History VideoGame / DarkForcesSaga

->''I'm no Jedi, just a guy with a lightsaber and a few questions.''

*** This is because ''he's [[MemeticBadass Kyle Katarn]]''.

** Rodians carrying disruptor rifles can often fire multiple shots with less than half a second between each.

*** Some enemy Force users have limitless Force energy, allowing them to break free from drain and grip at any moment. They can actually abort their special swings to avoid attacks and tend to aim at your model--sometimes killing you by hitting something that seems empty space for the player (oh yeah, they also invisibly "evade" your attacks - slashing their face will occasionally leave them unharmed except for a visible burned mark in the middle). Their Force Throw is perfectly targeted - it will stop right where you stand and keep swinging until it kills you or is parried. Yours, on the other hand, will pass further and stop at maximum range.

** ''Jedi Academy'' features not only Vader's fortress from the ''Dark Empire II'' comic, but the toppled Darth Vader statue.

** In ''Academy'' Kyle mentions he has seen chutes like the one he just jumped into before; the same type of chute was also present at Cloud City in ''Outcast''

* DemonicSpider: The Shadowtroopers
* DiscOneNuke: Level 3 Force Lightning in ''Jedi Academy'', if you level it up early enough. (BOOM!) Or Grip (toss troopers around like rag dolls!). Or Healing (INVINCIBLE!).
* DisneyDeath [[spoiler:Jan Ors]] in Outcast, [[spoiler:part of a BatmanGambit on Desann's part to get Kyle to reveal the Valley]].

** ''Academy'' lets you beat people up with kung fu, including some stylish grapples. [[spoiler:Should you take the Dark Side path, [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard Kyle has an upgraded version of this that lets him do grapples you can't]]. Then again, he's [[MemeticBadass Kyle]].]]

* EpicTrackingShot: A particularly good one appears in ''Jedi Knight's'' introduction to Nar Shaddaa.

** Also, in ''Jedi Academy'', Kyle Katarn accompanies you for most of the second of the game's three main story missions. Subverted in that he's capable of almost effortlessly obliterating the small army of Imperials and Sith that appear throughout the level, without needing any help from you. If you want, you can just lead him from point A to point B and watch him kick ass. One of the few (and welcome) times in a video game where it's practically the ''player'' who's being escorted.

* FakeKillScare: This is how Desaan tricked Kyle Katarn into leading him to the valley of the Jedi. In retrospect, this was a [[BerserkButton very]], [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge VERY]] '''[[OneManArmy BAD]]''' ''' ''[[BadassNormal IDEA!]]'' '''.

** Kyle tells you that powers are not necessarily good or evil in the training level of ''Academy'', and regardless of your selected powers you can choose dark or light side in the game, but he and Luke still worry about you if you focus on dark-side powers. Taken a step further in multiplayer, where you're only allowed to pick one side's powers.

* GoryDiscretionShot: In ''Jedi Outcast'', when Desaan [[spoiler: ''[[SubvertedTrope seemingly]]'' kills Jan Ors. Tavion later reveals the truth, lampshading it with "What did you really see? What did you really hear?"]]

* [[HeyItsThatVoice Hey It's That Voice!]]:

** HammerSpace: Where exactly does Jaden keep all of those large bombs when blowing up the weapon caches? (For context, the bombs are about half his/her height and wider than him/her)

--> '''Thrawn''': "Your [[FantasticRacism xenocentric chauvinism]] is no concern of mine. I care about performance and results, and your record is exemplary. I do not care about your petty bigotry. Understood?"
--> '''Commander''': "Understood, Captain."
--> '''Thrawn''': "Oh, and Commander, if I ever find out that your bigotry is affecting your performance, I'll have your carcass ejected with the next garbage load. Understood?"

** If it comes to it, the Stormtrooper blaster rifle is generally not a very accurate weapon in the games even for the player. Only some weapons in ''Outcast'' and ''Academy'' are accurate enough that a shot flies exactly where you were aiming even at a distance; the blaster rifle is certainly not one of these.
* InconvenientlyPlacedConveyorBelt: Since half of ''[[VideoGame/DarkForcesSaga Dark Forces]]'' is spent slogging through the various construction facilities of the Dark Trooper project, these are available in all shapes and colours, culminating in a horrific sequence made up entirely of these and long falls in the final two levels.

** The absolute standout is the gas mining platform in ''Academy''. Apart from the hangar and inside of the command tower, there is no part of the level where you and/or your enemies are not near a lethal drop. If you have Level 3 Force Grip (which is very doable), this will be your favorite level in the game.

** Concussion rifle-armed Hazard Troopers in ''Academy''.

* PossessionBurnout

'''Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy''' (2003), essentially an ExpansionPack in the body of a true sequel, featured a brand new character, Jaden Korr. This character is customizable, with male/female voices for several species as well as hair and clothing variations (though later novels pin down canonical species and gender as human/male, respectively). You can also choose from a selection of lightsaber hilts and colors, and later in the game can upgrade to dual wield or use the double bladed version. Jaden has somehow constructed a lightsaber without any prior Jedi training, and news of this remarkable feat results in being transported to the Jedi Academy, where you become the apprentice of Kyle Katarn. The game consists of progressing through missions assigned by Luke or Kyle until you become a Jedi Knight. Unusually, the game takes a free-form yet tiered approach--as an initiate, you can pick any of five missions to take in any order; at apprentice level, you gain a set of five new missions; and at Jedi Knight level, you get five more. Also noteworthy is that you need finish only four missions to progress to the next level, though as you get more powers with each of these missions it's in your best interest to do them all. In between each level of difficulty is a compulsory mission, linked directly to the main story. The story involves a group of Sith Cultists seeking to resurrect an ancient Sith Lord, Marka Ragnos. Like Dark Forces 2, there are two endings, one for each side of the Force (as usual with Creator/LucasArts, the light side one was eventually determined to be canonical).

The entire series is now available on Steam.

** Your fists in ''Dark Forces'' and in ''Jedi Knight'' prior to receiving your lightsaber (though you still have the option of using your fists).

* OlderThanTheyLook: [[AllThereInTheManual according to the official EU chronology]], Jaden in ''Jedi Academy'' is only '''13 years old.'''

* YoungerThanTheyLook: Later works which feature Jaden establish that he is, at most, thirteen years old during the events of ''Jedi Academy''.

'''Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy''' (2004), essentially an ExpansionPack in the body of a true sequel, featured a brand new character, Jaden Korr. This character is customizable, with male/female voices for several species as well as hair and clothing variations (though later novels pin down canonical species and gender as human/male, respectively). You can also choose from a selection of lightsaber hilts and colors, and later in the game can upgrade to dual wield or use the double bladed version. Jaden has somehow constructed a lightsaber without any prior Jedi training, and news of this remarkable feat results in being transported to the Jedi Academy, where you become the apprentice of Kyle Katarn. The game consists of progressing through missions assigned by Luke or Kyle until you become a Jedi Knight. Unusually, the game takes a free-form yet tiered approach--as an initiate, you can pick any of five missions to take in any order; at apprentice level, you gain a set of five new missions; and at Jedi Knight level, you get five more. Also noteworthy is that you need finish only four missions to progress to the next level, though as you get more powers with each of these missions it's in your best interest to do them all. In between each level of difficulty is a compulsory mission, linked directly to the main story. The story involves a group of Sith Cultists seeking to resurrect an ancient Sith Lord, Marka Ragnos. Like Dark Forces 2, there are two endings, one for each side of the Force (as usual with Creator/LucasArts, the light side one was eventually determined to be canonical).

** The last scenario involves escorting what has to be the dumbest droid in the quadrant through the streets of Cloud City. Killing the snipers who want to destroy the droid, destroying laser mines before the droid barrels through them, and otherwise moving heaven and earth to prevent the destruction of said droid is a rather grueling task.
*** Not as hard if one thinks outside the box. Once you realize that Force Pull and Force Push work just as well with the droid as with any other mook, you can simply steer it around without putting it in danger or having a time limit.

** Happens twice in ''Mysteries of the Sith''. First in Takara's stronghold, where Mara must fight her way through Gamorrean guards and must evade (and later kill) a rancor before finding her lightsaber. Then, when you reach the final levels on Dromund Kaas most of her weaponry is useless, and she's forced to focus on her lightsaber.
*** Actually, it's entirely possible to Force-pull your lightsaber out of the locked room where it's stored (the windows are barred, not solid). Doesn't make the rancor ''that'' much easier to kill (he can still OneHitKill you by nom-ing you in one gulp) but it's better than trying to beat it to death.

** During Mara Jade's mission to locate the Holocron in ''Mysteries of the Sith'', you can stumble upon 8t88's head as well as the heads for two dark trooper phases.

** Kyle Katarn. Notably, in the first game, before he gets any Force powers, he sneaks (i.e. shoots his way through) on board the ''Executor'' (Darth Vader's personal flagship!), just so that he can get on board an inter-ship shuttle to the ''Arc Hammer'', where the Dark Troopers are being created. He then shoots his way through the ''entire ship'' (which is about half the size of the Executor, but still larger than a Star Destroyer), kills a ''dozen'' Dark Troopers (six of which were enough to take out an entire colony's defenses), destroys the most powerful Dark Trooper yet made, then ''destroys the Arc Hammer''. While ''Vader'', apparently unaware until now, watches from the bridge of the ''Executor''. ''[[UpToEleven Then he got force powers!]]''

** In ''Academy'' Kyle mentions he has seen chutes like the one the one he just jumped into before; the same type of chute was also present at Cloud City in ''Outcast''

** ''Academy'' has lets you beat people up with kung fu, including some stylish grapples. [[spoiler:Should you take the Dark Side path, [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard Kyle has an upgraded version of this that lets him do grapples you can't]]. Then again, he's [[MemeticBadass Kyle]].]]

** Also the duel against [[spoiler:Rosh]] and the 2 Reborn Master twins in ''Jedi Academy''.

** EvilIsHammy: Christopher Neame from ''Dark Forces II'' is [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EeFTEKZxgo clearly]] having a ''lot'' of fun as [[BigBad Jerec]]. Admiral Fyyar from ''Jedi Outcast'' is slightly more low-key until his [[EvilGloating hammy villainous]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOF4pyGSwlw rant]].

* [[{{TakenForGranite}} Taken For Carbonite]]: ''Mysteries'' introduces a special carbonite rifle that freezes enemys in, well, carbonite.

*** Sand Creatures are only seen on Blenjeel.
*** Interrogator droids are only seen in a single room in Vjun.

* ArtificialStupidity: The stormtroopers in ''Outcast'' are pretty stupid in general. More enemies end up like this in ''Academy'', which leads to a GoodBadBug where you can kill multiple bosses by simply standing where you start the battle at and firing a Sense-enhanced E-11 into their faces until they die.

* {{Badass}}: Kyle Katarn.

* {{BFG}}: The Concussion Rifle.

* BonusStage: At least two:

* CantStayNormal: After his brushes with the DarkSide in ''Jedi Knight'' and ''Mysteries of the Sith'', Kyle gave up his lightsaber and the Force, resuming life as a PrivateMilitaryContractor (who only works with the New Republic). only to come back to it in ''Jedi Outcast'' after certain plot developments.

* TheComputerIsACheatingBastard: Most notably, enemy [[SuperpoweredMooks Force users']] perfect reflexes and control with their powers: they always push-deflect missiles and concussion blasts, straight back at you and with perfect accuracy. - which leads to some [[http://i.imgur.com/8ymEl.gif interesting results]] when two AI force-users face off against each other in the middle of a battlefield.

* ContinuityNod: ''Jedi Academy'' features not only Vader's fortress from the ''Dark Empire II'' comic, but the toppled Darth Vader statue.

* DarkActionGirl: Sariss, Tavion, and Alora are all female dark Jedi who are among the most dangerous characters in their respective games. You yourself can be this in ''Academy'' if you take the dark side route.

* DualBoss: Gorc and Pic in ''Jedi Knight'', though this is less of a dual boss and more of a meatshield combined with a GoddamnedBoss.

* EasterEgg: Using cheats in ''Jedi Outcast'' and ''Jedi Academy'' allows to get some powers or weapons unavailable through normal play.

* EmergencyWeapon: Your fists in ''Dark Forces'' and in ''Jedi Knight'' prior to receiving your lightsaber (though you still have the option of using your fists).

* EnemyCivilWar - Mostly averted, in relation to your Imperial foes, save for some hints that stormtroopers were fed to or accidentally happened upon some kell dragons in ''Jedi Knight''. Also, in one case in ''Jedi Outcast'''s second level, some turrets in one room appear to be programmed to kill stormtroopers, as well as the player, this might have been because it was probably a training area for reasons unknown. Mooks working in the underworld seem much more prone to this sort of behavior, however. One notable example is a BarBrawl between a number of Grans in Baron's Hed in ''Jedi Knight''. In ''Mysteries of the Sith'', the palace of Ka'Pa the Hutt also has a few sequences in which Mooks attack one another.

* EscortMission: Occurs a few times in ''Outcast''.

* FiveBadBand: The Dark Jedi in Dark Forces II:

* GameMod: All the games have had many.

* GameplayAndStorySegregation: Force Destruction in the capable hands of Jerec is shown to be powerful enough to fatally cripple a docked capital ship, but in actual gameplay it doesn't do much more than hit ''really'' hard.

* GoodOldFisticuffs: In Academy, [[spoiler:Kyle Katarn]] gets a lot of unique moves if you fight him after going Dark Side. One is to grab your sword arm with one hand and ''punch you in the face'' with the other; it's unblockable and delivers a knockdown.

* GunsAreUseless: Once you get your lightsaber, you will generally ever use 3 guns again: one for stealth kills, one for long range kills and one for robots.

* [[HeyItsThatVoice Hey It's That Voice!]]: [[JasonMarsden Rosh]] is [[WesternAnimation/GoofTroop Max Goof]].

* HyperspaceArsenal

* ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy: An offshoot of the TropeNamer. Averted in ''Outcast,'' though, in which stormtroopers are ''much'' smarter and deadlier (not helped by the engine's fuzzy blaster hit detection). The levels taking place before you get Force powers will leave you in tears.

* InsurmountableWaistHeightFence: Half of the first part of the final level in Academy is spent getting around an old rusty gate [[DoorToBefore by breaking the chains holding it in place from the other side]]. Did we mention that you have a ''lightsaber'' and Force powers?

* MagikarpPower: Most of the Force Powers in ''Jedi Outcast'' and ''Jedi Academy'' are like this, but Force Lightning is the most notable. At level 1, it fires a single weak bolt that can barely kill a single stormtrooper using your entire Force bar. At level 3, it fires a massive arc of lightning that can wipe out an entire roomful of stormtroopers in a second or two. It also sends them flying. You can even pin them against walls by maintaining the attack.

* MalevolentArchitecture: Between the NoOSHACompliance and more {{Bottomless Pit}}s than you can shake a lightsaber at, the architects of the majority of Imperial bases must have been strange, ''strange'' men. Lampshaded at one point by Kyle: "Not ''another'' thing to fall from!"

* OneManArmy: Kyle Katarn. Notably, in the first game, before he gets any Force powers, he sneaks (i.e. shoots his way through) on board the ''Executor'' (Darth Vader's personal flagship!), just so that he can get on board an inter-ship shuttle to the ''Arc Hammer'', where the Dark Troopers are being created. He then shoots his way through the ''entire ship'' (which is about half the size of the Executor, but still larger than a Star Destroyer), kills a ''dozen'' Dark Troopers (six of which were enough to take out an entire colony's defenses), destroys the most powerful Dark Trooper yet made, then ''destroys the Arc Hammer''. While ''Vader'', apparently unaware until now, watches from the bridge of the ''Executor''. ''[[UpToEleven Then he got force powers!]]''

* PoweredArmor: Appears several times throughout the series.

* PuzzleBoss: The Mutant Rancor in Jedi Academy.

* ShootTheMedicFirst: The boss battle with [[spoiler:Rosh]] in ''Jedi Academy'' uses this. He sucks compared to you, so two Force healers will follow him around and heal him every time you damage him enough. You have to kill them to win. Made even worse by the fact that they have fully-decked out Force powers and thus are nigh-impossible to kill unless they're in the process of healing the boss.

* ShoutOut: Max from ''SamAndMaxHitTheRoad'' makes an appearance in the Dark Forces game. A demented, pint-sized lagomorph received official mention in one of the online RPG supplements.

* StrangeSyntaxSpeaker: The Chiss bartender Baldarek on Nar Shaddaa in ''Jedi Outcast'' has problems speaking Basic and constantly confuses [[{{Pluralses}} singular and plural nouns]].

* VariableMix: From Jedi Knight II and onward, whenever you get into combat in a level, the music changes to more action based music, straight from the Star Wars OST. There was also a special tid bit whenever your character ever died.

* VideogameCrueltyPotential: Force Grip + MalevolentArchitecture = Pure Bastardosity.

* CapuletCounterpart: Kyle and Jan in the prequel novel ''Soldier for the Empire''.

** This is a nod to the ExpandedUniverse, in that Chiss don't speak Basic. [[NerdRage The native Chiss language is called Cheunh, which is all but impossible for humans to speak because Chiss have mutated vocal chords. Also, living on Nar Shaddaa, it's entirely likely Baldarek is more fluent in Huttese than he is in Basic.]]

* MythologyGag: The Imperial blaster rifle is the [[ImperialStormtrooperAcademy least accurate gun]] in the games.

* AppropriatedTitle: The ''[[VideoGame/DarkForcesSaga Dark Forces]]'' title was replaced with ''[[VideoGame/DarkForcesSaga Jedi Knight]]'' when the second game (''Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight'') proved more