While most associate the Sith Darth Sidious and the fallen Jedi of ancient days, originally the Sith were a species. The Sith pureblood race of beings was usually (though not always) Force sensitive. Sith purebloods already had an Empire when the cast out Jedi followers of the dark side happened upon them and conquered. Soon the name was associated with their Empire, and the teachings that were handed down.
Physical Characteristics of a Sith Pureblood
As a people they were red skinned, with facial caruncles, but otherwise humanoid in appearance. Yellow to red eyes, and all shades between were common in them, based on genetics rather than evidence of a shift to the Dark Side. They had a subgroup, the warriors known as the Massassi. These were more brutish in appearance as well as behavior. They were often force sensitive.
Sith as a Culture
It is unknown what the culture of the Sith pureblood was before the fallen Jedi came along. But we do know they had been united under a king and must’ve been powerful in their own right. Few had been able to resist the Rakata. Afterward, they were separated into castes, including the ruling, engineering, warrior and of course the Massassi.
Famous Sith Purebloods
- Seknos, Jedaii, who fought in the war with the Rakata
- King Adas, unified the Sith nations on Korriban
- Marka Ragnos, contender for the Sith throne
- Naga Sadow, contender for the Sith throne, invader of the Republic
- Vitiate, the Sith Emperor
- Scourge, Emperor’s Hand
- Vowrawn, Member of the Dark Council.
History of the Sith Empire
At one point, a tho yor sent by the kwa visited their world, taking some of their number to Tython, a sanctuary from the Rakata’s Infinite Empire. These became Jedaii. Some of them fought in the invasion against the Rakata. At this time the Jedaii discovered ‘Force sabers’ though at the time they were only able to be powered by channeling the dark side.
Meanwhile, on Korriban, King Adas united the nations of the Sith people. When the Rakata invaded, they were able to fend them off and even gain holocron technology. The Sith moved the capital of the Empire to Ziost. The culture of those left behind became a caste system including leaders, engineers and slaves. There were many Sith leaders but only one could be Dark Lord at a time.
The Jedi cast out the dark Jedi after the hundred year war, among them, Ajunta Pall, and these in turn were powerful enough to conquer the Sith empire. The Sith people were strong and were able to use primitive illusion and alchemy to alter creatures. It was not enough against those who had survived the Hundred Year war with the Jedi. Only a few of fallen returned to the Republic in a failed second shot at the Jedi. These revealed the story of the conquest. But it was soon forgotten or relegated to legend.
When the fallen Jedi found them and conquered them, their bloodlines intermingled. It was more difficult to sort who was pure Sith from who was not. When the Sith were forced to flee their Empire after Naga Sadow brought the Republic and Jedi down on them, they seemed to vanish from the galaxy.
The next Massassi were not seen until Exar Kun discovered the descendents of Naga Sadow’s allies on Yavin 4. These he sacrificed in order to gain immortality as the Jedi en masse came to stop his reign of terror on the galaxy. His effort was not entirely successful, as he found his spirit chained to the temples of the jungle moon.
When the Empire that Naga Sadow left behind re-invaded the Republic, many Sith purebloods were still amongst them. Their was acrimony among some, feeling the bloodline was becoming too watered down. There was also great risk from the Jedi Revan, who on escaping his hundreds of years imprisonement wanted to release a weapon that targeted specifically Sith genes.
The pureblood Sith at this time were naturally mostly part of the Sith Empire. Many were Force users, inquisitors or warriors. To a lesser extent some were military, lacking sufficient Force talent to be candidates for Korriban. But there were rare cases of a Sith Pureblood who turned to the light side and joined the Jedi.
By the time of Darth Bane, much less that of Palpatine, no sign was seen of these Sith Purebloods. What became of them in the meantime no one knows. There was a single creature spotted in the great temple of Yavin 4 during the Rebellion, which may have been an alchemically altered one, or at least one of their creatures. This creature was lured to a ship where it fled, seeking others of it’s kind. The nearest anyone came of definite sign of the Sith pureblodds, Anakin Solo, who found the spirits of the children of the Massassi trapped in a golden globe on Yavin 4.
Does this mean the Sith pureblood are extinct? Not necessarily. It is possible, that somewhere in the unknown regions a colony of them might yet exist.
Sources:
- Darn of the Jedi:
- Force Storm
- Prisoner of Bogan
- Force War
- Tales of the Jedi:
- Golden Age of the Sith
- Fall of the Sith Empire
- Dark Lords of the Sith
- The Sith War
- Knights of the Old Republic (History of Ajunta Pall here)
- Star Wars the Old Republic – in addition to the stories, you can play as a Sith Pureblood in any story on either side.
- Classic Star Wars the Rebel Storm (the creature in the Rebel base)
- Junior Jedi Knights: The Golden Globe by Rebecca Moesta
- The Essential Guide to the Force Jedi VS Sith by Ryder Windham
