in their lifetimes. When he’s not writing or editing on Wealth of Geeks, he exercises his creative muscle writing screenplays and acting in film and television in Los Angeles, CA.
