Ok, so I've seen all 3 Star Wars movies (and the 3 prequel fan fictions) and played through KotOR I and II, but a question's always hounded me. Why in the name of Exar Kun are all these Jedi attracted to the "dark side" like a moth to flame? All these Sith go on and on about the power of the dark side, but they don't seem to be much more powerful than the Jedi. Heck, in most of the games the light side powers are more desirable than the dark side ones.

There really doesn't seem to be any benefit to going dark. Your natural lifespan is drastically reduced, you get all ugly and disfigured, any students you happen to pick up will off you at the first chance they get, you're always hiding from society (unless you've set up your own regime), and you only get one choice of one saber color. (Granted the black robes are pretty stylish)

So help understand, all you Force Sensitives

Heck, in most of the games the light side powers are more desirable than the dark side ones.

Woah, hold up there. You played KotOR1 and 2 and thought the Light side powers were better than darkside? Force Kill, Storm and Horror? That stuff was epic. I always found the dark side powers more desireable than the light side.

you only get one choice of one saber color.

Again, played KotOR1 and 2? The Dark Jedi in that get both red and purple. Last time I checked you could pick whatever colour you want, it's just that red+purple were favoured by the Sith. Limiting yourself to one colour may be limiting your own expanse of power, which as any Sith will tell you, is BAD. Purple lightsabers are crazy stylish anyway. Completing KotOR 1 with the dark side showed exactly why it's attractive. You end with a giant infinite production factory and your own army of the Sith to do your every bidding. Plus you get your own hot sidekick to sit by you.

As for the students offing you thing, that just keeps you on your toes. What better way to hone your powers than constantly fending off attacks? Yeah, it's more risky, but it's also a way to get power faster.

you're always hiding from society

The Sith weren't really hiding from society in KotOR 1. Not played 2 in ages, but I don't think they were hiding too much in that either. In the films, yes, but that was years after the events that took place in the Old Republic.

Amnestic:

Heck, in most of the games the light side powers are more desirable than the dark side ones.

Woah, hold up there. You played KotOR1 and 2 and thought the Light side powers were better than darkside? Force Kill, Storm and Horror? That stuff was epic. I always found the dark side powers more desireable than the light side.

Eh, after my Guardian's master flurry, two weapon fighting, and speed, nothing lasted more than a single round (including Malak after I destroyed all his little batteries).

ZenMonkey47:

Amnestic:

Heck, in most of the games the light side powers are more desirable than the dark side ones.

Woah, hold up there. You played KotOR1 and 2 and thought the Light side powers were better than darkside? Force Kill, Storm and Horror? That stuff was epic. I always found the dark side powers more desireable than the light side.

Eh, after my Guardian's master flurry, two weapon fighting, and speed, nothing lasted more than a single round (including Malak after I destroyed all his little batteries).

At least two of which you can use as a Sith in KOTOR, and all three in KOTOR 2.

including Malak after I destroyed all his little batteries).

If I recall correctly, the Force ability to suck his batteries into yourself and heal you instead of letting him heal was in fact a Dark Side power. Just another example of the Dark side beating out the Light.

How dare you underestimate the power of the dark side*attempts to force choke over internet*Shit, my connection isn't good enough to force choke you.
now to get back on topic. the light side powers only make the character protected from something, or buffs them in some way.in order to kill with your powers, you have to follow the dark side. The sith only hide because they were so weakened by the events in KOTOR, which sent them into over a millenia of mending wounds and attempting to upsurp power without the jedi knowing. the sith only were hiding in the prequels, using the CIS as a figurehead to mask thier true identitys.If they were discovered, they would have been wiped out. As for the students, and being a sith scholar myself, will only try and kill you to gain your power or to keep you from fucking up again.they won't attack you out of the blue and try to kill you for no reason. I hope ythis was very informative

thebobmaster:

ZenMonkey47:

Amnestic:

Heck, in most of the games the light side powers are more desirable than the dark side ones.

Woah, hold up there. You played KotOR1 and 2 and thought the Light side powers were better than darkside? Force Kill, Storm and Horror? That stuff was epic. I always found the dark side powers more desireable than the light side.

Eh, after my Guardian's master flurry, two weapon fighting, and speed, nothing lasted more than a single round (including Malak after I destroyed all his little batteries).

At least two of which you can use as a Sith in KOTOR, and all three in KOTOR 2.

True, but with light force enlightenment you get speed, armor, and valor all for the price of one buff.

But, aaaaaanyway, back to the question...

Because it's EEEEVIL! EEEEEEEEEVIL!

The prospect of throwing my lightsaber then choking one dude and toasting the other with lighting does sound reason enough to give up on the light side. Besides they have cookies.

It really depends on what you want;

The Light Side in KOTOR is much more centered around turning yourself into a unstoppable melee machine - Force Valour, Resistance + Immunity, Speed, Armour all help in preventing your enemy from doing any harm to you whilst you give yourself more attacks and damage output in close combat.

The Dark Side focuses more on damaging your opponent directly rather than enabling your own body to do all the damage, with debuffs like Horror and Affliction, and outright stupid damage output with Force Storm.

In my opinion? I prefer Light Side - it is far more versatile than spamming Force Storm, your damage output on singular targets is just as good if not better, and if you're buffed up like you should be then most opponents will either miss or barely harm you with their moves. The only really challenging thing in Kotor is the bosses in my opinion, and on my best run of KOTOR 1 as Light Side I beat every boss in the game in one, maybe two rounds, one round taking their health bar alllll the way down with Valour, Armour, Speed etc. etc.

They're both very valid choices, but for melee go Light Side, and force focused go Dark Side.

Darth Mobius:
The Light side powers were defensive, and everyone knows that the best defense is a good offense. So Force Storm outdoes Force deflect at keeping blaster bolts from hitting you... At least, that is how it worked for me in KOTOR 2....

Ive never really understood that concept;

If you have twice the defense, then you live twice as long, and that means you get twice as many attacks - so a good defense can negate a good offense by simply outlasting the opponent one-on-one.

Then again, a good offense has ways around this, and a brilliant offense bypasses it completely...so the saying should be;

The best defence is completely owning the other guy by being smart about it.

I wrote an extensive reply which got to the root of the whole thing via what Star War's Jedi and Sith are based on, Eastern movies laced heavily with Taoism. Sadly it was accidentally deleted when the page was refreshed and it's far too long to recreate.

To answer what question you asked, rather than any question you could possibly ask, the Dark and Light side are totally equal in power and neither confers any benefit. It's down to the skill of the individual in utilising them. Why you would go Dark is, at it's core, the same reason you go Light. Which is to say it's your individual nature and tendancies. If you want personal power and to revel in emotions, then you're Dark. If you're interested in being benevolent, selfless and concentrating on other peoples wellbeing over your own, then you're Light. Taoism states that balance must be maintained, so for the existance of the Jedi, there has to be Sith.

The Dark side bangs on about how strong it is because bragging is part of the Dark side. Be it for intimidation or the sake of ego. Think about what the Jedi do, or don't, apply the opposite to the Sith, and there you have it. A Jedi would never bang on about his accomplishments and power. Apprectices will try to off you because they fear you and you're probably an obstacle to their own ambitions. Jedi apprentices won't kill their masters because they respect them and think of them as great sources of wisdom and an aid to everyone for the sake of common 'good'.

This is a drop in the ocean compared to what i'd written for you orginally. Hopefully it serves it's purpose though.

If you have twice the defense, then you live twice as long, and that means you get twice as many attacks - so a good defense can negate a good offense by simply outlasting the opponent one-on-one.

If you attack them twice as hard, they live half as long, which means you only need to survive half as many hits. Not only that, but disabling them with Force Choke/Horror means you take no hits! Though the Light side has an equal power in Force Stasis.

I preferred the dark side powers for KotOR, but really it's personal choice. Generally I'm swung more by the ethical choices than attraction of power. I found it much easier to play a Dark side character in both KotORs, which has been confusing since I found myself allying with a more paragon path in Mass Effect. It might be because the idea of Force choking someone is just so damn attractive I can't help myself.

Taoism states that balance must be maintained,

Wasn't black Jedi subcharacter in KotOR an entirely neutral jedi? For the life of me I can't remember which game or what his name is, but iirc he was the guy living in the swamp of a forest.

An excellent reply Zakull

The light side has stasis field (and disable droid) which is a poor man's horror. ;)

Oh, and the Jedi's name is Jolee Bindo, and he was voiced by the extremely talented Kevin Michel Richardson (the same guy who did BG's Servok)

Oh, and the Jedi's name is Jolee Bindo, and he was voiced by the extremely talented Kevin Michel Richardson (the same guy who did BG's Servok)

Ah. I did have a J in my mind, but I wouldn't have placed it on Jolee.

In my opinion HK-47 gives the Darkside an added humour to evil so Ill follow him anyday

What? The real question is why you'd choose Light Side. I mean seriously.

I will tell you all now: If I am ever standing on the precipice of an endless shaft into the clouds of a gas giant, and am presented with the choice of "rule galaxy with dad" and "die", I'm going to choose "rule galaxy with dad" and if that makes me all "dark side" then so beat. I'll make some donations to the Red Cross or poverty in Kashyyk or something, when I'm not busy carousing in the pleasure palaces of Coruscant and force-choking all who oppose me, anyway.

And another thing: If you were in charge of the training of young men of unbelievable god-like power, who risk turning evil if their emotions turn to anger and hate, would you actually insist these boys be CELIBATE and think that's a good idea? And if you did insist they were celibate, would you make them the close, personal bodyguards of hot princesses who like to dress in sexy black leather corsets? I call that dumb, or evil, or both!

Doing that to Anakin was way more evil than anything Palpatine ever did. Palpatine just made him the Six Million Dollar Jedi.

After the Jedi invaded the homeworld of the Sith, there have only ever been 2 at once. A master and an apprentice. Every sith candidate could have just as easily become a Jedi, but in most cases they were chosen before the positive outlook the Jedi provides has been imprinted.

People forget that both 'sides' are just organized usages of 'the force' and not an either/or situation.

Darth Mobius:

Ixus Illwrath:
After the Jedi invaded the homeworld of the Sith, there have only ever been 2 at once. A master and an apprentice. Every sith candidate could have just as easily become a Jedi, but in most cases they were chosen before the positive outlook the Jedi provides has been imprinted.

People forget that both 'sides' are just organized usages of 'the force' and not an either/or situation.

Nope. Read your history. Especially the Darth Bane novels... The Sith HAD to limit themselves to only a master and apprentice because of the competitive nature of Sith Apprentices...

I'm not in any way arguing with you, as you are a Sith :)

But yeah, that clears that up.

I don't really think that it is power so much as freedom. In the Jedi Order, everyone is restricted and unable to express the slightest whim against the Order, while the Sith have the freedom to do anything, VINI VIDI VICI, and all that Jazz.

As Yoda said in episode V, the dark side is easier. Its like the difference between picking up guitar hero and playing a real guitar. The Dark side is no more powerful that the light, but its easier. At least, thats my theory, Im not a mega star wars fan.

More freedom, it's for people without discipline who get drawn in and the power corrupts them.
That's why most jedi start training at like age one so they have no previous personality of laziness or know a life outside of constant work, though some still go for this.
The Jedi are servants, The Sith Overlords.

The way it was described to me many years ago is this: If you had access to all the power in the universe, would you let it flow through you to benefit mankind, or would you seek to harness it and bend it to you will?

ZenMonkey47:
Ok, so I've seen all 3 Star Wars movies (and the 3 prequel fan fictions) and played through KotOR I and II, but a question's always hounded me. Why in the name of Exar Kun are all these Jedi attracted to the "dark side" like a moth to flame? All these Sith go on and on about the power of the dark side, but they don't seem to be much more powerful than the Jedi. Heck, in most of the games the light side powers are more desirable than the dark side ones.

There really doesn't seem to be any benefit to going dark. Your natural lifespan is drastically reduced, you get all ugly and disfigured, any students you happen to pick up will off you at the first chance they get, you're always hiding from society (unless you've set up your own regime), and you only get one choice of one saber color. (Granted the black robes are pretty stylish)

So help understand, all you Force Sensitives

That is because you simply do not understand the Dark Side. With the Dark Side, you can get laid without being hounded about it. Also with the Dark Side, you wear black instead of lame ass brown.

Force Choke, Force Lightning, Red Lightsabers, cooler facial hair, and awesome tattoos. All reasons to join the Dark Side.

Something something Dark Side... something something... COMPLETE.

I always liked Sith more than Jedi's on a personal level. The reason to even watch the first Star Wars movies were because you got to see why the Sith were ever a threat to begin with. I.E., Darth Maul, Young Vader in three, and etc. And the reason I LOVED KOTOR was because I got to be a freaking SITH LORD!

Sith all day.

I always play Light Side anyway; the Dark Side is only fun for a bout 10 minutes in comparison.

It's more challenging being a good guy, and I love taking challenges.

I tried to explain in words why people choose the darkside when the lightside is ultimately stronger, but I thought a graph might explain it better, so I made one on paint.

that should explain it.

^
Genius. Couldn't have said it better myself.

tack onto that that its EASY to not be a complete goody twoshoes all the time (which is what the lightside basically requires as it's primary tenants), and you can definately see the allure of it..

actually reading the first post, I can see one misconception the TC is basing his statements on

Your natural lifespan is drastically reduced

one of the basic tenants of the dark side is LENGTHENING your natural life into unnatural lengths. Darth Plagueis (sp) for example, Palpantine's master, was apparently ridiculously old, and had learned the force power to return people back from the dead (which is a darkside ability). Palpantine himself was ridiculously old at his demise in Return of the Jedi, and I have no doubts that if he had not been triple crossed by Darth Vader, he would have gone on to live long after Luke Skywalker died of old age.

On the flipside, the Light Side Practitioners have the ability, using a power developed by Qui Gon Jinn (at least by some sources, I don't want to get into a nerd war over who discovered it) and mastered by Yoda, Obi Wan Kenobi and ultimately Anakin Skywalker that allows them to live on after death as reverberations in the Force, or "Force Ghosts".

So again, while the Darkside Struggles to make life last as long as they can, the Light Side ultimately trumps it by making consciousness eternal.

/endsesquipedalianism

^Which one is the Fallacious Reasoning, again?

Except Death comes about here..............................................................................................................................^

I actually covered that in an earlier post.. in most cases, it doesn't, but for different reasons :P

Dark Jedi's don't die of natural causes, and Jedi Masters (at least since Qui Gon Jinn) can retain their essence in the force after death

edit: Dark Jedi's don't OFTEN die of natural causes.

and also, I don't want to get into a nerd battle royale over star wars stuff, especially with someone with a giant postcount and the word "Darth" in his name.. I'll lose that battle eventually, so I concede :P