Dark Lord of the Sith

The title Dark Lord of the Sith, or Jen'ari in the Sith language, originally referred to the rulers of the Sith Empire, such as those entombed in Korriban's Valley of the Dark Lords; subsequently, it was shared by multiple Sith Lords simultaneously. Some Sith Lords had the prefix Darth, but not all were Dark Lords. From the Golden Age of the Sith until their fall in the New Sith Wars, there was typically only one Dark Lord of the Sith at a time who headed the Sith Order, with one Dark Lord succeeding the other, as was the case with Marka Ragnos and his successor, Naga Sadow, who initiated the failed Great Hyperspace War. The Sith Lord Vitiate declared himself Sith Emperor and founded a reconstituted Sith Empire, where all of his twelve Dark Councillors held the title of Dark Lord at the same time. The fallen Jedi Darth Revan and Darth Malak also claimed the Dark Lord title for themselves during the Jedi Civil War, as did the Sith Triumvirate that succeeded them.

After deceiving Skere Kaan's Brotherhood of Darkness into destruction at Ruusan, Darth Bane instituted the Order of the Sith Lords' Rule of Two, dictating that there should only be one master and one apprentice at a time, with only the Master being a Dark Lord of the Sith. However, by the time of Darth Sidious and Darth Vader, both the Master and the Apprentice were Dark Lords of the Sith. The term referred to individuals of any gender, though Lumiya claimed the title of Dark Lady of the Sith. The Lost Tribe of Sith, who descended from Sith survivors of the Great Hyperspace War, were ruled by a Grand Lord and his Circle of Lords rather than a Dark Lord, while Darth Krayt of the One Sith assumed the mantle of Dark Lord.

Text and facts from the “Dark Lord of the Sith/Legends” article on Wookieepedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Modified for this site.