Physical Apperances and the Dark Side

[NeoGoomba]

I had been under the impression (backed by early EU books like the Thrawn trilogy) that it was Palpatine's excessive use of the Dark Side that was attributed to his deformed physical features, which of course turned out to be true but not in the implied way, being the notion that harnessing such power would "burn out" the physical body. But now that Palpatine's disfigurement has been shown that it isn't from just "using" the Dark Side, I wonder if being strong in the Dark Side gives any physical deformities then (other than those yellow eyes). Palpatine pre-Windu seemed fine, as did Dooku. Were there EU Sith powerhouses suffering from any physical signs of Dark Side usage?

[Civil War Man]

This is gaming mechanics, but in the KOTOR games, the Dark Side has physical symptoms. Usually the eyes go all weird (at least one gets translucent pupils), typically ashy skin, sometimes physical scarring. One grows a goatee. That kinda stuff.

[Lord Revan]

This is gaming mechanics, but in the KOTOR games, the Dark Side has physical symptoms. Usually the eyes go all weird (at least one gets translucent pupils), typically ashy skin, sometimes physical scarring. One grows a goatee. That kinda stuff.

the Eyes go yellowish and at least in KOTOR you get pale ashy skin and scarring with increasing severity as you fall deeper into the Dark Side

[DesertFly]

It could be said that the reason that Dooku didn't look like he was a walking corpse is because he never actually used the dark side that much. Sure, he had Sith training, but his greatest strength wasn't as a warrior, but as a persuader and leader. It could have even been that Sidious warned him against using the darkside too much so that he would retain his usual appearance and be able to be more persuasive to the people he was trying to convince to secede.

As for Palpatine, I know that the argument that the force-lightning caused his deformities has already been done to death, but I'm still not convinced. I still believe that it was far more likely that he was revealing his true side with the force-lightning attack, and kept his normal appearance through a combination of Sith alchemy and medical care. In the Complete Locations it has a two page spread dedicated to the "Sith Medical Center" where Darth Vader was created, and mentioned all the advanced treatments that were available there. I think Palpatine just got a facelift occasionally, until he no longer needed to hide his true face.

[Darth Cronos the Proud]

Were there EU Sith powerhouses suffering from any physical signs of Dark Side usage?

In The New Rebellion by Kristine Kathryn Rusch, the main villan is a Dark Jedi named Kueller who uses Dark Side powers frequently, but he has to wear a skull mask because the Dark Side hasn't deformed his face and he still retains what is described as a baby face. I don't know if that's because he hasn't used it enough, or if the Dark Side really doesn't deform a user except when it is redirected back on the user (as it was with Palpatine). The book doesn't elaborate. My Essential Guid to Characters is packed away in my closet, so I can't look in it to see if there is anything on him in there. I do remember the mother and son Dark Jedi Duo (I can't remember what book they are in) who used Dark Side powers but had no physical deformaties. I know for a fact that they are in the EGC. That's three heavy Dark Side users from the EU that don't have physical deformaties.

[AK_Jedi]

In DE, the emperor clones went from fresh clone bodies to withered old man fairly quickly, IIRC. I'm not sure whether this is from the dark side usage, or from the clone body sabatoging that was going on.

[Illuminatus Primus]

Actually, when Leia removed Kueller's Death Mask, they found his young face was already beginning to decay from the rush of his Dark Side Crack hits - when he directly absorbed the dark side from mass-death events.

[LongVin]

ok perhaps the darkside doesn't actually corrupt the user physically no matter how many times he calls upon the darkside of the force. Perhaps the deformities come from the physical sideeffects of the darkside. You know having bolts of lighting flying around inches away from your face cant be good for your complextion. it would also explain Palpatines appearance the lightning gave him a "force burn"

[Lord Revan]

the People I know show strong signs of "Dark Side Corruption" are also rather strong in the Force (be it skill, potential or both), the People being Darth Sidious and Darth Revan.

[ngc7293]

Having not read all the books that you guys have or played the games as some of you have, the only thing I can come up with is from the movies.

The way I see it, the Light Siders didn't use any really distructive powers. The Dark Siders, however, used them on a regular basis. A good fighter like Windu was able to deflect the Force Lightning with his saber enough to direct it back at its user.

Now, Vader's look when he was shown out of his armor briefly, might just have been because he never got to go to the Tanning Salon

[Sarevok]

This is gaming mechanics, but in the KOTOR games, the Dark Side has physical symptoms. Usually the eyes go all weird (at least one gets translucent pupils), typically ashy skin, sometimes physical scarring. One grows a goatee. That kinda stuff.

Not necessarily. It is entirely possible to win the game as a darksider without being disfigured. Generally from what I observed unless the player character is very close or at dark side mastery his / her face is relatively unchanged. Bastila did not appear any different as a darksider. On the temple roof she only appeared paler because of the Rakatan sun. After returning aboard the Ebon Hawk Bastila looked same as she did as a lightsider. Infact with dark jedi robes equipped lightside Bastila is almost indistinguishable from her darkside counterpart. So in KOTOR at least you can be a evil Sith Lord and yet look normal as long as you do not push the business of being evil too far.

[AK_Jedi]

This is gaming mechanics, but in the KOTOR games, the Dark Side has physical symptoms. Usually the eyes go all weird (at least one gets translucent pupils), typically ashy skin, sometimes physical scarring. One grows a goatee. That kinda stuff.

Not necessarily. It is entirely possible to win the game as a darksider without being disfigured. Generally from what I observed unless the player character is very close or at dark side mastery his / her face is relatively unchanged. Bastila did not appear any different as a darksider. On the temple roof she only appeared paler because of the Rakatan sun. After returning aboard the Ebon Hawk Bastila looked same as she did as a lightsider. Infact with dark jedi robes equipped lightside Bastila is almost indistinguishable from her darkside counterpart. So in KOTOR at least you can be a evil Sith Lord and yet look normal as long as you do not push the business of being evil too far.

Civil War Man is referring to the player character. The player character changes based on light or dark sidedness of the player, while the other characters remain largely unchanged.

[darth korte]

quote from dark empire. i translated (at least tried) from finnish version

palpatine`s clone:
[quote]See my friend, flesh don´t withstand this great power! Many years I have suffered terrible stress! One after another my bodies will fade...
and I have get new body... I´m just clone of myself[/qoute]

my translation is bit rough

[Alan Bolte]

So, by game rules, it has nothing to do with what powers you use, and everything to do with being a dick. You could kill in anger all day long as long as you do good.

[Darth Raptor]

Maybe it only corrupts Dark Jedi like that, and not necessarily Sith?

[Guardsman Bass]

I don't see why you can't keep both the 'dark side causes physical corruption' and 'Palpatine getting maimed by force lightning'. After all, it was dark side powered lightning, and Mace was channelling it back into Palpatine, so in effect, Palpatine was getting hit with a TON of the Dark Side in a short time.

[Perseid]

From what we see in the Dark Nest books it's possible for lightsiders to start to "burn up" from using the Force, however it requires using an incredible amount of power (Luke and his Force generated illusions).

So it's entirely possible that a Dark Jedi or Sith can use the Force for things like TK and lightning etc without adverse affects, it's only when they use the really intense Force powers that a darkside adept has at their disposal that would disfigure the user.

[YT300000]

This is gaming mechanics, but in the KOTOR games, the Dark Side has physical symptoms. Usually the eyes go all weird (at least one gets translucent pupils), typically ashy skin, sometimes physical scarring. One grows a goatee. That kinda stuff.

Not necessarily. It is entirely possible to win the game as a darksider without being disfigured. Generally from what I observed unless the player character is very close or at dark side mastery his / her face is relatively unchanged. Bastila did not appear any different as a darksider. On the temple roof she only appeared paler because of the Rakatan sun. After returning aboard the Ebon Hawk Bastila looked same as she did as a lightsider. Infact with dark jedi robes equipped lightside Bastila is almost indistinguishable from her darkside counterpart. So in KOTOR at least you can be a evil Sith Lord and yet look normal as long as you do not push the business of being evil too far.

Of course, in KOTOR 2, this was different for some reason. By the time I did my third Dark Side thing (the first time Atton asks if you're doing the right thing), you're already quite noticably different. Not yet scarred, but... dirty, I suppose. Darkened and crusty skin. Even just halfway down the scale, the transformation is huge, with yellow eyes, and giant black splotches.

[Surlethe]

I had been under the impression (backed by early EU books like the Thrawn trilogy) that it was Palpatine's excessive use of the Dark Side that was attributed to his deformed physical features, which of course turned out to be true but not in the implied way, being the notion that harnessing such power would "burn out" the physical body. But now that Palpatine's disfigurement has been shown that it isn't from just "using" the Dark Side, I wonder if being strong in the Dark Side gives any physical deformities then (other than those yellow eyes). Palpatine pre-Windu seemed fine, as did Dooku. Were there EU Sith powerhouses suffering from any physical signs of Dark Side usage?

Presumably those effects occur with time and age; and, IIRC, force lightning "sucks life force out of a person" (Star Wars encyclopedia, I think). Presumably, then, force lightning is like the torture machine in Princess Bride, and takes away life -- in essence, aging you. So Palpatine probably aged several decades in the course of that lightning blast. Earlier in his life, he most likely couldn't use the Dark Side continually and at a high level because of possible Jedi detection; hence, the physical effects would be much less than they otherwise would've been.

[Bill_Dunaway]

One thing puzzles me. The Star Wars galaxy obviously has much more advanced medical technology than our world. Souldn't cosmetic surgery be able to repair Dark Side damage? It certainly should be able to repair the burn scars that Vader had.

[Noble Ire]

One thing puzzles me. The Star Wars galaxy obviously has much more advanced medical technology than our world. Souldn't cosmetic surgery be able to repair Dark Side damage? It certainly should be able to repair the burn scars that Vader had.

If there is indeed direct physical damage from Dark Side corruption, than cosmetic surgery would be ineffective. Perhaps, the taint could be hidden for a time, but it would return, perhaps all the more permanent. As for Vader's scars, what would be the point? No one but the Emperor, Vader's medical droids, and the Dark Lord himself ever saw them, and none of them would care.