History VideoGame / KnightsOftheOldRepublic

* InTheEndYouAreOnYourOwn: Only the player character goes to fight Malak at the end of the first game, Bastila staying behind to make use of her Battle Meditation.

* ButNotTooEvil: [[spoiler:Invoked by YOU, potentially.]]

** On [[AcademyOfEvil Korriban]] the various Sith students all threaten the player's party. Verges into BullyingTheDragon territory if they recognize that you are a Jedi and thus are already trained in use of the Force.

** HK-47's repair upgrades and stories about past owners. Once you hit the Leviathan, he'll refuse to let you repair him and he won't share his stories anymore.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: The first game had mountains of it leading up to TheReveal, they even have a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFvN2y9PI3s cut scene]] with some of it.

* GenderNeutralWriting: The game refers to PredecessorVillain Darth Revan without gendered pronouns. [[spoiler:This is to hide the fact that their gender is [[PlayerCharacter player-determined]]. If you do Korriban after TheReveal, one dialogue strand with Yuthura Ban asking her about your former life does use gendered pronouns.]]

* EvilInc: The Czerka Coperation. While the jury is out on them being this on Tatooine given the fact that the Sand People/Tusken Raiders are attacking and killing their miners and other employees, they more than make up for it on Kashyyk, between backing a Wookie Chieftain who got his brother and father exiled and sells his own people as slaves, hunting Wookies for sport, poaching usually peaceful creatures, and generally being smug assholes.

* StereotypeFlip: Zaalbar's brother, Chuundar, is a singularly atypical Wookiee. He didn't get to be chieftain through AsskickingLeadsToLeadership, but by [[LesCollaborateurs selling his fellow Wookiees as slaves to Czerka Corp in exchange for weapons and favours,]] and then [[TheChessmaster cunnningly manipulating the outrage of his brother and father]] when they found out separately to get both to disgrace themselves in the eyes of their fellow Wookiees and be exiled, supposedly ascending in spite of the tragedies gripping his family instead of because of them. In spite of calling himself "the Mighty Chuundar", Zaalbar claims he was TheRuntAtTheEnd, with the implication that he would not be able to stand up to a true rebellion. Indeed, rather than being a ProudWarriorRaceGuy like you'd expect a Wookiee to be, Chuundar clearly [[ManipulativeBastard rules through deceit and manipulation]] [[VillainWithGoodPublicity while making himself look good in the process]], and his leadership runs on full-blown {{Realpolitik}} -- [[CardCarryingVillain by his own admission]], several of the Wookiees he sold into slavery were rivals for the position of chieftain.

* HopeSpot: One almost at the very beginning; when you and Trask are escaping the Endar Spire, you see a Jedi defeating a Dark Jedi... who then dies after being caught in an explosion caused by enemy fire. Trask himself lampshades the sheer bad luck, since that they could have used the help of a Jedi that moment.

* EvilIsPetty: Often the actions that gain you Dark Side points amount to you threatening people and being a dick for no other reason than that it's EVIL!!! For example, you get a quest from a widow to sell a valuable object belonging to her late husband so she can support herself, you can choose to sell it for her and give her the proceeds (and a bonus for extra light side points) or sell it and keep the profits for yourself. But to complete the quest on the Dark path, you need to go back and tell her to her face that you're keeping it, apparently just because it's fun to see her cry. The Sith themselves are no better, picking fights and hurling insults at Republic personnel at almost every opportunity.

* FailureHero: The Republic and the Jedi Council in some dark side playthroughs, especially if you choose to kill Juhani in your first encounter. Every plan the Jedi Council initiates ends in horrible failure if you choose to kill her. The Republic fleet is completely destroyed if you turn evil.

* HateSink: While most of their employees are typically AffablyEvil or PunchClockVillains, Czerka Corporation in general is this. They're weapons traders, but also specialize in enslaving races they deem inferior, among other things. Does it ''really'' come as a big surprise that you'll get options to threaten them? And you'll probably ''want'' to, at that, regardless of whether you're playing a light side or dark side character.

* KarmaMeter: Light/Dark side. The PlayerCharacter's changes, but all of your allies' alignments are fixed save for Balista's plot relevant change.

** In fact, the dark side options in general can best be described as the dog-kicking options. Only occasionally is your character given the option of PragmaticVillainy.

* LastSecondChance: In the first game, if you are lightsided enough, you can offer one to almost every Dark Jedi. Malak is the only one who will not accept it.

* LastSecondEndingChoice: Regardless of whether you've devoted yourself to the Light or Dark side, the game's ending is dependent on a single choice within its final act.

* LoveMakesYouEvil: If a romanced Bastila [[spoiler: seduces a light-side Revan to the dark side.]]

** The ocean planet Manaan, home to the Selkath FishPeople, is independent of both the Galactic Republic and the Sith Empire and militantly enforces a TruceZone in Ahto City, its only surface settlement. However, the storyline reveals that the Selkath government doesn't trust the Sith to respect their neutrality forever given [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder the typical behavior of Dark Jedi]], and therefore are secretly working with the Republic on a project to increase kolto production. You can certainly tip them even further to the Republic by clever maneuvering in the Sunry trial (which forces the ''Sith'' to subsidize the ''Republic'' kolto exports) and by exposing the Sith's kidnapping and training of young, Force Sensitive Selkath as Dark Jedi. By the time you end the planet on a full light side run, the Selkath are pretty tired of the Sith's shenanigans.
** Jolee Bindo is considered a neutral Jedi by the game, with his character alignment being dead-center between light and dark, but [[GameplayAndStorySegregation not as much by the story]]. In that respect, Jolee is neutral only in the sense that he does not affiliate with either the Jedi or the Sith; he's still a fundamentally good person (despite, or perhaps because of, his somewhat checkered background) and won't hesitate to put his life on the line to stop a PlayerCharacter who decides to go dark side. His philosophy is less "BothSidesHaveAPoint" and more "The Jedi are right, they just need to be less LawfulStupid".

** On the Star Forge, you can acquire either a armor for a dark-sided main character (that is slightly better than Qel-Droma's robe), or an insanely good armor for a light-sided main character.

** After collecting three out of the four pieces of the star map, you're ambushed by the ''Leviathan'' and packed off the ship's brig, where you, Carth, and Bastilla are interrogated for information before being left to wait for [[BigBad Darth Malak]]'s return. However, you're able to plan your own breakout in advance by setting aside one of your companions as your ace in the hole, allowing them to break you out - setting the stage for your escape from the ''Leviathan'' itself.

** Solari and Upari are the best lightsaber upgrade crystals bar none. Both are endgame gear that requires the player to go through some very dangerous foes, and the Solari can only be used by light-siders. Slightly below them are Krayt Dragon Pearls which, you might've guessed it, can only be acquired by defeating a Krayt dragon.

** Another example would be on Manaan, where the player could be permanently barred from visiting the planet ever again if he/she chooses to poison the Firaxa Shark (along with the kolto) in order to reach the star map. (Unless you manage to blackmail the Selkath in letting you stay on the planet). Even if you manage to avoid deportation, the game will still punish you by making medpacs ridiculously expensive, [[SlidingScaleOfGameplayAndStoryIntegration reflecting the kolto shortage you inflicted on the galaxy.]]

* StereotypeFlip: Zaalbar's brother, Chuundar, is a singularly atypical wookiee. He didn't get to be chieftain through AsskickingLeadsToLeadership, but by [[LesCollaborateurs selling his fellow wookies as slaves to Czerka Corp in exchange for weapons and favours,]] and then [[TheChessmaster cunnningly manipulating the outrage of his brother and father]] when they found out separately to get both to disgrace themselves in the eyes of their fellow Wookiees and be exiled, supposedly ascending in spite of the tragedies gripping his family instead of because of them. In spite of calling himself "the Mighty Chuundar", Zaalbar claims he was TheRuntAtTheEnd, with the implication that he would not be able to stand up to a true rebellion. Indeed, rather than being a ProudWarriorRaceGuy like you'd expect a wookiee to be, Chuundar clearly [[ManipulativeBastard rules through deceit and manipulation]] [[VillainWithGoodPublicity while making himself look good in the process]], and his leadership runs on full-blown {{Realpolitik}} -- [[CardCarryingVillain by his own admission]], several of the Wookiees he sold into slavery were rivals for the position of chieftain.

* SmugSnake: Several along the way. Including Brejik (who joined a rival gang on Taris because his adoptive father and Hidden Bek leader didn't think he was ready), Chuundar (a wookiee who sold his family and race out to Czerka slavers to be Chief), and the Sith hopefuls at the Korriban Academy who are more than willing to backstab you. It's more than satisfying when you rub them all out.

** The racing bonds you gain after winning at Tatooine's swoop racing. When you ask the promoter what are they good for, he says you can sell them to any vendor for credits.

* ShootTheDog: As a Light-sided player character, you can do hurtful things are have an ultimately beneficial outcome.

** Canderous casually mentions that the Sith were behind the Mandalorian wars. As this is after Exar Kun but before the rise of the current batch it initially seems like a plothole, until Kreia points out the implications in the sequel. Come the MMO and the true Sith Empire turns out to have been behind the scenes all along.

* HeadInTheSandManagement: The Jedi Council kept the Order out of the Mandalorian war, believing it was a trap to destroy the order. Choosing not to get involved while worlds were destroyed.

* WhatTheHellHero: During a conversation with Bastila, Carth calls out the Jedi for not doing anything to help the Republic during the Mandalorian wars. She defends their actions saying there was another threat the council had sensed, but he's unconvinced.

** The Valley of the Dark Lords on Korriban has very beautiful and majestic sunsets. Too bad that the whole thing is honoring the worst the galaxy could offer; infamous {{SorcerousOverlord}}s with body counts in the billions.

** Taris. The Upper City is a pleasant urban setting, albeit one showing a few signs of poor maintenance. Take the elevator down and you get a dank slum caught in the crossfire of a gang war. Take the elevator down from ''there'' and get a ScavengerWorld under siege from a de facto ZombieApocalypse. The whole planet gets bombed eventually.

** Taris. The Upper City is a pleasant urban setting, albeit one showing a few signs of poor maintenance. Take the elevator down and you get a dank slum caught in the crossfire of a gang war. Take the elevator down from ''there'' and get a ScavengerWorld under siege from a de facto ZombieApocolypse. The whole planet gets bombed eventually.

** Taris. The Upper city is a pleasant urban setting, albeit one showing a few signs of poor maintenance. Take the elevator down and you get a dank slum caught in the crossfire of a gang war. Take the elevator down from ''there'' and get a ScavengerWorld under ziege from a de factor ZombieApocolypse. the whole planet gets bombed eventually.

** Played with and Inverted on Kashyyyk. You don't need to take Zaalbar in your party. However, you won't be able to go a hundred feet without someone else in the party nagging you that he'd love to be there. You also will be unable to proceed to the Shadowlands or enter the Wookiee village even if Zaalbar stays on Ebon Hawk as Chuundar somehow found out that his exiled brother arrived on your spaceship. After you discover his history with the local Wookiee tribe he will not be available until you complete the storyline involving his family.

** Played with and Inverted on Kashyyyk. You don't need to take Zaalbar in your party. However, you won't be able to go a hundred feet without someone else in the party nagging you that he'd love to be there. You also will be unable to proceed to the Shadowlands or enter the Wookiee village even if Zaalbar stays on the ship as Chuundar somehow found out that his exiled brother arrived on your spaceship. After you discover his history with the local Wookiee tribe he will not be available until you complete the storyline involving his family.

** Played with and Inverted on Kashyyyk. You don't need to take Zaalbar in your party. However, you won't be able to go a hundred feet without someone else in the party nagging you that he'd love to be there. After you discover his history with the local Wookiee tribe he will not be available until you complete the storyline involving his family.

** You get forced to take Carth when you first enter Taris. You have to have Mission to get into the Vulkar base. T3-M4 is required to get into the Sith base. You need HK-47 to complete the Light Side path with the Sand People on Tantooine. You need Bastila for the beginning of Dantooine. On the Leviathan level, you are forced to have Carth and Bastila in your party, as the whole thing wouldn't work without them because of [[HeroicSacrifice certain]] [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge story]] [[TheReveal events]]. Later on the unknown planet, your party members will leave when you prepare to open up the temple, but Jolee and Juhani will come back and insist on accompanying you in; it is possible to leave them behind, but it is not possible to bring any party members except these two into the temple.

* QuarantineWithExtremePrejudice: Rakghoul plague has been quarantined to the lowest levels of Taris's undercity, and mutates victims into zombies in all but name. The Outcasts have no cure for the disease. Anyone infected is locked into a cage with other infected in the hopes that when they all mutate, they will kill one another. Dr. Forn in the Upper City had a cure, but the Sith confiscated the samples and his notes. [[spoiler: You can obtain a sample for yourself and give it to Zelka who can make more, but it's AllForNothing as Malak nukes the planet shortly after]].

** Dantooine; as the first world you visit after leaving Taris, its rolling grasslands and {{Arcadia}}-style farms serve as an effective contrast to the urban decay of the opening stages of the game. For good measure, there's a Jedi enclave here, making Dantooine something of an island of safety in the increasingly dangerous galaxy. However, there's still a few stings in the tail, thanks to the Mandalorian raiders, Juhani's fall to the Dark Side, and the Sandral-Matale feud, though you have a chance to solve these problems in good time. [[spoiler:And then the Sith carpet bomb it to hell.]]