Sith'ari

"One who has freed themselves from all restrictions has reached perfection, their potential fulfilled. Perfect strength, perfect power, perfect destiny. Imagine it."

- Yuthura Ban

Sith'ari was a title that, in the ancient Sith language, meant "Lord" or "Overlord," first claimed by King Adas. After Adas's death, the term became the subject of a legend and a prophecy, and came to mean "god." The Prophecy retained its significance for the Dark Lords up until the time of the Order of the Sith.

The Sith'ari Prophecy
The Sith'ari Prophecy was considered too sacred to be put into writing by the Kissai, who passed it on verbally from generation to generation. Sorzus Syn recorded it thus c. 6900 BBY: ''The Sith'ari will be free of limits. ''The Sith'ari will lead the Sith and destroy them. ''The Sith'ari will raise the Sith from death and make them stronger than before.

The Legend
Sometime during the early history of the First Sith Empire, the coming of the Sith'ari was foretold. Inspired by the legend of Adas, the Sith'ari was prophesied a perfect being, free of all restrictions&mdash;the ultimate Sith. The Sith'ari would rise to power to lead the Sith and, according to the legend, destroy them&mdash;yet, through their destruction, make them stronger than ever.

Some of the students at the academy on Korriban thought Sirak was the Sith'ari. However, Sirak was killed by his nemesis, Bane. Darth Bane, eventually becoming a Dark Lord of the Sith, finally fulfilled the prophecy, first by providing Skere Kaan with the thought bomb, which caused the annihilation of the Brotherhood of Darkness, and then by instating the Rule of Two, leading to a powerful line of Sith by reducing their numbers to only two at a time. This allowed the dark side to saturate within two vessels at a time, where Bane believed that it had been spread far too thin among the vast numbers of Sith. This also made it easier to hide the Sith until they built up enough power to destroy the Jedi, allowing the Sith to rule the galaxy.

Almost a millennium later, Darth Sidious proclaimed himself to be the perfect being of ancient Sith prophecy while torturing his master, Darth Plagueis, to death.

Behind the scenes
Ever since its first mention, fans have speculated who the Sith'ari was. Some of the most notable candidates among this speculation were Darth Revan, Darth Bane, Darth Sidious and Darth Vader. The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia, however, makes it very clear that Bane is actually the looked-for Sith'ari, thus confirming the assumptions of many fans. The 2012 publication Book of Sith: Secrets from the Dark Side featured a number of references to the prophecy of the Sith'ari in what was intended by the book's author, Daniel Wallace, to be a running joke, whereby each in-universe writer of the Book of Sith came to the conclusion that he or she was the Sith'ari.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
 * Star Wars: The Old Republic
 * Darth Bane: Path of Destruction
 * Star Wars: Darth Plagueis
 * Legacy of the Force: Betrayal