If you’ve ever played The Old Republic or dug into the Legends stuff, you probably know Darth Malgus is not your typical Sith Lord. When I first saw him storming the Jedi Temple in the Deceived trailer, I thought, “Okay, this guy means business.”
But after learning more, I realized there’s a lot more going on beneath the armor. He’s not just cool-looking – he’s got depth, he’s dangerous, and he’s actually trying to change things in his own way. So here’s what I think really makes him different from the rest of the Sith crowd.
Table of Contents
1. He Actually Broke His Chains (For Real)
We always hear Sith say they want to “break their chains,” but most of them just end up being pawns for someone stronger. Malgus? He took that line seriously.
He literally said, “I have done what so many Sith pretend to do, but never really achieve… I have broken my chains. I will never again have a master. I will never let another rule over me.”
And he meant it. After serving the Empire and even sitting on the Dark Council, he turned his back on all of it because he realized it was full of politics, backstabbing, and hypocrisy.
One of the moments that hit me hardest was when he even killed Eleena Daru – his lover, his closest companion. He actually loved her, but he saw that love as a weakness. And in true Sith fashion, he chose power over emotion. It’s brutal, but it shows just how far he was willing to go to live by the Sith Code. That level of commitment is rare, even among Sith.
2. He Wanted an Empire That Wasn’t Racist
This one really surprised me the first time I read about it. Malgus was one of the first Sith to push for a more inclusive Empire. He believed strength could come from anyone, not just humans or Sith Purebloods. He had a Twi’lek partner. He worked with aliens. He straight-up said the Empire was limiting itself by being xenophobic.
What’s cool is that some of his ideas didn’t just die with him. Darth Marr later took a few of Malgus’s beliefs and started applying them, and the Empire actually became a little more open as a result. Whether or not Malgus truly cared about equality or just saw it as a smart tactic, it still changed things.
3. He Was a Fighter, Not a Backroom Schemer
One of the reasons I always respected Malgus was that he didn’t play political games. He was a frontline warrior. The guy personally led the attack on Alderaan. He recaptured Korriban. But his biggest moment? The Sacking of Coruscant. He led the charge into the Jedi Temple, killed Jedi Master Ven Zallow in single combat, and wiped out a huge chunk of the Jedi High Council.
He didn’t rise in power by sneaking around or stabbing people in the back – he fought his way there. He wanted to be the strongest, and he went out and proved it. His battles weren’t just flashy either – he was smart, controlled, and always pushing forward.
4. He Tried to Build His Own Empire
After the Emperor Vitiate “died” and the Sith Empire started falling apart, Malgus didn’t just fade into the background. He came back and announced his plan to start a new kind of Empire. One without the Dark Council, one that would actually work. He pulled together a stealth fleet, built a droid army, and gave a speech where he declared himself the new Emperor.
He wasn’t doing it to be another dictator – he wanted to break away from the broken system. His New Empire was supposed to be based on strength and tolerance, not tradition and fear. It didn’t last, but the fact that he pulled it off at all – and that people followed him – shows just how serious he was.
5. He Questioned Everything, Even the Force
The longer I followed Malgus’s story, the more I realized he wasn’t just some angry brute with a red lightsaber. He actually thought deeply about the galaxy and how it was run. He believed both the Sith and Jedi were hiding the truth, using the Force to control others and decide who was “worthy” of training.
He started digging into lost Sith history, stealing relics, and looking into ancient figures like Darth Nul. Even after being captured, he kept saying he had seen a future where everything burned – and that he was just getting started something that wouldn’t end with him.
Bonus: Sidious and Vader Studied His Work
Here’s a small detail I love – Darth Sidious actually found Malgus’s journals and included them in his Book of Sith. And Vader? He studied them too. Vader saw how Malgus fully gave himself to the dark side, something Vader always struggled with. That alone tells you how important Malgus was.