[[quoteright:344:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mastersbox.jpg]]

[[center:[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: After the stunning defeat and loss of the Death Star\\
handed to the Galactic Empire, the Emperor demands\\
drastic measures for a swift retribution against the\\
Rebel Alliance.\\
\\
The Emperor calls upon the services of a mysterious\\
young woman, Arden Lyn, wise in the ways of an ancient\\
and almost forgotten fighting art known as Teräs Käsi.\\
\\
Under the watchful eye of Darth Vader, Arden Lyn\\
is assigned the duty of eliminating key members\\
of the Rebel Alliance and thus neutralizing the\\
thorn in the Empire's side. But the Alliance hears\\
of this threat and they prepare for battle... ]]
]]

''Star Wars: Masters of Teräs Käsi'' is a ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'' {{fighting game}} developed and published by Creator/LucasArts, which released for the Platform/PlayStation in 1997.

Taking place in-between ''Film/ANewHope'' and ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'', the Emperor seeks retaliation for the destruction of the Death Star and recruits the mysterious Arden Lyn (seen standing behind Luke on the game's cover) to battle in the art of Teräs Käsi, an unarmed combat discipline, against leaders of the Rebel Alliance. The game features ''Legends''-exclusive characters, including the Emperor's hand-turned Jedi, Mara Jade.

There are 13 characters to choose from, small for a fighting game's roster, but they include perennial favorites such as Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, Princess Leia, [[EnsembleDarkhorse and]] [[JokeCharacter Hoar]].

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!!Tropes
* ActionGirl: All of the female fighters qualify naturally, but Mara Jade is in-universe quite prolific in fights. Arden Lyn-a very minor Legends character-was created for this sort of role.
* AdaptationalBadass: Princess Leia in her Slave Bikini outfit (Mind you, already badass in the film for choking out Jabba).
* BadassNormal: Any of the characters without Force powers, but of note is [[UnexpectedCharacter Hoar]], a Tusken Raider; Thok, a Gamorrean guard; and a generic Stormtrooper, who all have just as much of a chance to take out other characters as anyone else.
* CanonForeigner: Arden Lyn and Hoar were created for the game.
* CanonImmigrant: The martial art of Teräs Käsi would later appear in the new Disney canon, and Qi'ra even namedrops it in ''Film/{{Solo}}''.
* ExcusePlot: Or very nearly one: The Emperor sends his best agent (and other forces) to seek out the rebels and... fight them in hand-to-hand combat.
* FinalBoss: Darth Vader - who else? If you play as Vader, it becomes Mara Jade instead.
* GratuitousForeignLanguage: "Teräs Käsi" refers to a martial art used in the game; both words have been borrowed from Finnish and they literally mean "steel hand". The way it's written, however, is grammatically incorrect; the words should be written together as a compound word, "Teräskäsi", not separately.
* ImpossiblyCoolWeapon: [[{{Laserblade}} Lightsabers]], even if --for ostensible balancing reasons-- they work like glorified baseball bats in this game.
* MotionCapture: This was used to animate all of the characters.
* MovesetClone: Beating the game with Han Solo unlocks a playable Stormtrooper, however, with the same moves as Han.
* {{Nerf}}: Understandably, lightsabers don't cut off limbs or bisect foes in one strike like they do in the films in order to keep the game challenging.
* PromotedToPlayable: Very few other games can boast having a playable Tusken Raider or a Gamorrean guard! So, the game's got that going for it.
* RealTimeWeaponChange: Each character can either fight bare-handed or draw a weapon. The majority use melee implements, but a few draw blasters.
* RecycledInSpace: The game's combat and graphics make it a poor man's ''VideoGame/Tekken3'', but in a galaxy far, far away.
* RingOut: A common feature of every stage
* SecretCharacter: By completing the game on Jedi difficulty with certain characters, players could unlock Darth Vader, slave-outfit Leia, a Stormtrooper, Mara Jade, or [[TabletopGame/StarWarsD6 Jodo Kast]].
* ShoutOut: Leia's slave outfit puts her HUD name as "Princess Leia!", like the similarly fanservicey "Sophitia!" from ''[[VideoGame/SoulSeries Soul Blade]]''.
* UltimateShowdownOfUltimateDestiny: This was the attempted angle when the game first came out, however its low roster count, untested genre insertion for Star Wars characters (Darth Vader eventually made his way to [[VideoGame/SoulCaliburIV another fighting game]] where he fared much better in combat and critical acclaim), and lackluster hardware (this was the first Playstation game made by [=LucasArts=] and it shows) made the whole concept fizzle out.
* AWinnerIsYou: Except for maybe Luke, none of the characters' endings really give any kind of closure, just being an FMV of them doing ''something''. The unlockable fighters don't even get ''that'', just getting some text on the screen.
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