The Sith are an order of Force-sensitive beings and the main antagonists in the fictional universe of the Star Wars franchise. They are the ideological antithesis and ancient enemies of the Jedi. The Sith Order is depicted as an ancient cult of warriors who wield the dark side of the Force to seize power by any means necessary, including terrorism and mass murder with the ultimate goal of destroying the Jedi order and ruling the galaxy. Several antagonistic factions in the franchise, including the Confederacy of Independent Systems, the Galactic Empire, the Imperial Remnant, and the First Order, are shown to have originated from the Sith. Sith, known as Sith Lords, are by nature ruthless. Members of the order have the power to assume absolute authority amongst their kind and be granted the honorific Dark Lord of the Sith. Sith culture is based on perpetual treachery and betrayal. The fate of Sith Lords is to be killed and replaced by their own apprentices. The Sith teach their apprentices to revere the dark side of the Force, to give full rein to aggressive emotions of rage and hatred, and to believe that others are expendable in the pursuit of power, thus making the Lords' demise inevitable. Like the Jedi, the Sith wield the lightsaber as their traditional weapon, a device that generates a blade-like plasma powered by a kyber crystal. In contrast to the Jedi, who use blue, green, purple, white, and yellow lightsabers, the color for a Sith Lord lightsaber is usually red. There are two theories about how the red color is achieved. The original and still widely accepted theory is that they use an artificial kyber crystal, that produces the red color, while in the new Disney universe it is born of an unnatural corruption of the kyber crystal through the dark side's malignancy, causing it to "bleed," which affects the sound of ignition with a harsher hiss. One thousand years before the Galactic Civil War, the Sith came close to extinction after the Battle of Ruusan. Despite this, they continued to covertly exist as two Dark Lords at a time, a master and an apprentice, until their later resurgence in the history of the galaxy.
Etymology
Influences
George Lucas has acknowledged that many sources have inspired the concepts of the Jedi, Sith, and the Force. These include knighthood, chivalry, paladinism, samurai bushido, Shaolin Monastery, feudalism, Hinduism, qigong, Greek philosophy and mythology, Roman history and mythology, Sufism, Confucianism, Shintō, Buddhism and Taoism, and numerous cinematic precursors. The works of philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche and mythologist Joseph Campbell, especially his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949), directly influenced Lucas and was what drove him to create the 'modern myth' of Star Wars. In particular, the Manichaean relationship between the dark side-using Sith and light side-using Jedi mirrors several modern and classical literary tropes. The ongoing struggle of the humanistic "light side"-affiliated Jedi to permanently defeat the egoistic "dark side"-affiliated Sith is framed not only as a contest of values but as a deep metaphysical conflict: the dark side of the Force is viewed by the Jedi, and generally represented within Star Wars media, as not only a dangerous expedient but as a form of existential corruption that must be purged for the universe, or a person, to attain spiritual balance. Jedi are often depicted as imperfect individuals, but their cause of selfless heroism is ultimately on the right side of an inexorable cosmic struggle against evil, embodied in the power-hungry Sith and the dark side of the Force. The dualistic relationship between these Sith and Jedi concepts of "purity" mirrors the philosophical and literary concept of "Apollonian and Dionysian": the Jedi are portrayed as embracing purity, reason, temperance, altruism, and other humanistic virtues. The Sith, by contrast, embrace curiosity, emotion, conflict, power, instincts, unfettered self-interest and other hedonistic vices. However, whereas the classic Greek concept did not necessarily view the Apollonian and Dionysian principles as opposed, Star Wars frames the Jedi and Sith as opponents in a dire moral struggle, with the Sith cast as corrupted villains apparently destined for defeat or self-destruction in the end. The Greek analogy also makes clear that the conflict between the Jedi and the Sith reflects the universe's eternal dichotomy between order (Apollonian) and chaos (Dionysian). Ironically, the Sith, and the Imperials generally, believe in an extreme social conservatism for sentient beings at large, enforcing order on society through brutal authoritarianism. However, the individual Sith soul is chaotic: a Sith is never at peace, wracked by jealousy and paranoia until he or she has achieved ultimate supremacy. Within the Star Wars narrative, the Jedi and Sith naturally have differing understandings of the Force. In Sith rhetoric, the relationship between the philosophy of Jedi versus Sith closely mirrors German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche's concept of master–slave morality; Sith value "master" virtues, such as pride and power, whereas the Jedi value altruistic "slave" virtues like kindness and compassion. The goal of the Sith is tangible greatness: the ability to shape or destroy a world according to one's will alone. The goal of the Jedi is moral goodness: freedom from inner turmoil and selfish desires. However, the Sith consider the Jedi's aspirations to be either hopeless or pathetic. To the Sith, achieving greater power, following one's passion, and freedom from inhibition are more authentic ways of expressing the Force. While the Jedi strive for a harmonious connection to the Force, the Sith seek a deeper understanding through conflict, as they believe the Force is defined by it.
Development Originally, George Lucas conceived the Sith as an army of fanatical soldiers that served the Emperor in the same way that the Schutzstaffel had served Adolf Hitler. In developing the history for The Empire Strikes Back, Lucas condensed this into one character in the form of Darth Vader.
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