History VideoGame / DarkForcesSaga

** 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, though with Force Sense at rank 2 or above you can force it to be perfectly accurate (somehow[[note]]The idea may be about "using your feelings" or whatever to aim better, but that doesn't really work when you can one-hand a blaster pistol with perfect accuracy no matter what, not to mention the millions of contradictory explanations in the series for ''why'' exactly the stormtrooper's rifle is so inaccurate in the first place, a lot of which have nothing to do with the user[[/note]]).

The entire series has been made available on {{Steam}}. For more information see [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Dark_Forces_saga another wiki]]. Not TheOtherWiki, but [[TheWikiRule another wiki]].

* {{Badass}}: Kyle Katarn, in so many ways. From BadassNormal in ''Dark Forces'', to EmpoweredBadassNormal in ''Jedi Knight''. After [[BroughtDownToBadass returning back to Badass]] at the start of ''Outcast'' he becomes an EmpoweredBadassNormal ''again'', and finally becomes a BadassTeacher in ''Academy''. Oh and don't forget his BadassBeard.

** [[http://darkforces.jediknight.net The Dark Forces Mod]] is an upgraded port of ''Dark Forces'' to the ''Jedi Academy'' engine, with a 6-level demo. The mod has been [[http://www.lucasforums.com/showthread.php?s=cf15d17f75fc6114fe678267759f59b8&t=209382 cancelled]].

** [[http://darkforces.jediknight.net The Dark Forces Mod]] is an upgraded port of ''Dark Forces'' to the ''Jedi Academy'' engine, with 6 levels released as of 2010.
** [[http://www.massassi.net/ The Massassi Temple]] is the largest website ever dedicated to ''Jedi Knight'' and ''Mysteries of the Sith''. New levels have been released for them as late as January 2010.

A series of ''Franchise/StarWars''-based FirstPersonShooter VideoGames, with accompanying novellas. They take place during and after the original trilogy, and revolve around Kyle Katarn, a Stormtrooper-turned-mercenary-turned-Jedi who roams around the seedy side of the galaxy. The series consists of four games and one ExpansionPack to date:

The entire series is now available on {{Steam}}. For more information see [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Dark_Forces_saga another wiki]]. Not TheOtherWiki, but [[TheWikiRule another wiki]].

A series of ''Franchise/StarWars''-based FirstPersonShooter VideoGames, with accompanying novellas. They take place during and after the original trilogy, and revolve around Kyle Katarn, a Stormtrooper-turned-mercenary-turned-Jedi who roams around the seedy side of the galaxy.

* '''Dark Forces''' (1995), the first game, is a standard first person shooter. The beginning levels introduces Kyle as the one to steal the plans for the first Death Star and transmit them to [[TheAlliance the Rebel Alliance]], thus leading into ''A New Hope''. After that, it jumps after the Death Star's destruction and goes into its own story involving TheEmpire's secret "Dark Trooper Project". The game was a dramatic leap for graphics and level design, being one of the first to feature multiple floors. It was also one of the first successful uses of looking up and down, as well as jumping.
* '''Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II''' (1997) was the first game to feature first-person lightsaber battles. This story takes place after the events of the original trilogy. Here, Kyle learns of his Force potential and receives his own lightsaber, once owned by a Jedi Master named Rahn, whose spirit occasionally guides him in dreams and visions. He follows a lead to the Dark Jedi Jerec, with the intent [[YouKilledMyFather to avenge his father's murder]]. Jerec seeks for a mysterious [[ForgottenSuperweapon Valley of the Jedi]] that legend tells has monumental power, providing additional incentive to stop him. Part of the feature is a light side/dark side progression, where your actions (kill innocents or protect them) and choices and uses of Force power dictate which side you will lean to. There are two endings, light side and dark side. WordOfGod (and future games) say that the light side ending is {{canon}}. Live action cut scenes moved the plot along, elevating the game to an almost movie-like experience ([[NarmCharm albeit with daytime-soap-opera-level acting]]).
** '''Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith''' (1998) was an expansion game, telling some of Kyle's story after he has become a full Jedi Knight. The player soon takes control of Kyle's "reciprocal apprentice" (as in, they're teaching each other), Mara Jade (who becomes Luke Skywalker's wife in canon some years later), as Kyle goes off to find what may be the remnants of a Sith temple. He disappears from all contact, however, and you have to track him down, only to discover him skirting dangerously close to the dark side. After the events of this game, Kyle swears off the life of a Jedi and returns to being a hired mercenary (for the New Republic, at least).
* '''Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast''' (2002) is a continuation of the series, though notice the lack of "Dark Forces" in the title. Here, Kyle is persuaded to reclaim his lightsaber to battle against Desann, a former student at Luke Skywalker's Jedi Academy. He also discovers that the Imperial Remnant is gathering forces to strike against the fragile New Republic as well as the Jedi Academy. In the end, Kyle decides he can't abandon his responsiblities and becomes a dedicated Jedi.
* '''Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy''' (2003), essentially an ExpansionPack [[MissionPackSequel 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 wielding 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}}.

For more information see [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Dark_Forces_saga another wiki]]. Not TheOtherWiki, but [[TheWikiRule another wiki]].

!!The ''Dark Forces'' series provides examples of:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Tropes A-C]]
* AbsurdlySpaciousSewer: Available in several shapes, sizes and colors throughout the series, although the sequential sluice gates in the third level of ''Jedi Knight'' will probably haunt your nightmares the longest.
* ActionGirl: Jan Ors, Mara Jade in ''Mysteries of the Sith'', and finally your own character in ''Jedi Academy'' if you choose.
* AirAidedAcrobatics: In the first Bespin level of ''Outcast''.
* AlasPoorVillain: Stormtroopers have a pretty poor reputation to begin with ([[ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy terrible aim]], being defeated by walking teddy bears, etc.) but it's surprisingly easy to feel sorry for them in ''Outcast''. It's not uncommon, when sneaking around, to hear them chatting with one another about various things, such as how hard it is to see out of their helmets, griping about higher ranking officers berating them, or even chatting about their new T-16's. In other words, ordinary guys just passing the time. And then you come in with your fancy lightsaber, and it's pretty easy to feel sorry for them as they get cut down left and right (Their screams of complete and utter terror as they get cut down, or hurled off a high ledge certainly doesn't help). If you're feeling merciful (or a little guilty), you can disarm the troopers by force choking them, grabbing their weapons, and leaving them to run around harmlessly (they may even raise their hands in surrender if you get close enough).
* AlignmentBasedEndings: In ''Dark Forces 2: Jedi Knight'', the ending is determined by a hidden KarmaMeter. In ''Jedi Academy'', you instead explicitly choose your side in the penultimate story mission.
* AlwaysOverTheShoulder: ''Dark Forces 2'', the first game in the series with a third-person camera, has a setting to automatically change to third-person when switching to the lightsaber. ''Jedi Outcast'' singleplayer defaulted to this, while its multiplayer and ''Jedi Academy'' don't even allow the player in first-person mode while using the lightsaber.
* AnArmAndALeg: [[spoiler: Rosh]] loses an arm in the light side ending of ''Jedi Academy''. Without making use of cheats to enable full dismemberment, ''Outcast'' and ''Academy'' also occasionally allow you to take off a hand or an arm.

* 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 popular.
* ArtifactTitle: "Dark Forces" refers to the Dark Trooper project, which would make its presence in ''Dark Forces 2: Jedi Knight'', about a guy become a Jedi and fighting a group of Dark Side users along the way rather irrelevant...were it not for the implications of the term "Dark Force" in the ''StarWars'' universe.
* 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.
** Dark Jedi will occasionally gleefully jump into a BottomlessPit to dodge lightsaber attacks.
*** One specific application of this comes in the Vjun level of ''Jedi Academy'', where you have a duel with a New Reborn under a high-up walkway that has another Cultist on it. He's supposed to be another obstacle for you once you get that high up, but almost every time he hears your earlier duel, tries to jump down to join in, and promptly breaks his legs.
* AwesomeButImpractical:
** Force Drain. While it's satisfying to use and has an ''awesome'' animation when used up close, it leaves you very vulnerable to fire since you can't move while using it, and it quickly burns through your force pool. Compare to [[BoringButPractical Force Heal]], which can be used both in and out of combat, and at higher levels allows you to freely move around.
** Many of the more flashy acrobatic moves in ''Outcast'' and ''Academy'', despite looking rather cool, aren't actually all that useful.
* BackToBackBadasses: Kyle and Luke, in ''Jedi Outcast''.
* {{Badass}}: As you might expect from the ''Star Wars'' series, quite a few.
** Kyle Katarn, in so many ways. From BadassNormal in ''Dark Forces'', to EmpoweredBadassNormal in ''Jedi Knight''. After [[BroughtDownToBadass returning back to Badass]] at the start of ''Outcast'' he becomes an EmpoweredBadassNormal ''again'', and finally becomes a BadassTeacher in ''Academy''. Oh and don't forget his BadassBeard.
*** His most notable accomplishment is beating at least one Kell dragon to death. ''With his fists.'' Note that each Kell dragon is as tall as a human, at least three times as long, and normally ''eats humans for breakfast'' (at least the one Kyle fought did). And he did this ''before'' [[BadassNormal learning to use the Force]].
*** He's so badass that [[spoiler:if you take the Dark Side route in ''Academy'' and fight him as the final boss, you aren't fighting to kill him. "Winning" involves you crashing the ceiling on him for a ''distraction'' and running away.]]
*** And in [[spoiler:said final boss fight, he can do something that cannot be done by you or any other character in the game. He can actually ''pull away your lightsaber!'' For any other character, TheComputerIsACheatingBastard would apply. Kyle is simply just that badass.]]
*** Don't forget that he also [[spoiler:will sometimes not even bother with the lightsaber, but will instead grab you and start punching you!]]
*** Kyle can snark at ''Luke Skywalker'' and get away with it.
** Jaden hacks his/her way though an entire Sith cult in ''Academy''. Then again, you shouldn't really be surprised that given that this is Kyle's student.
* BadPowersGoodPeople: Kyle uses Force Grip and Force Lightning in ''Outcast'' and ''Academy''. Jaden can also learn dark side powers if you so choose.
* BagOfSpilling: ''Jedi Academy'''s missions are implied to take place several days or even weeks apart, and you requisition weapons rather than owning them anyway, so it makes a kind of sense. In any case, starting with your first real mission you always keep your lightsaber, a sidearm, two heavier weapons, and one explosive with you (not that it ever matters; nothing beats your trusty lightsaber).
* BarrierWarrior: Luke and Kyle both learn Force Protection by the time of ''Academy''. Jaden has the option of choosing this as well.
* BatmanGambit: Desann manipulates Kyle quite handily near the beginning of ''Jedi Outcast''. [[spoiler: He lets him try to beat him without Jedi abilities to show how impossible it is, and apparently kills his girlfriend, all just to make him return to the Valley of the Jedi to regain his powers for purposes of revenge so that Desann can follow him there.]]
* {{BFG}}:
** The Concussion Rifle.
** The first game also had the Assault Cannon.
* BlackAndWhiteMagic: In ''Jedi Knight'', Kyle can use the light side (healing and support skills) or the dark side (only does damage and instant death). In ''Mysteries of the Sith'', Kyle becomes TheRedMage (although he can use all the available powers) because the plot requires him to do a quick FaceHeelTurn, only to be redeemed by Mara. Jaden can take his or her pick over what light or dark skills they want.

* BonusBoss: [[spoiler:Kyle replaces the final boss]] in ''Academy'' if the player takes the dark path.
* BonusStage: At least two:
** ''Mysteries of the Sith'': A downloadable extra level unrelated to the main story, [[spoiler:featuring Luke Skywalker arriving at Cloud City during ''The Empire Strikes Back'', for a final confrontation with a dark-side Kyle (standing in for Vader).]]
** ''Jedi Outcast'': The Pit, used as the demo to Jedi Outcast, featuring a non-canonical battle to the death against Tavion in an inescapable pit arena.
* BoomHeadshot: in ''Outcast'' and ''Academy'', headshots do extra damage and will often result in an instant kill. Force Speed and Force Sense make it much easier to score them, even with the notoriously inaccurate Imperial blaster.

* BountyHunter: Boba Fett shows up twice in the series, first in ''Dark Forces'' to confront Kyle on Coruscant, and the second time in ''Jedi Academy'' running into Jaden.
* BulletproofHumanShield: Level 3 Force Grip allows you to use enemies as shields in ''Outcast'' and ''Academy''.
* 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.

* ChargeMeter: Certain Force powers in ''Jedi Knight''; the scout pistol in ''Mysteries of the Sith''; the Bryar pistol in ''Jedi Outcast'' and DL-44 in ''Jedi Academy''
* ChewingTheScenery: Jaden's performance in ''Jedi Academy'' if you choose to turn to the Dark Side consists of this, with every single word fairly bursting with emphasis, passion, and perpetual rage at everything.
** EvilIsHammy: Christopher Neame is [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EeFTEKZxgo clearly]] having a ''lot'' of fun as [[BigBad Jerec]] from ''Dark Forces II''. Admiral Fyyar from ''Jedi Outcast'' is slightly more low-key until his [[EvilGloating hammy villainous]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOF4pyGSwlw rant]].
* CollapsingCeilingBoss: Inverted. Despite Desann's difficulty as a boss, the fight can be ended instantaneously by hacking through one of the three stone pillars around the arena. If the collapsing pillar falls on Desann, he [[OneHitKill dies instantly]].

* ColorCodedWizardry: Desann's Reborn and Tavion's cult members adhere to this trope.
* CombatPragmatist:
** Kyle in spades, whether he's using both guns and his lightsaber, or light and dark sides of the force. The epitome of this is perhaps in ''Outcast'', where he interrupts Galak's gloating speech to hurl his lightsaber into the shield generator.
** Jaden similarly shows many qualities of this in ''Academy''. There's a good chance that a lot of your saber kills will be gained by knocking enemies over and then skewering them while they lie helplessly on the ground. And let's not even get started on the ways you can use Push/Pull/Grip.

** As a boss in ''Academy'', [[spoiler:Kyle]] can Force pull your saber clean out of your hand, something that's impossible for anyone else.
** Desann takes this to a whole new level in the final duel of ''Outcast''. Not only does he have his own unique saber style that does as much damage as the Strong style (killing you in just 2 or 3 hits on ''medium'' difficulty) and is as fast as the Medium style, but his Force powers are insanely stronger than any other NPC in the series, most notably his nearly unbreakable Force Choke.
*** If you use console cheats and set your Jedi Mind Trick to level 4 you can mind control Desann to see how broken he really is. He'll block blaster fire and Force push stuff like rockets back at opponents automatically, and some times he'll Force choke or push/pull enemies on his own without you even inputting any commands. Hell, try mind controlling him and spawning five or ten high-level Jedi enemies and see how easily you turn them all into Jedi sandwich spread.
** Rodians carrying disruptor rifles can often fire multiple shots with less than half a second between each, depriving you of your only real defense against them (that is, the random chance that you'll automatically Force-dodge shots from them).
** In ''Academy'', each type of saber and style comes with its own energy-expensive sequence of unblockable swings, some more useful than others. Reborn can use any of these with any style, including a two-bladed and lance versions of ones that are only available to you when you have one sword (the second sword or the 'back' side of the lance sometimes passing right through the wielder with no ill effect.)
** Good and bad lance wielders can separate their lances into a pair of lightsabers. You can't.

** It is almost impossible to attack a force-using enemy with a weapon other than a light saber in ''Jedi Academy''. On the Korriban level, it's possible for a stormtrooper to fire a rocket at a jedi dueling a cultist with a light saber; the rocket will continuously be reflected back and forth with the computer's infinite force power reserve.
* ContinuityNod:
** ''Jedi Academy'' features not only Vader's fortress from the ''Dark Empire II'' comic, but the toppled Darth Vader statue. Kyle also mentions a rumor that Luke had been to Vjun at some point in the past in the intro cutscene for the levels set there.
** In ''Outcast'', Kyle comes across prototypes for black cortosis armor (capable of resisting lightsabers and used by EliteMooks). He replies, "Black armor...not again." referring to the Dark Troopers of the first Dark Forces.
** 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''. The same level also features energy-shooting pillars from the Cairn Installation levels and the sentry droids from throughout the previous game.
** Luke's office/training chamber/whatever is the throne room from the original movie where the heroes get a medal at the end.
** Several of the Jedi Masters mentioned in ''Academy'' are actual characters from the Expanded Universe.
** In ''Jedi Knight'', Kyle says to 8t88, "The dark side? I've been there. Do your worst." This is referring to dialogue in ''Dark Forces'' where Kyle says "I'll see you on the dark side." just before launching to the ''Executor''. It may also be reference to his previous occupation as a stormtrooper prior to the series.
** Kyle makes reference to his battle with Boba Fett in ''Dark Forces'' after Jaden goes against him in ''Academy''.
** 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 head for a phase II dark trooper.
-->'''Mara''': ''This looks familiar.''
* ConvectionSchmonvection: Mostly played straight. A notable aversion late on in ''Academy'' however, is where you have to enable the heat shield to cross a bridge to some controls on Taspir III. Rather bizarrely it ''only'' applies to that one section of lava, and much of the remainder of the level has you merrily jumping around while only inches away from the stuff with no ill effects.
* CovertGroupWithMundaneFront: Reelo Baruk in ''Outcast'' pretends to be a "respected waste disposal manager", and uses it as a front for his criminal activities.
* CraniumRide: A ridable Rancor can be summoned via cheat code in the PC version of ''Jedi Academy.''
* CutsceneIncompetence:
** While Kyle is searching for ''Doomgiver'' in ''Outcast'', he'll somehow be captured if someone hits the alarm despite having slaughtered his way through half the station just to get there. To make this worse, the cinematic of Kyle in his cell shows him being held hostage by a handful of troops, which he could ''easily'' take on bare-handed at this point in the game.
** Slightly more justified in ''Academy'', where Jaden gets captured while in the sights of about 10 snipers. Later on in the game you could easily kill them, but you're not quite that badass yet.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tropes D-G]]
* 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.
** Arguably Mara Jade in ''Mysteries of the Sith'', given her background.
* DeadlyGaze: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Force Deadly Sight]] in ''Jedi Knight''.

* DecapitationPresentation: Maw mentions doing this to Kyle's father in ''Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II'', but the actual decapitation and subsequent public display of the head on a spike occurs offscreen. Unless you have the book...

* DirtyCoward:
** Tavion in ''Outcast'', who begs for her life after being defeated. [[spoiler: She [[FaceDeathWithDignity refuses to resort to this again]] in ''Academy'']]
** Lannik Racto in ''Academy.'' The moment he is in harm's way he begs Jaden not to hurt him and gives him/her the information about his droid factories without a moment's notice.
* DiscOneNuke: The "pick whatever you want" method of leveling non-core Force powers in ''Jedi Academy'' allows any power to become this near-instantly - zap an entire room full of Stormtroopers to death instantly with level 3 Lightning, throw about anyone with level 3 Grip, or become basically invincible with level 3 Heal, among others.
* DisintegratorRay: The disruptor rifle in ''Outcast'' and ''Academy'' does this when fully powered up.
* DisneyDeath: [[spoiler:Jan Ors]] in ''Outcast'', [[spoiler:part of a BatmanGambit on Desann's part to get Kyle to reveal the location of the Valley]].

* DoesntTrustThoseGuys: The famous "Never trust a bartender with [[{{Pluralses}} bad grammar]]."
* DontCallMeSir: Further cementing his BadassTeacher status, Kyle prefers to be on [[FirstNameBasis first-name terms]] with his students.
-->'''Kyle''': First off, just call me Kyle - titles make my skin crawl. Secondly, you're not 'serving under me.' I'm gonna teach you, and you're gonna learn. That's it.
* DownTheDrain: Kyle and Jaden have to resort to this to get into Vader's castle on Vjun.
-->'''Kyle''': Well, let's go; no one ever said being a Jedi was glamorous.
* DragonAscendant: Tavion, TheDragon in ''Jedi Outcast'', becomes the BigBad of ''Jedi Academy''.
* DressingAsTheEnemy: Mara steals a Tusken Raider outfit in order to infiltrate Ka'Pa's palace in ''Mysteries of the Sith''.
* DualBoss:
** Gorc and Pic in ''Jedi Knight'', though this is less of a dual boss and more of a meatshield combined with a GoddamnedBoss.
** Also the duel against [[spoiler:Rosh]] and the Reborn Master twins in ''Jedi Academy''.
* EarlyGameHell: The opening levels in ''Outcast'' before you gain your lightsaber and Force powers are some of the hardest in the series.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: In the first game you have no lightsaber or force powers. Also, Kyle lacks his trademark beard.
** The first game was one of the many [[FollowTheLeader "Doom clones"]] of the mid-90's, though like those on the Build engine it included many innovations such as true room-over-room.
* EasterEgg:
** Using cheats in ''Jedi Outcast'' and ''Jedi Academy'' allows to get some powers or weapons unavailable through normal play.
** There's the level 4 Mind Trick, which lets you directly mind control enemies. It's incredibly glitchy, but still has its moments of hilarity (such as jumping Reborn off cliffs, or shooting stormtroopers in the back with rocket launchers).
** ''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 Kyle.]]
* EnemyChatter: Done to a considerable degree in ''Jedi Outcast'' and ''Jedi Academy''. Some of it's pretty amusing so worth listening to if you get the chance.
** First example of this in ''Jedi Outcast'':
-->Trooper A: "This is my last day on this shift."
-->Trooper B: "Oh yeah, where you moving?"
-->Trooper A: "Sector 7 had an opening, so I applied."
-->Trooper B: "Not bad, [[TemptingFate should be a quiet last day.]]"
* 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). ''Jedi Outcast'' has a stun baton that's straight-up replaced with the lightsaber once you get it back.
** The DL-44 blaster pistol in ''Academy'' gets this treatment in multiplayer mode - its fire rate is halved in exchange for unlimited ammo. Its alt-fire can still potentially kill unshielded enemies in one shot, though.
* 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.
** A side effect of the Mind Trick power (at least in ''Jedi Academy'') is that enemies will continue to shoot at one another even after the effect wears off. It's particularly amusing to watch a pair of jetpack-equipped stormtroopers spiral off into the sky, locked in their own private duel.

* EpicTrackingShot: A particularly good one appears in ''Jedi Knight'' and ''Jedi Outcast''[='=]s respective introductions to Nar Shaddaa.
** Kril'dor's introduction in ''Jedi Academy'' also does one of these, to give a brief glimpse of every location you need to bomb.
* EscortMission:
** Occurs a few times in ''Outcast'':
*** In the first mission, Jan either manages to hold her own (although she ''can'' die, especially if you hide behind her instead of taking the lead), or the enemies are all too busy focusing on you, though at one point, you leave her behind and have to rush back to rescue her.
*** The second of these is somewhat novel, in that you get the commander of an Imperial prison from Point A to Point B by pointing your gun at him. You have to save him once from the level-specific crab-things, and after he's done what you want at Point B, he summons some stormtroopers and starts shooting at you.
*** In Nar Shaddaa, you are accompanied by Lando, but resistance towards him after you split up is minimal. However, at a later point, he ends up getting pinned down by a WeakTurretGun and you have to save him. Later in the mission, you have to fight off a couple waves of attackers coming for Lando's ''Lady Luck'', and even that is easy with application of the Force Speed power.
*** 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. Hint: Force Push and Pull work on the droid, and will make your job a lot easier.
** 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. However, also played straight in that, when there ''isn't'' anything to kill, he pretty much refuses to actually move with the player unless there is a straight, flat line between them. One spot in the level in particular confuses him - some TIE Bombers are blocking the path to the level's exit, causing him to attempt to run under them and juggle their bombs when you first arrive and then refuse to follow you to the exit after you shoot them down.
* EvilGloating: In ''Jedi Outcast'', Fyyar goes off on a monologue lacking only maniacal laughter. Kyle interrupts in a GenreSavvy manner to provoke the boss battle and finish the mission.
* EvilLaugh: Galak was interrupted before he could in ''Outcast'', but Desann more than makes up for it.

* EyeBeams: The Dark Side power "[[DeathGlare Deadly Sight]]" could be considered this.
* FaceDeathWithDignity: Tavion refuses to beg for her life in ''Academy'', unlike ''Outcast''. This is particularly seen in the dark side ending, with the light side ending being more DefiantToTheEnd.
-->'''Tavion''': I will... not cower as I did before Katarn.
* FakeKillScare: This is how Desann 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!]]'''''

* FatBastard: Rax Joris in ''Jedi Academy''. At the start of the mission he's in, he captures you, takes your lightsaber, then releases you and [[BlatantLies tells you that if you can escape you're free to go.]] However, he loses his patience and attempts to kill you himself at the end.
* FirstNameBasis: Kyle prefers his students to use his name, [[DontCallMeSir rather than the title of Master]].
* FisticuffsBoss: In one level of ''Dark Forces'', Kyle is captured and stripped of his weapons by Jabba the Hutt, then forced to fight a kell dragon unarmed (two in hard mode). After he is done punching it to death with his bare hands, another kell dragon-infested part of the level opens up, but the odds can end up a little more balanced in his favor if he chooses to force some grenade-carrying {{Mooks}} to part with their weapons.
* FiveBadBand: The Dark Jedi in ''Jedi Knight'':
** The BigBad: Jerec.
** TheDragon: Boc.
** The EvilGenius: Sariss.
** TheBrute: Pic and Gorc.
** TheDarkChick: Yun.
** The SixthRanger: Maw.
* {{Futureshadowing}}: The planet [[VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic Dromund Kaas]] is first introduced in ''Mysteries of the Sith''.

* 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.
** Speaking of Jerec, he is shown to be without eyes (originally, he was intended to be a human whose dark side nature caused his eyes to rot away; eventually he was retconned into an eyeless humanoid species called the Miraluka), yet Force Blinding works on him perfectly fine in-game (although I guess you can argue that Force Blinding would cut off his ability to see through the Force as well).
** Kyle tells you that powers are not necessarily good or evil in the training level of ''Academy'', and you can choose between a light- or dark-side ending regardless of your power set. However, Luke and (to a lesser extent) Kyle still worry about you if you focus on dark-side powers or even have close to an even number of light and dark powers. In actual gameplay, nobody else (except Kyle, [[spoiler:Rosh]], and Reborn Masters) will use powers outside of their own alignment - in fairness, having every dark-side opponent able to use Heal, especially combined with their infinite Force pool, would probably make the game too difficult. Taken a step further in multiplayer, where, without mods, you're only allowed to pick one side's powers.
** The disruptor rifle in ''Outcast/Academy'' is mentioned to be illegal throughout the galaxy. This is fine, given that you only tend to encounter it when dealing with mercenaries and criminals, but in ''Academy'', the good and presumably law-abiding Jedi will happily hand one over to you for use on missions, and don't seem to care when Jaden brings one back at the end of a mission.
* GenreSavvy: Kyle has become very well versed in FPS tropes by the time of ''Academy''.
* GetBackHereBoss: Maw in ''Jedi Knight'' flies to different parts of the arena that you fight him in the more he gets damaged.
* GiantSpaceFleaFromNoWhere: In ''Jedi Knight'', there's a [[SeaMonster Drugon]] in Barons Hed's main pool for some reason. Two levels later, you can (optionally) stumble in a room of Jerec's Palace.... which, for some reasons hosts a [[DemonicSpider Kell Dragon.]]
* 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 gut'' with the other; it's unblockable and delivers a knockdown. The player can do this as well if you use the console to 'give' yourself your fists, and use the g_debugmelee 1 command.
* GoodPowersBadPeople:
** Several Dark Jedi use light side powers in ''Jedi Knight''.
** A handful of Reborn in ''Academy'' will also use light side powers. [[spoiler: Rosh will also use light and dark powers after turning to the dark side]].
** Potentially you, if you go the dark side route in ''Academy'' while having light side powers.
* GoombaStomp: It's actually a useful tactic to Force Jump onto most humanoid enemies in ''Outcast'' and ''Academy'', including Reborn, as this will knock them down and leave them open to your lightsaber.
* GoryDiscretionShot: In ''Jedi Outcast'', when Desaan [[spoiler: ''[[SubvertedTrope seemingly]]'' kills Jan Ors. Tavion later reveals the truth, lampshading Kyle's insistence that he "saw her die" with "What did you really see? What did you really hear?"]]
* GravityIsAHarshMistress: Kyle actually uttered this very sentence at least once in "Mysteries of The Sith".
* GuideDangIt:
** Several levels and puzzles in ''Outcast'' are quite difficult to figure out without prior knowledge, or reading a guide.
** While you're free to choose what order you do missions in ''Academy'', prior knowledge of the missions greatly helps you to best decide what force powers to improve and when. In particular, the early missions to Blenjeel and Zonju V don't involve conventional combat and can be considered a free Force power point, and Force Protection is ''insanely'' useful for the first level on Vjun. A maxed out offensive power like Lightning will make the [[NoGearLevel Dosuun mission]] far easier.
* 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.
** Subverted in ''Jedi Academy'', see NoGearLevel below.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tropes H-O]]
* HalfTheManHeUsedToBe: Maw is cut in half at the waist by Rahn during the opening cutscene of ''Jedi Knight''. He spends the rest of the game without his legs, using telekinesis to get around. In the instruction booklet, he's described as "a levitating incarnation of rage".
* 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.

* HeelFaceTurn: Yun, over the course of the entire ''Jedi Knight'' game, as detailed in the novellas that were based on it. Which leads to [[spoiler: his RedemptionEqualsDeath]].
* HopelessBossFight: Desaan, early in ''Outcast''.
* HuntingTheMostDangerousGame: Rax Joris lets you escape from capture in ''Academy'', just to see if Jedi hunting is any more interesting than letting the other less fortunate prisoners try. You can probably guess how it ends.

* ICanRuleAlone: Kyle to Jerec in the bad ending for Dark Forces 2. Likewise, Jaden to [[spoiler:Tavion and Marka Ragnos in the Dark Side path]] of ''Jedi Academy''.
* IdiosyncraticDifficultyLevels: Discounting ''Dark Forces'', ''Jedi Knight'' has Apprentice (easy), Jedi Knight (medium), Jedi Master (hard), and ''Outcast'' and ''Academy'' had Padawan (easy), Jedi (normal), Jedi Knight (hard), Jedi Master (very hard).

* ImprobableAimingSkills: When using at least Level 2 Force Sight in ''Academy'', even the infamous Imperial blaster is somehow able to be fired with pinpoint accuracy.
* InconvenientlyPlacedConveyorBelt: Since half of ''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.
* 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?
** Also, in ''Outcast,'' retrieving your lightsaber involves a combination of depressing a switch, using Force speed, and Force-pulling it to you, even though the gaps in the bars are ''huge'' and Kyle could realistically just reach in and grab it--or use the Force to pull it out between them, if not switch it on and cut the bars away.
** Levels in the games are generally built in such a way that they're either a challenge to or insurmountable by your ''current'' power set but would be a breeze for what you'll have later - take for example the low amount of platforming early in ''Outcast'' and ''Academy'' that could be bypassed in an instant with level 3 Force Jump, compared to ''extremely'' long jumps you have to make when you do get that power later. Incidentally, since non-core powers are unlocked at a rate that the player decides rather than at a set rate in ''Academy'', its levels aren't built with those powers in mind - allowing you to, say, totally break the Rancor encounter on Nar Kreeta just by using Mind Trick on it, or instantly kill the assassin droids on Coruscant with Lightning.
* IShallTauntYou: Force users in ''Academy'' and ''Outcast'' like doing this.

* JustToyingWithThem: When Desann challenges a de-powered Kyle to a fight in ''Outcast''. He mostly just stands there and lets him try to hurt him. If you're aggressive enough most of the damage he does will probably be from your own reflected blaster shots.
* KarmaMeter: A major element in [=DF2=]. You can fall to the Dark Side in two ways: allowing or causing the deaths of noncombatant individuals and droids, or investing too many ranks in Dark powers.
* KickThemWhileTheyAreDown: [[BoringButPractical One of the most effective ways]] of dealing with enemies in ''Outcast'' is to push them over and hit them while they get up. ''Academy'' makes it even easier by adding a stabbing attack that locks onto a downed target, before attempting to impale them for an instant kill. And if you choose to build a [[DoubleWeapon saberstaff]] later on in the game, the ability to kick makes it very easy to knock even Force users down.
* KillHimAlready: After their respective defeats, Yun, Maw and Jerec each try this on Kyle. [[spoiler:Maw succeeds.]]
* KubrickStare: [[spoiler: Jaden in ''Academy'''s dark side ending.]]

* LastDiscMagic: Level 3 Force Grip and Force Lightning are gained quite late on in ''Outcast''. Level 3 Saber Throw takes the cake, giving you only a ''single level'' to get any real use out of it, and even then, most of the enemies wield lightsabers. ''Academy'' is far more generous on that front, and the choose-your-powers approach turns Grip and Lightning into {{Disc One Nuke}}s.
* LastVillainStand: Desann in ''Jedi Outcast'' still chooses to duke it out with Katarn, even after he loses his entire fleet and most of his strike troops are wiped out by the Jedi.
* LethalLavaLand: Taspir III in ''Jedi Academy''.

* 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 even hit, let alone 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.
** Similarly, Force Choke's first level is mostly useless, since it can only stun an enemy and not even harm them. Its second level can damage someone, but leaves you vulnerable. Max-level Force Choke allows you to slam every non-Force user enemy in the game off of the ceiling and floor, and makes even Force users ludicrously easy to kill if there's a bottomless pit or lava pool nearby.

** The Jedi tomb in ''Academy'' is composed primarily of bridges, platforms and ledges over a BottomlessPit. Sometimes if you aren't quick with Force Push/Pull the Reborn can pull off the Force Grip-ledge drop on ''you''.
** 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) or are prone to using the Level 2 Push you're guaranteed to have, this will be your favorite level in the game.
*** Not to mention the conveyor belt ride in the penultimate level of the same game, where you have to follow a block of iron as it's being reshaped by various very large crushing devices, one of which even has ''spikes'' that come together above it for what appears to be the sole purpose of deliberately maiming anyone who gets trapped there.

* MeleeATrois: In the Dark Side finale of '' Jedi Academy'', both the Sith and the Jedi will be gunning for you while fighting each other. There are also a lot more Jedi around than on the light side path, where they are your allies.
* MookFaceTurn: The temporary effect of a third level JediMindTrick in ''Jedi Outcast'' and ''Jedi Academy''. Essentially SetAMookToKillAMook in the end.
* MultipleEndings: In ''Jedi Knight'' and ''Jedi Academy''.
* MySignificanceSenseIsTingling: To the point of being Lampshaded by Kyle.
-->'''Luke''': I sense a disturbance in the force.
-->'''Kyle''': [[LampshadeHanging You always sense a disturbance in the force.]] But yeah, I sense it too.
* MythologyGag:
** The Imperial blaster rifle is the [[ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy least accurate gun]] in the games.
** While searching for a droid in Jedi Academy, Jaden comes across another droid and says "[[Film/ANewHope This isn't the droid we're looking for"]].

* NeverForgottenSkill: ''Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast'' has a lot of years go by and Kyle Katarn seems to have lost his Force abilities. However, judging from the way he uses his lightsaber and the speed of regaining his Force abilities, he clearly didn't forget how to use them. It helps that he regains his connection to the Force by tapping into the power of the Valley of the Jedi.

* NintendoHard: ''Jedi Outcast,'' generally.
* NoGearLevel:
** ''Dark Forces'' had a level where Kyle had all the weapons he'd been acquiring throughout the game taken away, and had to fight with what he could scrounge off killed enemies until he could locate his weapon stash.
** ''Jedi Academy'' features a mission where Jaden's lightsaber is stolen by an Imperial officer at the very beginning, forcing him/her to fight through the level with nothing except Force Powers and any weapons he/she could get off killed stormtroopers.
** Happens twice in ''Mysteries of the Sith''. First, if you don't grab your lightsaber back at one point in Takara's stronghold, Mara must fight her way through Gamorrean guards and must evade (and later kill) a rancor. 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.
** The entire series, other than the first game, counts to one degree or another. Once you get your lightsaber, most players will spend the rest of the game using little else, other than the occasional sniper weapon or a grenade.

* TheObiWan: Rahn in ''Knight'', Kyle in ''Mysteries'', Luke in ''Outcast'' and Kyle again in ''Academy''.
* OneManArmy:
** Kyle Katarn. Notably, in the first game, before he gets any Force powers, he sneaks aboard the ''Executor'' (Darth Vader's personal flagship!) just so that he can take a shuttle from there 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!]]''
** His apprentice, Jaden Korr, hacks his/her way through an entire Sith cult in ''Jedi Academy''.
* OnlyInItForTheMoney: Reelo Baruk in ''Outcast''.
-->'''Kyle''': What's a respectable gangster like you doing mixed up with a Remnant slime like Desann?
-->'''Reelo''': Making money, of course. [[EvilLaugh Yah-hah-hah-haaaaa!]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tropes P-Z]]
* PossessionBurnout: [[spoiler:How Tavion dies in the light side ending of ''Jedi Academy'']].
* PoweredArmor:
** Appears several times throughout the series.
** The final boss of the original ''Dark Forces'', the Dark Trooper Phase III, is [[BigBad General Mohc]] wearing a specially designed Dark Trooper exosuit.
** [[EvilGenius Admiral Fyaar]] fights Kyle wearing a large suit of powered armor as a boss battle about 3/4ths of the way through ''Jedi Outcast''.
** A couple classes of PoweredArmor wearing stormtroopers appear as {{giant mook}}s in ''Jedi Academy''. Namely, the 7-foot tall Rocket Troopers, who had jetpacks and heavy armor, and the 9-foot tall Hazard Troopers, who wear extremely heavy powered armor and are armed with {{BFG}}s.
* PrecisionFStrike: Luke, of all people, drops a quiet "Damn" in one of the latter levels of ''Outcast'' after learning that [[spoiler:the villains are stockpiling a rare mineral that can deflect lightsabers.]]
-->'''Luke''': Damn. That's not good.
* PurelyAestheticGender: The most Jaden's gender will effect is pronouns.
** And on one occasion, presumably due to an oversight in the scripts, not even that.
* PuzzleBoss:
** The Mutant Rancor in Jedi Academy.
** [[spoiler: Kyle himself]] in ''Mysteries of the Sith''. [[spoiler: Study the hieroglyphics in the room where you fight him ''very'' carefully for a hint on how to win.]]
* RealTimeWeaponChange: It is a PC game, so weapons and force powers are switched on the fly.
* RecoveryAttack: In ''Academy'' you can perform a lunging kick as you return to your feet after being knocked down, as can other Force users. Potentially this can result in a loop of you constantly knocking the other to the ground, unless you break it by using Force Push instead.
* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler:Yun]]. He has just enough time to complete his HeelFaceTurn before being cut down (intentionally or unintentionally, depending on the source) by [[spoiler:his mentor.]]
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: In Jedi Outcast, after [[spoiler:Jan is "killed" by Desann]], about half the entire portion of the game where you have a lightsaber was fueled by a need for revenge... and about half of the remaining game is still simmering anger, as you're not certain.
* SandWorm: The Sand Burrowers on the Blenjeel level in ''Jedi Academy''. The entire level is essentially one large ShoutOut to {{Literature/Dune}}.
* SchrodingersPlayerCharacter: Eventually averted in the Expanded Universe with Jaden. [[spoiler:Human male.]]
* SecondHourSuperpower: ''Jedi Knight'' and ''Outcast'' initially start out like a shooter, but a few levels in, and you're a Jedi. ''Academy'' thankfully averted this: you get your lightsaber from the get-go, apparently because your character was smart enough to build one unaided.
* SequelHook: Tavion was supposed to die in ''Jedi Outcast'', but was kept alive to continue on to the next game.
* SheFu: Alora's acrobatic fighting style the second time she faces Jaden Korr.
* 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.
** Or unless you have maxed Force Lightning or Absorb.
* ShoutOut:
** Max from ''VideoGame/SamAndMaxHitTheRoad'' makes an appearance in the Dark Forces game. A demented, pint-sized lagomorph received official mention in one of the online RPG supplements.
** Some EnemyChatter from the ''Academy'' level on the hovertrain copies a cutscene from Raven Software's earlier ''VideoGame/SoldierOfFortune'' series. That particular character is the only one of his type in the game to carry the Heavy Repeater (i.e. machine gun, as opposed to energy weapon).
** The hovertrain and swoop missions are both shout-outs to almost identical levels from Shadows of the Empire.
** Gorc and Pic have been clearly inspired by the similar duo of "Master Blaster" from ''[[Film/MadMax Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome]]''.

* SoftWater: Mostly played straight in ''Jedi Knight'' save for at least one occasion, such as when the player is required to navigate a metal grid suspended over a rather distant body of water on his way to an aqueduct. In this case, if Kyle falls, he exhibits an anomalous case of SuperDrowningSkills. This is played straight in ''Jedi Outcast'''s "Bespin Streets" level, in which a fall from a height that would normally hurt Kyle is made harmless by a shallow pool of water.
* SquishyWizard: Unarmed cultists in ''Academy'' can spam force powers like crazy, but can barely take a hit before dying.
* StanceSystem: ''Jedi Outcast'' features three styles of lightsaber combat for Kyle Katarn to master: Fast, Medium, and Strong, which are pretty much what their names suggest (e.g. the "Strong" style features the Darth Vader-esque slow but extremely powerful strikes). ''Jedi Academy'' additionally supplements them with DualWielding and the [[DoubleWeapon saberstaff]] styles.
* StrangeSyntaxSpeaker:
** The Chiss bartender Baldarek on Nar Shaddaa in ''Jedi Outcast'' has problems speaking Basic and constantly confuses [[{{Pluralses}} singular and plural nouns]].
--> '''Baldarek:''' ''(with Kyle holding a lightsaber to his face)'' Please! Noble Jedis! {{Not in the face}}s!
** This is a nod to the ExpandedUniverse, in that Chiss don't speak Basic. 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.

* TakeThatUs: The LampshadeHanging quote about the door mocks how similar situations would pop up in older ''Dark Forces'' games. Notably, ''Academy'' itself is a lot more linearly designed.
* [[TakenForGranite Taken For Carbonite]]: ''Mysteries'' introduces a special carbonite rifle that freezes enemies in, well, carbonite.
* TemptingFate: A stormtrooper {{Mook}} on Cairn in ''Outcast'' is [[EnemyChatter told off for this]] by his comrade when he states that they won't see any combat on their current posting. Cue the part where you slice through the grate with your saber.
* ThrownOutTheAirlock: You can space several squads of poor {{Mook}}s while on ''Doomgiver'' in ''Outcast''.

* TraintopBattle: One level in ''Jedi Academy'' takes place on a cargo tram. A cargo tram that's moving really, ''really'' fast. It's actually very cool.
* TwoKeyedLock: ''Doomgiver's'' brig has a set of doors that require two people to get through in ''Outcast''. Of course, ''why'' the Imperials would design their ships with such a system is anyone's guess. Then again, these are the same ship designers who brought you that [[MalevolentArchitecture ridiculous comm system]]...
* UniqueEnemy:
** The Rancor in ''Mysteries of the Sith''.
** Tie Fighter Pilots in Jedi Outcast.
** ''Jedi Academy'' has quite a few.
*** Howlers are only fought on Yavin.
*** There is literally only a single Human Merc Key Carrier in the entire game. His uniform differs from the regular Human mercenaries, and his voice is that of a generic Stormtrooper, rather than a Mercenary.
*** [[SandWorm Sand creatures]] are only seen on Blenjeel.
*** Interrogator droids are only seen in a single room in Vjun.
*** Tusken raiders are only fought in a single Tatooine mission.
*** Of the two Rancors you can fight, one of them is an invincible mutant with a corrosive breath weapon.
* UnholyNuke: In ''Jedi Knight'', Jerec can use the "Destruction" Force Power. It's a Dark Side attack that consist in a fiery ball of flames and negative energy that destroys everything on its path.

* UselessUsefulSpell: Mind Trick in ''Outcast'' and ''Academy''. While it has some scripted uses in ''Outcast'', in ''Academy'' that's up to 3 points to allow you just to ''distract enemies'' that could be sunk into Grip/Lightning, or [[BoringButPractical Heal/Absorb/Protection]]. In the time you've used it, you could have run up to them and hacked them to pieces, or blasted them across the room with Lightning. And unlike other powers, it doesn't even work on Force users.
* 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.
** ''Dark Forces'' did this with MIDI using the [=iMuse=] system, previously used in Creator/LucasArts adventure titles and the ''[[VideoGame/XWing X-Wing]]''/''VideoGame/TieFighter'' series.

** Force Grip + MalevolentArchitecture = Pure Bastardosity.
*** And speaking of Force Grip, who can resist grabbing a Remnant officer and saying "YouHaveFailedMe...for the last time!"
** In an apparent nod to this, an AI-controlled Kyle Katarn in ''Jedi Academy'' will have a field day dropping stormtroopers down elevator shafts, bottomless pits, and what have you during the missions in which he [[EscortMission escorts]] [[InvertedTrope you]]. Made even more awesome by the fact that he is the ''only non-player character in the entire game capable of doing this.''
** If there aren't any convenient pits nearby, it is also possible to use Lv.3 Force Grip to lift an enemy off the ground, hold them up towards the ceiling/sky, and Force Push them high into the air. You can also Force Jump above them, then use Force Pull for the exact same thing. And that's not even getting into painfull electrocution via [[ShockAndAwe Force Lightning]] or [[AndIMustScream making them kill their friends and allies with their own hands, while they're unable to control their own bodies]]. Suffice it to say that a creative player can be ''very'' sadistic with or without the dark side.

* WasntThatFun: Kyle Katarn says this word for word in ''Jedi Academy,'' often after having escaped some incredibly hazardous situation.
* WhamLine: "On second thought, [[TheDragon Tavion]]... kill her."

* WinYourFreedom: Rax Joris allows Jaden to try and escape to win their freedom in ''Academy'', but had no intention of honouring the deal. It doesn't stop Jaden from killing him and escaping anyway.
* YoungerThanTheyLook: [[AllThereInTheManual Later works which feature Jaden establish]] that he is, at most, ''thirteen years old'' during the events of ''Jedi Academy''.
[[/folder]]

A series of ''StarWars''-based FirstPersonShooter VideoGames, with accompanying novellas. They take place during and after the original trilogy, and revolve around Kyle Katarn, a Stormtrooper-turned-mercenary-turned-Jedi who roams around the seedy side of the galaxy.

'''Dark Forces''' (1995), the first game, is a standard first person shooter. The beginning levels introduces Kyle as the one to steal the plans for the first Death Star and transmit them to [[TheAlliance the Rebel Alliance]], thus leading into ''A New Hope''. After that, it jumps after the Death Star's destruction and goes into its own story involving TheEmpire's secret "Dark Trooper Project". The game was a dramatic leap for graphics and level design, being one of the first to feature multiple floors. It was also one of the first successful uses of looking up and down, as well as jumping.

'''Dark Forces 2: Jedi Knight''' (1997) was the first game to feature first-person lightsaber battles. This story takes place after the events of the original trilogy. Here, Kyle learns of his Force potential and receives his own lightsaber, once owned by a Jedi Master named Rahn, whose spirit occasionally guides him in dreams and visions. He follows a lead to the Dark Jedi Jerec, with the intent [[YouKilledMyFather to avenge his father's murder]]. Jerec seeks for a mysterious [[ForgottenSuperweapon Valley of the Jedi]] that legend tells has monumental power, providing additional incentive to stop him. Part of the feature is a light side/dark side progression, where your actions (kill innocents or protect them) and choices and uses of Force power dictate which side you will lean to. There are two endings, light side and dark side. WordOfGod (and future games) say that the light side ending is {{canon}}. Live action cut scenes moved the plot along, elevating the game to an almost movie-like experience ([[NarmCharm albeit with daytime-soap-opera-level acting]]).
* '''Dark Forces: Mysteries of the Sith''' (1998) was an expansion game, telling some of Kyle's story after he has become a full Jedi Knight. The player soon takes control of Kyle's "reciprocal apprentice" (as in, they're teaching each other), Mara Jade (who becomes Luke Skywalker's wife in canon some years later), as Kyle goes off to find what may be the remnants of a Sith temple. He disappears from all contact, however, and you have to track him down, only to discover him skirting dangerously close to the dark side. After the events of this game, Kyle swears off the life of a Jedi and returns to being a hired mercenary (for the New Republic, at least).

'''Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast''' (2002) is a continuation of the series, though notice the lack of "Dark Forces" in the title. Here, Kyle is persuaded to reclaim his lightsaber to battle against Desann, a former student at Luke Skywalker's Jedi Academy. He also discovers that the Imperial Remnant is gathering forces to strike against the fragile New Republic as well as the Jedi Academy. In the end, Kyle decides he can't abandon his responsiblities and becomes a dedicated Jedi.

'''Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy''' (2003), essentially an ExpansionPack [[MissionPackSequel 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 wielding 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).

* SandWorm: The Sand Burrowers on the Blenjeel level in ''Jedi Academy''.

** The Jedi tomb in ''Academy'' is composed primarily of bridges, platforms and ledges over a BottomlessPit.

->Trooper A: "This is my last day on this shift."
->Trooper B: "Oh yeah, where you moving?"
->Trooper A: "Sector 7 had an opening, so I applied."
->Trooper B: "Not bad, [[TemptingFate should be a quiet last day.]]"

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

** Force Push/Pull, at least at lower levels. Not as impressive as Lightning, but very useful for crowd control. At higher levels it evolves into AwesomeYetPractical, allowing you to hurl squads of enemies over ledges, or pull them into the air en masse.

* UselessUsefulSpell: Mind Trick in ''Outcast'' and ''Academy''. While it has some scripted uses in ''Outcast'', in ''Academy'' that's up to 3 points to allow you just to ''distract enemies'' that could be sunk into [[AwesomeYetPractical Grip/Lightning]], or [[BoringButPractical Heal/Absorb/Protection]]. In the time you've used it, you could have run up to them and hacked them to pieces, or blasted them across the room with Lightning. And unlike other powers, it doesn't even work on Force users.

* AwesomeYetPractical: Level 3 Force Grip and Force Lightning in ''Outcast'' and ''Academy''. Not only do they look cool, but you can blast your way through swarms of enemies, slam them into the ground for an instant kill, and have fun abusing the MalevolentArchitecture.

** In ''Academy'', each type of saber and style comes with its own energy-expensive sequence of unblockable swings, some more useful than others. Reborn can use any of these with any style, including a two-bladed version of ones that are only available to you when you have one sword.

* AwesomeYetPractical: Level 3 Force Grip and Force Lightning in ''Outcast'' and ''Academy''. Not only do they look cool, but you can blast your way through swarms of enemies, slam them into the ground for an instant kill, and have fun abusing the MalevolentArchitecture.

** All of which can be considered a call-back to Luke's ([[ThrowItIn possibly ad-libbed]]) complaint in ''A New Hope'': "I can't see a thing in this helmet!"

* TheComputerIsACheatingBastard: It is completely impossible to attack a force-using enemy with a weapon other than a light saber in ''Jedi Academy''. On the Korriban level, it's possible for a stormtrooper to fire a rocket at a jedi dueling a cultist with a light saber; the rocket will continuously be reflected back and forth with the computer's infinite force power reserve.
** Not quite accurate, actually. The Flechette will work well at a close range against all but the most powerful Jedi. They can dodge all of your disruptor-shots, though.

* TraintopBattle: One level in ''Jedi Academy'' takes place on a cargo tram. A cargo tram that's moving ''really, '''really''''' fast. It's actually very cool.

** In an apparent nod to this, an AI-controlled Kyle Katarn in '''Jedi Academy''' will have a field day dropping stormtroopers down elevator shafts, bottomless pits, and what have you during the missions in which he [[EscortMission escorts]] [[InvertedTrope you]]. Made even more awesome by the fact that he is the ''only non-player character in the entire game capable of doing this.''

[[quoteright:380:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jediknight_335.jpg]]

* BonusStage:
** At least two:

* DownTheDrain: "Well, let's go; no one ever said being a Jedi was glamorous."

** Occurs a few times in ''Outcast''.
** In the first mission, Jan either manages to hold her own (although she ''can'' die, especially if you hide behind her instead of taking the lead), or the enemies are all too busy focusing on you, though at one point, you leave her behind and have to rush back to rescue her.
** The second of these is somewhat novel, in that you get the commander of an Imperial prison from Point A to Point B by pointing your gun at him. You have to save him once from the level-specific crab-things, and after he's done what you want at Point B, he summons some stormtroopers and starts shooting at you.
** In Nar Shaddaa, you are accompanied by Lando, but resistance towards him after you split up is minimal. However, at a later point, he ends up getting pinned down by a WeakTurretGun and you have to save him. Later in the mission, you have to fight off a couple waves of attackers coming for Lando's ''Lady Luck'', and even that is easy with application of the Force Speed power.
** 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. Hint: Force Push and Pull work on the droid, and will make your job a lot easier.
** 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. However, also played straight in that, when there ''isn't'' anything to kill, he pretty much refuses to actually move with the player unless there is a straight, flat line between them. One spot in the level in particular confuses him - some TIE Bombers are blocking the path to the level's exit, causing him to attempt to run under them and juggle their bombs when you first arrive and then refuse to follow you to the exit after you shoot them down.

* 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!]]'''''

* GameMod:
** All the games have had many.

* GenreSavvy: Kyle.

* 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 gut'' with the other; it's unblockable and delivers a knockdown.
** These can be given to the player by using the console commands "give weapon_melee" and either "meleedebug 1" or "debugmelee 1" (it's one of the two). iknowkungfu also works, but gives max force powers, which breaks the game by locking you in the next coming level-up screen, because you don't have anything more to level.
*** To avoid breaking the game, make sure to reduce one force power after iknowkungfu, for example: setforceheal 2.

** While you're free to choose what order you do missions in ''Academy'', prior knowledge of the missions greatly helps you to best decide what force powers to improve and when. In particular, the early missions to Blenjeel and Zonju V don't involve conventional combat and can be considered a free Force power point, and Force Protection is ''insanely'' useful for the first level on Vjun. A maxed out offensive power like Lightning will make the Dosuun mission far easier.

* [[IllKillYou I'll Kill You]]: Thrawn, in his pre-Grand Admiral days, briefly features in an audio drama of this series, when he sends out a commander who hates nonhumans. Thrawn's not human.
--> '''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?"

-->'''Kyle:''' ''They always lock the door. You'd think they'd have learned by now. Doesn't look like there's a key. That would be too easy. The console to unlock the door is probably hidden in some room twelve floors up or something... how does that make sense?''

* NecessaryDrawback: Rage allows you to move quicker and deal more damage, but at the expense of draining health while active. Force Absorb & Protection allow you to block force powers and damage respectively, but you won't regain any force energy until the effect ends.

* RecoveryAttack

-->Jan: What was that?
-->Kyle: Just another day at work, Jan.

[[quoteright:380:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jediknight_335.jpg]]

A series of ''StarWars''-based FirstPersonShooter VideoGames, with accompanying novellas. They take place during and after the original trilogy, and revolve around Kyle Katarn, a Stormtrooper-turned-mercenary-turned-Jedi who roams around the seedy side of the galaxy.

* ArtificialStupidity:

* BackToBackBadasses: Kyle and Luke, ''Jedi Outcast''.
* {{Badass}}:
** Kyle Katarn, in so many ways.
** His most notable accomplishment is beating at least one Kell dragon to death. ''With his fists.'' Note that each Kell dragon is as tall as a human, at least three times as long, and normally ''eats humans for breakfast'' (at least the one Kyle fought did). And he did this ''before'' [[BadassNormal learning to use the Force]].
** He's so badass that [[spoiler:if you take the Dark Side route in ''Academy'' and fight him as the final boss, you aren't fighting to kill him. "Winning" involves you crashing the ceiling on him for a ''distraction'' and running away.]]

** Kyle can snark at Luke Skywalker and get away with it

* {{BFG}}:

* BlackAndWhiteMagic: In ''Jedi Knight'', Kyle can use the light side (healing and support skills) or the dark side (only does damage and instant death). In ''Mysteries of the Sith'', Kyle becomes TheRedMage (although he can use all the available powers) because the plot requires him to do a quick FaceHeelTurn, only to be redeemed by Mara. Jaden can take his or her pick over what light or dark skills they want.

* BonusStage:

* CollapsingCeilingBoss: Inverted. Despite Desann's difficulty as a boss, the fight can be ended instantaneously by hacking through one of the three stone pillars around the arena. If the collapsing pillar falls on Desann, he [[OneHitKill dies instantly]].
* ColonCancer:

* TheComputerIsACheatingBastard:

** As a boss in ''Academy'', [[spoiler:Kyle]] can Force pull your saber clean out of your hand, something that's impossible for anyone else.
** Desann takes this to a whole new level in the final duel of ''Outcast''. Not only does he have his own unique saber style that does as much damage as the Strong style (killing you in just 2 or 3 hits on ''medium'' difficulty) and is as fast as the Medium style, but his Force powers are insanely stronger than any other NPC in the series, most notably his nearly unbreakable Force Choke.
*** If you use console cheats and set your Jedi Mind Trick to level 4 you can mind control Desann to see how broken he really is. He'll block blaster fire and Force push stuff like rockets back at opponents automatically, and some times he'll Force choke or push/pull enemies on his own without you even inputting any commands. Hell, try mind controlling him and spawning five or ten high-level Jedi enemies and see how easily you turn them all into Jedi sandwich spread.

** In Academy, each type of saber and style comes with its own energy-expensive sequence of unblockable swings, some more useful than others. Reborn can use any of these with any style, including a two-bladed version of ones that are only available to you when you have one sword.
*** 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 Saber Throw also seems to be at the maximum level - 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 its maximum range before rank 3.
* ContinuityNod:

** Luke's office/training chamber/whatever is the throne room from the original movie where the heroes get a medal at the end.

* ChargeMeter: Certain Force powers in ''Jedi Knight''; the scout pistol in ''Mysteries of the Sith''; the Bryar pistol in ''Jedi Outcast'' and DL-44 in ''Jedi Academy''

* DarkActionGirl:

* DirtyCoward: Lannik Racto in ''Academy.'' The moment he is in harm's way he begs Jaden not to hurt him and gives him/her the information about his droid factories without a moment's notice.

* DisneyDeath: [[spoiler:Jan Ors]] in Outcast, [[spoiler:part of a BatmanGambit on Desann's part to get Kyle to reveal the location of the Valley]].

* DontCallMeSir: "First off, just call me Kyle - titles make my skin crawl. Secondly, you're not 'serving under me.' I'm gonna teach you, and you're gonna learn. That's it."

* DragonAscendant: Tavion, TheDragon in Jedi Outcast, becomes the BigBad of Jedi Academy.

* DualBoss:

** The first game was one of the many [[FollowTheLeader "Doom clones"]] of the mid-90's, though like those on the Build engine it included many innovations such as true room-over-room.
* EasterEgg:

* EnemyChatter: Done to a considerable degree in ''Jedi Outcast'' and ''Jedi Academy''. Some of it's pretty amusing so worth listening to if you get the chance.
* EmergencyWeapon:

* EscortMission:

** 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. Hint: Force Push and Pull work on the droid, and will make your job a lot easier.

* FiveBadBand:
** The Dark Jedi in Dark Forces II:

* GameMod:

** [[http://www.massassi.net/ The Massassi Temple]] is the largest website ever dedicated to ''Jedi Knight'' and ''Mysteries of the Sith''. New levels have been released for them as late as January 2010.
* GameplayAndStorySegregation:

* GoodOldFisticuffs:

* GunsAreUseless:

* HeyItsThatVoice:
** [[JasonMarsden Rosh]] is [[WesternAnimation/GoofTroop Max Goof]].
** And one of the Imperial Officers is Gruber from ''Series/AlloAllo''.
*** Guy Siner did a lot of Imperial voices for the ''StarWars'' games.
** Hell, the ''entire cast'' of ''Jedi Outcast'' and ''Jedi Academy'' are a veritable Who's Who of HeyItsThatVoice. Just check out the imdb entry.
** JenniferHale voices the female Jaden Korr.
** [[WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}} Brooklyn]] is [[Creator/JeffBennett Kyle Katarn.]] I guess [[ScrewedByTheNetwork the franchise's various woes]] [[TookALevelInBadass preventing him from taking that level in badass]] worked out all right for him in the end.
** [[WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender Azula]] [[GreyDelisle seems to have traded in her firebending powers for force powers]], and [[TheDragon is up to her old tricks]].
** [[VideoGame/MonkeyIsland Murray]] does have powers after all.

* HyperspaceArsenal
** 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.

* IdiosyncraticDifficultyLevels: Discounting Dark Forces, Jedi Knight has Apprentice (easy), Jedi Knight (medium), Jedi Master (hard), and Outcast and Academy had Padawan (easy), Jedi (normal), Jedi Knight (hard), Jedi Master (very hard).

* ISenseADisturbanceInTheForce
--> "[[LampshadeHanging You always sense a disturbance in the force.]] But yeah, I sense it too."

'''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?"
* ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy:

* 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?

* KubrickStare: [[spoiler: Jaden in Academy's dark side ending.]]

* 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 even hit, let alone 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!". In fact it's ''so'' malevolent, that it almost warps all the way around to BenevolentArchitecture, given how many opportunities it gives you to kill enemies with it.

* ManaDrain: Force Drain on the player drains the player's force pool first, and moves onto health when fully depleted. The player's Force Drain instead targets health.

* {{Nerf}}: The progression of the concussion rifle from game to game is a study in gradual nerfing. It doesn't even make it into ''Outcast'', although it returns (much improved) in ''Academy''.

* NoGearLevel:

* OneManArmy:

* PoweredArmor:

-->'''Luke''': Damn. That's not good.

* PuzzleBoss:
** The Mutant Rancor in Jedi Academy.

* RecycledScript: Jedi Outcast. An imperial officer is building a {{Super Soldier}} army on a big {{Cool Starship}}, like in Dark Forces. The Imperial Remnant invades Yavin 4 to destroy Luke's academy, like in the novel Darksaber.

* SandWorm: The Sand Burrowers on the Blenjeel level in ''Jedi Academy''.

* ShootTheMedicFirst:

* ShoutOut:

** Gorc and Pic have been clearly inspired by the similar duo of "Master Blaster" from ''[[Film/MadMax Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome]]''.

* StrangeSyntaxSpeaker:

-->Kyle: Just another day at work, Jan.

* TalkingToHimself: Pic and 8t88 share the same voice actor. Pretty amusing, considering that Pic disables 88.

* UniqueEnemy:

** ''Jedi Academy'' has quite a few.
*** Howlers are only fought on Yavin.

* VariableMix:

* VideogameCrueltyPotential:
** Force Grip + MalevolentArchitecture = Pure Bastardosity.

* WhatMeasureIsAMook: Especially from Outcast onwards.

!!This series provides examples of:
* AbsurdlySpaciousSewer: Available in several shapes, sizes and colors throughout the series, although the sequential sluice gates in the third level of ''[[VideoGame/DarkForcesSaga Dark Forces]]'' will probably haunt your nightmares the longest.
* ActionGirl: Jan Ors, Mara Jade in Mysteries of the Sith, and finally your own character in Jedi Academy if you choose.
* AirAidedAcrobatics: In the Cloud City level of ''Outcast''.

* AwesomeYetPractical: Level 3 Force Grip and Force Lightning in Outcast/Academy. Not only do they look cool, but you can blast your way through swarms of enemies, slam them into the ground for an instant kill, and have fun abusing the MalevolentArchitecture.

* BarrierWarrior: Luke and Kyle both learn Force Protection by the time of Academy. Jaden has the option of choosing this as well.

* BoringButPractical: Force Heal, Force Absorb, and Force Protection, particularly in Academy. While not overly flashy, especially compared to the dark side powers, Heal and Protection make you almost invincible, and [[NoSell Absorb]] allows you to block offensive force powers, making enemy force users much easier.

* FisticuffsBoss: In one level of ''Dark Forces'', Kyle is captured and stripped of his weapons by Jabba the Hutt, then forced to fight a kell dragon unarmed (two in hard mode). After he is done punching it to death with his bare hands, another kell dragon-infested part of the level opens up, but the odds can end up a little more balanced in his favor if he chooses to force some grenade-carrying {{Mooks}} to part with their weapons.
* Futureshadowing: The planet [[VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic Dromund Kaas]] is first introduced in Mysteries of the Sith.

* GetBackHereBoss: Maw in Jedi Knight flies to different parts of the arena that you fight him in the more he gets damaged.
* GiantSpaceFleaFromNoWhere: In Dark Forces II, there's a [[SeaMonster Drugon]] in Barons Hed's main pool for some reason. Two levels later, you can (optionally) stumble in a room of Jerec's Palace.... which, for some reasons hosts a [[DemonicSpider Kell Dragon.]]

** 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 gut'' with the other; it's unblockable and delivers a knockdown.

* UselessUsefulSpell: Mind Trick in Outcast/Academy. While it has some scripted uses in Outcast, in Academy that's up to 3 points to allow you just to ''distract enemies'' that could be sunk into [[AwesomeYetPractical Grip/Lightning]], or [[BoringButPractical Heal/Absorb/Protection]]. In the time you've used it, you could have run up to them and hacked them to pieces, or blasted them across the room with Lightning. And unlike other powers, it doesn't even work on Force users.

** 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!"

* ManaDrain: Force Drain on the player; the player's Force Drain instead targets health.

* Futureshadowing: The planet [[VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic Dromund Kaas]] is first introduced in Mysteries of the Sith.