In nearly every version of the Sith–be it from the movies or from the extended universe–they are always an incredibly evil group of people who, with the help of the dark side, cause grief and destruction in pursuit of their overall goal of galactic domination. However, I wonder if it is possible to humanize the Sith and make them more than just this purely evil form.
I came across this topic while searching through the SWTOR forums. In it, the author talks about how BioWare is releasing a new type of Sith that has to make choices rather than just follow the “I am Sith, I must kill, enslave, conquer, blah blah blah.” The first time I’ve really seen this and, as the writer of the topic suggests, is with BioWare’s newest comic, Blood of the Empire. Teneb Kel is a Sith Inquisitor–or so he appears to be–sent on a mission of the utmost importance for the sake of the Emperor himself. Yet, if you read the comic like I do, you’ll notice that perhaps he is more human than you’d have otherwise assumed.
Like the thread says, he allows Magot to do whatever he really wants; he does something as harmless as feeding the rats. These are things that you might think a Jedi would do. A Jedi would allow Magot to enjoy himself for some time, gaining some peace and relaxation. He would throw some food at the rats because, hey, what’s a little food? But, a Sith is all about me. Me, me, me. I want more power. I want more people to fear me. Let’s destroy another planet. Every Sith is always about me and yet…Teneb Kel is not. He appears different.
Could this be a new type of Sith that is emerging? Could it be a Grey Sith? I remember when Star Wars: The Phantom Menace was released, there was all of this talk about how Qui-Gon Jinn was this Grey Jedi who, if he had followed all the rules put forth by the Jedi, would have been on the council. Yet, he was one of the most powerful Jedi ever. He didn’t follow the rules, but he was a dedicated warrior in pursuit of peace and prosperity in the Republic.
Perhaps Kel is the same thing. He is obviously devoted to the Sith Empire; that much is for certain. More importantly, he is obviously a Sith because he has no problem slaying the Governor of that planet when the Sith soldiers are fighting. Yet–and I say this with apprehension because the Sith have always been the purely hateful, evil warriors who, as a Jedi lover, want to see destroyed–he does nice things and treats Magot with a level of decency.
This contradicts everything that has been presented about the Sith and yet…It makes perfect sense. It’s so easy to hate the Sith as a Jedi when they are purely evil. They are bad. We are good. Yet, when you are looking at a more human Sith, one who actually has emotions and does things other than just kill, it suddenly becomes a little dicier. How do I adamantly oppose the Sith just because they are different? Instead of seeing it as Sith are evil and Jedi, perhaps it is a simple case of: I believe my team is right and your team is wrong on both sides.
BioWare is developing an incredibly detailed game that, when it is released, I know will be amazing. To do that, though, they need to create dynamic characters. A more humanized Sith is the right approach, that much is for certain. And, it’s going to be interesting to see how the Sith truly are once the game is released. In your opinion, is a humanized Sith a good thing or a bad thing? Should they just be purely evil? Are there Grey Sith? Feel free to leave a comment.
June 9, 2010
#1
Hey, this is CramerGamer, the author of the said forum, and I have to give you a round of applause, this is very thoughtful prose, and I would like to encourage you to keep up the good work!
The parrellels between Tenab and Qui-gon are particularly interesting, and something I have not really thought about myself. Once again, great article.
I am going to link to this in the thread if it has not been already.
June 9, 2010
#2
Well, I appreciate you coming to check the site out. This is the type of content that we like to produce at TOR Universe. I think it’s important to try and draw parallels between characters of the universe because it makes you realize how alike some are.
June 9, 2010
#3
A large part (if not the biggest part) of conveying that the Sith in SWTOR are a real people with a real culture lies in conveying the reasonableness of the Sith perspective and the reasonableness of the members of its society. Personally I’m looking forward to a richer and more plausible portrayal of that culture and a less dehumanizing portrayal of its citizens.
I think the SWTOR Empire and Palpatine’s Empire were similar to the “first” Chinese dynasty.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qin_Dynasty
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shi_Huangdi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legalis…ese_philosophy)
The early view of the Qin was very negative, but now a much more contextually accurate view is emerging.
Interestingly, although the Qin were criticized by later dynasties, these later dynasties remained autocracies supported by functionally legalist bureaucracies, just like the Qin.
The Qin Emperor was dictatorial and draconian, but he brought an end to nearly 150 years of war and laid the foundations for a unified China that persists until today, and of course the Qin was populated by real people, not cardboard bad guys.
June 9, 2010
#4
That is an incredible analysis and comparison between the Sith and the Qin Dynasty. You are right a culture can get a bad name for itself simply because of the way people describe it. You have struck a chord so close to my heart because I am a history major who has an interest in the ancient world. So, this is definitely of interest to me.
When reading about Palpatine’s Empire and the Yuuzhan Vong, I realized that he knew all along that they were coming. My creating this massive Empire with this huge military, he was preparing for war against them. So, in essence, we think the Empire is this horrible thing…Yet, when you look at it, he was trying to defeat a very powerful enemy. Thanks so much for your comment, Lucien.
June 10, 2010
#5
I really love history and cultural studies, especially when it involves the far eastern cultures. It always impressed me with how much or those cultures Lucas managed to incorporate into his movies and by in large how unusually insightful his work was along those lines. Unfortunately in his later movies it seems like some of what he was trying to convey was too inaccessible. It’s too bad because often what was lost were some of the most remarkable and important elements.
June 15, 2010
#6
BW like you said is opening up the game for some moral complexity. They have said you can do good in a bad place, and visa-versa. So you can be Evil, Neutral, or a complete “Carebear” on both the Sith and Republic sides.
Now the Sith ideology is evil (by definition), while its followers may be “Evil”, “Neutral” or “Good”. To say the Sith ideology is not evil is delusional, but to say all Sith are not “evil” ok, ya! I can agree with that. Just like I would agree not all Republic followers would be “good”
June 10, 2010
#7
Sith aren’t all evil, I am not for example. Darth Bane IMO was a smart Sith for example. He did some stuff people would constitute as Evil, but he did it more as a means to an end and it went with his philosophy. That was my take anyway.
June 10, 2010
#8
Which begs the question: was Machiavelli right when he said that the ends justify the means? It is okay, for example, to kill one innocent baby to save an entire planet from a certain disease. Some people say they couldn’t do it. Others say they could. Does that make a Sith evil if he is willing to do it or does it make him a strong person with an understanding of the “greater purpose.”
June 10, 2010
#9
Bane was an idealist. Like many individuals, to the extent he prioritized those ideals over his basic “humanity”, he was capable of engaging in acts of great self-sacrifice and great cruelty in the name of those ideals. I believe that meets the latter of your two options. To determine if it meets the first, someone needs define evil in more a more functionally oriented manner.
As an aside, Machivelli was discussing the ethics of a ruler/nation/government which for practical purposes have a different standard than person to person ethics. Ethics predominantly serve the purpose of survival and social standing among one’s peers. The impact and evolution is driven by the “social economics” within a “market place” of values.
A nation’s peers (in varying spheres of operation) are other sovereign entities (a sovereign being an entity the nation would normally bargain with as opposed to dictate to). The relation between citizens and a government is predominantly one between a regulator and the regulated. In representative governments, government approved procedural feedback impacts and compliments this relationship in a manner similar to the way consumer participation in the market place impacts the products and services provided by businesses.
January 9, 2011
#10
I have to say that I was very pleased to read your post, even though I have been rather late in finding it. It touches on issues that I have always bothered me.
I have always thought that the Star Wars franchise (particularly the movies) has constantly portrayed both Sith and Jedi in their extremes. Yet, the movies were all about balance- when the Jedi reached an unsustainable degree of extremism in their actions and philosophy, the balance shifted towards the Sith. The same thing happened when the Sith became too excessive. That there has never been any middle ground has confounded me. After all, each faction is made up of individual beings capable of interpreting their Order’s dogma in different ways but mostly this has been whitewashed (or is that darkwashed?) over and ignored. Some novels and comics try to breach the dark/light divide but so far none have done so that radically alters how people perceive the Jedi and Sith.
The idea of Sith and Jedi being given more latitude to explore what their philosophies mean through players is very appealing. It will make people actively *think* about the philosophies of both Orders and how they apply to everyday life. Well, as much as an MMO can
.
Still I confess I would love to see a more significant canon exploration of right, wrong, dark, light and all the grey in between. In so many ways the Star Wars universe is locked into a futile battle between two great factions that will never end. While that might be fun for the fans to read about for a while it also ends in stagnation. I would love to read about how the Galaxy might deal with this schism in different ways. That’s probably why I’m so interested in what player RP will develop.
January 10, 2011
#11
That’s very interesting what you say about the constant back and forth. Sometimes the Sith are in control, but then they have too much control, so the Jedi come back. It’s interesting.
I think when you create something that is so “good vs. evil,” it’s impossible not to have the futile battle between two great factions. I love the read. However, to this day, my favorite Star Wars novels are the Bane ones by Karpyshyn and there’s a reason for that. We get to see so much more of a Sith Lord. I love it.