The group of seven Dark Jedi known as the Dark Side Elite, also referred to as the Dark Side Warriors, and informally known as the Emperor's Dark Jedi, was formed by Emperor Palpatine, the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, after he was resurrected in multiple clone bodies. Sidious personally selected this group to spearhead Operation Shadow Hand during the Dark Empire's attempt to reclaim the galaxy. Sidious maintained a consistent number of seven warriors in the group, swiftly replacing any who were lost. New members, or Dark Side Adepts, underwent an initiation where Sidious himself imbued them with the power of the dark side of the Force. As the war intensified, the Dark Side Elite took a more active role, tasked with hunting down Luke Skywalker to prevent him from disrupting the Emperor's schemes.
Despite their efforts, the Emperor's Dark Jedi proved no match for Skywalker's abilities. With the assistance of other Jedi he encountered on his travels, as well as his sister Leia Organa Solo, the Elite's numbers dwindled significantly. One member, Kam Solusar, even defected to Skywalker's side and turned his powers against them. After a string of failures, the remaining Elite members retreated to their headquarters at Bast Castle on Vjun. It was there that Skywalker and his Jedi confronted them, bringing the battle to their doorstep. All members of the dark brotherhood were killed during this encounter, except for their leader, Xecr Nist, who later died in prison.
Following the death of Galactic Emperor Darth Sidious during the Battle of Endor in 4 ABY, many thought he was permanently gone. However, his extensive experimentation with the dark side of the Force allowed his spirit to survive and reach a secure Imperial base on the planet Byss. There, Sidious was reborn into one of the numerous clone bodies he had prepared on that dark world. Now possessing a youthful body, Palpatine devised a plan to reclaim the galaxy. He initiated a military strategy called Operation Shadow Hand, intended to overwhelm their adversaries. To lead this ambitious undertaking, the Emperor needed ruthless warriors completely loyal to him.
In his Dark Side Compendium, Sidious envisioned a team of seven Dark Jedi. These warriors would be fully immersed in the dark side and obedient to the Emperor's commands. With his resurrection, Sidious realized this vision. From his many Dark Side Adepts, the Dark Lord of the Sith selected his group of seven. He chose the Dark Jedi Qaga Lok, a descendant of Jedi Knight Ulic Qel-Droma, to be both his Military Executor and replacement for his apprentice Darth Vader as the leader of the Imperial forces. After a trial before the Emperor, Lok pledged his loyalty to Sidious and became Sedriss QL. The remaining members were handpicked, including the fallen Jedi Kam Solusar. The other members of the Dark Side Elite were Vill Goir, Krdys Mordi, Baddon Fass, Zasm Katth, and Kvag Gthull. Inquisitor Jerec—who had also read the Dark Side Compendium—created his own group of seven Dark Jedi, including himself. However, this group was defeated by the Jedi Kyle Katarn in 5 ABY.
With his Dark Side team assembled, Sidious launched his plan to dominate the galaxy. The seven Dark Jedi, leading Operation Shadow Hand, engaged the New Republic in battle. However, just as the Empire seemed poised for victory, Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker and his sister, Leia Organa Solo, killed the Emperor. The Elite, confident in their leader's return, continued Operation Shadow Hand under Sedriss's command. It was during this time that one of their own encountered Skywalker. Kam Solusar, son of a Clone Wars Jedi, met Skywalker at the spaceport above the planet Nespis VIII. The Jedi Master prevailed over Solusar, persuading him to abandon the dark side.
The loss of Solusar was short-lived, as the Dark Side Elite quickly recruited a replacement, restoring their number to seven. With their ranks complete, Sedriss led Mordi and Goir to Balmorra to acquire new weapons. However, with the Emperor gone, Sedriss's threats were ineffective, and Balmorran Governor Beltane demanded independence from the Empire. In the ensuing battle, Sedriss and his forces were defeated by Balmorran X-1 Viper droids. Sedriss was forced to sign a truce recognizing Balmorra's independence. This defeat was a significant setback for the Empire, and members of the Imperial Ruling Council called for Sedriss's execution. Sedriss and four other Dark Side Elite members were summoned to the Emperor's Citadel on Byss.
Meanwhile, the remaining two Elite members, Baddon Fass and Zasm Katth, piloted the Imperial-class Star Destroyer Invincible to Nar Shaddaa to capture Leia Organa Solo and her husband Han Solo. Leading darktrooper team two, Fass and Katth located the bounty hunter Boba Fett and attempted to force him to work for them without pay. The defiant bounty hunter refused and fought his way out. However, Imperial spies located Solo's ship, the Millennium Falcon, and Katth and Fass, piloting their Star Destroyer over the city, tried to capture the ship with a tractor beam. Solo's skillful flying prevented the Falcon from being captured, and instead, they tore a large tower from the city, which impaled the Invincible, causing critical damage. The Star Destroyer crashed into the city, killing Katth and Fass.
Back at the Citadel, Sedriss and the remaining Dark Side Elite confronted the Imperial Ruling Council, who had grown impatient waiting for Sidious's return. The adepts Nefta and Sa-Di had decided to prevent the Emperor's return by destroying his remaining clone bodies stored in the Citadel. Sedriss witnessed this betrayal and executed the pair. As Sedriss punished the traitors, the Emperor returned in another clone body. Sidious praised his Executor for his loyalty and gave him a new mission: capturing Skywalker and his sister.
Sedriss and the Dark Side Elite searched for Skywalker, eventually finding him and Solusar on Ossus. However, Sidious learned of Fass and Katth's fate. He summoned Sedriss and held him responsible for their deaths. Sedriss revealed Skywalker's location and requested one last chance. Sidious granted him a final opportunity to capture Skywalker, and Sedriss and Vill Goir departed for Ossus.
Arriving on Ossus aboard the Imperial hunter starship Scourge One with a group of darktroopers, Sedriss's forces engaged in a conflict with the native Ysanna people. Despite their primitive weapons, the Ysanna were led by Skywalker and Kam Solusar. The Jedi's power in the Force allowed them to overcome the Dark Side Elite's forces, forcing Sedriss and Goir to fight alone. However, Skywalker's power overwhelmed them. Solusar killed Goir, and Skywalker disarmed Sedriss. In a final confrontation, Sedriss attempted to take Jem Ysanna hostage, but the ancient Jedi Ood Bnar, who was hibernating on Ossus, destroyed the Military Executor.
News of Sedriss's death reached Sidious on Byss, where he was overseeing the completion of his superweapon, the Galaxy Gun. Enraged, the Emperor recruited two Dark Side Adepts, Xecr Nist and Tedryn-Sha, to replenish the Dark Side Elite. Nist was appointed as the new Imperial Executor, replacing Sedriss. Furious that his forces could not locate Leia Organa or her children—whom he intended to turn to the dark side—Sidious brought his two new Dark Side Warriors to their headquarters at Bast Castle. There, the Sith Lord and his Dark Jedi witnessed Kvag Gthull and another Dark Side Elite member torture a captured Major Ntthan for information on the Jedi's location. Despite the New Republic agent's resistance, he revealed the Jedi's presence on the safeworld of New Alderaan. Nist and the six other Dark Side Warriors boarded their personal I-7 Howlrunners and left their base to eliminate the Jedi Knights.
Nist and his warriors arrived with an Imperial force to destroy the base, holding back a group of advanced AT-ATs. Flying in under the cover of night, the Dark Side Elite infiltrated the camp, finding the Rebels asleep and unaware. They released a group of Scarab Mark VI assassin droids to neutralize Skywalker, which attacked and poisoned the Jedi Master. As Tedryn-Sha and Mordi prepared to capture the wounded Skywalker, Leia Organa Solo and Jem Ysanna discovered the dark warriors and attacked. Sha killed Jem, but Organa Solo killed both darksiders.
Meanwhile, Nist and the remaining Dark Jedi sought Leia's children, Jacen and Jaina, with Gthull eventually finding them. However, the entire base was now awake and determined to stop the darksiders. A battle ensued, and the Jedi Rayf Ysanna and Empatojayos Brand joined the fight. Two more dark warriors died, including Kvag Gthull, the last of the original seven Dark Jedi. Realizing the battle was lost and with Imperial troops arriving, Nist and his two remaining Dark Jedi retreated to their Howlrunners. Jedi Vima-Da-Boda healed Skywalker from the poison. As the Imperial AT-ATs advanced, Skywalker and his fellow Jedi were rescued by a group of smugglers and an X-Wing flight group. Nist and the two Dark Jedi pursued the fleeing smugglers in their Howlrunners, but they escaped into hyperspace.
Returning to the Emperor's Citadel, Nist and his remaining two Dark Jedi found that their master was more concerned about his failing health than their failure on New Alderaan. Sidious replenished his Elite back to seven warriors and gave them a new assignment. He learned that his clones were deteriorating and needed genetic material from a Jedi bloodline to restore their health. The Emperor sent his Dark Jedi to Ossus to capture members of the Ysanna tribe.
Arriving on Ossus in two Imperial hunters, Nist and his men captured three Ysanna shamans, including Chief Okko. They brought the shamans back to Bast Castle and froze them in carbonite for use in a new batch of clones on Vjun. However, a large explosion rocked the front gate of the castle, creating an opening. Skywalker, Empatojayos Brand, Kam Solusar, and Rayf Ysanna arrived in the starship Jedi Explorer II, ready to end the Dark Side Elite. Surprised, Rayf and Brand killed two darksiders, and Solusar fought three others. Skywalker overpowered Nist and threw a ball of lightning at a statue of Darth Vader—erected by Sedriss—causing it to fall on the Elite facing Solusar. As the fight ended, Rayf killed the last darksider, and Skywalker captured Nist.
Despite Nist's cryptic decree, the New Republic killed Sidious on Onderon after Han Solo killed his final clone body and Empatojayos Brand trapped his spirit, causing it to fade into Chaos. After Sidious's final death, Xecr Nist died in prison, leaving Kam Solusar as the only survivor of the Dark Side Elite. With the Emperor dead, new members could not be appointed, ending the Dark Side Elite.
Darth Sidious's Dark Jedi were Dark Side Adepts with some Force training. Each wore long dark robes and, except for Sedriss, black coverings over their heads. They also wore dark leather gauntlets and heavy leather boots.
Each Dark Side Warrior had a red-bladed lightsaber and an I-7 Howlrunner as their personal ship. The seven Howlrunners formed Dark Side Squadron. When Kam Solusar defected, he took his Howlrunner, using it to breach Bast Castle during the final fight. The remaining Howlrunners were likely left at Bast Castle after their destruction.
The Dark Side Elite's base was Darth Vader's former retreat, Bast Castle. The large structure had a landing pad for the I-7 Howlrunners and several Imperial hunters. It also contained a torture room, a carbon-freezing chamber, and resources for cloning tanks and genetic alteration. The castle also housed a large statue of Darth Vader erected by Sedriss. Sidious ordered Xecr Nist to remove the statue after Sedriss's death, but Nist delayed, and Skywalker used it to crush several members of the Dark Side Elite during their final battle.
Bast Castle also housed groups of stormtroopers, including darktroopers. The Dark Side Elite were often accompanied by these stormtroopers. Fass and Katth commanded the Star Destroyer Invincible and all forces aboard during their search for the Millennium Falcon on Nar Shaddaa.
When Sidious selected a recruit for the Dark Side Elite, a personal ceremony occurred. Sidious empowered the adept with the dark side of the Force, greatly increasing their power. This ceremony created a disturbance in the Force felt across the galaxy and promoted the adept to the full rank of Dark Jedi. The ceremony could occur anywhere; Sidious promoted Tedryn-Sha and Xecr Nist in a transport above the Galaxy Gun.
Sidious's Dark Side Elite always had seven Dark Jedi, with some having more authority. The original Elite consisted of Krdys Mordi, Kvag Gthull, Zasm Katth, Baddon Fass, Kam Solusar, leader Executor Sedriss, and Vill Goir, Sedriss's second. After Solusar's defection, another darksider was recruited, and two more replaced Katth and Fass after their deaths. After Sedriss and Goir's deaths on Ossus, Sidious replaced them with Xecr Nist and Tedryn-Sha, making Nist Executor and giving Tedryn-Sha the second-in-command position. The Dark Side Elite suffered heavy losses during the mission to New Alderaan: Jem Ysanna sliced in half Krdys Mordi; Organa Solo killed Tedryn-Sha and Kvag Gthull, and Rayf Ysanna killed another darksider.
After New Alderaan, the number of Dark Jedi was restored to seven, but soon reduced again. Six darksiders died during the Jedi assault on Bast Castle: Rayf Ysanna killed two, Empatojayos Brand killed one, and Skywalker toppled the Vader statue, crushing three more. The only survivor, Xecr Nist, was captured and died in prison. With Sidious dead, new members could not be appointed, leaving the defected Solusar as the only surviving member.
The Dark Side Elite were created by Tom Veitch for the 1994–1995 comic miniseries Star Wars: Dark Empire II. They were antagonists throughout the series and the first issue of the sequel, Star Wars: Empire's End. The organization has been discussed in sourcebooks and featured in the audio dramas of Dark Empire II and Empire's End. Tom Veitch based the Dark Side Elite on organizations such as Hassan-i Sabbah's Assassins, Adolf Hitler's Gestapo, and dark angels serving Satan.
While no longer canon, a similar organization called the Knights of Ren appears in the Star Wars sequel trilogy. Like the Dark Side Elite, the Knights of Ren are comprised of seven warriors and led by a black-cloaked figure (Palpatine/Kylo Ren), serving an empire (Dark Empire/First Order and Final Order).