Join The Infernal Brotherhood of the Scruffy Looking, Nerf Herders as they explore Star Wars lore via their own personal Holocron. This episode will focus on King Adas: The Original Sith Lord
Transcript
Cold Open
Before the Lightsaber. Before the Republic. Before the first Jedi ever fell to the dark side. There was a King. He was a giant among his people, charcoal-skinned and encased in spiked ebon armor. With a massive, alchemically-forged battle-ax in hand, he did the impossible: he united the warring tribes of Korriban and stood defiant against the greatest empire the galaxy had ever seen. This is the legend of King Adas—the original Sith’ari.
Intro
Greetings, my fellow Scruffy-Looking Nerf Herders, and welcome back to The Infernal Brotherhood!
When we talk about “Sith Lords,” names like Sidious, Bane, or Ajunta Pall usually come to mind. But nearly 28,000 years before the Battle of Yavin, long before the Jedi Exiles reached the Outer Rim, the Sith were already a thriving, brutal civilization. At the center of that civilization was one man: King Adas. Today, we go back to the “Reign of the Ax” to explore the life of the charcoal-king, his bloody unification of Korriban, and the prophecy he left behind that would haunt the Sith for twenty-eight millennia.
Discussion
I. The Chosen One of Korriban
Adas was born different. While his people were traditionally red-skinned, Adas was born with charcoal-black skin. In Sith culture, this was seen as a sign of divine selection. He wasn’t just a warrior; he was a prodigy of Sith Sorcery. He grew to a massive size, far larger than the average Sith, and encased himself in heavy, black, spiked armor.
Around 28,000 BBY, Adas began a series of bloody, unification wars. Using his oversized battle-ax—a weapon forged through alchemy—he crushed the disparate nations and tribes of Korriban. For 300 years, he ruled as the undisputed god-king. This era became known as the Reign of the Ax.
II. The Arrival of the Infinite Empire
The peace of Adas’s reign was interrupted when the Rakata of the Infinite Empire arrived. At first, the Rakata tried to be clever. They saw Adas’s power and tried to “tame” him by teaching him their technology—specifically, the creation of Holocrons.
Adas listened. He learned. He even created his own Holocron. But he wasn’t a fool. He realized the Rakata didn’t come as teachers; they came as conquerors. When the Infinite Empire finally dropped the mask and attempted to enslave Korriban, Adas gave them the only answer he knew: his ax.
III. The War for Freedom and the Death of a God
Adas led his people in a vehement defense. He personally cut down dozens of Rakatan warriors, captured their starships, and turned their own Force-based technology against them. The Sith didn’t just drive the Rakata off Korriban; they pushed them back to worlds like Ziost, Malachor V, and Tund.
But victory came at a high price. In the final push to secure his people’s freedom, King Adas perished. He had saved the Sith from extinction, but in doing so, he left a vacuum that could never be filled.
IV. The Prophecy of the Sith’ari
Because Adas had ruled for three centuries and seemed invincible, his death shattered the Sith’s stability. Korriban devolved into civil war as dozens of lesser lords tried to claim his title. Out of this chaos, the legend of the Sith’ari was born—the “perfect being” who would lead the Sith, destroy them, and make them stronger than ever.
While some priests believed the prophecy began and ended with Adas, others waited. Thousands of years later, when the Jedi Exiles like Ajunta Pall arrived, they were viewed as the “blood heirs” to Adas’s throne. Even Darth Bane and Darth Sidious would eventually claim the mantle of the Sith’ari that Adas had first established.
V. The Legacy of the Holocron
Adas’s physical body died, but his teachings lived on in his Holocron. This device passed from the Sith to the Jedi Exiles, was lost during the Great Hyperspace War, and was eventually found by Freedon Nadd, who used it to conquer Onderon. It even crossed paths with Obi-Wan Kenobi and eventually the Dark Lady Lumiya. Adas’s influence was so potent that even as a recorded essence, he would refuse to teach anyone he deemed “weak.”
Outro
King Adas is the reason the Sith look the way they do. He set the template for the armored Dark Lord, the absolute monarch, and the sorcerer-king. He was a hero to his people and a nightmare to his enemies—a man who drank the “bloodsoup” of his rivals to honor their deaths.
If you enjoyed this trip into the deepest reaches of Sith history, hit that like button and subscribe. And tell me in the comments—do you think Adas was the true Sith’ari, or was that title always meant for Darth Bane?
Thank you to my Creator Patrons Aaron Hardy & D. Robert Handy, Developer Patrons Chris Androu and Sam Ruiz, and all our YouTube Members.
Until we convene again, my fellow Scruffy-Looking Nerf Herders… May the Force be with you.