History YMMV / KnightsOfTheOldRepublic

* TearJerker: Zayne has two of these in issue 6; the first when he sees his girlfriend's betrayed face in the crowd, and when he learns that his friends never really believed in him. Yeah, he get's better, but still.

** Snout qualifies big time. He's forcibly turned into a killing machine and forced to experience the memories of over 1000 years of pain and misery, and is forced to fight the one person who showed him any compassion in many years. Ultimately he kills himself rather then murder his friend even though he could have easily done it.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Dark-Sided Juhani. The only option to deal with Juhani and allow her to be a party remember are to redeem her to the Light, while the Dark-Sided option is to kill her. While a Dark-Sided player can still redeem her in order to get Juhani as a party member, it would have been very interesting to instead be able to recruit Juhani while she was Dark-Sided and corrupt her further over the course of the game.
* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: The light side choice on Tatooine is to make peace with the Tusken Raiders, otherwise known as the Sand People, while siding with Czerka is the Dark Side. Clearly, you should side with the natives rather than the colonialist force. Unfortunately, it's not until you fully commit that you actually get to ''see'' a more morally grey side ''to'' the Sand People - and even then their characterization is largely consistent with the rest of ''Star Wars'': Intentionally violent, merciless, and xenophobic. Whenever you encounter them? They are... enslaving and killing people for no apparent reason. (Worse yet, these people are ''also'' Jawas... who are also native to Tatooine.) This is mitigated somewhat by the fact that doing so gives the Tusken Raiders a way to move further in and not step on Czerka or presumably the Jawas toes, but it still does require you to basically excuse the crimes they did and still do commit.

* StrawmanHasAPoint: Czerka on Tattooine - Yes, Czerka is a colonial force, except thanks to the BrokenAesop around the Sand People, it's actually kind of hard ''not'' to fault them in this case. Not helping is that one of your contacts for the Dark Side route is a Jawa - who are a WoobieSpecies that are ''also'' common targets of being enslaved and killed by the Sand People. Czerka may be a crooked megacorp, but the Jawas (who are just as indigenous as Sand People) will express they greatly prefer dealing with Czerka because Czerka's local leadership is willing to peacefully trade with them, instead of enslave them like the Sand People do. The Light side option essentially forces the player to just "look the other way" when it comes to what the Sand People do to Jawa.

* ScrappyWeapon: Blaster Rifles and Heavy Weapons. They are {{BFG}}s, but has the exact same range as blaster rifles/carbines and their firepower are barely any better. Combine with a bad critical threat range, mediocre attack bonus and low availability, they are not very popular with players. Even for ranged specialists you're better off dual-wielding blaster pistols since that means you get two hits per round of combat. The DLC rectifies this by adding the Baragwin Assault Gun and the Baragwin Heavy Repeating Blaster which are the most devastating non-Jedi weapons. They are very expensive however.

** As hard as it is believe now, Saul Karath became [[VideoGame/MassEffect2 Zaeed Massani]], [[VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins Murdock, and Harrowmont]].

** The Switch version is prone to crashing upon loading new areas, and the January 2022 updated introduced a GameBreakingBug that locks the player in Naga Sadow's tomb.

** Canderous Ordo. An Mandalorian [[OldSoldier ex-warlord]] and one of your best combat oriented companions. [[BadassNormal It doesn't matter if he can't use the Force]]. He can mow down Force users as easily as anyone else.

** Even without the romance options, Female PC and Bastila seem closer than friends. Destinies tied by their force bond, intimate conversations about the force and their struggles with the Dark Side. Carth even seems jealous of how close you are at times. Even more so if you choose the Dark Side ending, where the two of you take over the galaxy together and she is the only one standing by your side in that ending cutscene.

** Given what we now know from ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'' about what happened to Revan and his followers, and the example of several Jedi during the Clone Wars millennia later, was the Jedi Council right to not involve the Jedi in the Mandalorian invasion all along? Just as the pressures of war helped push Anakin Skywalker among others closer to the dark side and make him more vulnerable to Darth Sidious (shown developing more extensively in ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars''), the pressures of war also made Revan and Malak vulnerable to [[spoiler:Sith Emperor Vitiate]].

* FanDislikedExplanation: Bring up the novel ''Literature/{{Revan}}'' with caution on the fan boards. A lot of the fanbase was far from happy with the [[spoiler: explanation that Revan and Malak completed their fall to the dark side because [[InvincibleVillain Vitiate]] brainwashed them.]]

** Even without the romance options, Female PC and Bastila seem closer than friends. Destinies tied by their force bond, intimate conversations about the force and their struggles with the dark side. Carth even seems jealous of how close you are at times. Even more so if you choose the dark side ending, where the two of you take over the galaxy together and she is the only one standing by your side in that ending cutscene.

* MisaimedFandom: Canderous Ordo is often well liked for being such a ProudWarriorRaceGuy. Indeed, some of his stories about his war actions are a sight to behold. He's also [[TrueCompanions canonically very loyal to Revan]] - [[spoiler: supported in gameplay by the fact he is one of the few party members who will ''never'' leave your side and will always find a reason to side with you, even when you're light-sided]]. But what is so misaimed about him is the fact that, Mandalorians of ''this'' time period are... ''not'' someone you ''want'' to be friends with. Canderous's war tales include things such as wrecking ''entire worlds'' (meaning loads of collateral damage) so [[ButForMeItWasTuesday casually]]. In fact, taking a hypothetical war option that protects civilians has him call you out on it because [[ValuesDissonance sometimes you have to risk people like that in war]]. In-game, he is dark sided for ''many'' reasons.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Dark Sided Juhani. The only option to deal with Juhani and allow her to be a party remember are to redeem her to the Light, while the Dark Sided option is to kill her. While a Dark Sided player can still redeem her in order to get Juhani as a party member, it would have been very interesting to instead be able to recruit Juhani while she was Dark Sided and corrupt her further over the course of the game.
* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: The light side choice on Tatooine is to make peace with the Tusken Raiders, otherwise known as the Sand People, while siding with Czerka is the dark side. Clearly, you should side with the natives rather than the colonialist force. Unfortunately, it's not until you fully commit that you actually get to ''see'' a more morally grey side ''to'' the Sand People - and even then their characterization is largely consistent with the rest of ''Star Wars'': Intentionally violent, merciless, and xenophobic. Whenever you encounter them? They are... enslaving and killing people for no apparent reason. (Worse yet, these people are ''also'' Jawas... who are also native to Tatooine.) This is mitigated somewhat by the fact that doing so gives the Tusken Raiders a way to move further in and not step on Czerka or presumably the Jawas toes, but it still does require you to basically excuse the crimes they did and still do commit.

*** ''Creator/JenniferHale'' also voices Commander Shepard herself in ''VideoGame/MassEffect'', who happens to have a female romance option in all three games.

* AuthorsSavingThrow: The setting arose from the '90s series ''ComicBook/TalesOfTheJedi''. The video game came out around the same time as the prequels and hewed to the ShinyLookingSpaceships and "no attachments for Jedi" elements of the films, despite being set only forty years after ''Tales''. Not only was the aesthetic different, the Bastila romance involved "against the Jedi Code" angst and Jolee spoke of a "forbidden" marriage that took place at the same time Thon and Arca Jeth vocally approved of their students ''openly dating''. When the comics came out in 2006, they returned somewhat to the UsedFuture look, had Jedi family and attachments, and established that "no romance" was championed by a ''minority faction'' within the Order that won out in the four decades between ''Tales'' and ''Knights''.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic:
** The light side choice on Tatooine is to make peace with the Tusken Raiders, otherwise known as the Sand People, while siding wth Czerka is the dark side. Clearly, you should side with the natives rather than the colonialist force. Unfortunately, it's not until you fully commit that you actually get to ''see'' a more morally grey side ''to'' the Sand People - and even then their characterisation is largely consistent with the rest of ''Star Wars'': Intentionally violent, merciless, and xenophobic. Whenever you encounter them? They are... enslaving and killing people for no apparent reason. (Worse yet, these people are ''also'' Jawas... who are also native to Tatooine.) This is mitigated somewhat by the fact that doing so gives the Tusken Raiders a way to move further in and not step on Czerka or prsumably the Jawas toes, but it still does require you to basically excuse the crimes they did and still do commit.
** Similarly, the light side option on Kashyyk is to have the Wookies rebel and throw Czerka out. A good goal indeed. Except the wookies are presumably also attacking (and possibly even killing) non-combatants and people who were at worst [[PunchClockVillain punch clock villains]]. Attacking unarmed people would pretty much earn you dark side points.

* CharacterPerceptionEvolution: Carth was seen as a "Dork" in the TurnOfTheMillennium because he talked about his feelings, which at the time was seen as a sign of weakness and it wasn't uncommon to hear him described as "Girly" for this reason. However, later on, people took a second look at the character and realised that Carth's emotional issues were very much justified, and he has a defined character arc involving sticking to his beliefs, and made a nice foil to Canderous. His voice actor returning for a similar character in ''VideoGame/MassEffect'' also helped others appreciate his character arc.

%%* CharacterPerceptionEvolution: Carth was seen as a "Dork" in the TurnOfTheMillennium because he talked about his feelings, which at the time was seen as a sign of weakness and it wasn't uncommon to hear him described as "Girly" for this reason. Despite that he still remains somewhat of a BaseBreakingCharacter, fans often look upon him more fondly. As was described by a forumgoer, "We disliked Carth because we were children in the [[TurnOfTheMillennium 2000s]]." His voice actor returning for ''VideoGame/MassEffect'' also helped. %%Needs fleshing out regarding the factors behind Carth's reappraisal.%%

* CharacterPerceptionEvolution: Carth was seen as a "Dork" in the TurnOfTheMillennium because he talked about his feelings, which at the time was seen as a sign of weakness and it wasn't uncommon to hear him described as "Girly" for this reason. Despite that he still remains somewhat of a BaseBreakingCharacter, fans often look upon him more fondly. As was described by a forumgoer, "We disliked Carth because we were children in the [[TurnOfTheMillennium 2000s]]." His voice actor returning for ''VideoGame/MassEffect'' also helped.

* StrawmanHasAPoint: Czerka on Tattooine - Yes, Czerka is a colonial force, except thanks to the BrokenAesop around the Sand People, it's actually kind of hard ''not'' to fault them in this case. Not helping is that one of your contacts for the Dark Side route is a Jawa - who are a WoobieSpecies that are ''also'' common targets of being enslaved and killed by the Sand People. The Light side option essentially forces the player to just "look the other way" when it comes to what the Sand People do to Jawa.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: Courtesy of Music/JeremySoule. This game has gems such as [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSKvMyruPTA "The Old Republic"]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZQ0MjRR8q8 "Darth Malak's Theme"]], and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDwl-31afEc "The Sith/Endar Spire"]].

* ValuesDissonance: The Tuskens are referred to as "Sand People". While the use of the name to refer to them was consistent with Star Wars lore at the time, it's become somewhat of a slur against people of Middle Eastern and North African descent during TheNewTens.

* MagnificentBastard:
** [[Characters/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicRevan Darth Revan]], prior to being mindwiped into a blank slate, brought the Republic to its knees. Once a bold, dynamic young Jedi commander who singlehandedly won the Mandalorian Wars for the Republic, Revan [[TheParagonAlwaysRebels slipped to the Dark Side]] and sacrificed many of the troops whose loyalties they were unsure of. Becoming aware of the True Sith Empire, led by the monstrous Emperor Vitiate, Revan embraced Sith teachings and launched a campaign that crippled the Republic, leaving its infrastructure intact so they could one day harness it as a weapon against Vitiate and his empire. Revan executes a multitude of brilliant, perfect strategies, [[MagneticHero converting other Jedi to their cause]], seeking to both conquer and save the galaxy all at once.
** [[ChallengeSeeker Canderous Ordo]] is a hardened Mandalorian warrior-turned ruthless mercenary. Having lead countless victories over the Republic during the Mandalorian Wars, Canderous was renowned for his skill and honor equally, the man facing the ultimate loss of Mandalore to Revan with pride and dignity in a battle well fought. Eventually allying with Revan themself and considering it the thrill of a lifetime, Canderous works with them to outsmart the Sith on Taris and crime lord Davik Kang, securing the prized Ebon Hawk for Revan's use. Canderous [[VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords goes on]] to play a key role in taking down the Sith Lords Malak and Nihilus with his strategic mind, and gains so much prestige that he takes up the mantle of [[BigGood Mandalore the Preserver]] to reform the Mandalorian armies in preparation for a new campaign of conquering.
** [[RoboticPsychopath HK-47]] is an assassin droid designed by the Sith Lord Revan. A brilliant assassin in its own right, HK performs countless hits for Revan, eliminating those who might cause political strife throughout the Galaxy. Separated from Revan, HK-47 goes from owner to owner until reunited with Revan. Later manages to win over its [[AssassinOutclassin inferior duplicates]] and destroy the rogue Droid GO-TO.

* PlayerPunch: Remember all the people you helped directly or economically on Taris? [[spoiler: Nearly all of them got killed in the ensuing bombardment.]]

** ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'' takes this punch to the gut even further. Remember those people in the Undercity you helped discover the way to their Promised Land? [[spoiler: Good news was that they they survived the bombing and found the Promised Land. Bad news was that all the droids and technology there was rendered non-operational when the bombing cut off the power. Then the Rakghouls mutated so they could breed independently, instead of being created solely through infection. Then several generations later, they ran out of anti-rakghoul serum. The final survivors were barely literate and sterile, due to long-term exposure to toxic radiation]]. So, how about those Light Side points?

** [[Characters/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicRevan Darth Revan]] himself, prior to being mindwiped into a blank slate, brought the Republic to its knees. Once a bold, dynamic young Jedi commander who singlehandedly won the Mandalorian Wars for the Republic, Revan [[TheParagonAlwaysRebels slipped to the Dark Side]] and sacrificed many of the troops whose loyalties he was unsure of. Becoming aware of the True Sith Empire, led by the monstrous Emperor Vitiate, Revan embraced Sith teachings and launched a campaign that crippled the Republic, leaving its infrastructure intact so he may one day harness it as a weapon against Vitiate and his empire. Revan executes a multitude of brilliant, perfect strategies, [[MagneticHero converting other Jedi to his cause]], seeking to both conquer and save the galaxy all at once.
** [[ChallengeSeeker Canderous Ordo]] is a hardened Mandalorian warrior-turned ruthless mercenary. Having lead countless victories over the Republic during the Mandalorian Wars, Canderous was renowned for his skill and honor equally, the man facing the ultimate loss of Mandalore to Revan with pride and dignity in a battle well fought. Eventually allying with Revan himself and considering it the thrill of a lifetime, Canderous works with him to outsmart the Sith on Taris and crime lord Davik Kang, securing the prized Ebon Hawk for Revan's use. Canderous [[VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords goes on]] to play a key role in taking down the Sith Lords Malak and Nihilus with his strategic mind, and gains so much prestige that he takes up the mantle of [[BigGood Mandalore the Preserver]] to reform the Mandalorian armies in preparation for a new campaign of conquering.
** [[RoboticPsychopath HK-47]] is an assassin droid designed by the Sith Lord Revan. A brilliant assassin in its own right, HK performs countless hits for Revan, eliminating those who might cause political strife throughout the Galaxy. Separated from Revan, HK-47 goes from owner to owner until reunited with Revan. Later managing to win over its [[AssassinOutclassin inferior duplicates]] and destroy the rogue Droid GO-TO, HK-47 survives another three centuries to find Revan and assist him again. Destroyed, HK-47 returns in the modern days, manipulating its way to seize control of a Mustafar foundry and mass produce droids for its own revolution. Defeated, HK-47 sends a [[GracefulLoser cheerful, congratulatory message]] to the spacers who bested it, though not without a light jibe at them as "meatbags".
* MisaimedFandom: Canderous Ordo is often well liked for being such a ProudWarriorRaceGuy. Indeed, some of his stories about his war actions are a sight to behold. He's also [[TrueCompanions canonically very loyal to Revan]] - [[spoiler: supported in gameplay by the fact he is one of the few party members who will ''never'' leave your side and will always find a reason to side with you, even when you're light-sided]]. But what is so misaimed about him is the fact that, Mandalorians of ''this'' time period are... ''not'' someone you ''want'' to be friends with. Canderous's war tales include things such as wrecking ''entire worlds'' (meaning loads of collateral damage) so [[ButForMeItWasTuesday casually]]. In fact, taking a hypothetical war option that protects civilians has him call you out on it because [[ValuesDissonance sometimes you have to risk people like that in war]]. In-game, he is dark sided for ''many'' reasons.

** A lot of the Dark Side options are [[EvilIsPetty eye-rollingly petty]]. [[spoiler: Given who the player character turns out to be, it becomes harder to take Revan seriously knowing that he would probably take candy from a baby if given the chance.]]

* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: Fan reaction to the news that ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'' was going to be an {{MMORPG}}.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation:

* ScrappyWeapon: Blaster Rifles and Heavy Weapons. They are {{BFG}}s, but has the exact same range as blaster rifles/carbines and their firepower are barely any better. Combine with a bad critical threat range, mediocre attack bonus and low availability, they are not very popular with players. Even for ranged specialists you're better off dual-wielding blaster pistols since that means you get two hits per round of combat. The DLC rectify this by adding the Baragwin Assault Gun and the Baragwin Heavy Repeating Blaster which are the most devastating non-Jedi weapons. They are very expensive however.

* NoProblemWithLicensedGames: Prior to the ''Franchise/BatmanArkhamSeries'', this game was considered to be the gold standard for licensed video games, and is still considered one to this day.

** [[ChallengeSeeker Canderous Ordo]] is a hardened Mandalorian warrior-turned ruthless mercenary. Having lead countless victories over the Republic during the Mandalorian Wars, Canderous was renowned for his skill and honor equally, the man facing the ultimate loss of Mandalore to Revan with pride and dignity in a battle well fought. Eventually allying with Revan himself and considering it the thrill of a lifetime, Canderous works with him to outsmart the Sith on Taris and crime lord Davik Kang, securing the prized Ebon Hawk for Revan's use. Canderous [[VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords goes on]] to play a key role in taking down the Sith Lords Malak and Nihilus with his strategic mind, and gains so much prestige that he takes up the mantle of [[BigGood Mandalore the Preserve]] to reform the Mandalorian armies in preparation for a new campaign of conquering.

** Buy and wear the Electrical Capacitance Shield belt that grants you [[NoSell 100% immunity to electric attacks]]. [[ShockAndAwe Force Lightning]] is one of Sith's most frequent attacks and they will now be rendered useless. No wonder the belt was nerfed in the sequel.

** Clever builds can turn Juhani into one as well. Her Guardian Force Jump can put her right in the thick of things and draw aggro. Add Force Speed, Master Flurry, dual wielding saber feats and Force Heal, and you have the closest the Star Wars universe gets to ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}