History Fridge / KnightsOfTheOldRepublic

* FridgeHorror: Remember how the group of people at the lowest level of Taris went off to find the Promised Land in KOTOR? Well, assuming that they survived the destruction of Taris, a very disconcerting thing was found in the unused voice clips of KOTOR II. Read on if you dare. [[spoiler: The HK-50's are talking about the Droid Factory, and how there is more than one factory. One of them comments on how there was one located on Taris. If the Promised Land was, in actuality, a Droid Factory that contained very hostile droids, then that means the group of people are....]] That is FridgeHorror.

* Why is Bastila so insistent on her rescuing you? Is it because she's embarrased about being rescued by an ordinary soldier or is [[spoiler:she embarrassed about being rescued by an amnesiac dark lord of the Sith?]]

* Carth and Bastila's verbal sniping matches take on whole new degrees of nastiness when you puzzle out the meta. Carth's homeworld of Telos was settled by Force Sensitives who had enough potential to interest the Jedi, but not enough to be full Jedi, meaning they got a one way ticket to Telos to "seed the planet with farmers and laborers." Carth's people are the "peasantry" to the Jedi Knights, workers who grow the Order's food and do blue collar jobs to support the "warrior class" who reach Padawan or above in exchange for the Order protecting them from Sith and others who would exploit their Force sensitivity. Bastila (being very sheltered and steeped in doctrine) would have been taught to see this an arrangement of benevolence and protection with Carth being disrespectful to her rank and Carth would see as just another Jedi treating him like a peon. Then add the fact that the Jedi didn't uphold their end of the deal, since Telos was ravaged by the Sith.
** More a case of clever storytelling, but this only just occurred to me so I'm putting it here: At the very beginning of the first game your soldier is apparently unfamiliar with the details of a war they have supposedly been fighting, and is unable to perform basic tasks which should be second nature. Just the game teaching you how to work it right? Wrong. [[spoiler:Your memories have been tampered with, and so any inability on your part to perform simple tasks or remember very important details, it's all because your memory has been blanked.]] This also neatly sidesteps StoryAndGameplaySegregation.

* Carth and Bastila's verbal sniping matches take on whole new degrees of nastiness when you puzzle out the meta. Carth's homeworld of Telos was settled by Force Sensitives who had enough potential to interest the Jedi, but not enough to be full Jedi, meaning they got a one way ticket to Telos to "seed the planet with farmers and laborers." Carth's people are the peasantry to the Jedi Knights, workers who grow the Order's food and do blue collar jobs to support the saber swinging elite who reach Padawan or above. Bastila (being very sheltered and steeped in doctrine) would have been taught to see this an arrangement of benevolence and protection with Carth being disrespectful to her rank and Carth would see as just another Jedi treating him like a peon.

** The exception proves the rule: the aliens that don't speak the language are Wookies (highly traditionalistic, keen on preserving their culture and, therefore, language), the Selkath (who love to have everything be on their terms)

*** Adding on to Carth's characterization: his fatherhood is fairly consistent throughout the game. There is one quest in which the son of a wealthy Dantooine man is found dead, and all that his left from his corpse was his diary. The father offers 100 credits to take it off of you. You may either accept it, decline but choose to give it to him anyway, or extort an additional 100 out of it. If the last option is chosen, Carth will get utterly PISSED and berate you for taking advantage of a grieving father. Made all the more reasonable once you learn that he believes his own son to have died.

** Carth and Canderous have an argument in the first game about "warriors versus soldiers" where Canderous is playing his ProudWarriorRaceGuy card to full effect and Carth (a die-hard supporter of the Republic) is having none of it. Of course, they're arguing about the recent (for that era) Mandalorian War. Flash forward three milennia and change later, and we have the Clone Wars, where the "Grand Army of the Republic" is composed of (essentially) ''Mandalorian slaves.'' Somehow, I think Misters Ordo and Onasi would be grateful they're long dead by that point.

* So, you decided to be a good guy and help the old, rightful Wookie chieftain rise back to power. Finally, a truly independent leader to stop all of slave trading with the corrupt Czerka Corporation!.. By killing every non-wookie in said corporation's colony. Even though the slave masters got their comeuppance, it shudders to think about what happened to the peaceful personnel and merchants (including optional quest-givers!). Not to mention that Czerka will not be very happy to hear about their old trade partners destroying the colony, and will probably send more troops to get revenge on the Wookies - this time fully enslaving the whole tribe instead of trying to buy slaves from the chieftain!

** Another bit of subtle horror. Most of the Wookies initially believe that you're a Czerka slaver, despite your protests to the contrary and refuse to believe you until you prove yourself. After the change in leadership, they state that they don't expect any ''human'' to show their faces on their world for quite some time, subtly implying that they view any human as a possible agent of Czerka and they will be ''shot on sight''. NiceJobBreakingItHero

* The Mandalorian Raiders quest is horror, brilliance, and some {{Backstory}} in miniature form. A bunch of Mandalorian bandits are camping out a stone's throw from the Enclave. They're harassing, robbing, and killing the farmers who have nowhere to turn, but to the Jedi. The Jedi talk a good game about being protectors of the law on the planet, but they sit on their thumbs and let the farmers get robbed and killed. And for added irony, here's your Player Character [[spoiler: doing what they did as Revan]], going out kicking their ''shebs'' to stop their predation.

* In ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'', if the Jedi plan had actually worked, the ''Endar Spire'' not been attacked, and the Star Forge still found and destroyed, what would they have done with the mind-wiped former Sith Lord who thinks (temporarily at least) that he/she is an ordinary Republic grunt? Someone like that would be far too dangerous to just leave alone. Would they find some way to draft him/her into the Service Corps and take the risk of him influencing other Force-sensitive Jedi washouts? Would they mind-wipe him/her again? Would they turn him/her over to the Republic? [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident Would they arrange an accident?]]

** The troopers on Taris upper levels are possibly ''not'' TooDumbToLive and taking care of their own hide. A solo grunt Sith trooper (and maybe two of them, if they're patrolling near each other) might have second thoughts trying to bring in a known ''Jedi'' being escorted by two bodyguards (i.e. Carth and the PlayerCharacter) because the trooper knows s/he'll just get killed. The trooper can call for backup, but that'll alert their superior--and maybe even Darth Malak or Admiral Karath--that something is up, and the price for failure is execution so they'll die anyway after they somehow survive their encounter with the Jedi.

* Carth, your first "real" party member, frequently states that he doesn't trust you, finds your placement on the ''Endar Spire'' suspicious, finds what the Jedi are doing suspicious, and frequently gets angry about what he perceives as getting the runaround. He comes off as a total Jerkass and whiner...until TheReveal comes out. Turns out he was ''[[ProperlyParanoid dead right]]' about ALL of his suspicions, just not in the way he expected! The comics and the second game add a few more layers. He encountered a Jedi coverup before, as he helped Zanye Carrick escape from the Covenant. In the second game, Disciple is reporting directly to Carth. Given Carth's trust issues, Mical's reservations (even Exile, his childhood hero, has to be careful when prying info out of him), and how important the ''Ebon Hawk'' is, there's likely some strong history between Mical and Carth, meaning Carth may also know more about the Jedi than he let on. Factor in that he's probably an untrained Sensitive, and this gets even ''more'' interesting.

* The Leviathan level. Here's Saul, and he's got the PlayerCharacter, Carth, and Bastila. He knows [[spoiler: who your character really is]], but he puts on a very good show of playing the arrogant ass of a Sith Officer. Now, he could have just spilled the beans right there, but decides not to. ''And'' he knows the answers to the interrogation questions already. So what is is really after? First off, he wants to see how loyal the PlayerCharacter is to the Republic and/or Carth and Bastila under duress. Secondly, it was a test so see [[spoiler: if Carth is in on the big secret. As Saul's former NumberOne, Saul knows how Carth thinks and would know exactly where to hit his former lieutenant. Once he confirms Carth had been LockedOutOfTheLoop, Saul now has the equivalent of a thermal detonator to toss into the crew's loyalties, so even if they ''do'' get away, they might be too divided to proceed.]] Thirdly, he wants to see if [[spoiler: you're reacting as the Revan he knew by sacrificing their loved ones for a bigger goal.]] Now, as for why he's even more hell-bent on breaking the PlayerCharacter [[spoiler: Notice he's not in the flashback to Revan's flagship. He was likely on ''Malak's'', which means he fired the shot that nearly killed Revan.]] Saul knows full well how many bridges he's burnt and how thin of ice he is with Malak, so he's going to double the effort.

* Carth, your first "real" party member, frequently states that he doesn't trust you, finds your placement on the ''Endar Spire'' suspicious, finds what the Jedi are doing suspicious, and frequently gets angry about what he perceives as getting the runaround. He comes off as a total Jerkass and whiner...until TheReveal comes out. Turns out he was ''dead right'' about ALL of his suspicions, just not in the way he expected! The comics and the second game add a few more layers. He encountered a Jedi coverup before, as he helped Zanye Carrick escape from the Covenant. In the second game, Disciple is reporting directly to Carth. Given Carth's trust issues, Mical's reservations (even Exile, his childhood hero, has to be careful when prying info out of him), and how important the ''Ebon Hawk'' is, there's likely some strong history between Mical and Carth, meaning Carth may also know more about the Jedi than he let on. Factor in that he's probably an untrained Sensitive, and this gets even ''more'' interesting.

** It certainly didn't help. There were two factions in the Order, one that believed that having families was alright and the other that believed that the Jedi should turn away from attachments like love and family because of the potential dangers. It so happened that after the Exar Kun Wars the anti-attachment faction gained more and more power in the council (I think their group had more survivors) and they speciically blamed love and attachment as why some of the Jedi fell or weren't killed when the chance sprang up. Eventually they were able to change policies after a couple of decades.

* The Leviathan level. Here's Saul, and he's got the PlayerCharacter, Carth, and Bastila. He knows [[spoiler: who your character really is]], but he puts on a very good show of playing the arrogant ass of a Sith Officer. Now, he could have just spilled the beans right there, but decides not to. ''And'' he knows the answers to the interrogation questions already. So what is is really after? First off, he wants to see how loyal the PlayerCharacter is to the Republic and/or Carth and Bastila under duress. Secondly, it was a test so see [[spoiler: if Carth is in on the big secret. Since he's been LockedOutOfTheLoop, Saul now has the equivalent of a thermal detonator to toss into the crew's loyalties, so even if they ''do'' get away, they might be too divided to proceed.]] Thirdly, he wants to see if [[spoiler: you're reacting as the Revan he knew by sacrificing their loved ones for a bigger goal.]] Now, as for why he's even more hell-bent on breaking the PlayerCharacter [[spoiler: Notice he's not in the flashback to Revan's flagship. He was likely on ''Malak's'', which means he fired the shot that nearly killed Revan.]] Saul knows full well how many bridges he's burnt and how thin of ice he is with Malak, so he's going to double the effort.
* For the comic and the second game: After the First Jedi Purge, the Order was pretty down on its luck. The council was dead, and a vast majority of the order's knights and masters died on Katarr, and though the Exile ''might'' want to rebuild the Order, it's up for the player to decide. So how is it that the Order is back at full power by the time of the Great Galactic War? Lucien Draay. At the end of the Vinciation arc in the comics, he reforms the Jedi covenant to a peaceful secret order meant to hide out a potential rise of the Sith, so that the Jedi teachings might survive. It's not unlikely that he and/or his covenant was vital in rebuilding the order from the ruins of Katarr. We also know that he was in a romantic relationship with Q'anilia, so he could have formed the new order to take it a bit easier on the no romance rule, explaining how Satele Shan can have a son and both Jedi classes in SWTOR can have romances without repercussions.

* For the comic, the Revan book, and the second game: After the First Jedi Purge, the Order was pretty down on its luck. The council was dead, and a vast majority of the order's knights and masters died on Katarr, and though the Exile ''might'' want to rebuild the Order, but it's up for the player to decide. So how is it that the Order is back at full power by the time of the Great Galactic War? As stated in the Revan novel, Bastilla was in hiding when the Purge happened, so she could have survived and worked on rebuilding the order, but she most likely didn't do it alone: Lucien Draay's Jedi Covenant was specifically founded in order for their teachings to survive a potential rise of the Sith. They may not have survived to the Great Jedi Purge, but they may very well have been central in rebuilding the order from the ruins of Katarr.

* Zaalbar being a BigEater. Well, he's a Wookiee, so we're already dealing with over two meters' worth of empty stomach. Secondly, food was probably not easy to find in the Taris slums, so "I see food, I eat it" - good survival strategy. Thirdly, Zaalbar is frequently called "young" by the other Wookiees and his banter with Mission is less LittleGuyBigBuddy and more a pair of LikeBrotherAndSister street kids. Zaalbar is likely an adolescent like Mission is, meaning he's a big boy that's ''still growing.''

** Well, the Czerka did have an impressive spaceport and capacity to transport large amounts of sentients in a hurry. While the casualties among the security staff would have been atrocious, it's likely that most everyone else got on the transports and burned sky.

* The whole situation with Juhani. Okay, so they have a troubled Force User who is dedicated to the ideals of the Order, but needs a lot of help to deal with a hell of a TraumaCongaLine involving slavery, racism, classism, and poverty. So, what do they do? Her Master goads her into a moment of weakness. Juhani injures Quatra, but doesn't go and take the next ship to Korriban. No, she realizes she screwed up and self-exiles in the nearby grove. To protect herself from the Mandalorians rampaging about (see above. There are a couple dead Mandos near where she's hiding, indicating they tried and failed to harass her) and keep others away, she drives the kath hounds crazy. The kath hounds are killing settlers (including Cassus Sandral, which almost sets the whole Sandral/Matale feud into turning bloody). And again, the Jedi don't seem to give much of a damn about the dead farmers. Instead, they decide that this is going to be a GREAT test for the Player Character [[spoiler: aka the mind wiped Dark Lord]], who either kills her or brings her back home. Even if she's killed, they just shrug it off. They are lucky that the PlayerCharacter didn't TakeAThirdOption of convincing Juhani to just come along and be personally loyal to them instead of returning to the Jedi.

* If the planet Drexel is all water where did the wooden ship that Luke found come from?