Darth Nihilus vs The Sith Emperor

Originally posted by Sinious
lol really? Sounds kinda stupid.

Here's the exact quote from Wookieepedia:

"Once they had settled into their new lives on the paradise world, the Emperor revealed his true plans for Byss. Immigrants lived out their lives in elaborate pageants and amusements, which distracted them from what Palpatine was really doing: draining their life energies to power his abominable experiments. Eventually, Byss was entirely enveloped in the dark side of the Force. This was evident by the eerie blue-green sunlight that bathed the world in a strange glow."

It doesn't sound like they had any idea what was going on, and there's no mention of anyone being killed by the process.

Originally posted by FreshestSlice
Or Sidious is just that good. Or Force Drain doesn't kill. Pick one.

That good? I'd prefer him causing a greater agony.

It at least proves that it is possible to drain without killing. So I guess Legend's argument is false about this.

Originally posted by S_W_LeGenD
I want official information about Force Drain and differences between its so-called variants.

Regular Force drain just siphons some Force power between the user and their target. Nihilus's variant completely drains the user of all Force, creates an absence in the Force, causes the user to become addicted to draining others and the hunger for force energy ravages their personality.

Chris Avellone stated in this interview that the Ancient Sith knew about the variant that Nihilus and Traya used but didn't make use of it themselves because they didn't want to lose their personalities to the hunger. No other Sith who has used Force Drain has had to deal with this issue.

Also physically Nihilus' drain takes the shape of black smoke, whilst regular drain resembles red lightning in most cases.

Originally posted by Kalen Sykes
Here's the exact quote from Wookieepedia:

"Once they had settled into their new lives on the paradise world, the Emperor revealed his true plans for Byss. Immigrants lived out their lives in elaborate pageants and amusements, which distracted them from what Palpatine was really doing: draining their life energies to power his abominable experiments. Eventually, Byss was entirely enveloped in the dark side of the Force. This was evident by the eerie blue-green sunlight that bathed the world in a strange glow."

It doesn't sound like they had any idea what was going on, and there's no mention of anyone being killed by the process.

Yeah that justifies the situation I guess.

@Nephthys: If that's the case, why didn't Traya lose herself to the same hunger? Also, Darth Nihilus's drain is demonstrably orange, not black.

Traya always seemed more in control of her own being than anyone.

There are many things in her past that suggest her hunger for betrayal and the End of the Force would have driven her much more than actual hunger...

Also, standard drain can definitely kill it's targets--I'd refer you to Dynasty of Evil or Knights of the Old Republic.

Originally posted by Nephthys
Regular Force drain just siphons some Force power between the user and their target. Nihilus's variant completely drains the user of all Force, creates an absence in the Force, causes the user to become addicted to draining others and the hunger for force energy ravages their personality.

Chris Avellone stated in this interview that the Ancient Sith knew about the variant that Nihilus and Traya used but didn't make use of it themselves because they didn't want to lose their personalities to the hunger. No other Sith who has used Force Drain has had to deal with this issue.

Also physically Nihilus' drain takes the shape of black smoke, whilst regular drain resembles red lightning in most cases.

Mr. Avellone's assertion have been overruled by BioWare:

The Sith Emperor, history's most powerful dark side master, performed a ritual of incredible scope to consume the life energy of every being on his homeworld.

Emperor consumed entire biota of his homeworld along with the Force itself surrounding the planet, leaving the planet as a void in the Force in the aftermath. In-fact, Emperor consumed the biota in such a manner that physical bodies of his victims no longer existed after the consumption. In short, Emperor surpassed even Darth Nihilus's ferocity in performing Force Drain.

Emperor would not have been able to perform this ritual without acquiring mastery in Force Drain and other talents, it represented the epitome of his Force Mastery in general. He didn't magically perform actions during the ritual, he prepared for this objective.

Also, KoTOR-CG pointed out that Nihilus performed Force Drain. He wasn't exclusive at learning this ability, Revan also did. KoTOR-CG revealed that Darth Nihilus mastered Force Drain.

Point is that KoTOR II and Mr. Avellone aren't the only sources to determine what Force Drain is, all available information should be taken in to consideration. This is what I have attempted to do in this thread but I have been accused of ignoring and other BS.

Darth Traya is a fallible character, she doesn't knows everything. She also lies and manipulates. She learned Force Drain as well but lied to Meetra Surik that this power could not be learned.

The actions of Emperor, Traya and Nihilus simply prove what can be achieved with Force Drain, if mastered to extreme level.

The analogy of Tutaminis explains this matter; Tutaminis based actions range from shielding skin from radiation of Sun to blocking a lightsaber with bare hands.

Their is no reason to assume that Emperor cannot be destructive with Force Drain in normal ways. He wouldn't have needed to grant immortality to his servants if he wasn't lethal with this talent.

Originally posted by NewGuy01
@Nephthys: If that's the case, why didn't Traya lose herself to the same hunger? Also, Darth Nihilus's drain is demonstrably orange, not black.

She only used the technique right before her death. So she likely just didn't have time to devolve to that point.

Unseen, Unheard portrays it as black smoke.

Nihilus over did it and started absorbing entire planets at a time just to stay sane. Traya never had the hunger he had to begin with.

Despite her having knowledge of the technique long before he.

Originally posted by NewGuy01
Despite her having knowledge of the technique long before he.

Knowledge of it, but not the technique itself, as far as I know. Presumably the Ancient Sith knew about the technique as well, but refused to try to use it. I find it likely she learned the technique through her force bond with the Exile.

LeGenD, Vitiate is the perfect example of being consumed by Hunger.

He tried to wipe out the entire galaxy to give him more power.

Nihilus knew how to use before she did. What he didn't know how to do was use the Force properly. The only way to learn it was from being on Malachor or being a Force wound yourself. Nihilus actually used it long before he even met Traya.

Originally posted by Nephthys
Knowledge of it, but not the technique itself, as far as I know. Presumably the Ancient Sith knew about the technique as well, but refused to try to use it. I find it likely she learned the technique through her force bond with the Exile.

Originally posted by Selenial
LeGenD, Vitiate is the perfect example of being consumed by Hunger.

He tried to wipe out the entire galaxy to give him more power.

Vitiate represents perfect and stable Nihilus, IMO. Having hunger but stable and not being driven by it.

Originally posted by Selenial
LeGenD, Vitiate is the perfect example of being consumed by Hunger.

He tried to wipe out the entire galaxy to give him more power.

Well every sith is consumed by hunger for something. Usually power. Vitiate just experienced that on a more intense level. Nihilus' case is different from the typical sith self-consumption.

Originally posted by FreshestSlice
She also could have learned it when Nihilus used it on her.

She likely learnt it on Malachor.

Originally posted by Sinious
Well every sith is consumed by hunger for something. Usually power. Vitiate just experienced that on a more intense level. Nihilus' case is different from the typical sith self-consumption.

Vitiate was driven by fear, not hunger.

Originally posted by Sinious
Well every sith is consumed by hunger for something. Usually power. Vitiate just experienced that on a more intense level. Nihilus' case is different from the typical sith self-consumption.

Difference is that Emperor Vitiate wasn't unstable like Nihilus. The latter was driven by hunger and would consume himself without food supply. Emperor Vitiate did not had these weaknesses.