Riddle me this, Jedi; If the Force ordains all things, and we are chosen by the Force to serve as vessels of its power, then are we not to act on this power? Should not the strong rule the weak?
—Karros to the Jedi Apostate
Karros, also known as Karros the Editor and the Lord of Lore, was a Sith Pureblood and a Sith Lord of the Old Sith Empire who was arguably the greatest Sith philosopher of his time. Though he died prior to the year 4500 BBY, he lingered in the land of the living as a Force ghost in the tomb his followers built for him, dwelling ever on the mysteries of the Force.
Biography[]
Early life[]
The specific details of Lord Karros' birth and upbringing are largely shrouded in mystery, though it is known that he was born a Sith Pureblood on Korriban, his race's ancestral home and a world strong in the Dark Side of the Force. Like all members of his race, he was born Force-sensitive with a natural affinity for the Dark Side, a trait that served him well in his eventual career as a Sith Lord in the Old Sith Empire.
Unlike others of the order, Karros placed great importance on the use of knowledge as power, and spent much of his time as a Sith studying philosophy and religion to better understand the Great Mystery of the Force. He was responsible for the formulation of the Karrossi Method, a philosophical form of inquiry meant to uncover truths about the nature of the Force through the use of questioning.
As he believed the back-stabbing, power-grabbing traditions of the Sith master-apprentice dynamic to be "absurd" and "counter-productive," he never took an apprentice, but cultivated a band of philosophically-minded followers with whom he frequently debated on matters of the Force, a group which took the name Karrossi.
During the Great Hyperspace War, Karros and his followers marched beneath Naga Sadow's banner, though their participation in the battles of the war was minimal and deemed "unorthodox." Whenever they could, they preferred to argue and verbally spar with the Jedi they met on the fields of battle, a tactic which confused their enemies and annoyed the Sith leadership. Eventually, towards the war's end, Karros and the Karrossi simply abandoned Sadow's floundering cause and returned to Korriban.
Upon Karros's death, the Karrossi built a massive mausoleum to their beloved teacher on Korriban, enshrining his corpse, lightsaber, and holocron for future generations. However, Lord Karros remained in the land of the living as a Force ghost, endlessly musing on matters of power, philosophy, religion, and the Force for many millenia prior to the arrival of the Jedi Apostate.
Travels[]
After several millenia spent musing on mysteries and smiting treasure-seeking intruders, Karros encountered a disillusioned Gray Jedi Consular named Suri Sunrunner, a former Revanchist who had grown weary of her Jedi teachings and had traversed the galaxy in search of answers. Rather than smite her as he had many others, Karros engaged in a philosophic dialogue with the young Jedi, discussing the Force and the various methods by which it could be understood. Intrigued by the self-proclaimed Jedi Apostate's hunger for knowledge, Karros elected to join her in her travels and instruct her, teaching her the art of Force-walking.
In their travels, the Apostate and the Lord of Lore discussed many topics of note, including the nature of power, religion, and the Force. Though they clashed often in discussions on the latter, Karros found in the Apostate a willing student, and their dialogues were often filled with great wisdom.
Personality and traits[]
In his travels with the Jedi Apostate, Karros exhibited a refined patrician's charm in his conversations on philosophy and the nature of the Force, and unlike many Sith, treated his Jedi companion with honor and respected her views in their debates on the nature of the Force. He was said to radiate an aura of other-worldliness in his life, as though his mind were occupied with thoughts too grand for mortal minds.
Equipment[]
Karros carried a standard Sith lightsaber, which, though coarse and largely unrefined, remained at his side throughout his life. The weapon, when ignited, produced a unique, unstable blade due to the unpolished nature of its color crystals. Though the weapon frequently shorted out due to this, it nonetheless gave Karros a psychological edge over his enemies, as the weapon's wildly pulsating blade gave it the look of a flaming sword.
Prior to his death, he recorded his greatest teachings in a holocron, which he gave to his followers. Upon his death, both the holocron and the lightsaber were buried with him within his mausoleum, until millenia later when Karros bid the Jedi Apostate to open his sarcophagus and remove them.
Powers and abilities[]
As a Pureblood Sith Lord with a strong natural affinity for the Dark Side, Karros was a dangerous adversary and opponent. While not possessing the refined lightsaber prowess of many of his peers, Karros possessed an incredible grasp of the use of the Force as a weapon, employed guile, cunning, and a comprehensive knowledge of arcane rituals and philosophy to effortlessly and comprehensively eliminate his enemies.
A master of conventional Dark Side Force techniques such as Force lightning and Force choke, Karros's greatest weapon was his ability to manipulate a subject's mind without so much as lifting a finger. Taking control of a subject's subconscious voice and memories, Karros could unlock a being's worst memories and replay them in graphic detail, or simulate mental scenarios designed to break a subject's will by forcing him to confront his greatest fears and phobias. For this reason, he earned the epithet "the Editor."
Relationships[]
Naga Sadow[]
Though Karros marched under the banner of Dark Lord of the Sith Naga Sadow during the Great Hyperspace War, in his discussions with Suri Sunrunner several millennia later, he made it clear he did not think highly of his leader's imperialistic desires, nor his insatiable lust for greater power through conquest. Present at the duel between Ludo Kressh and Sadow, Karros had personally favored Kressh as the new Dark Lord, preferring his more "conservative" nature to Sadow's hegemonic instincts.
Soren Sunrunner[]
In his discussions with Suri Sunrunner, Karros claimed that he had heard of and hinted that he may have even faced the famed Jedi Weapon Master Soren Sunrunner during the last days of the Great Hyperspace War. Karros spoke highly of the man's mastery of the Force, and his prowess in battle as a swordsman.
Suri Sunrunner[]
Karros first encountered the Jedi Apostate, Suri Sunrunner, when she bumbled into his tomb some time after the end of the Mandalorian Wars. Though initially annoyed at the presence of "yet another tomb-raider," the Force ghost of Karros grew intrigued by Sunrunner's desire to learn more about the essential nature of the Force outside the conventions of the traditional understandings of the Sith and Jedi.
Teaching her the art of Force-walking, Karros left his tomb and traveled with the Apostate during the days of the Jedi Civil War, teaching her to grasp the subtler aspects of the Force and showing the weaknesses inherent in the teachings of the Jedi and Sith.
Behind the scenes[]
In many ways, Karros is the Kreia to Suri Sunrunner's Meetra Surik, accompanying her about the galaxy whilst teaching her to see and apply the subtleties of the Force in varying situations. As the author is a fan of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords, he sought to parallel the student/teacher dynamic that Kreia and Surik share in the game.
Karros was voted "Best Dark-side Character" in the Tenth Wiki Awards.