Star Wars/Characters/The Sith Order

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The Ancient/Pre-Rule of Two Sith

Unknown Rogue Jedi

  • Fallen Hero: They were once a Jedi and champion against evil until they turned to the darkside and became what they fought against.
  • First of Its Kind: The first Sith and the founder of the order. Little is know about the Rogue Jedi who would become the first Sith except that he and his followers were driven out of the Jedi order for studying and practicing the use of the darkside which was forbidden.
  • Greater-Scope Villian: While never having been seen and only ever alluded to, this rogue Jedi's actions would lay the seeds of pain and misery that would be brought on by the Sith order for millennia to come.


Darth Momin


Rule of Two Era Sith

Darth Bane

  • Pragmatic Villainy: Realized that the biggest threat to the with was their Chronic Backstabbing Disorder and thus turned that into a weapon by making sure that there were only ever two Sith, each successive generation could only become stronger as a student had to surpass and kill their teacher to ascend and couldn't rely on other Sith to overthrow their master.
  • The Rule of Two: He was the one that came up with it.

Darth Palagius

Darth Sidious

Darth Maul

Played by: Ray Park (Ep.I)
Voiced by: Peter Serafinowicz (Ep.I)

Ray Park, wearing horns, wielding a double-bladed lightsaber. The fact that all his lines were overdubbed does not in any way diminish his coolness rating.

  • Abusive Parents: Darth Sidious trained him in the ways of the Sith as a young boy, and was an utter terror both as a master and adoptive father. When he runs into Palpatine on Mandalore, he is terrified of him.
  • All for Nothing: Darth Maul's quest for revenge against Obi-Wan does not go well for him. He builds up his own criminal empire, only for it to crumble into nothing. He murders Obi-Wan's lover Satine, only to lose his mother and brother to Palpatine and Grievous. By the time of Star Wars Rebels, he's a lonely old man left with nothing but his eternal hatred for Obi-Wan, and dies in his arms, without ever successfully breaking him.
  • Awesome but Impractical: Seriously, if you see somebody wielding such a ridiculous weapon and not covered in scars or missing any limbs, either he's a Sith-wannabe loonie with zero experience or a top-tier actual Badass. Fortunately, Maul is a Badass.
  • Awesome McCoolname: All Sith Lords come with this, but Maul especially since it seems to be his birth name.
  • Ax Crazy: His defeat at Obi-Wan's hands turned him batshit insane: when Savage finds him, he's a mood-swinging, babbling lunatic constantly talking and arguing with himself when he isn't acting like a feral animal. Even when Mother Talzin gives him a new set of legs and heals his mind, his hatred for Obi-Wan is so bad that it causes him to slaughter an entire village, children and all, just to get the guy's attention among other things.
  • Badass: He's no Darth Vader, but he's still not a guy you'd want to trifle with. Just ask poor Qui-Gon.
    • One-Man Army: Wiped an entire crime syndicate clean off the galactic map days before The Phantom Menace in the Expanded Universe.
  • Bald of Evil
  • Berserk Button: Just the mere thought of Obi-Wan is enough to send him into a screaming rage.
  • Bigger Bad: Of Solo, where the ending reveals that he's Dryden Vos' superior.
  • Black Cloak
  • Blood Knight: Maul is a bloodthirsty sadist who loves a good fight: his expression when he jumps into a fight between three Inquisitors and three Jedi in Rebels just screams "Kid in a candy store".
  • Body Horror: When Savage finds him in Clone Wars, Maul is not only horribly malnourished, but forced to scuttle around on makeshift metal spider-legs that are barely held together with the Force. When Mother Talzin gives him new legs, it gets worse because they're fused directly to his spine and and super-heated on top of that.
  • Cast the Expert: Played by Ray Park, who was a martial arts expert and stunt man, not an actor (though he became one following this movie). This is one of the reasons that he had virtually no lines. His lines were dubbed by Peter Serafinowicz, as well as Sam Witwer during his appearance in Solo.
  • The Dark Side: What else would you expect from a Sith Lord?
  • Disney Villain Death: Gets punted down a hole after Obi-Wan cuts him in half.
    • Disney Death: ...Only to survive by grabbing a duct, crawling through it, and go into hiding.
  • Double Weapon: His (at the time) unique double-bladed lightsaber, which would open the floodgates for other characters wielding these in both canon and the expanded universe.
  • The Dragon: To Darth Sidious in Episode I.
  • Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He gets along well with his brother Savage, who he tutors as his own Sith apprentice. He shows concern for his welfare multiple times, and is devastated when Palpatine kills him. Him trying to seduce Ezra to the Dark Side in Rebels is so he can have him fill the void that Savage's death left behind.
    • He also loves Mother Talzin as well. If you thought his reaction to Savage's death was heartbreaking enough, it's got nothing on how he reacted to Grievous killing her.
  • Everybody Was Kung-Fu Fighting: The first warrior in the Star Wars franchise to openly utilize martial arts as opposed to swordsmanship alone.
  • Half-Human Hybrid: Half-human-half-Zabrak, though usually called a full Zabrak.
  • Half the Man He Used To Be: Complete with Disney Villain Death.
  • Horned Humanoid
  • Hot-Blooded: By virtue of his facial expressions and body language alone. He at least tries to hide this in Clone Wars, but it doesn't take long for his bad temper and love of violence to rear their ugly heads.
  • Implacable Man: Cutting him in half wasn't enough to kill him, and he'd go on to survive multiple near-death experiences until finally meeting his end at Obi-Wan's hands in Rebels.
  • Meaningful Name: Look up the definition of the word 'Maul'. Yeah, it's one of those Names to Run Away From Really Fast. It also runs in the family, since his brothers are named Savage and Feral respectively.
  • My Master, Right or Wrong: Unlike most Sith apprentices, who usually seem to just put up with their masters until they can finally betray them, Darth Maul was completely loyal to Darth Sidious. In fact, so loyal, that this loyalty almost cost him in regards to passing a Sith Initiation Test, to the extent that Palpatine had to motivate Maul by lying about cultivating an apprentice (or at least a half-truth) to get him to have enough anger to even nearly kill his master.
  • Obviously Evil: Seriously, look at him.
  • Pet the Dog: His reappearance in The Clone Wars Season 4 shows that despite his immeasurable cruelty, he truly loves his brother Savage and shows genuine concern for him anytime he's hurt.
  • Psychic Powers: Uses the Force to push and choke his opponents like most Sith.
  • Psycho Supporter: See My Master, Right or Wrong above.
  • The Quiet One: In The Phantom Menace. He's a lot more talkative just about everywhere else.
  • Say My Name: "KENOBIIIIIIIIIIII!"
  • Unwitting Pawn: Like Count Dooku, Darth Maul was only a useful placeholder for the spot of Palpatine's apprentice while he was preparing Anakin for the role. If he hadn't been killed by Obi Wan, Palpatine would still have found a way to off him eventually.
  • Weapon of Choice: Red double-bladed lightsaber.
  • White Mask of Doom: In early concept art, at least.
  • You Have Failed Me...: This is the reason why he avoided making contact with his master after he lost his legs and fled Naboo, as he feared that Sidious would kill him (or worse) if he returned having failed his mission. His fears would be realized once Palpatine cornered him and Savage on Mandalore.

Count Dooku/Darth Tyrannus

Played by: Christopher Lee (Ep.II-III)

A fallen Jedi who left the Order over philosophical issues, Dooku turned up on the side of the Separatists. What nobody knew, at least for a while, was that he was also the other member of the Sith, apprenticed to Darth Sidious. He gives Yoda a run for his money in a lightsaber duel, which makes his Anticlimax Boss appearance in Episode III somewhat disappointing. Played by the legendary Christopher Lee.

  • Actor Allusion: What do you think "Count" stands for?
  • Aristocrats Are Evil
  • Awesome McCoolname: "Darth Tyranus". All Sith Lords come with this.
  • Badass Grandpa
  • Beard of Evil
  • Big Bad: Subverted. Similar to Vader, he's the most prominent villain in Episode II, but is subservient to Darth Sidious. Inverted in that he is generally perceived to be this by the Jedi and the galaxy at large, and on a smaller scale he does occasionally act without consulting Sidious, sometimes in plots to betray him.
  • Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Betrayed the Jedi Order for the Sith, and proceeded to wage a campaign of murder and assassination against them all, despite many of them being his close friends. In the EU, regardless of the version, he ultimately betrays his apprentice Asajj Ventress, and as per Sith tradition is conspiring against his master Sidious (which doesn't work out). The entire Separatist movement itself is basically one giant con too.
  • Cool Sword: The curved-hilt lightsaber allows for a more fencing-like fighting style and is designed to have an advantage in saberfights (due to the unique angles) at the expense of being harder to use to block blaster bolts.
  • The Dark Side
  • Depending on the Writer: His death. In ROTS, although he does have some fear when he learns of Palpatine's betrayal, he nonetheless remained Defiant to the End right up until Anakin beheads him. In the novelization, however, he panics are realizing Sidious is going to let him die and starts pleading for mercy.
    • According to Christopher Lee, the novelization's take was actually originally going to be in the film, but he had convinced Lucas to change it, as he felt that Dooku would not have begged for his life like a coward.
  • The Dragon
  • Evil Brit: Well, he's played by a Brit.
  • Evil Sounds Deep: It's Christopher Lee, what did you expect?
  • Fallen Hero
  • Hero-Killer: As shown by the Curb Stomp Battle he dishes out in the second film.
  • Interim Villain: Mostly as part of Sidious' Xanatos Gambit. Details can be found on the page itself.
  • Master Swordsman: Is able to take down both Obi-Wan and Anakin, and holds his own against Yoda.
    • Not to mention being able to train General Grievous into such a powerful swordsman that he was able to slay Jedi in single combat without the Force.
  • Meaningful Name: Christopher Lee points out in an interview with the Star Wars monthly magazine that "Dooku" is a homonym for the Japanese word doku, which literally means "venom."
  • Off with His Head: After defeating him, Anakin decapitates him scissors-style at Palpatine's urging.
  • The Paragon Always Rebels: Used to be one of the Order's finest Knights.
  • Shock and Awe
  • Unwitting Pawn: To Palpatine.
  • Uriah Gambit: Falls hard in the early part of Revenge of the Sith'.
  • Weapon of Choice: A curved-hilt red lightsaber.
  • We Hardly Knew Ye: For being such an important figure in the Clone Wars, he gets, at most, 30 minutes of total screen time in a saga exceeding 13 hours in length, and none of the "political idealist" persona is elaborated upon. Averted in the EU where, in stories set in this era, he is a fully fleshed out character with the appropriate number of scenes.
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist: In the EU, its clearer. In AOTC, none of this is actually shown, as he spends his choice few scenes plotting how to best extort the Republic for...something, presiding over a flashy execution, and fighting Jedi. His political beliefs, his ultimate goals, etc. are given zero elaboration. Even his reasons for joining the Sith are never actually explained within the films themselves.
  • Villainous Breakdown: Has a brief one after Anakin chops off his hands and he realizes that Sidious wants him dead. Then he gets beheaded.
  • Villain with Good Publicity: In the EU at least, and briefly in Attack of the Clone as far as his former fellow Jedi are concerned; in the eyes of many, on both sides of the conflict, Dooku is a charismatic idealist crusading against the very real corruption endemic in the Republic, and all the more overtly villainous characters in the Separatist movement are simply the allies he's stuck with, and the atrocities they commit are done without his approval. Neither is true, of course; although its implied he is against the corruption his idea to weed it out is to set up a sprawling galactic dictatorship, and far from disapproving of those atrocities he usually instigates them, and is more than happy to blame them on the Republic.
  • We Could Have Avoided All This: Implied by his reaction shortly after defeating Obi-Wan and Anakin, but before facing Yoda. Upon their defeat, he sighs in a somewhat disappointed manner.
  • You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: In Revenge of the Sith.

Darth Vader

For Darth Vader's character information, please click here.


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