Fanclub **The True Sith Empire** Lords of the First Sith Order- We deal in absolutes.

Vader may not be what the sith wanted but he was what the empire needed. A faceless beast of nightmares.

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Exactly. Leader of the Empires troops. Loyal to his grand leader. Did you ever see him plot the downfall of Palps before Endor?

 

Indeed. He was broken.

Until Luke.

 

The current Marvel SW comics have Vader learning about Luke a lot earlier in the timeline, curtesy of Boba Fett.


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Ugh. I hate RetCons. In ANH, he was genuinely surprised. Next you're going to tell me he didn't "Terminate her! Immediately!" on the Death Star because he knew Leia was his daughter.

 

These comics take place after ANH, so I don't understand the problem.

 

OK. I misunderstood the timeline. I thought by "much earlier" we were talking before Yavin.

 

Will this upcoming war to end the Jedi be a RP or something else?


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Not sure it's going to happen. Pacifists...

 

Never thought I would see a screech owl at 1 in the afternoon. Took this Monday afternoon while I was out playing Pokémon Go. At first, I thought it was a hawk or falcon because I saw it out of the corner of my eye. To my surprise, it was an owl.


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Where's Waldo?
Nah, I see it. Very cool.

 

Not the easiest picture to take on my IPhone. Had to step very close to thorns and zoom in a lot.


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I know how that goes.
That's cool you saw an owl.

Name him Hedwig!

 

I will.


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Will the bird say "Owl be back?"

 

Perhaps more along these lines.
Pun intended.

 

@DarthIshyZ

The Dark Side and Animal Husbandry:
A Brief Guide to the Wilder Side of the Force​

Introduction

Despite Star Wars being set primarily ‘in space’, the first evidence of a non-sentient creature we see in ANH is the bones of the krayt dragon that C3PO walks past. From there it balloons. First dewback, bantha then quickly a whole host of other creatures are seen in Mos Eisley. Even though the majority of the rest of the film is not planet-side, we are very quickly given an impression that the planets in this galaxy are teeming with life. ESB and RotJ quickly follow suit, indeed the first problem to be overcome in ESB is the wampa and we are introduced to tauntaun as our second canonical mount. In RotJ, Jabba’s palace is teeming with non-sentient life, be it the rancor underneath Jabba’s throne or the unfortunate creatures that end up being shoved into the hutt’s mouth. Subsequent films continued to introduce us to more and more fauna, TPM and TLJ being of particular note. The sheer number of creatures in Star Wars is immense, even if we exclude the EU and Legends material (which we shall not). Having decided to start with a brief review of all non-sentient creatures classed as pets, finally cutting it down to a select few to discuss in detail, I was immediately struck by two things: firstly that the wookiepedia list under ‘pets’ is woefully inadequate, secondly, that I would never finish this task if I wanted to undertake it in the way I originally envisioned. Therefore I have split it up into parts to make it more manageable.

Part 1- The Dark Side: Discusses the relationship between animal husbandry and the dark side
Part 2- Traditional Beasts of the Dark Side: An in-depth look at some traditional creatures of the dark side
Part 3- The Fauna of the Galaxy: Casting a wider net over other non-sentient species
Part 4- Conclusion and Evaluation of methods

Part 1- The Dark Side​

A brief history of husbandry

Animal husbandry and the dark side go hand in hand right back to the great schism. The earliest written accounts are Sorzurus Sin’s records of her Levithans, which were used to consume armies of lightsiders, but it is unclear exactly how many were created nor when her experimentation into the process began, although we do know it was some time before the battle of Corbos. Crucially, upon their arrival on Korriban, the dark siders who would become the first Sith rulers found the sith species had experimented with the creation of war beasts. The resulting partnership of alchemy and breeding experimentation permanently cemented the relationship of the dark side to non-sentient creatures forever.
Whilst though the lightside a jedi may ‘influence’ a creature to regard it with a barely tolerable, often begrudging respect, only the dark side can appreciate the true beastial nature of non-sentient species. Indeed, it could be argued that through the dark side, we simply draw out the potential of the creatures we ally with, while fulfilling their basic needs. This is part of the reason a jedi can never fully appreciate the beauty of a silan.
Practitioners of the dark side have two ways they can obtain pets, either through acquiring a creature (purchase, wild capture etc) or creating a creature through alchemy and breeding practices. While a less decering sith may sneer at the first method, many creatures in the galaxy are perfectly suitable, moreover useful as pets without any alteration whatsoever. The practical use of ysalamiri by Grand Admiral Thrawn and a varactyl by Obi Wan Kenobi refute this argument well. However, there are enormous benefits that come with experimenting with sith alchemy, including alteration in size, strength and ferocity that should not be understated.

Defining a ‘Sith Pet’

Oxford dictionary defines a pet as: “an animal, a bird, etc. that you have at home for pleasure, rather than one that is kept for work or food”.

Approaches to defining what constitutes a ‘pet’ for a Sith is highly contentious, mainly because of the use of mind influence and control powers that every good sith is known to use from time to time. For example, if we look at the countless times Sith have influenced creatures around them to attack an enemy, one certainly can’t argue that these creatures are pets, as the Sith has no control over them when they are not enthralled. This then leads to the tricker subject of sith alchemy and alteration. It is not clear whether any of these individuals exhibit any sort of relationship with their masters who created them, one that does not require any degree of mind-manipulation at any point. Indeed, it is often a point of pride on the amount of control a Sith may have to exert over a creature in order for it to yield to command. However, the amount of power a Sith may have to use then leads to practicality issues. If a Sith is constantly fighting the mind of a strong-willed creature, this leads to rapid fatigue in both parties and may mean that the Sith is unable to carry out other activities, including their own training, self-defence or even housekeeping. As a result, we have to strongly consider the ‘pleasure’ element of our definition above, when it comes to making judgements here, although I recognise this is subjective and so, far from perfect.

Next, we come to the practicalities of pet keeping. While the leviathan is certainly impressive, its immense size makes it difficult to keep unless you are a Sith ruler or member of a relatively large empire, which allows for both stability and space in order to tend such a beast. A terentatek would be completely impractical for the Sith in hiding, owing to its tendency to deliberately seek out force sensitive prey. As we have to draw a line somewhere, for fear this essay turning into a book, I am going to only recommend creatures applicable to the current odious situation of our own Empire- that is, in hiding.

Part 2- Traditional Beasts of the Dark Side​

The creatures we know so well, the creatures that give a padawan nightmares and which a Jedi Master fears to encounter. Unfortunately, many of these beloved beasts, while useful on the battlefield, are loathsomely impractical to keep as pets. As much of the information about these beasts can be found elsewhere, my focus for each is more upon the practicalities of pet keeping.
In researching this section, the author encountered a snag. Exar Kun (~4000BBY) is widely credited as the creator of a wide selection of the creatures below, including the battle hydra and terentateks. However, Sorzurus Syn records some form of these creatures around 7000BBY. It is not unreasonable to assume that Exar Kun rediscovered the techniques of developing these creatures during his extensive research into the dark side. Therefore, while Exar Kun authored the spread of these creatures far and wide throughout the galaxy, the original creation of them should be attributed to Sorzurus Syn, the sith empire and the sith species.

Battle Hydra

Size: around 1.8m, (ground to top of the shoulder)
Location: a variety of places, but most notably Yavin 4.
Danger rating: 3/5
Sith Pet rating: 4/5

The battle hydra is defined by its fearsome though variable appearance. The most notable feature is the twin heads, which ride atop separate necks, and are an important influence in important sith artwork. The creature typically has four walking limbs and one or two pairs of wings. While the hydra is armed with a nasty set of claws and teeth, its most fearsome feature is the poison-tipped tail. Despite this, the creature’s nature is fairly timid. The hide is notably resistant to lightsaber blades. Battle Hydras have become an apex predator on Yavin 4, where they hunt in the air, riding air currents and slamming their prey into the forest floor below.
The nature of the battle hydra makes it ideal for a pet. While the gentle nature may initially put some off, only a slight influence of the dark side is enough to unlock this creature’s potential as a fearsome war beast. Moreover, as long as you possess a ship with a cargo hold floor larger than 20m^2, the creature will have plenty of space to move around.


Chrysalide

Size: variable, dependant on genetic origin
Location: extinct
Danger rating: 5/5
Sith Pet Rating: 1/5

Chrysalide is actually a wide term encompassing many different ‘donor’ beasts that have been altered through genetic manipulation and sith alchemy. However, the process typically employs use of an alchemical cocoon of some sort. Creatures known to have been altered to become chrysalides include rancors, gundarks, katarns, and vornskrs. When we are able to establish our sith empire once more, chrysalides may become a useful line of defence against intruders. Unfortunately, due to their large size and the tendency to attack anything other than other chrysalides, the author cannot recommend these as a useful sith pet.


Hssiss

Size: ~1.5m height, 3m length.
Location: Korriban, Mimban, Vijun, Ambria (homeworld)
Danger rating: 3/5
Sith Pet Rating: 5/5

Venomous claws and teeth are the hallmark of this lizard creature. It is slightly smaller than the battle hydra, with no wings, although a wide leg span. It is attracted to the dark side, suffering and war. The hssiss possesses the enviable ability to become invisible, possibly using the dark side of the force to do so. This, along with its smaller size, earn it a solid 5 out of 5 rating as a pet.


Leviathan

Size: >10m height
Location: Corbos, among others
Danger rating: 5/5
Sith Pet Rating: 0/5

Levithan are bipedal creatures that seek out and devour the life energies of other creatures, created by Sorzurus Syn. They were one of the creatures culled by the Jedi during 'The Great Hunt'. They are incredibly aggressive and will attack without descrimination if not influenced, though their dark-side natures make them easy to control. Their size, speed and tough hide makes them incredibly difficult to evade. Leviathan possess the ability to hibernate when food is unavailable but their large size makes them difficult to transport and control.


Silooth

Size: 2.5m
Location: Kalsunor
Danger rating: 4/5
Sith Pet Rating: 1/5

A giant beetle, altered through sith alchemy to become an arid terror. These creatures have laid waste to several planets, completely anilating the civilizations on them through their relentless demolition of anything in their path. The acidic vomit of the silooth makes it difficult to contain without specialist provision, thus, while useful on the battlefield, the silooth is not a good pet for the sith in hiding.


Terentatek

Size: 3.2m
Location: Korriban, Dromund Kaas, Bogan (amongst others)
Danger rating: 9000/5
Sith Pet Rating: 0/5

The king of the sith beasts, the terentatek is the stuff of sith legend, and jedi nightmare. Whilst smaller than a rancor, the terentatek’s danger comes from its tenacity in seeking out force sensitive blood- the stronger the better. This makes it especially dangerous for skilled sith lords to keep, as in the absence of physical restraint or strong mind influence, the creature will turn on anyone nearby who is force sensitive. This also makes feeding the beast an issue, as force sensitive meat is difficult to acquire when in hiding.


Tuk'ata

Size: 2m to the shoulder
Location: Korriban, Morriband, Yavin 4
Danger rating: 3/5
Sith Pet Rating: 5/5


The tuk’ata (aka. Sith hound) has been used by sith for centuries, mainly as a guard. Their vicious nature and venomous stingers are intimidating, but hidden behind the red eyes is an intelligent, tamable brain which requires very little manipulation. They even appear to have limited sentience. The tuk’ata is large enough to be used as a mount, but compact and more graceful than the hssiss or the battle hydra.


(Chrysalide) Veergundark

Size: unknown
Location: extinct
Danger rating: NA
Sith Pet Rating: NA (see below)

An ape-like creature with four arms and two legs. Whilst mentioned, not enough information is provided in any text I could find in order to give this beast a rating.


(War) Behemoth

Size: 12-15m
Location: extinct (Korriban, Ziost)
Danger rating: 1/5
Sith Pet Rating: 3/5

These are interesting animals, developed as living ‘tanks’, onto which turrets and troop platforms could be mounted. Their purpose for being bred means they are easily controllable by most, even those who are not force sensitive. However their immense size and weight is a prohibiting factor. This is not a beast which one can travel on or with without attracting unwanted attention.


(War)Bird

Size: 6m
Location: Khar Delba
Danger rating: 2/5
Sith Pet Rating: 3/5

These are large, bipedal birds with short, feathered arms instead of wings. Bed tempered in nature, these creatures possess a large beak which can deliver a wicked bite. Their large hind legs and blunt claws are often used for trampling. Nonetheless, these creatures are easily domesticated and can be obtained in a wide variety of feather and eye colours. Similar to the Behemoth, they have been equipped with artillery platforms in the past, as well as being used as mounts for scouting and reconnaissance. The main hindrance in pet ownership of this beast is its height, which is larger than the majority of smaller cargo holds, making it difficult to transport.


Wyrm (War Worm)

Size: unknown (‘enormous’)
Location: extinct (Yavin 4, Florn)
Danger rating: NA
Sith Pet Rating: NA (see below)

Sources are unclear about whether there was ever more than one of these, and Freedon Nadd noted it as ‘untamable’ before alchemically altering it. They were another of the creatures culled by the Jedi during 'The Great Hunt'. Owing to lack of tamability, sparse information on the creature and its prohibitively large size, it is not given a rating.

To Conclude​

In terms of ranking, the tuk’ata, hssiss and battle hydra come out on top, and even these are rather prohibitive owing to their size. Sith are victims of our own success, in that the beasts we create are generally so large or dangerous that they are difficult to keep as pets, particularly when the order is on the run. Owing to this, in the next section we will look at a selection of ‘unaltered’ creatures from across the galaxy.

Part 3- The Fauna of the Galaxy​

Having reviewed our own alchemical creations, we now come to the naturally evolved fauna. As previously noted in the introduction, the sheer number of non-sentient creatures in the galaxy is immense. Therefore my efforts will be focused mainly on creatures that meet the Oxford Dictionary definition as bringing ‘pleasure’ to their owners, rather than domesticated creatures primarily used as mounts or for agriculture. Even of these, my primary foci are creatures which suit our current situation or make for interesting discussion. As before, creatures will be given a danger rating and pet suitability ranking.


Acklay

Size: approx. 3 m height
Location: Vendaxa
Danger rating: 4/5
Sith Pet Rating: 2/5


An Acklay’s size and quick, nimble legs strike an impressive appearance and are mainly used for arena fighting sports and status symbols. Unfortunately, owing to their prohibitive size, they are unsuitable as pets in our current situation. However, a settled sith lord would derive much pleasure from feeding slaves to them. Their speed and unique killing action with their front claws is a marvelous sight.


Anooba

Size: 20-40 Kg (mass)
Location: Tatooine
Danger rating: 3/5
Sith Pet Rating: 5/5

Whilst a dangerous predator, anooba are also intelligent pack animals, known to have been domesticated by Tusken Raiders. Their size is ideal for concealment and their intelligence contributes to their tamability. They are also pretty fearless, willing to take on prey larger than themselves when hunting in packs. The hair that grows along their spines is attractive, but does not require heavy maintenance. Careful selective breeding could likely produce a wider variety of coat colours.


Dinko

Size: 30 cm
Location: Proxima Dibal 1
Danger rating: 1/5
Sith Pet Rating: 2/5


Dinko are fairly easy to find in less reputable pet shops around the galaxy. That does not make them a good pet, however. Their stench is foul and they are vicious biters, with venom that will leave you with mild paralysis. The smell is distinctive and the odor will attract attention when travelling in densely populated areas.



Kyrat Dragon

Size: 45 m (length)
Location: Tatooine
Danger rating: 4/5
Sith Pet Rating: 3/5

An intimidating appearance, this creature owes its high danger rating due to the ferocity with which it hunts, able to scare even the most seasoned Tusken Raiders. Whilst not sith spawn in themselves, these creatures are attracted to dark side energies, making them mildly tolerant of practitioners of the dark side. This too is reflected in the use of their pearls as lightsaber components. Their hunting instinct however is mainly sight-based- this creature does not appear to channel the dark side in any way. This is useful, as a strong dark side aura may attract unwanted attention. Unfortunately, the main prohibiting factor in keeping this creature as a pet is its immense size and weight when full grown. However, this does not prevent the discerning sith adopting a juvenile, and releasing it when it becomes too large to fit in their freighter.


Massiff

Size: 0.76m (height)
Location: Geonosis, Tatooine
Danger rating: 3/5
Sith Pet Rating: 5/5


These fierce creatures are similar in size and shape to the anooba, although reptilian. Their scaly hide is tough and combined with sharp teeth and claws, gives them an intimidating appearance. Their large eyes, however, are startlingly expressive. This may account for why these creatures, whilst having similar intelligence to the anooba, are more widely tamed for tasks such as hunting and guarding. Selective breeding for variations in colour and patterns has led to a range of ‘morphs’ entering the pet market in recent years. For the fashion conscious sith with a vindictive streak, the relatively small size of the massiff makes it an excellent option.


Narglatch

Size: approx. 6 m length
Location: Multiple worlds/Common
Danger rating: 2/5
Sith Pet Rating: 4/5


If looking for a pet which can double as a mount, the discerning sith may want to consider a narglatch. It’s delicate, stealthy movement lends itself to travel across a myriad of terrain, even able to swim across rivers and lakes where necessary. They adapt well to most environments, with temperatures from around 0 degrees to 35 degrees. The creatures have caused a pest control problem on Coruscant owing to rich owners abandoning their pets when they become too dangerous to live with. However, primitive species such as Talz have domesticated these creatures successfully as mounts and a sith eager to learn the ways of narglatch riding could easily convince them to share their knowedege.


Nexu

Size: under 1m height
Location: Cholganna
Danger rating: 4/5
Sith Pet Rating: 0/5

The size of this creature might mistake the reader into believing this creature as clumsy as it is large, however the nexu is surprisingly nimble. The stripes, red eyes and whip-split tail lead to a striking appearance, second only to their large claws and long rows of small sharp teeth. The infra-red eyesight ensures they rarely lose track of a moving target. Despite their good looks and comparatively small height, nexu are highly irritable and untamable. Whilst popular as fighting pets, they do not respond well to training and are just as likely to attack their handlers as their prey.

Rancor

Size: approx. 4m tall
Location: Danthomir
Danger rating: 4/5
Sith Pet Rating: 4/5


Another popular arena beast, rancor are slower and more responsive to handling than the nexu and acklay. These comparatively gentle semi-sentient beasts thrive best with one owner to bond with and respond well to simple training. They will do most anything to please their masters and can become aggressive when separated from them. The rancor is only prevented from getting a full 5 out of 5 rating by its large size and preference for live prey.


Reek

Size: approx. 3 m height
Location: Vendaxa
Danger rating: 4/5
Sith Pet Rating: 2/5


Reek are fairly calm herd animals, but can quickly become as unresponsive to handling as the nexu. Owing to their herding instinct, these creatures generally become extremely dangerous unless they have at least one other individual of their species for company. Groups of them have been known to accept very simple training as beasts of burden, but these omnivores are usually raised on a ground-meat diet, in solitary confinement, as arena fighting creatures.


Sarlacc

Size: varies dependent on age
Location: several/common
Danger rating: 5/5*
Sith Pet Rating: 0/5


The sarlacc is an impressive wyrm-like creature. Biologists are still unsure as to whether it is strictly an animal, as chloroplasts have been recently identified in swabs taken from the outer shells of their beaks, possibly allowing for photosynthesis during rainy seasons. However, the sample size was only one juvenile individual, and research came to a sudden halt when the team of scientists were killed in a tragic accident. Other groups have argued that these swabs were contaminated, but nobody appears keen to continue this research. The sarlacc owes its terrible pet rating to its prohibitive size and that it dies if removed from sand upon reaching maturity. Juveniles are parasitic to other creatures.


Tooka/Adoris Feline/Loth Cat

Size: <0.5 m height
Location: Common (Invasive)
Danger rating: 0/5
Sith Pet rating: 5/5


Tooka are common pets across the galaxy. Their ever increasing array of breed colours and expressive faces only continues to aid their popularity. Less scrupulous owners have released their unwanted pets in urban centres, leading to large feral populations on planets such as Lothal and Courcant. Tooka are easily domesticated and fiercely loyal of their owners, regarding strangers with anything from indifference to severe hostility. The tooka is common enough to not attract unwanted attention to a sith hiding undercover, and they adapt easily to life aboard smaller shuttles.


Honorable Mentions
Kadu- Livestock. Boring.
Kell Dragon- possibly offspring of sithspawn, the unknown origins and relative rarity of this creature has disqualified it from specific discussion.
Rathtar- NO.
Tooke- Boring.
Tranthebar mountain ripper- Cool but not enough information.
Tusk Cat- Its similarity to the narglatch and anooba has disqualified it from this list.

Part 4- Conclusion and Evaluation​

The galaxy has a wide range of creatures vicious and small to befriend or dominate. My top rated Sith spawn are the hssiss and tuk'ata. The top rated non-alchemical pets were the anooba, massiff and tooka. When looking at the similarities of the creatures with high ratings, they generally share these common features:

Medium size, intelligence, quadrupeds. ​

The reason intelligence was a favoured asset was owing to the trainability of those of highest rank. The fact they all have four legs is interesting but not necessarily important, and probably owing to the small sample size of creatures, rather than having any wider significance. The medium size bias is owing to the necessity of our current situation for fairly discrete pets, rather than this necessarily being a good feature for the pet of a sith lord.


The method employed here was not perfect, indeed much of it was based on personal preference, skewed with the desire to keep a low profile in the wider galaxy. Were our glorious empire established anew, this research could be revisited and revised, in which I am sure the battle creatures of the dark side would receive far higher rankings. Furthermore, to eliminate the author’s bias, a survey of favoured creatures taken from among the sith ranks would be informative.

It seems the very nature of the dark side is to make things bigger, which is limiting when searching for a suitable sith pet from the ranks of the sith spawn. The fauna of the wider galaxy proves more useful for our current situation, as these creatures are less likely to attract unwanted attention.


Darth Helinith


I've neatened up the formatting a bit, otherwise the top two sections remain pretty much the same. I saw some typos up there when rereading them earlier, but I've lost them and can't find them now
Either way, I'm pretty pleased with how this came out. I've tried to find smaller images for many of the creatures so as to keep it readable within the limited formatting options. Either way, the beast is done! *Curls up to sleep on a pile of paper*

 

Incredible job! I know I've said this already, but I wish I could give you more than three points!

 

Misdirection! Let them pet your tooka and then stab 'em in the back!

 

Indeed! I know you... fairly well.


I am doing a recount of my pp as I think I lost track of them owing to being on my phone a lot and thus unable to alter signature. So if my points total shoots up suddenly, you know why.
It stands at 13 atm but I'm pretty sure it's closer to 20.

EDIT: I make it as 18.

 

Lets say 20. Round number and all.