Darth plagueis



Darth Plagueis



"Darth Plagueis was a Dark Lord of the Sith, so powerful and so wise, he could use the Force to influence the midi-chlorians to create life. He had such a knowledge of the dark side, he could even keep the ones he cared about from dying."

―Palpatine[src]|undefined

Darth Plagueis, also known as Darth Plagueis the Wise, was aMuun Dark Lord of the Sith, heir to the lineage of Darth Bane and a master of midi-chlorian manipulation, who lived during the century leading up to the Invasion of Naboo. Obsessed with eternal life, Plagueis experimented with ways to cheat death and create new life from the midi-chlorians.

His great contribution to the history of the galaxy was the training in the ways of the Sith and the dark side of the Force of Darth Sidious, whom he incited to take control of the galaxy and bring about an age of the Sith. Sidious, concerned with being replaced as Plagueis' apprentice, eventually killed the Muun in his sleep. Sidious later recounted the tale as "the Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise", an old "Sith legend", to sway Anakin Skywalker to the dark side, though Plagueis himself remained a mysterious figure to the Jedi and their allies well into the time of the Galactic Alliance. BiographyEdit Darth Plagueis was a Muun, in the Sith lineage of Darth Bane, who reigned in the time around 60 BBY.[2]|undefined Plagueis' Sith name was given to him by his master, derived from the word "plague."[4]|undefined By the time of the Galactic Alliance, nothing was known of Plagueis' origins,[1]|undefined and no one was sure how he came to train Palpatine.[5]|undefined At some point, though, he took on Palpatine, a gifted student, as his apprentice and named him Darth Sidious.[6]|undefined With the longevity granted to his species,[7]|undefined Plagueis would spend a lifetime seeking power over death.[8]|undefined

Plagueis and SidiousEdit

"Tell me what you regard as your greatest strength, so I will know how best to undermine you; tell me of your greatest fear, so I will know which I must force you to face; tell me what you cherish most, so I will know what to take from you; and tell me what you crave, so that I might deny you."

―Darth Plagueis[src]|undefined

A young Sidious trains under Darth Plagueis.

Sidious learned from Plagueis over the course of decades,[2]|undefined during which Plagueis taught his apprentice everything he knew to prevent the power he had amassed from being lost forever.[3][9]|undefined During Sidious' training, Plagueis gave his apprentice access to his Sith holocrons. Plagueis' lessons involved forcing Sidious to face his fears, denying him pleasures, and taking from him the things he loved. He taught Sidious that emotions such as envy and hatred, though necessary to master the dark side, were simply means to the end of casting aside usual notions of morality for a greater goal. Plagueis also lectured his apprentice on the means of taking power, with the eventual goal of control over the galaxy.[8]|undefined

Sidious, meanwhile, began training his own apprentice, Darth Maul, without Plagueis' knowledge,[6]|undefined and may even have trained other apprentices before Maul.[2]|undefined Sidious would not kill his master, however, until he understood the lessons of Plagueis[8]|undefined and had become powerful enough to defeat him.[5]|undefined

The death of Darth PlagueisEdit

"He became so powerful, the only thing he was afraid of was losing his power, which eventually, of course, he did. Unfortunately, he taught his apprentice everything he knew. Then, his apprentice killed him in his sleep."

―Palpatine to Anakin Skywalker[src]|undefined

Plagueis, who had discovered a way to prevent death with the Force, intended to explore an extreme application of his power—the ability to create life from nothing, using the Force to directly manipulate the midi-chlorians found in a living being's blood. When the Dark Lord revealed his plans for this experiment to Sidious, Sidious grew concerned. When Plagueis then stated that a being created in this manner would be the living embodiment of the Force, Sidious realized that his master intended to create his replacement, and decided to kill Plagueis before that happened.[6]|undefined Plagueis never suspected his impending death.[10]|undefined Shortly after, at some point between 52 BBY and46 BBY, Sidious murdered Darth Plagueis as he slept.[1]|undefined

LegacyEdit

"Did you ever hear the Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise?"

―Palpatine[src]|undefined

Palpatine tells Anakin Skywalker of Darth Plagueis.

Plagueis' experiments in creating life may have succeeded. It was speculated that Plagueis initiated his plans before dying,[1]|undefined and according to the Sith Lords, it was Plagueis who influenced the midi-chlorians to conceive Anakin Skywalker.[6]|undefined Though Plagueis purportedly taught Palpatine all he knew,[3]|undefined Palpatine himself was unable to use Plagueis' teachings to cheat death through the Force, and was forced to rely onclone bodies to hold his spirit instead.[1]|undefined

Sidious spoke little of Plagueis to his apprentice Darth Tyranus,[11]|undefined and in the following decades only gave hints to his apprentice Darth Vader.[12]|undefined However, he did use Plagueis' story to seduce Anakin Skywalker into becoming Vader. The Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise, Palpatine's Sith legend, told of Plagueis' abilities to create and preserve life; according to Palpatine, the tragic irony was that though he could keep others from dying, he could not save himself. Skywalker, seeking Plagueis' power to save his own wifePadmé, later apprenticed himself to Palpatine.[9]|undefined

At some point after Plagueis' death, some of the members of a Sith cult known as the Apex Society, believed thatCollan Eislo, the leader of the cult, was being guided by the spirits of deceased Sith Lords, such as Plagueis.[13]|undefined

When historians in later years were unable to find much information on Plagueis, they suspected that Palpatine had destroyed everything about his master. The Wavlud Manuscript, one of the few sources of knowledge for theJedi on the Sith and Sidious, revealed information on Plagueis to the Galactic Alliance and New Jedi Order.[2]|undefined Personality and traitsEdit "You must begin by gaining power over yourself; then another; then a group, an order, a world, a species, a group of species… finally, the galaxy itself."

―Darth Plagueis[src]|undefined

Darth Plagueis was a mystic,[1]|undefined a devotee of the dark side, and a lover of things otherworldly and arcane.[14]|undefinedObsessed with the prospect of eternal life[1]|undefined and ideas of spontaneous generation,[6]|undefined he remained focused on matters of the material world,[14]|undefined though in later years Darth Vader mused that Plagueis had also desired a way to preserve the immaterial self after the death of the body.[12]|undefined

Plagueis was wise and possessed a logical mind,[7]|undefined and his apprentice Palpatine believed that the extent to which he turned his sight inward was the source of his power and knowledge.[9]|undefined He believed that power was to be gained incrementally, beginning with the self and culminating with control of the entire galaxy.[8]|undefined As his own powers grew, he became afraid of nothing but losing that power.[3]|undefined Nonetheless, though the death of the master by the hand of the apprentice was the usual means of Sith succession,[2]|undefined he never saw his own death coming.[10]|undefined Powers and abilitiesEdit "Ironic. He could save others from death, but not himself."

―Palpatine, to Anakin Skywalker[src]|undefined

Plagueis was a master of esoteric and unnatural aspects of the Force.[5]|undefined With it, he was able to manipulate the essence of life,[15]|undefined a power Palpatine believed was directly tied to his inward sight.[9]|undefined Plagueis could save others from death and, when his power was applied to the extreme, create new life from the midi-chlorians found in all lifeforms.[6]|undefined Plagueis even discovered the ability to retain one's identity in the Force while becoming one with it, but this manner of surviving death did not appeal to him, as he was not concerned with the nonmaterial world.[14]|undefined Behind the scenesEdit A non-canonical image of Darth Plagueis from Tag & Bink: Revenge of the Clone Menace.

Darth Plagueis was named as early as the first draft of Revenge ofthe Sith(April 2003), and possibly earlier than this.[16]|undefined His name is clearly derived from the English word "plague," a connection later made in-universe in the Wizards of the Coast article Behind the Threat: The Sith, Part 2: The Becoming.

Plagueis' first appearance of any sort was in the non-canon Tag & Bink: Revenge of the Clone Menace. In this comic it was stated that Plagueis' manipulation of the midi-chlorians produced Force-sensitivity in Tag Greenlyand Bink Otauna. It also caused the destruction of a red sun and its planet, whose only survivor would go on to become a hero on Earth—references toKrypton and Superman, respectively.

Although strictly non-canon, the image of Plagueis in Tag & Bink appears to have inspired the design of his miniature in Star Wars Miniatures: Jedi Academy. The weapon and pose exhibited in Plagueis' miniature (and the accompanying card illustration) exactly match those in the comic image. Plagueis' appearance as a miniature in the Jedi Academy set marks his first representation in toy form.

The Darth Plagueis novelEdit

James Luceno was scheduled to write a novel about Plagueis. The book's announcement on StarWars.com was the first source to identify Plagueis as a Muun.[17]|undefined However, in March 2007 it was announced that the novel had been removed from the publishing schedule. Sue Rostoni's official explanation for the cancellation was that "this was not the right time to delve into Palpatine's back story and Plagueis's beginnings."[18]|undefined The novel was replaced with Darth Bane: Rule of Two.[19]|undefined Though Plagueis' species had been revealed in the novel's announcement,Leland Chee stated that its cancellation did not affect that decision, as it had not originated in the novel.[20]|undefined A panel on continuity at the Celebration IV convention revealed that his identity as a Muun had originally come fromGeorge Lucas.[21]|undefined Jedi vs. Sith: The Essential Guide to the Force confirmed his species as a Muun and was the first source to give him a canonical image. On July 27, 2010, information from a sales database leaked indicating that the novel was once more on the publishing schedule. Sue Rostoni subsequently confirmed the announcement.[22]|undefined

The Force UnleashedEdit

Plagueis concepts for The Force Unleashed.

When creating the multimedia project Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, the development team looked to a number of unexplored characters and events for inspiration, amongst them Plagueis. The initial plan was to use Plagueis as a Sith spirit who would give the player of The Force Unleashed game new dark side powers and information. Another idea involved the Secret Apprentice, the main character, sent to find Plagueis as part of a plot by Darth Vader to resurrect Padmé Amidala. Still other ideas included revealing that the Apprentice was Plagueis reborn, or using a reformed Plagueis as the Apprentice's mentor.[23]|undefined

As the team did not know much about Plagueis at first, they started with Human designs, including famous actorMichael Gambon. Concept artist Greg Knight explored a number of directions, including the undead, a character from a different time, someone using machines to stay alive, eerie youthfulness, the occult, and a number of "freaky and exotic" ideas.[23]|undefined