Sith
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The Sith are a group of characters in the fictional Star Wars universe.[1] They are the central antagonists of the franchise. Characterized by their single-minded pursuit of power and disdain for sentient life, they are an alliance of warrior mages who use the dark side of the Force and serve as counterparts to the Jedi Knights.[2]
The Sith are portrayed in various Star Wars media as individuals who use the dark side to attain power at any cost. The Star Wars prequel films establish that they draw upon strong emotions, both negative and positive, as the source of their power, and care only about themselves. This is in contrast to the Jedi, who are portrayed as forsaking emotional attachment in order to serve others and the galaxy as a whole.
In their later history, members of the Order receive the ceremonial title of "Darth" to signify their membership into the Order.
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[edit] Film use
The first use of the word "Sith" is in the Star Wars novelization for Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, as a title for Darth Vader, the "Dark Lord of the Sith." The Sith are introduced on-screen with the prequel film Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, where the order is represented by Darth Sidious and Darth Maul.
[edit] Depiction
[edit] Prequel trilogy
In The Phantom Menace, the Sith reappear after 1,000 years of self-imposed exile, in the form of Darth Sidious and Darth Maul. Meanwhile, Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn inadvertently meets Anakin Skywalker, a nine-year-old slave; Qui-Gon soon becomes convinced that the boy is the "Chosen One" of Jedi prophecy who is destined to "restore balance to the Force".
After killing Qui-Gon, Darth Maul dies at the hands of the Jedi's apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi. The Sith ultimately emerge victorious, however; Palpatine (Sidious' civilian alter ego) is elected to the office of Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic, and sets his sights on making Anakin his new apprentice.
In Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones former Jedi Master Count Dooku is Palpatine's new Sith apprentice and re-named as Darth Tyranus. Dooku starts the separatist Confederacy of Independent Systems, which threatens the unstable Republic. A motion made in the Senate by Representative Jar Jar Binks, who was sent by Senator Padme Amidala, grants the Chancellor vast emergency powers — an idea planted in Jar Jar's head by the Chancellor himself. When the Jedi discover the threat, the Clone Wars begin with a battle to rescue captured Jedi on Geonosis.
As depicted in the animated series Star Wars: Clone Wars and myriad Expanded Universe novels, many Jedi die at the hands of the Separatists and their military leader, General Grievous. Throughout, the Jedi suspect that the war is part of a Sith plot to destroy the Jedi.
In Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, they learn too late that their fears are correct; Palpatine reveals himself as Darth Sidious and corrupts Anakin into becoming his apprentice. Palpatine says that the dark side holds the power to stop Anakin's wife, Padmé Amidala, from dying in childbirth; Anakin succumbs to the temptation and becomes Darth Vader, leading the Republic's clone troopers to exterminate the Jedi, under the directive of "Order 66". Sidious then turns the Republic into the tyrannical Galactic Empire and appoints himself Emperor for life, effectively placing the galaxy under Sith control.
[edit] Original trilogy
Beginning in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, the Rebel Alliance arises to threaten the Empire's unchallenged sovereignty, and surviving Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda make plans to thwart the Sith utilizing their greatest hope, Luke Skywalker, the son of Anakin, who begins his Jedi training under Kenobi. In the film's climactic battle scene, the Rebels destroy the Empire's Death Star superweapon, and both Palpatine and Vader become aware of the young man's identity. Both Sith Lords hope to corrupt Luke to the dark side and use him against each other (Sidious wishes to replace Vader with Luke, while Vader wants to use Luke to overthrow the Emperor and rule over the Galaxy).
In Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, Luke, by now having nearly completed his training under Yoda, nearly succumbs to the dark side when Palpatine and Vader threaten to kill his friends in the Rebellion. He pulls away from the brink at the last minute, however, and proudly declares his allegiance to the Jedi. Palpatine then tortures Luke with Force lightning. His son's suffering and pleas for help free Anakin Skywalker from the dark side's grip, and he throws his former master down the newly constructed second Death Star's reactor shaft, thus fulfilling the Jedi prophecy.
[edit] Expanded Universe
The Star Wars series' "Expanded Universe" of novels, comic books, and video games flesh out the Sith as characters, providing them with an extensive backstory.
[edit] Pre-Phantom Menace
The video game Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords explains that early dark-side users, cast out by the Jedi, intermarried with the species known as Sith, native to the planet Korriban. By the time depicted in the game, a handful of Jedi have defected from the Order of the Jedi to form their own group dedicated to the dark side. The Sith use the same powers as the Jedi with the exception that they also use certain powers banned by the Jedi Council.
In the comic book Tales of the Jedi: The Golden Age of the Sith, set five thousand years before The Clone Wars, the Sith rule an isolated part of the galaxy, calling themselves the "Sith Empire". The empire is unstable, however; its two most powerful Sith Lords, Ludo Kressh and Naga Sadow, throw the galaxy into chaos as they fight each other for supremacy. By the end of the sequel, The Fall of the Sith Empire, their power struggle effectively destroys the empire from within.
In The Phantom Menace, Yoda explains that the Sith exist only two at a time — one master and one apprentice, an idea which is explored in the Expanded Universe novels Darth Bane: Path of Destruction and Darth Bane: Rule of Two.
These novels explain that, 1,000 years before the Phantom Menace, the Sith are equal to the Jedi in number, but are too focused on fighting each other for power to unite against the Jedi. The title character solves that problem by exterminating the entire Order, save himself and apprentice Darth Zannah, and instituting the "Rule of Two": "Only two shall there be, a master and an apprentice: one to embody power and the other to crave it."[3] Central to this rule is that the apprentice desires to one day overthrow the master, thus taking on his/her own apprentice and perpetuating the Order.
[edit] Post-Return of the Jedi
The Sith also appear in various "Expanded Universe" material set after the Empire's destruction in Return of the Jedi. Palpatine reappears in the comic books Dark Empire, and Empire's End, and Vader's former minion Lumiya is a main antagonist in the Marvel Comics Star Wars stories and the Legacy of the Force series. In the latter, she convinces Jacen Solo to learn the ways of the Sith. Solo (who is Anakin Skywalker's grandson) becomes the Sith Lord Darth Caedus, partly to restore the galaxy to order in light of a new civil war.
In the comic book series Star Wars: Legacy, set 130 years after Return of the Jedi, the Sith (led by former Jedi A'Sharad Hett, now Darth Krayt) once again defeat the Jedi and take control of the galaxy. Their one opponent is Anakin and Luke Skywalker's descendant, Cade, who had previously renounced his connection to the Force.
[edit] Code
The Code of the Sith is the core tenets of the Sith religion. It goes as follows:
Peace is a lie; there is only passion.
Through passion; I gain strength.
Through strength; I gain power.
Through power; I gain victory.
Through victory; my chains are broken.
The Force shall free me.
[edit] Powers and abilities
In addition to dark side aligned force powers, the Sith have the ability to use their own magic as well as their own brand of alchemy. Most likely their unlearning and redirecting of fear allows them to use these powers.
[edit] Analogy
The Sith religion, being a fictional religion, is based on different real world religions, chiefly Vitalism and LaVeyan Satanism.
[edit] References
- Star Wars Essential Guide Series (Del Rey Books Copyright 1999) ISBN 034539299X
- Sith Article in Expanded Universe Databank
[edit] External links
- Sith in the Star Wars Databank
- Sith on Wookieepedia: a Star Wars Wiki
- The Sith Explained (Howstuffworks.com)
- Who's Who of the Sith on SithOrder.com
- Imperial Revenge : les Sith on Imperial Revenge (FR)
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