Years before the debut of Kylo Ren, a Sith Lord fromStar WarsLegends demonstrated the futility of idolizing Darth Vader. In the originalStar WarsLegends timeline, theSith Lordsof Darth Bane’s lineage died with Emperor Palpatine, but they were succeeded by new iterations of the Sith Order – specifically Lumiya’s Sith and the One Sith. Following theStar Warsfranchise’s reboot in 2014, the Sith Order’s history was reimagined, though both timelines include at least one dark side user with an unhealthy obsession with the late Darth Vader.
In the modernStar Warscanon, Kylo Ren – an original character with similarities to Jacen Solo – idolizes Darth Vader, fearing he may never be as powerful as his fallen grandfather and wishing to “finish what (he) started.” This obsession turns out to be largely instigated by Palpatine’s manipulations (including through his proxy, Snoke), and Kylo Ren ultimately does finish what his grandfather started – albeit Anakin Skywalker, not Darth Vader – by contributing to Palpatine’s ultimate defeat. One Legends character, however, blazed the trail for Kylo Ren - and showed the flaw of his perspective.
Darth Azard Practically Worshiped Darth Vader
Thie Sith Lord shared Kylo Ren’s obsession
The oldStar WarsExpanded Universespanned a much wider time-period than the canon, with some stories set a full century after the main Skywalker saga. Introduced in John Ostrander and Jan Duursema, theStar Wars: Legacycomics revealed an ascendant Sith Empire that had abandoned theRule of Two. The Sith once again brought the Jedi to the brink of extinction, conquering the galaxy once again - for a time.
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The Quarren Sith Lord Darth Azard is a prominent naval commander in Darth Krayt’s Empire and the so-called One Sith. Azard is a powerful and skilled combatant as well as a dreaded military leader. As revealed in theLegacy Era Campaign Guide,Darth Azard also held the late Darth Vader in high regard, closely studying his history in the Imperial era and emulating his style of command. Indeed, Azard was prone to execute his subordinates for failure and his reputation inspired terror among the Empire’s naval officers.
The Only People Who Want To Be Darth Vader… Don’t Understand What It Means To Be Vader
You don’t want to be standing in Darth Vader’s shoes
Darth Azard and Kylo Ren’s idolization of Darth Vader is fundamentally flawed, however, asanyone who wishes to be Darth Vader does not understand what it means to be Darth Vader. Anakin Skywalker joined the Sith for many reasons, the chief of which was to achieve the power to stop Padmé Amidala from dying. After sacrificing his humanity by sacking the Jedi Temple – which saw him murder younglings – Vader would become so intoxicated by the corrupting power of the dark side that he caused Padmé’s death, leaving him with nothing but his newfound power and servitude to Palpatine.
Kylo Ren is not a Sith, but a member of theKnights of Ren– a dark side tradition with different philosophical beliefs and culture than the Sith Lords.
The problem with wanting to be Darth Vader is thatDarth Vader himself did not want to be Darth Vader – he was resigned to his Sith Lordship, believing he had lost everything he held dear. Darth Azard’s ascension to Sith Lordship is never shown, but he nevertheless shows no such resignation. Kylo Ren forced himself to commit reprehensible acts to gain strength in the dark side, seemingly due to feelings of abandonment. Of course, the true story of how Anakin became Vader was not common knowledge in eitherStar Warstimeline, explaining why neither villain truly understood him.
June 19, 2025
Star Wars
Star Wars is a multimedia franchise that started in 1977 by creator George Lucas. After the release of Star Wars: Episode IV- A New Hope (originally just titled Star Wars), the franchise quickly exploded, spawning multiple sequels, prequels, TV shows, video games, comics, and much more. After Disney acquired the rights to the franchise, they quickly expanded the universe on Disney+, starting with The Mandalorian.
