Darth Plagueis

"Darth Plagueis was a Dark Lord of the Sith so powerful and so wise, he could use the Force to influence the midi-chlorians to create life. He had such a knowledge of the dark side, he could even keep the ones he cared about from dying."

- Sheev Palpatine

Darth Plagueis  was a male Dark Lord of the Sith and the master of Darth Sidious. He acquired considerable knowledge of the Force, but was ultimately betrayed and murdered by his own apprentice, in accordance with the Rule of Two. Sidious later recounted the tale of his master's demise to lure the Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker to the dark side of the Force.

Master of Darth Sidious
"My mentor taught me everything about the Force, even the nature of the dark side."

- Sheev Palpatine

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 new Sith Empire.

The Tragedy of Darth Plagueis
"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."

- Sheev Palpatine

According to Sidious, Plagueis was powerful enough that he could use the Force to influence the midi-chlorians to create life and keep the ones he cared about from dying, a precious knowledge that awarded him the epithet of "The Wise." However, Plagueis 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.

Legacy
"Did you ever hear the Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise?"

- Sheev Palpatine, to Anakin Skywalker

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 protocol droid assistant. In the waning days of the Republic, Sidious recounted the history of his late master to the Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, whom he befriended years before the Clone Wars in an effort to gradually turn him to the dark side of the Force. Skywalker, who was unaware at the time that his friend was in fact a Sith Lord, and having developed premonitions of his secret wife's death in childbirth, was intrigued by the story of Plagueis, particularly his ability to prevent death. When the fear of loss drove Skywalker to betray the Jedi Order, turning him into the Sith Lord Darth Vader, Sidious reformed the Republic into the Galactic Empire and declared himself Emperor. At the same time, he had the Jedi wiped out by Order 66, completing the Sith plan that lasted for over a millennium.

One of the few Jedi to survive was a Padawan named Ferren Barr. Barr began investigating as to why the Jedi fell so quickly and learned of Plagueis' existence, putting his file on him in his list of individuals involved in the crisis. In the years that followed his rise to power, 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."

- Darth Sidious, musing on an utterance made by Darth Plagueis

Darth Plagueis was first mentioned on-screen in the 2005 film Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith. 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. His story was massively expanded upon in the 2012 Star Wars Legends novel Darth Plagueis, written by James Luceno. It notably established Plagueis to be a Muun just as Lucas proposed.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: The Prequel Trilogy – A Graphic Novel
 * Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith
 * Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith 14: Burning Seas, Part II
 * Tarkin