The Sith are a group of fictional characters in the Star Wars universe.The Sith, Expanded Universe. Starwars.com, Lucasfilm. Last accessed 2007-11-25. They are the central antagonists of the franchise. Characterized by their single-minded lust for power and disdain for sentient life, they are an alliance of warrior priests who use the dark side of the Force and serve as counterparts to the Jedi Knights.The Sith. Starwars.com, Lucasfilm. Last accessed 2007-11-25.

The Sith are portrayed in various Star Wars media as individuals who use the dark side to attain power at any cost. The Star Wars prequel films establish that they draw upon strong emotions, both negative and positive, as the source of their power, and care only about themselves. This is in contrast to the Jedi, who are portrayed as forsaking emotional attachment in order to serve others and the galaxy as a whole.

In their later history, members of the Order receive the ceremonial title of "Darth" to signify their membership into the Order.

Film use

The first use of the word "Sith" is in the Star Wars novelization for Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, as a title for Darth Vader, the "Dark Lord of the Sith." The word is not used in any of the original Star Wars films. The Sith are introduced on-screen with the prequel film Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, where the order is represented by Darth Sidious and Darth Maul.

Depiction

Origin

The Sith ruled over an ancient interstellar empire which flourished some 7000 years before the events in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. The Sith order originated when a group of rogue Jedi left the order and rebelled. The Jedi eventually stopped them, but due to their beliefs, the Jedi sent them into deep space on a prison ship rather than executing them. The ship crashed on the then-undiscovered planet of Korriban, where they found a race of Force-using reptillian sentients known as the Sith. Though the rogue Jedi were unfamiliar with the Siths' powers, they easily conquered the planet and proclaimed themselves the rulers of the Sith, hence the title "Sith Lord".

Though they worked the Sith to extinction building their empire, the Sith Lords, through their descendents, were eventually able to get off of Korriban and retaliate against the Jedi, setting off the Great Hyperspace War. Though it is not known where or when the "Darth" title came from, it was speculated that it is derived from the Rakatan word "Daritha", meaning "ruler" or "emperor". The ancient Sith Lords had warred for centuries, and their common order -the New Sith Order - reflected this factionalism prior to Lord Kaan's unification of the warring Lords into the Brotherhood of Darkness.