Introduction
The Sith Lord Challenge is going strong. Get your drawing featured alongside 20+ others in the gallery! All you have to do is:
- Draw your own conception of a Sith Lord. For our purposes, this is an evil space alien, of any species, which usually fights with a laser sword and psychic powers.
- Name your Sith Lord.
- Send me your entry over email, by text, or by Webmentioning this page. Most submitters have requested anonymity, so that will be the default: let me know if you want credit/attribution on this page.
(See Background for an explanation of how the Challenge came to be. To learn how I’ve been running the SLC, and get a better idea of my conceptions behind it, see this section.)
Acknowledgements
To each of you courageous people who have answered the Challenge: well done. I sincerely thank you for using your time and imagination at my prompting, and I congratulate you on having the mojo to participate in a public art exercise. This would have been nothing but a pipe dream without you.
Special praise is due to the creator of Darth Prius, MU. Thanks. You called the Sith Lord Challenge a movement, which makes you the first follower1.
Sith Lords
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Prengubi Cjiiiifgh [pronounced “prehng-GOO-bee kyee-ee-ee-eef” or /pɹεᶇ’gubi kji’i:i:if/]
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Darth Prius [created by MU. The name is pronounced “PRY-us” or /’pɹaɪǝs/, not “PREE-us” like the car]
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Darth Moba the Hutt™
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Duglim Hohmschiz (MS-48)
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Korgoth the World Destroyer [the creator notes that Korgoth is wearing socks and sandals]
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Darth Vegtablor, Sith Lord by association of color and taste only
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Sahr Eh Kolpa
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Veex
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Darth Asshole [created by Jaime]
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Spins the Hypnotist
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Darth “Big Boi” Maxwell [created by Ruby, and a recipient of the Prize for Benighted Dingusry]
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Darth Alley [created by LB]
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Darth Patrick Flat-Nuts [created by Larry]
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Running Cat-Mask Ski-Sith [created by Mary]
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Dominus Pectus [created by Fedora]
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Darth Lord Kraetertorius [note that Kraetertorius “has an S rank in every stat”]
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Darth Dick [“his ability to drink all the beer before you arrive is the ultimate evil,” declares the creator]
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Darth Chef Cat [recipient of Aunt Roxana’s Seal of Approval]
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Darth Pthaaargh [the creator reminds would-be foes that Darth Pthaaargh’s two beefy arms can be used “for punching and strangling”]
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Khz’zithr Mai’Tzo-Kol [created by E-16Man]
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Unnamed Sith [created by Maddy; name forthcoming, along with final inked and colored version]
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Darth Obliti [obliti is a conjugated form of the Latin participle “forgotten”]
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Darth Preta [“an ancient revenant of a dead Jedi, who feeds off fallen Sith and Jedi to increase his power”; created by JW]
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Saber-Tooth Lion
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Zim Pi [created by Nicole. “She’s a Kaminoan and she’s angry.” Don’t be fooled: what appears to be a human nose is actually two Kaminoan nose slits, pierced with a nose ring.]
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The principal burst of activity is over, but participants continue to join in the fun. Give it a shot!
Background
On 2019-08-21, I discovered a crude cartoon of a fox-headed humanoid which I doodled a long time ago. I named the creature Prengubi Cjiiiifgh, and decided he was an original Star Wars character. Fan creations like Prengubi are labeled with the catchall abbrevation “OC” – “Original Content.”
Thereafter came inspiration.
I’ve been asking one person after another, “Would you like to see my Sith Lord OC?” If the other person answers in the affirmative, I follow these steps:
- show them the picture of Prengubi Cjiiiifgh
- inform the friend that they have been Challenged
- tell them to draw and name their own character, and show me the results
This has turned into a spectacular idea.
My Duties
As of 2019-09-03, the Sith Lord Challenge (SLC) has received 20 entries. Ryan Quest has been played by 25-30 people, which means the SLC is now a success on par with that project. Hitting this milestone gave me cause to reflect on the duties I’ve performed so far as the facilitator of the Sith Lord Challenge.
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inventor
I came up with the idea of the Sith Lord Challenge. -
web hosting and design
I set up the SLC page on my website, and edited the home page to invite people to the challenge. I also went through a few iterations of the page structure, and plan to improve it further by making it possible to link to individual entries. -
promoter
So far, all but three entries have originated with my direct efforts to get people involved. The exceptions were submitted by friends of friends who I don’t know by name or face, after one of my own friends or contacts recruited them to the Challenge. -
curator and art coach
Most of the SLC entries have been accepted as-is, but as of 2019-09-02 I’ve had cause to reject three initial attempts. These were Darth Asshole, Darth Dick, and the first drawing (Darth Cubious) from the creator of Khz’zithr Mai’Tzo-Kol.
Each of these entries had a different problem.
- Darth Asshole was originally merely a photograph of someone in a skintight “sexy Darth Vader” costume. I gently rebuked the creator, asking him to draw by hand.
- Darth Dick was originally submitted as just a head, with no visible characteristics that would make the character on-theme as a Sith Lord. I pointed this out and suggested that the creator make the drawing more elaborate by expanding on Darth Dick’s beer-drinking powers.
- The short-lived Darth Cubious had had so little effort put into it that I couldn’t call it a good-faith submission. I challenged the creator to develop an improved piece while preserving certain characteristics of the original.
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art editor
I converted photos to PNG, stripped them of EXIF data, cropped them, and resized them to fit the page. The creator of Darth Lord Kraetertorius originally delivered the drawing and the “character stats” display as separate images, so I merged those together. I also altered Darth Asshole in a way that would never be permitted of an organizer for a serious art competition: I entirely erased the modern-day background of the image. I did this because said background contained everyday items which I felt detracted from the Challenge’s fantastic nature. -
instigator of amateur art
Some of the entries, including Darth Alley and Darth Moba, were made by people with established credentials as artists, designers, or DIYers. These folks needed no encouragement to participate in the SLC. However, most of the entries (my own included) have been made by people hoping to capture an idea despite limited art skills. To the extent that the SLC is an attempt to stimulate art production in “non-artists,” I consider it a rousing success.
Examples from Star Wars
Well-known example Sith Lords from the Star Wars canon include Darth Vader, Darth Sidious AKA Emperor Palpatine, and Darth Maul. Others include Dooku AKA Darth Tyrannus, Darth Caldoth, Darth Plagueis, and Darth Revan.
This is a video lecture by Derek Sivers on the importance of “first followers.” See https://sivers.org/dancingguy for more info.↩