At the dawn of the Republic, a group of Jedi argued that the all aspects of the Force should be explored and used, while the rest recognized the Dark side. When the group had fallen, they were exiled beyond known space as punishment for their transgressions against the order, hoping that the group would learn the error of their ways and atone for their actions. The exiles found a planet with a native lifeform that utilized the Dark Side in ways they had not dreamt of. These sith were tribal with primitive technology and it was easy for the Dark Jedi to conquor them. Dominating the sith, these Dark Jedi learned their secrets and became the founders of the tradition that took its name from the species it learned from: The Sith. While the original race is now extinct from the Great Sith War, the Sith Empire had spread and hidden itself away on many star systems where thousands of years later the hidden temples can still be found.

One may ask, what is the difference between a Sith and a Dark Jedi? The Sith were able to perfect techniques of calling on the Dark Side and developed a symbiotic relationship with it. This enabled them to create more complex and darker powers than any Jedi could dream of. In some way, the Sith were the Dark Side embodied.