Sith Lord

Warning: The following parameters in the infobox are unrecognized: individuals, era

"Perhaps your way lies with the Sith... and the heart of their darkness. To recognize what strength is, and bring that strength to those that follow you... and those that defy you. The way of a Sith Lord."

―Kreia^[src]

Sith Lord was a title that was conferred on members of various Sith Orders who had both considerable knowledge of and strength in the dark side.

Revan's Sith Empire granted this title to its high ranking members, with the Dark Lord of the Sith as the most powerful and their leader, however, the majority of the dark sided users were known as Dark Jedi.

Vitiate's Sith Empire granted this title to mid-ranking Sith members, usually those who had passed their apprenticeships and were not officially controlled by other Lords. Lords of the Sith ranked above Overseers and below Darths.

In both Revan's and Vitiate's Sith Empires, those who aspired to become a Sith Lord had to train at the Korriban's Sith Academy and pass several brutal trials that would test their prowess and strength in the dark side, if they succeeded, they were admitted in the Order as a new Sith Lord.

The New Sith under Darth Ruin was in power during the Dark Ages of the Jedi. Sith Lords then stalked the galaxy, until the organization eventually fell to infighting, and broke into individual Sith Lords.

Lord Kaan's The Brotherhood of Darkness gave all Sith Lords nominal equal status among the Sith. This strategy was created to prevent the Sith from killing each other, which had been the natural order of the dark side up until the formation of the Brotherhood.

At the end of the first war between the Jedi and Sith, Bane saw this as a violation of the natural order of the Sith and cleansed the Order by destroying Lord Kaan's Brotherhood and supplanting it with his own Rule of Two; two Sith, one master to embody the power and one to crave it. In most cases, the apprentice was trained until he or she was strong enough in the Force to kill his or her master.

After the Galactic Civil War, Darth Krayt abandoned the Rule of Two to rebuild the Sith, thus multiplying the population of the Sith Lords hugely, all under the rule of Darth Krayt. They then attacked the Empire after the Sith–Imperial War and ruled the galaxy.

The term "Sith Lord" generally encompassed members of both sexes, although some female Sith such as Lumiya, Tahiri Veila, Olaris Rhea and Vestara Khai were styled Sith Lady.

Originally, "Sith Lord" referred to a high-ranking member of the Sith race's society. As the Sith civilization progressed, many claimed the title and battled against each other to earn the superior title of Sith'ari: the Sith Overlord; Adas and Dathka Graush were such Overlords.

Behind the scenes

In Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords, the Sith Lord is one of the six prestige character classes which the player character can select after reaching Level 15, if he or she is leaning toward the dark side, serving as the Force-centered specialization.

A Sith Lord named Darth Homiiz was planned to appear in Dark Horse's comic Jedi: Yoda but was cut from the final version.