Belia Darzu

"Do you know the name of Belia Darzu? She was a Dark Lord of the Sith who reigned over two centuries ago."

- Hetton

Belia Darzu was a female Shi'ido changeling and Dark Lord of the Sith who reigned from 1,250 to 1,230 BBY, in a period of the New Sith Wars known as the Sictis Wars.

Biography
"She was a student of Sith alchemy; it was said she learned the secrets of mechu-deru, the ability to transform the flesh of living beings into metal and machinery."

- Hetton to Darth Zannah

Before she became a Sith Lord, she was considered to be a Dark Side marauder. She crafted a suit of heavy battle armor that was imbued with dark side powers, which granted her invisibility and boosted her physical strength. The armor was reportedly worth 37,000 credits.

Belia Darzu also used nanogene technology to create an army of Technobeasts which she controlled with mechu-deru, an ancient form of Sith Alchemy that infused mechanical objects with dark side energy. This power was believed to have been lost by the era of the New Jedi Order, but Roganda Ismaren discovered several ancient scrolls which documented its usage.

Darzu did all her research from a black durasteel twin-towered citadel on Tython, defended by several ion cannons. Deep inside were laboratories, containing specimens and Darzu's notes. Further in, near the center was a long room containing Darzu's holocron on a pedestal.

Darzu was killed on Tython when she was poisoned by the Mecrosa Order at the behest of her fellow Sith Lords. Darth Bane would later travel to Tython during 990 BBY to access information from Darzu's holocron on how to construct his own Holocron. After her death, her army of Technobeasts slowly retreated into the Holocron room, where Darzu's last vestiges of power lay. Her citadel was the site of a fierce battle between a group of Jedi and Darth Bane and Darth Zannah which was won by the Sith.

Behind the scenes
Like many other Sith Lords, even those who did not go by Darth, Darzu's name is based on something else: the demon Belial.

According to Abel G. Peña, ''"In the Dark Side Sourcebook, there is an illustration of a woman in, I believe, the Dark Side Marauder section. This same woman appears in the changeling section of the Ultimate Alien Anthology. I give you Belia Darzu." ''

In Star Wars Miniatures: Champions of the Force, a miniature resembling Darzu is named Dark Side Enforcer (9/60 CotF).

Appearances

 * Darth Bane: Rule of Two
 * Darth Bane: Dynasty of Evil

Notes and references
Belia Darzu Belia Darzu