Were the other Darths victims too?

After seeing ROTS, my impression is that Anakin's soul was corrupted by the dark side of the force. In a sense, it completely took him over and twisted the good man, Anakin, into the evil Vader.

The same could be said for Dooku. He was once a great Jedi, too. Was he corrupted by the dark side because of his good intentions? What about Palpatine and Maul? Could they have been good people too, who, through an error of judgement, eventually became servants of darkness? Highly unlikely, but a possibility nevertheless.

 

I agree with you on the first two counts, Anakin and Dooku were seduced by the Dark Side in one form or another, corrupting them.

I suspect Palpatine was an ambitious politician though, and would do anything (it seems he was pretty devious) to gain power, and once gained, go even further to retain and increase his power.

Darth Maul I can't comment on. I haven't explored his background at all, but intend doing so via the EU. I suspect though, judging by his looks alone that's he's from a warrior caste and could have easily been bought then turned to the dark side. Look at Jango - just didn't have any force abilities but was willing to take the money to side with evil. A trait in his character that showed up in Boba too. (although revenge was also a motivation for Boba)

 

Most Sith apprentices (such as Maul - we know this from multiple sources) were trained from birth just a Jedi would be. However, when Maul was killed, Palpatine needed an apprentice right then and there - he didn't have twenty or so years to raise one from birth. That's where Dooku came into the picture.

Palpatine was from Naboo, so it seems likely that he would have been raised as a Sith from birth. The real question with Palpatine was whether his master had him get involved in politics, or if he did that of his own accord after his master's death.

 

Anakin was only a victim of his own greed. He made a choice to join the Darkside.

 

Anakin was not a victim. He joined the Dark Side because it was his destiny to be the first one to join the Dark Side and return from it. He showed that it is possible to give in to the Dark Side and not be consumed by it, proving that Yoda and the old Jedi were wrong.

 

He was a victim in that all he wanted was to learn the power to asve Padme from death and, consequently, became ensnared by the dark side. In a sense, the dark side is a bit like the sirens of Greek Mythology - very tempting but will lead you to your doom.

 

According to Darth Maul's Journal (Which came out after TPM) he was taken as a child by Darth Sidious and trained as a Sith.

 

this is kind of a philosophy question as i see it

if you can say anakin was twisted and that it was not his fault and he was still good underneath everything, then you have to say it for everyone without exceptions. therefore if you think anakin was a victim and he was not to blame, than you must think so for every villian.

 

Dooku makes me laugh everytime i think of the irony he is:

wanted to rid of corrupton in the jedi council, becomes corrupt in doing so.

 

I think Palpatine is completely evil and without redeeming qualities. That is probably why he is the ulimate Sith Lord, because he is as good at it as anyone can possibly be.

 

i guess for the purpose of literature you can say he is completely evil with no redeeming qualities

but from a philosophical stance, if it were real life, what i said before is true. if you can excuse one person you must excuse everyone.

 

In the computer game he gets the nice libery lady. Just stabs her with his lightsaber.

 

Maul and Sidious were life-long sithlords imo.