Darth Krayt

One of the most imaginative and powerful Sith Lords to ever ignite a crimson blade, Darth Krayt endured from the Clone Wars to outlast the likes of Palpatine, Vader, and Luke Skywalker. He awakened from stasis in order to establish his own order of Sith and conquer the galaxy. 

What other Sith Lord can claim to have fought against Obi-Wan Kenobi, alongside Luke Skywalker, and against Luke’s descendent, Cade Skywalker? In many ways, Darth Krayt is the epitome of Legends continuity at its finest. 

Very few villains have backstories as deeply explored as that of Krayt. On the one hand, the Clone Wars comics from Dark Horse featured his father, Sharad Hett, as the sworn rival of Aurra Sing, who is featured in a number of adventures. On the other hand, Krayt’s backstory is explored in a number of flashbacks throughout the Legacy comics, Claws of the Dragon in particular. 

His journey to Sith mastery is the stuff Legends are made of, to be sure. He began life living among the Tusken Raiders on Tatooine and even slayed a Krayt dragon after his father’s demise was taken in by Jedi Council member Ki-Adi-Mundi, under whom he apprenticed. He was even faced with the decision of whether or not to enact vengeance on his father’s killer, choosing the high road like a good Jedi should. 

Hett befriended Anakin Skywalker during a mission during the Clone Wars, taking him under his wing when Kenobi wasn’t around. Eventually the two came to a confrontation over Anakin’s hatred of Tusken Raiders. 

How, then, did A’Sharad Hett, Tusken Raider Jedi and friend of Anakin Skywalker, reestablish a Sith Empire? Obi-wan wasn’t the only Jedi to have the bright idea to hide out on Tatooine after Order 66. 

Hett, however, believed himself to be the lone survivor of the Jedi Purge. Thus his eventual confrontation with Kenobi at the border of the Lars homestead came as quite the surprise. Hoping to reclaim his heritage and raise up an army of warriors to take on the Empire, Hett united the disparate Tusken Raider clans under his banner of war. 

They waged a campaign against the human moisture farmers who had invaded their land, eventually leading them to cross paths with Kenobi and the galaxy’s last hope he had promised to protect.

Following his humiliating defeat at the hands of Kenobi, Hett wandered the galaxy as a bounty hunter. This eventually led him to Korriban, where he found a Sith holocron. Initially intending to enact revenge against Palpatine and Vader for the destruction of the Jedi, Hett’s journey down the dark path was paved with good intentions. 

Unfortunately his Sith training on Korriban was more time-consuming than he realized. Once he resurfaced in order to put his new skills to the test, he came to realize that he was too late. Palpatine and Vader were no more.

Disillusioned and aimless, Hett wandered into the Unknown Regions. There, his story takes another wild turn. 

Captured by Vergere, former Jedi emissary to the Yuuzhan Vong-turned-Sith, Hett was subjected to the Embrace of Pain. There, he came to the realization that only a singularly dominant will could restore order to the galaxy; neither the ways of Bane’s Sith Order nor the Jedi could accomplish his new vision for the galaxy. 

After escaping from Vergere, armed and inflicted with bio-implants that threatened to consume him, Hett was reborn as Darth Krayt, master of the One Sith. 

Krayt used the Second Galactic Civil War and the threat posed by Darth Caedus to escape notice of Luke Skywalker and his new Jedi Order. Hiding out on Korriban and surviving an unnaturally long time through the use of Force stasis, Krayt recruited and raised up an army of Sith, biding his time until he could conquer the galaxy. 

That about covers it! Of course, from there, Krayt waged war against Emperor Roan Fel and his Imperial Knights, taking the throne but having one last Skywalker to eliminate. . . and save him from Vergere’s implants with his healing abilities. That story is found in John Ostrander and Jan Duursema’s truly epic Legacy series, set about 100 years after the events of the Original Trilogy. 

Luckily, you don’t have to hide in the tombs of Korriban, find an ancient holocron, or enter into Force stasis in order to get your chance to learn about Darth Krayt! Every single issue of Legacy is available in three volumes of Marvel’s Epic Collections. 

Beyond that, his Old Republic Tusken Raider Jedi stories can be found in Outlander, Emissaries to Malastare, The Siege of Selucemi, and The Hunt for Aurra Sing. His father’s backstory is in Last Stand on Jabiim. 

Will you be convinced of Krayt’s ultimate vision to unite the galaxy under his leadership? Or should Kenobi have ended him on Tatooine? You’ve got plenty of reading ahead in order to forge your own opinion!