Star Wars: Here’s Why Inquisitors Aren’t Sith

In the Star Wars world, it is important to note that semantics can be vital when determining the allegiance of a certain Force wielder. We often consider things extreme because we only look at the Jedi and the Sith regarding Force wielders. But the truth is that other Force wielders may be loyal to either the light or the dark sides of the Force but aren’t Jedi or Sith. The Inquisitors are some of them. So, why aren’t the Inquisitors Sith?

The Inquisitors aren’t Sith because the Sith Order follows the Rule of Two, which requires that there should be only two Sith Lords simultaneously. In that regard, while the Inquisitors use the dark side of the Force, they aren’t necessarily Sith and weren’t trained to be Sith due to the Rule of Two.

Of course, in a way, the Inquisitors are similar to Sith Lords in the sense that they also use the dark side of the Force and are known to be evil. Nevertheless, the Sith lived by a strict doctrine that governed them for hundreds or thousands of years. That’s why a user of the dark side of the Force isn’t automatically a Sith. That said, let’s learn more about the differences between the Inquisitors and the Sith Lords.

Do Inquisitors count as Sith?

Introduced during the events of ‘Star Wars: Rebels,’ the Inquisitors were deadly Force wielders that worked for the Empire. Formally known as the Inquisitorius, this organization was formed by Darth Vader right after the formation of the Empire so that he could use them to hunt down any remaining Jedi that survived Order 66. After all, Vader wouldn’t scour the entire galaxy alone to search for Jedi survivors.

Since their introduction, the Inquisitors became important parts of the Star Wars canon, especially when it comes to the shows and video games that took place during the middle of the reign of the Empire. We saw many of them in ‘Rebels,’ ‘Star Wars Jedi,’ and ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi.’ The books and comics also include the Inquisitors.

Of course, because the Empire employed them, the Inquisitors were trained in the dark side of the Force by none other than Darth Vader himself. They all wielded the same dual-bladed spinning lightsabers with red blades with Kyber crystals that they must have personally bled themselves. On top of that, most of the Inquisitors were already trained in the Force, as some were Jedi who were captured and tortured to become loyal to the Empire. The Second Sister, the Ninth Sister, the Third Sister, and the Grand Inquisitor were examples of corrupted former Jedi Knights or Padawans.

Considering that the Inquisitors used the dark side of the Force, they were very similar to Darth Vader and the other Sith Lords. But the thing is that they can never be considered Sith Lords as long as there are two existing Sith Lords. And this goes back to the Sith following the Rule of Two.

The Rule of Two states that there should only be two Sith Lords at a time. The master serves as the representation of the power that the Sith holds. Meanwhile, the apprentice represents the need to obtain the power that the master holds. And during the reign of the Empire, Darth Sidious (Sheev Palpatine) and Darth Vader (Anakin Skywalker) were the Sith Lords that represented the master and apprentice relationship of the Sith Order.

In that regard, while the Inquisitors were trained in the dark side of the Force, they were not part of the Sith Order simply because they could never be indoctrinated into the Sith as long as there were two of them that existed. This was the same case for Asajj Ventress, who was stronger than most Jedi Knights but was never a Sith Lord herself because Palpatine and Dooku were the Sith Lords during the Clone Wars era.

As such, at most, the Inquisitors are fallen Jedi or are simply users of the dark side of the Force. This is where semantics become important, as not all users of the dark side can be considered Sith Lords in the same way that not all users of the Force are Jedi. This was also why Kylo Ren was never considered a Sith Lord.

How are Inquisitors different from Sith?

The thing about the Inquisitorius and the Sith Order is that these are two entirely different organizations that function within the confines of the Empire during the reign of Emperor Palpatine. Of course, Palpatine and Vader were the only members of the Sith Order. Meanwhile, the Inquisitorius was a group of dark-side users of the Force working under Darth Vader.

In many ways, the Inquisitors were similar to the Sith because they both employ the use of the dark side of the Force. But while the Inquisitors were trained to use the dark side and were taught by Darth Vader himself, they were not privy to the secrets and the teachings of the Sith because only the Sith Lords were allowed to learn the mysteries that the Sith knew.

As such, while the Inquisitors also use the dark side, they don’t have full access to the true power of the dark side of the Force because they are not members of the Sith Order, which possesses knowledge of the dark side that no other user of the dark side of the Force has access to. 

This is where the Rule of Two becomes even more important as the role of the master is to impart everything they know about the dark side of the Force to the apprentice, who is then tasked to use what they learned from the master to overthrow the master. After that, the new master should learn more about the dark side of the Force and then impart these teachings to the new apprentice.

Can an Inquisitor become a Darth?

The only ones worthy of the title “Darth” are the Sith Lords. That’s because “Darth” is a shorter term for Dark Lord of the Sith. As such, those indoctrinated into the Sith Order are the only ones given a Darth name. And that means the Inquisitors are not supposed to carry the “Darth” title in their names.

Of course, an Inquisitor could have been a Darth during the era of the Empire if Darth Vader had successfully defeated Palpatine. He may have turned one of the Inquisitors into his apprentice. 

Nevertheless, there was a reason the Inquisitors were expendable to Vader, as he killed some of them when they failed him. That’s because they were never really strong enough to become Sith Lords, even if either Vader or Palpatine were to die. And we’ve seen the Inquisitors getting defeated by characters that aren’t even on Darth Vader’s level, which implies that both Vader and Palpatine understood that none of the Inquisitors would ever become suitable Sith apprentices.

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