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  1. #1
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    Default When was the term "Sith" first used?

    Recently a friend and I were discussing the term "Sith" being used to describe those in league with the Dark Side of the force

    As far as I can remember the word Sith is never mentioned once in the Original Trilogy so when was it first coined and used? The earliest mention I can think of was a sticker or trading card calling Vader "The Dark Lord of the Sith" around the time of the 1997 Special Editions

    Would appreciate any help!

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    Ultimate Member Sacred Knight's Avatar
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    I wanna say too that it was various Darth Vader promotional materials. Can't say for exact certainty which was the first, but I think it was a piece of merchandise, and I'm pretty sure the name was floating around via that avenue for much longer than just 1997 and the Special Editions. It might have been as early as the original film merchandising.
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    Ultimate Member Riv86672's Avatar
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    A Google search gave me....

    Etymology. The word Sith was first used in the 1974 rough draft of Star Wars with the first published use being the 1976 novelization of Star Wars as a title for the key villain Darth Vader, the "Dark Lord of the Sith"

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    Earliest I can find is an early draft of ANH for the description of Darth Vader. The earliest actual usage of them might be in the novelization of ANH Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker which released in the months prior to the film.

    The earliest it appeared in either canon definitively is in The Phantom Menace (ignoring the film novelization which is based on and adapted from an earlier script). It is used in earlier works prior to TPM (Dark Empire would hold a reference) but it doesn't gain official usage until 1999 to denote the order. Otherwise it's in the novelization, explored in lower tier canon sources, is presented on merchandise, but never officially used for the characters until TPM. It's basically lore that doesn't get George's word on it until much later.
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    Astonishing Member Godzilla2099's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JAG2045 View Post
    Recently a friend and I were discussing the term "Sith" being used to describe those in league with the Dark Side of the force

    As far as I can remember the word Sith is never mentioned once in the Original Trilogy so when was it first coined and used? The earliest mention I can think of was a sticker or trading card calling Vader "The Dark Lord of the Sith" around the time of the 1997 Special Editions

    Would appreciate any help!
    I was always wondering that too. Especially when Kenobi referred to Vader as a "Young Jedi" (Not Sith Lord) when he was answering Luke's Question about his father's fate.

    I actually preferred that story-telling more. Jedi can be good or bad. Light or dark. I wasn't a fan of the "Sith" usage.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Godzilla2099 View Post
    I was always wondering that too. Especially when Kenobi referred to Vader as a "Young Jedi" (Not Sith Lord) when he was answering Luke's Question about his father's fate.

    I actually preferred that story-telling more. Jedi can be good or bad. Light or dark. I wasn't a fan of the "Sith" usage.
    But the Sith have completely different teachings and beliefs then the Jedi, even if they both ultimately worship The Force, so I think it makes sense to completely separate the two. "Force-Users" seems like a more apt general description.

  7. #7
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    Vader was called 'the Dark Lord of the Sith' when he first appeared in the original novelization of 'A New Hope.'

  8. #8
    Ultimate Member ChrisIII's Avatar
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    TPM did feature too major changes to things about the Sith: That "Darth" was actually a title, rather than a name (Which still is a bit weird in ANH given that it's clearly intended to be a name there) and of course the Rule of Two (Although there had been various Sith master/apprentice groups in the EU before then, nothing said there couldn't be just two of them).
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  9. #9
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    As a kid around 1980/1981, I first noticed the term being used here:



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    Ultimate Member ChrisIII's Avatar
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    A lot of EU writers kind of took the "Of the Sith" thing a bit more literally. The original idea behind Timothy Zahn's Noghri-alien commandos who pretty much worshiped Darth Vader (Which also, ironically, was what turned them against the Empire when they learned who Luke and Leia were)-was that they were the Sith, hence Vader's title, but Lucasfilm nixed that idea.


    A similar idea showed up in Tales of the Jedi; basically, that the Sith were an alien race (Basically red skin aliens with some facial protuberances) that were conquered by dark side Jedi, and hence they became "Lords of the Sith". Also a group of Sith aliens wound up on Yavin IV, but went primal eventually and became the "Masasasi" who built the temples on Yavin. It's still canon that the Masassi were 'ruled' by the Sith, but not that they were actual Sith descendants.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Riv86672 View Post
    A Google search gave me....

    Etymology. The word Sith was first used in the 1974 rough draft of Star Wars with the first published use being the 1976 novelization of Star Wars as a title for the key villain Darth Vader, the "Dark Lord of the Sith"
    Bingo, it first appeared in the ANH novelization, where the title was mentioned in a throwaway line. It evolved from there.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Riv86672 View Post
    A Google search gave me....

    Etymology. The word Sith was first used in the 1974 rough draft of Star Wars with the first published use being the 1976 novelization of Star Wars as a title for the key villain Darth Vader, the "Dark Lord of the Sith"
    Seconded. I own the novelization of the OT and there it is... Like a Prologue

  13. #13
    Ultimate Member ChrisIII's Avatar
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    It's also the first use of Palpatine as well. although I'm not sure if that name comes from an earlier draft, especially since characters similar have no connection to Palpatine (Although one similar character is called Valorum, TPM's chancellor).
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