Essentially, what makes Traya such a worthy Sith Lord is how she manipulated all those around her, including an enclave of Jedi who paid the ultimate price at her hand, and schooled her former apprentices when she decided to get back in the Sith game, all part of a plan to wage war on the Force itself. That’s some long term and ambitious thinking.
5. Darth Revan
Darth Revan was a former Jedi of the Old Republic who played a pivotal role during the Mandalorian Wars and the Jedi Civil War. Though he appears in other Legends canon stories, Revan is most likely recognizable as the lead playable character in the video game Knights of the Old Republic and as a major character in later The Old Republic expansions. Though the game does see him lose his memories at the hands of the Jedi and become a Republic officer for them once again, it doesn’t diminish the power he has. If anything, being able to tap into both the Light and the Dark side makes him even more powerful.
As a Jedi, he was almost single handedly responsible for the Republic’s victory in the Mandalorian Wars, and defeated Mandalore the Ultimate in one-on-one combat, taking his helmet for himself in the aftermath. Though these two sides of Revan eventually leave his mind fractured, his connection to the Dark Side is so great, that he’s able to stay alive for centuries as his body is fueled by pure hatred. But his legacy lives even longer than he does, with Darth Bane’s plan for the Rule of Two coming from a Sith Holocron that Revan leaves behind.
4. Darth Bane
A Sith Lord from the final days of a massive war between the Jedi and the Sith, Darth Bane is often credited with creating the Rule of Two for the Sith. After their numbers were completely decimated, both by the Jedi and from within due to infighting, Bane took it upon himself to restructure how the Sith operate in the hopes of continuing their war against the Jedi in secret. His creation of the Rule of Two tied into his Grand Plan for the Sith that would see them slowly corrupt the Galactic Republic and the Jedi Order from the inside over generations until the Sith ruled the galaxy once again.
Though it took centuries for this plan to come to fruition, Bane’s wherewithal to realize that the Sith needed restructuring in order to survive proves that he had the patience and dedication needed to keep their beliefs alive. As many of the Sith Lords on this list have proven, being powerful is not just about how hard and angrily you can swing your saber—it’s also about having the resolve and patience to play the long game. Because even though he died at the hands of his apprentice long before he could see the Sith victorious with his own eyes, his plan was ultimately successful.
3. Darth Maul
Once Darth Sidious’ former apprentice, Darth Maul was presumed to be dead before the Clone Wars even began, his skill with a double-bladed saber not quite enough to stop him from being cut in half by Obi-Wan Kenobi in The Phantom Menace. However, somehow, Darth Maul returned in The Clone Wars animated series, surviving his lethal injury and fall through sheer will and rage. Though he did lose his mind for a bit beforehand, he was still somehow able to gather enough strength to fuse his torso with spider legs fashioned out of scrap and keep himself alive in the garbage pits he fell into.