A Darkish Acolyte, also referred to as a Sith Acolyte, is strictly what Headland described to Empire. It is basically the bottom rank in a darkish facet hierarchy. Earlier than the establishment of the Rule of Two, Acolytes had been trainees who had not but achieved full Sith standing. Essentially the most direct parallel can be a Jedi Padawan. Later within the timeline, the title of Acolyte belongs largely to folks under the present Sith apprentice.
Although the phrase “Acolyte” hasn’t all the time been used to explain these characters, they’ve existed in almost each period of Star Wars — each canon and legends. Depend Dooku has a number of through the Clone Wars, together with the Sith murderer Asajj Ventress and the Zabrak warrior Savage Opress. The Imperial Inquisitors who serve Darth Vader within the Imperial period additionally fill the position, as they’re given a modicum of coaching in lightsaber fight and the darkish facet of the Power, however not sufficient to make them precise threats to Vader or Palpatine.
The Rule of Two’s nature encourages a relentless growth of Acolytes. The apprentice is supposed to hunt the facility that the grasp holds, and their most dependable means of seizing that energy is by getting a loyal follower of their very own. That is what Darth Vader tries to do with Luke Skywalker in “The Empire Strikes Again.”