The becoming of Dark Lord

[Hayden Kered]

I was just roaming through wookieepedia and found out something I did not know about. But I can't seem to find much of anything else on the matter I thought I would ask here.

 

What is the story about the ancient Dark Lords (Naga Sadow) receiving a tattooed marking on there foreheads when proclaimed as the New Dark Lord? Is there anything about this ritual? Also in the first picture provided, does any one know what these spider like creatures are?

 

 

 

EDIT: Also how come this ritual stopped and was not carried on by future Sith Lords?

[DeadYorick]

It seems like a crazy sith ritual. Maybe to inspire fear in their victims once they viewed their heads.

[adamqd]

Check out the Tales of the Jedi comics for a better visual explanation...

 

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Tales_of_the_Jedi

 

But The Dark Lords of the Sith of the old Sith Empire wore tattoos of rank on their foreheads. The burning venom of a kind of pincerbug was used to burn the mark into the Dark Lords skin. Centuries later, the Sith Lord Naga Sadow would bear the same mark. 1000 year's after the fall of the Sith Empire, the spirit of the Dark Lord Marka Ragnos named Exar Kun the newest Dark Lord, and made Ulic Qel-Droma Kun's apprentice. Marked with Sith tattoos on their foreheads by Ragnos' hand, the newest members of the Sith joined forces. When Ulic returned to the light side, his tattoo was carved away, leaving an x-shaped scar. During the Jedi Civil War a few decades later, the fallen Jedi Knight Darth Revan founded a new Sith Empire and declared himself the new Dark Lord of the Sith. Several members of Revan's new Sith order sported tattoos. Uthar Wynn, the head of the Sith Academy on Korriban, and his apprentice Yuthura Ban had parts of their heads and necks adorned with a detailed pattern of tattoos. Revan's followers Darth Malak and Jorak Uln had their bald heads tattooed with a striped design.

 

By the time of the battle of Ruusan two and a half thousand years after Revan's time, the tattoos of the Sith had evolved into circles, wavy lines, straight lines, squares, spots, swirls, triangles etc. One example was the Sith Lord Githany, who bore a wavy, circular black tattoo on her forehead. Several Sith of this era had their eyelids and skin around their eyes tattooed. One prominent example was the Sith Lord Darth Bane, the man who reinvented the Sith order after its destruction and established the Rule of Two. Apparently, most of the Sith of this era wore tattoos on their head and/or face, though some had other parts of their body decorated. One of them was the Sith Lord Kas'im, who wore his tattoos on his chest.

[Rev7]

Wow, you certainly know you Star Wars history Adamqd!

 

~Rev

[Jvstice]

A lot of that is in the tales of the Jedi series (though I forget which graphic novel) and a lot in the Darth Bane: Path of Destruction book.

[adamqd]

^^

 

True, Two of my favorite era's/Comics, although the Bane stuff is from Jedi vs Sith Comics not so much the Books

[Hayden Kered]

Cool, so as time past it became more of a tradition rather than a ritual. I just question why Sidious does not have any?

[adamqd]

Well the real-world explanation is that Sidious was devised and put to film long before Sith Tattoos were created by EU writers, but as you say the in universe reason probably comes down to taste, as Maul has them, but Dooku, Sidious, Anakin, Jacen haven't, yet by the time of Krayt they all have again.

[PoiuyWired]

Well, later on it seems that the whole symbol on your forhead thing has lost its magical power and is nothing more than a "look I am a sith" fashion. So it is only natural that the practical sith do not have it. Actually I think Zannah does not have it either, as part of Dessel boy's new(er) sith order.

[Hayden Kered]

That makes sense because Bane's new order involved secrecy, so it would be difficult for them to be unnoticed if they sported tattoos on their foreheads.

[Serpentine Cougar]

Darth Sidious probably didn't have any tattoos for that same reason.