Marka Ragnos

Marka Ragnos, a hybrid of Sith and Human heritage, traced his lineage directly to a Dark Jedi who was exiled from the Republic following the Hundred-Year Darkness, an event that transpired around 5000 BBY. Esteemed, feared, and obeyed by the Sith, Ragnos was regarded as the foremost Dark Lord of the Sith of his time, born centuries before 5000 BBY. Upon the death of the reigning Dark Lord of the Sith, Ragnos and another powerful Sith, Simus, both sought to claim the title. A formidable combatant, Ragnos defeated Simus in a duel in 5150 BBY, thereby proving his worthiness to inherit the mantle of Dark Lord of the Sith.

After assuming the title of Dark Lord, he spearheaded merciless campaigns against his Sith adversaries, strategically manipulating them to undermine one another and ensure the security of his reign. His iron-fisted rule endured for over a century. During this period, Ragnos is believed to have authored his own epistle, crafted a Scepter capable of drawing Force energy from various locations to empower non-Force users, and designed a pair of gauntlets to amplify the Force abilities of its wearer.

In 5100 BBY, Ragnos, in his capacity as Dark Lord of the Sith and ruler of the Sith Council and Sith Empire, received a petition from a thirteen-year-old boy named Tenebrae. The youth sought training in the Sith arts and recognition as the ruler of his father's domain, the planet Medriaas. Although Ragnos declined to take him as an apprentice, he was impressed by Tenebrae's power and ambition, and thus appointed him ruler of Medriaas, bestowing upon him the rank of Sith Lord and the name Vitiate.

After many years of leadership, Marka Ragnos died in 5000 BBY. His death marked the end of a golden age for the Sith Empire, despite its hesitation to continue expanding.

Ragnos's influence persisted beyond his lifetime. For example, the Ragnos Lakes on Kesh were named in his honor. During his funeral on Korriban, Naga Sadow and Ludo Kressh emerged as the leading candidates to succeed Ragnos as the next Dark Lord of the Sith. They engaged in a duel with Sith swords following a disagreement over who would better serve the Empire as Dark Lord. Ragnos's spirit materialized before them, speaking of the Sith Empire's glorious past and uncertain future, and declared that only the most deserving would succeed him. Sadow was chosen as the new Dark Lord of the Sith following the duel. After the unwelcome arrival of Gav and Jori Daragon, Sadow used it as justification to invade the Republic, claiming that the Galactic Explorers would soon attempt to bring Republic reinforcements to invade the Sith Empire.

Vitiate did not participate in the succession struggle following Ragnos's death, nor was he involved in the conflict between Sadow and Kressh, or the Great Hyperspace War. He chose to remain hidden until the opportune moment arose.

After Sadow's election as the new Dark Lord of the Sith, subsequent events led to a major war with the Galactic Republic. Ultimately, the unhealed schism resulted in the end of their interstellar empire. Ragnos remained as a Force ghost long after his death, trapped within his tomb in the Valley of the Dark Lords on Korriban.

In 3997 BBY, approximately one millennium after his death, Exar Kun and Ulic Qel-Droma summoned the spirits of Ragnos and several other Dark Lords from their graves using Sith amulets as part of an ancient prophecy. Awakened once more, he crowned Kun as the new Dark Lord of the Sith, completing his initiation into the dark side. With a single touch, Ragnos burned a mark of a Dark Lord into the center of Kun's forehead, and Qel-Droma received that of a Shadow Hand, whom Ragnos declared would be Kun's primary apprentice. This was all done in an effort to resurrect the fallen empire of a thousand years prior. The Great Sith War once again devastated the galaxy, but the Sith Empire was not restored.

At some point before 3963 BBY, Celeste Morne destroyed the last known copy of Ragnos' epistle.

A thousand years after his physical death, during the Jedi Civil War, Revan and his companions visited Marka Ragnos's tomb while searching for the Star Forge. Revan had to enter the tomb and retrieve an ancient Sith artifact in order to impress Uthar Wynn, who would then grant him access to Naga Sadow's tomb, where a Star Map was located. Revan had to navigate Ragnos's tomb, which was guarded by a rogue assassin droid.

After fighting the droid forces inside the tomb, Revan and his companions came across the assassin droid. The droid explained that it had been originally programmed to kill Jedi, but its Sith programmers had made its cognitive systems more independent than they had intended. Since then, the droid had remained isolated within Ragnos's tomb, building droids to help protect it. The droid then asked Revan for help in changing its programming because, although it had developed a desire not to kill, its programming often conflicted with its desires. The droid offered Revan assistance in changing his programming. After the droid's reprogramming was successful, it offered Revan several of its redundant systems for use on other droids, and then stated that it could escape from the planet, wishing Revan well. Before leaving the tomb, Revan also found a pair of gauntlets that had once belonged to Marka Ragnos. After that, Revan left the tomb to gain prestige with Uthar Wynn.

A few decades after his death, Vitiate re-established the Sith Empire once more. Vitiate started a new war against the Galactic Republic 1,319 years after Ragnos's death.

During the Cold War, Jedi historian Master Gnost-Dural speculated that Ragnos's support for Exar Kun indicated that Ragnos did not support Vitiate.

By the time of the Galactic War, Ragnos's ghost haunted the cave known as Architect's Hollow on the fourth moon of Yavin Prime.

At some point in his life, Darth Plagueis traveled to the Valley of the Dark Lords on Korriban. While there, he found no evidence that the spirits of Korriban were real, believing that they were merely diversions created for the credulous. However, as Plagueis boarded his ship, he saw a vision of Marka Ragnos. The apparition challenged Plagueis's claim to the Sith title and criticized his plan to dismantle the traditions of Korriban. However, the vision did not answer Plagueis's questions and inquiries. Instead, Ragnos snarled and vanished in a cloud of smoke. After the experience, Plagueis wrote that it was possible that the entire episode had simply played out in his mind. These texts were later acquired by Darth Sidious, Plagueis's former apprentice, and included in a book he called "Book of Sith."

Thousands of years after his death, during the New Republic era in 14 ABY, a Sith cult known as the Disciples of Ragnos, led by Tavion Axmis, Desann's student, attempted to resurrect Ragnos's spirit.

With the help of an ancient scepter once used by Ragnos to drain residual Force energy, Tavion and her apprentice siphoned the Force from various Force Nexuses across the galaxy and used it to empower their followers. Tavion planned to use the energy collected to resurrect Ragnos. After a difficult campaign tracking the Disciples of Ragnos across the galaxy, the New Jedi Order managed to locate Tavion on Korriban. Jedi Luke Skywalker and Kyle Katarn led the campaign on Korriban, dispatching every available Jedi from the temple on Yavin 4, including the Jedi Jaden Korr, who participated in almost every mission against the Disciples of Ragnos.

During the Battle of Korriban, Jaden Korr entered Ragnos's tomb to stop Axmis. He was almost too late, as she succeeded in resurrecting Ragnos by allowing his spirit to possess her body, but Korr defeated Ragnos himself. Ragnos's ghost was forced back into his sarcophagus, promising darkly that he would return.

Marka Ragnos, a Dark Lord of the Sith who was respected, feared, and obeyed, was regarded as wise and powerful. Ragnos launched ruthless campaigns against his Sith opponents to secure his position as a Dark Lord of the Sith, ushering in a Golden Age for the Sith. Following his death, Naga Sadow and Ludo Kressh fought to determine his successor, and Ragnos's Force ghost appeared before them, stating that only the most deserving would succeed him.

Ragnos was so important among the Sith that he was summoned back from death twice, first by Exar Kun and Ulic Qel-Droma with the aid of talismans. Ragnos chose Exar Kun over Ulic, crowning him as the next Dark Lord, and assigned Qel-Droma as his apprentice.

Later, thousands of years after his death, during the New Republic era, Dark Jedi Tavion Axmis believed that resurrecting Marka Ragnos would bring about a new Golden Age for the Sith. When the Jedi Jaden Korr defeated him, he angrily declared that he would return.

Marka Ragnos was a powerful figure, both physically and in his use of the Force. He is considered one of the most powerful Sith and Force users in Sith and Jedi history, leading the Sith Empire to a Golden Age through brutal campaigns against his Sith enemies. Ragnos possessed such extensive knowledge of the Force that he was able to manifest as a spirit to Naga Sadow and Ludo Kressh during his funeral, orchestrating their duel and thus determining the future of the Sith Empire. He also knew how to preserve his body's essence for 5000 years after his death and was skilled in the use of Sith magic. Ragnos's connection to the Force was strong enough to allow him to possess Tavion Axmis in order to fight against Jaden Korr.

Ragnos did not always use a lightsaber, the standard weapon of Sith Lords and Jedi Knights. Instead, he primarily used a Sith sword, a metal blade enhanced by Sith sorcery, a weapon of the primitive Sith race, which he could conceal within his scepter. It is possible that only he knew of the sword's hiding place, as Tavion Axmis did not draw it until she was possessed by Ragnos.

His skills with his customized Sith sword were remarkable in his duel against Jaden Korr inside his tomb. He skillfully deflected Korr's attacks while unleashing the power of the Sith magic with which his sword was imbued. Ragnos also possessed a pair of dark gauntlets that enhanced his skill with melee weapons or lightsabers.

According to Lokar, he could focus the dark side to make himself nearly invulnerable in battle.

Marka Ragnos possessed a mystical Scepter capable of siphoning and storing dark side energy, and of releasing the power of the Force on ordinary beings to make them Force-sensitive.

He also created a pair of gauntlets to enhance his connection with the Dark side of the Force. After his death, during the Jedi Civil War when Revan searched for the Star Maps, he found the gauntlets that had once belonged to Ragnos inside his tomb.

Marka Ragnos first appeared in the Star Wars comic Tales of the Jedi – Dark Lords of the Sith 6, written by Tom Veitch and Kevin J. Anderson. It was released on March 14, 1995 and set in 3997 BBY, 1004 years after his death, marking his debut as a Force ghost summoned by Exar Kun and Ulic Qel-Droma. In this appearance, he is surrounded by ships engaged in combat, and he states, "In my time, even as the Galactic Republic battles us to extinction." Furthermore, the comic's narration describes him as "the reigning Dark Lord of the Sith" during "a time when the Sith people were being driven to extinction by the Jedi Knights and the armies of the Galactic Republic." However, Tales of the Jedi – The Golden Age of the Sith 2 begins with Marka Ragnos having died before the Galactic Republic and the Sith Empire came into contact with each other.

Marka Ragnos, though significant in Sith history, has never appeared alive in any story, similar to another influential Sith Lord, Freedon Nadd.

In addition to comics, Ragnos has appeared in the Star Wars games Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic as a mummified corpse and in Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy, voiced by Peter Lurie. In the latter, Ragnos plays a central role, as the game's plot revolves around him.

Marka Ragnos's name was misspelled as "Marko Ragnos" in the Xbox version of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. In the same game, when Revan travels to Korriban, the player can enter Marka Ragnos's tomb and either help or destroy the rogue droid inside. Also, in the same level, the player can search for a pair of gauntlets that once belonged to Ragnos to enhance their connection with the dark side of the Force during gameplay.

During the creation of Ragnos's funeral as part of the Tales of the Jedi project, Dario Carrasco, Jr. initially faced issues with Lucasfilm regarding his designs for Ragnos's coffin because they too closely resembled an Egyptian sarcophagus. However, the designs were approved after he submitted a modified version.

Ragnos also received a brief entry in The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia.