Ten Ton Hammer - Taking MMO Gamers to the Next Level!

ByCody “Micajah” Bye, Managing Editor

In the eyes of many, the 1970s was really the decade that introduced movie goers to truly menacing silver screen villains. From the introduction of the Alien to the dark and gritty Godfather movies to the horrendously creepy great white shark in Jaws to the head-spinning Satan child in the Exorcist, the era was stuffed with creatures and characters that made the spine tingle.

However, the cream of the crop didn’t hit the screen until 1977 when George Lucas' death's head adorned, black caped villain known as Darth Vader strode onto movie theatre’s everywhere through the blasted door of a Correlian Corvette. Within moments, Vader had already dispatched a rebel trooper using nothing but his bare hand, unceremoniously tossing him into a bulkhead. Since the conclusion of the Star Wars trilogy, movie critics have placed Darth Vader in the very top echelons of movie villains, and rightfully so. Few villains had ever been as ruthless and terrifying as Darth Vader - and even fewer with such a fear-inducing voice - and it resonated with audiences around the world.

Darth Sidious and Darth Vader

Yet for those individuals interested in Star Wars lore and history, Darth Vader is only one of many dastardly characters that have emerged over the years. All in all, a vast number of these vile antagonists have come from the ranks of the Sith, an organization (at least in the years of the Knights of the Old Republic and beyond) that opposes the Jedi Knights in every philosophical method they can. Generally displayed as power hungry, greedy, and inexplicably evil, the Sith are notorious for committing atrocities of the grandest scale simply to amass more power and wealth for their selfish goals. If there was ever an antithesis to the Jedi Knights, the Sith are often assumed to be the worst of the worst.

As I discussed in my original Knights of the Old Republic Online editorial, I've heard numerous individuals voicing concerns about the various factions in Bioware’s upcoming game and how players will interact with them, specifically the place of the Sith.  I often hear questions like: Will there be more than one Sith in KOTOR Online? What kind of background does the Sith organization have? Will players be able to play as Sith? Are the Sith always evil?

Unlike the Jedi Knights, the Sith are even more misunderstood. Due to their changing representations and often evil alignments - especially in the Lucas movies - the Sith remain a fairly mysterious element of Star Wars for most individuals. Hopefully my research and explanations will help explain the Sith from the era of the Knights of the Old Republic. These Sith are numerous, powerful, and ready to take on the Jedi Knights and the Galactic Republic whenever they get the chance.

The Sith in Knights of the Old Republic


Of all the expanded universe materials – novels, comic books, and video games – the most complex background in the Star Wars annals belongs to the Sith. Despite what many fans may believe, the term “Sith” wasn’t originally associated with the passionate and greedy beings that we see in Lucas’ sextet of Star Wars movies. On the contrary, the Sith were originally a species of aliens that had relatively strong ties with the Force. The Sith race practiced “magic” but did not adhere to the sort of philosophical stoicism that the Jedi practiced.

The Sith Triumvirate

During this period – and still later on in the Star Wars timeline – the fall of a Jedi (often becoming a Dark Jedi) did not mean that the Dark Jedi was a Sith. In fact, most Dark Jedi were simply exiled from the Jedi Order, and it was these exiled Dark Jedi that found their way to the Sith home planet and established themselves as “Dark Lords of the Sith”. Over the centuries, Sith and Dark Jedi interbred, thus creating an inseparable use of the term Sith to describe a Dark Side wielding Force user.

Eventually these Sith Lords would expand their influence to form the Sith Empire, which would grow to rival the size of the Jedi Knights and the Galactic Republic. It’s from this “Sith Empire” where we find the beginnings of the Sith Lords and their desire to absorb the universe underneath their iron fists.

However, not all Sith are alike in what they desire. Although all Sith are driven by their emotions – making them the opposite of the Jedi in this regard – the emotions the Sith can draw from can be either positive or negative. Despite the negative emotions often winning out within the heart of many Sith, some Fallen Jedi (like Kyp Durron or Anakin Skywalker for example) try to use the power of the Dark Side to aid in the cause of a particular cause or noble effort.

At the very core of the Sith lies a fundamental flaw that has kept the various Sith Empires and coalitions from truly gaining a foothold in the Star Wars universe. The Sith are independent and no one philosophical goal determines the role of any Sith. In fact, most Sith Lords are incredibly independent of each other. Although individuality is not uncommon in the Jedi Knights, their dispassionate stance towards life and existence lends them a cool head and a clear mind when decisions are made. The opposite is true of the Sith, and without a truly powerful stranglehold, most Sith cannot stay in cooperation long enough to ever wage a lengthy war against competing forces.

During the era of the Knights of the Old Republic, the Sith had reached a sort of balance with the Jedi forces. Both sets of organization boasted incredibly large numbers, and each of their practices in the Force drew in hundreds (if not thousands) of worthy participants. Although we may only see a few Jedi Knights and Sith Lords with the power of individuals like Revan, Malak, Traya, Nihilus, and the Jedi Exile, there are still thousands of other middling Force practitioners across hundreds of planets.  

Naga Sadow, Darth Sidious, and Darth Bane

Unlike the Sith that we see in Lucas’ movies, these Sith are not held to the “Rule of Two”. In fact, the Sith in the era of KOTOR are almost notorious for creating enormous armies of Force wielding adepts that strive to cut through the forces of good. The “Rule of Two” (only one master and one apprentice at all times) only comes into play around 1,000 BBY with the survival of Darth Bane during a massive Sith assault. He institutes the “Rule of Two” to insure that the Sith remain a part of the universe and don’t fall prey to complete extermination.

The True Sith

As a different point of reference, in Obsidian Entertainment’s Knights of the Old Republic II (which takes place just five years after the events of the first game) one of the Sith characters mentions the existence of the “True Sith” that exist in the Unknown Regions and have been there for tens of thousands of years. According to the character Darth Traya, the True Sith were around even before the first Sith Empire (which has been tabbed as being around 6,900 years before the battle of Yavin [BBY]) and one particular article even believes that the True Sith could be remnants of the ancient Sith race that were transported far beyond the reaches of common galactic influence. 

For Bioware, this could really be an easy stepping stone for character to launch into the KOTOR MMO. With a bevy of uncharted planets in the Unknown Regions, along with a whole culture of “True Sith” to be discovered and battled, this could prove to be the best way to integrate a PvE experience into the KOTOR MMO. With the True Sith being the “middle ground” opponent for both the Sith and the Jedi Knights to fight, it’d make a solid start to any story involving both the Sith and the Jedi Knights.

Bioware’s Decisions

For the most part, Bioware has a fairly clean slate with which to create the Sith in their KOTOR MMO. In fact, just after the events of Knights of the Old Republic II, there’s barely any lore with which to draw any sort of conclusions on the conceived direction  of the Sith forces in Bioware’s game.

However, a few things can potentially be assumed. Like most of the Sith in this era, players will probably be able to start as a Sith apprentice or possibly train on the Sith homeworld of Korriban. Along with this, both the Sith and the Jedi of this time period will probably be able to find various holocrons (repositories of ancient knowledge) to help bolster their abilities, attributes, and skills.

One of the most powerful Sith (and my personal favorite Star Wars character), Exar Kun.

I also wouldn’t be surprised to see some of the original Sith or Massassi races coming into play in the upcoming Bioware game. As a species, the Sith and Massassi have had little written about them, so Bioware again has all the options when deciding what to do with their existence.

However, Bioware certainly could opt to make the Sith a non-playable faction or simply take them out of their game altogether. Again, during the time period after KOTOR 2, many Star Wars scholars have noted that there was a large purging of the Sith by the Jedi Knights and other “wholesome” factions along with a Sith civil war. While this will probably prove untrue, that possibility does exist.

That said, it really wouldn’t be a true Star Wars KOTOR era game without the existence of the Sith as a potentially playable faction. Thankfully, Bioware has all the cards in their hand when it comes to dealing with the Sith, and I hope that they can create a game that truly explores the nature of this passionate warrior priests.

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To check out the first KOTOR Editorial on the Jedi Knights, click here!