Darth Bane/Legends

"I am the Dark Lord who will restore the Sith to glory. They call me Bane."

- Darth Bane

Darth Bane, born under the name of Dessel on Apatros, was one of the most pivotal Dark Lords of the Sith. After serving as a soldier in the Sith Army, Bane trained at Korriban's Sith Academy, where he quickly established his presence as the most powerful student there. He later helped bring upon the destruction of the old Sith order, the Brotherhood of Darkness, which he felt was ruled by weak fools who were preventing the Sith from achieving their true potential. Bane was one of the few Force-sensitives to survive the Last Battle of Ruusan which signified the end of the thousand-year-long New Sith Wars. After its destruction, he then reinvented the Sith into the Order of the Sith Lords by establishing the Rule of Two, a structure which limited the number of Sith and eliminated the infighting which had plagued the old order. Bane's Rule of Two would allow for the rise of Darth Sidious, who would finally triumph over the Jedi and engineer the collapse of the Galactic Republic.

Early life
"Hurst always said you were no good. He knew there was something wrong with you&hellip; Bane."

- Gerd

Born on Apatros in 1,026 BBY to an abusive miner named Hurst, the tall and muscular Dessel, who was known as Des for short, was often bullied by his father and the other miners. Dessel's earliest memory was of his father hitting him&mdash;Hurst would often blame his son for the death of his wife, who had died during childbirth. His father also took to blaming him for his own miserable life on Apatros, and Hurst considered Dessel to be the bane of his existence&mdash;so much so that he took to calling him "Bane" when he was in his drunken rages. It was a nickname that stuck with his father and amongst his miner friends, and for Dessel, it hurt more than any of the physical beatings that his father would give him. In 1,013 BBY, at the age of thirteen, Dessel began to work in the cortosis mines of his world.

In the face of such adversity, the young Dessel was often forced to fend for himself. He learned to ignore the constant jibes, threats, and insults directed against him by his father and the other miners, and grew into a strong young man as he worked deep in the cortosis mines. Even at this young age, he felt the calls of the Force and its dark side, and after one last and particularly brutal beating at the hands of his father, Dessel used its power to kill him, envisioning a giant hand squeezing his father's dark heart, literally willing him to die. He would not understand the part he had played in Hurst's demise until many years later when he discovered that it had been his use of the Force which had allowed him to kill his father.

After Hurst's death, his friends tried to continue with their harassment of Dessel, but the young miner now had the confidence to stand up for himself, and after he handed out dozens of beatings to them in the span of a month, going so far as breaking one man's jaw, his father's old friends decided that it would be better if they just left Dessel alone.

The final straw came one day while Dessel worked a double shift, which was coincidentally the fifth anniversary of Hurst's death. One of his father's friends, a man named Gerd, decided that he would put Dessel in his place. In a drunken stupor, Gerd attacked Dessel and blamed him for Hurst's death. After they wrestled each other into a stalemate position, Gerd mocked him by calling him Bane, pushing Dessel over the edge. Putting Dessel into a lock that left him vulnerable, Gerd attempted to gouge out his opponents eye with a thumb. With a premonition granted by the dark side of the Force, Dessel turned his head and severed Gerd's thumb with his teeth.

This fight led to his suspension from his mining job, but luckily for Des, a Republic cargo ship had arrived that day to pick up cortosis supplies. Using his suspension to arrive before the rest of the miners at the company-run casino in Groshik's cantina, Dessel used his gambling talents to clean out the crew of the ship in a game of sabacc. Successfully driving every other player out of the game, Dessel played his final hand against a young ensign, and both ended up with an Idiot's Array, the rarest hand possible. In a final round where whoever was dealt the highest card would win, both players received nine. In the next sudden death round, Dessel got a nine, beating the ensign's eight, and giving him sabacc and the ten thousand credit sabacc pot.

His success, which mixed with the disparaging remarks he made against the Republic during the game, led the ensign and his friends among the crew to attack Dessel as he left the cantina. Easily dominated by the miner in physical combat, the ensign attacked Dessel with a vibroblade. However, Dessel's subconscious use of the Force allowed him to detect the weapon, turning it against the ensign and killing him. Outmatched, the other Republic soldiers fled to alert their superiors. Dessel was forced to turn to one of his only friends, the Neimoidian barkeeper Groshik, who used his contacts to save Dessel from being caught and imprisoned by Republic forces by arranging to have him smuggled off planet to join the Sith Army.

New Sith Wars
"Now you get to see firsthand how the Brotherhood of Darkness deals with mutinous soldiers!"

- Ulabore

After being smuggled off Apatros, Dessel joined the Brotherhood of Darkness as a foot soldier, rising to the rank of sergeant in a Sith unit known as the Gloom Walkers. Dessel's use of the Force made him an excellent soldier and commander, and he was able to guide his unit away from certain death many times. He used his Force powers to sense enemies and navigate through the wroshyr forests of Kashyyyk during the Battle of Kashyyyk, earning him the trust of the Gloom Walkers over that of the unit's commander, Ulabore. Though Ulabore took credit for his unit's victories, everyone in the company knew it was Dessel who was responsible. The Gloom Walkers soon became one of the most famous of the Sith's infantry units, and they were sent on the most important and critical of missions. However, things changed for Dessel after the Gloom Walkers received an order regarding the Battle of Phaseera, which Ulabore knew to be a tactical mistake but decided to follow it anyway since he was afraid to face the Sith Lord who had issued the order. Dessel mutinied and punched Ulabore in the face, knocking him out cold, and then proceeded to lead the squad into battle. After being blinded by a flash grenade, Dessel could still "see" where all the Republic soldiers were&mdash;he managed to kill each soldier with a sniper rifle. Though he did not know it at the time, he had used the Force. After the battle, Dessel discovered that Ulabore had informed the Sith Lord Kopecz of his actions. Expecting to be court-martialed, Dessel was saved from this fate by the Dark Lord, who offered to take him to Korriban where he could enroll at the Sith Academy&mdash;Dessel accepted Kopecz's offer.

Having been offered the chance to create a new identity for himself, Dessel thought back to the cruelty of his father, and decided to take a new name, one which would signify his new life&mdash;Bane.

Training on Korriban
"I think he might be the one we've been searching for. He could be the Sith'ari."

- Kopecz

Bane arrived at the Academy and immediately began to study the ways of the Sith under such masters as Qordis and the blademaster Kas'im. On his own initiative, he also frequently studied the archives in the academy, which contained documents about the dark side and the history of the Sith, something that was discouraged by the Sith Masters who emphasized their difference, rather than their continuity to the ancient Sith. Despite his late discovery of his Force powers, Bane began to exceed many of the students who had been trained since birth.



However, Bane began to abandon the archives he studied at the beginning of his training in favor of increased focus on physical and mental exercise. After much training, and when he felt he was ready, Bane challenged a Makurth student named Fohargh, who had previously beaten him, to a duel. After beating Bane in lightsaber combat, Fohargh began to taunt him, causing Bane to fill with rage. He unleashed his anger, killing him with a wave of dark Force energy (against Kas'im's instructions), earning him the attention of Sirak, the favorite of Lord Qordis and one of the most prominent students at the academy.

Following this event things began to change for the worse, when Bane, thinking on his use of the dark side to kill Fohargh, realized that he had in fact been responsible for the death of his father, years before. This revelation caused Bane to doubt his ability, and he began to lose his connection to the dark side. Realizing that unless he acted he would fall behind the other students, he rashly challenged Sirak, who easily defeated Bane in combat and beat him savagely. Later, while in recovery, Bane wished that Sirak had killed him.

After his loss, Bane was denied by Qordis the right to train with the other students and was consigned to learn what he could from the archives which he had previously abandoned. It was while studying them that he learned more about the history of the Sith Lords, more specifically about the Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Revan. Bane began to question the direction the Brotherhood of Darkness had taken, and he seemed especially interested in finding out why none of the current Sith Lords took the title Darth.

It was at this time that a Jedi deserter named Githany arrived, and Bane saw his chance to reclaim his place among the other students. Githany in turn saw Bane as a tool she could use against Sirak, her only real rival at the Academy. Requesting that Githany secretly teach him Force techniques she learned from the masters, he also began private lightsaber combat instruction with Kas'im&mdash;neither teacher was aware of the other, ensuring that Bane had an edge over both. Bane and Githany soon began to realize that they had feelings for each other, though they did not want to admit it.

As his training progressed, Bane learned far more from the archives at the Academy than he had originally thought possible, and continued supplementing his knowledge of the Force with the teachings of the ancient Sith. In one of their secret tutoring sessions, Githany was amazed at the speed at which Bane not only learned to harness Force lightning, but that in a few short hours he was able to unleash a storm none of the other students, including herself, could manage. Kas'im too noted how far Bane had come with his skill with a lightsaber, and believed that soon he may surpass Sirak.

Bane once again entered the challenge ring atop the Academy but this time easily defeated and humiliated Sirak, although he stopped short of killing him, causing Githany to believe he was weak. This led to her training Sirak instead and planning to attack Bane in the archives. Following this victory, Kas'im presented Bane with the curve-hilted lightsaber that had previously belonged to Kas'im's master, a Sith Lord named Na'daz, who saved the blademaster from slavery on Ryloth. Kas'im also revealed that he had killed his master in a personal test of skill and took his weapon as a reminder of what his master taught him&mdash;this revelation left a lasting impression on Bane.

Once again under the gaze of the Academy Masters, Qordis summoned Bane to his chambers and revealed to the apprentice that he had been aware for some time that Githany was teaching him. Qordis then told Bane that he was to stop studying the archives at once. To defy Qordis and the Brotherhood, the young apprentice left the Academy for the Valley of the Dark Lords in search of answers from the ancient tombs of fallen Sith Lords.

Bane came to the conclusion that the Brotherhood was flawed, and that their leader, Lord Kaan, placed the greater good of the order over the dark side as a whole. Many of the Dark Lords were weak, and in Bane's mind this made them unworthy of the title they carried. Bane also learned that Kaan himself forbade any Sith from taking the title Darth as he wished to avoid the infighting and jealousy that had nearly destroyed the Sith thousands of years earlier.

After a fruitless two weeks in the Valley, Bane returned empty handed, feeling foolish and nearly dead from exhaustion and hunger. He arrived just in time to learn that the students were to be raised to the level of Dark Lords of the Sith on the orders of Lord Kaan, and were to be sent to Ruusan to participate in the later battles against the Army of Light. Promoted along with the rest of the Academy students, Bane almost fell victim to a trap in the archives orchestrated by Sirak with the participation of Githany on the night of his return. Upon seeing his power, Githany changed sides and killed Sirak's allies, watching as Bane slew his helpless rival.

Following the fight, however, Bane did not leave for Ruusan with the rest of the Sith present. Instead, he denounced their teachings and Kaan's Brotherhood and proclaimed himself Darth Bane before stealing Lord Qordis's personal spacecraft, the Valcyn. Bane made his way to Lehon, hoping to find true understanding of the dark side.

Lehon and the Holocron of Darth Revan
"The dark side is strong here. Far stronger than it ever was on Korriban. This is where we will find the power to destroy the Jedi&mdash;not in Kaan's Brotherhood!"

- Darth Bane

Bane landed on Lehon and immediately began his search for the Temple of the Ancients, and along the way managed to tame a wild rancor to be used as his steed. He felt a much stronger connection to the dark side on Lehon than he did on Korriban, which only reinforced his belief that the then-extinct Rakata were the first race to harness the dark side eons before the Sith rose on Korriban.

Arriving at the Temple, he found the holocron of Darth Revan. Learning much more about the ancient Sith, he concluded that Kaan and his Brotherhood would have to be destroyed, and set about formulating a way to ensure the survival of the Order. With the teachings of Darth Revan, he planned to destroy the Brotherhood, and from its wreckage, create a new and far stronger Order of the Sith Lords that would eventually destroy the Jedi.

Kaan, fearful of Bane and his intentions, dispatched Kas'im to kill his former student. After a heated lightsaber duel, Bane gained the upper hand, and forced Kas'im into a corner, seemingly defenseless. However, the wily old Sith still had one more trick in him. The Twi'lek separated his double-bladed lightsaber, wielding it as two separate blades. During training Kas'im had always derided fighting with two lightsabers, ensuring Bane had no experience facing such an opponent. Where Bane had been sure of victory only just moments before, his inexperience put him at a severe disadvantage, and he quickly lost his momentum. Bane was sent tumbling down a staircase as Kas'im advanced, ready to deliver the killing blow. Furious at himself and Kas'im, Bane unleashed his anger into a blast of dark Force energy. Kas'im just managed to throw up a Force shield to protect himself, but Bane's rage was so great that this blast of dark energy destroyed the Temple, bringing the walls and ceiling down on his old mentor.

Bane sent a messenger drone to Ruusan, informing Kaan of Kas'im's death and handing the Sith Lord the weapon of his eventual demise; instructions to perform the Sith ritual to make a thought bomb, one of the many secrets he had learned from Revan's holocron.

Near death on Ambria
"I am Darth Bane, Dark Lord of the Sith. I will survive. At any cost."

- Darth Bane



By then, Kaan believed that a military victory on Ruusan was certain; with Jedi Master Pernicar dead, there was nothing to blunt the animosity that the Jedi Lords Hoth and Farfalla felt toward each other; and the orbital blockade sustained by the Sith battle armada kept Farfalla and his reinforcements from landing to join the battle.

Kaan received a message from a seemingly guilt-ridden Bane who wished to return to the Brotherhood. However, Githany believed that the Brotherhood no longer needed Bane and offered to kill him. Kaan agreed and she left to meet with Bane. What Kaan did not share with Githany was the small package Bane sent as a peace offering, a piece of parchment with the ritual for the thought bomb written upon it.

Bane chose the barren world of Ambria to meet Kaan's envoy. Lake Natth, a body of black and poisonous water, had become the focus for the dark side energy on the planet, and Bane made his camp on its shores. While Bane waited for Githany he considered a question he still could not answer; once he rid the galaxy of the Brotherhood, where would he find an apprentice worthy of the knowledge he had to impart? When Githany arrived they shared a passionate kiss, but Bane tasted the poison on her lips and realized that Kaan had sent her to Ambria to kill him, although he managed to keep this realization secret. Seeing that Githany understood the source of the strength in the dark side, Bane wondered if she could become his apprentice. He realized, though, that she believed too strongly in Kaan and the Brotherhood to accept his knowledge, and he sent her away, confident that her poisons would have no effect on him.

It was almost too late when Bane realized Githany's duplicity; she had used a lesser poison to cover a far more powerful toxin, synox, which was used by many assassins throughout the galaxy. Weakened by the poison, Bane was unable to heal himself and traveled across one of the battlefields located on Ambria, trying to drink in the suffering of those who died there to increase his strength and heal himself. However, the dark side was too faint on the planet, and even Lake Natth was of no use, its dark side power locked in its cold, black depths by the ancient Jedi.

Falling into unconsciousness, Bane collapsed, close to death. A small boy named Mikki, along with his father and brothers, who were scavenging the battlefield, happened across Bane's lightsaber. Seeing his chance, Bane used the Force to control the lightsaber and killed the boys one by one. In so doing, he drank in their father's horror and anguish, using it to cleanse the poison from his body and buy him time to find a permanent cure. The father then cried for mercy, but Bane struck him down, claiming that the strong did not beg for mercy.

Bane eventually fought off the effects of the poison long enough to find help. Discovering a Force-sensitive healer named Caleb, Bane was at first confounded by his refusal to help him. Caleb had no fear of Bane's power, and was unafraid of any pain he could inflict. Bane responded by threatening the healer's daughter, which managed to force Caleb to relent and give Bane the cure he required. Once healed, Bane decided not to kill Caleb or his child, reasoning that his healing talents could prove useful in the future. Leaving Ambria, Bane was more determined than ever to wipe out Kaan and his followers.

Ruusan and the destruction of the Sith


"The Brotherhood must be purged. The Sith must be destroyed and rebuilt."

- Darth Bane

Shocked by Bane's return, Kaan agreed to follow Bane's instructions to defeat the Jedi through the power of the dark side. Before the Sixth Battle of Ruusan, the Sith joined together in meditation&mdash;and Darth Bane unleashed a wave of destruction upon the unsuspecting Jedi. Sensing the smothering darkness in Bane's heart, however, Lord Kaan broke the circle, intending to finish off the Jedi with more conventional tactics. Lord Kopecz was the last Sith to leave, informing Bane that his loyalty to the dark side before the Brotherhood would not be accepted by Kaan or the other Sith Lords.

Bane traveled back to the Sith compound to continue his plan to wipe out the remaining Sith. Arriving back in the deserted camp, Bane was confronted by Qordis, who offered to help him overthrow Kaan and seize control of the Brotherhood. Disgusted that Qordis did not understand the necessity of the Brotherhood's destruction for the survival of the Sith, Bane used the dark side to choke his former teacher to death, and then ordered the Sith fleet to end their blockade and engage the Jedi.



Lord Hoth and his army ran in almost blind fear of the inferno that followed at their heels. As they emerged from the forest, they were met by an enormous army of Sith. With the first Jedi lines cut down by a torrent of blaster fire, Hoth rallied his troops and managed to fight back. Hoth knew that the real trap had yet to be sprung, noting that the Dark Lords were absent from the battle. At that very moment, they arrived in their fliers and began to blast the Jedi with heavy cannons as the Jedi fell back. Hoth resolved to make a worthy last stand. Just as Kaan prepared to kill Hoth with a volley of cannon fire, Farfalla and his gunships arrived and forced the Sith to withdraw. On the ground, the last remnants of the Sith army were pinned down and forced to surrender, while Farfalla himself landed and was taken by surprise as Hoth embraced him in a great hug. Bane openly admitted that he ordered the Sith fleet to attack the Jedi and break their blockade; in their confrontation Bane actually made Kaan believe that he was manipulating his mind just as Kaan had manipulated the other Sith Lords. Believing that Bane now answered to him, Kaan led the Sith into the caves of Ruusan where he intended to lure the Jedi into them and unleash the thought bomb. Hoth and Farfalla discovered where Kaan was heading&mdash;but not the reason why&mdash;and rallied their troops to follow.

Taking stock of his situation, Kaan gathered the remaining Sith Lords and prepared to unleash the thought bomb on the pursuing Jedi. Both Githany and Kopecz suspected that something was amiss with the entire situation, but while Kopecz fled the cave, Githany was forced by Kaan's power to take part in the ritual nonetheless. As she began to chant with the rest of the Sith, she wrenched her mind free and was at last able to realize that something was terribly wrong, and fled the cave. The Sith troops who were guarding the cave entrance offered only token resistance and instead surrendered en mass to the Jedi. Kopecz, wounded and dying, told Farfalla of Kaan's plan after demanding a quick death at the hands of the Jedi Master. When Hoth arrived, Farfalla told him what he had discovered. Hoth believed that he would never leave Ruusan alive and asked for volunteers to undertake a suicide mission into the cave to confront Kaan, believing that all of them would perish in the cave. Choosing exactly ninety-nine others to accompany him, Hoth led them into the tunnels and marched towards certain death.

Hoth found Kaan, but was unable to prevent him from actually detonating the thought bomb. The wave of destruction killed Hoth, Kaan, the Jedi in the cave, Githany, and every Sith Lord present. Many miles away, Farfalla and the other Jedi felt Hoth's death and assembled a team to finish off any Sith survivors. Bane, who was many miles away, now knew his plan had worked&mdash;the Jedi were unaware of his existence since they believed that all the Sith had been wiped out with the thought bomb, and it was in the shadow of the Jedi's ignorance that he would develop a new Sith Order styled in his own fashion. However, one question continued to trouble him: where would he find an apprentice to which he could pass on what he had learned?



In the aftermath of the battle, a small girl named Rain, who somehow had managed to survive the war, was awakened by her Bouncer companion, Laa. Her peace of mind was soon cut short when two Jedi killed the Bouncer in front of her, as they had been ordered to kill all Bouncers by Farfalla, who believed the creatures had been driven insane by the thought bomb. Consumed with anger, she used the Force to kill both of them. Bane found her sometime later and knew that in her he had found an apprentice worthy of his knowledge.

Bane survived along with Rain&mdash;who revealed her true name, Zannah&mdash;and they stumbled across her cousin Darovit, who tried to fight Bane. Zannah caused Darovit's hand to explode, and Bane questioned her on why she allowed him to live; she replied that she was still young. As a final test, Bane told Zannah to find her own way off Ruusan. They would meet on Onderon, and then, and only then, would she be worthy of joining the Sith.

After Ruusan
"Two there should be; no more, no less. One to embody the power; the other to crave it."

- Darth Bane

After leaving Ruusan, Bane headed for Onderon in his ship, the Valcyn. He hoped to learn secrets from deep inside the tomb of the ancient Sith Lord Freedon Nadd, but his past returned to haunt him. The ghostly spirit of his former mentor, Lord Qordis, chided him for abandoning the Brotherhood. Bane insisted that he was only furthering the Sith cause, but Qordis's spirit created a malfunction in the starship controls and Bane plummeted down into the forest of the beast-infested moon of Dxun.



Bane, however, managed to survive the crash even though his ship was destroyed upon impacting the moon. The jungle itself seemed intent on claiming Bane's life, but he pushed on nonetheless. He was attacked by beasts and monsters and cried out in frustration&mdash;in reply, the spirit of Lord Kaan appeared to him, and offered him help. Though in life they had loathed one another, Bane followed Kaan's ghostly silhouette and eventually found himself at the ruined crypt of Freedon Nadd's tomb. He could feel the dark side in the tomb and knew he would find what he was looking for here. Kaan led him to a Sith holocron, where he was attacked by barnacle-like creatures called orbalisks. They attached themselves to Bane's body, causing tremendous pain as they became a part of him.

After spending days studying from the holocron, Bane exited the tomb with a new vision: not only would there be just two Lords at a time, but the armies and minions the Sith had once relied on would be done away with as well; slowly and in secrecy, the Sith would erode the Galactic Republic until the time was right for them to reveal themselves to the Jedi once more.

Taming a flying beast using the powers of the dark side, he mounted it like the fabled Beast Riders of old, and rode towards the edge of the atmosphere where he planned to "nudge" the entire moon closer to its planet, Onderon, so he could cross to the inhabited world to find his apprentice.

Eventually, Bane inducted his new apprentice, giving her the rank of "Darth" Zannah, and set his new order in motion. Future Sith Lords were taught the virtues of patience, planning, and secrecy, and each was to take on the title of Darth, a tradition that had dated back to the time before the Jedi Civil War, nearly three millennia ago.

Legacy
It would not be long, however, before Bane's fledgling order was rediscovered by the Jedi and (once again) thought eliminated. The Jedi discovered both the new Rule of Two and the identity of Darth Bane, but did not foresee that the new Sith he had founded would long survive Bane's death.

At some point in his life, he made a holocron that eventually fell into the hands of Darth Krayt. In 137 ABY, his holocron was accessed, along with those of Darth Nihilus and Darth Andeddu, on Korriban by Krayt. The new Dark Lord wished to learn from Bane's experience with the parasitic orbalisks, and how he could survive his own infection by Yuuzhan Vong organisms. Bane chastised Krayt for not following the Rule of Two, telling Krayt his "Rule of One" would be the very undoing of the Sith itself.

Personality and traits
Growing up on Apatros, Bane was mistreated by his father, causing him to hate him. He often wished his father would die. He was easily angered, and struggled to control his temper, often losing his cool and exploding in rage. Bane was very confident in his abilities when he began training at the Sith Academy, but after he realized that he had killed his father with the Force, he lost his confidence, and became weak. Bane began to hold back from the dark side, fearing its power.



Eventually, with help from Githany and Kas'im he regained his lost ability and more, becoming more powerful than any other student. Though he had his confidence and skills back, he pretended to be weak when around anyone but Kas'im or Githany. Still, even they did not realize that he was manipulating them by not telling the other about both sets of lessons he was taking. This gave him the element of surprise when he challenged Sirak.

Bane then challenged Sirak to a rematch and beat him easily. However, he still held back, wary of giving himself to the dark side completely, something Githany criticized him for. He was confident in his abilities, but still had his doubts. This prevented him from becoming what he had the potential to be, at least for a time.

Due to his frequent readings of the ancient texts (something no one else did), he began to realize that the ancient Sith were much more powerful than those in the Brotherhood. This was confirmed when he visited the Valley of the Dark Lords and saw that the Sith spirits had left, as there were no powerful Sith left for them to speak to. When he returned to the academy, he angrily defied Qordis, stealing his ship and taking off for Lehon after killing Sirak. The Sith landed on Lehon, where he accessed Revan's holocron, and decided that a "rule of two" was necessary for the Sith to survive and fulfill their goal of destroying the Jedi. After this, Bane placed his full faith in the dark side, and became a true agent of evil. To show his new confidence and power, as well as hatred of the Brotherhood, he took the title Darth, something abolished by Kaan. Bane knew that he had to destroy the Brotherhood.

Despite his rage and immersion in the dark side, he was not without feelings. He was in love with Githany, a feeling she returned. He continued to love her even after she tried to kill him. He later realized that she too, must die for her dedication to Kaan and belief that the current way was right, and though he paused to reflect on his feelings, this did not ultimately sway him from his decision.

Bane was independent, defying Qordis, and heading to Lehon instead of joining Kaan's army. After learning from Revan's holocron on Lehon, Bane became confident in his supremely talented self. Bane idolized Darth Revan and without his influence, never would have been able to bring down the Brotherhood and create the Rule of Two. He viewed Revan as one of the greatest Dark Lords of the Sith, despite the fact that he later turned back to the light side. Revan greatly influenced him.

Though initially dedicated to the cause, Bane came to hate the Brotherhood and those in it, seeing them as weak and foolish. Once he learned that the Sith spirits had departed Korriban, he realized it was because of the absence of powerful dark siders. He believed that those in the Brotherhood were not true Sith, and once accused Kaan of "thinking like a dirt general, not a Sith Lord". He alone dared challenge Kaan, and the other leaders.

Powers and abilities


As a miner on Apatros, Bane was able to use the Force occasionally without knowing what it truly was. After meeting with Kopecz, he learned that the Force was real, and just as powerful as rumored. Bane's raw potential was amazing, and he used his abilities to become one of the greatest Sith Lords of all time. He was able to easily resist Kaan's mind tricks, something no one else could do. After just learning the technique of Force lightning from Githany, he was extremely proficient in it. Bane was also able to easily shatter his opponent's Force shield, as he did with Fohargh. Bane could sense poisons in him and was able to cure himself most of the time. Like many of the more powerful Sith, Bane fed on others' fear and anguish. He took advantage of this by killing three young boys in front of their father after he was poisoned and near death, and used the father's pain to give himself more energy, and several more hours of life. With the help of the Force, he had incredible endurance.

Bane was very dedicated in his training, spending hours reading the ancient texts in addition to two private training courses. He desired to become a great and powerful Sith Lord, and spent more time than any other student practicing, whether it was lightsaber dueling or his Force powers. A practitioner of Djem So, Darth Bane was an excellent lightsaber duelist, evidenced by his defeat of Kas'im, a revered lightsaber combatant of the Sith, in combat. Bane was also an excellent brawler and a talented sabacc player. He was able to use the Force to occasionally know what would happen next, even before he began formal training with the Brotherhood. He was also very good at bluffing opponents, as he was good at reading his opponents and concealing his feelings.

Merchandise
A Darth Bane action figure was just announced at San Diego Comic Con 2007. He will be part of a new Evolutions set, featuring Darth Nihilus, and a shirtless Darth Maul. It can be seen here.

Character origins
The character of Darth Bane, and his creation of the Rule of Two, were created by George Lucas as part of his backstory of the Sith he developed for the prequel trilogy. Bane was first mentioned in The Phantom Menace novel as the creator of the Rule of Two. Later, Jedi vs Sith by Darko Macan and Bane of the Sith (by Kevin J. Anderson) created a backstory for the character. The New Essential Guide to Characters and The New Essential Chronology provided more details, and the latter attempted to correct inconsistencies between Jedi vs Sith and Bane of the Sith. Several years later, Darth Bane: Path of Destruction, written by Drew Karpyshyn was released. Many of the details in it contradicted previous information about Bane. Fans have since attempted to reconcile the comic, the short story, and the novel. A new novel being released around Christmas of 2007, Darth Bane: Rule of Two, may reconcile some of the differences.

Like most Sith, Darth Bane's name is significant. The word bane basically means "a source of harm or ruin." In Old English, Bane or "Bana" meant "slayer" or "murderer". Also, in all three Scandinavian languages (Danish, Norwegian and Swedish), Bane means "violent death." In Star Wars Legacy, Jan Duursema's depiction of Bane was in fact based on the partially completed costume of a fan, Thomas J. Spanos.

Contradictions
Various contradictions, both major and minor, exist between the three main sources of Bane's life, Jedi vs. Sith, Bane of the Sith and Path of Destruction. In both the short story Bane of the Sith and Bane's biography in The New Essential Guide to Characters, it is implied that Bane trained exclusively beneath Qordis, while in the novel he trained under Qordis and many other Sith Masters.

Also, in Bane of the Sith and Darth Bane: Path of Destruction, Bane's lightsaber is described as being "hooked," similar to that of Count Dooku's (in fact, Bane of the Sith predates Attack of the Clones by more than a year). It was said many times in Path of Destruction that Bane has a hooked lightsaber, and when he first received it, one of the things he notices is its unusual appearance, so this is more than likely the correct version. However, in almost every illustration, Darth Bane carries a standard-hilt lightsaber.

In Bane of the Sith, Bane escapes from Ruusan when his warning to Kaan to not use the thought bomb goes unheeded. The dark side spirits call him a coward for running, and Bane defends himself by saying that the Sith must survive. Until he gets to Onderon, he intends to resurrect the Brotherhood. In Path of Destruction, Bane comes to detest the Brotherhood after studying Revan's holocron and the ancient records where he realizes that the Sith can never be united or equal. He plots to destroy the Brotherhood by giving Kaan the formula for using the thought bomb and feigning to join them under the guise of wanting to take over leadership.

In the novel, Bane hands Kaan the thought bomb knowing he's going to use it to destroy himself and the Brotherhood. Bane's intention is to wipe out every last Sith on Ruusan, save for himself and possibly an apprentice. In the short story, he "told Lord Kaan the folly of his thought bomb plan, had disagreed with the tactics of such complete and destructive surrender" and was disappointed no one listened to him.

In Jedi vs. Sith, the thought bomb appears to kill all Force-sensitives on the planet except for Bane, Zannah and Darovit, whereas in Path of Destruction it only kills those in the cave where it was detonated, such as Githany, Kaan and Hoth.

The Sith'ari
It is also important to note that Darth Bane is a good candidate to be the Sith'ari, because he destroyed the Brotherhood of Darkness and the generic Sith Order, and replaced it with the Rule of Two &mdash;an event which, eventually, led to the rise of the Empire under the rule of Darth Sidious, and the near-extermination of the Jedi.

Appearances

 * Darth Bane: Path of Destruction
 * Jedi vs. Sith
 * Bane of the Sith
 * Darth Bane: Rule of Two
 * Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace novel
 * Labyrinth of Evil
 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith novel
 * Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader
 * Resurrection
 * Star Wars Galaxies
 * Star Wars Legacy 5: Broken, Part 4