How do I Sith?

[Mattoxz]

Horrible joke aside, what makes a Sith, a Sith? I know it takes that focus on anger and passion. But does it all have to be 'rawr me angry, me kill, me eat the neighbors baby.' The motivations for the character are for me to create, I know. But are the Sith totally focused around being giant evil snakes? I'm just interested in making a Sith is all, and wanted to learn a little bit more from people more knowledgeable than I.

 

[Green Ranger]

Making a Sith with anger management issues is actually probably the most out of character thing you could do tbh. There's nothing in the Sith Code about beinf a raging homicidal maniac - most Sith philosophy in fact revolves around controlling and channelling emotions as opposed to being consumed by them.

 

[Empress]

one will even say the sith are more structured, and more focused on being self aware, focused and controlled than even the jedi are- the big difference being where one wants you to understand an emotion and set it to the side, the other suggests channeling it and drawing from it.

the WRAAAAAAARRRRRGH MEH SMASH!" sith happen as a result as some people just cant control thngs- but in pretty much every known reference the WRAAAAAWR stith tend to be some of the shortest lived, ( there is a difference in WRAAAR- and tyrannical ) some of the greatest sith have been very calm, reserved focused and knowing when to use their abilities and such to their fullest potential for the best outcome ( jedi naturally are more reserved in the sense of " only when absolutely necessary- as a rule of thumb)


That you carry yourself forward and experience the myriad things is delusion. That the myriad things come forward and experience themselves is awakening - Jedi

That you carry yourself forward and experience the myriad things is awakening, That the myriad things come forward and experience themselves is a virtue lost on the weak minded - Sith



in honest they are very very similar in almost all ways philosophically just different approaches to reach the same goal

 

[Mattoxz]

Huh, that was surprisingly informative, in the good way though. Thank you for the help, you two!

 

[Defiance]

I play a bored, relaxed, overconfident Sith (and he is deadly.) There are a million ways and vices you can emphasize when playing a Sith, and anger is only one flavor (a mainstream one) of the whole assortment. Like they said, it's all about channeling your emotions and letting them guide you rather than suppressing them and sheilding yourself from them taking over you (as the Jedi do).

 

[Marf]

The important thing to remember is that Sith are people too. They embody a wide range of emotions which extends far beyond anger and hate. Sure they need a few Dark Side traits, but they also need weaknesses and "normal" human traits. Take Darth Malgus, an example of a brutal, ruthless warrior who also had the capacity to love and feel sadness.

The other thing is you don't have to act evil to be genuinely badass, Naga Sadow was (in my opinion) one of the coolest, most badass Sith Lords of all time, but he was also one of the "nicer" ones. He was collected, charming and took his defeat like a man, instead of throwing a tantrum like Ludo Kressh would have done.

In fact there have been very few instances of Sith who were just completely evil and inhuman, Marka Ragnos and Darth Nihilus come to mind, Darth Sidious and Emperor Vitiate to a lesser extent. In the case of these four, it was part of their character to be inhuman, omnipresent and god-like which are traits that only work when a Sith is very high ranking.

 

[The Kyzer]

Just to throw-in my own two-cents here:

I fully agree with the others. In fact, the only partially successful FULL OF HATE AND RAGE Sith I can think of would be Vader, and even then, after his defeat at the hands of Obi-Wan, he became more methodical and calculated in his hate, only tapping in on his anger when needed, or when people failed him. It was well-known, however, that serving Vader was a fast-track to success in the Imperial Navy. Just don't fail, and you're set. These types of Sith are also, in my opinion, the most redeemable of the Sith-styles, so unless you're wanting to go that route, I'd avoid it. It's more likely to get you killed than anything.

One of the best examples of the failure of the "hate and rage" archetype is Irek Ismaren/Lord Nyax. He was also kinda annoying to me. Skere Kaan is another good example of "what not to do", as his anger combined with the dark side made him go insane, leaving the calculating Bane the heir to legacy of the Sith.

I personally like the "Cold and Calculating"-style of Sith, but it also seems to be one of the most prevalent on this site. I like Defiance's style as well. Martha brings up a good point. Really any strong emotion can be used to fuel the dark side, it just depends on how its used. Yes, some of the lighter ones like happiness would be more difficult to use, if not impossible, but I think if you mix some other emotions or character flaws into it, it could work.

Just a thought.

 

[Defiance]

I knew a character who used the emotion of lust and desire as his catalyst for the Dark Side.

 

[Core]

I find the difference between many Sith Acolytes and Jedi Padawans is that Jedi Padawans are often created on the principle that their emotions haven't been mastered yet, whereas with Acolytes there's an assumption that they have mastered their emotions and are perfect at channeling their hate, while immune to any of the "weaker" emotions. Another big issue is that it's any emotion, not just hate, which can make a Sith strong - it's giving in to those carnal desires. The problem is, it's social stigma's that need to be broken down to make this happen, far too many Acolytes are psychopaths just so that they can avoid these stigmas.

In order to be Sith, one doesn't need to be bloodthirsty, maniacal, or anything else, one simply needs to feel emotions, and to be told "don't resist, don't use logic, don't second guess, just give in". Know what you want and take it. That's all that a Sith needs to be. A Jedi, on the other hand, needs to be able to deny what he wants and be free of desire. In essence, it's very Hindu, with the Sith representing sort of the Kali Yuga.