Mask of Darth Nihilus

"Look upon his face, then bring me the mask."

- Meetra Surik to Visas Marr, referring to Darth Nihilus after his death

The mask of Darth Nihilus was one of the pieces of armor that Sith Lord Darth Nihilus had bound to himself using the Force in an effort to retain a semblance of a physical form. Darth Nihilus had been one of the few who had survived the activation of the Mass Shadow Generator while on the surface of Malachor V during the last battle of the Mandalorian Wars, the Battle of Malachor V. This experience left him with an insatiable need to feed on the Force. Eventually this hunger began to erode his physical body and in an effort to keep himself alive, he bound his spirit to his armor, robes, and mask using the dark side of the Force. At the end of the First Jedi Purge Nihilus was killed aboard his flagship, the Ravager, by Meetra Surik, his former apprentice, Visas Marr, and the current Mandalore, Canderous Ordo, leaving his mask as a gruesome reminder of his reign as the Lord of Hunger.

This mask was considered to be a Sith artifact that encouraged the wearers to slowly destroy themselves for greater power. The lost mask of Darth Nihilus was imbued with the dark energy of the Sith Lord, allowing any who wore the ghost-white mask the power to wield the Force as if they were an apprentice.

The mask was inside a crate in the wreckage of a Dynamic-class freighter ship on the planet Volik.

Function
Sometime between 3,960 BBY and 3,952 BBY the ravages of an insatiable dark hunger for the Force destroyed Darth Nihilus's physical body to the point where he was compelled to bind his life-force into his robes and armor&mdash;including a facial mask&mdash;in order to avoid death and give himself a palpable form which allowed him to wield a lightsaber and continue his mastery of the Force. Darth Nihilus's mask continued to serve its purpose until his death at the hands of the Jedi Exile and her companions in 3,951 BBY.

For the next four thousand years, rumors spread across the galaxy concerning the mask's power. It was said that the mask was invested with the dark side of the Force and if an individual who was not Force-sensitive was to don the mask, that being would be able to wield the Force as a Sith apprentice. If, however, a Jedi or Sith was to wear the mask, proficiency in additional Force powers&mdash;always including, but not limited to, dark side powers&mdash;were acquired. However, it was cautioned that the dark influence of the mask propelled the wearer towards acts of self-destruction in the pursuit for greater power.

Behind the scenes
In the game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords, the player character has an option to receive the Nihilus mask after his death through character dialog with Visas Marr. The player will then gain a bonus to their maximum Force points. The Mask appears with the hood, in the Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO, players can unluck it with cartel coins, which they resive by real-live paiment or due subscribtion to the game. The item is part of the crime lord's cartel pack.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords
 * Star Wars: Legacy 5: Broken, Part 4
 * Star Wars: The Old Republic
 * Star Wars: Legacy 5: Broken, Part 4
 * Star Wars: The Old Republic