Darth Plagueis

"Did you ever hear the tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise?"

- Palpatine, to Anakin Skywalker

Darth Plagueis was a male Dark Lord of the Sith and the master of Darth Sidious. He acquired considerable knowledge in the field of midi-chlorian manipulation, but was ultimately betrayed and murdered by his own apprentice. Sidious later recounted the tale of his master's demise to lure Anakin Skywalker to the dark side.

Biography
"Unfortunately, he taught his apprentice everything he knew. Then his apprentice killed him in his sleep. Ironic. He could save others from death, but not himself."

- Palpatine, to Anakin Skywalker

Darth Plagueis was a male Dark Lord of the Sith who, at some point, chose Sheev Palpatine, a Human from Naboo, as his apprentice. As master and disciple, Plagueis and Palpatine&mdash;who took the Sith moniker Darth Sidious&mdash;worked together, trying to unlock the secrets of immortality and to execute their order's long-percolating plan of supplanting the Galactic Republic with a Sith Empire.

According to Sidious, Plagueis was powerful enough that he could use the Force to influence the midi-chlorians to create life and keep those he cared about from dying, a precious knowledge that awarded him the epithet of "the Wise." Plagueis, however, also developed a belief that the Force could "strike back" at him for his power. In truth, he became so powerful that the only thing he still dreaded was losing his power. Ultimately, Plagueis' only fear was bound to come true. At some point Sidious had learned everything he needed from his master. Moreover, he had acquired his own pupil in the Nightsister Mother Talzin's son, Darth Maul, a young Dathomirian Zabrak whom Sidious had kidnapped from Talzin when he was only a child. As the Rule of Two mandated that only two Sith&mdash;a master and an apprentice&mdash;could exist at any given time, one of them had to die. Now that he had no further use for a teacher, Sidious disposed of Plagueis, killing him in his sleep. With the death of Plagueis, Sidious not only gained the status of Master, but also acquired 11-4D, the late Sith Lord's multi-limbed droid assistant. Later, after taking Darth Vader as his apprentice, he reformed the Republic into the Galactic Empire and declared himself Emperor. In the years that followed his rise to Emperor, Sidious came to genuinely, if posthumously, appreciate Plagueis for the planner and prophet he had been. Sometimes, he mused about how his late master would have reacted when confronted with the trivial, day-to-day matters of Imperial politics.

Behind the scenes
"Darth Plagueis had once remarked that ' the Force can strike back. '"

- Palpatine, musing on a remark of Plagueis's

Darth Plagueis was first referenced on-screen in the 2005 movie Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith, the third installment in the prequel trilogy of Star Wars. However, the actual first mention of Plagueis was in the novelization of Revenge of the Sith, which was released one month before the movie. Although Palpatine was never confirmed to be Plagueis' apprentice in the movie itself, a link to the official encyclopedia on StarWars.com did refer to Sidious as having been "trained by Darth Plagueis."

The character was created by George Lucas as early as the first draft of Revenge of the Sith&mdash;dated April 2003&mdash;and possibly earlier than that. His story was massively expanded upon in the 2012 novel Darth Plagueis, written by James Luceno. However, that story is part of the Star Wars legends continuity, formerly known as the "Expanded Universe," and is therefore not official canon. The novel Tarkin, also by Luceno, includes a number of references to Plagueis and returns to canon certain elements introduced in the Darth Plagueis novel.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith
 * Tarkin