Skere Kaan

"The forces who favor anarchy over structure have won. For what is this 'democracy' they speak of if not the absence of order? Of reason? Surely the strong should rule - for that is nature's way."

- Kaan

Lord Kaan was Dark Lord of the Sith, circa 1,000 BBY, during the final battles of the New Sith Wars.

Biography
Kaan was once a Jedi Master who eventually fell to the dark side of the Force, joining the New Sith Empire. He became a Sith Lord, and eventually the Dark Lord of the Sith.

Known to his supporters as the "Dark One", Kaan was the founder of the Sith army known as the Brotherhood of Darkness, and had managed to turn it from a scrabble of feuding warlords into a force to take control of the galaxy.

With his charisma and power, the Sith struck back at the Republic and the Jedi Order. Thousands of Sith and Jedi battled one another across the galaxy. The Sith were opposed by the Army of Light commanded by the aged Jedi Master Lord Hoth.

However, while Kaan was a charismatic and skilled general, his rule was more fragile than it seemed. He preached "rule by the strong" to hide the weakness in his own spirit, and when several high-ranking Sith challenged him by each declaring themselves Dark Lord of the Sith, rather than challenge them and threaten the war effort, Kaan acquiesced to their vanity, and named them all "Dark Lord", and declared "All are equal in the Brotherhood of Darkness."

Nearing the end
The tide of the war turned against the Sith, and the internal dissension grew rife. Eventually, Kaan's army were forced to retreat to the planet Ruusan. While most of his followers remained loyal, a few prominent Dark Lords within the Brotherhood began to question his leadership: Githany, Kopecz and most notably, Darth Bane.

Bane was opposed to Kaan's battle tactics against the Jedi, believing that Lord Kaan was acting more like an ordinary military commander than a Dark Lord of the Sith, and was not properly using the Dark Side of the Force. Lord Kaan tried to kill Bane by poisoning him, however, Bane was too strong in the Dark Side, and survived the assassination attempt.

Meanwhile, Lord Hoth's forces had arrived on Ruusan to defeat the remaining Sith forces, and wipe out the Brotherhood, once and for all. Darth Bane returned, and declared Kaan unworthy of his title.

While surprised at Bane's survival, Lord Kaan accepted Darth Bane's tactical advice. Using the Force and attacking as one, the members of the Brotherhood meditated and focused their dark energy into Darth Bane. The combined power of the Sith devastated the Army of Light, and victory was in the Sith grasp.

Even as the Jedi defeat was imminent, Lord Kaan and the other members of the brotherhood broke the meditation circle. Impatient and overconfident, Kaan believed that the Jedi could be quickly and easily defeated if the Sith took to the field. Secretly, Kaan and his followers were jealous of Bane and his power, and felt that Darth Bane was using their energy for his own benefit.

The Thought Bomb
When the Sith masters broke their mediation and took the field, however, the Jedi counterattacked, and the Sith took severe losses. Most of the Sith Masters died in the battle. Kaan took his defeated forces into a deep caves to wait for the Jedi's final strike. There he used his ultimate tactic: a "thought bomb".

Kaan believed that the Thought Bomb would destroy the Jedi, but that he and the rest of the Sith would be strong enough to survive.

That belief would lead to not just his own doom, but that of every force-user on Ruusan.

When Lord Hoth and his retinue finally arrived and confronted the Sith, Lord Kaan detonated the thought bomb.

The caves where they died would eventually be known as the Valley of the Jedi. Only Darth Bane, his apprentice Zannah, and Zannah's cousin Darovit survived. His callous assessment of his rival and former leader was that Kaan's "suicide" was his "smartest decision".

Behind the scenes
The source for Kaan once being a Jedi Master comes from Dark Forces: Jedi Knight, where he is described as being one. However, the book's description of Force-users is somewhat questionable; Jerec is also called a Jedi Master, and the terms "Jedi" and "Dark Jedi" are used interchangeably in describing Yun, Sariss, and Jerec's other minions. However, as it was eventually established that Jerec was indeed once a Jedi Master, there is no reason to assume that Kaan was not also one at some point.

Appearances

 * Darkness Shared
 * Jedi vs. Sith
 * Bane of the Sith (spirit)
 * Dark Forces: Jedi Knight (flashback)