Sith holocron/Legends

Sith Holocrons were immediately identifiable in comparison to their Jedi cousins. Sith Holocrons were pyramidal in shape, and were etched with strange symbols and ancient hieroglyphs. Inscriptions lined the bottom of the device, and various dark incantations were found all over the smooth surface. At the Holocron's apex rested a black crystal, used to power the Holocron's store of information. The design of the Holocron was not the only way to discern its affiliation: Sith Holocrons emitted a dark presence, creating tremors in the Force upon activation. It took a great deal of willpower for a Jedi to access the dark devices, and some of the more inexperienced Jedi often felt sick and ill from merely laying their gaze upon a Sith Holocron.

Internally, however, Sith Holocrons worked in much the same way as did a Jedi Holocron. The black crystal of the Sith Holocron was made up of intricate lattices and vertices, capable of storing massive amounts of information, as well as the Holocron's Sith gatekeeper. The Holocron was able to capture the appearance and cognitive networks of the Holocron's owner, and transform this into a three-dimensional hologram. This gatekeeper acted as a guide through the Holocron's store of information, as a search and recovery engine with a more personal touch. These gatekeepers could relate stories from the Holocron's archives to events in the life of the one who activated the Holocron.

Jedi gatekeepers could sense the ability and level of a Jedi, and offer or restrict information accordingly - so that Padawans were not shown information too advanced and dangerous for their basic stage. However, Sith Holocrons usually allowed the activator unlimited access to its entire dark side repository. The gatekeeper would draw the viewer in with tales of power, and could even turn some Force-users to the dark side. The pull of the Sith Holocron was strong, indeed.

Most of the Sith Holocrons were created long before the Clone Wars, and as of the Battle of Geonosis, the Jedi Archives on Coruscant contained the only surviving Sith Holocrons in the galaxy. These devices were locked away to all but the most senior Jedi - in fact, most of the Jedi in the Temple did not even know Sith Holocrons resided in the building. The Holocrons were kept in case the Jedi would ever face the threat of the Sith again, whereupon Jedi Masters could consult the Holocrons for ideas on how to defeat the Dark Lords. However, the Sith Holocrons were not as safe as the Archives Director believed: Jedi student Lorian Nod was able to steal a Sith Holocron from the Archives, though the theft ended in his expulsion from the Jedi Order. The Holocrons were lost with the destruction of the Jedi Temple, though it is unlikely Darth Sidious allowed the ancient devices to be obliterated as well…