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Darth Krayt is one of the most intriguing characters in the Star Wars Expanded Universe. Now known as the Legends continuity, Darth Krayt lived through multiple wars and ended up becoming the Dark Lord of the Sith.
A lot happened to him between the time of the Clone Wars and after the fall of the Galactic Empire. In this bio, we’re going to explore all of that and see why he’s such a popular character.
Bottom Line Up Front
Darth Krayt was a Jedi Knight who became a Sith Lord after the fall of the Republic. While he remained in hiding for a while, he became the Dark Lord of the Sith after the death of Darth Sidious. He created the Sith Rule of One, stating that there could be multiple Sith Lords at one time, but they all had to serve under him. He was eventually killed by Cade Skywalker when he was 185 years of age.
Description/Overview
Darth Krayt was born on Tatooine. His birth name was A’Sharad Hett, and he was raised by his father who was an ex-Jedi named, Sharad Hett. Sharad left the Jedi after his homeworld was destroyed. He exiled himself to Tatooine and joined the ranks of the Tusken Raiders. He eventually became a warlord and married another human amongst them. His wife gave birth to A’Sharad, so A’Sharad grew up in the Tusken Raider culture.
As a child, A’Sharad was trained in the Force by his father. He also went through all the trials of becoming a Tusken Raider such as killing a Krayt Dragon. Unfortunately, A’Sharad’s father was killed by a Jedi hunter named, Aurra Sing. After this tragedy, A’Sharad was taken to the Jedi Order on Coruscant to be trained by Ki-Adi-Mundi. He left the Tusken Raiders to begin his new life as a Jedi.
A’Sharad continued to wear his Tusken Raider clothes throughout his training in the Jedi Temple. This led to some awkward encounters as many people knew of the violent nature of his people. However, he persisted in wearing the clothing.
At a key turning point in his Jedi training, A’Sharad decided to take revenge on Aurra Sing for killing his father. He sought her out and they battled, with Aurra Sing coming off second best this time. He gave in to his rage to draw strength, and he turned her over to the Jedi Council for her to be arrested.
After that encounter, he changed masters from Ki-Adi-Mundi to the Dark Woman. He wanted to self-exile after feeling shameful for giving in to his rage, but the Dark Woman was willing to train him. It was a bit poetic as she was the one who trained Aurra Sing. Under her tutelage, A’Sharad became a Jedi Knight, and he fought many valiant battles in the Clone Wars.
On one occasion, he befriended Anakin Skywalker. However, Anakin attacked him after becoming triggered by A’Sharad’s mention of the Tusken Raiders. His people had captured, enslaved, and killed Anakin’s mother, so he entered into a blind rage. A’Sharad managed to defend himself, and Anakin revealed to him how he slaughtered his people. It was after that moment that A’Sharad decided not to wear his Tusken Raider robes anymore. He also swore to Anakin that he would keep his secret safe.
During Order 66, A’Sharad managed to survive the ordeal. He wasn’t around any clone troopers as the order was sent out, but he was attacked by them when he returned to the Jedi Temple. He found out what happened and went back to Tatooine to hide. He became a Tusken Raider again and eventually became the head warlord of multiple clans.
He embraced the lifestyle of the Tusken Raiders and led dozens of raids across the planet. He eventually encountered Obi-Wan Kenobi after they were about to raid the home where Luke Skywalker was staying. Obi-Wan tried to convince A’Sharad to stop what he was doing, but it ended in a battle. Obi-Wan was victorious, and he cut A’Sharad’s arm off and forced him to remove his robes. This was seen as shameful to the Tusken Raider people, so A’Sharad had to leave the planet.
He became a bounty hunter, and one of his jobs led him to the ancient Sith planet, Korriban. It was here that he fell deeply to the Dark Side. An ancient Sith Lord known as XoXaan appeared to him through a Holocron and she taught him the ways of the Dark Side. He believed that he could become powerful enough to take down Darth Vader and Darth Sidious after learning from her.
However, he spent so long training on Korriban that when he left the planet, he found out that Sidious had been killed and the Empire had been overthrown. With no purpose anymore, he traveled to the Unknown Regions. He was captured by a Yuuzhan Vong scout ship. The Yuuzhan Vong were an extragalactic species that used advanced technology.
The Yuuzhan Vong tortured A’Sharad and replaced many of his body parts with their own organic technology and living beings. More specifically, they removed his left eye and replaced it with a creature from their galaxy.
Onboard the Yuuzhan Vong ship, A’Sharad met another ex-Jedi known as Vergere. She had joined the Yuuzhan Vong years before the Clone Wars. She taught A’Sharad how to use all his suffering to draw from the Dark Side.
After some time, A’Sharad broke free from his captivity and destroyed the ship he was held captive on. He escaped back to Korriban and assumed the name, Darth Krayt. It was a callback to the great Krayt dragons from his home planet.
At this point, Darth Krayt believed that the galaxy would thrive from a singular order that he controlled, so he abolished the Sith Rule of Two to create the Rule of One. He built up the Sith Order in secret on Korriban until they were ready to strike at the galaxy. This Sith Order remained hidden for over 100 years as other conflicts in the galaxy arose and distracted from what they were planning.
Darth Krayt used this time to remain in stasis in order to preserve his dying body. However, the implants from the Yuuzhan Vong were threatening to consume him. So, he had to find a way of removing them as well as living even longer.
Eventually, Darth Krayt and his Sith Empire arose in the aftermath of the Yuuzhan Vong War in the galaxy. While the Galactic Alliance was weakened, Darth Krayt stepped in and overthrew them, becoming Emperor Krayt. His 100-year plan had succeeded.
He ruled for several years but was eventually killed by one of his apprentices. He was resurrected from a tomb on Korriban and returned to reclaim his throne shortly after that. His death cured him of all his Yuuzhan Vong augmentations.
His final death came at the hands of Cade Skywalker, a descendant of the Skywalker family. He flew a ship with Darth Krayt’s body into the sun, incinerating it and making sure that he never came back to life.
Key Features/Moments
- A’Sharad Hett gets trained in the ways of the Force by his father, Sharad Hett.
- His father is killed, so Ki-Adi-Mundi takes him back to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant to be formally trained as a Jedi.
- A’Sharad switches masters after giving in to his rage when seeking revenge on Aurra Sing for killing his father. The Dark Woman becomes his new master.
- A’Sharad becomes friends with Anakin Skywalker. However, Anakin attacks him after getting triggered by a conversation they have about Tusken Raiders. A’Sharad learns about Anakin’s slaughter of his people and decides to keep the secret.
- He survives Order 66 and becomes a Tusken Raider on Tatooine again.
- He fights Obi-Wan Kenobi and loses his arm and robes. He is forced to leave the planet after this, becoming a bounty hunter.
- A’Sharad encounters a Sith Holocron from XoXaan on Korriban and starts learning the ways of the Dark Side.
- He is captured by a Yuuzhan Vong ship and tortured. He gets taught to use his pain to draw from the Dark Side on the ship, fully giving in to it.
- He returns to Korriban and assumes the mantle of Darth Krayt. He starts a new Sith Empire under the Rule of One and waits 100 years before resurfacing to take over the galaxy.
- Darth Krayt’s Sith Empire attacks and he becomes Emperor Krayt. He rules for several years.
- He gets killed by Cade Skywalker.
Darth Krayt Themes
Age and Timelines
One of the most incredible things about Darth Krayt is how he lived through so many huge moments in the Star Wars universe. He played a key role in the Clone Wars, and he was in hiding during the Galactic Civil War and Yuuzhan Vong War. Even though he was a human, he managed to live almost two centuries.
It makes you think how much of an impact he could make if he were to make himself known in those times. He hadn’t fallen to the Dark Side yet during the Battle of Yavin. If Obi-Wan Kenobi hadn’t banished him from Tatooine, he potentially could have helped in the fight. He also could have helped Luke Skywalker with his training. However, A’Sharad had forgotten the ways of the Jedi and adopted the ways of the Tusken Raider, so I wouldn’t really call him a good guy before his fall to the Dark Side.
He also lived through the time of Darth Caedus. Darth Caedus rose to power when Darth Krayt was secretly building his empire on Korriban. Caedus was the son of Han Solo and Leia, and he fell to the Dark Side. It’s a similar story to Kylo Ren from the movies, but it played out differently in the Legends continuity.
Interaction with Anakin Skywalker
A’Sharad’s ordeal with Anakin Skywalker is one of my favorite story arcs thanks to the weight it holds. Firstly, Anakin absolutely hated the Tusken Raiders due to what they did to his mom. He mercilessly slaughtered them in a rage, and he hid that knowledge from everyone except for Padmé.
A’Sharad was a proud Tusken Raider, so it’s incredibly interesting that he and Anakin fought together and became friends. It must have made Anakin’s blood boil when he saw A’Sharad wearing the traditional Tusken clothes, yet the two of them fought bravely together. It was only when A’Sharad told Anakin that he’d make a good Tusken Warrior that he snapped and attacked A’Sharad.
When A’Sharad found out years later that it was Anakin who became Darth Vader, he felt massive regret for keeping his secret. He felt that if he turned Anakin over to the Jedi Council, things may have been different, and the Jedi Purge may have never happened.
Ironically, A’Sharad became Darth Krayt, and you could argue that Darth Krayt was even worse than Darth Vader. While Anakin Skywalker was redeemed, A’Sharad went in to death fully embracing the Dark Side. That’s why he was able to get resurrected. He had to be killed in the most intense way to ensure that he would never come back again.
Rule of One
The Rule of One was perhaps Darth Krayt’s biggest change as Dark Lord of the Sith. The Rule of Two was created by Darth Bane, and it was a long-standing tradition that lasted over a thousand years. It became the strongest thing to follow as the Sith rose to power. There could only ever be two of them, a master, and an apprentice to eventually take his place.
Darth Krayt’s Rule of One stated that there could be as many Sith Lords as possible. However, they all had to serve under him. He was the ultimate master, and they were all his servants. He believed that the Sith Order would be stronger this way.
Many people opposed this as it was easily seen as heresy in the Sith Order. However, it worked for a while when he was ruling as Dark Lord of the Sith. It only lasted as long as he did, though. This proved that it wasn’t as strong as the Rule of Two since that lasted a thousand years after Darth Bane created it.
When thinking about it, the Rule of Two makes more sense. It’s the best way for the Sith to remain as strong as possible as the apprentice is always seeking to overthrow the master.
Special Abilities
When A’Sharad was a Jedi, he wielded two green lightsabers. One of them he made himself and the other was from his father. They were red lightsabers when he became Darth Krayt.
When fighting, he mainly utilized the Jar’Kai fighting style, which is the official term for utilizing two lightsabers. Over his lifetime, he was able to fight and defeat many enemies using this particular style of fighting.
When it comes to Force abilities, he was a very strong user of Force lightning. He was even able to create a shield barrier out of lighting, something that we haven’t seen many Force users do.
On top of that, he often used Force sense, telekinesis, Force deflection, Force trance, and force drain. He lived such a long life that he had plenty of time to master all these Force powers. This made him a tremendous Force user, and one that many people feared to meet in battle.
Key Quotes
- “I was trained by my father, Sharad Hett, and then by Ki-Adi-Mundi, and then the Dark Woman. They taught me that vengeance is not the way of the Jedi.” – A’Sharad’s words of wisdom to Anakin Skywalker after he was attacked by Anakin.
- “We were both generals in the Clone Wars…Warlords for a Republic that turned on us!” – A’Sharad speaking to Obi-Wan during their encounter on Tatooine.
- “The galaxy writhes in chaos and disorder. It requires a man of vision. I am that man of vision. I am the new Emperor.” – Darth Krayt exclaiming how he will rule the galaxy in the aftermath of the Yuuzhan Vong war.
- “Instead of two there is now only one – the Sith Order itself. I have recreated the Sith, Lord Bane, as you once did.” – Darth Krayt seeing himself as a pioneer by reshaping the Sith Order.
- “I have lived through death and conquered it. I have returned with my power multiplied. The Dark Side of the Force lives and manifests itself through me!” – Darth Krayt recalling how he was killed and got resurrected.
- “Destroy my body if you wish. I’ll live again…through you.” – Darth Krayt threatening Cade Skywalker just before Cade flew him into the sun.
FAQs
Question: Is Darth Krayt a Tusken Raider?
Answer: Darth Krayt was a human male. However, he was born into the Tusken Raiders as his parents adopted the culture and lifestyle after his father left the Jedi Order. He lived as a Tusken Raider during his childhood and went through all the trials to become one. This included killing a Krayt dragon.
He eventually left the Tusken Raiders and became a Jedi. He only returned to them after most of the Jedi were killed during Order 66. However, he was banished after Obi-Wan Kenobi cut his arm off and stripped him of his robes. He wasn’t able to hold a gaffi stick after that, and that was seen as shameful by the Tusken Raider people.
Question: Did Darth Krayt Ever Fight Darth Vader?
Answer: A’Sharad remained on Tatooine for most of the Galactic Civil War, so he never encountered Vader again after his fallout with Anakin Skywalker.
He also only became Darth Krayt after Emperor Palpatine was defeated. It was due to the news of the collapse of the Empire that he traveled to the Unknown Regions and got captured by the Yuuzhan Vong. That experience led him to become a Sith Lord.
Question: Why are Darth Krayt’s Eyes Different Colors?
Answer: His eyes were originally brown. As he turned to the Dark Side, his eyes started turning red. However, one of Darth Krayt’s most notable physical features is his multicolored eyes.
His left eye has a different color as it was removed by the Yuuzhan Vong and replaced by a creature from their galaxy.
Question: Where Was Darth Krayt During the Galactic Civil War?
Answer: He was on Tatooine for most of it. After being sent away from the planet by Obi-Wan Kenobi, he ended up on Korriban where he started learning the ways of the Dark Side. He learned from an ancient Sith Lord known as XoXaan for a few years.
As those years went by, the Rebels defeated the Empire and the Galactic Civil War ended. A’Sharad left Korriban in hopes of using his new powers to defeat the emperor but he found out that the war was already over.
Conclusion
One of my favorite things about Darth Krayt is how amazing he looks in his armor. It was only after reading more about him that I found out that the armor was made up of Yuuzhan Vong implants that were slowly killing and consuming him. The armor kept morphing and he eventually became more armor than human. Thankfully, he rid himself of the implants after he died and got resurrected the first time.
Darth Krayt’s plan was to live and rule for thousands of years. If it wasn’t for Cade Skywalker, he probably would have achieved that.
Unfortunately, we probably won’t see any more of Darth Krayt as he forms part of the Legends continuity that contradicts the stories from the latest movies. While he forms part of a fantastic story, it’s one that doesn’t play any role in the new Star Wars stories that are constantly coming out.
We may see Disney put an easter egg here and there in reference to him, but I don’t see them doing any more than that.
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