Darth Skotia ((pronounced /ˈskoʊʃə/), occasionally /skoˈteˈa/) was a male Human Sith Lord who lived during the era of the Great Galactic War. Skotia was a native to the worlds of the reconstituted Sith Empire and was an active member of the Sith Order as a Force-sensitive warrior. At some point during his career, more than half of Skotia's natural appendages and organs were replaced with cybernetic machinery, including his right eye and many neural transmitters. Regardless, by the time of the Cold War between the Empire and the Galactic Republic, Skotia had been elevated to the position of Sith Lord as a member of the Sphere of Ancient Knowledge and was in command of a cadre of Trandoshan warriors who had sworn to protect the Sith as bodyguards. Under the auspices of his superior, Darth Thanaton, Skotia maintained within the Sith Sanctum in the Imperial Citadel on the capital world of Dromund Kaas and gained guardianship over the ancient Sith hollowed ground known as the Dark Temple. Skotia was stationed on Dromund Kaas when the newest servant of the Sphere of Ancient Knowledge arrived on planet—the young and ambitious Sith apprentice, Zash. The progressive Sith witch quickly developed a heated rivalry with the cyborg Dark Lord who, along with Thanaton, detested Zash's lack of deference to her historical predecessors. Skotia very deliberately attempted to impede her ascendance, but the aspiring Sith Lady ultimately earned Lordship and was granted supervisory powers over Sith Acolyte training.
Skotia's rivalry with Zash continued until around 3643 BBY, at which point the Darth discovered that Zash, who had succumbed to the draining effects of the dark side of the Force, was seeking to use hidden power within the Dark Temple to achieve immortality through an ancient and dangerous Force ritual. The Dark Lord promptly forbade Zash from entering the Temple and ordered the destruction of her new apprentice, who had just completed the trials of Korriban. Skotia's assassination attempts on the apprentice failed, allowing Zash an opportunity to use her new student as a means of eliminating her old rival. Skotia tried several times to confound his enemy's plans, but Zash's apprentice overcame the Dark Lord's efforts and confronted the cyborg in his chambers in the Imperial Citadel. Although Skotia was confident he could kill the apprentice, the young Sith managed to undermine the Dark Lord's control of his Trandoshan guardsmen and even wielded a cyber neutralizer device that disrupted and deactivated Skotia's control of his prosthetic body parts. The elder Sith was slain by the apprentice, thus fulfilling Zash's designs and allowing the Sith witch to accrue more influence on Dromund Kaas and advance towards her ultimate goal of immortality.
In 3643 BBY, Skotia learned of Zash's attempts to unlock the secrets of an artifact of Tulak Hord. He sent one of his apprentices, Ortosin, and two agents to assassinate her new apprentice on Korriban but they failed. When the apprentice arrived on Dromund Kaas, Skotia intercepted the Inquisitor at the spaceport and attempted to intimidate them. News of this infuriated Zash. Knowing that she couldn't kill Skotia, for a power play would make the Dark Council nervous, she decided to dispatch her apprentice, Kallig, instead to infiltrate Skotia's base, which was guarded by Skotia's army-sized force.
Gathering a tablet that would force Skotia's Trandoshan bodyguards, Skeesk and Skarsk, to abandon him and a cyborg prototype disruptor that could disable someone who is 50% or more cyborg, the Apprentice confronted Skotia in his chambers with Khem Val and the Sith Lord. He killed the bodyguards when they turned on him, but the cyborg disruptor greatly weakened him enough to be killed. The cyborg was defeated, and his cybernetics weakened him from the dark side, and he was no match against the powerful Inquisitor. With his last breath, Skotia realized that Zash must have spent years plotting his demise, and realized that the Sith would always betray one another. He warned her apprentice that she would turn on her/him before he died.
News of Skotia's death didn't go unnoticed. Darth Thanaton accused Zash of murdering Skotia but couldn't prove it as many could claim that she was in the Nexus Room Cantina the whole time. Zash was then elevated to Darth and gained access to Skotia's position and assets.
Darth Skotia
To receive the title of "Darth," Skotia must have had considerable power, enough to outmatch a Sith Lord at least. Even Zash recognized that he'd be near impossible to defeat without the mechanisms/weapons her apprentice gathered. When his bodyguards turned against him, he showed his incredible abilities with telekinesis discarding of them rather easily. He was also proficient with Force rage, enacting it during his duel with the apprentice. Even though he was weakened considerably by Zash's apprentice's weaponry, he still presented a challenge in the lightsaber duel that ensued when he attacked the apprentice but was ultimately defeated and slain.
Many Sith, especially Darth Zash, saw Skotia as a brutal, malevolent cyborg.
However, when Skotia was killed and Zash was given his chambers and assets, she was surprised that Skotia had vast amounts of research and knowledge in his chambers; she never knew he was that intellectual and admitted that she didn't want him dead for his impeccable curiosity to gain knowledge.
Darth Skotia's name refers to the Ancient Greek word skotía (σκοτία), which means darkness or gloom.
- Star Wars: The Old Republic Explorer's Guide
- Star Wars: The Old Republic Encyclopedia