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Comicbook: Knights of the Old Republic

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is a monthly comic book series published by Dark Horse Comics which ran for 50 issues, from January 2006 to February 2010. It is part of their 20th anniversary retooling of its long-running Star Wars series. It takes place in the same timeline as the video games of the same name, eight years prior to the first game.

The Knights of the Old Republic comic stars failed Padawan Zayne Carrick who is falsely accused of murdering his fellow Jedi students due to the efforts of his masters. Joining with Snivvian conman Marn "Gryph" Hierogryph and the beautiful Arkanian off-shoot Jarael, Zayne attempts to clear his name and unravel the truth of his friends' death.

The writer of the series, John Jackson Miller, is producing a continuation, or spin-off of the comics, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic: War, in which

Zayne Carric "has been drafted" into the Mandalorian Wars.

Tropes found in KOTOR the comic are:

The Ace: Carth Onasi
Action Girl: Jarael.
- Well, some of the time.
Affably Evil: Arkoh Adasca is extremely charming and polite while telling Jarael how her race is an abomination and while trying to sell dangerous superweapons to the Republic and the Mandalorians.
- Chantique as well. She's all smiles when manipulating Zayne, and even goes so far as to put her arm around him and give him a drink
All Girls Want Bad Boys: Subverted big time. Shel and Jarael both want Zayne, turning down Adasca and Alek for him.
Aristocrats Are Evil: Applies to Adasca and Lucien Draay as the galaxies richest playboys/jerkasses.
- Eventually subverted with Lucien, who makes a Heel Face Turn and survives his resulting Heroic Sacrifice.
Armor Is Useless: Pleasantly subverted. Mandalorian Neo-Crusader armour turns out to be surprisingly resilient against lightsaber blades. Zayne's nigh-indestructible phrik vambraces are even better; though they only cover his forearms, the advantage in a lightsaber duel is obvious.
Artifact of Doom: Kanness Muur's talisman.
The Atoner: Lucien Draay
Authority Equals Asskicking: Lucien Draay and Mandalore are both amongst the best warriors in the galaxy.
Badass: Subverted BIG TIME with Zayne Carrick. It's been close to forty issues and Zayne Carrick has actually NOT KILLED A SINGLE PERSON despite immense justification.
- How the hell this is a subversion? In his situation, such approach actually demands much greater badassery.
- Actually, in a later issue Zayne had to kill a Cammasi named Snout in self defense. He doesn't take it very well.
- Played completely and utterly straight with Cassus Fett: whenever he shows up (he's normally only present through fearful/awed mentions of his name), it's to make an amazingly badass statement or speech.
Bait and Switch: See Jossed below. The writers seem to have intentionally made readers think that characters were really characters from Knights of the Old Republic (the games) and subverted a fictional case of Young Future Famous People. Krynda Draay sounds like Kreia, has precognitive/clairvoyant powers, and is half-Miraluka like Kreia is implied to be in KOTOR II; Haazen looks like Darth Sion; Lucien Draay is even offered the title of Darth Sion, fits the definition of a "scion," and was originally named "Lusion"; and Zayne just seems important enough to be someone big later on like Nihilus, which would also be an ironic contrast to his personality. None of these people ended up having any direct consequence to the plot of the games. Alek does end up starting down the road to becoming Darth Malak though.
Bald of Evil: Alek. Better known by the alias he eventually adopts, Darth Malak. Interestingly enough, the loss of his hair coincides with the beginning of his Start of Darkness.
Better as Friends: Zayne and Shel end up as this; surprisngly, the Zayne Jarael Shippers are able to avoid bashing her, and usually take this route in their fanfics.
Berserk Button: Chantique mocks Jarael about what she did to Zayne. Jarael....doesn't take it very well. And by not very well I mean "savagely beat Chantique into submission and stand over her ready to deliver the death blow."
Betty and Veronica: Shel (Betty) and Jarael (Veronica), the Love interests of Zayne.
Blind Seer: The Miraluka Q'Anilia
Break the Cutie: The entire Destroyer Arc counts as Zayne's Break the Cutie. He's enslaved, shown visions of torture, experiences an elaborate manipulation at the hands of Chantique, is forced to watch as a slave he befriended dies, drives Jarael away, and doesn't realize that he's been lied to until it's too late.
Brother-Sister Incest: Not quite right because Not Blood Siblings but Lucien Draay and Q'Anilia seem to be lovers by the fact they share the same room with one bed. Also, they hold each other a great deal in times of duress.
- Arkoh Adasca also confirms it by mentioning that Lucien used to always show up at parties with Q'Anilia as his date.
Born Lucky: Zayne's apparent disability with learning the Force actually swings the odds in his favor. That's probably why he survived the killing of the Jedi Padawans in the beginning of the series, setting the whole series in motion.
Zanye: My master says that my existence is proof that the Force has a sense of humor!
- He would be closer to someone who always breaks even. Yes, he has INSANELY good luck at times. And, at other times, he has very bad luck. He just tends to get lucky at the right times (implying he is controlling it to some degree).
Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Del Momoo is an idiot, yet he is remarkably good at anything bomb related, showing an extremely intricate knowledge of how they work (There is one funny scene when he explains why a bomb failed to go off and Raana simply stares in shock.)
The Captain: Saul Karath.
Clear My Name: Zayne's quest.
Comedic Hero: Zayne Carrik, worst Padawan in Jedi history. He gets over it pretty fast, though, proving that his incompetence was more than anything due to a neglectful Master.
Con Man: All of the heroes have been one at one time or another.
Cosplay: Jarael enjoys dressing up as a Jedi Knight, a Sith Lord, and other disguises. It's more for fun than anything really relevant. That and a chance for the artist to show her in a variety of cute outfits.
- Shel and Alek do this in Turnabout, when she and Alek dress in pirate like clothing to meet with the Jedi.
Corrupt Corporate Executive: Adasca is halfway between this and an Evil Chancellor since he's both a corporate head as well as the owner of a planet.
Disproportionate Retribution: Chantique commits pretty much every atrocity she does simply to get revenge on Jarael.
Dark Action Girl: Chantique
Dark Lord: The Revanchist and Alek are destined to be Darth Revan and Darth Malak.
- Subverted with Haazen who looks like he's going to become one, even choosing the name Darth Haze but ends up getting killed within minutes.
- Subverted even more with Lucien Dray, for whom Hazen had even picked out a Sith-apprentice name. Made all the more surprising because Dray's actions up to that point had clearly been leading him down the path of the dark side- and even worse, the name Hazen picked, Darth Sion, was already known to be that of a future Sith Lord whose mutilated physical appearance could have been a match for Dray. The role was prepared for him. He just refused to play the part.
- Mandalore!
Deadpan Snarker: Gryph, Zayne, and practically everyone else at some point.
Doomed Hometown: Taris.
The Dragon: Lucien thinks he's this for his mother but he's really The Dragon for Haazen. Cassus Fett is The Dragon to Mandalore.
The Empire: The Mandalorians.
- The Mandalorians are only becoming The Empire. They were previously The Horde. The fact they're becoming one is actually something that at least one Mandalorian objects to.
Evil Matriarch: Zayne Carrick assumes Krynda Draay is this. Subverted. In fact, she's horrified by her son's actions in her name.
Evil Mentor: Lucien Draay and especially Haazen.
Face Heel Turn: This isn't a secret to anyone who plays the games but Admiral Saul Karath will end up becoming one of the most evil men in the new Sith Empire. Likewise, Alek is also Darth Malak.
Facial Markings: Jarael and Chantique's facial markings are actually their names, written in a secret Sith dialect.
Fainting Seer: Krynda Draay takes this to the point of having a stroke.
Fantastic Racism: The treatment that pure blooded Arkanians show off-shoots.
Fandom Nod: Lots to the KOTOR games and the Tales of the Jedi comics.
- Special mention goes to the editor's/author's notes at the end of issue 48, where Miller details the whole Rholan/Demagol fan discussions, and giving a nod to TV Tropes itself for its role on the topic.
Fanservice: The appearance of Mission and her brother during the Siege of Taris.
Faux Action Girl: Shel is the worst assassin you could possibly pick. Ever.
- After saving Zayne from the Jedi Covenant in the introductory story-arc, Jarael seems incapable of defeating anything other than Mooks, and has to be rescued by the main characters from the Mandalorians, Lord Adasca, a rogue assassin droid ... To be fair, it has been made abundantly clear that only the most powerful Jedis or Sith can have a chance alone against a small group of Mandalorians - Jarael got ambushed by a whole platoon of them.
- In Shel's case, it's not easy to kill someone even if you are a trained soldier, and she's just a civilian who has no choice but to fight. Plus, it helped that Zayne massively deconstructed her motivation for wanting to kill him by a.) forcing her to face that she really had no clue as to why she thought he was guilty, and b.) showing genuine grief over her brother's death, which is not exactly the kind of things darksiders do.
Fire-Forged Friends: Zayne and Griff.
Foreshadowing: Several, given the amount of Author's Saving Throw the writers manage to pull off. A particularly notable one is hidden in one of the extra bounty hunter bulliten at the end of one of the issues, saying a certain person couldn't be the Corellian Strangler because her's too small. Cue issue 38.
- One of the subplots is Malak's Start of Darkness. His rough treatment of Rohlan, whom he believes to be Demagol, makes the Mandalorian exclaim: "That's the way you like it, Jedi — don't you? So save your Republic — but who'll save the Republic from you?" Saving the Republic from Malak is your mission in the eponymous game.
For the Evulz: One might argue that Haazen is ONLY destroying the Jedi Knighthood and taking over the Republic to further spit on Barrison's grave.
- The Crucible gleefully admits that they no longer have a purpose for their crimes, but do it anyway.
Genre Blind: Apparently, none of the Jedi Covenant are familiar with the concept of a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy and fall into a pretty classic example of it.
Green-Eyed Monster: Haazen destroys Barrison Draay solely out of jealousy over the man's wealth, power, and luck with women.
Half-Human Hybrid: Krynda Draay, the mother of Lucien Draay is a half-human/half-Miraluka hybrid.
- Senator Gorravus is a half human half Mirialan hybrid (his wealthy father had an affair with an alien servant).
Heel Face Turn: Lucien Draay betrays Haazen's plans and ultimately gets to live.
Heel Face Door Slam: Raana Tey.
Hero with Bad Publicity: Zayne Carrick is believed to be a multiple mass murderer of Jedi. He gets better.
He Who Fights Monsters: The Jedi Covenant. Alek is destined to go this way.
Hoist by His Own Petard: Arkoh Adasca, Raana Tey, Haazen; Arkoh: eaten by his own weapons; Raana: Impaled through the back with a saber by Shel Jelavan (when Raana had taught Shel how to build it, and who put her up to it.); Haazen: Looses his McGuffin and Annihalated by his own weapons
Hypercompetent Sidekick: Cassus Fett, Mandalore's aide-de-camp and general right-hand-man, seems to be the brains of the Mandalorian Empire- it's heavily implied that his eye for tactics and logistics is what has enabled most of their victories so far.
Ironic Echo: After saving Zayne from the covenant at the end of the first arc, Jarael says she can't let Zayne go around thinking sacrificing himself for her is sensible behavior. Chantique says the exact same thing to Jarael, about the exact same subject, during they're fight to try and convince her that Zayne no longer cares about her.
Laser-Guided Karma: Golliard is captured by his own drones. And is handed over to a man who's father died thanks to his cowardice.
Karmic Death: This is actually a major plot point. There are implications that, due to Zayne Carrick's peculiar relationship with the Force, that people who attempt to kill or harm him will suffer these.
Karma Houdini: At least one of Zayne Carrick's villains gets away scott-free. Lucien Draay
- Hey, he's blind after the whole thing, that's not exactly scott-free.
Kick the Dog: "Meaningless wasn't it?" That line effectively sealed Chantique as a monster.
Knight Templar: The Jedi Covenant in a nutshell.
- And the Jedi Crusaders aka Revanchists.
Knight Templar Big Brother
Last Minute Hook Up: Zayne and Jarael in the final issue.
Late To The Tragedy: The reason for Zayne's survival of the Padawan massacre.
Light Is Not Good
Jossed: Theories that have been Jossed by the creator and Lucasfilm include Lucien Draay is Darth Sion and/or Darth Nihilus, Zayne Carrick is the Jedi Exile, and Krynda Draay is Kreia. Lucien Draay rejecting becoming Darth Sion is actually a plot point.
Loveable Rogue: Gryph in a nutshell. It's questionable whether he actually does all his con games for money or the sheer joy of screwing with people's heads.
- Assuming they're mutually exclusive.
Mad Scientist: Demagol.
Nice Guy: Zayne Carrick is almost unique amongst Star Wars EU protagonists in that he's just a swell person. Oddly, this makes him very popular in a genre dominated by Darker and Edgier protagonists.
- What's "odd" about that, considering the position of the original movies on the Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism? If anything, the persistent attempts of EU authors to make Star Wars universe Darker and Edgier (even the original Knights of the Old Republic games slipped into it in the sequel), which seem to alienate alot of fans are odd.
- It also pays in dividends. Zayne is able to make friends out of pretty much everyone whose not a complete asshole by simply being a pretty swell, upstanding guy. And almost everyone he helps ends up returning the favor. Even Cassus Fett. Even Lucien Draay
Not So Different: Zayne Carrick and Haazen. Haazen points out that he too was an abused failed Padawan that no one took seriously. Zayne Carrick rightly sees Haazen as a lunatic.
Of Corsets Sexy: The dress code for all the female Crucible members.
Official Couple: Zayne and Jarael
Omniscient Morality License: The Covenant, and Lucien in particular, think they have one of these due to all being powerful seers. Too bad that no one ever told them that "always in motion is the future".
Prequel: Not only is it before Star Wars Episode I, but it is also a Prequel to the Knights of the Old Republic video games.
Prophetic Fallacy: The dream of the red space suited Sith is almost certainly about Darth Malak. The Jedi Covenant chasing Zayne wastes time, resources, and effectively destroys their organization.
Prophecy Twist: Zayne Carrick's prophecy. Is in fact totally made up to just screw with the minds of the Jedi Covenant.
- It was also to buy Zayne time.
Proud Warrior Race Guy: Rohlan Dyre.
- As well as any Mandalorian that makes an apperance, natch.
  - Except Demagol.
Seers
Redemption Earns Life: Unlike the other Jedi Covenant member, Lucien Draay survives after he rejects the Sith and helps to kill Haazen and thwart his plans.
Redemption Equals Death: Raana Tey dies only seconds after realizing that she was wrong about Zayne and accepting his offer of salvation.
Screw Destiny: Zayne Carrick has this attitude but he was almost certainly never really destined to be a Sith Lord anyway. Lucien Draay is a more direct case as we find out he was destined to be Darth Sion but rejected this destiny.
Secret Police: The Jedi Covenant is a secret cult of these within the Jedi Order. They all get killed off or arrested at the end of Haazen's plan.
Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: The Jedi Covenant more or less gets itself killed off one by one attempting to kill Zayne in exactly how their visions predicted they'd die.
- Subverted with Xamar in that his attempt to do the right thing is what causes him to get killed.
Shadow Archetype: Haazen and Zayne Carrick
- Jarael and Chantique.
Snake Talk: Xamar.
Spanner in the Works: Zayne Carrick utterly unravels the Jedi Covenant, Adasca, and arguably Mandalore's plans for the galaxy. It seems to be his role within the Star Wars universe.
- Del Moomo actually fills this role once when his stupidity and singlemindedness distract Raana and Shel long enough for Gryph to disarm the later, saving Zayne's life in the process Shel also unintentionally derails Jervo's plan with her first attempt to kill Zayne.
Start of Darkness: Both Lucien Draay and Haazen have these.
Took A Level In Bad Ass: Zayne Carrick manages to setup an information gathering network he calls the "Rogue Moon Project," designed to help refugees and people who were wrongfully accused while making himself its first field agent. You read that right kids, that Zayne Carrick.
2-D Space: Forming a ring of ships over the equator of Corruscant is supposed to prevent any ships from reaching the planet.
Unlimited Wardrobe: They have a HUGE selection of costumes for the characters.
The Virus: The Rakghoul Plague that transforms you into (one of) the Star Wars equivalents of a Zombie.
Villainous Breakdown: Haazen and Arkoh Adasca both experience these as their evil plans collapse around their ears. They both die within minutes
- After he realizes how he's been played by Haazen and the (immediately afterward) death of his mother, Lucien has one of these. It's followed by Villainous BSOD and then a Heel Face Turn.
- Demagol get's one two, learning that his life's work was a failure and that the force talent he thought he instilled in his students was just his latent powers all along. Except for his daughter, who has actual talent, but who he sold into slavery, thinking she was a failure. Then he ends up dying by the very blade he'd stolen to give to Jarael.
- Raana Tey slowly becomes more insane to the point where she throws Zayne THROUGH A LARGE GLASS WINDOW. Both combatants are lacerated by the falling glass.
Warrior Poet: Rohlan the Questioner.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: The entire point of the Jedi Covenant.
Well Done Son Guy: Lucien Draay craves this from his father. Subverted in the fact that his father is dead and seems likely to have not been nearly the stuffed shirt that Lucien Draay thinks he was.
Word Of God: John Jackson Miller's blog contains a lot of explanations that confirm or have Jossed fan speculation.
White-Haired Pretty Girl: Jarael. And Chantique
Winds of Destiny, Change: Zayne's "learning disability" with the Force turns out to be the ability to have probibility swing his way.
Whole Episode Flashback: Haazen has one of these.