Dark Side of the Force

The dark side of the Force, called Bogan by the ancient forerunners of the Jedi, was the primary tool of the Sith Lords, and was the more destructive side of the Force. Unlike the light side of the Force, dark force users draw power from raw emotions, both negative and positive; the power coming from strength or severity. Where the light side was associated with creation and life, the dark side was associated with death and destruction. A Force-user who followed the dark side was known as a darksider.

Overview
The dark side of the Force was aligned with passionate emotions such as fear, hatred, greed, desire, and anger. This sometimes led to the belief that the light side was passive, as it favored contemplation and careful action, for the dark side was known to act quickly and sometimes recklessly upon emotions and impulses.

The dark side was also used mainly for selfish purposes, although many dark-siders saw the need to justify their actions (at least to themselves). This need to justify themselves is what led most dark-siders to their eventual fate. One of the most notable was Anakin Skywalker, who joined the dark side to save his wife, at the expense of the Jedi Order. The dark side is extremely addicting, those who use its power will grow to savor it more and more. Dark side users became more powerful as they slowly decayed.However there are some cases such as Mara Jade who used the dark side of the force simply because they found it an easier more efficient fuel sourse for neuteral force powers such as telekinesis.

Like the light side, the dark side was often treated as though a semi-sentient entity with purposeful designs. However, this interpretation was more likely to be accepted by Jedi than Sith as the latter's doctrines held themselves to exert influence rather than experience it, possibly ignorant of their own possession by it.

It has been theorized by some that there is no such thing as the dark side, only malevolent intent in the user since most dark side users already had negative intentions in their being or fell victim to the temptations of absolute power and domination. The Jedi Master Yoda was perhaps the most fervent Jedi opponent of this philosophy, while Luke Skywalker comparatively came to view the merits of the Potentium Theory in the years following the Yuuzhan Vong War.

Fear of the dark side
The Jedi Order disagreed so strongly with the purpose of the dark side of the Force that they abolished anything possibly related to the dark side. After the Ruusan Reformation, the order placed many limitations on Jedi to protect order members from temptation by dark side influences. The Jedi Order forbade members romantic attachments, relationships with their families, and any type of action based on anger. These limits came from a logical reasoning; Jedi who had deep personal attachments with loved ones also had motivation to use the power of the Force selfishly for protection, personal enrichment, and/or the pursuit of more power. Anakin Skywalker, for a large part, fell to the dark side because Chancellor Palpatine's knowledge of his secret marriage to Padmé Amidala provided the Chancellor a vulnerable opening to encourage Anakin to pursue those selfish motivations.

More liberal members of the Order considered the lengths the Order went to eliminate personal attachments extreme. When Luke Skywalker established the New Jedi Order, he disbanded many of the limitations of the code, including the rules against marriage and age limits. More importantly he allowed the new Jedi, especially the young Padawans, to still know and interact with their families. Skywalker's decision signified a return to the older Jedi teachings from before the Reformation, when Jedi were allowed to draw upon their positive emotions in fighting the dark side.

Corruption of the dark side
The path of the dark side was mentally and sometimes physically corruptive. As use of the dark side of the Force led to deeper immersion in it, this malevolent power took its toll on the body of a dark side practitioner. A well known characteristic was that eye pigments became a hideous sulfur color. In extreme cases, the taint could mottle and disfigure the flesh into a corpse-gray color, as seen with Palpatine. However, it is possible that powerful dark side users were able to switch back and forth between their original appearance and the one betraying their corruption, though it is unknown if this was due to some kind of Force technique. In time, the corruption could go beyond mere cosmetic details and directly impair physical abilities. King Ommin of Onderon was a good example of this; he was an initiate in the ways of the dark side for most of his life, thereby subjecting himself to its decaying influence until he eventually became incapable of movement and needed support from a cyborg exoskeleton in order to survive. The dark taint also has an effect on the practitioner's voice, sometimes making it a few octaves lower and raspier.

Sith philosophy saw no need to rationalize or apologize for the destruction and conflict to which it led; they believed that using the dark side gave them enough power to take that which they believed was rightfully theirs. Most Sith, such as Uthar Wynn and his apprentice Yuthura Ban, believed that they could even control the dark side, but in the end the dark side ended up controlling them. Luke Skywalker joined Palpatine in 10 ABY to better understand the nature of the dark side, but unlike many of the Jedi before him who had attempted the same task, he made a full recovery.

The allure of the dark side
The Sith would call it enlightenment, but no records show exactly how a conversion to the dark side transpired. The dark side was extremely addictive, and almost impossible to renounce. Every time a person in tune with the Force called on the dark side, they became more and more addicted to the power it brought them. The dark side's corruptive influences could take control in moments. Along with physical corruption, the minds of many dark-siders cared only for galactic domination through power, and the doing of evil deeds for power's own sake.

However, some dark side practitioners did not show all of these symptoms. Darth Caedus, Darth Revan, and Darth Traya for example, did not seem controlled by the dark side of the Force. Whatever changes they had undergone were clear results of the lives they had led and the experiences they had survived.

Often times it would be Jedi who fell to the corruption of the dark side of the Force. Exar Kun, Darth Revan, Darth Malak, Count Dooku, Anakin Skywalker, Jacen Solo and Atris were all corrupted by the dark side of the Force and allied with the Sith despite, or perhaps because of, their training as Jedi Knights. The catalyst for some of these changes was the discovery of a Sith holocron, an item that held all of the secrets of a Sith.

Sith Alchemy
Other examples of the corruption of the dark side are the Massassi who were mutated using Sith Alchemy. This also explains the mutations of Gorc and Pic, and the rebirth of Darth Maul by a group of Dark Jedi. However, these are extreme and rare examples of the use of the dark side to alter objects. Most common was the use of the dark side to alter and imbue weapons with the Force, making them stronger or easier to wield. Weapons imbued with power from Sith Alchemy could even withstand lightsaber blows.

Similarity to the Jedi
The Sith were, in some ways, a reflection of the Jedi. The Master-Padawan relationship of the Jedi, for instance, was twisted and perverted under the Sith, so both the apprentice and the Master would plot against each other with many of these apprenticeships ending with one killing the other. The Galactic Empire was no exception: If there were no enemies (mainly Jedi) for Sith Lords or Dark Jedi to face, the practitioners of the dark side frequently destroyed one another, and many organizations founded by the Sith would consume themselves through internal struggles for power. This was especially true during periods when the dark side was predominant; however, Sith and other dark-siders could also display great patience and cunning in carrying their plans toward fruition.

Some Sith did not even use lightsabers, mocking the Jedi, as they believed that they had grown past the need for such weapons by using the full power of the dark side. Emperor Palpatine found his Sith lightning was all he needed to overwhelm opponents as powerful as Yoda. The Sith's own code which started with the phrase "peace is a lie, there is only passion" was a clear manipulation of the Jedi code's "There is no emotion, there is peace."

Sith holocrons were another mirror of the Jedi, which were twisted from a tool of teaching to an item of corruption. The Sith holocrons taught many things opposite of the Jedi, such as using emotion and questing for power, which were immensely different from the Jedi teachings.

These differences did not stop many ordinary citizens of the Republic from viewing the Jedi and the Sith in much the same way because of the similarities. Many Jedi were viewed as arrogant from their standoffish demeanor, manipulative with their power, and the practice of "stealing" children from their parents sometimes led to resentment. In the same view many Sith were viewed as dedicated to a cause and seemed extremely loyal to their masters. To large quarters of the galactic population, there appeared to be little difference between dark and light, and they grew distrustful of the Force as a whole.

Sith holocrons
A Sith holocron was a pyramidal tetrahedron which held all of the knowledge of the Sith. It could contain star maps, information about artifacts, history, but most importantly it contained the teachings of the dark side. The holocron could only be opened by a Force adept who wished to use it. The mere opening of the devices sent tremors through the Force. Unlike Jedi holocrons, the Sith holocrons did not limit accessible information; even the most ill-prepared acolyte could find the darkest knowledge in it. For this reason, Sith Holocrons were considered to be very dangerous by the Jedi since the unlimited access to information was inherently seductive and could greatly hasten the user's fall to the dark side. Exar Kun and Darth Bane both were able to threaten the galaxy with the information gained from the holocrons, and other Jedi such as Atris were turned by them. The holocrons whispered Sith chanting, and were imbued with so much darkness that they corrupted individuals just by their proximity.

The Potentium
According to the Potentium viewpoint, there are no dark or light sides of the Force. Instead, the Force is a single entity, and the light or darkness comes from the intentions of the person calling upon it. From this viewpoint, Force powers or actions that would normally be considered dark can be justified or rationalized. In effect, to a Potentium follower, the ends justify the means. Fearing that this would lead Jedi down the path of the dark side, Yoda expelled the Potentium from the Jedi Order, a fear not entirely unfounded since Jacen Solo fell to the dark side partly due to the Potentium belief in 40 ABY. Similarly, some Jedi do not believe in the dark side, which has been known to lead them to become Dark Jedi or even Sith themselves. Luke Skywalker, Grand Master of the New Jedi Order, adopted this philosophy after his nephew Jacen Solo informed him of the teachings of Vergere during the Yuuzhan Vong Invasion; however, after being concerned of his and other Jedi actions, Skywalker abandoned this as the official viewpoint of the Jedi order during the Swarm War.

Strength of the dark side
Dark Jedi and especially the Sith were capable of furthering their abilities more quickly than Jedi. According to the Jedi, the Dark Side was only easier to learn and use, and therefore more deceptive, while true power lay with the light. However, certain Sith Lords have appeared to be stronger than their Jedi opponents. Exar Kun was unstoppable until faced with an entire Jedi armada; the superior power of Darth Malak was acknowledged even by the Jedi (i.e. Bastila Shan, who explicitly states that she, along with another Jedi, was no match for the Dark Lord); later on he could be seen quite effortlessly holding two Jedi in a death grip before killing them; Darth Nihilus destroyed an entire Jedi Council (along with every other sentient on Katarr) while only uttering the 'words' of his voice; Kreia (Darth Traya) almost effortlessly killed all members of another Jedi Council on Dantooine. During the fall of the Republic, Darth Sidious managed to slay three out of four Jedi Masters before eventually succumbing to the martial prowess of Mace Windu (his defeat, however, may have been staged); while his climactic battle with Yoda, the primus inter pares of Jedi Masters of that time, seemed quite evenly-balanced, it was he, who eventually remained in place whereas Yoda was forced to flee. However, it must be noted that the vast majority of darksiders, Sith and Dark Jedi alike, have eventually been defeated by light side Force-users.

There were also many instances of a Jedi defeating a powerful darksider. The most notable are: the duel of Luke Skywalker against Darth Vader on the second Death Star; the duel of Obi-Wan Kenobi against Darth Maul; Revan defeating Malak and dozens of his Sith cohorts; The Jedi Exile defeating Kreia; Kyle Katarn defeating Jerec despite the latter drawing upon the vast power of the Valley of the Jedi; and the duel of Anakin Skywalker against Count Dooku. In some of these cases, external factors may have affected the result. Count Dooku was defeated by the mightiest, albeit lacking experience, Jedi of the time, who already was tapping into the dark side. Darth Maul's doom was wrought by his hubris, which led to his fatal underestimation of the seemingly defeated Obi-Wan which lead to the apprentice's overconfidence and caused him to not pay attention to Obi-Wan moving Qui-Gon's lightsaber into position. Finally Darth Vader can be seen as undone by his paternal feelings towards Luke ('I can sense the conflict within You') rather than the latter's martial prowess. Luke did, however, also defeat Palpatine years after his defeat of Vader.

The only true weakness that apparently lay in the Dark Side, which could be seen as giving the Jedi the upper hand, was the strife inescapably associated with it. The Sith Lords, despite their individual superiority over the Jedi, could never ultimately destroy their foes, because they were bound to, sooner or later, turn upon each other, with each one constantly striving for more power at the expense of others, and seeking to dominate everything around him. The rule of Rule of Two, introduced by Darth Bane, while drastically limiting the number of true Sith, was an attempt to turn this weakness into benefit, with the apprentice through strife eventually replacing the master. This too however caused a problem with the Sith as the Rule of Two never made note of the possibility that one of the two could turn back to the light as Vader while killing his Master turned to the light just before death.

Dark side powers
Those who wielded the dark side found many abilities of the Force easier to use, with some Force powers available only to the Dark Jedi. Light side Jedi could use some dark side abilities, but most preferred not to since dark side abilities had aggressive, destructive, or perversely manipulative tendencies. Luke Skywalker, for example, used Force Choke at Jabba's Palace. The powers commonly associated with the dark side of the Force as listed below are:


 * Drain Life
 * Death Field
 * Deadly Sight
 * Electromagnetic torpedo
 * Force Lightning
 * Force Shock
 * Force Storm
 * Force Wound
 * Force Choke
 * Force Grip
 * Force Crush
 * Force Slow
 * Force Affliction
 * Force Plague
 * Force Fear
 * Force Horror
 * Force Insanity
 * Force Scream
 * Force Rage
 * Mechu-deru
 * Quey'tek
 * Thought Bomb
 * Torture by chagrin
 * Spear of midnight black
 * Midichlorian Manipulation (Darth Plagueis only known Sith being capable of it)

Not all powers of the dark side seem evil; Darth Plagueis had the ability to create and preserve life. Darth Vader and Darth Sion used their rage to heal their wounds.