Characters of theStar Wars: Knights of the Old Republicseries

See also:List of Star Wars Legends charactersandList of Star Wars characters

An illustration ofRevan's companions in the firstKnights of the Old Republic.From left to right:HK-47,Canderous Ordo, Jolee Bindo, Juhani, Bastila Shan, Carth Onasi, Mission Vao, Zaalbar, and T3-M4.

An illustration of some of the major characters in the secondKnights of the Old Republic,featuring light and dark side versions of a male Jedi Exile and his companions Bao-Dur, Atton Rand, and Mical the Disciple. On the far left is Visas Marr and on the far right is Brianna the Handmaiden.

The video gamesStar Wars: Knights of the Old Republic(2003) andStar Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords(2004) features a large cast of characters noted for its diversity and is the subject of significant discussion from gaming magazines and websites.

The main and player character of the first game isRevan,and the main and player character of the second game is theJedi Exile.Both can be either a human male or a human female. Various other characters join the player'spartyand become controllable, with a maximum of three characters at a time.

Concept and creation

Chris Avellone, the lead designer ofThe 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",and has also said that he thought that the characters and voice-acting were some of the key strengths ofThe Sith Lords,and said that they got a lot of help and support fromLucasArtsin 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.

Player characters

Revan

"Revan" redirects here. For other uses, seeRevan (disambiguation).

Revan's default appearance as "Darth Revan" inStar Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.

The main protagonist and player character of thefirst gameisRevan,an amnesiac Sith Lord who is reassigned a new identity as a member of the Republic army. Revan's true identity is not revealed until a predetermined point in the narrative where the player is confronted by the game's central antagonist Darth Malak for the first time. Revan's gender, class, and facial appearance are chosen and customised by the player, with Rino Romano providing the voice for the male Revan, and Charity James voicing the female Revan. Since the player can choose the gender of Revan, much of the dialogue revolving around the character is gender-neutral with only a few exceptions.

Revan is depicted as a former Jedi who, along with their best friend Alek (later Darth Malak), left the Order to lead the fight in the Mandalorian Wars. One year after the end of the Mandalorian Wars,Darth Revanand Malak returned toRepublicspace at the head of a massive invasion fleet. Calling themselves the Sith, they declared war on the Republic. Since their intention was to unitethe galaxyunder one ruler so they could attack the ancient Sith Empire, they avoided attacking key places such asCoruscant,Onderon, and Dantooine. In one battle with the Republic, a Jedi strike team led byBastila Shanboarded Revan's flagship, intending to capture the Sith Lord. The Sith won the battle, but as Revan prepared to duel with the Jedi who boarded the flagship, Malak, in the hopes of destroying both Revan and the Jedi, betrayed his Master, ordering the ships under his command to fire on Revan's flagship's bridge. Though Malak believed himself to have been successful in killing Revan, the latter survived. Revan, severely injured from the turbolaser blasts, was then taken by Bastila Shan and her Jedi strike team to the Jedi Enclave on Dantooine, where theJedi Councilchose to wipe Revan's memory and imprint them with a false identity that the player creates at the beginning of the game, choosing the character's gender and appearance.

Knights of the Old Republicbegins with Revan awaking on a starship under attack. Throughout the game, Revan learns of their forgotten history and assembles a band of followers as they search for "Star Maps" to lead them back to the Star Forge, which Revan used to make their armada. Revan eventually encounters Malak, who reveals their former identity as a Sith Lord. Malak later captures Bastila and turns her to the dark side. Her ultimate fate depends on the player's choice to follow the light side or the dark side throughout the game. In the continuity ofStar Wars Legends,Revan remains loyal to the light side, defeats Malak, and destroys the Star Forge. The last scene of this ending shows the main characters, including Revan, being honored by the Republic at the site of the temple on Rakata Prime; a picture of later events has emerged from subsequent games and novels.

The sequelKnights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lordsreveals that a year after the defeat of Malak, Revan recalled a threat from their time as a Sith Lord, and left known space to deal with it. Clues to the nature of the threat emerge from in-game dialogue with non-player characters (including Canderous andKreia); this varies according to the player character's alignment and gender.

Prior to the events of the sequel, Revan bade farewell to the nine comrades who had accompanied them on their quest, knowing that none of them could safely accompany them in the places they had to go to; the only NPC with a certain knowledge of where and why Revan left (their navigation droid, T3-M4) won't divulge the information. Also, at the ancient tomb ofLudo Kresshin Korriban, theJedi Exilefights a silent vision of Darth Revan, in which they appear to wield two lightsabers, one red and one violet. The game lists the color crystal of the lightsaber the player obtains from them as a unique red color. This is Revan's only physical appearance in the entire game. Additionally, the Jedi Exile can speak with several companions and non-player characters within the game to learn more about the history of Revan, and their journey into the Unknown Regions; during these conversations, players have the opportunity to set Revan's gender. If they choose to engage in these conversations, Revan's default gender is female, and the player must choose to say Revan is male if they wish Revan not to be a woman: if they choose to dismiss these conversations, Revan's default gender is reset to male.

Revan appears as the primary focus ofStar Wars: The Old Republic: Revan,a tie-in book toStar Wars: The Old Republicthat was released by Bioware and EA on December 20, 2011. Revan re-emerges inStar Wars: The Old Republicafter a team of Republic heroes manages to rescue him from the Emperor's Maelstrom Prison with the help of the ghost of the Jedi Exile. It is revealed that Revan was kept alive for centuries as a prisoner by the Emperor to channel Revan's strength in the Force. Revan's link with the Emperor was two-way, however, allowing them to keep the Emperor's darker urges in check, thereby preventing the Emperor from unleashing his full power upon the galaxy before the Republic and Jedi Order had grown enough again to be able to stand a chance against the Sith Empire. Though thankful to the Republic for rescuing them, having fallen the Dark side again, Revan decides to fight the Emperor on their own terms and takes control of a Rakatan installation called "The Foundry", engineering a droid army (led byHK-47) programmed to identify and eliminate any target with Sith DNA, which not only included Dark Lords of the Sith but also the majority of citizens of the Empire. Revan's plan is thwarted when a group of Imperials manages to infiltrate the Foundry and destroy the droid army and HK-47 before confronting Revan. After a vicious battle, Revan is defeated but disappears before a killing blow can be delivered.

Revan appears again in the "Legacy of Rakata Prime" flashpoint as the mastermind behind the conspiracy in the "Forged Alliances" plotline, and as the primary antagonist of the fourth digital expansion toThe Old Republic,entitledShadow of Revan,in which they return to destroy both the Republic and Empire, leading a group of followers known as the Order of Revan or "Revanites", into infiltrating both galactic powers and influencing them into annihilating each other. Some Republic and Imperial forces also declare themselves loyal to Revan. Revan then draws the Empire and Republic into a battle with the Revanite ships over the planet Rishi, so that neither the Republic nor the Empire can interfere when he confronts the Emperor. However, this plan is thwarted when the player character sends a communication to Republic and Imperial ships informing them of Revan's plan and telling them to cease all fire.

Revan is later cornered onYavin 4where they try to raise the Emperor but is confronted and defeated by the player and an alliance of Republic and Imperial characters. After the Emperor makes his presence known and leavesYavin 4,an apparition of Revan appears and reveals that when they were defeated in the Foundry, only their light side became one with the Force, while their dark side, fueled by hate for the Emperor, survived, setting off the "Forged Alliances" plotline. The two sides of Revan, one Jedi, the other Sith, then reunite, with the now-whole spirit warning the player and their allies that they must undo what has been done, lest otherwise the Emperor will see his evil plans through and everything will be lost. In the Echoes of Oblivion story, Revan's spirit returns to aid the player character in defeating the duplicate spirit of the Sith Emperor before it can possessSatele Shan.

Revan was originally slated to appear in the animated seriesStar Wars: The Clone Wars.In the third-season episode "Ghosts of Mortis," Revan would have appeared as a Sith Lord alongsideDarth Baneas advisors to the Son, a dark side embodiment. Revan was cut from the episode in late production since their presence would conflict with Lucas' view of the Force at the time.In the continuity ofStar Wars Legends,rendered non-canonical in 2014, Revan is male and follows the light-side path,while the character has no confirmed gender inStar Warscanon.

Jedi Exile

TheJedi Exile,also known simply asthe Exile,is the main protagonist and player character of thesecond game.The player may choose the gender and decide what path to take.

According to continuity established byStar Wars: The Old Republicand its associated supplementary material, inStar Wars Legends,rendered non-canonical in 2014, the Jedi Exile is namedMeetra Surik,who is female and aligned to the light-side of the Force.

Other playable characters

Recurring characters

Canderous Ordo

Canderous Ordo,voiced byJohn Cygan,is aMandalorianwho appears in both the first game and inThe Sith Lords.Ordo is a veteran Mandalorian warrior who joins the player's party inKnights 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 theJedi ExileinThe Sith Lords.

UGO Networksranked Ordo among their list of top fifty Expanded Universe characters.

T3-M4

T3-M4is an astromech droid who appears in both games. It was constructed by a Twi'lek named Janice Nall ofTarisfor 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 otherastromech droidslikeR2-D2.

HK-47

Main article:HK-47

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

Knights of the Old Republiccharacters

Carth Onasi

Carth Onasi,voiced byRaphael Sbarge,is aRepublicsoldier and pilot. 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 theEndar Spire,following a Sith attack on the ship. He is the second character to become a party member in the first game, after Trask Ulgo sacrifices himself to fend off the Sith apprentice Darth Bandon. It is later revealed that Carth had a family on Telos who were killed by the Sith: his son Dustil later turns up as aSithconvertand the player has the option of killing him or opening his eyes. He is a romance option for the female Revan. Carth can appear briefly in the sequel,The Sith Lords,via recorded audio and video messages.

Carth is assigned to the cruiserEndar Spireduring the Jedi Civil War when it was ambushed by aSithfleet over the planetTaris.He narrowly escapes by taking an escape pod to the planet surface with an amnesiacRevan,who was memory wiped and given a new identity as a rank-and-file Republic soldier. The two searched for, and eventually rescued, theJediBastila Shanfrom a swoopbike gang.Stealing the ship theEbon Hawkfrom the crime lord Davik Kang, Carth and his companions escape Taris just asDarth Malakorders an orbital bombardment on its surface. After arriving at the Jedi Academy onDantooine,he was tasked with searching for the Star Maps and theStar Forgealong with Bastila and Revan. While searching for the Star Maps, Carth and his companions were captured by Admiral Karath and taken aboard his ship, theLeviathan.After breaking out, Bastila, Carth, and Revan managed to make it to the bridge of the ship, where Saul is defeated and killed. As he lay dying, Saul whispered Revan's true identity to Carth, to his dismay. Depending on Revan's alignment and relationship with Carth, Carth may accept that Revan is no longer a Sith Lord and had truly been redeemed. In the alternative, if Revan sides with Bastila later in the game and reassumes the mantle of Dark Lord of the Sith, Carth flees from the party and disappears: if the dark-sided Revan is female, Carth will confront her and Bastila in the Star Forge's hangar after the defeat of Darth Malak, leading to a secondboss fight.

Depending on dialogue options made by the player character during certain conversations about how the aftermath of the so-called Jedi Civil War in the first game affects the branching narrative forStar Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords,Carth may make a brief appearances in the game, or be referenced by other characters such asHK-47.According to the continuity established by themassively multiplayer online role-playing gamesequelStar Wars: The Old Republic,Revan is male and remains loyal to the Jedi and the Republic.

InThe Sith Lords,following the destruction of the Star Forge and the end of theJedi Civil Warand if Revan returns to the Jedi, Carth is promoted to Admiral. Revan tasked Carth with protecting the Republic and left in search for the trueSith Empirein the Unknown Regions prior to the events of the game. When the Sith LordDarth Nihilusattacks Telos five years after the end of the Jedi Civil War, Carth leads the Republic fleet in defense of the planet and the space station orbiting above it. He also requests to speak with theJedi Exileabout Revan's whereabouts, where his dialogue content will differ depending on Revan's gender and the nature of his relationship with Revan. If Revan is female and if the player completes T3-M4's repairs, the droid will play a holovid recording of Carth discussing Revan, which again differs in content based on her final moral alignment.

Carth first appears in Issue No. 8 of theStar Wars: Knights of the Old Republiccomic series as the helmsman serving aboard the Inexpugnable-class tactical command shipCourageous.He is often referred to by the nickname "Fleet" during this time period. Carth participates in several battles, where he eventually met the fugitive Padawan Zayne Carrick, who is disguised as a janitor. Carth later appears in a more prominent role for several of the series' story arcs.

Mission Vao

Mission Vao,voiced byCatherine Taber,appears inKnights of the Old Republic.She is a fourteen-year-oldTwi'lekand the best friend ofZaalbar.Mission joins the player's party after encountering her in the Undercity on Taris. Mission is first seen in a Lower City bar on the planet Taris, and is later encountered in its Undercity. She is distraught that herWookieecompanionZaalbarhas been captured by theGamorreanslavers during a trip into the sewers of the Undercity, and seeks help to rescue Zaalbar. Zaalbar swears fealty to the player character upon his rescue, and both he and Mission join the player character's party as companions for the remainder of the game. Optional conversations with Mission will reveal details about her past and how she and Zaalbar met, and eventually unlocks a subplot side quest involving her brother Griff. Towards the end of the game, if the player character embraces their identity as Darth Revan, Dark Lord of the Sith and sides with a fallenBastila Shan,Mission and Zaalbar will attempt to defect from the party. The player will have to either kill them, or in the alternative, exploit Zaalbar's life debt and force him to murder Mission on their behalf. If Zaalbar is forced to kill Mission, he will turn on Revan if he is brought along as a companion to the Star Forge.

Mission's past is explored in the twenty-second issue in theStar Wars: Knights of the Old Republicseries of comics. Mission has been mentioned in themassively multiplayer online gameStar Wars: The Old Republicas well asStar Warsreference books, such as the second volume ofThe Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia.

Zaalbar

Zaalbaris a character fromKnights of the Old Republic.He is aWookieewho is friends withMission Vaoand joins the player's party, swearing a life-debt to the player for helping Mission rescue him from a group of Gammorrean slavers in the Undercity of Taris. Zaalbar is the brother to Chuundar, the leader of a tribe on their home planet Kashyyyk. When the player's party first lands on Kashyyyk, Zaalbar is referred to as "mad-claw". Through Zaalbar's and Chuundar's father, Freyyr, Revan learns why Zaalbar was banished from the tribe: Zaalbar learned that Chuundar was selling Wookiee slaves to Czerka Corporation, and in a fit of rage attacked him with his bare claws, breaking a major Wookiee taboo; this led Freyyr to side 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. A dark-side alternative has Revan kill Freyyr, allowing Czerka's slave trade on Kashyyyk to continue: a dark-sided Revan can also order Zaalbar to kill Mission in order to fulfill his life-debt – this may cause Zaalbar to turn against Revan as well.

Bastila Shan

Bastila Shan,voiced byJennifer Hale,is first mentioned as the commanding officer of the doomed Republic ship theEndar Spire,which has been boarded by Sith forces who are in pursuit of her. She is later rescued by the player character from a criminal gang known as the Black Vulkars on the planet Taris. She escapes the destruction of Taris with the player character's party by stealing a crime lord's ship, theEbon Hawk,prior to an orbital bombardment by Malak's forces. She then becomes the player's Jedi Master (despite technically being only a Padawan learner herself) and shares with him/her the visions of the mysterious Star Forge which must be found in order to stop the Sith. If the player character is male, Bastila can also become his lover.

Eventually, theEbon Hawkand its crew is captured by the Sith flagship, theLeviathan.Imprisoned along with the rest of the crew, Bastila later escapes captivity along withCarth Onasiand the player character. On their way to freedom, however, they are intercepted by Darth Malak who reveals the player character's true identity as Revan. Bastila admits that she was part of a Jedi strike team sent to capture Revan, and when they managed to corner the Dark Lord, Malak chose that moment to betray his Master by opening fire on Revan's ship. Though Revan was severely injured and almost killed in the attack, Bastila managed to save Revan's life, thus forging a powerful Force bond between the two. Revan was brought to theJedi Council,and was given a new identity and assigned to serve under Bastila on theEndar Spire.

Although Revan escapes with Carth, Bastila is held by Malak as his prisoner. After weeks of torture, Malak eventually succeeds in forcing Bastila to give in to her hate and she becomes his new apprentice. Bastila later confronts Revan atop an ancient temple on the Rakatan world of Lehon, where she gives the former Dark Lord of the Sith an ultimatum to join forces with her. She is confronted again on the Star Forge, where she is defeated by Revan in a lightsaber duel; the player may choose either to kill her upon her request, or to spare her which leads to her projecting Battle Meditation in the Republic fleet's favor. With Bastila dead or in support of the Republic, the Sith fleet loses the advantage of Bastila's powers. The Republic destroys the Star Forge after Revan defeats Malak and the Sith starships fell into disarray. The Jedi reconvened following the battle, while Revan and the surviving crew of the Ebon Hawk were honored as the saviors of the galaxy.

If the player chooses to return to the dark side, Revan and Bastila turn on and kill the remaining Jedi party companions on top of the Rakatan Temple on the Unknown World. Before approaching the Star Forge, Bastila persuades the Republic to attack the Sith fleet stationed there. The Republic is under the impression that she would use her Battle Meditation against the Sith, but she uses it to turn the tide against them prior to Revan's final battle with Malak. Revan kills Malak, reclaims the title of Dark Lord of the Sith and takes Bastila as an apprentice.

Depending on dialogue options made by the player character during certain conversations about how the aftermath of the so-called Jedi Civil War in the first game affects the branching narrative forStar Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords,Bastila may make cameo appearances in the game, or be referenced by other characters such asHK-47.

According to the continuity established by themassively multiplayer online role-playing gamesequelStar Wars: The Old Republic,Bastila is redeemed by a male Revan and survives the destruction of the Star Forge: continuing on the original game's romance subplot arc, the two fall in love, marry and go on to have a son. A year after the Star Forge's destruction, Revan, having remembered a great threat to the galaxy he discovered as leader of the Sith, sets out into the Unknown Regions, leaving most of his companions behind, including Bastila, who is at this point pregnant with their son, who she names Vaner in memory of his father. Two of her descendants, Satele Shan and her son Theron Shan appear inThe Old Republic,which takes place 300 years after the first game.

Juhani

Main article:Juhani (Star Wars)

Juhani,voiced byCourtenay Taylor,is aCatharpadawanwho incorrectly believed she killed her master. She turned to thedark sideand tainted the grove onDantooinewhere she lived. Depending on which path the conversation is steered in by the player, Revan may either fight (and kill) her, or redeem her, where she joins the party to discover the location of the Star Forge and returns to the Order as a Jedi Knight. Juhani is the first explicitly LGBTQ character inStar Warsmedia.

Jolee Bindo

Jolee Bindo,voiced byKevin Michael Richardson,is a character inStar Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.Jolee is an old hermit living in the Shadowlands on the forest floor ofKashyyykand a former Jedi Padawan. Bindo helpsRevanbypass shield generators that lead deeper into the Shadowlands to find the Star Map and remains with Revan's party. After the main character gains experience, Jolee tells the tale of how he was once asmuggler,and through this met his wife. Against the wishes of theJedi Council,he trained her in the way of the Force. She was then seduced to the dark side byExar Kun,upon failing to convince Jolee to join Exar Kun as well, she drew herlightsaberon 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 lesson the hard way, and even considered promoting him to knighthood. Disappointed with the Jedi’s decision, Jolee left the Order and started wanderingthe galaxybefore crash landing on Kashyyyk, where he lived for 20 years until he met Revan.

Kimberley Wallace ofGame Informerincluded Jolee Bindo in her list of best BioWare characters; she called him a "cranky old man who hacks the hell out of enemies is hard to top". According to Wallace, "he almost beats HK-47 for his power with sarcasm, as Jolee Bindo's self-ridicule is part of his charm", and claims that he will perhaps never live down his infamous line, "I did it all for the Wookiees!"

The Sith Lordscharacters

Kreia

Main article:Kreia

Kreia,voiced bySara Kestelman,is the teacher and mentor to the Jedi Exile inThe Sith Lords.Near the end of the game, she is revealed to have beenDarth 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 in retrospective reviews.

Atton Rand

Atton Rand,voiced byNicky Katt,is a human pilot that the Jedi Exile meets on the asteroid mining stationPeragus II.After the Exile frees him from a force cage at the facility and cooperates with him to escape, Atton reluctantly joins them in their travels. When Kreia discovers Atton’s past when they are imprisoned by the Jedi historian Atris on the planet Telos, she uses the information to blackmail him into remaining with the Exile's party as pilot ofThe Ebon Hawk.The Exile may also learn about Atton's proficiency in Echani combat techniques from speaking with Atris' Echani handmaidens, a fact which he attempts to cover up and feign ignorance about if questioned.

The Exile may later speak with aTwi'leknon-player characterin the Refugee Sector in Nar Shadaa who reveals that he is an old acquaintance of Atton and knows about his secret. If the Exile accrues enough influence and successfully convinces Atton to reveal the truth about his past, he will reveal some incriminating details about himself, including the fact that he has fought in theMandalorian Warsas well as the Jedi Civil War. Atton explains that he originally served withthe Republic military forcesunderRevan's command, and when Revan fell to the dark side and turned on the government the Jedi had sworn to protect, Atton along with many other Republic military forces remained loyal to Revan, whom they consider to be their savior. During the Jedi Civil War, Atton was part of an eliteSith assassinunit, trained to resist JediForcepowers and sent on missions to kill or capture Jedi to be broken and converted to the Sith. Later during the war, Atton was confronted by a female Jedi who informed him of his Force-sensitive nature and warned him that the Sith would undoubtedly compel him to train as aDark Jediif they find out about it. Atton struck her down, but before her death, she opened up her mind to his, giving him a glimpse of the Force as she saw it. Enraged, Atton killed her, though the impression she left caused him to become disillusioned, and he eventually deserted the Sith. The Exile has the option to forgive Atton, who is expecting to be punished for his crimes. At his request, he may be trained in the ways of the Jedi Sentinel, and he may be influenced to follow either the light or dark side of the Force.

Atton continues to travel with the Exile, participating in the defense of Telos against a Sith armada led byDarth Nihilusand, shortly after, taking the Exile to Malachor V where they went on to defeatDarth SionandDarth Traya.Within the establishedStar Wars Legendscontinuity, Atton along several of the Exile's companions are supposed to survive the events of the game and help rebuild the Jedi Order; Kreia will prophesy their fates following her defeat if questioned by the Exile. If the Jedi Exile is female, as is the case with the canonical character Meetra Surik, the nature of Atton's relationship with her will be addressed through a few dialogue changes; however, the ending would be the same.

The resolution of Atton's character arc in Trayus Academy on the planet Malachor V was cut in its entirety in the final release ofThe Sith Lords.Ifa fan mod which restores the cut contentis installed, Atton encounters Darth Sion after he flees from Kreia, who has reassumed her title as Darth Traya and incapacitates the Exile's other companions who have attempted to confront her. If Atton defeats Sion and survives the duel, he will escape with his life. Should Atton turn to the dark side and have a low influence rating with a player character who is female, he will attack fellow party member Mical out of jealousy for her affections.

Bao-Dur

Bao-Dur,voiced byRoger G. Smith,is a character inStar Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords.He is aZabrakengineer fromIridonia,who fought under the command of theJedi Exileduring the Mandalorian Wars. Bao-Dur is the inventor of the Mass Shadow Generator that ended the battle onMalachorV by completely obliterating theMandalorianArmada and inadvertently killing manyRepublicsoldiers on his own side of the battle, leading to a great deal of guilt later in his life. The Exile, who did not know Bao-Dur on a personal level at the time, gave the command, which sent massive echoes inthe Forcethroughout the galaxy. Bao-Dur is trainable as aJedi Guardian.

Visas Marr

Visas Marr,voiced byKelly Hu,appears inThe Sith Lordsas an apprentice ofDarth Nihilus.She is aMiralukafrom the planet of Katarr where all living things except for her were consumed by Darth Nihilus. While she is considered blind, she is able to see through the Force which allowed her to find theJedi 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 needs to kill 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, andG.I. Joecharacterthe Baronessin 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.Menze noted that the character has since become a fan favorite and a popular choice forcosplayactivities at fan conventions.Voice directors Will Beckman and Darragh O'Farrell wanted someone "special" and "maybe a little sexy" to voice the part.It was Hu's first role as a voice-actress, and she has said she enjoyed the role.

Brianna

Brianna,voiced byGrey DeLisle,is the "Last Handmaiden"on a Jedi Academy located on Telos IV inStar 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 theEbon Hawkif the player's 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 aJedi Guardianor a Dark Jedi Guardian. It is revealed by Kreia that Brianna takes up Atris' role as the historian of the Jedi.

Mical

Mical,also known asthe Disciple,is a character inThe Sith Lordsvoiced byGreg 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 inThe Sith Lords.Mira lost her family during the Mandalorian Wars. By the end of the wars, theGalactic Republicwas flooding with refugees, and many of them, including Mira, ended up in the refugee sector ofNar Shaddaa.To survive in the hostile environment, she became a bounty hunter with the sole purpose of earning credits. A rival bounty hunter, theWookieeHanharr,was employed to hunt her by an unknown person. Mira will join player characters who are oriented towards light-sided or neutral alignments, and can become aJedi Sentinel.

Menze had a "shaggy-like character from theHanna-BarberacartoonSpeed Buggy"as a reference for Mira. Her visual design was based on the appearances of women Menze described as the" gothic girl gamer "who attend shows orfan conventionsin the early 2000’s, and whose stylistic choices included dyed hair, strapped platform leather boots and Hello Kitty backpacks, as he had hoped to tap into a likeness that these fans would respond to.

Hanharr

Hanharris a Wookieebounty hunterinThe 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 isMira,another bounty hunter. One of these will join the party of theJedi Exile,as is determined by the personality of the player character. Light-side and neutral players are joined by Mira, dark-side players are joined by Hanharr.

G0-T0

G0-T0,voiced byDaran Norris,is adroidwho appears inThe 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 Exchange, the greatest smuggling organization in the galaxy. Eventually the droid would be destroyed, but not before the organization had helped countless systems achieve prosperity.

Major antagonists

Darth Malak

Darth Malak,voiced by Rafael Ferrer, is the oldSithapprentice ofRevanand the main antagonist of the first game. As Jedi, Malak and Revan disobeyed the Jedi Council and helped the Republic defend against the Mandalorians. During the war, Malak was captured by them for a time and experimented upon, which caused his baldness.It was also during the Mandalorian Wars that he got the name "Malak", his birth name being "Alek".He first started calling himself Malak to escape the arrest warrant issued by the Jedi Council,and he later decided to keep this name in protest until the war is over.At the end of the Mandalorian Wars, however, both Revan and Malak fell to the dark side and turned against the Republic, although Malak viewed Revan as too soft, which led to a duel that ended with Revan cutting off his lower jaw.Malak later betrays Revan when he is facing Jedi and usurps the title of Dark Lord of the Sith, but Revan survives the attack, at the cost of his memory. Under Malak's leadership, the Sith devastate planets Taris and Dantooine, while Revan regains his power in the search for the ancient space factoryThe Star Forgewhere he defeats Malak in the game's final battle.GamePro'sHugh Sterbakov ranked 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".UGO Networks put the character as their 19th topStar WarsExpanded Universe character.OnGameSpot's "All-Time Greatest Villain" competition in 2011, Darth Malak managed to get into the top sixteen.GameDaily's Robert Workman put Darth Malak as their 16th top evil mastermind of all time.Workman also listed Malak as one of his favouriteStar Warsvideo game characters.

Darth Sion

Darth Sion,voiced byLouis Mellis,is an antagonist inThe Sith Lords.Darth Traya trained both Sion and Nihilus, who in turn betrayed her. He holds his ravaged, necrotic body together by drawing on his constant pain using the dark side of the Force, making himself virtually unkillable. The player's characterJedi Exileeventually defeats Sion several times, and convinces him to end his own miserable existence by letting go ofthe Force.

Chris Avellone,lead designer ofThe Sith Lords,was inspired to create Sion by Tessai's death scene inNinja Scroll.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.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".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.They called Sion's voice one of their favorites inThe Sith Lords.

Darth Nihilus

Darth Nihilusappears inKnights of the Old Republic II – The Sith Lordsas one of the titular Sith Lords. He is known as the Lord of Hunger, capable of draining the life force out of any living thing, and intends to consume as much life in the galaxy as possible. He is depicted as awraith-like being who speaks in unintelligible rasps and feasts on the Force like a parasite. Nihilus bound his consciousness into his robes and mask in order to preserve his physical form.Prior to the game's events, Darth Sion, Darth Nihilus and Darth Traya formed a short-livedTriumvirateas leaders of the resurgent Sith based on Malachor V, though Traya was later cast out and driven into exile. Nihilus then uses the might of the Sith Armada not to conquer planets, but to contain them so that he could "feed" off the Force energy of each planet's lifeforms, wiping planets of life. Nihilus is defeated in the game after being drawn out and tricked into launching an attack on Telos, believing it to harbour the last of the Jedi. The Exile, together withCanderous Ordoand Nihilus' former associateVisas Marrconfront the Sith Lord on his ship, and Nihilus is slain either after Visas sacrifices herself due to their shared link in the Force, or after his attempt to feast on the Exile's connection to the Force backfires and weakens him.

Nihilus appears in the "Unseen, Unheard" story in the final issue ofStar Wars Tales,which recounts Nihilus using his power to decimate all life on the Miraluka colony world of Katarr, including the vast majority of the Jedi Order's leadership. Visas Marr is shown as the sole survivor of the catastrophic event, which impressed Nihilus and moved him to claim her as his apprentice and slave. Nihilus is mentioned in a few other stories in the originalStar WarsExpanded Universe,and makes a short appearance inStar Wars: Legacy.The character's distinctive mask is also made available as aloot itemforStar Wars: The Old Republicif theCrime Lord's Cartel PackDLCis installed.Nihilus is introduced to theGalaxy of Heroesmobile game as a playable character in a 2017 update.As the “face” of the marketing forThe Sith Lords,the character has been featured prominently in promotional material and subject to merchandise, including several action figures.

Nihilus was written so players would identify him less as a "human" and more a "force of nature". Avellone described him as without personality beyond "just a feeling of hunger" due to having succumbed so far to the dark side. Avellone felt beating such a force seemed "more heroic" or "far more epic" than taking on an individual person.The character's visual was quick to define;Eurogamerdescribes him as "a concept created and greenlit in all of 15 minutes".Character modeller and lead concept artist Brian Menze was asked to create a Sith Lord with No-Face fromHayao Miyazaki'sSpirited Away(2001) as a reference; Avellone felt that the final design, which employs a lot of voluminous black, was closer to theStudio Ghiblicharacter than was intended.One idea behind Nihilus's design was that there should be nothing behind the mask – representative of him being a void. A "pet peeve" of Avellone's is promotional art of Nihilus with a visible nose, which contradicted his concept of a character who lack facial features;Menze had drawn a nosed Nihilus for a magazine cover which had become widely circulated and Avellone had "let it go", to Menze's now regret.

Nihilus is considered to be one of the best remembered aspects ofThe Sith Lords'sstory.IGN'sJesse Schedeen singled out his obliteration of Visas' homeworld as the Sith Lord's "defining moment of villainy".Chris Freiberg fromDen of Geekranked the introduction of Darth Nihilus as one of the most memorable moments inStar Warsvideo game history.Glixellisted him as one of twenty "awesome"Star Warscharacters originating in video games, and considered him "terrifying" and "more of a malevolent ghost than a typical self-serving Sith".

Nihilus' visual design proved to be very popular withStar Warsfandom. Revan aside,Eurogamer'sRobert Purchese describedThe Sith Lords'villains as "far more memorable" than those of the first game, and described Nihilus as the most recognisable of the trio.Schedeen remarked that "Nihilus probably wins the award for coolest-lookingStar Warsvillain ever ".The Citizen's Lake Lifeeditor David Wilcox opined that Darth Nihilus is the best designed character outside of theStar Warssaga's "main players".The character has been frequently referenced in fan art, cosplay and other derivative works since his appearance inThe Sith Lords.The character was also featured onThe Howard Stern Showfor several weeks.

Nihilus' popularity has led to discussions about the supposed references to the character in canonStar Warsworks, such as the identity of an ancient Sith statue inStar Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,as well as the origins of the Nihil, a faction set to be the overarching antagonists of the upcomingStar Wars: The High Republicsubseries.Obsidian Entertainment acknowledged their creation of Darth Nihilus and the character's popularity as a notable contribution to theStar Warslicense.Menze noted in retrospect that co-creating Darth Nihilus with Avellone is a career highlight for him, and acknowledged that the character "has gone on to be bigger than the game we created".

Atris

Atris,voiced by Elizabeth Rider, is a former member of the Jedi Council and one of the Jedi largely responsible for banishing the Jedi Exile from the Jedi Order. Prior to the events ofThe Sith Lords,Atris had an idealistic view of the Jedi that bordered on fanaticism, believing that they were the perfect guardians of the galaxy and, as a result, did not tolerate any criticism directed towards them. However, Atris' beliefs were challenged during the events of the Mandalorian War and the war against Darth Malak in the first game. This drove her to betraying the Jedi by leaking the location of their hidden conclave, resulting in them being driven to near-extinction by Darth Nihilus. Atris then planned to rebuild the Jedi Order under her own dogmatic doctrine, and started an unethical campaign against the Sith. This included leaking information of the Jedi Exile's return to the rest of the galaxy, setting off the events ofThe Sith Lords.

Other characters

• Trask Ulgowas a Republic soldier who appears in the first game aboard the Republic battleshipEndar Spirebefore it is shot down over Taris by Malak's forces at the beginning of the game. He serves as a "tutorial" companion and is killed holding off Darth Bandon- allowing the player to escape. Once the player meets Darth Bandon again, they may choose a dialogue option to avenge Ulgo.
• Vrook Lamarwas a Jedi Master who was on the Jedi Council that decided to exile the Jedi Exile. Vrook is one of the masters that helps retrain Revan in the first game. In the second, the Exile finds Vrook on Dantooine, where he is later killed by Kreia (if he has not already been killed by the player following the dark side path).
• Kavarwas a Jedi Master who was on the Jedi Council that decided to exile the Jedi Exile. In the second game, he is in exile on Onderon. He goes to meet with the other Jedi Masters on Dantooine, where he is killed by Kreia (if he has not already been killed by the player following the dark side path).
• Zez-Kai Ellwas a Jedi Master who was on the Jedi Council that decided to exile the Jedi Exile. In the second game, he is in exile on Nar Shadaa. He goes to meet with the other Jedi Masters on Dantooine, where he is killed by Kreia (if he has not already been killed by the player following the dark side path).
• Darth Bandonwas a Sith apprentice of Malak who attacked the player, and was defeated. He appears in the first game after Calo Nord fails to slay Revan.
• Calo Nordwas a bounty hunter in the first game. Nord was originally a slave, until he murdered his captors and escaped when he was sixteen years old. He is a notorious bounty hunter with a legendaryfast drawwho bears a grudge against Revan for escaping him, and can be fought on any of the Star Map worlds in the first game.
• Zax the Huttwas aHuttfound on Taris in the video gameStar Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.Players go to him to obtain bounties.
• Ajuur the Huttwas a Hutt who worked in the Upper City cantina who ran the duelling ring in KOTOR I. He can arrange the player's character to fight the Mandalorian death-match champion Bendak Starkiller, which can be redeemed for a bounty to Zax.
• Davik Kangwas the Exchange leader of Taris, and used elite mercenaries such as Canderous Ordo andCalo Nordto carry out his dirty work. He was killed in the orbital bombardment of Taris, from which point the player has to make their escape from the planet in his ship, the Ebon Hawk. He appeared in the first game.
• Saul Karathwas Carth Onasi's old mentor who betrayed him to join theSith.He appeared in the first game where he was killed by Revan onboard the Leviathan. He was voiced byRobin Sachs.
• Queen Taliais a descendant of the ancient Sith Lord Freedon Nadd and the ruler of Onderon who is at odds with her cousin Vaklu when the Exile comes to the planet. She appeared in the second game.
• Azkulis a battle-scarred mercenary who served under Malak and later settled on Dantooine, attempting to destroy the local community of Khoonda but was thwarted by the Jedi Exile. He appeared in the second game.
• General Vakluis the power-crazed cousin of Queen Talia who seeks to overthrow his young cousin and take the royal throne.
• Chuundaris aWookieecharacter inStar Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.Zaalbar was exiled for attacking Chuundar, his brother, with his claws after discovering his brother was selling fellow Wookiees into slavery. Chuundar then later took over his tribe and exiled his own father, the former Wookiee chieftain, Freyrr. Once the player comes with Zaalbar to Kashyyyk in search of a Star Map, Chuundar imprisons Zaalbar and tells Revan that he must kill their father, Freyrr, in the Shadowlands to free the Wookiee. If Revan chooses to kill Freyrr, the player leaves with the gratitude of Chuundar. Chuundar continues to enslave Wookiees and the player can no longer return to the Wookiee village. If Revan spares Freyyr, he kills Chuundar and the slavers, frees the Wookiees, frees Zaalbar, and leaves with the gratitude of Freyrr, able to return to the village on Kashyyyk at any time, although the player is unable to trade on Kashyyk any longer after Freyyr leads a Wookiee rebellion that expels the slavers from the planet.
• B4-D4:An administrative protocol droid that works for Czerka on Telos in the Outer Rim. It is possible for the player to assume control of B4-D4 if the Exile helps the Ithorians with their restoration project.
• Bendak Starkilleris a Mandalorian Neo-Crusader who was famous for his proficiency in the Taris duelling ring. Refusing to leave an opponent alive, Bendak retired from the ring after the Tarisian government outlawed death matches some ten years earlier. During the Jedi Civil War, he remained on Taris, watching matches in the cantina and hoping for the day he could return to the arena for another death match with a worthy opponent. In a dark side option, the player can duel Bendak in a death match after defeating the reigning Taris duelling champion, Twitch. The player will receive credits from Ajuur for winning the illegal death match and receive Bendak's blaster pistol, and will receive the bounty fee from Zax as well.
• Juhaniis a Jedi Knight who is a member of the feline Cathar species. She initially appears as an enemy, but joins the protagonist Revan if she is spared and offered a chance to redeem herself. Juhani has received mostly positive reception for her appearance inStar Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.In an article written forVulture Hound,Thomas Richard considered Juhani to be a conceptually interesting character. He praised Taylor's subtle performance, noting that Taylor "delivers her lines with a purringRussian accentand a deliberate pace that, all while presenting some perceptible differences with what the listener may be accustomed to hearing from real people, enable her to track down her character’s conflicted emotions with remarkable precision ". He opined that she successfully conveyed the character's" struggle to understand and control the anger in her heart, the resentment, self-blame and internalized sense of inadequacy caused by years of racial injustice "exactly when she needs to.Rostislav Kurka fromSci Fi Fantasy Networkwas of the view that Juhani's redemption was affirming and resonated with players who struggle with identity issues and the belief that "they were not “right” according to the standards of their society ".Conversely, Robert Purchese fromEurogamercommented that Juhani's story arc was relatively unexplored and her romance subplot was not up to BioWare's usual standards. He remarked that while she did open up to Revan about her feelings, "the final battle commences and there's never time to find out what happens next".UGO Networksconsidered Juhani to be one of the worstStar WarsExpanded Universe characters,arguing that Juhani's only saving grace is her potential romantic subplot, whereas she is a bland and pointless character who is supposedly underpowered compared to other Jedi party members and is "almost a non-entity in the story".Juhani has also received particular attention for her status as an LGBT character. The character is often brought up in discussions about the history of LGBT representation and portrayal of queer characters in theStar Warsuniverse.She was also the first gay character in a video game produced by BioWare.David Silver, guest writing forVentureBeat,remarked that characters like Juhani are an example of the positive influence of LGBT video game characters, as they promote understanding and represent the real life LGBT community in a strong and positive light.Kurka consider Juhani to be an important LGBTQ protagonist, stressing that her appearance was remarkable in terms of the entire gaming industry, as there had not been many LGBTQ characters in mainstream video games at that time.Complexranked Juhani as the second coolest LGBT video game characters, and opined that her importance should inspire some "nerdcorerap lyric about her ".The AdvocaterankedKnights of the Old Republicsixth on their list of notable video games with queer content, citing Juhani's character arc as the reason for the placement.

Reception

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

The characters of theKnights Of The Old Republicseries have remained highly popular, often being cited as some of the best characters in both theStar Warsfranchise and video games in general by both critics and fans.IGNranked several characters from the series in their list of Top 100Star WarsCharacters: Darth Revan, Darth Malak, HK-47, Canderous Ordo, Darth Nihilus, Bastila Shan, Darth Sion, and Darth Traya placed 12th, 28th, 33rd, 52nd, 56th, 62nd, 73rd and 81st respectively.Darth Revan and Darth Malak jointly ranked fifth place in a Top 15 list ofStar Warsvillains byIGN'sJesse Schedeen, who remarked that "[v]isually, both Jedi are immediately memorable".The members of the Sith Triumvirate, Darth Nihilus, Darth Sion and Darth Traya, came second place in a modified supplementary list of the bestStar Warsvillains based on reader requests for characters left out of the original Top 15 list published byIGN.In a 2020 fan poll organized byIGNfor bestStar Warscharacters of all time, Revan, Darth Malak and Bastila Shan placed 30th, 34th and 69th place out of 200 characters.Several characters from the series dominatedGameSpot's2019 list of "15 Great Star Wars Characters Who Came From Video Games".