Dark side of the Force/Legends

"Once you start down the dark path forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will."

- Yoda

The dark side of the Force, called Bogan by the ancient forerunners of the Jedi, was the primary tool of the Sith Lords, and the surreal enemy of the Jedi Order.

History
"How can a Jedi, trained in the ways of the light, fall victim to the dark side?"

- Ulic Qel-Droma

Discovery of the Dark Side
In 24,500 BBY, a group of jedi split from the jedi order, calling themselves the Legions of Lettow. They were led by Xendor, a Kashi Mer Jedi Knight who was the first dark jedi. His followers used Jar'kai in battle and used emotion rather than meditation. This conflict created the First Great Schism, and the banishment of darksiders who would one day become the sith.

Throughout galactic history, the most infamous users of the dark side were the assorted iterations of the Sith, who were also the most powerful, with a bevy of talents impossible for Jedi to duplicate. The Jedi reject the dark side and all it has to offer, as following it leads to destruction and chaos, often for many innocents, where the Sith embrace the dark side selfishly, prioritising themselves over the rest of the Galaxy. Sith philosophy saw no need to rationalize or apologize for the destruction and conflict to which it led; they believed that using the dark side gave them enough power to take that which was rightfully theirs, that anything they wanted to do was right just because they wanted to do it. Most Sith, such as Uthar Wynn and his apprentice Yuthura Ban, believed that they could control the dark side, but the Dark Side always ended up controlling them.

Nature of the Dark Side
The dark side of the Force was the element aligned with the powerful negative emotions of fear, hatred, and anger; practitioners fueled their power through these passionate emotions. Additionally, death and pain are associated with the dark side of the Force; inflicting them appears to be a primary goal of many dark side users. The dark side was extremely addictive, and almost impossible to renounce. Every time a person in tune with the Force called on the dark side, they became more and more addicted to the power it brought them. Unlike the Light Side of the Force, the dark side was used mainly for selfish purposes. It has been theorized by some that there is no such thing as a dark side, only malevolent intent in the user. Most dark side users already had negative intentions in their being or fell victim to the temptations of absolute power and domination.

Corruption of the dark side
"The Dark Side clouds everything.."

- Yoda



The path of the dark side is mentally and sometimes physically corruptive. As use of the dark side of the Force leads to deeper immersion in it, this malevolent power takes its toll on the body of a dark side practitioner. A well known characteristic of a dark side user is that his or her eye pigments become a sulphurous, hideous yellow color. In extreme cases, the taint will mottle and disfigure the flesh into a corpse-gray color, as seen with Darth Sidious.

Often times it would be Jedi who fell to the corruption of the dark side of the Force. Exar Kun, Darth Revan, Darth Malak, Anakin Skywalker, Jacen Solo, and Atris all were corrupted by the dark side of the Force despite, or perhaps because of, their training as Jedi Knights.

Many if not all dark side organizations were inherently unstable. The Master-Padawan relationship of the Jedi, for instance, was perverted under the Sith, as both the apprentice and the Master would inevitably plot against each other, and almost all of these apprenticeships end with one killing the other. The Empire was no exception: If there were no enemies (mainly Jedi) for Sith Lords or Dark Jedi to face, the practitioners of the dark side frequently destroyed one another, and their organizations would consume themselves through internal struggles for power.

The Sith Lord Darth Bane considered the Force to be finite, and thus ideally restricted to the use of the Sith Lord. He eliminated the practice of having vast numbers of Sith at the same time and concentrated the dark side of the Force into two individuals: a master and an apprentice. This tradition, or "rule of two," was still practiced by the Sith under Dark Lady Lumiya after the deaths of Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine at Endor.

Other examples of the corruption of the Dark Side are the Terentatek which evolved on Korriban and due to the planet's Dark Side presence the creatures developed an immunity to Force powers and fed off the blood of force-sensitives. Dark Side users also forced a similar evolution on the Massassi using Sith Alchemy. Sith Alchemy is also used to explain the mutations of Gorc and Pic, the rebirth of Darth Maul by a group of Dark Jedi, however these are extreme and rare examples of the use of the Dark Side to alter objects. Most common was the use of the Dark Side to alter and imbue weapons with the Force, making them stronger or easier to wield.

Strength of the Dark Side
"Is the dark side stronger?"

- Luke Skywalker to Yoda

Dark jedi and sith were capable of furthering their abilities more quickly than Jedi, and there came a belief that the dark side was more powerful than the light. It is only easier to use though, but the lure of power convinced many, like Anakin Skywalker, to succumb to it. Jedi who were able to properly use the light side of the force were just as powerful as their sith counterparts.

Dark Side Powers
Those who wielded the dark side found many abilities of the Force were now easier to use, and other powers were now available to the dark jedi. Not all of these powers were solely available to those immersed in darkness; Force Choke was used by Luke Skywalker at Jabba's Palace. All dark side abilities were aggresive, destructive or unnatural by nature.

"The dark side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities that some consider to be unnatural."

- Darth Sidious


 * Drain Life
 * Death Field
 * Deadly Sight
 * Destruction Orb
 * Electromagnetic torpedo
 * Force Lightning
 * Force Storm
 * Force Storm
 * Force Wound
 * Force Choke
 * Force Grip
 * Force Crush (a.k.a. Force Kill)
 * Force Slow
 * Force Gyro (a.k.a Force Gravity)
 * Force Affliction
 * Force Fire
 * Force Plague
 * Force Fear
 * Force Horror
 * Force Insanity
 * Force Scream
 * Force Rage
 * Mechu-deru
 * Quey'tek
 * Thought Bomb
 * Torture by chagrin
 * Spear of midnight black
 * The use of changing midichlorians into life (Darth Plagueis only one known)

Dark side practitioners
"A Sith believes he commands the Force, but it is the dark side that commands him."

- Jolee Bindo Dark Side organizations and notable members of those organizations.

The Sith (Chronological)

 * Red-armored Dark Lord
 * Ajunta Pall
 * Dathka Graush
 * Tulak Hord
 * Marka Ragnos
 * Naga Sadow
 * Freedon Nadd
 * Exar Kun
 * Darth Revan
 * Darth Malak
 * Darth Bandon
 * Darth Nihilus
 * Darth Sion
 * Darth Traya
 * Darth Ruin
 * Dark Underlord
 * Darth Rivan
 * Belia Darzu
 * Kaan
 * Darth Bane
 * Darth Zannah
 * Darth Cognus
 * Darth Millennial
 * Darth Vectivus
 * Darth Plagueis
 * Darth Sidious
 * Darth Maul
 * Darth Tyranus
 * Darth Vader
 * Darth Krayt
 * Darth Stryfe
 * Darth Wyyrlok
 * Darth Ruyn
 * Darth Nihl
 * Darth Maladi
 * Darth Talon

Prophets of the Dark Side

 * Supreme Prophet Kadann
 * High Prophet Jedgar
 * Prophet Gornash
 * Sariss

Inquisitorius

 * Grand Inquisitor Torbin
 * High Inquisitor Tremayne
 * Adalric Cessius Brandl
 * Jerec

Bando Gora

 * Komari Vosa

Blackguard

 * San’sii the Kursk
 * Vansk

Krath

 * Aleema Keto
 * Satal Keto

Nightsisters

 * Gethzerion
 * Lomi Plo
 * Tamith Kai

Mecrosa Order

 * Mireya
 * Nevil Tritum

Reborn

 * Desann
 * Tavion
 * Hethrir

Disciples of Ragnos

 * Alora
 * Vil Kothos
 * Dasariah Kothos
 * Tavion

Sorcerers of Tund

 * Rokur Gepta

Various Dark Jedi

 * Asajj Ventress
 * Boc
 * Brakiss
 * Gorc
 * Joruus C'baoth
 * Kueller
 * Maw''
 * Pic
 * Xendor, believed to be the first dark-sider
 * Yun

Behind the scenes
In many ways, the dark side is the principal villain of Star Wars.

Bogan was the name given to the dark side of the Force in early drafts of Star Wars and was established as canon in the Expanded Universe by the The New Essential Chronology.

The Potentium view of the Force explains it as a single entity: The traditional "light side" is simply the Force, and the "dark side" is only a perversion of the Force.