PT Did the Jedi truly come first?

(This topic could fit the ST and Saga forums as well. I'm posting it here because the word Sith was mentioned only in the PT thus far)

The EU states the Sith were formed by a Rogue Jedi/Fallen Jedi/Dark Jedi who turned away from the Order and embraced the Dark Side, starting his own tradition.

The movies do not mention who came first.

Does it not make sense that the Sith should come first? Or at least, that the first Force User was a Dark Sider and not a Light Sider? Because the Dark Side is more seductive, easier and faster to grasp, and gives more power sooner. Furthermore the emotions powering the Dark Side are more intense, and more addictive (and also somewhat contagious IMO)

So, what if it was the Sith that was the original order, and it was a rogue Sith who betrayed the Order who formed the Jedi, which resulted in an everlasting enmity between the two Orders?

 

My understanding is that the Jedi arose as a meditative group and so I think it quite plausible they arose first and as they got more involved with the outside world, the lure of power started, eventually leading to the first Sith.

 

Well I suppose if you suddenly discovered you had massive superpowers you never knew about before your first reaction would be to try and learn more about it. Only afterwards would you think wow I can shoot lightning bolts at all those people that get on my nerves at times and while I'm at it i can take over the entire galaxy and rule with an iron fist.

That's my unscientific take on it.

 

In the Dawn of the Jedi series, the Je'daii make use of both the light and the dark side- and seek to maintain a balance between the two.

The Rakata, however, tend to primarily use the dark side.

Then there's the Celestials- which I think are left fairly vague.

All of which were around tens of thousands of years before the first Sith.

 

The TPM novelization explains the non-EU history of the Sith.

 

And the EU managed to incorporate it without chucking out everything that had previously been written.

 

The general story definately follows what's been shown onscreen. I think that it was thought of by the filmmakers, but there's just no place for it in the movies.

 

The DS does seem very easy to access, I'll grant you that and correct me if I'm mistaken but don't monastic orders spring up only when societyhas reached a certain level of civilization before that there would be force-using witch doctors shamans etc who I'd see more as proto-Sith.

 

It makes sense that originally the earliest Force Users would be out for themselves and without a code slide towards the dark side...but that doesn't make them Sith. Remember the distinction between a Sith Lord and a Dark Jedi, the Sith have a tradition, a code and a goal. The original Sith, formed by Ajunta Pall were born from defeat and humiliation at the hands of the Jedi, and work for millennia to exact their revenge. I think as a story that works perfectly.

 

This is my understanding as well.

 

There were actually signs of trouble very early on.

In the Essential Guide to Warfare, a Dark Side user from the ancient days that was found in Force Stasis talks about how the proto-Jedi Order began to become bureaucratic and autocratic, telling others what could and could not be studied and trying to force it's will on all other Force traditions.

 

If the force is just an aspect of nature and a product of life, that means it has always been around. People would have been using it before either group, since a time before history.

 

Of course. I just felt like the OP was asking for non-EU information.

 

The Force always was.
The midi-chlorians came before the Jedi or the Sith.
Whether the Jedi or the Sith order was established first is irrelevant, as they both merely represent different ideals and methods of utilizing the Force. While it does make sense to assume that the Sith branched off of the Jedi due to differing opinions, its not too far fetched to think that they were created completely independent of each other.

 

Wouldn't that too be considered EU since it didn't appear in the movie itself? Even if it is in the film's novelization.

 

No, because Lucas summarized the same information in an interview and told Terry Brooks (the novelization author) most of the history included in the novelization.

 

The usual answer from "movies-only fans" is

"If it's not in the movie, even if Lucas states it outright, it doesn't count"

Which seems to me a little strange.

 

It's VERY strange, esp given that Lucas himself (through Sansweet, et al) established the hierarchy of canon.

Never mind the daft notion that the author has no idea what he/she intended, which is the heart of the notion that "film trumps author statement".

 

We should also bear in mind that Lucas sometimes makes what can be seen as contradictory statements as to his intent, so that the idea that 'well, George Lucas said' can often be followed by an argument that 'but he also said here, that..'

In truth there is no real answer to a question like this, which is, I think, what makes the discussion boards worth visiting, because of the conjecture and the arguments that brings forward. I think, personally, that the OP raises some interesting points.

 

I'm not disagreeing with that. My comment was solely directed at Iron Lord's comment about "movie only" canonistas.

 

I think in KOTOR 1 is mentioned that Sith were a race.. Jedai order probably was first in Republic known space-but who is first is not clear.-In Clone wars in episode when Ahsoka is resurected,there were immortal(almost) brother and sister,and their father... None side is older... That is point of fight of good and evil... In books...

 

The original Sith were indeed a race. When a large group of Dark Jedi schismed from the Order and set off into space to follow their own path they found the Sith (race) and interbred with them. These Dark Jedi and their hybrid offspring were the rootstock of the Sith Order.

 

Well I believe that people were just born with the force inside them and some chose to use it for good and the others for evil.

 

Indeed. What we've learned from the movies, and at least 50% of all the Star Wars literature out there,
is that being a jedi did not make someone inherently good. And having the force does not mean a person will
be drawn to do evil things either.

What we can be certain of, is good and evil have existed for as long as there has been sentient life, and the force
has probably existed for as long as there has been any life at all. Even if the jedi were first, I'm sure there were jedi
who lived and died in harmony with the force, and there were jedi who sought to dominate the force.