History Literature / DarthBane

* [[GoodIsOldFashioned Evil Is Old Fashioned]]: The Brotherhood considers Bane a throwback to the Sith's [[StupidEvil pointless and destructive]] past, largely because of his uncompromising preference for [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority the rule of the strong]] as per tradition.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: During the ten-year TimeSkip in "Rule of Two", Johun was assigned to Chancellor Valorum, and he spent more time learning politics than practicing with his lightsaber and Force abilities. As a result, when he and the other Jedi face off against Bane and Zannah in the climax, Johun himself is the weakest fighter in the room.

* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Zannah still retains a twisted loyalty to family even after becoming a Sith lord.

* WidowsWeeds: One protocol of the royal family of Doab is that the widowed queen must wear a mourning veil at all times for an entire year after her husband's death, or until it's avenged. Serra hates this, and the minute she gets an opportunity orders Lucia to burn the damn thing.

* KarmaHoudiniWarranty: The ''Bane'' novels end with [[spoiler: Zannah killing Bane and becoming the next Dark Lord (or Lady) of the Sith, but the way they work means she will one day be supplanted by her own apprentice, who will be killed by her apprentice in turn, and so on.

** Chancellor Valorum states that the Ruusan Reformations would bring and end to the Republic's decay and usher in a new age of prosperity and peace. One thousand years, several individuals would say that the Republic's stagnation has been going for thousand years, and the Sith would use the Reformations to turn the Republic into the Galactic Empire.

%%* TheHero: Johun Othone is the closest thing ''Rule of Two'' has to one. He's on the side of good, he gets more development than any other Jedi, and he's the only one convinced the Sith are still out there and trying to do something about it.

* GaiasLament: Doab, a small planet in the Outer Rim, which has been stripped-mined to pieces, with massive kilometer wide gashes in its surface visible from orbit. There's not much life left on the planet.

** In her infiltration of the Jedi Temple, Zanah sees statues of the Lost Twenty (Jedi Masters who left the Order). Since it's a prequel, they're not at twenty yet. When she comes through, it's merely the Lost Twelve.

* VillainousBreakdown: Sirak suffers one when he realizes he cannot defeat Bane, and is crushed during their second duel.

%%* TheHero: Johun Othone is the closest thing ''Rule of Two'' has to one, as he's the only one convinced the Sith are still out there and trying to do something about it.

%%* TheHero: Johun Othone is the closest thing any of the books have to one.

* TheHero: Johun Othone is the closest thing any of the books have to one.

* TheTeam: The five Jedi who fight Bane and Zannah in the climax of ''Rule of Two''.
** Lord Valenthyne Farfalla: TheLeader.
** Johun Othone:
*** TheHero.
*** TheLancer.
** Raska Lsu:
*** TheChick.
*** NumberTwo.
** Sarro Xaj:
*** TheBigGuy.
*** TheQuietOne.
** Worror: SupportPartyMember.

* MsFanservice: Very pretty, and fully aware of it.

* KnifeNut: Before becoming a Sith Lord, the Huntress favors a pair of knives as her main weapons.

** Darovit remained convinced that Zannah, who talked openly about how she was a Sith and had killed people and was planning on staying a Sith, could be talked around to redemption. In any other ''Star Wars'' story, he might've succeeded.

** The establishment of Typhon in ''Rule of Two'' also mentions the Jedi precursors mentions the Ashla and Boga, not Boga'''n''', as later fiction will call it.

* AffablyEvil: The Huntress/Darth Cognus. She's never unnecessarily cruel, and she even accepts Set Harth's proposal to [[spoiler: stop fighting and go their separate ways.]]

* DragonAscendant: Bane builds the entire Rule of Two around this concept. Naturally, the series concludes with Zannah fulfilling this trope with the knowledge Cognus will one day do the same thing, if she proves herself worthy to usurp her power and right to the title of Dark Lord of the Sith.

* PowerNullifier: Darth Cognus can block the abilities of other Force users.

** The only lightsaber style she mastered is the defensive Soresu. This means that, while she can protect herself from almost any opponent, she herself can't go on the offensive until the opponent tires out and/or makes a mistake- and if that doesn't happen she's in a risk of tiring out herself!
** Similarly she only developed her sorcery-related Force abilities, which as powerful as they are, they take immense concentration to use, leaving her unable to perform them while defending herself in a lightsaber duel, and conversely unable to defend herself while using them.

* FemmeFatale: She's described as very attractive, and she's perfectly aware of it, using her beauty on numerous occasions to get information from unsuspecting males she encounters.

* MoreThanMindControl: In order to influence a group of seperatists, Zannah uses the Force on them. It's not quite a mind trick, since that would only last so long, but just nudging emotions they already have to the fore.

* EvilCounterpart: Bane is kind of the anti-Luke Skywalker: both of their mothers died in child-birth. Bane's father was an [[AbusiveParents Abusive Parent]], and he was partially responsible for Bane growing up to be a sociopath. Luke's father didn't even know of his existence, and during their first meeting cut off Luke's hand in a duel, and tried to tempt him to join TheDarkSide. Both Bane and Luke are immensely powerful in the Force. Both have brought around the destruction of the Sith Order of their time. As Bane rebuilt the Sith in accordance with his vision, so did Luke rebuild the Jedi Order. As if trying to lampshade this, when Bane made an appearance in ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'' he was voiced by Creator/MarkHamill.

* RuleOfTwo: Codified by Darth Bane. "One to embody power, the other to crave it."

* TheSocialDarwinist: Bane and by extension, Zannah.

* SternTeacher: Bane to Zannah.

* DeadlyUpgrade: The orbalisks in the second novel. Increased strength and armor that can resist ''lightsaber strikes'' -- at the cost of chronic pain and having one's life drained away.

* {{Determinator}}: Darth Bane.

* GeniusBruiser: Tall, muscular, and intimidating yet has extensive knowledge of Sith lore and creates convoluted long-term strategies with enormous benefits to the Sith in the end, Bane pretty much qualifies.

* TheBigGuy: Sarro Xaj from ''Rule of Two'' is even bigger than Bane.