Darth Gravid, a male human, achieved the position of Dark Lord of the Sith within the structure of the Order of the Sith Lords. During his time as a Sith Lord, Gravid chose a female Twi'lek to be his apprentice, giving her the name Darth Gean. As time went on, he found himself attracted to the principles of the light side of the Force, which led to a decline in his mental stability as he tried to integrate aspects of the Jedi – the Sith's sworn enemies – into his own doctrines. Darth Gravid became convinced that the survival of the Sith depended on him undermining their own teachings. Around the year 533 BBY, Gravid destroyed a significant portion of the Sith's accumulated knowledge before Gean killed him within his fortress located on the planet of Jaguada. Gravid's actions had a detrimental impact on the Sith, setting them back for many centuries.
Around 533 BBY, the male Human known as Darth Gravid held the title of Dark Lord of the Sith. Gravid was a Sith Lord in the Order of the Sith Lords, established by Darth Bane in 1000 BBY. He had a collection of Sith knowledge and also knew about essence transfer, a Force-user ability that allows one to move their consciousness into another body. Gravid eventually took on a female Twi'lek as his Sith apprentice, whom he named Darth Gean. Together, he and Gean built a fortress on the planet called Jaguada.
However, Gravid started to think that the Sith Order would fail if it remained completely dedicated to the dark side of the Force. He began to add compassion and kindness, which were principles of the Jedi—the Sith's enemies—to his teachings and actions. As he did this, Gravid's mental state deteriorated, and he eventually decided that the only way to save the Sith Order was to hide or destroy the Sith teachings, artifacts, and holocrons that had been gathered over many years. Gravid believed that once this was done, he could guide the Sith toward what he considered a more successful future. Around 533 BBY, Gravid used the Force to create barriers around his fortress and began to destroy all the artifacts, holocrons, and books in his possession.
Gravid was stopped by Gean, his apprentice, who broke through the barriers around their stronghold to prevent her Master from destroying the Sith's knowledge. In the resulting duel, Gravid managed to seriously wound the Twi'lek by cutting off one of her arms and shoulders, as well as the left side of her face and chest. In the end, Gean managed to defeat Gravid, killing him even though she was unarmed. Despite his death, Gravid's actions in destroying most of the Sith knowledge had a long-lasting impact on the Sith Order, hindering the Grand Plan that Darth Bane had started to eliminate the Jedi Order and overthrow the Galactic Republic. Almost five centuries after Gravid's death, the Sith Lord Darth Plagueis told his apprentice, Darth Sidious, about Gravid's actions against the Sith.
During his time as Dark Lord, Darth Gravid became interested in the light side of the Force and began to think that the Sith's complete devotion to the dark side was a weakness. He tried to add Jedi qualities to his life and teachings. However, Gravid started to lose his mind as a result, and he came to believe that destroying Sith knowledge was necessary so that he could shape the Order according to his teachings.
Gravid was sensitive to the Force and strong enough to become Dark Lord of the Sith. He also knew about essence transfer, which allowed someone to move their consciousness into another body. He could create Force barriers large enough to surround his fortress. During his fight with Darth Gean, Gravid managed to cut off his apprentice's left arm, shoulder, face, and torso, severely injuring her before she killed him.
Darth Gravid first appeared in the 2012 book Darth Plagueis, written by James Luceno. Luceno created Gravid to explain why the main character, Darth Plagueis, did not have access to some of the older Sith teachings and Force techniques.