Dark Jedi/Legends

"Beware, Jedi Master, lest through carelessness and inattention you let loose on the Galaxy a monster&hellip;"

- Bodo Baas

Dark Jedi were Force-sensitives, frequently Jedi, who chose to deny the light side of the Force and follow the dark side.

Although Dark Jedi originally referred to "A Jedi who fell to the dark side", it could also refer to uninitiate Force-sensitives who received no Jedi training but began their careers under another Dark Jedi. In some cases, Dark Jedi also included "artificial" Force-sensitives who served the dark side, such as the Reborn and the Shadowtroopers.

The notables Xendor and Lettow were believed to be two of the first Dark Jedi ever and the ancient progenitors of the Sith Lords.

Relationship between Jedi and Sith
"A bold claim, but you are not Sith. You wear the trappings of the Sith, you fight like the Sith&hellip; but this can be imitated, however."

- Count Dooku to Asajj Ventress

Dark Jedi were not the same as the Sith, though the first group of them were the predecessors of the Dark Lords in the ancient Sith Empire. Despite the fact that both groups called upon the dark side of the Force, the Sith had their own codes and history, studied their own skills and techniques, and possessed secrets like Sith alchemy. Furthermore, the Order of the Sith Lords was limited to two members, a master and an apprentice, whereas Dark Jedi had no such limitations. Many dark side practitioners, such as Count Dooku, considered the power of a Dark Jedi to be nothing compared to the power of the Sith. Other individuals, like Darth Vader, practiced both Dark Jedi and Sith techniques.

The First Great Schism and early Dark Jedi
After the Jedi order was established, divisions began to appear within the order's structure, leading to the First Great Schism, (c. 24,500 BBY), when several Jedi were discovered delving within the "dark" side of the Force. The Dark Jedi General Xendor and his followers allied with the master of Teras Kasi Arden Lyn and her Followers of Palawa from Bunduki. In a climactic battle, Xendor was slain, Jedi Master Awdrysta Pina stopped Arden's heart with morichro, and Lyn killed Pina with a Kashi Mer talisman. After the war, the rest of these dissidents - known as the Legions of Lettow - were defeated.

The Second Great Schism and the Hundred Year Darkness
For over the next seventeen millennia, crises involving the Dark Jedi were rather isolated. One example involved a female Jedi Knight named Halbret who had brought together a contingent of Jedi Knights around 11,500 BBY to defeat a powerful Dark Jedi who had enslaved the Kathol species.

Around 7,000 BBY, however, a second war broke out between The Jedi and Dark Jedi that lasted a hundred years. The Dark Jedi were finally defeated at the Battle of Corbos and exiled into the far reaches of space. These exiles finally landed on the planet Korriban, enslaved the native Sith, and eventually interbred with them and created a new Force organization that eventually would plague the Galaxy for millennia: the Sith cult.

The Third Great Schism and the Vultar Cataclysm
In 4,250 BBY, the Third Great Schism broke out on Coruscant, which led to the destruction of the Dark Jedi in that conflict in the Vultar Cataclysm.

The Great Sith War
Many Jedi seduced by Exar Kun became Dark Jedi. After the death of Kun, many Dark Jedi still existed and served under new Sith Lords like Darth Malak and Darth Nihilus. During the era of Lord Kaan, many darksiders were considered Sith Lords and very few Dark Jedi were ever seen in the following millennium, until the Clone Wars.

Clone Wars
After the death of Darth Maul, Darth Sidious apprenticed Count Dooku who in turn apprenticed several Dark Jedi, including Asajj Ventress and Sora Bulq. He also supposedly had under his wing the Jedi-turned-Dark Jedi, Quinlan Vos. Ventress and Bulq hardly ever worked together, since she mostly worked with a Gen'Dai bounty hunter named Durge.

Near the end of the Clone Wars, everything went wrong for Dooku. Ventress, after faking her own death, fled to an unknown location. Sora Bulq was killed by Quinlan, after the latter had turned back to the light, during the Siege of Saleucami. Another Dark Jedi named Skorr, was also killed by Quinlan during the battle. A few weeks after the seige, the Count himself was killed by Anakin Skywalker onboard General Grievous's flagship, The Invisible Hand. Soon after, Darth Vader became Palpatine's newest apprentice and the Sith ruled the Galaxy once more. This would lead to the employment of many more Dark Jedi.

Galactic Empire
27 months after the Battle of Geonosis, the Bpfassh Dark Jedi crisis occured, one of them commandeered Jorj Car'das's ship which eventually landed on Dagobah. The exiled Jedi Grand Master Yoda dueled with the Dark Jedi for a day and a half and destroyed him. The remains of the Dark Jedi haunted the swarm, resulting in the birth of the Dark Side Cave.

During the span of the Galactic Empire, Palpatine established his own Dark Side Elite forces which were composed of Dark Jedi. As Palpatine did not recruit a new Sith Apprentice to replace Darth Vader, the Dark Side Elite became the right hand of Lord Sidious during Operation Shadow Hand. Palpatine also trained several Emperor's Hands, special assassins that did his bidding. Famous ones included Mara Jade and Shira Brie, who would later become Lumiya, Darth Vader's apprentice.

Post-Palpatine era
After the Battle of Endor, Dark Jedi sporadically appeared throughout the years, until the creation of the Second Imperium. Many Dark Jedi, led by a former Jedi named Brakiss, assaulted Luke Skywalker's Jedi Academy on Yavin 4. Brakiss was eventually killed when a Royal Guardsmen trigged an explosive device after nearly being killed by him, thus destroying the Second Imperium.

Another group of Dark Jedi rallied under Jerec in an effort to locate and siphon the power of the Valley of the Jedi. This faction, often known as the Seven Dark Jedi, was defeated by Kyle Katarn.

During the Yuuzhan Vong war and the Dark Nest crisis, scarcely any Dark Jedi remained. The only ones seen during both these crisises, were Nightsisters Lomi Plo and Welk. Both were killed by Luke Skywalker during the Dark Nest crisis. Also, a former Jedi named Alema Rar, became a Dark Jedi during the Dark Nest Crisis, but was killed during one of its final battles.

Despite all these deaths, the Dark Lady Lumiya eventually resurfaced.

Path of Dark Jedi
Other than the Sith, the Dark Jedi in galactic history were usually loners. Seldom did Dark Jedi form a well-organized group on their own in order to expand their following or reinforce their strength - one notable exception being the Miraluka Dark Jedi Jerec and his retinue of minions. The Sith, however, would often seduce Dark Jedi to work for them, without really granting them any knowledge of Sith techniques. Yet most Dark Jedi were willing to serve the Sith, and saw it as a way to further their knowledge of the Force. Like the Sith, they usually used lightsabers with red blades, but were also known to use a wide variety of saber colors.

While Jedi were capable of falling to the dark side, it was also possible for a Dark Jedi to be brought back to the light. Notable examples of redeemed Dark Jedi through history, include Bastila Shan, Quinlan Vos, Luke Skywalker, Kyle Katarn and Kam Solusar.

Notable Dark Jedi

 * Alora
 * Tavion Axmis
 * Daye Azur-Jamin (redeemed)
 * Beldorian
 * Nayama Bindo
 * Boc
 * Brakiss
 * Sora Bulq
 * Joruus C'baoth
 * Alysun Celz
 * Bruck Chun
 * Desann
 * Vydel Dir'Nul
 * Gorc
 * Irek Ismaren
 * Roganda Ismaren
 * Jerec
 * Juhani (redeemed by Revan)
 * Kadann
 * Volfe Karkko
 * Kyle Katarn (redeemed by Mara Jade)
 * Kueller
 * Lettow
 * Arden Lyn
 * Visas Marr (redeemed by the Jedi Exile)
 * Maw
 * Xecr Nist
 * Rosh Penin (redeemed by Jaden Korr)
 * Pic
 * Lomi Plo
 * Reborns
 * Sariss
 * Aayla Secura (redeemed by Quinlan Vos)
 * Sedriss
 * Kadrian Sey
 * Shadowtroopers
 * Bastilla Shan (redeemed by Revan)
 * Tol Skorr
 * Luke Skywalker (redeemed by Leia Organa Solo)
 * Luuke Skywalker
 * Kam Solusar (redeemed by Luke Skywalker)
 * Sev'rance Tann
 * Kar Vastor
 * Halagad Ventor
 * Asajj Ventress
 * Quinlan Vos (redeemed)
 * Komari Vosa
 * Xanatos
 * Xendor
 * Yun (redeemed himself by saving Kyle Katarn)
 * Zekk (redeemed)

Dark Jedi who became Sith

 * Dooku
 * Kyp Durron (redeemed, became self-proclaimed Sith Lord during his fall)
 * Exar Kun
 * Freedon Nadd
 * Ajunta Pall (redeemed)
 * Ulic Qel-Droma (redeemed)

Behind the scenes
A great deal of controversy has arisen over the issue of who is and is not a Dark Jedi. Perhaps due to uneven usage within canonical sources, many fans have argued that Dark Jedi describes only those dark side users who had previously been a Jedi or were at some point in the process of being trained as a member of the Order. Leland Chee cleared up the confusion in a post on the Starwars.com forums: "A dark Jedi is anyone who practices the dark side of the Force whether or not they were a former Jedi."

- Leland Chee