In the New Sith Empire created by the Council of Five, the Sith Overlords were the seniormost Sith Lords after the Council Lords themselves. Sith Overlords governed broad swaths of territory, masterminded entire campaigns against the Galactic Republic, or supervised large areas of Sith operations, such as the Sith academies. In 1,389 BBY, there were seven Sith Overlords:
- Four territorial lords, who ruled the Empire's astrographic territory (Darth Saleej, Vedya Gasald, Darth Scyrahd, and Trayvin Osydro)
- The Overlord of Sith Intelligence, who maintained a spy network in both Imperial space and amongst the Empire's enemy states (Artius Gy-Rond)
- The Overlord of Sith instruction, who commanded all institutions that trained dark siders, and maintained supervisory authority over the military training institutes (Warlese Oruval)
- An Overlord who, among other things, controlled the Black Archives and served as Grandmaster of the Hierophants (Hiri Vey)
Only the Council could raise a Sith Lord to Overlord status. However, in 1,385 BBY, Darshkére masterminded his election to the role of Sith Overlord by his fellow Lords to replace Vedya Gasald, and his military successes thereafter led the Council to ratify the election.
Though lesser Sith Lords were given considerable leeway in managing and training dark side adepts and Sith Acolytes, no one ranked less than a Sith Overlord could actually anoint a dark sider a Sith Lord. Many Sith Overlords consulted with their subordinates on which Acolytes were worthy of elevation, but retained unchecked discretion to follow or ignore this advice at will. The Sith Overlords could also authorize the death of any Sith under their command, and occasionally did so as needed to maintain effectiveness or punish failure.
Most Sith Overlords maintained a corps of elite Sith warriors as bodyguards, a tactical reserve, and enforcers.