The Star Wars universe can get pretty grim at times. By the end of Empire Strikes Back, Luke was missing a hand, Darth Vader was revealed as his father, and Han Solo was a popsicle on his way to Jabba's palace. Revenge of the Sith was even worse as the movie featured Anakin Skywalker finally becoming Darth Vader and the murder of the vast majority of the Jedi in the galaxy.
But as dark as things got in the movies and animated series, things often got even worse in the comics. On more than one occasion, incredibly awful moments played out, both in the current continuity and in Legends— and Darth Vader was the author of many of those moments.
10 Exar Kun Enslaves The Massassi
Back in the days of the Legends continuity, Exar Kun was a notorious figure to say that least. In the Old Republic, he was powerful Jedi who fell hard and became a Dark Lord of the Sith. His war against the Republic and the Jedi became the source of many horrors.
One of the worst acts he committed was enslaving the Massassi race on Yavin 4. Keeping in mind that the Massassi were already twisted by the Dark Side, Kun's treatment of them in the Tales of the Jedi: Dark Lords of the Sith series was certainly a low point.
9 Darth Vader Destroys The Royal Family Of Shu-Torun
Many of the worst atrocities in the galaxy were committed by Darth Vader in the name of Emperor Palpatine and the Galactic Empire. The list is so long that it's honestly easier to go by the people and worlds he didn't inflict suffering on.
In Star Wars: Darth Vader Book III: The Shu-Torun War, he took things to another level. When the Royal Family wouldn't fall in line, he mercilessly slaughtered all of them except for the youngest daughter who he installed as his pawn.
8 Triple Zero Poisons An Enemy
It has been said that everyone has a doppelganger. And in the cases of C-3PO and R2-D2, their doppelgangers are Triple Zero and BeeTee, respectively. These two dark droids are more compassionate friends to each other, though they really love to kill and skin biological entities. It's a passion of theirs.
For a time, they traveled the galaxy with Doctor Aphra. When a gangster named Soo-Tath threatened her in Doctor Aphra #1, Triple Zero took it upon himself to track him down and inject him with a neurotoxin. At that point, Triple Zero was having fun with Aphra and didn't want it to end.
7 Triple Zero Turns On Doctor Aphra
Shockingly, an evil Protocol Droid that loves to murder people and drain their blood isn't particularly trustworthy. Yet, Doctor Aphra put a surprising amount of faith in Triple Zero, which was odd for someone who didn't usually trust anyone.
In an attempt to get out from under the thumb of Darth Vader, Aphra had faked her death. Starting in Doctor Aphra #12, Triple Zero used that information to blackmail Aphra into doing some pretty awful things, even by her standards.
6 Darth Vader Slaughters A Platoon Of Rebel Troopers
It is rare to see Darth Vader at a disadvantage. Even when an opponent manages to catch him off guard, his prowess with a lightsaber and the Dark Side of the Force combined with his brutality generally allows him to claim victory.
In the crossover story called Star Wars: Vader Down, a large contingent of Rebel troopers thought they had Vader outnumbered and outgunned. Apparently, they've never seen Rogue One. The slaughter was one-sided and not in favor of the Rebels.
5 Luke Joins The Dark Side
Star Wars: Dark Empire remains one of the best stories in Dark Horse's run during the Legends continuity. It told the story of the immediate aftermath of the Return of the Jedi, as a fledgling New Republic tried to maintain order and hold back the remains of the Empire.
If their situation wasn't already dire enough, Luke seemingly fell to the Dark Side and began working with a resurrected Emperor Palpatine. The entire story was incredibly bleak, but one of the darkest moments saw Luke butcher tank after tank of Palpatine clones.
4 Darth Vader Destroys Dr. Cylo's Ship
Over the years, Darth Vader has had an incredible variety of nemeses. This is largely because he keeps killing them, so a new one rises up to take their place. It's a vicious cycle that generally ends with someone getting the business end of a lightsaber or tossed out an airlock.
Dr. Cylo was a scientist who had become all but immortal thanks to cybernetic modifications that allowed him to jump bodies and escape death. Vader wasn't having any of this, and in Darth Vader #25 he destroyed most of Cylo's bodies and launched the Cylo and his ship into a nearby star.
3 Exar Kun Breaks Out The Dark Reaper
One of the things that has been forgotten about Exar Kun since the Legends stories were removed from continuity is how evil the man truly was. He might not have been as efficient or effective as Darth Vader, but he was certainly ambitious.
Exar Kun dug up a superweapon called the Dark Reaper that made use of a Force Harvester to drain the Force and turn it into powerful blasts. In the same era that he tormented the Massassi, he used it maliciously, killing thousands of people on Raxus Prime
2 Darth Vader Launches Doctor Aphra Out An Airlock
Doctor Aphra joined the Star Wars universe at the same time that Marvel started publishing Star Wars comics again. She made her first appearance in Darth Vader #3 when she agreed to work for the Sith Lord in exchange for her life. Aphra knew from moment one that it was a limited-time partnership.
Naturally, Darth Vader tried to kill her. Eventually, he ended their partnership by ejecting her out an airlock in Darth Vader #25. Some say it was an act of compassion as it offered her a slim chance at survival, which Aphra still took full advantage of. But it was still a brutal scene.
1 The Yuuzhan Vong Attack
In the Legends, the most devastating force to ever appear was the Yuuzhan Vong. This race of monsters from beyond the edge of the Outer Rim tore a path of destruction across the galaxy that was almost impossible to stop.
The odyssey of the war against them took place across multiple comics and may have been the darkest story in the history of the entire franchise. By the time the battle was over, trillions of lives in all corners of the galaxy had been lost.