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In the fictional Star Wars universe, the Sith are a group of warrior priests who follow the dark side of The Force. Members of the Sith often adopt names that are preceded by "Darth".
Spoiler warning: Plot or ending details follow.
According to Star Wars Expanded Universe fiction, the Sith Order, or cult, was first established when dissident Jedi discovered that true power was achieved not through pensive meditation, as taught by their Jedi masters, but through emotion. The tension between the Jedi and these dissident Dark Jedi grew until conflict erupted, thousands of years before the original Star Wars Trilogy. This conflict, called the Great Schism, led to the Dark Jedi being banished by the Republic. These outcasts found a new home on the distant planet of Korriban, a desolate world inhabitated by the relatively primitive Sith people. However, the Force flowed strongly with these Sith, and the Dark Jedi saw this as an opportunity. Using their training in the Force, the Dark Jedi amazed the Sith and elevated themselves to god-like status on Korriban, ruling the Sith people. It is from this rise to power that the title Dark Lord of the Sith was first conceived. As years passed, and interbreeding occurred between the Dark Jedi and the Sith, the term Sith came to mean not only the original inhabitants of Korriban, but also their Dark Jedi masters.
5,000 years BBY, the Republic rediscovered the Sith and the Great Hyperspace War began. Though it ended with Dark Lord of the Sith Naga Sadow in suspended animation on Yavin 4, the Sith Empire survived, only to collapse later due to infighting. Centuries later, a Jedi Knight named Freedon Nadd fell to the dark side. He awakened Naga Sadow, who trained him in the ways of the Sith. Though Sadow's definite fate is not known, it is believed he perished at his pupil's hand. Freedon Nadd used his newfound powers to conquer the Onderon System, turning it into a place of evil. Four hundred years after his death, the Jedi Exar Kun sought out his tomb, a place strong in the dark side. Nadd's spirit materialized and corrupted Kun, but was eventually destroyed by his student. Exar Kun was pronounced the new Dark Lord of the Sith by the ghost of ancient Dark Lord Marka Ragnos. As his first apprentice he took another fallen Jedi, Ulic Qel-Droma, and the first Great Sith War began.
Although several more Jedi turned to the dark side and many more were killed, Exar Kun was finally defeated when Ulic realized the error of his ways and led Republic forces to Kun's base on Yavin 4. Using the drained life energies of his Massassi warriors, Kun shed his physical body and imprisoned his spirit within the walls of Yavin 4's Massassi temples. His ghost, driven half-mad by millennia of isolation, was eventually destroyed by Luke Skywalker's students.
Less than four decades later, the Jedi Revan and Malak, heroes of the Mandalorian Wars, fell to the dark side and took the reins of the remnants of Kun's Empire. Using the ancient Rakatan Star Forge factory, they built a massive war fleet and began attacking the Republic. Thus began the second Sith War, one that proved even more devastating than Kun's as more Jedi fell to the dark side, were killed in battle, or were murdered by Sith assassins. Due to an attempted coup by Malak, however, Revan's mind was destroyed and he was re-trained in the ways of the Jedi. Leading a frontal assault on the Star Forge, Revan battled his way through the Sith's droid army and legions of Sith and Dark Jedi. After redeeming Malak's apprentice, Bastila Shan, he slew Malak himself in a final confrontation between the old friends, allowing the Republic to destroy the Star Forge and win the day.
2,000 years BBY, yet another Jedi fell to the dark side and formed a new Sith Order. The final Sith War lasted for a millennium, and in its course the Sith were very nearly destroyed again. They reformed under the leadership of Lord Kaan. To appease his disheartened minions, Kaan abandoned the millennia-old tradition of one ruling Dark Lord and granted the title to a good number of his followers, though very few of them deserved it. The war came to a head in the Battle of Ruusan, in which Lord Hoth and the Army of Light clashed with Lord Kaan and the Brotherhood of Darkness for the last time. In the end, a deranged Kaan activated a thought bomb, an ancient Sith technique that sapped the life forces of all in the vicinity. Both armies were all but destroyed, and only one Sith Lord survived: Darth Bane. To guard against the Sith self-destructing or losing sight of their "ideals" again, Bane took only one apprentice and started the one-master-one-apprentice tradition. He also restarted the tradition of passing the name "Darth" to each of his successors, a trend which appears to have originated with Dark Revan millennia before. Bane's reformed Sith Order went into hiding, though they were soon discovered by the Jedi and believed to be destroyed. They survived, of course, and would not resurface for almost one thousand years, with the depredations of Darth Sidious and Darth Maul that began shortly before the Battle of Naboo.
When Palpatine and Darth Vader attempt to corrupt Luke Skywalker, each have their own plans for the future. Vader desired to kill the Emperor and rule the galaxy with his son, but Palpatine wished to replace Vader with the boy. Neither goal was successful, and it appeared that the Sith had finally come to an end when the second Death Star exploded.
Unfortunately, this turned out to not be the case. Though Jedi have continued to fall into darkness since then, none have proved as great a threat as that posed by the newest Sith Order. Lumiya, a former Emperor's Hand and Darth Vader's apprentice, became Dark Lady of the Sith upon her master's death at Endor. She trained two apprentices: Flint, who was redeemed by Luke Skywalker, and Carnor Jax, a treacherous Sovereign Protector who was killed by Palpatine loyalist Kir Kanos.
The video game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic revealed information about the Sith'ari, a prophesied saviour of the Sith Order.
The Sith'ari was a perfect being who would rise to power and bring balance to the Force. According to prophecy, the Sith'ari would rise up and destroy the Sith, but in the process would return to lead the Sith and make them stronger than ever before, a striking parallel to the Chosen One of Jedi legend, though it is most likely that the Sith'ari and Chosen One are one and the same.
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