Jump to content

Why do people join Dark Side?


Sadishist

Recommended Posts

But the dark side is not more powerful so it is kinda pointless...

 

It's the quick and easy path to power. Many times it has been said that the Jedi's Path is a long and difficult one. Those who join the Dark Side want power and they want it right away. It doesn't matter which side is more powerful, it's about amassing as much power as you can as fast as you can.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 400
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

It's the quick and easy path to power. Many times it has been said that the Jedi's Path is a long and difficult one. Those who join the Dark Side want power and they want it right away. It doesn't matter which side is more powerful, it's about amassing as much power as you can as fast as you can.

 

See, I don't agree with that.

 

I think a lot of people who choose the dark side do it because it offers less restrictions. Less rules saying what you can and can't do. I don't think most do it just because it's the "easy" way to power. I think that's just a huge side benefit for many.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

See, I don't agree with that.

 

I think a lot of people who choose the dark side do it because it offers less restrictions. Less rules saying what you can and can't do. I don't think most do it just because it's the "easy" way to power. I think that's just a huge side benefit for many.

 

It has been widely shown that the dark side is the quick and easy path to power, and that many fall because the lure of that power is too great for them to resist.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It has been widely shown that the dark side is the quick and easy path to power, and that many fall because the lure of that power is too great for them to resist.

Maybe the basic stuff acquired faster or to put it better, more effective with less training.

But Fanyen was right when he mentioned being free of restrictions, Ajunta Pall and his followers experimented with certain aspects of the force and the Jedi council didn't like it. So Pall went to war with the Jedi, a fight to be free to do what he wanted.

Don't forget that Pall was a Jedi Master who just used the force just like all others, but the council deemed him dark.

The force isn't evil, nor good. What we call light and dark is defined by a select few and is forever accepted as fact.

 

Maybe the new "Dawn of the Jedi" comics will give us more info about why some choose to be more dark?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It has been widely shown that the dark side is the quick and easy path to power, and that many fall because the lure of that power is too great for them to resist.

 

I accept that power comes faster and more easily when one gives in to the dark. My argument was that I think a very large portion of dark Jedi turn dark because it's less restrictive. Once they take the first few steps, the power pulls them in further. Look at Anakin. He fell to the dark side to begin with, because the Jedi had too many restrictions. If the Jedi weren't so heavy handed when it came to love and family, and they actually learned to cope with their emotions, as opposed to just trying to control, or shut them out, Anakin may not have fallen.

 

The Sith and most dark Jedi let their emotions, mostly hate, and anger and the like, run free. I think if force users learned how to handle their emotions, both good and bad, in a healthy way they could be stronger.

The Potentium, Imperial Knights, Gray Jedi (and I mean true gray, not "I just can't make up my mind" types), and Voss mystics are a great example.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sadishist,

 

I do not think any answer is going to satisfy you.

 

Neither side is more powerful than the other. A Dark Lord of the Sith and a Jedi with the same Midiclorian count have the same overall power in using the Force.

 

The differences lie in philosophy and application of that "raw power"

 

As someone else quoted but not fully:

 

Yoda: Yes, run! Yes, a Jedi's strength flows from the Force. But beware of the dark side. Anger, fear, aggression; the dark side of the Force are they. Easily they flow, quick to join you in a fight. If once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will, as it did Obi-Wan's apprentice.

Luke: Vader... Is the dark side stronger?

Yoda: No, no, no. Quicker, easier, more seductive.

Luke: But how am I to know the good side from the bad?

Yoda: You will know... when you are calm, at peace, passive. A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, NEVER for attack.

Luke: But tell my why I can't...

Yoda: No, no! There is no "why".

 

Dark Jedi and Sith use their power openly and raw. Those of the Dark Side also wish to control the Force; dominate it. But in the end it is the Dark Side that dominates them.

 

Those of the Light Side believe and take to heart that it is the Force that guides them; The Force and Jedi Knights are allies...partners, both controlling and being controlled by the other.

 

Obi-wan: remember a Jedi can feel the Force flowing through him

Luke: You mean it controls your actions?

Obi-wan: Partially but it also obeys your commands.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Dark Side may not give you greater power overall than the Light, but the power you do gain comes with fewer restrictions on how you use it. The Dark Side lets you use your power towards self-satisfying goals, you're able to think of yourself as your own master, and as master over the Force, rather than seeing yourself as a servant to others and an instrument of the Force. That sense of dominance is very appealing to some people - which is why Yoda and others label the Dark Side so seductive.

 

Think of it this way (using an arbitrary "Power Scale" for the "Force Power" level you're talking about):

You can either be:

 

Light Side: Force Level 100, but have to put others before yourself, deny yourself earthly pleasures that may lead you astray, follow the will of the Force.

-or-

Dark Side: Force Level 95, get to use that power to take whatever you want, whenever you want.

 

The problem of course is that when there's 1,000 other guys of roughly comparable power level seeking to take whatever they want, whenever they want too, you tend to wind up living a rather short, violent life unless you've got the raw power to continually come out on top, or the cunning to safely navigate the battlefield that becomes your life - but most Sith are arrogant enough to think that they fit that bill right up until they wind up on the end of someone else's lightsaber.

Edited by DarthDymond
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Simple version;

 

Jedi : A life of sacrifice in the service of the people, with tons of rules and traditions telling them how they should live their life.

 

Darkside (whether DarksideJedi or Sith) : The whole world is your oyster, baby! Take what you want, live it up and indulge your every whim and desire.

You might as well ask why some people become criminals in the real world.

And as was said before, it's the fast track to power - the Darkside excels at aggressive powers, such as Force choke and Force Lightning.

 

I'm also not entirely convinced that they are equals when it comes to power in combat.

Usually the powerful Sith are defeated by numbers, treachery or the Jedi getting really, really ticked off (essentially tapping into emotion/darkside themselves).

Edited by Callaron
Link to comment
Share on other sites

See, I don't agree with that.

 

I think a lot of people who choose the dark side do it because it offers less restrictions. Less rules saying what you can and can't do. I don't think most do it just because it's the "easy" way to power. I think that's just a huge side benefit for many.

 

The light side, per se, doesn't have many rules, but it is restricting. Yoda says you will know the difference when Luke remains calm, passive. And that's basically what the "central tenet" of the Jedi code "There is no passion..." which Bioware quotes pretty often (even though it originates from very remote canon, a pen and paper rulebook) elaborates. You don't need to obey the Jedi Council to be light side, you must do what is "right", reflecting calmly to find out what that is.

 

Whether you say that the dark side is more seductive in that it is the quick and easy path (not necessarily to power), or that the light side is too restrictive is basically the same thing backward and forward.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sadishist,

 

I do not think any answer is going to satisfy you.

 

Neither side is more powerful than the other. A Dark Lord of the Sith and a Jedi with the same Midiclorian count have the same overall power in using the Force.

 

Is that so?

 

"...to become the most powerful Jedi, and the only way you can really do that is to go to the Dark side because the Dark side is more powerful. If you want the ultimate power you really have to go to the stronger side, which is the Dark side..." - George Lucas [AOTC commentary]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

But the dark side is not more powerful so it is kinda pointless...

 

It really depends on the way you look at it. From a lore point of view the Dark side offers a quick and seductive path and offers the user a vast array of abilities. But to say that one is more powerful is quite subjective. So no it is not pointless at all.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I ready posted about this, but i also like to add.

Although i 100% believe the The Path to the dark side is faster and the dark side is the most powerful, with that said.

It is also Reckless and it can leave you vulnerable, because you think your invisible and nothing can hurt you.

So, if Yoda would say this next part he would say, "Stronger the Dark side is, Harder to control, it will be.

Consume you to Death, it does......... "

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The thing should be emphasized a bit more in SW is Dark Side =/= Evil and Light Side =/= Good.

 

Well, the Lightside isn't equal to Good, I agree with that.

But the Darkside kind of is equal to Evil, it corrupts and in doing so destroys the person's perspective, so they over-react to things, It also obliterates their self-control, especially the further along the path of the Darkside you go. The combination of these two factors means that Darksiders end up committing acts of Evil, they don't mean too, and a few exceptions occur who have some control over themselves, but on the whole Darkside = Evil

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, the Lightside isn't equal to Good, I agree with that.

But the Darkside kind of is equal to Evil, it corrupts and in doing so destroys the person's perspective, so they over-react to things, It also obliterates their self-control, especially the further along the path of the Darkside you go. The combination of these two factors means that Darksiders end up committing acts of Evil, they don't mean too, and a few exceptions occur who have some control over themselves, but on the whole Darkside = Evil

 

What is good? What is evil? Ask 10 people, you get 10 answers. Good and evil are all relative.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The light side, per se, doesn't have many rules, but it is restricting. Yoda says you will know the difference when Luke remains calm, passive. And that's basically what the "central tenet" of the Jedi code "There is no passion..." which Bioware quotes pretty often (even though it originates from very remote canon, a pen and paper rulebook) elaborates. You don't need to obey the Jedi Council to be light side, you must do what is "right", reflecting calmly to find out what that is.

 

Whether you say that the dark side is more seductive in that it is the quick and easy path (not necessarily to power), or that the light side is too restrictive is basically the same thing backward and forward.

 

Actually, you do need to obey the Jedi Council in order to be considered light side.

 

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Gray_Jedi states it plainly.

 

Specifically the part where it says:

However, between the beginning of the Great Sith War in 4000 BBY and the end of the Dark Wars in 3951 BBY, the Jedi went from the height of their power to a mere remnant of their existence. As war repeatedly spread across the galaxy, some Jedi came to believe that a strong central authority was necessary. The Council, including such members as Vrook Lamar and Atris, revised the Jedi Code in order to consolidate their control over the Jedi Order and institute stricter standards on the conduct of its members. Despite the Council's actions, not all Jedi adhered to the revised Code. Some objected to several of the new strictures, such as those that barred the training of any Jedi hopeful over the age of four, that prevented Jedi from having families, and that restricted the use of Force abilities associated with the dark side. These individuals frequently clashed with the Jedi Council, and were known as Gray Jedi to the Jedi[6] and the Sith.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

But the dark side is not more powerful so it is kinda pointless...
But because the path of the light is a long and difificult one, many Jedi never achieve their full potential.

 

Most of the most powerful Force users are Sith. Who are the exceptions? Yoda who had 900 years to reach the pinnacle of his power and Luke Skywalker who had the potential of the Chosen One.

 

Regardless not everyone believes the dark side to be less powerful, and Sidious himself didn't believe in light and dark - to him we was just achieving full mastery over the Force while the Jedi wallowed in fear and ignorance.

 

There are also many things that Sith can do that Jedi cannot.

See, I don't agree with that.

 

I think a lot of people who choose the dark side do it because it offers less restrictions. Less rules saying what you can and can't do. I don't think most do it just because it's the "easy" way to power. I think that's just a huge side benefit for many.

Think about how one might interpret it though. Jedi will say its the quick path to power, the Sith will say it just shows the dark side to be more powerful. They may look at the power of the dark side, how easily it can be attained and assume that the Jedi are restricting them.

 

Remember these are in-universe characters, they do not have access to Wookieepedia. :p

Edited by Beniboybling
Link to comment
Share on other sites

What is good? What is evil? Ask 10 people, you get 10 answers. Good and evil are all relative.

Just because there isn't a consensus doesn't mean there's no right answer to something.

 

Ask 10 people what the age of the Earth is and you may get 10 answers, if that happens it doesn't mean there's no true answer to the question, it just means at least 9 people you asked are wrong.

 

If you're going to advocate moral relativism, you better base it on something a bit more substantial than "people disagree about it."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just because there isn't a consensus doesn't mean there's no right answer to something.

 

Ask 10 people what the age of the Earth is and you may get 10 answers, if that happens it doesn't mean there's no true answer to the question, it just means at least 9 people you asked are wrong.

 

If you're going to advocate moral relativism, you better base it on something a bit more substantial than "people disagree about it."

Good and evil are immaterial and completely subjective concepts. The fact that nobody can give a clear definition of this terms that everyone can logically agree on demonstrates this. So I think his point is valid.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Is that so?

 

"...to become the most powerful Jedi, and the only way you can really do that is to go to the Dark side because the Dark side is more powerful. If you want the ultimate power you really have to go to the stronger side, which is the Dark side..." - George Lucas [AOTC commentary]

 

OK consider me corrected :o.

Edited by psandak
Link to comment
Share on other sites


×
×
  • Create New...