The Jedi… they believe emotion corrupts you… Some Jedi secretly form emotional bonds and relationships, but the majority follow their emotionless dogma. They believe it makes them “pure,” “one with the Force.” They believe it wrong to form attachments — that attachments lead to the Dark Side… They aren’t wrong.
You see, we Sith, we practitioners of the Dark Side of the Force… We thrive on emotion. Hatred. Anger. They make us strong in battle. They fuel our connection to the Force. They add weight to our steps and meaning to our actions. Emotions is, by and large, what drives the universe. It is within the nature of every living being. That is why we Sith believe the Jedi weak.
Not a single Jedi — not a real one — can say they defend their beliefs because of love. They fight for honor and justice and balance, but they reject the very things that let us know we are alive, like love and fear. Emotion is mutually exclusive to the Jedi way. And how sad it is. To not be able to fight for love. To not be able to use the fear in losing that which you love to fuel your power and determination. How strong a power the Jedi deny themselves. That is why we are stronger. We use our fear. Our hatred, our anger — all of our emotions.
—Darth Kairnos
Darth Kairnos was a commander of the reconstituted Sith Empire, waging war against the Republic and Jedi Order at the behest of the Sith Empire during the Old Republic. However, the Sith’s treacherous and infighting ways made it difficult for them to gain ground, and when the Eternal Empire emerged to subdue both the Republic and the Empire, there was little either side could do to stem the tide. This upset Kairnos, as he believed the Sith to be superior in every way save their ability to cooperate with one another. He then left the known galaxy to begin his own crusade, reforming the Sith Empire under his name, and he would take any willing to follow his ideal.
Kairnos was branded a deserter by the Sith Empire, and charged with treason. Though their resources were spread thin by their war against the Republic and Eternal Empire, the Sith Empire put a hefty bounty on Kairnos’ head, to be killed on sight within Imperial jurisdiction. However, despite the handsome bounty, Kairnos openly and freely travelled Imperial space, as few dared try to collect the bounty.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
The man who would be known as Darth Kairnos was born on Korriban, the ancestral homeworld of the Sith, in 3670 BBY to a slave woman under the service of Sith Lords. While the father has never been identified, Kairnos surmised that his mother was likely a victim of her superiors, and he was conceived against her will. Kairnos retained very little memory of his mother, as he was seperated at a very young age to become a personal valet for a Sith lord on Korriban, Lord Renning. While being a valet to a Sith lord was preferable to wallow in the slave pents, he was a constant target of bullying and harassment from the aspiring Sith frequenting visits to Lord Renning's laboratory, until one day he attempted to fight back using the Force. While his effort did nothing to stem the brutal beatings and violence adminstered on him, it did earn him the attention of his owner, Lord Renning. He was then sent to the Sith Academy for tuteledge under Overseer Harkun in 3658 BBY, at the age of 12.
Great Galactic War, Rise of Darth Kairnos[]
With the Great Galactic War underway, the man who would become Darth Kairnos excelled in his trials at the Sith Academy. Within a year, his combat prowess with a lightsaber earned him the position of Sith Apprentice to a Dark Lady of the Sith, Darth Karrid. Darth Karrid, a former Jedi, was apprentice to one of the most powerful Sith of the Old Republic, Darth Malgus. From her, he finally received his title and the first name he knew to be his own: Darth Kairnos. Kairnos followeed Karrid and Malgus on countless battles as the Great Galactic War waged across the known galaxy. By 3653 BBY, at the young age of 17, Darth Kairnos had become one of the most feared Sith Combatants in the Sith Empire. His favorite thing to do was to battle Jedi in high stakes, high visibility conflicts where he could show his dominance in lightsaber dueling, fueling his ego and greed for power within the Sith Empire.
Cold War Arson, the Duel Master of Dromund Kaas[]
When Darth Malgus decided to end the Great Galactic War with the decisive Sacking of Coruscant, Darth Kairnos found himself among the first Sith to cross blades with Jedi that day. During the sack, he felled countless Jedi knights, and even held his own in fighting several Jedi masters. When the Great Galactic War ended with the Treaty of Coruscant, Kairnos' disgust at Jedi rhetoric made him unhappy with the armistice. During the decade of the Cold War that followed, Kairnos found every opportunity he could to fan the flames of war — sometimes literally — in order to be engaged in conflict with the Republic, specifically Jedi. He yearned for combat and honing his skills against powerful opponents, and the lack of battle did nothing to stem his hunger and perceived stagnation.
He frequented Dromund Kaas and Korriban inbetween campaigns, where he took delight and exhibiting his lightsaber dueling skills against established Sith and new apprentices who bit off more than they could chew. This earned him a reputation and following, along with the attention of the Sith governing body. This aided him in climbing the ranks of the Sith Empire.
Galactic War, Commander of the 352nd[]
Think of killing Jedi, and the emotion you bring about in them when you destroy their Republic as a way of showing them the error of their ways
—Darth Kairnos to his Sith Apprentices
When conflict arose again, much to the joy of Darth Kairnos, he had already ascended to rank of military commander, and was given command of the 352nd Batallion, along with his own Harrower-class dreadnought.
It was during his campaign with the 352nd that Darth Kairnos designed his iconic lightsaber warglaive. During battle with multiple Jedi amongst batallions of Republic soldiers, he wanted the defensive capabilities of a saberstaff, but with a weapon that utilized longer reach. While it was possible to extend the saberstaff in a thrusting motion, the rear blade made it difficult to maneuver the the weapon to the strong side after committing to a forward stab as easily as a normal lightsaber. There were also times where Kairnos wanted more leverage, especially when fighting a Jedi or multiple Jedi who practiced defensive stances. These battles often drew on longer than Kairnos would have liked, allowing Republic troops to wear at him and his batallion without the decisive blow he was accustomed to. Using a single bladed saber was adequate if he were only dueling a sole Jedi — his favorite combat scenario — but it left him vulnerable to blaster fire or multiple opponents unless he was dual wielding; a stance which he preferred to be using offensively as opposed to defensively.
Darth Kairnos' warglaive
The answer came in the form of a lightsaber glaive - a shortened lightsaber pike where the head of the weapon was fitted with a crossguard, and the tail of the weapon featured a short lightsaber blade. While he still preferred a single lightsaber for one-on-one dueling, the combat situations he constantly faced during wartime battles highly favored his usage of the glaive. With it, he could engage multiple targets- melee or ranged, utilizing the larger reach of the glaive. While he sacrificed speed and blaster deflection, the benefits allowed him to be a more effective weapon on the battlefront. Against melee opponents, the extra leverage gave him devastating attack power, while the crossguard allowed him to disarm and neutralize his targets from their melee weapons. Against ranged oponents, he could transfer the glaive to his offhand to withdraw a single bladed saber for blaster deflection or saber throw.
Sith Infighting[]
Don't endeavor to persuade me, I have eyes in the Empire as well. If you want to prove yourself my superior, then by all means, ignite your lightsaber or call out to the Force to be your ally. But leave the scheming to the politicians. Sith are better."
—Darth Kairnos, to his rival Darth Vormun on his betrayal
While it was commonly accepted that stronger Sith would displace weaker Sith, as was the tradition, Kairnos became frustrated with the constant scheming and infighting among the Sith Empire. While he was never one to shy away from a battle, the intracacies of politics and the game of webs and lies played behind the scenes constantly eluded Kairnos, who thrived on charging into battle headfirst. During the peak of the Galactic War, on what he believed to be the verge of victory, he was betrayed multiple times by aspiring and ambitious Sith within the empire.
Deserter, Treason, and Bounty[]
If you leave, you will be stripped of all rank, title, and authority. You will be branded a deserter by the Empire, and convicted of treason. A bounty will be placed on all Imperial jurisdiction for your death."
"If you're content with excommunicating me, and the cowardly methods used by your fellow Sith in their quest for power, accepting it as natural per the Sith Code... Then you're as disillusioned and hypocritical as the Jedi. Passion, Strength, and Power is what I will rely on for victory. I am confident in my actions, the Force has set me free. Are you, Darth Marr?
—Darth Marr and Darth Kairnos, shortly before abandoning the 352nd.
When confronting the Dark Council's overconfidence that they would win the Galactic War, Kairnos warned them that it was a weakness which could be exploited by their enemies. Darth Kairnos re-iterated that only the strong should displace the weak, but that Sith had become more cunning in their endeavors to usurp power, rank and authority. He expressed that this ultimately made Sith weaker, and was not the way of the Sith Code. This drew ire from a significant amount of rivals in the Sith hierarchy, and Kairnos found himself repeatedly set up to fail.
Believing that the Sith Empire no longer embraced what he considered true Sith values, Kairnos threatened the Dark Council with desertion unless they intervened. During the confrontation, the de-facto leader of the Empire Darth Marr, called on his bluff. Seeing this as another layer of scheming, and wishing Darth Marr would have instead defeated him in combat, Kairnos immediately bid farewell to the 352nd, comandeered a Fury-class Interceptor, and began his crusade.
Personality and Traits[]
Darth Kairnos removing his Phobium rebreather
During the Great Galactic War and during the Cold War, Kairnos' love for battle and improving his combat prowess was above all. He was unhappy with the armistice, seeing the lack of war as a stagnation to his growth. His hunger for combat earned him a reputation, and eventually a position of leadership within the Sith military. The only thing which came close to his desire for combat was his contempt for Jedi teachings.
After the Cold War, Kairnos' love for the Dark Side of the Force and the Sith Empire became core values that drove every action and decision he made. He took his leadership position within the Sith Empire seriously, and made it his personal mission to educate as much of the universe as possible about the power of the Force, and how the Jedi teachings are fundamentally flawed. During the height of the Galactic War, just prior to the Eternal Empire's emergence, he was saddened to see the Sith Empire unable to crush the Republic through no fault of military might or cunning, but instead were hindered by internal Sith political plotting and individual's greed for power. While obtaining power was a core to the Sith creed, Kairnos refused to accept the status quo, and began his crusade to the outskirts of the known galaxy to build his own Sith following.
Second only to his crusade were the members of his crew, the Kairnos Splinter Cell. Kairnos valued each and every member, not only for their abilities and role in his quest, but as a loyal member of his crew attempting to further his influence. While he loved and was romantically involved with his apprentice Darth Sophis, he was careful not to let their dynamic interfere with his leadership of the crew or with his crusade. He held a deep respect for all crew members, and would go out of his way to ensure their safety and wellbeing.
As a deserter commander of the Imperial Military, a significant amount of professionalism and authority was retained by Darth Kairnos even as he broke himself away from the Sith Empire. This was most evident in his dealings with those outside of his crew. However, despite his commanding presence, he always put the safety and wellbeing of the Empire's subjects first and foremost, many times going out of his way to aid them and improve their standard of living.
Against Republic civilians and non-combatants, Kairnos would avoid conflict where possible. Though he was not adverse to endangering or harming Republic resources or its denizens, he typically avoided the needless destruction of the Republic unless it presented strategic value or would directly impact an opponent he was facing. In his eyes, non-combatants and civilians could eventually be turned to the Empire if they were only shown the way.
This sentiment was not shared among Republic military targets– or worse, Jedi. While Darth Kairnos wasted no emotion about attacking and destroying military targets and personnel as a leader in the Sith military, he revelled in and sought out any opportunity he had to engage against Jedi. He viewed Jedi as hypocrites, preaching solitude and peace while ever present in politics and war. He believed the Jedi Code to be fundamentally flawed, and that no sentient being could truly seperate their primal emotions or passions, and that it would ultimately lead the Jedi to their downfall. He abhorred anyone teaching the code, and labelled them a hypocrite and a liar spreading falsehoods about the Force. To prove his point, he enjoyed mentally breaking his Jedi opponents by destroying everything they loved, and having them give into despair — or even the Dark Side — before abandoning their conflict and leaving the broken Jedi alive. Kairnos enjoyed making Jedi abandon their code more than simply killing them. Many Jedi commanders who engaged in prolongued conflicts against Darth Kairnos eventually abandoned the Republic or turned to the Dark Side themselves.
Powers and Abilities[]
During the Galactic War, Prior to Battle With Darth Nox[]
Before being maimed by his battle with Darth Nox, Kairnos was a top tier Sith Juggernaut. Kairnos was 17 when he took part in the sacking of Corscant with Darth Malgus, and battled countless Jedi among his Sith brethren. He ascended to rank of commander during the height of the Galactic War in 3640 BBY at the age of 30 due to his combat prowess and connection to the Force. He was instantly recorgnized by and feared through his iconic lightsaber glaive, which he used with deadly efficiency to fell countless Jedi Masters during the war. At the peak of his natural abilities prior to his battle with Darth Nox in 3637 BBY, Kairnos was able to hold his ground for a certain amount of time against the great Darth Nox in combat. Though he would eventually be overpowered by Lord Kallig, his cunning and use of he Kerezine drug allowed him to escape victorious, though at the cost of his left arm and severe damage to his body.
After Duel with Darth Nox, Kairnos' Crusade[]
After his battle with Darth Nox in 3637, he was then enhanced with large amounts of cybernetics. This included his iconic rebreather supplying Phobium, a special drug to ease his pain and aid in his connection with the Force — something that was sacrificed due to his exposure to Kerezine during his battle against Lord Kallig. The unique rebreather constantly billowed smoke as it synthesized more Phobium. Kairnos’ entire left arm was replaced with a mechanical prosthetic, and thus could only cast Force Lightning out of his right arm — though Kairnos rarely relied on it, instead preferring saber throws. The end result from his duel made him physically stronger and more durable with no loss of power in the Force, but at the cost of speed and a new dependency on Phobium.
Lightsaber Mastery[]
Kairnos was known for his skill in lightsaber dueling during his rise in the ranks in the Galactic War, and reveled in the opportunities in showing off his ability dueling Jedi Masters during the conflict. He would often duel other Sith on Korriban and Dromund Kaas to test his skill, and typically came out on top.
Kairnos was skilled in all forms of saber combat. At the height of the war, he designed his destructive lightsaber glaive, and used it to great effect. It allowed him to be effective in all wartime combat scenarios, and increase his effective fighting range with a melee weapon. He was also well versed in using a saberstaff to maximize defense, duel wielding lightsabers for maximum offense, or using a single lightsaber combat for dueling or blaster deflection.
When engaging targets at mid-range, he relied on belted lightsabers he carried for saber throws, which he could recall with the force or retrieve later as he focused on combat. If he had no sabers at his disposal, he typically relied on Force Pull or Force Lightning, though he would much prefer to engage in melee range before relying on ranged combat with the Force.
After his use of Phobium, his enhanced strength and reflexes complimented his preferred style of saber combat and saber throws as opposed to the Sith Inquisitor style of combat. He always carried multiple lightsabers — chief of which was his red lightsaber glaive. On his belt, he carried a red saberstaff, and two additional lightsabers (red and purple), allowing him to switch styles or use them for saber throws.
Wielder of the Dark Side of the Force[]
Darth Kairnos' 'smoking' rebreather administering Phobium
Darth Kairnos was a strong user of the Dark Side of the Force. Even though he was enhanced by a large amount of cybernetics, Phobium helped maintain his connection with the Force, even allowing him to use Force Lightning from his non-prosthetic arm. He favored Force Pull to close distance, and Force Choke to incapacitate or snare his target before pulling them into melee range. He used Force Lightning on rare occasions when he no longer had belted sabers for saber throw.
Phobium[]
His dependency on Phobium was severe, both due to the nature of the drug and benefits it supplied in combat. If he abstained from the drug for longer than a day, he would begin to lose physical strength and weaken in his ability to wield the Force. For long journeys where the probability of combat was low, he opted to purposely stay off the drug to lessen his dependency on it, though he could never fully be rid of his dependency after his exposure to Kerezine.
Behind the Scenes[]
This character, and all characters and storylines of the Darth Kairnos lore, is a fanon creation by the cosplayers working at CronoArms.