In the Star Wars universe, the Dark Lords and Ladies of the Sith were a source of both terror and fascination. An ancient Order with its own code and philosophies, the Sith Order has counted numerous members over the years. The Sith Code taught its followers that “peace is a lie, there is only passion,” which places it in direct opposition to the Jedi Code.
There have been many Sith Lords and Ladies since the Order’s creation, and they all mastered incredibly powerful Force techniques. Each Sith Lord or Lady had their own specialty and unique connection with the Force, and all of them were feared (and sometimes revered) in different ways. Sith technology and Sith philosophy became incredibly sophisticated, meaning the Sith could study the Dark Side of the Force in depth.
Snoke and Kylo Ren do not appear here as they are not technically part of the Sith Order.
Updated on June 21, 2023, by Gabrielle Huston: The Sith are a mysterious group that we learn a little more about with every appearance of a new Dark Lord or Lady. We've updated this article to make it easier to read and as clear as possible!
16 Asajj Ventress
Asajj Ventress ranks low on this list less because she’s not powerful and more because she didn’t stay with the Sith Order for very long. She was a former Jedi and Count Dooku’s apprentice. Ventress was actually rather strong; strong enough to catch Darth Sidious’ attention; the Sith Lord ordered Count Dooku to get rid of his apprentice.
Ventress escaped and enlisted Savage Opress to help her get revenge; after a final confrontation with her old master, she fled and went back to the Nightsisters. Ventress ultimately became a bounty hunter, making her time with the Sith short-lived.
15 Jacen Solo (Darth Caedus)
Before the release of The Force Awakens, the story was that, after the events of Return of the Jedi, Han Solo and Leia Organa had three children: the twins Jaina and Jacen, and their little brother Anakin. Jacen eventually became a Sith, going by the name of Darth Caedus — his character inspired Kylo Ren’s in the later movies.
He was trained in the ways of the Dark Side of the Force by Lumiya, and, as a Skywalker, was, of course, incredibly powerful. Unfortunately, not powerful enough to match his uncle Luke Skywalker, nor his sister Jaina, who ultimately ended him.
14 Savage Opress
Like Asajj Ventress, Savage Opress wasn’t with the Sith order for very long. Savage Opress was Darth Maul’s brother; Asajj Ventress used him to get revenge on Count Dooku. He then rebelled against both Dooku and Ventress, and, with the help of his brother Maul (whom he’d helped get his strength back after his battle with Obi-Wan), founded the Shadow Collective.
Unfortunately for the two brothers, Darth Sidious didn’t take kindly to seeing other Sith grow powerful and went to find them himself; Savage Opress didn’t survive the confrontation.
13 Starkiller
Starkiller was another secret Sith apprentice. He was born as Galen Marek and was abducted by Darth Vader as a young boy to be trained in the ways of the Sith. While Starkiller was powerful with the Force, Darth Vader used him as a mere mercenary, preventing him from reaching his true potential.
He eventually met his end during a duel with Darth Sidious, and Darth Vader tried to clone his former apprentice so he could have a new one. The last surviving clone of Starkiller had to flee the Sith Order.
12 Darth Tyranus (Count Dooku)
It pains us to put Darth Tyranus (Count Dooku) so low on this list, as Sir Christopher Lee, who played the Sith Lord, brought the character dignity and power. However, if you look at the story, Darth Tyranus was just another one of Darth Sidious’ many pawns.
He became the future Emperor’s apprentice after Obi-Wan Kenobi defeated Darth Maul, but Darth Sidious simply used Dooku to get Anakin Skywalker to join him and turn to the Dark Side, conveniently disposing of the Count in the process. We learn a lot about Dooku and his motivations in Tales of the Jedi, proving how interesting and underutilized his character truly was.
11 Darth Malak
Darth Malak was born on the planet Quelii, where he lived before he fled to the Galactic Republic and began training as a Jedi. He was a close friend of Revan, a fellow Jedi who would also become a Sith Lord, and eventually, Malak’s Sith Master. He betrayed his former friend and Master and ruled ruthlessly over the Empire, having taken the title of Dark Lord of the Sith.
However, it turned out that Revan, who had gone back to the Light Side of the Force, wasn’t gone (for the full story, check out the old BioWare RPG Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic). Revan ultimately defeated Darth Malak.
10 Darth Vader
One of the reasons Vader is not higher on this list is that his prosthetic limbs stop him from using some of his Force powers — he can’t use Sith lightning, for instance. But beyond that, Vader’s Master Darth Sidious manipulated him and stopped him from using the full extent of his powers.
Yes, he was instrumental in Darth Sidious’ plans, but he was still, sadly, the Sith Lord’s instrument. While Vader was a powerful, ruthless Sith Lord, feared all over the galaxy, he would have grown much, much more powerful had he kept training with the Jedi.
9 Lumiya
Lumiya was the Sith Lady who turned Jacen Solo to the Dark Side of the Force. She, too, was gravely wounded in battle and received prosthetics similar to Darth Vader’s. She fought with a tough lightwhip. She also used a variety of other weapons in combat, some of which were incorporated into her prosthetics. Like Vader, she became more machine than human.
Lumiya was more than just a female Vader, however. She had her own fighting style and her own unique connection to the Force.
8 Darth Plagueis
Darth Plagueis was Darth Tenebrous’ apprentice and Darth Sidious’ master. He ended both his Master and Tenebrous’ illegitimate apprentice, Darth Venamis. Darth Plagueis the Wise, as he was known, had a fascination for knowledge, and spent a lot of time focusing on his research.
According to his apprentice, Darth Sidious, he had learned to keep people from perishing by manipulating midi-chlorians. Plagueis was incredibly powerful, but, eventually, he fell to his apprentice’s hand, and Darth Sidious rose to the rank of Sith Master.
7 Darth Revan
You might know Darth Revan from Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.
He fought on both sides of the Mandalorian Wars, first as a Jedi, then as a Sith and Darth Malak’s master, and then as a Jedi again. He was powerful with the Force, to begin with, but ultimately, his knowledge of the two sides of the Force gave him power most Sith Lords only dream of. He met his end and was resurrected, and mastered many Force techniques; he could, for instance, corrupt Jedi.
6 Darth Zannah
Darth Zannah was Darth Bane’s apprentice, which makes her the first apprentice under the Sith Rule of Two. She was an incredibly powerful Sith Lady, and a talented Sith sorceress.
Darth Zannah was also a skilled fighter; she mastered the Soresu lightsaber form. Zannah also used her sorcery in battle, sometimes driving her enemies to insanity with illusions, sometimes using dark side tendrils to destroy them. Much like Darth Bane himself, she was ruthless and cunning, and one of the most fearsome Dark Ladies on this list.
Though Darth Zannah was a Legends character, she was reintroduced to the canon in several brief mentions.
5 Darth Nihilus
The name Darth Nihilus was enough to strike terror into the hearts of those who heard it. His hunger for power became so great that the Dark Side nearly consumed him. Nihilus survived by binding his consciousness to his mask and armor.
The Sith Lord became the Lord of Hunger, “a wound in the Force, more presence than flesh." His mastery of the Dark Side of the Force was nothing short of legendary, and, long after his end, his mask remained imbued with his spirit and his power.
4 Marka Ragnos
Marka Ragnos was one of the few Sith Lords who became a Force ghost after his demise (a power usually reserved to Jedi). He was the Emperor of the Old Sith Empire and the one who led the Sith to their Golden Age.
He wielded a Sith sword, and his mastery of the Force made him nearly invulnerable in battle. Like Darth Zannah, Marka Ragnos was both a skilled fighter and a talented Sith sorcerer and is remembered as one of the most powerful Sith in history.
3 Darth Traya
Darth Traya was, like others on this list, a Jedi before she became a Sith. She was Revan’s Jedi Master and Darth Sion and Darth Nihilus’ Sith Master. With them, Traya formed the Sith Triumvirate.
She mastered numerous Dark Side techniques and became one of the most powerful Sith Ladies the universe would ever know. She could, for instance, use the Force to wield her lightsabers without using her hands, and could use shatterpoints to see far into the future.
2 Darth Bane
The creator of the Sith rule of two, Darth Bane shaped the Sith Order as we know it. He was a ruthless, powerful man, and a Sith legend.
He was intent on destroying the Jedi, but believed the Sith could only do so by cunning and manipulation; for that, they had to survive their internal conflicts, hence the Rule of Two. Darth Bane’s legacy lived on through his apprentice and her apprentice after her, etc. He paved the way for Sidious’ rise to power and subsequent destruction of the Jedi Order.
1 Darth Sidious
Darth Sidious, also known as Sheev Palpatine, or later, the Emperor, was an incredibly powerful Sith Lord. Cunning and manipulative, he succeeded in destroying the Jedi Order and re-establishing the Sith Empire. Darth Sidious’ double identity was an undeniable asset in his plans, as most didn't suspect the beloved Chancellor Palpatine until it was too late.
In the Star Wars extended universe, he had almost god-like powers, and, for instance, created a Force Storm, bending the space-time continuum. He was also skilled in Sith Sorcery and a gifted lightsaber fighter.