Star Wars: Here’s Why Sith Lords Have Yellow Eyes

If there’s one thing that we know about the Sith Lords of Star Wars, it’s that they are the embodiment of the power of the dark side of the Force and are evil, selfish, and conniving individuals. Of course, they have appearances that go well with their nature as wielders of the power of the dark side. Particularly, their eyes tell a story because they have yellow eyes. So, why do the Sith Lords have yellow eyes?

The Sith Lords have yellow eyes because the eyes act as the windows to their souls in the sense that the rage and malicious emotions of the Sith Lords are shown by their eyes. As such, their eyes reflect the negative thoughts and emotions that had overcome their very being when they gave in to the dark side.

In most cases, a person’s eyes never lie, as they can tell the inner workings of a person’s mind. That means that the eyes of a Sith Lord reflect the very essence of the person and how they have fallen into despair and darkness by embracing their negative emotions. So, with that said, let’s take a better look into why the Sith Lords have yellow eyes.

The Sith’s yellow eyes explained

When it comes to the world of Star Wars, one of the things that we know is that Force wielders can either be light or dark. In most cases, the users of the light side tend to have normal faces that reflect the normal way of using the Force. On the other hand, most of the users of the dark side of the Force come with sinister appearances that go well with the fact that they are evil.

Of course, different Sith Lords have different appearances, but their yellow eyes have always been a trademark. Almost all of the Sith Lords we’ve seen in the canon Star Wars movies have yellow eyes. As such, this seems to be quite common among the Sith Lords and their nature as wielders of the dark side of the Force.

The Sith Lords’ yellow eyes actually have a deeper meaning. That means that these are not just aesthetics in terms of their purpose. And it all goes back to the famous saying that the eyes are the windows to the soul.

Considering that a person’s eyes can reflect how a person thinks, acts, and feels, the Sith Lords have yellow eyes because these represent the emotions harnessed by the Sith. Whenever a Sith Lord embraces the dark side, they must harness all their negative emotions. In most cases, extremely negative emotions like hatred and anger are the ones that the Sith rely on the most to draw power from the dark side of the Force.

In that regard, the eyes of a Sith Lord represent the inner workings of the Sith Lord’s emotional and mental state in the sense that they reflect the negativity that can be found within the Sith’s very essence. They represent how the Sith Lord has embraced all of the negative emotions and thoughts that are necessary to have mastery over the dark side of the Force. And that’s why the yellow eyes with a fiery red brim symbolize how the Sith Lord has already been overcome by their negative emotions.

Of course, there are some cases wherein the Sith can control their yellow eyes. In the case of Darth Sidious, who was masquerading as Chancellor Palpatine, he kept his yellow eyes hidden the entire time as he was likely using the dark side of the Force to hide his true appearance as a deformed Sith Lord with yellow eyes.

However, during his duel with Mace Windu, Palpatine’s “mask” came undone as his true nature as a deformed Sith Lord was revealed. This means that his yellow eyes were also revealed, as it was clear that he no longer had any reason to hide his true nature. That was when he no longer had a reason to hide his eyes as he had no reason to hide his true nature, especially after he orchestrated the destruction of the Jedi Order at the end of the Clone Wars.

There are also other Sith Lords and users of the dark side of the Force that have yellow eyes “by default.” A good example is Darth Maul, who was trained to be a Sith Lord early on by Palpatine. Because Maul had no reason to hide his nature as a wielder of the dark side of the Force, his yellow eyes were always his default mode. The same can be said about his brother, Savage Opress, who may not be a Sith but was also trained to wield the dark side of the Force.

Of course, we can also say that Maul’s constant anger is why he has yellow eyes. Let’s not forget that Maul was raised to be angry when Palpatine ordered Maul’s mother, Mother Talzin, to allow a handler to physically abuse him so that he would grow up an angry man. We also know that Maul was always looking to finally take his revenge on both Obi-Wan Kenobi and Palpatine after they wronged him for entirely different reasons, as Kenobi was responsible for nearly killing him in the past, whereas Palpatine basically abandoned him.

In that regard, it seems that anger is the triggering point of a Sith’s yellow eyes, as we know that most Sith Lords rely on their anger to become stronger in the dark side of the Force. And that probably explains why Maul always has yellow eyes.

Why did Anakin’s eyes turn yellow?

Another famous Sith Lord we know is Darth Vader, who was always clad in black armor throughout his life as a Sith Lord. But before he was forced to wear his suit his entire life, Vader was once a Jedi Knight named Anakin Skywalker, who fell to the dark side of the Force after Palpatine manipulated him.

When Anakin accepted his new role as the apprentice of Darth Sidious, he became Darth Vader. There were scenes wherein his eyes were yellow, as it was clear that he had fallen to the dark side. However, there were some scenes wherein his eyes were normal.

In the scenes wherein Anakin’s eyes were yellow, it was clear that he had anger and hatred in his heart. This included the time when he slaughtered all of the remaining leaders of the Separatists, as he killed them with hatred in his heart because they were the ones responsible for the Clone Wars. Then, after losing his duel with Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin’s eyes turned yellow once more while telling his former master that he hated him. As such, it was clear that he was angry and full of hate at that moment, which was probably why he had yellow eyes.

Why don’t all Sith have yellow eyes?

While we know that the Sith have yellow eyes, not all of them actually sport the same yellow eyes we’ve seen from most of the Sith Lords. The most prominent Sith Lord that doesn’t have yellow eyes is Darth Tyranus, who is better known as Count Dooku. And there was almost never a time wherein Dooku had yellow eyes even though he was a true Sith Lord in every sense of the word.

Of course, we know that Dooku’s master, Darth Sidious, could hide his yellow eyes using Sith powers. However, that doesn’t seem to be the case for Dooku, who has no reason to hide his true nature as a Sith Lord. As such, there’s a good chance he doesn’t have yellow eyes because he isn’t as angry as the other Sith Lords.

Dooku’s fall to the dark side of the Force was rooted in his idealism. He became disillusioned by the Jedi Order after he saw how corrupt the Republic was and how the Jedi Council didn’t mind the corrupt practices of the different senators around the galaxy. That forced him to go down the dark side path as he joined Palpatine to orchestrate the Clone Wars.

In that regard, Dooku’s reason for becoming a Sith was rooted in his desire to change the galaxy after realizing that the Jedi and the Republic no longer functioned as they should. While he had reasons for being angry, he was never as angry as Anakin or Maul. Instead, we often see Dooku being the calm and collected man he was known to be throughout his life.

As such, because Dooku’s fall to the dark side was more political and ideological instead of out of anger and hatred, he probably was never totally consumed by his anger and hatred, even though we know he still relied on those negative emotions.

Have something to add? Let us know in the comments!