The Rule of Two was created to stop the infighting that had led to the Sith's destruction. The man who created the Rule of Two believed there should be one master to embody the power and one apprentice to crave it, allowing the Sith to focus their efforts and operate effectively from the shadows. However, the Sith also had several dark-side acolytes and minions, but not all of them count as Sith Lords. For simplicity, this list will only include Sith Lords with "Darth" in their name, from the Grand Plan's inception to its culmination in the Star Wars movies.

18 Darth Bane

The Sith Lord who created the Rule of Two

Once a man called Dessel, Darth Bane began his life in the Legends timeline as a poor miner. However, his destiny changed when he became a soldier for Lord Kaan's Sith Brotherhood of Darkness, where he quickly proved himself. When he was discovered to be Force-sensitive, he was trained at the Sith Academy on Korriban, but his studies of ancient Sith Lords led him to believe that the Sith had lost their way. Bane tricked the last Sith into destroying themselves at the Battle of Ruusan and declared that there would only be two Sith Lords at any given time.

While Darth Bane's story is not as fleshed out in the Star Wars canon timeline, the basics of his backstory remain the same. Near the end of the Clone Wars, Jedi Master Yoda traveled to Bane's tomb on the Sith world of Moraband, formerly known as Korriban. Yoda encountered a dark side vision of Bane, one wearing alternative armor from most visual depictions in Legends. In both timelines, Bane's restructuring of the Sith ensured their survival for 1,000 years, and his Grand Plan would culminate in the destruction of the Jedi Order and the rise of the Galactic Empire.

17 Darth Zannah

The first apprentice of Darth Bane

As a child, a Jedi mistakenly killed Zannah's friend, causing her to tap into the dark side and kill him. Darth Bane witnessed this and raised Zannah as his apprentice, later bestowing her the title of "Darth." Bane eventually grew impatient with Zannah and believed she would never have the strength to strike him down and take the mantle of Dark Lord, so he sought to transfer his spirit into her. The two dueled one last time, and just as Bane was about to transfer his essence, Zannah struck him down and became the new Dark Lord of the Sith.

16 Darth Cognus (Legends)

Bane's second apprentice and Zannah's second apprentice

Darth Cognus was an Iktotchi assassin known as "The Huntress" who was sent to capture Darth Bane. Despite completing her task, she felt her destiny was somehow connected to Bane and asked to become his new apprentice. When Bane agreed to train her, she took the name Darth Cognus for her cognitive ability to see the future through the Force. When Darth Zannah arrived to challenge Bane for the title of Sith Master, Cognus chose not to interfere, pledging herself to the victor. Zannah emerged victorious and became the new Dark Lord of the Sith, taking Cognus as her apprentice.

15 Darth Millennial (Legends)

A Sith who betrayed the Rule of Two

Darth Millennial was a three-eyed mutant Sith Shadow Hand with the power to see the future, similar to his master, Darth Cognus. Millennial became disillusioned with Darth Bane's Rule of Two, believing it limited the Sith's potential and that returning to Lord Kaan's Rule by the Strong philosophy made more sense. He escaped from Cognus and fled to the Sith world of Dromund Kaas, founding a religion called the Dark Force that eventually became the order of the Prophets of the Dark Side. Cognus was forced to find a new apprentice to continue the Rule of Two established by Bane.

14 Darth Vectivus (Legends)

A Sith Lord who found balance

Although his exact timeline placement is unknown, Darth Vectivus is one of the most memorable Rule of Two Sith Lords for not fully succumbing to the dark side. As a business executive who owned a mining colony, he discovered a Force nexus that affected the minds of his employees, so he shut his operation down. Vectivus left and found a Sith Master to train him, and while he believed in the dark side, his discipline and ethics prevented him from being entirely corrupted. Vectivus' spirit remained beneath his home centuries after his death, where he encountered Jedi and Sith alike.

13 Darth Gravid (Legends)

The man who set the Sith back hundreds of years

Much of the Sith's 1,000 years in hiding can be attributed to the actions of Darth Gravid. He was gradually drawn to the light side of the Force and believed that absolute commitment to the dark side would destroy the Sith. Gravid attempted to incorporate Jedi teachings with Sith doctrine, slowly losing his mind in the process, until he tried to destroy most of his collection of Sith artifacts and lore. He was stopped and killed by his apprentice, but not before he sliced off her arm and did enough damage to set back the Sith Grand Plan by centuries.

12 Darth Gean (Legends)

The apprentice of Darth Gravid

Darth Gean was a Twi'lek Sith Lord who served as Darth Gravid's apprentice, helping him construct a bastion on Jaguada. However, she discovered that her master had lost his sanity and was attempting to destroy his collection of Sith artifacts. Gean managed to break through the barriers Gravid had raised around his bastion and kill him, losing her arm and the left side of her face and chest. She was forced to use a prosthetic limb and train her own apprentice without the vast collection of knowledge Gravid had destroyed.

11 Darth Guile (Legends)

A man who understood the merit of hiding in plain sight

Darth Guile is another Sith Lord with an unknown timeline placement, making it unclear if he was truly a Rule of Two Sith Lord. However, he was one of the many Sith referenced by Darth Plagueis, who recalled how Guile viewed the Sith as malignant cells that couldn't be detected but could spread quickly through the body and kill a victim. Because this matches Darth Bane's desire for the Sith to operate from the shadows, it's reasonable to assume that Guile was a Rule of Two Sith Lord.

10 Darth Ramage (Legends)

An incredibly cunning Sith scientist

Darth Ramage is the final Rule of Two Sith Lord with an unknown timeline placement, but he is notable for his work as a Sith scientist. He created a Sith holocron to record his findings on combining bota and pyronium, powerful materials useful for fighting the Jedi Order. Ramage also explored the possibility of time travel by experimenting on Cephalons, a species able to perceive past and future events.

9 Darth Tenebrous' Sith Master (Legends)

Allowed the Jedi to feel the dark side

The man who trained Darth Tenebrous was an unknown Twi'lek Sith Lord, though he advanced the Grand Plan more than many of his predecessors. He opened a rift in the Force that allowed the Jedi to feel the dark side for the first time in centuries, shifting the balance towards the Sith's goals. Tenebrous and his master also sought to develop a virus that would sever a Jedi's connection to the Force, though this plan ultimately failed. Tenebrous eventually killed his Twi'lek master and became the new Dark Lord of the Sith, taking a young Muun as his apprentice.