There are countless powerful Sith Lords throughout the Star Wars franchise, but only a few have adhered to the Rule of Two. When the Sith first appeared in the Star Wars original trilogy, there were only two, but there was no indication that this was an actual rule. It wasn’t until Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace that Yoda clarified there could only be two Sith at a time, a master and an apprentice. Subsequent stories have expanded on the Rule of Two and introduced many Sith Lords in Star Wars canon and Legends who lived by it.
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The Rule of Two was created to stop the infighting that had led to the Sith’s destruction. The man who created the Rule of Two believed there should be one master to embody the power and one apprentice to crave it, allowing the Sith to focus their efforts and operate effectively from the shadows. However, the Sith also had several dark-side acolytes and minions, but not all of them count as Sith Lords. For simplicity, this list will only include Sith Lords with “Darth” in their name, from the Grand Plan’s inception to its culmination in the Star Wars movies.
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- Darth Bane
- Darth Zannah
- Darth Cognus (Legends)
- Darth Millennial (Legends)
- Darth Vectivus (Legends)
- Darth Gravid (Legends)
- Darth Gean (Legends)
- Darth Guile (Legends)
- Darth Ramage (Legends)
- Darth Tenebrous’ Sith Master (Legends)
- Darth Tenebrous
- Darth Plagueis
- Darth Venamis (Legends)
- Darth Sidious
- Darth Maul
- Darth Tyranus
- Darth Vader
- Honorable Mentions
18 Darth Bane
The Sith Lord who created the Rule of Two
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Once a man called Dessel, Darth Bane began his life in the Legends timeline as a poor miner. However, his destiny changed when he became a soldier for Lord Kaan’s Sith Brotherhood of Darkness, where he quickly proved himself. When he was discovered to be Force-sensitive, he was trained at the Sith Academy on Korriban, but his studies of ancient Sith Lords led him to believe that the Sith had lost their way. Bane tricked the last Sith into destroying themselves at the Battle of Ruusan and declared that there would only be two Sith Lords at any given time.
While Darth Bane’s story is not as fleshed out in the Star Wars canon timeline, the basics of his backstory remain the same. Near the end of the Clone Wars, Jedi Master Yoda traveled to Bane’s tomb on the Sith world of Moraband, formerly known as Korriban. Yoda encountered a dark side vision of Bane, one wearing alternative armor from most visual depictions in Legends. In both timelines, Bane’s restructuring of the Sith ensured their survival for 1,000 years, and his Grand Plan would culminate in the destruction of the Jedi Order and the rise of the Galactic Empire.
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17 Darth Zannah
The first apprentice of Darth Bane
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As a child, a Jedi mistakenly killed Zannah’s friend, causing her to tap into the dark side and kill him. Darth Bane witnessed this and raised Zannah as his apprentice, later bestowing her the title of “Darth.” Bane eventually grew impatient with Zannah and believed she would never have the strength to strike him down and take the mantle of Dark Lord, so he sought to transfer his spirit into her. The two dueled one last time, and just as Bane was about to transfer his essence, Zannah struck him down and became the new Dark Lord of the Sith.
16 Darth Cognus (Legends)
Bane’s second apprentice and Zannah’s second apprentice
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Darth Cognus was an Iktotchi assassin known as “The Huntress” who was sent to capture Darth Bane. Despite completing her task, she felt her destiny was somehow connected to Bane and asked to become his new apprentice. When Bane agreed to train her, she took the name Darth Cognus for her cognitive ability to see the future through the Force. When Darth Zannah arrived to challenge Bane for the title of Sith Master, Cognus chose not to interfere, pledging herself to the victor. Zannah emerged victorious and became the new Dark Lord of the Sith, taking Cognus as her apprentice.
15 Darth Millennial (Legends)
A Sith who betrayed the Rule of Two
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Darth Millennial was a three-eyed mutant Sith Shadow Hand with the power to see the future, similar to his master, Darth Cognus. Millennial became disillusioned with Darth Bane’s Rule of Two, believing it limited the Sith’s potential and that returning to Lord Kaan’s Rule by the Strong philosophy made more sense. He escaped from Cognus and fled to the Sith world of Dromund Kaas, founding a religion called the Dark Force that eventually became the order of the Prophets of the Dark Side. Cognus was forced to find a new apprentice to continue the Rule of Two established by Bane.
14 Darth Vectivus (Legends)
A Sith Lord who found balance
Although his exact timeline placement is unknown, Darth Vectivus is one of the most memorable Rule of Two Sith Lords for not fully succumbing to the dark side. As a business executive who owned a mining colony, he discovered a Force nexus that affected the minds of his employees, so he shut his operation down. Vectivus left and found a Sith Master to train him, and while he believed in the dark side, his discipline and ethics prevented him from being entirely corrupted. Vectivus’ spirit remained beneath his home centuries after his death, where he encountered Jedi and Sith alike.
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13 Darth Gravid (Legends)
The man who set the Sith back hundreds of years
Much of the Sith’s 1,000 years in hiding can be attributed to the actions of Darth Gravid. He was gradually drawn to the light side of the Force and believed that absolute commitment to the dark side would destroy the Sith. Gravid attempted to incorporate Jedi teachings with Sith doctrine, slowly losing his mind in the process, until he tried to destroy most of his collection of Sith artifacts and lore. He was stopped and killed by his apprentice, but not before he sliced off her arm and did enough damage to set back the Sith Grand Plan by centuries.
12 Darth Gean (Legends)
The apprentice of Darth Gravid
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Darth Gean was a Twi’lek Sith Lord who served as Darth Gravid’s apprentice, helping him construct a bastion on Jaguada. However, she discovered that her master had lost his sanity and was attempting to destroy his collection of Sith artifacts. Gean managed to break through the barriers Gravid had raised around his bastion and kill him, losing her arm and the left side of her face and chest. She was forced to use a prosthetic limb and train her own apprentice without the vast collection of knowledge Gravid had destroyed.
11 Darth Guile (Legends)
A man who understood the merit of hiding in plain sight
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Darth Guile is another Sith Lord with an unknown timeline placement, making it unclear if he was truly a Rule of Two Sith Lord. However, he was one of the many Sith referenced by Darth Plagueis, who recalled how Guile viewed the Sith as malignant cells that couldn’t be detected but could spread quickly through the body and kill a victim. Because this matches Darth Bane’s desire for the Sith to operate from the shadows, it’s reasonable to assume that Guile was a Rule of Two Sith Lord.
10 Darth Ramage (Legends)
An incredibly cunning Sith scientist
Darth Ramage is the final Rule of Two Sith Lord with an unknown timeline placement, but he is notable for his work as a Sith scientist. He created a Sith holocron to record his findings on combining bota and pyronium, powerful materials useful for fighting the Jedi Order. Ramage also explored the possibility of time travel by experimenting on Cephalons, a species able to perceive past and future events.
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9 Darth Tenebrous’ Sith Master (Legends)
Allowed the Jedi to feel the dark side
The man who trained Darth Tenebrous was an unknown Twi’lek Sith Lord, though he advanced the Grand Plan more than many of his predecessors. He opened a rift in the Force that allowed the Jedi to feel the dark side for the first time in centuries, shifting the balance towards the Sith’s goals. Tenebrous and his master also sought to develop a virus that would sever a Jedi’s connection to the Force, though this plan ultimately failed. Tenebrous eventually killed his Twi’lek master and became the new Dark Lord of the Sith, taking a young Muun as his apprentice.
8 Darth Tenebrous
A Bith and master starship designer
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Publicly known as Rugess Nome, Darth Tenebrous was a Bith Sith Lord, scientific genius, and famous for his incredible starship designs. He also constructed a vast network of informants and allies in positions of power, which would be invaluable to the Sith’s long-term goals. Tenebrous’ mathematical mind led him to see the dark side as nothing more than a tool, and that while the Sith’s Grand Plan could be calculated, it couldn’t be rushed. His apprentice disagreed, and during a mining excavation, Tenebrous was betrayed and killed by his pupil.
7 Darth Plagueis
The Sith who sought immortality
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Darth Plagueis the wise succeeded Darth Tenebrous as Dark Lord of the Sith, confident that he would be the one to finally carry out the Grand Plan. As Hego Damask, he held great financial power in the Intergalactic Banking Clan, affording him multiple opportunities to shape galactic affairs from the shadows. However, Plagueis was determined to unlock the secret of immortality through the Force, extending his own life by many years. Unfortunately, Plagueis’ overconfidence was his undoing, and he was murdered in his sleep by his apprentice, Darth Sidious.
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Despite being referenced several times, Plagueis has only appeared once in Star Wars canon. The Acolyte season 1 finale showed him watching Osha Aniseya and “Qimir” from the shadows, strongly implying that Plagueis was the Stranger’s Sith Master. With The Acolyte‘s apparent cancelation, it’s currently unknown if or when Plagueis’ story will continue in canon or how his cameo will affect the High Republic era.
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6 Darth Venamis (Legends)
The second apprentice of Darth Tenebrous
Many Sith Lords bent or flat-out violated the Rule of Two, including Darth Tenebrous when he trained a second apprentice. Like his master, Darth Venamis was a Bith, trained in secret to replace Darth Plagueis if he failed Tenebrous as an apprentice. Following Tenebrous’ death, Venamis tracked down and attempted to kill Plagueis but was swiftly defeated, submitting himself as an apprentice. However, Plagueis found Venamis unworthy and instead spent many years experimenting on the Bith in his quest to master immortality through the Force.
5 Darth Sidious
The future Emperor Palpatine
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As a young man on Naboo, Palpatine was befriended by Hego Damask, who became one of the few people Palpatine felt he could confide in. When Palpatine gave in to the dark side and slaughtered his family, Damask helped cover up the crime, revealing himself as Darth Plagueis and recruiting Palpatine into the Order of the Sith Lords. Plagueis spent decades training Palpatine, now Darth Sidious, as a brutal Sith Lord and cunning politician who would one day become Chancellor of the Republic. When Palpatine no longer found Plagueis useful, he killed his master in his sleep.
In both canon and Legends, Palpatine survived by transferring his essence into a clone body, returning to wage war on the New Republic.
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Palpatine eventually saw the Grand Plan to completion when he declared himself Emperor and reorganized the Republic into the Galactic Empire. However, after a brutal 23-year reign, Palpatine was betrayed and seemingly killed by his apprentice, Darth Vader, who had turned back to the light in his final moments. In both canon and Legends, Palpatine survived by transferring his essence into a clone body, returning to wage war on the New Republic. Even so, Palpatine was defeated again and killed for good, bringing a final end to the Rule of Two Sith line established by Darth Bane.
4 Darth Maul
The first apprentice of Darth Sidious
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In Star Wars Legends, Darth Sidious found and trained Maul while Darth Plagueis was still alive, making his status as a Sith Lord debatable. Either way, he earned the title of “Darth” and proved himself by carrying out his master’s will in the years leading up to the Battle of Naboo. It was during this conflict that he confronted two Jedi, Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi, killing the former and getting cut in half by the latter. Maul eventually returned during the Clone Wars, sporting a pair of robot legs as he sought to build his own criminal empire.
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In Star Wars canon, Maul’s Sith Lord status is more concrete, as Sidious was implied to have killed Plagueis before training an apprentice. Maul’s canon story also continued into the Dark Times, where he operated as the secret leader of Crimson Dawn. He eventually learned that Obi-Wan Kenobi was alive and tracked his old nemesis to Tatooine, where Maul threatened to kill whomever he was there to protect. The two engaged in an intense yet brief duel that ended in Maul’s death, and after learning that the Chosen One was alive, Maul died believing that he would be avenged.
3 Darth Tyranus
The second apprentice of Darth Sidious
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Dooku was once a highly respected Jedi Master trained by Yoda himself, though he gradually lost faith in the Jedi Order and the Republic. He forged a secret alliance with Darth Sidious to remake the galaxy, but when Jedi Master Yaddle discovered this, Dooku killed her and became Darth Tyranus. After reclaiming his family’s wealth and estate, “Count” Dooku rallied thousands of worlds to his Separatist cause and helped engineer the Clone Wars. However, he was eventually killed by Anakin Skywalker, realizing too late that his master had always intended to replace him.
2 Darth Vader
The final Rule of Two Sith Lord
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Born a slave on Tatooine, Anakin Skywalker’s life changed forever when Qui-Gon Jinn agreed to take him to the Jedi Temple for training. Even more shocking was the discovery that he had been conceived by the midi-chlorians, meaning Anakin was the prophesied Chosen One who would destroy the Sith and bring balance to the Force. When Qui-Gon was killed, Obi-Wan Kenobi honored his master’s dying wish by taking Anakin as his Padawan learner. Anakin grew up to be a powerful yet reckless Jedi, committed to the ideals of the order but frustrated that the masters seemed to hold him back.
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This made Anakin susceptible to the machinations of Darth Sidious, who eventually turned Anakin against the Jedi and made him his new apprentice, Darth Vader. During a duel on the lava world of Mustafar, Anakin was defeated by Obi-Wan and severely injured, receiving horrible burns that required him to wear a suit of armor to keep him alive. After decades of serving the Galactic Empire, Vader learned that he had a son, later sacrificing himself to save Luke Skywalker on the second Death Star. 30 years later, Anakin’s voice could be heard among the many Jedi spirits speaking to Rey on Exegol.
1 Honorable Mentions
Rule of Two adjacent Sith/Dark Jedi
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Although there could only be two true Sith Lords at a time, it would be hard to conquer the galaxy without dark-side followers. Several Star Wars characters were either trained by the Sith or had a strong connection to them, leading some of these individuals to proclaim themselves Sith Lords.
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Character |
Description |
Continuity |
|---|---|---|
|
The Stranger |
A former Jedi who was trained by Darth Plagueis. However, there is a great deal of mystery surrounding his character, and having no name could imply that he is not a true Sith yet. |
Canon |
|
Vergere |
A former Jedi who was trained by Darth Sidious. She spent decades among a warrior race called the Yuuzhan Vong, where she met Jacen Solo and manipulated him so he would eventually turn to the dark side. |
Legends |
|
Asajj Ventress |
Raised by a Jedi named Ky Narec, Asajj Ventress was later recruited as Count Dooku’s assassin. However, Darth Sidious eventually forced Dooku to turn on her when he suspected she was being trained as a secret apprentice. |
Canon and Legends |
|
Savage Opress |
Initially Asajj Ventress’ replacement as Count Dooku’s apprentice, he turned on them both and set out to find his long-lost brother, Darth Maul. Although they considered themselves the true Lords of the Sith, Darth Sidious quickly put an end to their reign. |
Canon and Legends |
|
Starkiller/Galen Marek |
The secret apprentice of Darth Vader who eventually turned against his master to defend the Rebel Alliance. He sacrificed himself in a duel with Darth Sidious as the rebel leaders escaped. |
Legends |
|
Starkiller’s Clone |
Darth Vader attempted to clone a more obedient version of Starkiller, but the clone escaped and joined the Rebellion in their fight against the Empire. |
Legends |
|
The Dark Apprentice |
A second Starkiller clone who was more loyal to Darth Vader and planned to strike down any who attempted to kill his master. |
Legends |
|
Lumiya |
The Dark Lady of the Sith who was trained by Darth Vader and became an enemy of Luke Skywalker. She returned decades later and converted Luke’s nephew, Jacen Solo, to the dark side before Luke killed her. |
Legends |
|
Flint |
Another pupil of Darth Vader who became Lumiya’s apprentice after Vader’s death. Flint eventually turned away from the dark side of the Force but was later murdered by Lumiya. |
Legends |
|
Set Harth |
A former Padawan who became Darth Zannah’s temporary apprentice. However, he fled from her after finding a Sith holocron, using its secrets to extend his life for at least 1,000 years. |
Legends |
|
Snoke |
A creation of Palpatine’s on Exegol who became Supreme Leader of the First Order. He trained Kylo Ren in the dark side but was eventually killed by his apprentice and supplanted as Supreme Leader. |
Canon |
|
Kylo Ren |
The son of Han Solo, and Leia Organa, Ben Solo turned to the dark side and destroyed Luke Skywalker’s Jedi Temple. He eventually found his way back to the light and stood with Rey against Palpatine, sacrificing his own life to save hers. |
Canon |
|
Darth Caedus |
The first son of Han Solo and Leia Organa in Legends, Jacen Solo was converted to the dark side and became Darth Caedus. After a brutal reign of terror, Caedus was killed by his twin sister, Jaina Solo, who believed Jacen had returned to the light in his final moments. |
Legends |
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However, Count Dooku once noted that dressing like the Sith and fighting like the Sith does not necessarily make one a Sith. Even so, these Star Wars characters are still worth mentioning alongside those who are considered Rule of Two Sith Lords in canon and Legends.
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