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I saw this image recently on a social media site:

Darth Sidious with lightsaber, overlaid with the text of this question

Once I saw it, I started searching. I found several places that made the same claim, almost word-for-word the same, but I never found a site with something solid to back this up.

I thought about popping in the original Star Wars (Yes, I'm old enough to still call the original film by its true name) Blu-ray and look for instances and see if there's any indication of looping or if the lips form "damned" instead of "Sith," but that kind of thing is incredibly hard for me to detect.

Is there any solid evidence to back this up, or is it made up? Were the Sith, in Lucas' original script and during original shooting, called "The Damned?" I find it hard to believe that he'd find the need to go through all the expense for looping over one band that was not known or barely known in the U.S. at all. Also, I notice that in at least the original trilogy that about the only time any "colorful" words are used is when Han says, "Then I'll see you in hell," in The Empire Strikes back. (Which makes me doubt this even more.)

Was the name "Sith" created to allow for re-dubbing over "The Damned?" Is there any good evidence to prove or disprove this?

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    They also were planned to be called wookies, but then Lucas realized he had recently listened to a French boy-band called "the wookies" and refrained from using the name for anything else than tall dudes with a hair problem. ;) Jokes aside - that image shows a typical internet rumor without any base or proof. – e-sushi Aug 5 '13 at 2:05
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    @e-sushi: Uh, yeah, that's exactly why I posted the question and made almost that same statement - because it looks like crud and I'd like to see proof one way or the other. – Tango Aug 5 '13 at 4:24
  • Your question is legit [+1], in contrast to the rumor. ;) – e-sushi Aug 5 '13 at 4:29
  • Yes - I saw a number of people suddenly posting the pic I included on FB in one day, so I started asking them, "Is this verified?" And, of course, they all said, "I don't know." So I asked. Kevin has a good answer - I'm just waiting for the person who runs that site to verify the scripts are authentic and not some BS people made up. – Tango Aug 5 '13 at 6:34
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    Who would voluntarily join "The Damned?" – Rogue Jedi Sep 10 '15 at 18:58
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False. The word "sith" doesn't even appear in the dialog of the first Star Wars movie*, but it does appear in the production notes.

I found a copy of the script online and searched it. The word "sith" appears in five places, all stage notes.

"Damned" appears precisely once, in a well-known quote:

He feared you might follow old Obi-Wan on some damned-fool idealistic crusade like your father did.

Furthermore, I have found Lucas's first several drafts several places online and the rough, second, third, and fourth draft all refer to sith as "sith", and never "damned".

*: At least in any script I could find online.

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  • Do you know the source of that script? Anything to indicate it's the original shooting script? I notice it's not in screenplay format. – Tango Aug 3 '13 at 18:27
  • No, but it would be easily verifiable by watching the movie. – Kevin♦ Aug 3 '13 at 18:28
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    I'm actually fairly certain "sith" doesn't actually appear in any of the first 3 movies. – Kevin♦ Aug 3 '13 at 18:32
  • No, not really. For instance, this includes the early scene on Tatooine - was that transcribed from footage most of us have never seen? Was it made up? Some directors will keep to the script word for word, but more often there will be variances between the shooting script and what shows up on screen. I do know that in materials related to the original movie, Sith was used, since I knew Vader was a Dark Lord of Sith before the 2nd movie came out. (I think Sith was used in narration in The Story of Star Wars.) – Tango Aug 3 '13 at 18:42
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    I was hoping to get an actual answer from the woman who runs that site, but it's been a LONG time and she hasn't responded at all. – Tango Aug 26 '13 at 9:26
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It's false. The Damned's first single, New Rose, was released in 1976.

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    Not to mention that not liking The Damned is just plain not credible. ;) – Lexible Sep 10 '15 at 19:34

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