A Sith sorcerer or sorceress was an individual who was proficient in the arts of Sith magic, using spells, talismans, or incantations to focus the power of the dark side. They were discovered during the time of the original Sith Empire. Sith sorcerers gained their powers through intense study of Sith traditions, and applications of the dark side of Force. Occasionally, an aspiring sorcerer's powers were developed through sheer innate talent, rather than harnessing them through study, spontaneously, or being bestowed upon them by another source.
Sith sorcerers were not always Sith Lords. Queen Amanoa and King Ommin were both Sith sorcerers, having been apprenticed to Freedon Nadd, but neither one attained the title of Sith Lord. On the other hand, Naga Sadow, Freedon Nadd, Exar Kun and Darth Zannah all were Sith magicians and Sith Lords simultaneously.
The term was also used for Sith Inquisitors who fought for the Sith Empire during the Great Galactic War and the Cold War that followed it circa 3653 BBY. These Sith specialized in ranged attack abilities with the Force, such as Force lightning and Force drain. Sith Sorcerers were known to primarily wield one lightsaber in combat, and were adept at variant applications of Force lightning in combat.
Sith sorceress Aleema Keto terrorizes her subordinates with her realistic illusions.
Sith sorcerers were already of notable importance in the Sith society before the Dark Jedi Exiles arrived on Korriban. In her personal journal, Sorzus Syn praised the efficiency of Sith incantations. She also noted that, in battle, Sith kings used to remove their best sorcerers from the melee and put them on high parapets. From higher grounds, the magicians would rain their curses upon the armies below.
Sith sorcerers were prevalent during the time of the Sith Empire. One of the most famous and earliest known sorcerers was the Dark Lord of the Sith Naga Sadow. Lord Sadow initiated at least one known apprentice in the ways of Sith sorcery, a young Human male named Gav Daragon. Gav did not complete his apprenticeship however, and so never fully attained the full abilities of a Sith sorcerer.
Nearly six hundred years later, Naga Sadow would find another in which to initiate the Sith teachings, a fallen Jedi and Sith Lord by the name of Freedon Nadd. Nadd took what he learned from Naga Sadow and with it conquered the planet Onderon, infusing the planet with the dark side of the Force. After his death, Freedon Nadd's own descendants ruled Onderon in the centuries thereafter, also practicing Sith sorcery and using it to maintain their rule over the planet.
Four hundred years after Nadd's death, when Onderon was finally liberated of the dark side during the Freedon Nadd Uprising, it was thought that the Sith teachings had been forgotten as well. However, two young socialites, named Aleema Keto and her cousin Satal, escaped Onderon with Sith knowledge learned from King Ommin. Freedon Nadd's spirit also happened upon them on Onderon, and began to instruct the Ketos further in the Sith arts.
Aleema and Satal were successful in their quest for dark side power. Now calling themselves the Krath, they used their new abilities to stage a takeover of the Empress Teta system. Meanwhile, Freedon Nadd's spirit located another powerful Jedi with a hunger for the dark side named Exar Kun, and taught him extensively in the ways of harnessing Sith magic. Afterwards, the Krath magicians waged war on the Republic and the Jedi in what was known as the Krath Holy Crusade. The crusade spurred a series of events which included the defection of the Jedi Knight Ulic Qel-Droma to the Krath, the death of Satal Keto, and ended with the emergence of the Dark Lord Exar Kun. As a result, Sith sorcery swept across the galaxy virtually unchecked. The Sith then combined forces and waged the Great Sith War against the Republic. The Jedi were able to finally defeat the Sith, in the climactic Battle of Yavin 4. It was thought that the galaxy was finally rid of the Sith and their magic, but this was not to be.
During the Great Galactic War and the Cold War, Sith sorcerers were employed by the returned Sith Empire against the Galactic Republic. These sorcerers were specialized Sith Inquisitors.
Millennia later, Sith magic would resurface in the form of the young Sith apprentice Darth Zannah. After transcribing the ancient Sith spells locked within Freedon Nadd's holocron, Darth Bane presented his protege Zannah with them, stating that her talents in the Force lie in the intricacies of Sith sorcery. Being an insatiable learner, Zannah engrossed herself in Nadd's teachings. As she progressed, her ability to perform her spells became considerable, at times using simple thoughts or complex hand gestures with minimal effort. Darth Bane allowed his pupil to study Sith sorcery because he himself had no affinity for it.
The Sith sorcerer is an advanced class for the Sith Inquisitor class in the Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO video game. This advanced class specializes in the use of a single lightsaber and Force lightning in combat, as well as Force drain and Force healing. The Republic counterpart for this archetype is the Jedi Sage.
- Tales of the Jedi Companion
- The Essential Guide to Planets and Moons
- The Essential Chronology
- The Dark Side Sourcebook
- Power of the Jedi Sourcebook
- Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic: Prima's Official Strategy Guide
- Jedi vs. Sith: The Essential Guide to the Force
- Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide
- Star Wars: The Old Republic Explorer's Guide
- Book of Sith: Secrets from the Dark Side
- Star Wars: The Ultimate Visual Guide: Updated and Expanded
- Star Wars: The Old Republic Encyclopedia