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| “ | Master Yoda: That place... is strong with the Dark Side of the Force. A domain of evil it is. In you must go. Luke Skywalker: What's in there? Master Yoda: Only what you take with you. |
„ |
| ~ Master Yoda training Luke Skywalker by asking him to confront his personal demons in the Cave of Evil. |
The Dark Spirit, also more commonly known as the Cave of Evil, is a supporting antagonist in the Star Wars franchise, serving as a the tertiary antagonist of the 1980 epic space opera film Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back and as a supporting antagonist in several Canon/Legends works.
It is a sentient entity with the form of a Vergence within the Dark Side of the Force. Having established itself as a cave on Dagobah centuries ago before the Galactic Civil War, the Dark Spirit enjoys playing on the emotions and fears of the victims that have entered its cave, compensating its lack of a physical form by tormenting any light-siders who dare to explore it, such as Yoda, Luke Skywalker and Ben Solo.
As Darth Vader, it was portrayed by the late David Prowse. While showing Luke Skywalker's face, it was portrayed by Mark Hamill. As Galen Marek, it was potrayed by Sam Witwer.
Biography[]
Legends[]
700 years before the Battle of Yavin, an unidentified Dark Jedi led a group of other Dark Jedi. However, they were all killed by a Jedi named Minch, while the leader was mortally wounded. The Dark Jedi fled to a cave on the planet Dagobah, which had a strong nexus in the Force. He died, and the Force presence absorbed the Dark Jedi's powers, creating an unusually strong Dark Side of the Force vergence in the cave, creating a sentient phantom, a formless spirit simply known as the Dark Spirit. The Dark Spirit would haunt the cave, becoming known as the Cave of Evil, and would haunt visitors that would come visit a cave. The Dark Spirit was bound to the cave, but could spread a dark aura of fear onto the swamps of the planet. Many Jedi would take their students to the Cave of Evil to test their training.
Sometime during the Clone Wars, while the Jedi Order and the Galactic Republic battled against the Confederacy of Independent Systems, Yoda settled on Dagobah. There, he encountered visions from the Dark Spirit, showing him the painful future that awaits the Jedi Order.
In 19 BBY, shortly after the Galactic Empire was formed, Yoda decided to live on Dagobah, where he built a hut. At some point, Yoda entered the Cave of Evil. The Dark Spirit took the form of Sith Lord Darth Sidious, and decided to feed on Yoda's fear. Yoda confronted the evil Spirit without his lightsaber, but survived. In 1 BBY, Galen Marek's clone arrived on Dagobah, and Yoda implored him to go to the Cave of Evil. Marek's clone entered the Cave, and found the Spirit, who took the form of numerous duplicates of Marek, entangled and screaming out for help in pain. The Spirit then proceeded to take the form of Juno Eclipse, Marek's love interest, getting attacked, which left him distressed. The Spirit then left Marek alone.
A couple years later, Zak Arranda accidently led a group of cannibal younglings to the Cave. The Dark Spirit, filled with sadism, tortured them with scenes from their traumatic past, showing them visions of when their parents forced them to feed on their flesh. Eventually, in 3 ABY, Luke Skywalker entered the Cave. He was advised by Yoda not to bring his weapons, but Luke ignored the Jedi Master. He entered the Cave, and the Spirit decided to take the form of Luke's worst fear, Darth Vader. Luke beheaded the apparition, and the Spirit decided to scare Luke once more by making Vader's beheaded helmet split open, to reveal Luke's face. The vision then disappeared.
In 9 ABY, Luke Skywalker visited the Cave once more. He encountered visions of Mara Jade during the Battle in the Great Pit of Carkoon between the Rebel Alliance and Jabba the Hutt's Criminal Empire. Skywalker later found a beacon left behind by Jorj Car'das. Later, in 14 ABY, the Spirt and was captured by the Disciples of Ragnos. It returned to the cave once the Scepter of Ragnos was destroyed however. Later, in 22 ABY, Anakin Solo, and a few other allies, entered the Cave. There, Anakin had manifestations of his own doubts, but nonetheless emerged victorious.
The Cave and Spirit's fate remains unknown. Assuming that Dagobah wasn't visited ever again after that (or at the very least its structure itself), the Cave and the Spirit may have been left alone forever. However, since the Spirit feeds off of fear, and assuming no one came back to Dagobah, it is possible the Dark Spirit starved to death and dissolved.
Canon[]
The origins of the Dark Spirit and the Cave of Evil, and how they came to be is unknown. What is known is that a sentient, sapient evil Force vergence haunts the Cave, and Jedi would take their Padawans to Dagobah to test them. Many people throughout the centuries that visited the Cave of Evil went insane and lost their minds, while the Cave fed off of its victims fear. During the Clone Wars, Yoda visited Dagobah and the vergence in the Cave plagued him with visions of the destruction of the Jedi Order to Yoda.
After the Empire was formed, Yoda went into exile on Dagobah, which suprised the vergence. Sometime during the Galactic Civil War, Luke entered the Cave of Evil, taking with him his lightsaber though Yoda implored him not too. There, the evil vergence took the form of Darth Vader, and clashed Luke Skywalker. Luke beheaded it, and the beheaded Vader helmet split open, revealing Luke's own face on it, before dissipating.
Years later, Supreme Leader Snoke took his apprentice, Kylo Ren, to Dagobah while the Resistance was engaging the First Order in a cold war. There, the vergence decided to feed off of Kylo's fear, taking the form of first Luke Skywalker, his uncle. Kylo struck Luke down, but then the vergence decided to take the form of his parents, Han Solo and Leia Organa. Kylo, who was getting distressed struck at the core of the Cave, exploding it and destroying the vergence that haunted the place once and for all. When Snoke told Kylo that he initially planned to use the Cave to take more apprentices there, Kylo said that he won't need any more, which satisfied Snoke.
It’s Villainous Deeds[]
for centuries, and it fed off of people's intelligence as it fed off of their fear. It has driven many people insane after people encounter it in the cave, and the Vergence takes sadistic delight in whenever it's victims go crazy and leave the cave, as it feeds off of their fear and as it states, "It's belly full". The Vergence idolizes the Sith for using the Dark Side of the Force, and wishes it could bow before the might of the Sith. The Cave had experienced Yoda arrive on Dagobah during the Clone Wars (as shown in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars episode "Voices"), and it started feeding off of Yoda's mind and memory of what he fears the most, and starts toying with his mind, creating illusions of Order 66 that installed fear and horror into Yoda's mind. Upon casting a visions of Darth Sidious, the Cave wished that it had a physical form so that it can kneel before the Sith. However, Yoda was strong but he fainted after seeing the visions in the cave and was waken up by the ghost of Qui-Gon Jinn.
Years later, after Order 66, Yoda returned to Dagobah, which suprised the Spirit, as none of it's victims ever returned to Dagobah. Yoda visited the vergence many times, and Yoda conquered his fear over the Cave. This angered the Vergence, as it wanted to install fear into it's victims and not be used as a test. One day, Yoda was visited by a young Jedi named Luke Skywalker, who was getting trained on Dagobah by the former under the ghostly Obi-Wan Kenobi's orders in his way to become a Jedi like his father and defeat the Galactic Empire. Yoda tested Luke to visit the Cave of Evil, and told the young Jedi not to enter the cave with his weapons. However, Luke disobeyed and entered the Cave. There, the Spirit assumed the form of Luke's greatest fear, Darth Vader, and attacked the young Jedi apprentice. Luke beheaded the apparition, and, to scare Luke one more time, the head of Vader's helmet split open, revealing Luke's own face under it, which scared Luke, but proved true which was his main worry: becoming a fallen Jedi like Vader. However, Luke feels that the real one is hurting his friends in Cloud City, Bespin, so he leaves Dagobah to rescue them, leaving Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi's ghost alone with the Vergence. This is the last time we see the Cave of Evil in the film and the last time it's described in the short story, but we do see the Spirit/Cave show up in a few more comic books.
In the third issue of the Star Wars: Crimson Reign comic book series, a mild Force-sensitive archivist called Madelin Sun is hired by Qi'ra (yeah, that crime lady who was Han Solo's girlfriend in his Anthology film), who asks her to track Yoda down so he can help Crimson Dawn against Vader and Sidious, but Sun nearly gets killed by some of Dagobah's beasts and hides herself in the Cave of Evil, which shows her some unspecified thing she finds horrendous enough to change the color of her hair color and skin before flying away, concluding that the planet was Yoda's location but that he had to be hidden at all costs, particularly because he had saved her from the swampy fauna.
Eventually, years after the Galactic Civil War and just before the events of the controversial Star Wars sequel trilogy (in a Star Wars: Age of Republic comic), Supreme Leader Snoke of the First Order takes his apprentice Kylo Ren, none other than Luke's nephew and the son of Han and Leia, to Dagobah. There, he has Ren enter the cave. The Vergence decides to take the form of Luke to confront him. Kylo, with a rage, attacks the apparition and destroys it. However, the Cave manifests into his parents, Han and Leia, leading Kylo to find himself unable to hurt them (a clever foreshadowing that he did love them despite what Snoke claimed). Having had enough, Kylo Ren rips apart the Cave of Evil and destroys it with the Force, precluding Snoke from taking any more of his apprentices (who are never seen but personally we hope to see in the upcoming Rey spin-off) and consequently leading the Vergence to dissolve and die, being no more and getting rid of its malignant presence for the galaxy far, far away.
Why doesn’t it Stand Out?[]
- It’s mind raping multiple people and driving them insane is fridge horror.
- It failed the heinous standards to Vanee,who done worse and similar resources.
- It is genuine loyalty to Sidious by wishing it could bow to him.
External Links[]
- Dark Spirit at the Star Wars Wiki
[]
 Villains
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Bounty Hunters Confederacy of Independent Systems Galactic Empire First Order Nightsisters Shadow Collective Fett gotra Ohnaka Gang Garnac's Hunting Guild Other Sith and Dark Side Force-Users Jabba's Criminal Empire Nihil Clone Troopers Grysk Hegemony Species Others | ||
 Villains
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Galactic Alliance Guard Galactic Empire One Sith Prophets of the Dark Side Sith and Dark Jedi Yuuzhan Vong Confederacy of Independent Systems Nightsisters Glitteryll Conspiracy New Galactic Empire Others | ||