The world of Star Wars offers much more than what the movies and series show. Long before Disney’s acquisition, there were comics, books, and games that told stories beyond the Skywalker saga. In one game, you meet a powerful Sith Lord who can drain the life out of others.
Which Sith Lord is being referred to? Long before Disney’s sequels, there were stories beyond the movies and series in the Star Wars universe. These took place long before the birth of Anakin Skywalker. Many of these comics, books, and games are considered Star Wars Legends. These are stories that do not belong to the official canon, yet are still beloved by fans.
In the video game Knights of the Old Republic 2: The Sith Lords, the story of Darth Nihilus is told. This powerful Sith Lord was originally a simple man, but a mighty superweapon caused him to develop an insatiable hunger for power.
A Victim of War
How did Darth Nihilus come to be? Originally, he was a simple man who was drawn into the Mandalorian War of the Galactic Republic. This occurred nearly 4000 years before the events of Episode 6. The final battle of this war took place on the planet Malchor 5.
In this battle, the Mass Shadow Generator was detonated. This is a superweapon comparable to the Death Star. The weapon creates an anomaly in gravity, which destroys everything in the nearby vicinity and on the surface of the planet.
Darth Nihilus survived the weapon, but he lost everything. The catastrophe also created a tear in the Force, and together with his grief, a void formed within him. This void developed into a hunger that made him consume the life energy of another survivor.
This temporarily filled his void, but it returned. He also consumed the life energy of other survivors, but his void was only briefly satisfied, returning even more intensely.
Nihilus was discovered by Darth Traya, a former Jedi who had turned to the dark side. She promised to train him in the Force so that he could consume more life energy. He studied the emptiness of the Sith and became a Lord. Together with Darth Traya and Darth Sion, a Sith Triumvirate was formed.
A Sith Lord Obsessed with Life Energy
Darth Nihilus was consumed by his insatiable hunger. In classic Sith fashion, Darth Sion and Nihilus defeated their master, Darth Traya, and banished her. Both Sith agreed on the goal of exterminating the Jedi. Sion chose the warlike path and fought against many Jedi. Nihilus traveled the universe in search of strong life energy.
Every time he drained the life energy of a being, he became more powerful; he could even drain entire planets, but his hunger grew each time. He was slowly but surely being consumed by the dark side and thus abandoned his physical form.
Through his connection with the Force, he was able to use his armor and lightsaber. However, he slowly lost his goals and personality.
On the planet Katarr, the Jedi, led by Master Atris, set a trap for him. But his power was so great that he drained nearly all life on the planet, including the majority of the Jedi. Only Jedi Visas Marr survived, who became his apprentice after he showed her visions. They developed a shared bond in the Force.
But this also led to his demise.
The End of Darth Nihilus
How was Darth Nihilus defeated? Although the Sith were able to significantly thin the Jedi ranks, resistance movements formed in the background. Once again, Nihilus was lured to a planet. This time, however, the trap was set by Kreia, his former master Darth Traya, who was training Jedi Meetra Surik.
Although he noticed the trap, he drained the planet Telos 4, giving the Jedi time. The fleet of the Sith Lord was then attacked by the Republic and the Mandalorians. A battle ensued between Nihilus and Surik, Kreia, and his apprentice Marr, who had begun to doubt him.
Marr used her bond with her master to weaken him, allowing him to be defeated. When Surik removed the mask of the Sith Lord, only a dark aura remained. In many Star Wars Legends
stories, there were threats that even overshadowed the Emperor: A malevolent being in Star Wars is more powerful and dangerous than the Emperor – never appeared in movies and series
