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| “ | Remember why the Sith are more powerful than the Jedi, Sidious: because we are not afraid to feel. We embrace the spectrum of emotions, from the heights of transcendent joy to the depths of hatred and despair. Fearless, we welcome whatever paths the dark side sets us on, and whatever destiny it lays out for us. | „ |
| ~ Plagueis explaining the difference between Jedi and Sith to his apprentince, Darth Sidious. |
| “ | 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. | „ |
| ~ Darth Sidious about the Tragedy of Darth Plagueis. |
| “ | 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. Ironic. He could save others from death...but not himself. | „ |
| ~ Sidious explains how Darth Plagueis died. |
Darth Plagueis is the overarching antagonist of the Star Wars franchise, and the titular main protagonist of the Star Wars: Darth Plagueis novel in the Legends timeline.
He was a Muun Dark Lord of the Sith, heir to the lineage of Darth Bane, apprentice to Darth Tenebrous 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 forms of life from the midi-chlorians.
His great contribution to the history of the galaxy was training his apprentice Darth Sidious in the ways of the Sith and the dark side of the Force, whom he incited to take control of the galaxy and bring about a new age of the Sith. Sidious, convinced that his master had outlived his usefulness, eventually betrayed him by killing him in his sleep.
Years later, Sidious (in his civilian guise of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine) recounted Plagueis' story as The Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise, an old "Sith legend", to sway Anakin Skywalker to the dark side.
Appearance[]
A male Muun, Plagueis was tall, gaunt and thin. Typical of Muuns he had pale skin, an elongated head with a prominent cranium, and a nose so flat that people might not think Muuns not have noses at all. He had large hands and his fore and middle fingers were substantially longer than his other fingers. He possessed three hearts.
In his public persona of Hego Damask, he often wore fancy clothes and a headdress. In his Sith guise, he wore traditional black hooded robes. After a near assassination attempt, Plagueis had to wear a respirator mask to breathe and a vocabulator to speak for the rest of his life. Later in life, he used a walking stick which hid his lightsaber in plain sight. As he sank further into the dark side, his skin became even paler and sported the famous yellow eyes associated with dark side users.
In The Acolyte, Plagueis makes his debut outside of Legends, as well as in a visual medium. He is still a Muun, with gray skin and glowing orange eyes. He wears a long black cloak with a hood.
Personality[]
| “ | 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 |
Plagueis was considered to be mystic, despite the fact that he sought to develop an entirely rationalistic system of Force study, was among the few Sith Lords to have serious doubts about the existence of Force ghosts - even after confronting the purported ghost of Marka Ragnos — and was similarly wary of supposed prophecies.
He was an enthusiastic devotee of the dark side, and a lover of things otherworldly and arcane. Obsessed with the prospect of eternal life and ideas of spontaneous regeneration, as he remained focused on matters of the material world, 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.
Typical of a Sith Lord, Plagueis was vengeful, ruthless, relentless, totalitarian and megalomaniacal, seeking to rule the galaxy alongside his apprentice as god kings for all eternity. He believed that after he and Sidious took over the galaxy as god kings, that the citizens of the galaxy would be grateful to Sith rule. He possessed slightly racist views regarding humans.
A social Darwinist, he rejected common morality and interpersonal ties as artificial restrictions fabricated by the weak to control the strong. He found the very idea of evil to be laughable, as he is capable of committing unspeakable acts without remorse, and as a result was capable of great cruelty.
Most notable instances include him manipulating a young Palpatine into murdering his whole family, ordering the murder of a group of miners and having their bodies dumped at their company headquarters, and terrorizing a civilization of primitive aliens by eating one of their hearts (even though, as a Muun, he is a vegetarian).
He was shown to be vengeful, as he would seek violent retribution when wronged. This is shown when he ordered his Sun Guards to murder employees of Subtext Mining to avenge Darth Tenebrous even though they themselves probably didn't do it. It is shown again when Plagueis himself personally murdered the Naboo King Ars Veruna in a slow and cruel fashion when he tried to kill him.
He has likely possessed this inherent malevolence since his childhood, as shown when he invertedly used a mind trick to make a playmate commit suicide. Among his most terrible acts are the countless cruel experiments he subjected to many people and animals to learn the secrets of immortality. The worst of his experiments by far were on Darth Venamis, constantly killing him and resurrecting him, over and over again.
In spite of all this, Plagueis was not entirely a monster and is capable of feeling fondness for others, a rare trait among Sith Lords, especially of the Rule of Two era. He had a genuine good friendship with Lars Hill, even taking his son San under his wing after Lars' death.
Although he hated him due to their substantially different views, Plagueis seemed to have enough respect for his master Darth Tenebrous to murder employees of the company that sabotaged their mining probe, implying a sense of honor. While he was capable of unspeakable cruelty, he was not a sadist, and only killed when he thought it would aid the Sith cause.
He developed a sincere bond with his apprentice, Darth Sidious, in an attempt to break the cycle of death started by Bane and thus further their own goals. Plagueis' effort was not reciprocated, however, and Sidious ultimately murdered his Master in cold blood. In conversation, Plagueis was cordial, elegant, polite and eloquent. He possessed an exceptional vocabulary and valued good manners.
Plagueis was wise and intellectual, so he possessed a logical mind, and his apprentice Palpatine believed that the extent to which he turned his sight inward was the source of his power and knowledge. He believed that power was to be gained incrementally, beginning with the self and culminating with control of the entire galaxy.
As his own powers grew, he became afraid of nothing else but losing that power. He disliked personal combat, referring to lightsaber duels as tedious and wasteful, preferring to use manipulation and the dark side to get his way. Like his apprentice, Plagueis was a master manipulator, easily gaslighting people and playing them like puppets with ease.
Plagueis was pathologically afraid of death, and this was the main reason he was chosen by Darth Tenebrous as an apprentice. He elected to change the usual means of Sith succession, death of the master by the hand of the apprentice, by becoming immortal together with his own apprentice and forgoing the need for succession.
After his near death at the hands of Maladian assassins hired by Pax Teem, this obsession only strengthened, going decades without sleep in his pursuit of eternal life. Eventually, he achieved a level of midi-chlorian control that allowed him to kill and resurrect sentient beings, as well as regenerate damaged or aged portions of his body through direct mental contact with the organelles, and came to see himself as the Sith'ari, the being free from all restrictions.
However, as a result of his arrogance and his lack of precognitive abilities resulting from his maxi-chlorian infection, he never saw his own death coming at the hands of his own apprentice. Sidious betrayed and murdered Plagueis when he least expected it in his sleep.
Quotes[]
| “ | To say that the Force works in mysterious ways is to admit one’s ignorance, for any mystery can be solved through the application of knowledge and unrelenting effort. | „ |
| ~ Plagueis' resolve in unlocking the mysteries of the Force in search of immortality |
| “ | Propelled by fear or hatred, even a Jedi can pass beyond the constraints of the Order’s teachings and discover power of a more profound sort. But no Jedi who arrives at that place, who has risen above his or her allegiance to peace and justice, who kills in anger or out of desire, can lay real claim to the dark side of the Force. Their attempts to convince themselves that they fell to the dark side, or that the dark side compelled their actions, are nothing more than pitiful rationalizations. That is why the Sith embrace the dark from the start, focusing on the acquistion of power. We make no excuses. The actions of a Sith begin from the self and flow outward. We stalk the Force like hunters, rather than surrender like prey to its enigmatic whims. | „ |
| ~ Plagueis explaining the difference between true Sith and fallen Jedi |
| “ | Do you see the grand error of their ways? They execute the Republic’s business as if it were the business of the Force! But has a political body ever succeeded in being the arbiter of what is right and just? | „ |
| ~ Plagueis on the failure of the Jedi |
| “ | Evil? What is that? Moments ago you defined yourself as a storm. You said you were death itself. Are you evil, then, or are you simply stronger and more awake than others? Who gives more shape to sentient history: the good who adhere to the tried and true, or those who seek to rouse beings from their stupor and lead them to glory? A storm you are, but a much-needed one, to wash away the old and complacent and prune the galaxy of deadweight. | „ |
| ~ Plagueis' amoral and social Darwinistic worldview |
| “ | You're heartless, ambitious, arrogant, insidious, and without shame or empathy. More, you're a murderer. | „ |
| ~ Darth Plagueis calls out Darth Sidious for his irredemable malevolence |
Powers and Abilities[]
Powers[]
| “ | The power of the Dark Side is an illness no true Sith would wish to be cured of. | „ |
| ~ Darth Plagueis to Darth Sidious |
The Force: Plagueis was a master of esoteric and unnatural aspects of the Force. With it, he was able to manipulate the essence of life. Plagueis could save others from death and when his power was applied to the extreme, allegedly create new life from the midi-chlorians found in all lifeforms. To the point where he can will someone to die by having their midi-chiolarians "return to their original source", such when he killed ex-king Veruna, though it takes much focus to accomplish. Plagueis even discovered the ability to transfer one's essence into another being's body or a cloned body however he was killed by his apprentice before he could do so. Plagueis is a very powerful Sith, one of the strongest to ever live, to the point that his apprentice Sidious was forced to kill him in his sleep.
He also 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 non-material world. Plagueis was also believed to have perfected Sith alchemy. Additionally, he was aware of some of the more obscure techniques of the Jedi Order, such as Emerald Lightning and Sever Force, though he was not known to use these powers himself.
- Telekinesis: Plagueis could use the Force to push and pull objects with his mind. he could turn loose objects into legal; projectiles with just clap. He could create a Force Wave so powerful, that he was able to atomize six of his assailants, and bring it around to atomize a few more, causing investigators to mistake it for the work of explosives.
- Force Choke: Plagueis could use the dark side of the Force to choke someone to death with this mind, as he used to kill Kerred Santhe. He also demonstrated the technique on Sidious.
- Force Lightning: Plagueis could unleash the power of the dark side through his fingertip in the form of lightning.
- Force Bellow: Plagueis could use the force to enhance his screams to where they are comparable to sonic weaponry.
- Force Augmentation: Like Yoda and Mace Windu, Plagueis could use the Force to enhance his body's capabilities to allow him to perform superhuman feats of strength and speed. During his near death by the Maladians, he was strong enough to punch holes through people's bodies and easily break bones and snap necks. He was able to run so fast during his duel with Venamis that an onlooker would have thought him a thunderbolt racing through the trees.
- Tutaminis: Plagueis was cable of absorbing blaster bolts and then channeling it into Force lightning, an ability that he was also very skilled in.
- Mind Trick: Plagueis could use the Force to influenced the weak minded to do as he commands of them, such as when he controlled one of Padme's hand maidens to tell him Anakin's whereabouts.
- Heart Stun: While fighting his assassins, Plagueis was able to use a heart stunning technique to keep two of his three hearts from failing.
- Foresight: Although Plagueis lost foresight after Tenebrous died at his hands, that power seemed to reappear a day after Tenebrous' murder, as demonstrated when he had received a vision of the Battle of Bal'demnic. Later, days before his own death, he glimpsed events surrounding Darth Maul and Anakin Skywalker, respectively.
- Force Illusion: Plagueis was skilled in conjuring Force illusions, convincing enough to fool Sidious.
Abilities[]
| “ | The true power needn’t bare claws or fangs, or announce itself with snarls and throaty barks, Sidious. It can subdue with manacles of shimmer silk, purposeful charisma and political astuteness. | „ |
| ~ Plagueis to Sidious |
- Master Strategist/Manipulator: Beyond his Force Powers, he also was a canny manipulator of others and was skilled at the management of his business and the other responsibilities of the life he led apart from his role as a Sith.
- Master Scientist: Plagueis was a highly skilled scientist as he spent most of his time experimenting on living creatures to further his research into Midicholrain manipulation.
- Business Acumen: As a member of the Banking Clan and the head of Damask Holdings, Plagueis was a highly skilled businessman as he ran his own company called Damask Holdings, with connections all across the galaxy.
- Political Acumen: As a lobbyist and power broker, Plagueis held immense political power within galactic affairs, with many powerful individuals and organizations seeking his aid.
| “ | You've come a long way to challenge me. Now, make a worthy effort. | „ |
| ~ Darth Plagueis to Darth Venamis before their lightsaber duel |
- Master Lightsaber Duelist: Plagueis was also skilled in lightsaber combat, and although he disdained using his blade in combat, regarding lightsaber duels as tedious affairs; Tenebrous viewed his apprentice as a master of the art. Though his lightsaber form is unknown, his use of implement the Force in combat and specialization with other weapons suggests he uses Form 6, Niman. This takes a bit of every previous lightsaber form, turning it into a jack of all trades style. He was able to fight against Darth Venamis, who trained in his own style by his former Master.
- Weapons Expertise: Despite not using other weapons as often, Plagueis was knowlegbale in using other weaponry beside a lightsaber. He is skilled at using vibroblades, force pikes, blasters, and explosives.
- Expert Hand to Hand Combatant: Though he rarely fought hand to hand, Plagueis was a very deadly close quarters fighter, Using the force his enhance his body he could snap necks and punch right through bodies of assassins.
- High Pain Tolerance/Indomitable Will: Plagueis has a high pain tolerance due to his grueling trying with Darth Tenebrous as her can endure harsh planet climate both hot and cold. He could even continue fighting his assassins despite being mortally injured.
- Vast Resources/Wealth: As the head of Damask Holdings, Plagueis has vast wealth and resources that he can use to his disposal.
Equipment[]
- Lightsaber: Darth Plagueis used a red-bladed lightsaber that was crafted sometime in his years as an apprentice under his master, Darth Tenebrous. After Plagueis murdered his master on Bal'demnic in 67 BBY, his lightsaber continued to be in his possession, even at the time he trained Palpatine as his apprentice. When his own apprentice Palpatine executed Pax Teem as retribution for outwitting him and his master he used Plagueis's lightsaber. He noted that it had been built for a larger grip and had to use two hands to effectively wield it.
- Respirator Mask: After sustaining severe injuries during his assassination attempt by the Maladians, Plagueis wore a transpirator mask from 52 BBY to 32 BBY, the time of his death. It was vulnerable to electric shocks such as when Palpatine shocked it with Force Lightning, leading to his death.
Gallery[]
Images[]
Videos[]
Trivia[]
- It was theorized that Supreme Leader Snoke is Darth Plagueis; however, this was quickly proven wrong, as Andy Serkis said that Snoke is "just Snoke". The Rise of Skywalker furthermore clarified Snoke as a creation of Palpatine.
- However, since then, some people have theorized that Snoke is actually a clone of Plagueis.
- It has since been revealed Snoke is an artifical being created from the DNA of many different species and beings.
- In the first draft of Colin Trevorrow's original script for Episode IX, titled Duel of the Fates, Kylo Ren was going to find an holocron with a hologram of Emperor Palpatine which would guide him to the Remnicore system to be trained under Tor Valum, Plagueis' Sith Master.
- In the novelization of The Rise of Skywalker, it's explained that Palpatine survived his death in Return of the Jedi thanks to Plagueis' teachings. The novel details that when Anakin threw Palpatine into the reactor shaft of the second Death Star, Palpatine recalled Plagueis' technique to cheat death and called all the power of the dark side of the Force to leave his original body as a spirit and send himself to a clone that awaited him on Exegol.
- There were plans for him to appear in the video game The Force Unleashed as a reformed dark side mentor to Galen Marek.
External Links[]
- Darth Plagueis on the Star Wars Wiki
- Darth Plagueis on the Wikipedia
