List of ''Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic'' characters

The Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic series consists of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, The Sith Lords and a massively multiplayer online role-playing game called The Old Republic, with the first game being released in 2003 and set 4,000 years before the Star Wars films.[1] The series also encompasses a 2006 comic book series.

The main and player character of the first game is Revan, and the main and player character of the second game is the Jedi Exile. In both games, the main character can either be a human male or a human female, with other characters joining the player's party and becoming controllable. The player can control three characters at one time in both games.[1] HK-47, Canderous Ordo and T3-M4 appear in both of the video games as playable character, while the first game's playable characters also includes Carth Onasi, Mission Vao, Zaalbar, Bastila Shan, Juhani and Jolee Bindo. The second game's playable characters also include Atton Rand, Bao-Dur, Mical, Mira, Hanharr, Brianna, Kreia, Visas Marr and G0-T0.

The characters have overall been well-received, with the first Knights of the Old Republic winning the Academy of Interactive Art's "Outstanding Achievement in Character and Story Development", and both Kreia and HK-47 receiving other awards.

Concept and creation

Chris Avellone, the lead designer of The Sith Lords, has said that "a core part of what made KOTOR I so great was the story and your companions, and that was our intention in the sequel as well",[2] and has also said that he thought that the characters and voice-acting were some of the key strengths of The Sith Lords, and said that they got a lot of help and support from LucasArts in the voice-acting and sound department. Avellone stated that in some cases, the characters turned out "better than we thought they would be". According to Avellone, while "there was some stuff we wanted to add", overall they "got almost everything we wanted in there". Avellone has said he has been surprised by the positive feedback of some of the characters.[3]

Player characters

Revan

Revan is a Sith Lord whose memory has been wiped and rewritten by the Jedi as a Republic soldier. Canonically, Revan is a male and follows the light-side path,[4] but the player may choose to make Revan female and/or follow the dark-side path.

Meetra Surik (The Jedi Exile)

The Jedi Exile, also known simply as just the Exile, is the main protagonist and player character of the second game. She is canonically female and follows the light-side path. The player may choose the gender and decide what path to take. Long after the game was published, the character was named officially as Meetra Surik.

Other playable characters

Recurring characters

Canderous Ordo

Canderous Ordo, voiced by John Cygan, is a Mandalorian who appears in both the first game and in The Sith Lords. Ordo is a veteran Mandalorian warrior who joins the player's party in Knights of the Old Republic. After the game's conclusion, he becomes "Mandalore the Preserver", leader of the Mandalorians. Mandalore pledges himself and his warriors to the service of the Jedi Exile in The Sith Lords.

UGO Networks put Ordo among their top fifty Expanded Universe characters.[5]

T3-M4

T3-M4 is an astromech droid who appears in both games. It was constructed by a Twi'lek named Janice Nall of Taris for local crime lord, Davik Kang. The droid features code-breaking and computer "slicing" skills in addition to being able to mount armor and weapon upgrades. If the player attempts to talk to T3 it will simply communicate in a series of bleeps, similar to R2-D2.

HK-47

HK-47, voiced by Kristoffer Tabori, is an assassin droid owned by Revan, who appears in both of the games. In 2003 HK-47 won Computer Gaming World's "NPC of the Year" award,[6] and later won the category of "Original Game Character of the Year" in the 2004 Game Developers Choice Awards.[7]

Knights of the Old Republic characters

Carth Onasi

Carth Onasi, voiced by Raphael Sbarge, is a soldier and expert Republic pilot, and also the first character to become a party member in the first game. He is a romancing option for female Revan. During the Mandalorian wars, Carth served under Admiral Saul Karath, who would become his mentor and, later, object of revenge. He met Revan while the two were fleeing the Endar Spire, following a Sith attack on the ship. Since then, he became a party member.

Carth Onasi was considered to have been replaced by Atton Rand in the second game by IGN's Hilary Goldstein.[8]

Shiela Lewis put Carth as the 6th top male video game hotties.[9]

Mission Vao

Mission Vao, voiced by Cat Taber, appears in Knights of the Old Republic. She is a Twi'lek and friends with Zaalbar. Mission joins the player's party after encountering her in the Under City on Taris. In an interview with Comic Vine, Taber describes her character as "in the 'scoundrel' class so I really wanted to put some Han Solo in there. Her sarcasm, her defensiveness and her bravado, all have a bit of Han as their inspiration. And oh yeah, she also travels with a wookie, but I didn’t have to add that part, the writers did it for me!"[10]

Zaalbar

Zaalbar is a character from Knights of the Old Republic. He is friends with Mission Vao and joins the player's party. Zaalbar is the brother to Chuundar, the leader of a tribe on Kashyyyk. When your party first arrives on Kashyyyk, Zaalbar is referred to as "mad claw". Through Zaalbar's and Chuundar's father, Freyyr, Revan learns why Zaalbar betrayed the tribe. Zaalbar learned that Chuundar was selling Wookiee slaves to Czerka Corporation, and attacked him. Freyyr sided with Chuundar and thus Zaalbar was exiled. When Revan and Freyyr confront Chuundar, Zaalbar sides with Freyyr and Revan and in turn kills Chuundar, freeing the Wookiees and driving Czerka off the planet. He has a life-debt to Revan. The life debt was bound when Revan assisted Mission Vao in saving Zaalbar from a group of Gammorean slavers in the Under City on Taris.

Bastila Shan

Bastila Shan, voiced by Jennifer Hale, is a Jedi who appears in the first game. The first part of the game is spent rescuing her after the Endar Spire is destroyed. She is the Jedi who defeated Revan prior to the game's beginning and joins the player character's quest. Darth Malak captures her and seduces her to the Dark Side. If the protagonist aligns with the light side of the Force, he defeats Bastila in a lightsaber duel and she redeems herself by helping the Republic fleet. If the protagonist is a dark-side character, the player has the option of killing Bastila or allowing her to live. If the latter, Bastila becomes his apprentice. Bastila is also a romance option if your character is a light-sided male. Canonically, she is redeemed from the dark side by Revan and the two fall in love. She also appears in the sequel. She has a descendant, Satele Shan, who appears in the MMO follow-up "Star Wars: The Old Republic".

Bastila was chosen by IGN as their 62nd favourite Star Wars character.[11]

Juhani

Juhani, voiced by Courtenay Taylor, was once a padawan who believed she killed her master. She turned to the dark side and put a taint on the Grove on Dantooine where she meditated. She believed that after what she did the Jedi Council would not accept her back and that the dark side held greater power. Depending on which path the conversation is steered in by the player, Revan may either fight (and kill) her or redeem her and have her join him to discover the location of the Star Forge.

Juhani was listed by UGO Networks as the 10th worst Star Wars Expanded Universe character, who said that while "Juhani isn't really good or bad per se. She's just utterly pointless" and that "she's almost a non-entity in the story. Her personality couldn't be more vanilla, her Jedi skills are inferior to others in your party... even the simple act of looking at Juhani provokes annoyance".[12]

Jolee Bindo

Jolee Bindo, voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson, is a character in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Jolee is an old hermit living on Kashyyyk and a former Jedi Padawan. Bindo helped Revan get past shield generators that lead deeper into the shadowlands and remained with Revan's party. After the main character gains experience, Jolee will tell of how he was once a smuggler, and through this met his wife. Against the wishes of the Jedi Council he trained her in the Jedi ways. She was then seduced to the dark side by Exar Kun, upon failing to convince Jolee to join Exar Kun as well, she drew her lightsaber on him. Jolee won the fight, but he was unable to bring himself to kill her. She escaped and went on to kill many Jedi. Jolee expected to be punished harshly for his mistakes, but the Council said he had learned his lessons the hard way, and even considered promoting him to knighthood. Disappointed with the Jedi’s decision, Jolee left the Order and started wandering the galaxy before being stranded on Kashyyyk, where he meets the player character.

The Sith Lords characters

Atton Rand

Atton Rand, voiced by Nicky Katt, is a character in The Sith Lords.[3][8] Atton is an Echani combat-trained pilot that the main character meets on the asteroid mining station Peragus II. Atton fought in the Mandalorian Wars as well as the Jedi Civil War. He originally fought with the Republic, and when Revan won against the Mandalorians and became Darth Revan, Atton remained under his command and became a Jedi-hunter. He can become a Jedi Sentinel during the game.

Bao-Dur

Bao-Dur, voiced by Roger G. Smith, and the Remote are characters in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords.[3][8]

Bao-Dur is a Zabrak from Iridonia, and a technician who fought under the command of the Jedi Exile during the Mandalorian Wars. Bao-Dur is the inventor of the Mass Shadow Generator that ended the battle on Malachor V by completely obliterating the Mandalorian Armada and inadvertently killing many Republic soldiers on his own side of the battle, leading to a great deal of guilt later in his life. The Exile (who much later befriended Bao-Dur) gave the command, which sent massive echoes in the Force throughout the galaxy. Bao-Dur is trainable as a Jedi Guardian.

Mical

Mical, also known as the Disciple, is a character in The Sith Lords voiced by Greg Ellis. He is a soldier and force-adept that was refused for training because of the Mandalorian Wars. He eventually tells the player character that he wishes the player to be his master. He is a playable character that joins the player's party on Dantooine if your character is female. The Disciple can be influenced by light side acts and can be trained as a Jedi Consular.

Mira

Mira, voiced by Emily Berry, appears in The Sith Lords. Mira lost her family during the Mandalorian Wars. By the end of the wars, the Galactic Republic was flooding with refugees, and many of them, including Mira, ended up in the refugee sector of Nar Shaddaa. To survive in the hostile environment, she became a bounty hunter with the sole purpose of earning credits. A rival bounty hunter, the Wookiee Hanharr, was employed to hunt her by an unknown person. Mira will only join the light-sided player, and can become a Jedi Sentinel.

Hanharr

Hanharr is a Wookiee bounty hunter in The Sith Lords, and can play different roles within the game, depending on the alignment of the player character. Hanharr is encountered on the planet Nar Shaddaa, as is Mira, another bounty hunter. One of these will join the party of the Jedi Exile, as is determined by the personality of the player character. Light-side players are joined by Mira, dark-side players are joined by Hanharr.

Brianna

Brianna, voiced by Grey DeLisle, is the "Last Handmaiden" on a Jedi Academy located on Telos IV in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords. She initially does not reveal her name to the Exile; until she mentions her name late in the game, she is referred to as the Handmaiden. Brianna joins the party after leaving Telos on the Ebon Hawk if your character is male. Her training before joining the Exile's party makes her a skilled close quarter combatant and, after fulfilling certain combat and conversation requirements, she can be trained to become a Jedi Guardian or a Dark Jedi Guardian. It is revealed by Kreia that Brianna takes up Atris' role as the historian of the jedi.

Visas Marr

Visas Marr appears in The Sith Lords. Initially an apprentice of Darth Nihilus, she eventually joins the player's character's party. Visas Marr comes from the planet of Katarr, which was destroyed by Darth Nihilus when she was a child. While she is considered blind, she is able to see through the Force which allowed her to find the Jedi Exile. When she confronts the Exile, she loses and in turn becomes part of the Exile's party. Eventually the player confronts Nihilus with Visas, and fights him. The player may choose to have Visas sacrifice herself to weaken Nihilus.

Brian Menze designed the character, and drew on ninjas, the look of previous Sith Lords, and G.I. Joe character the Baroness in creating her concept art. As the character was mostly covered – only the lower half of her face is visible – Menze decided to make what was shown "as sexy as possible". Menze deviated from the usual black Sith Lords dressed in and instead added some color to soften her, based on the written description of the character.[13] Kelly Hu was chosen to voice the character. Voice directors Will Beckman and Darragh O'Farrell wanted someone "special" and "maybe a little sexy" to voice the part.[14] It was Hu's first role as a voice-actress, and she has said she enjoyed the role.[15]

G0-T0

G0-T0, voiced by Daran Norris, is a droid who appears in The Sith Lords. Built to oversee and aid in the planetary reconstruction of the planet Telos, its programming included two directives: produce options to rebuild the Republic and follow all the laws of the Republic. Sadly, all options G0-T0 could think of to assist the Republic would involve breaking a Republic law. Following this, the droid 'broke'; it overrode the second directive, and set up the greatest smuggling organization in the galaxy. Eventually the droid would be destroyed, but not before the organization had helped countless systems achieve prosperity.

Comics characters

Major antagonists

Darth Malak

Darth Malak, voiced by Rafael Ferrer, is the old Sith apprentice of Revan and is the main antagonist of the first game. Malak and Revan disobeyed the Jedi Council and helped the Republic defend against the Mandalorians. They fell to the dark side in pursuing the Mandalorians. Malak then betrays his master and usurps the title of Dark Lord of the Sith. However, Revan survives the attack, at the cost of his memory. Revan regains his power in the search for the Star Forge, and defeats Malak in the game's final battle. Jesse Schedeen of IGN put Malak, along with Revan, as their fifth favourite Star Wars villain, saying that "[v]isually, both Jedi are immediately memorable".[16] IGN also put Malak as their 28th top Star Wars character[11] and their 33rd favourite videogame villain.[17] GamePro's Hugh Sterbakov listed Darth Malak as 22nd most diabolical videogame villain of all time, saying he was "one of, if not the coolest expanded universe Star Wars character yet".[18] UGO Networks put the character as their 19th top Star Wars Expanded Universe character.[5] On GameSpot's "All-Time Greatest Villain" competition, Darth Malak managed to get into the top sixteen.[19] GameDaily's Robert Workman put Darth Malak as their 16th top evil mastermind of all time.[20] Robert Workman also listed Malak as one of his favourite Star Wars video game characters.[21]

Kreia

Kreia, voiced by Sara Kestelman, is the teacher and mentor to the Jedi Exile in The Sith Lords.[8][22] Near the end of the game, she is revealed to have been Darth Traya, the Lord of Betrayal, all along. Her character received mixed reception since the game's publication, but is generally thought to be one of the most well developed backgrounds and characterizations. IGN chose her as the 81st top Star Wars character[11] and Kreia, along with the other Sith Lords, was put as the 2nd top Star Wars villain that was left out of the original list by Jesse Scheedeen based on reader's comments.[23] IGN's Hilary Goldstein said that "Kreia offers some truly fantastic dialogue in KOTOR 2".[8] GameSpy praised Kreia as "Best Character" in their "Game of the Year" awards for 2005, saying that "Kreia was easily the most intriguing, complicated, enigmatic, well-designed and nuanced character in a video game [in 2005]" and that she made "a trip full of heavy-duty thought a whole lot of fun".[24] Darth Traya is ranked 7th among Game Informer's "Top Ten Female Villains in Video Games" by Liz Lanier (issue #247, November 2013), saying that "Kreia is one of the few female Sith Lords of the Star Wars universe, but she represents women of the dark side relatively ruthlessly. She's also one of the few villains who still wants to kill the player's character even after an olive branch is extended... though she appreciates the offer."[25]

Darth Sion

Darth Sion, voiced by Louis Mellis, is an antagonist in The Sith Lords. Darth Traya trained both Sion and Nihilus, who in turn betray her. He holds his ravaged body together with the dark-side of the Force. The player's character eventually defeats Sion, and upon doing so, can return him to the light before he dies. Sion, along with the other Sith Lords, was put as the 3rd top Star Wars villain left out of the original list based on reader's comments by IGN,[23] and was chosen by IGN as their 73rd favourite Star Wars character.[11]

Chris Avellone, lead designer of The Sith Lords, was inspired to create Sion by Tessai's death scene in Ninja Scroll.[26] In contrast to other characters, Sion's design took much longer to hone down. Brian Menze, creator of the concept art and in-game model, had difficulty finding a design that Avellone was satisfied with, and the two had many conversations on how he should appear.[26] It was planned that Sion would have small parts of him orbiting around him. Engine troubles, however, made that difficult, ultimately resulting in a character looking far more "human".[26] Voice directors Will Beckman and Darragh O'Farrell originally sought to hire someone with an English accent, rather than the Scottish one found in the game. Problems arose due to most English actors lacking deep voices, though afterwards they wished to avoid making Sion "too Scottish", wishing to avoid creating a caricature to American ears.[14] They called Sion's voice one of their favorites in The Sith Lords.[14]

Darth Nihilus

Darth Nihilus appears in The Sith Lords and in the Star Wars: Legacy comic series. Darth Traya found and trained Nihilus on Malachor V. With Darth Sion, Nihilus later betrayed her and drove her into exile. The Jedi Exile killed Nihilus during the Purge that followed the Jedi Civil War. Nihilus, along with the other Sith Lords, was put as the 2nd top Star Wars villain who didn't appear in an earlier list based on reader's comments by IGN's Jesse Schedeen, Schedeen commenting "[a]t the very least, Nihilus probably wins the award for coolest-looking Star Wars villain ever".[23] IGN also put the character as their 56th top Star Wars character.[11]

Other characters

Reception

IGN's Aaron Boulding said that in the first game there was "tons of character development" and the "original characters and story are interesting enough, but being in a Star Wars setting just makes them like family".[28] GameSpot said that "many of the game's characters are well defined".[29]

The first Knights of the Old Republic game was given the "Outstanding Achievement in Character and Story Development" award by the Academy of Interactive Arts in their annual Interactive Achievement Awards.[30] HK-47 won two awards, one being the 2003 Computer Gaming World "NPC of the Year" award,[6] and also the "Original Game Character of the Year" category in the 2004 Game Developers Choice Awards.[7] Kreia also won the "Best Character" award in GameSpy's Game of the Year awards.[24]

References

  1. 1 2 "Interview: Bump in the Old Republic Knights". ComputerAndVideoGames.com. 14 November 2002. Retrieved 8 March 2011.
  2. ↑ "Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords Wrap Report, Part 1". RPG Vault. IGN. 23 December 2004. Archived from the original on 13 July 2011. Retrieved 8 March 2011.
  3. 1 2 3 "Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords Wrap Report, Part 2". RPG Vault. IGN. 27 December 2004. Archived from the original on 13 July 2011. Retrieved 8 March 2011.
  4. ↑ Wallace, Daniel (25 October 2005). The New Essential Chronology to Star Wars. Del Rey. ISBN 978-0-345-44901-6.
  5. 1 2 Adam Rosenburg (1 July 2008). "Top 50 Star Wars Expanded Universe Characters". UGO Networks. Archived from the original on 7 August 2008. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
  6. 1 2 "Ziff Davis Media : Press Release". Ziff Davis Media. 3 February 2004. Archived from the original on 7 June 2004. Retrieved 8 March 2011.
  7. 1 2 "GDC 2004: Best Game Ever". IGN. 25 March 2004. Archived from the original on 13 July 2011. Retrieved 8 March 2011.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 Hilary Goldstein (30 November 2004). "KOTOR 2: Meet Your Team". IGN. Retrieved 9 February 2011.
  9. ↑ Sheila "Jube" Lewis (11 May 2009). "Rebuttal: Top 10 Male Video Game Hotties". VE3D. IGN. Retrieved 8 March 2011.
  10. ↑ Guerrero, Tony (16 September 2010). "Interview: Catherine Taber, Padme On Star Wars: The Clone Wars". Comic Vine.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 "Top 100 Star Wars Characters". IGN. Archived from the original on 17 February 2011. Retrieved 9 February 2011.
  12. ↑ Adam Rosenburg (6 December 2008). "The Worst Star Wars Expanded Universe Characters". UGO Networks. Archived from the original on 10 July 2011. Retrieved 8 March 2011.
  13. ↑ Ben Kuchera (29 October 2012). "Behind the scenes with Fallout, KOTOR, Project Eternity artist Brian Menze". Archived from the original on 11 December 2013. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  14. 1 2 3 "Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords Designer Diary #4 - Voices". GameSpot. 31 January 2005. Archived from the original on 16 June 2015. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
  15. ↑ "Kelly Hu of TMNT: She Loves Playing Tough Chicks". Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  16. ↑ Jesse Schedeen (17 April 2008). "Top 15 Star Wars Villains: Episode III". IGN. Retrieved 8 March 2011.
  17. ↑ "Top 100 Videogame Villains". IGN. Archived from the original on 13 July 2011. Retrieved 8 March 2011.
  18. ↑ Hugh Sterbakov (5 March 2008). "The 47 Most Diabolical Video-Game Villains of All Time". GamePro. Archived from the original on 18 October 2010. Retrieved 12 May 2011.
  19. ↑ "All-Time Greatest Villains". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 11 July 2011. Retrieved 8 March 2011.
  20. ↑ Robert Workman (26 November 2008). "Top 25 Evil Masterminds of All Time". GameDaily. Retrieved 8 March 2011.
  21. ↑ Robert Workman (11 September 2008). "Our Favorite Characters From Star Wars Video Games". GameDaily. Archived from the original on 15 October 2008. Retrieved 10 May 2011.
  22. ↑ Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords Developer Interview 2. GameSpot. 8 May 2004. Retrieved 8 March 2011.
  23. 1 2 3 Jesse Schedeen (25 April 2008). "Top Star Wars Villains: Fan Favorites". IGN. Retrieved 8 March 2011.
  24. 1 2 "GameSpy's Game of the Year 2005". GameSpy. Archived from the original on 23 December 2005. Retrieved 8 March 2011.
  25. ↑ Lanier, Lix (November 2013). "Top Ten Female Villains". Game Informer. p. 24.
  26. 1 2 3 Robert Purchese (31 July 2013). "Fear is the path to the dark side". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on 9 June 2015. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
  27. ↑ Jesse Schedeen (1 October 2009). "Star Wars: Know Your Bounty Hunters". IGN. Retrieved 10 March 2011.
  28. ↑ Aaron Boulding (21 November 2003). "Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Review". IGN. Retrieved 9 March 2011.
  29. ↑ "Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Review". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 11 July 2011. Retrieved 10 March 2011.
  30. ↑ 1UP Staff. "Interactive Achievement Award Winners Announced". 1UP.com. Archived from the original on 4 July 2015. Retrieved 8 March 2011.
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