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EspañolDARK SIDE (STAR WARS)
The 'dark side of the Force' is a prominent concept in the ''Star Wars'' universe. It is introduced in '', and is consistently mentioned in all subsequent ''Star Wars'' fiction.
The dark side is portrayed as a part of the Force, the mystical power used by the Jedi. In the first three films, it is used to represent the general concept of evil. In the prequel films, however, it is specified that, while the dark side can overtake anybody, it is used especially by the Sith, the Jedi's ancient enemies.
As explained by several characters, people who use the dark side draw power from raw emotions, both negative and positive. Where the light side is associated with creation and life, the dark side is associated with death and destruction.
History
Original trilogy
The dark side is first mentioned in ''Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope'' as Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi is explaining the Force to Luke Skywalker. When speaking of his former pupil, Darth Vader, Kenobi says "Vader was seduced by the dark side of the Force." (Unbeknown to Luke, Vader is in fact his father, the former Anakin Skywalker.)
'' elaborates on the dark side's power: Yoda tells Luke that fear and anger will pull him to the dark side, and that is no turning back from a dark path; Vader, meanwhile, entreats Luke to "know the power of the dark side" and become his apprentice.
In '', Luke comes perilously close to succumbing to the dark side as Emperor Palpatine (himself a Sith Lord) plays on his fear for his friends to release his anger, kill Vader, and take his place as Palpatine's Sith apprentice. At the last minute, however, Luke controls himself and renounces the dark side. Moments later, Vader kills Palpatine, dying in the attempt.
In the , Luke realizes that it is not Vader or Palpatine he hates, but the ''darkness'' inside them.
Prequel trilogy
The prequel films explain that the Jedi see ''all'' strong emotion — both positive and negative — as a path to the dark side. In '', Yoda explains to a young Anakin Skywalker that his fear for his mother, Shmi, could lead him to the dark side; he says "Fear leads to anger; anger leads to hate; hate leads to suffering."
In '', a teenaged Anakin Skywalker begins to feel the pull of the dark side when he falls in love with Padmé Amidala; the Jedi Code forbids such strong emotional attachment as "the shadow of greed". His emotional conflict worsens when his mother is killed by Tusken Raiders, and he slaughters the entire tribe in a blind rage.
In '', Palpatine manipulates Anakin's fear that Padmé, by now his secret wife, will die in childbirth to persuade him into becoming his Sith apprentice. Palpatine first tempts Anakin by challenging the dogmatic view of the world he had learned in the Jedi Temple ("'Good' is a point of view.") When Palpatine promises that the dark side can prevent death, Anakin helps the Sith Lord massacre the Jedi and destroy the Galactic Republic. Palpatine's revelation to Vader that Padmé had died as a result of his anger completes the former Jedi's journey to the dark side.
Expanded Universe
In the ''Star Wars'' Expanded Universe of novels, comic books, and video games, the concept of the dark side is expanded upon even further into areas largely untouched by the films. The EU introduces concepts of moral relativism into the concept of the Force: many novels and video games feature Dark and Gray Jedi characters who are neither Jedi or Sith completely, but rather warriors who see the Force as a means to an end, and are willing to do things the Jedi consider evil if it serves a greater good. The novel '', meanwhile, introduces the idea that ''is'' no dark or light side of the Force, but simply the Force as a whole, good and bad.
In the video game '', the Dark Jedi Desaan explains his embrace of the dark side by saying the Force is meant to be used as a "weapon to empower the worthy", the implication being that might makes right.
Sith Empire
The Sith took their name from the Sith species that they had conquered and through their ruthlessness and hatred founded the Sith Empire. These new Sith ruled a large empire—even though they were cut off from the rest of the galaxy until the Great Hyperspace War. Their empire lasted through for many centuries only to fall during the Old Sith Wars, where they were all but destroyed. After the war subsided the Jedi believed the Sith to be extinct, but later it was learned that the Sith had only been debilitated and adopted a more secretive way of life.
The effects of the Sith Empire could be seen in and on the planet Korriban, which was filled with the energies from the dark side of the Force. Animals such as the terentateks, who were distorted from the powerful presence of the dark side, roamed the caverns and caves feeding on the Force sensitives that came across them. There was also the Valley of the Dark Lords (a graveyard that reverberated with dark side energy) full of caverns and tombs which once possessed powerful Sith artifacts. There the Sith even appeared as apparitions on occasion; Ajunta Pall inhabited his tomb as a ghost until he was set to peace by the relocation of a sword imbued with the dark side of the Force.
Rule of Two
In the novel ''Path of Destruction'', Darth Bane discovered a Sith holocron of Revan, a long dead Dark Lord and founder of a Sith Empire. He studies it and comes to believe that the Sith can not exist as allies with each other and so established the rule of two, making two simultaneous Dark Lords of the Sith. He eliminated the practice of having vast numbers of Sith at the same time and concentrated the dark side of the Force within two individuals: a master and an apprentice.
Return of the Sith
A millennium before the establishment of the Galactic Empire, the Sith disappeared from the knowledge of the galaxy until the Battle of Naboo, where the Sith apprentice Darth Maul killed Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn. It was because of this rule that Darth Maul's master, Darth Sidious, was able to worm his way into a position of great influence and power, thereby ultimately overthrowing the Republic to create the Galactic Empire. To the advantage of the Sith, the Jedi had grown complacent and vulnerable to the sort of warfare the Sith were capable of making, and in the timeframe of thirteen years, the Sith were able to once more rule the galaxy.
Nature of the dark side
Overview
The dark side of the Force was aligned with passionate emotions such as fear, hatred, greed, desire, and anger. This sometimes led to the belief that the light side was passive, as it favored contemplation and careful action, for the dark side was known to act quickly and sometimes recklessly upon emotions and impulses.
The dark side was also used mainly for selfish purposes, although many dark-siders saw the need to justify their actions (at least to themselves). This need to justify themselves is what led most dark-siders to their eventual fate. One of the most notable was Anakin Skywalker, who joined the dark side to save his wife, at the expense of the Jedi Order. The dark side is extremely addicting, those who use it's power will grow to savor it more and more. Some Sith believed they were superior to the Jedi, but in truth both the light and dark sides are equals, the dark side is only an easier path and not a stronger one.
Like the light side, the dark side was often treated as though a semi-sentient entity with purposeful designs. However, this interpretation was more likely to be accepted by Jedi than Sith as the latter's doctrines held themselves to exert influence rather than experience it, possibly ignorant of their own possession by it.
It has been theorized by some that there is no such thing as the dark side, only malevolent intent in the user since most dark side users already had negative intentions in their being or fell victim to the temptations of absolute power and domination. The Jedi Master Yoda was perhaps the most fervent Jedi opponent of this philosophy, while Luke Skywalker comparatively came to view the merits of the Potentium Theory in the years following the Yuuzhan Vong War.
The Code of the Sith
: ''Peace is a lie, there is only passion.''
: ''Through passion, I gain strength.''
: ''Through strength, I gain power.''
: ''Through power, I gain victory.''
: ''Through victory, my chains are broken.''
: ''The Force shall free me.''
: —The Sith Code
The meaning behind the words to the code of the Sith are, for the most part, obvious. They state that through harnessing strong emotions, the Sith can gain power with the Force. This power grants them even more tangible power, like dominance and secular wealth. With the freedom of controlling their emotions, power with the Force and secular power combined, they can finally aspire to fulfill their ultimate goal: "Through victory my chains are broken. The Force shall free me" referring to the image of the Sith'ari, which is free of all restriction - a being who has achieved perfect strength, perfect power and a perfect destiny.
Fear of the dark side
''Obi-Wan Kenobi'': "You have allowed this Dark Lord to twist your mind until now… until now, you have become the very thing you swore to destroy."
''Darth Vader'':"Don't lecture me, Obi-Wan! I see through the lies of the Jedi. I do not fear the dark side as you do. I have brought peace, freedom, justice and security to my new Empire!"
''Obi-Wan'': "''Your'' new Empire?"
-- ''Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith''
The Jedi Order disagreed so strongly with the purpose of the dark side of the Force that they abolished anything possibly related to the dark side. After the Ruusan Reformation, the order placed many limitations on Jedi to protect order members from temptation by dark side influences. The Jedi Order forbade members romantic attachments, relationships with their families, and any type of action based on anger. These limits came from a logical reasoning; Jedi who had deep personal attachments with loved ones also had motivation to use the power of the Force selfishly for protection, personal enrichment, and/or the pursuit of more power. Anakin Skywalker, for a large part, fell to the dark side because Chancellor Palpatine's knowledge of his secret marriage to Padmé Amidala provided the Chancellor a vulnerable opening to encourage Anakin to pursue those selfish motivations.
More liberal members of the Order considered the lengths the Order went to eliminate personal attachments extreme. When Luke Skywalker established the New Jedi Order, he disbanded many of the limitations of the code, including the rules against marriage and age limits. More importantly he allowed the new Jedi, especially the young Padawans, to still know and interact with their families. Skywalker's decision signified a return to the older Jedi teachings from before the Reformation, when Jedi were allowed to draw upon their positive emotions in fighting the dark side.
Corruption of the dark side
The path of the dark side is mentally and sometimes physically corruptive. As use of the dark side of the Force leads to deeper immersion in it, this malevolent power takes its toll on the body of a dark side practitioner. A well known characteristic are that eye pigments become a sulfurous, hideous yellow color. In extreme cases, the taint will mottle and disfigure the flesh into a corpse-gray color, as seen with Darth Sidious or even cease a being existing in flesh, creating a wound in the Force, as with Darth Nihilus. However, some speculate that powerful dark side users were able to switch back and forth between their original appearance and the one betraying their corruption, though it is unknown if this was due to some kind of Force technique. In time, the corruption could go beyond mere cosmetic details and directly impair physical abilities. Excessive use of dark side powers can even result in death. King Ommin of Onderon is a good example of this; he was an initiate in the ways of the dark side for most of his life thereby subjected himself to its decaying influence until he eventually became incapable of movement and needed support from a cyborg exoskeleton in order to survive.
Sith philosophy saw no need to rationalize or apologize for the destruction and conflict to which it led; they believed that using the dark side gave them enough power to take that which they believed was rightfully theirs. Most Sith, such as Uthar Wynn and his apprentice Yuthura Ban, believed that ''they'' could even control the dark side, but in the end the dark side ended up controlling them. Luke Skywalker joined Palpatine in 10 ABY to better understand the nature of the dark side, but unlike many of the Jedi before him who had attempted the same task, he made a full recovery.
The allure of the dark side
The Sith would call it enlightenment, but no records show exactly how a conversion to the dark side transpired. The dark side was extremely addictive, and almost impossible to renounce. Every time a person in tune with the Force called on the dark side, they became more and more addicted to the power it brought them. The dark side's corruptive influences could take control in moments. Along with physical corruption, the minds of many dark-siders cared only for galactic domination through power, and the doing of evil deeds for power's own sake.
However, some dark side practitioners did not show all of these symptoms. Darth Revan and Darth Traya for example, did not seem controlled by the dark side of the Force. Whatever changes these two had undergone were clear results of the lives they had led and the experiences they had survived.
Often it would be Jedi who fell to the corruption of the dark side of the Force. Exar Kun, Darth Revan, Darth Malak, Count Dooku, Anakin Skywalker, Jacen Solo and Atris were all corrupted by the dark side of the Force despite, or perhaps because of, their training as Jedi Knights. The catalyst for some of these changes was the discovery of a Sith holocron, an item that held all of the secrets of a Sith.
Sith Alchemy
Other examples of the corruption of the dark side are the Massassi who were mutated using Sith Alchemy. This also explains the mutations of Gorc and Pic, and the rebirth of Darth Maul by a group of Dark Jedi. However, these are extreme and rare examples of the use of the dark side to alter objects. Most common was the use of the dark side to alter and imbue weapons with the Force, making them stronger or easier to wield. Weapons imbued with power from Sith Alchemy could even withstand lightsaber blows.
Similarity to the Jedi
The Sith were, in some ways, a reflection of the Jedi. The Master-Padawan relationship of the Jedi, for instance, was twisted and perverted under the Sith, so both the apprentice and the Master would plot against each other with many of these apprenticeships ending with one killing the other. The Galactic Empire was no exception: If there were no enemies ''(mainly Jedi)'' for Sith Lords or Dark Jedi to face, the practitioners of the dark side frequently destroyed one another, and many organizations founded by the Sith would consume themselves through internal struggles for power. This was especially true during periods when the dark side was predominant; however, Sith and other dark-siders could also display great patience and cunning in carrying their plans toward fruition.
Some Sith did not even use lightsabers, mocking the Jedi, as they believed that they had grown past the need for such weapons by using the full power of the dark side. Emperor Palpatine found his Sith lightning was all he needed to overwhelm opponents as powerful as Yoda. The Sith's own code which started with the phrase "peace is a lie, there is only passion" was a clear manipulation of the Jedi Code's "There is no emotion, there is peace."
Sith holocrons were another mirror of the Jedi, which were twisted from a tool of teaching to an item of corruption. The Sith holocrons taught many things opposite of the Jedi, such as using emotion and questing for power, which were immensely different from the Jedi teachings.
These differences did not stop many ordinary citizens of the Republic from viewing the Jedi and the Sith in much the same way because of the similarities. Many Jedi were viewed as arrogant from their standoffish demeanor, manipulative with their power, and the practice of "stealing" children from their parents sometimes led to resentment. In the same view many Sith were viewed as dedicated to a cause and seemed extremely loyal to their masters. To large quarters of the galactic population, there appeared to be little difference between ''dark'' and ''light'', and they grew distrustful of the Force as a whole.
Sith holocrons
''Main Article: Sith holocron''
A Sith holocron was a pyramidal tetrahedron which held all of the knowledge of the Sith. It could contain star maps, information about artifacts, history, but most importantly it contained the teachings of the dark side. The holocron could only be opened by a Force adept who wished to use it. The mere opening of the devices sent tremors through the Force. Unlike Jedi holocrons, the Sith holocrons did not limit accessible information; even the most ill-prepared acolyte could find the darkest knowledge in it. For this reason, Sith Holocrons were considered to be very dangerous by the Jedi since the unlimited access to information was inherently seductive and could greatly hasten the user's fall to the dark side. Exar Kun and Darth Bane both were able to threaten the galaxy with the information gained from the holocrons, and other Jedi such as Atris were turned by them. The holocrons whispered Sith chanting, and were imbued with so much darkness that they corrupted individuals just by their proximity.
The Potentium
According to the Potentium viewpoint, there are no dark or light sides of the Force. Instead, the Force is a single entity, and the light or darkness comes from the intentions of the person calling upon it. From this viewpoint, Force powers or actions that would normally be considered dark can be justified or rationalized. Fearing that this would lead Jedi down the path of the dark side, Yoda expelled the Potentium from the Jedi Order, a fear not entirely unfounded since Jacen Solo fell to the dark side partly due to the Potentium belief in 40 ABY. Similarly, many Gray Jedi do not believe in the dark side, which has been known to lead them to become Dark Jedi or even Sith themselves. Luke Skywalker, Grand Master of the New Jedi Order, adopted this philosophy after his nephew Jacen Solo informed him of his teachings of Vergere during the Yuuzhan Vong Invasion; however, after being concerned of his and other Jedi actions, Skywalker abandoned this as the official viewpoint of the Jedi order during the Swarm War.
Strength of the dark side
Dark Jedi and Sith were capable of furthering their abilities more quickly than Jedi, and there came a belief that the dark side was more powerful than the light. It is only easier to use, but the lure of power convinced many (like Anakin Skywalker) to succumb to it. Jedi who were able to properly use the light side of the Force were just as powerful as their Sith counterparts, but the Sith believed that they were more powerful than the Jedi were from their faster advancement in the Force. The Dark Side, however, provided many different abilities to its users than the Light Side, though these were not necessarily stronger.
Dark side powers
Those who wielded the dark side found many abilities of the Force easier to use, with some Force powers available only to the Dark Jedi. Light side Jedi could use some dark side abilities, but most preferred not to since dark side abilities had aggressive, destructive, or perversly manipulative tendencies. Luke Skywalker, for example, used Force Choke at Jabba's Palace. Force powers commonly associated with the dark side of the Force are:
★ Drain Life
★ Death Field
★ Deadly Sight
★ Electromagnetic torpedo
★ Force Lightning
★ Force Shock
★ Force Storm
★ Force Wound
★ Force Choke
★ Force Grip
★ Force Crush
★ Force Slow
★ Force Affliction
★ Force Plague
★ Force Fear
★ Force Horror
★ Force Insanity
★ Force Scream
★ Force Rage
★ Mechu-deru
★ Quey'tek
★ Thought Bomb
★ Torture by chagrin
★ Spear of midnight black
★ Midichlorian Manipulation (Darth Plagueis only known Sith being capable of it)
Not all powers of the dark side seem evil; Darth Plagueis had the ability to create and preserve life. Darth Vader and Darth Sion used their rage to heal their wounds.
Dark Side organizations
Some notable orders of the dark side include (see also History of the Sith for more):
★ Sith
★
★ Disciples of Ragnos
★
★ Dark Jedi
★
★ Dark Side Adept
★
★ Inquisitorius
★
★ Krath
★
★ Mecrosa Order
★
★ Prophet of the Dark Side
★
★ Bladeborn
★ Bando Gora
★ Nightsisters
★ Reborn
★
★ New Reborn
★ Believers
★ Blackguard
Notable dark side users
★ 'Darth Plagueis'
★ 'Darth Sidious'
★ 'Darth Revan'
★ 'Darth Maul'
★ 'Darth Vader'
★ 'Darth Nihilus'
★ 'Darth Malak'
★ 'Darth Sion'
★ 'Darth Traya'
★ 'Ulic Qel-Droma'
★ 'Exar Kun'
★ 'Naga Sadow'
★ 'Freedon Nadd'
★ 'Tulak Hord'
★ 'Ludo Kressh'
★ 'Marka Ragnos'
★ 'Darth Tyranus'
★ 'Lumiya'
★ 'Jacen Solo'
★ 'Darth Krayt'
★ 'Darth Talon'
★ 'Darth Bane'
★ 'Darth Nihl'
Media
(audio)
(As described in )
Behind the scenes
★ In many ways, the dark side is the main villain of ''Star Wars''.
★ Bogan was the name given to the dark side of the Force in early drafts of '' and was established as canon in the Expanded Universe by the ''The New Essential Chronology''.
★ The Potentium view of the Force explains it as a single entity: The traditional "light side" is simply the Force, and the "dark side" is only a perversion of the Force.
★ The philosophy of the dark side is similar in many ways to the beliefs of 19th century German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, famous for writings such as "The Will to Power" ("Der Wille zur Macht") and "The Anti-Christ" ("Der Antichrist").
Appearances
★ All works in which dark side users appear.
Sources
★ ''The New Essential Chronology''
★ ''Dark Empire Sourcebook''
★ ''
★ ''
See also
★ Light side of the Force
★ Sith
★ Dark Jedi
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