Know your lore: Jedi Exile

The Jedi Exile was created by Obsidian Entertainment as the primary protagonist in the 2005 PC and Xbox video game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords . As of this time, the character called the Jedi Exile has no name, because the player is prompted to create one, or select a randomly generated identity at the start of the game. Because of this, in game characters only refer to her as “the exile.”Although the character’s canon allegiance has not been stated precisely, she is called a “heroine” in The New Essential Guide to Droids. This is backed up by the fact that, as of the release of The Sith Lords, every canon game ending has been the light side version. The Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide has confirmed that the light-side ending is indeed the canonical one. The Exile’s Jedi class is as…

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Species of Starwars: Trandoshan

Bioware just released a bunch of new screenshots for their Inhabitants section. The first one that caught My Eye was the above  screenshot of a Trandoshan. I personally used to play this race in Star Wars galaxies, so I thought it would be natural for us to cover this Species in this weeks “Species of Starwars“. Trandoshans (T’doshok in their language) were large, bipedal reptilian humanoids from the planet Trandosha (or Dosha). They had super-sensitive eyes that could see into the infrared range and the ability to regenerate lost limbs, although very slowly, and were anatomically built heavier and stronger than most humanoids, including Humans. They would also periodically shed their skin. Unlike some other reptilian humanoids such as the Barabels and the Ssi-ruuk, Trandoshans had no tails. The Trandoshans were a warlike species who allied early with the Empire, taking Wookiees as slaves. As a species, they were renowned…

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Know your Lore: Vandar Tokare

Vandar Tokare was a male Jedi Master who was the head of the Jedi Enclave on Dantooine during the Mandalorian Wars and Jedi Civil War, holding a seat on both the Jedi High Council and the Council of the Jedi academy during this time span. He was friends with fellow Council member Vrook Lamar, usually having the last word in their frequent disagreements, most notably on the choice to train Revan once again in the ways of the Jedi after his fall to the dark side of the Force. One of the attendees of the Conclave on Katarr, Tokare was killed during an attack from the Sith Lord Darth Nihilus in which the entire Miraluka colony and many of the survivors of the First Jedi Purge were lost. Biography Tokare took Derrica Praji and another person as Jedi Padawans and trained them on Ossus. In 4,225 BBY Tokare and his…

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Know your Lore: Calo Nord

Calo Nord, a Human male, was an infamous bounty hunter who lived during the Jedi Civil War, a galaxy-spanning conflict initiated by the Sith Lords Darth Revan and Darth Malak. Nord was sold into slavery by his mother and father at a young age. On his sixteenth birthday, he killed his slave masters and tracked down his parents, murdering them as well. A bounty was placed on Nord, but he eliminated every mercenary that pursued him. Once the attempts on his life ended, Nord murdered those who had placed the bounty and became a bounty hunter by trade, taking assignments from any party that paid. Nord occasionally worked for the Exchange criminal syndicate boss Davik Kang but had been also contracted by the Galactic Republic for operations in the Core. During the final year of the Jedi Civil War, Nord was on the planet Taris for business with Kang while…

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Know your lore: Brianna (The Last Handmaiden)

Brianna, also known as “The Last Handmaiden,” or simply “Handmaiden,” was a half-Echani fighter, and illegitimate daughter to the famous Echani General Yusanis and Jedi Master Arren Kae, who both fought in the Mandalorian Wars. She later served along with her five half-sisters as a handmaiden to Jedi Master Atris in the period following the Jedi Civil War. During her service to Atris at the Jedi Academy on Telos IV, Brianna met the Jedi Exile, and was subsequently tasked with accompanying her on her mission to seek out the Jedi Masters who survived the First Jedi Purge. As the Exile’s companion, Brianna helped battle against numerous adversaries, including the resurgent Sith. During the journey, Brianna trained the Exile in Echani techniques and eventually received Jedi training from the Exile in return, becoming one of first new members of the Jedi Order after the Purge. In accepting such training, however, she…

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Peace for the Republic?

It’s Friday again and that means it’s time for our weekly fix of Star Wars: The Old Republic content. This week, Master Gnost-Dural voiced by Lance (The Man) Henriksen returns with another HoloNet chronicle video telling of peace, betrayal, and Sith Infiltrators in the Jedi Order. BTC 103 – More than a century before the Sacking of Coruscant, two Jedi scholars embarked on a journey which became one of most inexplicable mysteries of its time. Young Jedi Knight Eison Gynt joined his Master in a mission to investigate the Ancient Sith Temple of Yavin 4. On Yavin, the pair was attacked by the native Massassi and driven into the Tomb of Naga Sadow where a powerful force of darkness emerged. Gynt’s Master returned to Coruscant wounded and half-insane, remorseful that young Eison Gynt had been killed in the chaos. Years later, however, Gynt returned from Yavin on his own and…

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Species of Starwars: Kel Dor

In one of the first screen shots ever published by Bioware, we se a bad ass looking “Kel Dor” This time in Species of Starwars we will take a closer look on this amazing species. The Kel Dors, sometimes referred to as Kel Dorians, were a species hailing from the technological planet Dorin. They required masks to protect them when in oxygen-rich atmospheres. They were also known for the unique Force-using traditions of the Baran Do Sages. One famous Kel Dor was the Jedi Master Plo Koon, who was a member of a famous Kel Dor Jedi family. Sha Koon, a Jedi Knight, was Plo Koon’s niece. Biology and appearance The Kel Dors were a tall race, typically of the same height and weight as Humans. Their skin ranged in color from peach to a crimson red. Most had dark, black eyes, although some were born with silver irises, a…

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How stuff works: Hyperspace

 The blue tunnel of hyperspace travel. Hyperspace is the alternate state of existence used by starships to achieve faster-than-light travel. It was a phenomenon not completely understood by scientists; it was alternately described as a parallel universe, an extra dimension of space, an alternate mode of physical existence, or simply the universe as viewed traveling faster than the speed of light. To hyperspace was also a verb in Basic, as in phrases like “You are required to hyperspace back to the fleet when you complete the mission.” Technical background Normally, baryonic matter obeys physical principles of relativity: they increase exponentially in mass as they approach the speed of light, requiring more and more energy to approach it, and thus always remain below this threshold. Tachyonic matter, on the other hand, existed solely above the speed of light, and could not pass below said threshold. Hyperdrive technology allowed sentients to break…

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Know your lore: Jolee Bindo

Jolee Bindo was a Human Jedi who participated in the Rimward missions, fought in the Great Sith War against Exar Kun, and went into self-imposed exile on Kashyyyk soon afterwards. Near the close of the Jedi Civil War, he joined Revan against Darth Malak and was awarded the Cross of Glory for his part in the triumph of the Galactic Republic over the Sith Empire. Biography   Life as a Padawan During his days as a Jedi Padawan, Jolee was considered brash and reckless, often defying the will of the Jedi Council in order to do what he felt was right, as exemplified by his actions during the blockade of the Ukatis system. Cut off from the rest of the galaxy by its own king, the Ukatis system was unable to receive food and supplies, and no help from the Senate was forthcoming. Jolee decided to help the people himself….

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Know your lore: Saul Karath

Saul Karath was a Human male born on Corellia who served the Galactic Republic’s Navy as an admiral during the Mandalorian Wars. In 3,963 BBY, Karath was promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral after keeping the Mandalorian forces at bay for six weeks at the Jebble-Vanquo-Tarnith line. When the fugitive Jedi Padawan Zayne Carrick—who was fleeing from his Masters after being framed for the Padawan Massacre of Taris—attempted to warn Karath of Serroco’s destruction, Karath assumed that Carrick was a Mandalorian spy. Shortly after the Mandalorians razed Serroco’s surface, Karath participated in the Adasca Affair, which was Adascorp leader Arkoh Adasca’s failed auction of exogorth superweapons. Karath also played a role in the events of the Covenant Affair, in which the secret Jedi cabal known as the Covenant was destroyed. Later that year, the Jedi Knights Revan, Malak and their Jedi faction entered the war, and Karath became the…

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Planets of Star Wars: The Old Republic – Taris

Planets of Star Wars: The Old Republic – Taris

Taris was an urban planet in the Outer Rim Territories. The term Tarisian was used to describe people and products from the planet. The planet’s ecumenopolis quickly developed over a century of prosperity, and as a result the planet suffered from massive overpopulation. Once a galactic nexus, Taris’ importance declined with the introduction of improved trade routes, and the planet rapidly fell into decay. The remainder of the planet’s history was wrought with civil disorder and social unrest. As it turned to industry as a means of compensation for its economic troubles, its oceans became polluted, eliminating the planet’s main food source. Famine spread among the lower classes while the rich hoarded what few supplies remained. The resulting strife led to the Tarisian Civil War, the start of lasting prejudices between the Humanocentric Tarisian nobles and the largely alien underclass. The city became segmented, and the lower classes were banned…

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Know your lore: Darth Nihilus

Darth Nihilus was a Human male who reigned as a Dark Lord of the Sith during the era of strife following the Jedi Civil War. Before becoming a Sith, he lost everything during the Galactic Republic‘s war against the Mandalorian Neo Crusaders. He survived the activation of the Mass Shadow Generator superweapon during the war’s final battle at the planet Malachor V, which surrounded the planet with a destructive spacial phenomenon known as a mass shadow that obliterated almost everything and everyone on and around the planet. The experience of the shadows made him “hunger” for Force energy, and the affliction began to ravage his body. In his pain he became a wound in the Force and was found by a seeker of such things, the Sith Lord Darth Traya. She told him that she could teach him to feed his hunger. He accepted her offer, becoming Traya’s apprentice at…

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Planets of Star Wars: The Old Republic – Coruscant

The Galactic Center of Coruscant (pronounced /’kʊɹəsɑnt/), originally called Notron, also known as Imperial Center or the Queen of the Core, was the political hub of the galaxy for millennia. It was generally agreed that Coruscant was, during most of Galactic history, the most politically important world in the galaxy. At various times, it was the capital of the Galactic Republic, the Galactic Empire, the New Republic, briefly the Empire Reborn, the New Republic again, the Yuuzhan Vong Empire occupation, the Galactic Alliance, the Fel Empire and Darth Krayt’s Galactic Empire. These governments, that all controlled Coruscant, controlled the galaxy in the process. A large number of the galaxy’s trade routes—including the Perlemian Trade Route, the Corellian Run, the Metellos Trade Route, the Koros Trunk Line, and the Leisure Corridor—went through Coruscant, making it one of the richest worlds in the galaxy. Tellingly, the planet’s hyperspace coordinates were (0,0,0), and…

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Know your legends: Atton Rand

Atton Rand, nicknamed “Jaq,” was a pilot, and one of the Lost Jedi, who helped the Jedi Exile defeat the Sith Triumvirate. He joined the Galactic Republic military and fought loyally under Revan in the Mandalorian Wars. He defected to Revan‘s side when the Jedi Knight became the Dark Lord of the Sith. While under Revan, he was put through intense combat training to make him an effective Jedi hunter. His job was to capture Jedi so that Revan and his acolytes could attempt to convert them into loyal Sith by means of torture, manipulation, and on pain of death. However, when a female Jedi prisoner revealed that he was Force-sensitive and that he would likely be subjected to such treatment himself, he went into hiding on Nar Shaddaa. Biography Fighting in the wars Atton, nicknamed “Jaq,” fought in the Mandalorian Wars as well as the Jedi Civil War. He…

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Know your lore: Carth Onasi

Carth Onasi is one of the main playable characters in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Voiced by actor Raphael Sbarge, Carth’s character has the game attributes of a basic human soldier. His martial talents lean towards the use of blasters, and his skill level allows him to brandish two guns at once. If the player of KOTOR chooses a female player character, then the possibility of a romantic storyline between Carth and the main character is possible. Carth’s son is revealed to be alive if certain quests are undertaken in the game. When young Carth Onasi signed up to join the Galactic Republic military, he fully believed in the strength of the institution. A loyal soldier, skilled pilot and superior tactician, he operated with distinction in both small border skirmishes and in major engagements. Though the events of the Mandalorian Wars forever cemented Carth’s reputation as a hero,…

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GameSpot Sith Inquisitor Hands-On

Though they already posted an earlier article talking about the press conference (where the Jedi Consular and Sith Inquisitor were unveiled) GameSpot has posted another hands-on article. Here’s an excerpt: A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, game developer BioWare, a studio founded by two medical doctors on the foundations of nerdy swords-and-sorcery role-playing, made the jump to deep space with Knights of the Old Republic, a Star Wars-themed role-playing game that told a story that predated the events of the motion pictures by several centuries. Some years later, the developer is now working on a massively multiplayer online game in the same universe–a game that will let you play as a Boba Fett-like bounty hunter, a Han Solo-like smuggler, or a Mace Windu-like Jedi Knight…among others. We recently had a chance to get a bit more insight on the game from its developers, and we also…

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Know your lore: Darth Malak

Darth Malak was a Human male born on Quelii who took the mantle of Dark Lord of the Sith during the Jedi Civil War. Born Alek Squinquargesimus and nicknamed Squint, he was—prior to becoming a Sith Lord—a famed Jedi Knight and military commander. Squinquargesimus befriended the Jedi Padawan Zayne Carrick and, after taking the name “Malak,” assisted him in defeating the Jedi Covenant. During the Mandalorian Wars, Malak gained a reputation as a headstrong warrior who would recklessly charge into danger. He eventually drew closer and closer to the dark side, ultimately being seduced by Sith teachings imparted to him by his closest friend and fellow Jedi Knight Revan. After the final battle of the Mandalorian Wars at the Sith planet of Malachor V, the two twisted the allegiance of the Revanchists and the Republic forces under their command, building the foundations of what would eventually become a new Sith…

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Planets of Star Wars: The Old Republic – Tython

It is Wednesday and we continue our look at the planets in The Old Republic. Last time we look at the capital of Hutt Space – Nal Hutta. Today we will look at the first planet that was revealed by Bioware – Tython Tython was a planet located within the Tython system of the Deep Core. It was the planet where the Jedi Order originated, in the form of the first society of Force users in known history, sometime between 36,453 BBY and 25,990 BBY. Pre-Republic It was on this world that the brightest and best philosophers, priests, scientists and warriors came together in 36,453 BBY to discuss their discoveries involving the enigmatic, mystical Ashla. Dissidents who used the Bogan eventually arose around 25,793 BBY, sparking the Force Wars of Tython. From the ashes of these wars arose the early Jedi, whose Jedi Forge initiation ceremony led to the invention…

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I’d Actually Play An Imperial Agent, And Here’s Why

As much as I’ve always liked Star Wars, I’ve certainly developed a wary attitude toward the over-saturation of certain, erm, iconic figures in that universe. If you were ever to compile all of the fan-made Star Wars costumes that exist today on the internet, I guarantee you that the breakdown would be something like this: 23% Darth Vader 22% Boba Fett 54% Princess Leia in a Gold Bikini 1% Misc. Bikini Leia and her stunt double nap in the Tatooine sunshine It’s not that I don’t think that Vader and Fett aren’t cool; they are, for various reasons mainly relating to their outfits. But their popularity is way, way out of proportion to what they’ve actually done to earn it. Pop culture and fandom is funny that way. We fixate on something that looks cool and might have been cool, 20 years ago, and elevate it to infallible worship. This…

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Know your lore: Kreia

Kreia was a blind Human female Jedi Master and a historian prior to the outbreak of the Mandalorian Wars. She was exiled by the Jedi Council because her former students followed the Jedi Knight Revan, who was her former Padawan, into battle against the invading Mandalorians. After she withdrew from the Jedi Order, she retraced Revan’s footsteps to the ancient Sith world of Malachor V, being drawn to its Force echoes. She discovered the Trayus Academy on the planet, and turned to the dark side, becoming the Sith Lord Darth Traya, the Lord of Betrayal. During the Dark Wars, Traya searched for other Force-wounds, and discovered Darths Sion and Nihilus. She formed a triumvirate with them, intent on wiping out the Jedi. Eventually, Sion and Nihilus overthrew Traya and stripped her of the Force. After having been exiled by both the Jedi and Sith, she held an abhorrence of how…

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While we wait for The Old Republic: Star Wars Reign of the Fallen

Reign of the Fallen is a Star Wars fanfilm directed and written by David McLeavy, and originally released in March 2006. In the times since great wars laid waste to Prias, its people have learned to embrace a simple life, away from the perils of technology and war. As the mighty Sith army spreads across the galaxy, subjugating every planet in its path, all the people of Prias can do is wait, their world protected by an energy planetary shield held in place by ancient towers. While the people wait in fear, one Jedi trained by Master Oram Bren will be chosen to be the future leader of Prias, a title decided by a vote of the entire population of the planet. But little do they know that one Jedi’s dark secret could spell their doom. Reign of the Fallen is an independently produced film based on the Star Wars…

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