When Star Wars fans hear "Sith," the mind automatically drifts to beings of raw hatred, frightening abilities, and a lust for ultimate power and totalitarian control. After all, Emperor Palpatine and the iconic Darth Vader set the precedent for the Sith Lords that would follow in the Star Wars timeline, and theirs was a conquest centered on nothing short of galactic domination.
Not all Sith are cut from the same cloth, however. Though their fanaticism is never in doubt, many wielded the dark side for a number of different purposes other than conquest. One of these Sith Lords was Darth Vectivus a Sith Lord who was unfortunately forgotten along with others relegated to "Legends" status by Disney. He was a man who could be called the "good" Sith Lord, and here's ten reasons why the argument sticks.
10 His Name Comes From The Word Invective
The title of "Darth" is passed down from Sith to Sith when they are accepted into the ranks, with both Master and apprentice sharing the precursor, and a surname added at the end. Each of these surnames has a special meaning that reflects a part of the Sith Lord's character. Darth Vectivus however, is still up in the air.
Background intel on the character reveals that Vectivus is derived from the word "invective," which has many meanings usually centering on reproach, censorious, or verbally abusive. How this pertains to his character is a mystery, given how good-natured he was.
9 He Was A Business Man
Many would-be Sith are forged in the fires of conflict, troubled upbringings or dramatic falls from the highest peaks of grace. Not so with Vectivus, who spent much of life as a rather straightforward business man. He got his start as a director of the Jonex Mine Eight Eleven B asteroid mining colony where he focused primarily on his work.
Even in business, Vectivus was something of a straight arrow who stuck to the books, and relied only on ruthlessness from a pragmatic perspective. He was also something of a good boss, as evidenced by his willingness to protect them from the dark side energies that manifested in the bowels of the mining colony.
8 He Is Known For Having A Strong Moral Compass
Darth Vectivus originally set out to discover the ways of the Sith after learning of dark side powers influencing the minds of workers employed at his mining company. After shutting the operation down to protect them, he began studying the ways, eventually ascending to the rank of Dark Lord.
Although Vectivus was steeped in Sith teachings and fully immersed in the dark side, his moral compass and temperament served as a stopgap against temptation to do evil unto others. This is an anomaly within the Sith line, but not completely unheard of.
7 He Was A Member Of The Rule Of Two
After centuries of failures, infighting and setbacks, Darth Bane decided to reforge the Sith Order into something completely different than what had come before. He believed that for the Sith to conquer and maintain power, they would have to rely less on numbers, and more on cunning. As such, the "Rule of Two" was created involving one Sith Master, and one apprentice at any given moment.
Vectivus was trained under the tutelage of this same rule, which is ironic given the fact that it was created as means to exact revenge on the Jedi Order for the decimation of the Sith ranks centuries before. Obviously, Vectivus felt that this pursuit was rather mundane.
6 His Powers Included The Ability To Conjure Up Dark Side Phantoms To Do His Bidding
As a Sith Lord strong in the ways of the Force, Vectivus no doubt possessed many of the same powers and abilities shared by his former kin. However, some of the most unique Force users are able to develop techniques all their own which may, or may not be passed down to subsequent pupils.
One of these was the his ability to conjure up dark side phantoms to do his bidding. By siphoning the life force of a living being, Vectivus could conjure these apparitions and project them outwards. In contrast to the Jedi doppelgänger technique, dark side phantoms could kill their corporeal host if vanquished.
5 He Was An Animal Lover
One doesn't expect a Sith Lord to consider the well-being of animals, but Darth Vectivus was quite different. For all his ruthlessness in matters of business, he was compassionate almost to a fault, particularly when it came to animals. He often remarked about how adorable baby animals of any species were, save Kowakian monkey-lizards.
This was an extension of his compassion toward others, even if the dark side had twisted his justifications at times. For instance, he was quite appalled at those who would not sacrifice one life to save a thousand, and could not understand the reluctance to do so.
4 He Helped Created Darth Caedus
Darth Vectivus played a key role, albeit unknowingly, in the creation of the Sith Lord known as Darth Caedus. Before his fall, Caedus was better known as Jacen Solo, the son of the wisecracking Han Solo and Leia Organa Solo. The Dark Lady Lumiya was frustrated with the fragile state of the galaxy under the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances, and she felt it would only be a matter of time before it plunged back into an Imperial-like era.
To prevent this outcome, she lured Jacen Solo to the home of Darth Vectivus in the hopes that she could convince him to embrace the dark side while remaining benevolent, as Vectivus had managed to do. Solo was convinced, but he ended up becoming a far greater threat than anyone could have perceived. His actions in the coming war were devastating.
3 The Sith Admired And Loathed Him
Vectivus' personality flew in the face of what would normally be considered acceptable behavior for a Sith Lord. To see him rise and claim the mantle must have been thoroughly infuriating for many in their ranks. After all, his lack of interest in vengeance against the Jedi would have been considered a deviation from Sith doctrine.
Yet, the Sith Lords who followed in his wake were mighty impressed by his self control, his business discipline and of course, his ability to summon dark side phantoms. It was that last one they were most interested in, and many obsessed over mastering the technique.
2 He Shook Up The Status Quo By Looking At The Grey Side Of Things
For years, Star Wars fans understandably assumed that Sith Lords were the ultimate and purest form of evil in the galaxy. Their souls dripped with the dark side of the Force, and that drove them to acts of immeasurable violence and cruelty. Darth Vectivus managed to flip the script a bit by injecting some grey into the mix.
In truth, this was already in the works. Star Wars novels were already discussing the philosophical nature of the Force, and whether "good and evil" really meant anything. The reveal of splinter Force groups like the Jensaarai made this even more clear. For once, it was nice to hear of a Sith Lord who didn't have total galactic conquest on the brain from dusk till dawn.
1 He Died Peacefully
Practitioners of the dark side, especially the Sith, tend to meet a violent demise, at which point their spirits wander in agony. Some continue to manipulate events from beyond the grave, while others go mad with insanity. Darth Vectivus had a different outcome, thanks mostly to his personality.
Rather than die in a blaze of unholy glory, he met his end peacefully with friends and family by his side. Following his death, his spirit did linger, and even trained the Dark Lady known as Lumiya after the fall of the Empire. However, it isn't known if his spirit was truly in torment, or if he relished the opportunity to further his understanding of the galaxy.
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