Gidius Zyle

"An Empire must have an Emperor. Who better than one forged by the last?"

- Gidius Zyle

Gidius Zyle was an Anaxian noble of Jedi lineage who was first used as part of a plot by Emperor Palpatine and later became an Imperial warlord and leader of his own faction to claim leadership of the Galaxy following the Battle of Endor. He became a Sith Lord and was the twin brother of Ralia Zyle.

Early Life (19 BBY-4 ABY)
Gidius was raised in the Zyle family on the planet Anaxes, although he did not discover his family roots until he was more than two decades old. The secret son of a fallen Jedi, his origins were kept secret and erased by Palpatine, who planned to use the boy and his twin sister as a contingency. Palpatine had foreseen that the twins had great Force potential, perhaps second only to the Skywalkers themselves, and so intended to use them as replacement Sith apprentices if he should ever lose control of Darth Vader.

Because of their nature as a backup plan, little was done to prepare either of the twins in the ways of the Force. Instead, Palpatine was content to let them mature as pampered aristocrats at the center of the Core Worlds. Gidius was enrolled in the Anaxes Naval Academy, where he demonstrated himself as a talented but lazy noble, and thus gained the bare essentials of military experience.

However, shortly after Palpatine arranged the staged death of Ralia Zyle, Luke Skywalker came to the center of galactic prominance and the Emperor put his plans for the Zyle twins on hold. Throughout the pivotal final years of Palpatine's reign, they would linger forgotten in galactic prominance.

Imperial Warlord
In the aftermath of the Battle of Endor, little changed immediately for Gidius. He saw no need to take action of risk life and limb, confident in the Empire's ability to protect the Core Worlds. He was surprised by the general chaos in the galaxy at large, but was content to sit back and observe rather than get involved.

Things changed with the arrival of the former Emperor's spy Cylla Narami. Cylla brought many secrets to Gidius' attention, including his heritage as a Jedi descendant, Palpatine's original plans for him, and the fact that his sister still lived on the planet Dathomir. At Cylla's prompting, Gidius organized a small force of loyal followers and set out to fullfill his destiny.

Sith Lord
Among the items Cylla Narami stole from Imperial Center and bestowed upon Gidius was one of the Emperor's Sith Holocrons. Gidius used the knowledge within it to quickly master the dark side of the Force. With neither consideration nor care for his actions, he quickly mastered many aspects of the Force and used them in tandem with his military training to gain power within the Empire.

Within a short time, Gidius' faction became one of the dominant groups among the Imperial Remnants. By then, he had publicly adopted the title of "Warlord" and quietly adopted the title of "Sith Lord" as well. In time, he would come to call himself "Emperor," believing he had succeeded Palpatine, although only his own loyal followers ever acknowledged this.

Characteristics
Though raised with no knowledge of his Force potential and allowed the lazy and luxurious lifestyle of a pampered aristocrat, Gidius Zyle's heritage always held the potential for greatness. Just as certain other Jedi of his time were able to master the Force after being introduced to it later in life, Gidius was able to rise from a dark side devotee to Dark Lord of the Sith in a relatively short time.

Unquestionably, his greatest skill was with a lightsaber. To Gidius, the blood-red blade of the Sith lightsaber represented the destructive power of the dark side incarnate. He devoted himself entirely to its study and soon mastered it. Particularly proficient when weilding two lightsabers at once, he develped a style combining the arts of Makashi and Jar'Kai. Combining this highly-defensive style with his incredible agility, he was almost invulnerable in physical combat.

Perhaps his greatest shortcoming was Gidius' naive personality. He was easily swayed to the dark side by his own ambitions, and also controlled by Cylla Narami and various other Imperials during his rise to power. He was not a great military leader, and so was content to let Cylla plot his strategies. He later recruited (and promoted) Grand Admiral Aeon Conford to lead his military forces.

Behind the Scenes
Gidius Zyle was created along with his cohorts as a dark mirror image of the heroes of the original Star Wars Trilogy. For his part, Gidius is most widely recognized as the central character, the one who brought the other characters together, and a sort of twisted version of Luke Skywalker.