Sifo-Dyas/Legends

"Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas is still a leading member of the Jedi Council, is he not?"

- Kamino Prime Minister Lama Su to Obi-Wan Kenobi

Sifo-Dyas was a mysterious Jedi Master who served as a member of the Jedi High Council during the last decades of the Galactic Republic.

Biography


Sifo-Dyas was once a good friend of fellow Master Dooku, and had the gift of precognition. He predicted the coming war, and knew the Galactic Republic would soon face dark times.

Sifo-Dyas secretly commissioned a clone army on Kamino, ostensibly to defend the Republic. Prior to this, Dooku had left the Jedi Order, and had fallen in league with Darth Sidious. He was told by the Sith Master about Sifo-Dyas' actions, and Sidious also revealed that they could use the clone army for their own ends. As a final test of his allegiance to the dark side of the Force, Dooku murdered Sifo-Dyas and took control of the project for himself. It was Sidious' true intention to use Sifo-Dyas only as a dead-end cover for Palpatine's order of a clone army.

After death
Dooku kept his old friend's body frozen for years until the InterGalactic Banking Clan initiated their plan to turn the Kaleesh warlord, General Grievous, into a great cyborg supreme strategist for the Separatist droid armies. Dooku used Sifo-Dyas for a blood transfusion for the General. Once Grievous' transformation into a cyborg had been successfully completed, Dooku gave him the very special gift of Master Sifo-Dyas' own blue-bladed lightsaber.

When Obi-Wan Kenobi traveled to Kamino to investigate the source of the dart that silenced Padmé's attempted killer Zam Wesell, the Kaminoan prime minister Lama Su informed Obi Wan that Sifo-Dyas had ordered the creation of a clone army on Kamino at the request of the Senate, in order to help the Galactic Republic. The Jedi Council was not aware of the order until Kenobi informed them of it after he met with the Kaminoans.

In 22 BBY, Sifo-Dyas' army was eventually revealed and used at the behest of the Galactic Republic. Three years later, it would be used to destroy the Jedi in accordance with Order 66.

Behind the scenes


In early drafts of Attack of the Clones, the name of the Jedi who contacted the Kaminoans was Sido-Dyas, pointing to a likely early conceptual connection to Darth Sidious. However, interestingly, "Sifo-Dyas" appears in one place, apparently as a typing mistake (as the D and F letters are located next to each other on a QWERTY keyboard) that Lucas later preferred to the original name.

In addition, "Sido-Dyas" was originally only a false identity for Sidious&mdash;Obi-Wan claimed never to have heard of him, and Mace Windu confirmed that there was no Jedi by that name.

His backstory was promised by George Lucas to be revealed in Revenge of the Sith, but instead is now explained in the lead-in novel, Labyrinth of Evil.

Artist Chris Trevas used ILM concept artist Warren Fu as reference for Sifo-Dyas in his Jedi vs. Sith: The Essential Guide to the Force depiction.

His name was changed to "Zaifo-Vias" in Brazil, in order to avoid puns on his name. (Sifo-Dyas sounds like "Se Fodias", which means something like "were having sex" in a formal 2nd person.)

Appearances

 * The Eyes of Revolution
 * Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
 * Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones novel
 * Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones comic
 * Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones junior novel
 * Boba Fett: The Fight to Survive
 * Galactic Crisis!
 * Labyrinth of Evil
 * Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith junior novel
 * Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader