10 Sith Who Turned To The Light Side

In the galaxy far, far away of Star Wars, the Force has become a quintessential influence on the lives of its denizens. Even in ancient times, Force users have waged wars on their beliefs in how the Force should be used, to the point where the first Jedi and Sith were formed. However, despite the many changes to the heirarchy and doctrines of the Jedi and Sith Orders, something remains the same: both Jedi and Sith fluctuate towards both the Light Side and the Dark Side.

While a Jedi falling to the temptations to the Dark Side is a tale as old as time, stories of the Sith turning back to the Light Side are few and far between. Among the many brutal Siths of the Star Wars universe, some of them have seen the error in the ways and have actually tried making peace with themselves and others as renewed members of the Light Side. However, just what were their stories?

10 Darth Gravid

True Dark Side Mastery Needs The Light

Essence Transfer was one of the reasons Darth Sidious became one of the most fearsome characters in Star Wars, with this ability to transfer one’s consciousness so rare that only a handful of beings were aware and much more learned in its ways. This rarity can be attributed to Darth Gravid, a Dark Lord of the Sith among the Order of the Sith Lords from way back in Darth Bane’s era. Once a possessor of tremendous Sith lore such as that of Essence Transfer, Darth Gravid’s studies made him believe that it’s the Sith’s dedication to the “absolute” Dark Side would be its own undoing.

The Dark Lord instead attempted to incorporate the Light Side as well as empathy and altruism, known Jedi doctrines, into his teachings. This practice slowly led to his insanity, to the point where he began destroying Sith artifacts and holocrons to truly “preserve” the Sith Order. Darth Gravid would be slain by his apprentice Darth Gean, although his actions would set back the Order for hundreds of years. While not technically one who “turned back” to the Light, Darth Gravid seemed to have some twisted version of the process.

9 The Ronin

Enter The Sith Hunter

Among the web series Star Wars: Visions, the Ronin may have been its most enigmatic but also most stylish character offerings. In “The Duel” short film that takes cues from Akira Kurosawa’s samurai films, the Ronin is seen staying in a village in Genbara that is suddenly besieged by bandits. When he learns that their leader is a Sith named Kouru, the Ronin challenges her to protect the people in the village.

Kouru remarks that the Ronin’s skill in swordplay likely means he’s a Jedi, but the reveal of a red blade shocks her. Their battle sends them across various locales, resulting in the Ronin stylishly killing Kouru. When members of the village ask if the Ronin is one of the legendary Jedi, the Ronin simply reveals his red lightsaber. He entrusts Kouru’s red kyber crystal to the village chief’s son, telling him it will ward off evil. It’s revealed that the Ronin already had multiple red kyber crystals on him, hinting that he may have been a Sith Hunter all this time.

8 Darth Sajar

A Three-Day Battle Convinced Him To Return To The Light

Introduced in a player’s journey in Star Wars: The Old Republic, the Jedi Padawan Sajar would be revealed as formerly Darth Jadar, a skilled Dark Side user who once lured Jedi Master Tol Braga in a trap meant to kill him. However, Tol Braga’s skill in combat forced their fight to endure for three days, with both parties citing rhetoric on both sides of the Force. The fight ends with Braga convincing Darth Sajar to abandon the Dark Side and instead become a part of the Jedi Order.

Since then, Sajar had become Braga’s Padawan and began his studies of the Light Side. When an unfortunate incident causes Sajar’s Dark Side to resurface that led to the deaths of many, Sajar decided to die serving the Light instead of surviving and succumbing to the Dark Side. If players come to Sajar’s aid and accepts his request to let him aid outside combat, Sajar returns to Braga and asks for forgiveness in his previous actions. He then thanks the players for helping him see the Light.

7 Quinlan Vos

Willingly Turned To The Darkness For Light’s Sake

Originally introduced in the comics, George Lucas loved Quinlan Vos so much that he retconned him into first appearing in The Phantom Menace. However, Quinlan rose to prominence in The Clone Wars where his retrocognitive talents were put to use in tracking missions. Unfortunately, a failed mission to assassinate Count Dooku with Asajj Ventress would put Quinlan at his mercy, transforming him into his new apprentice Admiral Enigma.

When the Jedi captured Engima, he pretended to be Quinlan and was more than willing to prove his loyalty to the Jedi by assassinating Dooku. In truth, Quinlan was consumed by evil and a desire to kill Darth Tyranus, take his place, and learn the identity of his master Darth Sidious. When events isolate Dooku with his former apprentices, the Sith Lord decides it’s time to simply get rid of the both of them. Ventress jumps in front of her lover to protect him from Force Lightning, prompting Quinlan to realize the error in his ways and return to the Light. He defeats Dooku but offers mercy, with Ventress responding there may still be hope for redemption.

6 Asajj Ventress

Count Dooku’s Infamous Sith Assassin

Before Asajj Ventress became infamously known as the dual-wielding Sith Assassin of Count Dooku, she was a former Padawan whose master’s death had plunged her to the Dark Side. She channeled her grief in killing warlords, a skill admired by Count Dooku. While Asajj served loyally under him as a dependable Dark Acolyte, her potential was seen as a threat and Darth Sidious tasked Dooku in killing her. After being left for dead, Asajj managed to survive and eventually roamed the galaxy as a bounty hunter.

Asajj eventually enters a reluctant partnership with Quinlan Vos and eventually fall in love with him. Quinlan’s mission to kill Dooku made Asajj cross paths with her former master multiple times, culminating in a final conflict between the three of them. Overwhelmed by a powerful Dooku, Asajj doesn’t depend on her Dark Side powers and instead feels her connection to the Living Force and sacrifices her life saving Quinlan from Force Lightning. This act had allowed the Light Side to fully engulf her, letting her renounce her evil ways, while her apparent death had done the same for Quinlan.

5 Ajunta Pall

The First Dark Lord Of The Sith Empire

Back in the days of the First Great Schism, Ajunta Pall was a Jedi Master whose studies into Force Alchemy led to his banishment, an act that would make him wage war with the Jedi Council in the Hundred-Year Darkness. The defeated Pall and his forces found a new home in Korriban in the Outer Rim, where they subjugated the Force-sensitive Sith who considered Pall the Jen’air or “Dark Lord.”

Ajunta Pall eventually found the first Sith Empire, with its traditions expanded by his successors after death. In the events of Knights of the Old Republic, Jedi Knight Revan encounters the spirit of Ajunta Pall in his quest to get the Sith Lord’s sword. After Pall reveals his past and his regrets, Revan encourages him to let go of his pain and rejoin the Light. Through Revan’s encouragement, Ajunta Pall finally lets go of his anguish and becomes one with the Force.

4 Revan

The Conflicted Revanchist Of Both Sides

Such was the tumultuous life of Revan that his life as a Force-sensitive tread both the Light and the Dark Side. Before Sith Emperor Tenebrae turned him and his fellow Jedi Knight Alek into Sith Lords, Jedi Knight Revan led the militant Revanchists in repelling the Mandalorians in the Mandalorian Wars. When Darth Revan and Darth Malek rebel against the Emperor to make their own empire, Darth Malek betray Revan to the Jedi. Events in Star Wars: The Old Republic reveal players are controlling a mind-wiped Darth Revan.

Thanks to his love for the Jedi Knight Shan, Revan fully turns to the light and defeats Malek, becoming a hero. Unfortunately, the Sith would capture Revan and torture him for three centuries, with an ill-fated attempt to defeat the Empire would cost his life. The torture would fracture his mind, however, splitting him to a vengeful body of the Dark Side and a spirit of the Light Side. It’s only through the Light Revan’s efforts that his Dark half is defeated and the heroes defeated the Emperor. With the threat finally disappearing, Revan rests in peace.

3 Galen Marek, Starkiller

Son Of A Jedi Trained As Vader’s Secret Apprentice

Among Star Wars characters to exist outside the original films, Galen Marek and his adventures as Starkiller cemented his place among fan-favorites due to his complex relationship with the Force. Stolen as a child from a fugitive Jedi during one of Darth Vader’s missions for the Great Jedi Purge of Order 66, he saw potential in Galen he could use to overthrow the Emperor. He then raised Galen as a secret apprentice, sending him to assassinate enemies of the Empire.

Unfortunately for Galen, much of his latter missions ended with him being used in duplicitous manners. Numerous betrayals from Darth Vader had slowly planted the seed of doubt in Galen’s mind, culminating in a defection during his final Jedi Trial where a vision of his father told him to follow the Light. While Galen dies at the end of his adventures, his relationships with new allies would inspire them to use the Marek family symbol for the Alliance to Restore the Republic, eventually becoming the Rebel Alliance.

2 Ben Solo

The Estranged Son of Han Solo And Princess Leia

Born as the heir to the Skywalker legacy, Ben Solo already showed great aptitude to the Force as Luke Skywalker’s best student. Unfortunately for both of them, Darth Sidious had been secretly manipulating Ben at a distance to bring him closer to the Dark Side, culminating during the destruction of the Jedi Temple that forced Ben to truly fall and join Darth Sidious as his new apprentice, Kylo Ren.

It’s thanks to his fights with the Jedi Rey, who was also his Force dyad, that Kylo Ren slowly turned back to the Light. During their fateful duel, an injury would have Kylo Ren have a vision of a dying Leia Organa reminding him of his family’s forgiveness. This restores Kylo Ren to the Light Side, and together with Rey they defeat Palpatine once and for all. The effort originally costs Rey’s life, but Ben uses his lifeforce to heal her. After his death, Ben becomes one with the Force and reunites with his family.

1 Anakin Skywalker

The Chosen One, Whose Sacrifice Restored Balance To The Force

Such was everyone’s eventual faith in Anakin Skywalker as the Chosen One that Obi-Wan felt devastated that his apprentice would choose the Dark Side in his pursuit of power. After their fated duel in Mustafar and the rise of Emperor Palaptine, a grievously-injured Anakin officially becomes Darth Sidious’ apprentice as the iconic Darth Vader. It’s only with the presence of Luke Skywalker decades later that Darth Vader’s missions consolidating the Galactic Empire’s power would be interrupted.

Throughout their encounters, Luke offers Vader mercy in their duel and even “joins” him in the Dark Side, all in an attempt to help him turn to the light. When Palpatine tries to kill Luke with Force Lightning, Darth Vader accepts Luke’s words and restores his Anakin persona. The former Sith Lord saves Luke and kills Palpatine, but at the cost of his own life. Despite Anakin’s descent, it’s as though this was precisely what the Force needed for Anakin to pave way for its corrected balance, fulfilling his prophecy as the Chosen One all along.