The Sith are the ancient enemies of the Jedi, but several versions of the Order have existed throughout the Star Wars timeline. Where the Jedi seek power through understanding, the Sith seek understanding through power, using the dark side of the Force to impose their will on others. While all Sith have this in common, different Sith Lords have gone about achieving this goal differently.

The history of the Sith was first explored in the Star Wars Legends Expanded Universe before George Lucas fleshed out their backstory in the Star Wars prequel trilogy. The EU incorporated the new material from the films to continue telling stories about the Sith, and the current Star Wars canon has created its own versions of the Order. While there have been countless Sith Lords, there are approximately 14 distinct Sith Orders in canon and Legends.

14

The First Dark Lords Of The Sith

Dark Jedi who created a new order

Thousands of years before the Star Wars movies, a rogue Jedi created a schism in the Order by embracing the dark side and converting others to his cause. The ensuing war between Jedi and Dark Jedi became known as the Hundred Year Darkness, ending with the Dark Jedi being defeated and exiled into unknown space. In Legends, they conquered the red-skinned Sith species and the “Dark Lords of the Sith,” which likely still happened in canon.

13

The Sith Empire (Legends)

A society ruled by the Dark Lords of the Sith

Over the next thousand years, the Dark Jedi and the Sith species interbred, creating a new society strong in the Force. Naga Sadow became the new leader of the Sith and started the Great Hyperspace War against the Republic, but when he was defeated, the Sith homeworld of Korriban was decimated. The Jedi and the Republic believed the Sith Empire had been defeated for good.

However, the Sith had really fled to a world called Dromund Kaas, where they spent the next thousand years rebuilding their society. Under the leadership of a mysterious, seemingly immortal Emperor, they planned to one day return to take revenge on the Jedi and conquer the Republic. Their inevitable invasion led to a decades-long war, ending with a tense peace as seen in the Star Wars: The Old Republic online game.

12

Brotherhood Of The Sith (Legends)

Founded by the fallen Jedi Exar Kun

Approximately 4,000 years before the Star Wars movies, a Jedi named Exar Kun fell to the dark side and declared himself the new Dark Lord of the Sith. Allying himself with another fallen Jedi, Ulic Qel-Droma, the Brotherhood of the Sith and their Krath armies started the Great Sith War. While Ulic returned to the light, Exar Kun was defeated, and his spirit was trapped in the Mᴀssᴀssi Temple on Yavin 4.

11

Darth Revan’s Sith Order (Legends)

From Jedi hero to Sith conqueror

Revan was once a Jedi who defied the High Council and joined the Republic’s war against the invading Mandalorians. This led him and his friend Malak to Dromund Kaas, where the Sith Emperor turned them to the dark side. Darth Revan and Dark Malak returned to the Republic as conquerors, until Malak betrayed his master and nearly killed him.

The Jedi erased Revan’s memories and retrained him as a Jedi, and even after learning the truth, he still defeated Malak and saved the Republic. However, he eventually remembered a threat lurking beyond the Republic, so he returned to Dromund Kaas and was captured by the Sith Emperor. Revan spent the next 300 years in stasis, but he used his mental link with the Emperor to keep him from invading until the Jedi and the Republic were ready.

10

The Sith Triumvirate (Legends)

An alliance that nearly destroyed the Jedi

A few years after Malak was defeated, the Jedi Order was nearly wiped out by the Sith Triumvirate, consisting of Darth Traya, Darth Sion, and Darth Nihilus. However, Traya was betrayed by the other two Sith Lords, so she pretended to be a Jedi and helped the Jedi Exile, Meetra Surik, to defeat them. When Traya was outed as a Sith, Surik killed her on Malachor V, leaving to find and help Revan.

9

The New Sith Empire (Legends)

A thousand-year dynasty of darkness

Darth Ruin created the New Sith Empire in 2,000 BBY but was soon betrayed by his own disciples. This led to 1,000 years of darkness and betrayal among the Sith, who waged several wars against the Republic as different clans rose and fell. The New Sith eventually collapsed into rival factions, until a SIth Lord arose to unite them under a new philosophy.

8

The Sith Brotherhood Of Darkness (Legends)

A Sith Order with a wildly different philosophy

Founded by Lord Kaan, the Brotherhood of Darkness was a notably different version of the Sith. Kaan sought to avoid the infighting of previous Sith by adopting a philosophy of equality, and he did away with traditions like apprentices killing masters and even taking the “Darth” тιтle. However, a Sith named Bane believed the Sith had lost their way, so he tricked them into destroying themselves with a dark side weapon called the Thought Bomb.

7

Darth Bane & The Rule Of Two

A new doctrine for the reborn Sith

Darth Bane recognized that infighting between the Sith always led to their undoing, and he also came to believe that sharing the power of the dark side diluted it. He created a new Sith Order that followed the Rule of Two, stating that there could only be one master and apprentice at a time. He set the Grand Plan in motion, where the Sith would operate from the shadows and gradually conquer the Republic from within.

6

Palpatine’s Galactic Empire

The culmination of Darth Bane’s Grand Plan

After 1,000 years, Bane’s vision was realized by Darth Sidious, publicly known as Chancellor Palpatine. The Sith engineered the Clone Wars and manipulated the Jedi, gradually transforming the Republic into an Empire and carrying out the Jedi Purge. In Legends, Palpatine developed a Rule of One philosophy after conquering the galaxy, and his efforts to live forever suggest that he may have felt the same way in canon.

5

The Sith Eternal

A dark side cult led by Palpatine

Although Palpatine and his Empire were eventually defeated, he did not die on the second Death Star. He used dark science and cloning to cheat death, relocating to the ancient Sith world of Exegol, where he and his Sith Eternal began preparing to take back the galaxy. While Palpatine wreaked much destruction, his own granddaughter, Rey, defeated him and destroyed the Sith Eternal.