Lit Any books on Darth Nilhus?

I think he is really cool, and would like to read about him. I think he's one of the more creepy sith lords.

 

No, there aren't any books about him. I think they could have spun a lot more off the KOTOR series, but unfortunately we're short on tie-ins in general in that era.

 

In Nihilus's case, that might be for the best. I'm of the opinion that the Sith Lords in KOTOR II embody the different extremes and perversions of the dark side in ways that no Sith Lord has since Vader and Palpatine. It might be better to keep them somewhat mysterious.

 

There was a short comic, written by the same guy who wrote the game no less.

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Unseen,_Unheard

I'm not sure how well he would work out as a major character, seeing as how he's more of a force of nature than a person. But it would be cool to see him atleast used post-humously again. You'd think the nightmarish thing that can eat planets would be more well known than any of the other chump Sith lords throughout history.

I kinda thought he was underutilized in the game, he kinda hangs around in the background until he attacks Telos. Unlike Sion who's a persistent threat.

 

You could always play The Old Republic to see Bioware's lame ass "Nihilus but like 100 times more evil" Darth Vitiate.

 

Post-KotOR II, his only appearances were in a holocron during Legacy, and his mask as the MacGuffin of an adventure hook in the Unknown Regions sourcebook.

It's indeed a pity that no one seems to remember Nihilus, but I suppose that most of the planets he devoured were beyond the edge of the Republic at the time. Though I suppose that could be a neat short story- xenoarchaeologists in the Imperial era investigating a planet he devoured. Could be vaguely Lovecraftian.

 

That could be a wonderfully creepy short story, even more so if it took place shortly after KOTOR II. Just a group of people, exploring a planet that seemed to just die, with no evidence as to why. People, animals, the plan life... getting an account of what it's like to walk not just a dead planet, but a murdered planet, could be great. It was touched on in Revan, but like everything in that book, it wasn't fully explored or used to its potential.

 

He pops up once via-Holocron in Legacy.

 

Was it ever explained why Krayt made up a completely new backstory and power for him in that issue?

 

I don't know, I was always too busy laughing at Bane and Andeddu blanking him to notice much else.

 

Presumably he just didn't want to tell anyone what Nihilus was really saying in all those squiggly lines.

That, or Krayt didn't have a clue how to translate it either, but didn't want to sound like a prat by asking Nihilus to say it again in Basic.

 

Quoted for truth. Force I can't stand Darth Mary Sue jumping over Nihlus. Can nothing be kept unique anymore?

 

Having nearly finished the Sith Inquisitor story, I'm unsure how much Vitiate is actually made out to even seem like Nihilus in TOR itself?

Karpyshyn ripped Nihilus off in the novel, but the game barely talks about what Vitiate is or how his powers work beyond just the fact he's immortal.

 

Heh. Remember when we used to speculate that Zayne Carrick was "Darth Nihilus, the early years"?

Good times.

"These Sith we face... they have learned how to do this. It is a technique that has been lost for some time, not seen in the days since the ancient Sith . . . The blind seer - her Master has harnessed this technique, and he is rapidly approaching the height of its power. I fear he may even rival some of the ancient Sith. He is already more of a force than a living thing, a hole in the Force that threatens to draw everything into it." - Kreia (my emphasis)

Nihilus wasn't unique, really. He offered an example of the abilities of the Malachor Sith assassins taken to their self-destructive extreme. I agree that giving the Sith Emperor the same kind of abilities "only better" was fairly boring... but it's still perfectly appropriate, given Kreia's words.

 

I'm actually not entirely convinced whether the Emperor is "better" when you actually think about it.

Vitiate took weeks to perform a ritual that required the presence of thousands of other Sith whom he had fooled into helping him.
In contrast, Nihilus did it all by himself and devoured a bunch of Jedi who, obviously, wouldn't have been in the helpful mood.

Vitiate's end result might have been bigger and better, but he achieved it more through Sidious-style subterfuge than Nihilus-style outright Force domination.

 

Well I just mean "better" in the sense that he can apparently (?) consume planets and stuff without losing his entire personality down a black hole.

Though, to be honest, I haven't really kept myself up to date on Vitiate. Never read Revan, played TOR, or even browsed his Wook article.

 

Not losing his personality is... something TOR doesn't seem to be able to make its mind up about, tbh.

The impression some sources have given is that the more souls you devour the more nuts you get as they chatter in your head, so for all intents and purposes, Vitiate should be nuts, and both Revan and the Inquisitor storyline both pretty much imply that as the end result for someone who takes it too far (I've always figured that's why he stopped using the name Vitiate and simply became "the Sith Emperor" and thus more a... personification of dominance than an individual).

But then you get him chatting perfectly lucidly with the Jedi Knight in TOR, so... *shrug*

Of course, I always hated the fact Nihilus had supposedly been able to (a) make a Holocron, and (b) hold down a "sane" conversation with Krayt, so they might not be all that different.

 

I don't think you can forget Nihilus or however you spell his name. Or any of the kotor 2 sith for that matter.

All three have unique designs and personalities. Wonderful embodiments of the dark side. So much more than TOR generic sith

 

Nihilus's mystique should endure in order to preserve his [very limited] cool factor. Vitiate, for all the ambition in making him a hybrid of Sidious & Nihilus, is arguably the greatest creative failure in the past decade for Star Wars. The sheer arrogance with which that character has been handled from day 1 makes Zahn himself look humble.

 

Hm, Odion and THE CREATOR OF EVERYTHING THAT IS are really twisted too, especially Odion.

 

The universe is twisted, why shouldn't its creator be?

 

Of course. And He who created the antithesis of Himself made sure that antithesis was more twisted than He was. After all, He embodies creation, while his antithesis embodies destruction.

 

I absolutely love Odion and Daiman as characters, but I've always seen them, and I think this is what JJM was going for, as essentially Sith posers. The type of Sith that Darth Bane was trying to stamp out; insane, egotistical, and more interested in holding on to their personal slice of the galaxy than in doing anything worthwhile (of course, you could argue that the entire Sith philosophy is insane and an embodiment of these traits).

 

Yeah. I don't think a "real" Sith should be so easily cowed by their mom.

For a franchise that uses the Sith as their standard evil villain it doesn't do a very good job at making them intimidating alot of the time. I remember even thinking that the rank and file Sith from the first Kotor we're a bunch of smug idiots,then the generic bullies in TOR and the Lost Tribe morons come along.

Frankly Ma Fratelli from the Goonies is more intimidating that alot of these guys.

 

Very true. But perhaps it's a good thing that most Sith come off as smug bullies. It makes the Sith like Nihilus and Sion, beings who come across as perversions of nature rather than human beings, all the more terrifying.