History Literature / JediAcademyTrilogy

* RetCon:

** ''I, Jedi'' itself had to be retconned by Creator/DavidSherman and Creator/DanCragg's ''Literature/JediTrial'' after the prequels contradicted some of the timing in the Halcyon/Horn family tree, a common problem for pre-''[[Film/ThePhantomMenace Phantom Menace]]'' novels. Creator/TimothyZahn's [[Literature/TheThrawnTrilogy Thrawn trilogy]] ran into this, too.

* [[WhoDares Who]] '''[[WhoDares DARES?!]]''':

** ''I, Jedi'' was the first novel in the modern EU to directly retcon events of an earlier novel, mainly by establishing that Corran Horn studied at Yavin IV under Luke over the course of ''Dark Apprentice'' and ''Champions of the Force'' (neither he nor his alias Kieran Halcyon was ever mentioned in the earlier trilogy [[DoylistVersusWatsonian because Stackpole hadn't even created the character yet]]). Later Legends material filled in all but two of Luke's [[FanNickname Original Twelve]][[invoked]] (there are are at least four possible candidates for the remaining two).

* ArtisticLicenseAstronomy: Given how much of Yavin 4's sky Yavin fills, Four has to be tidally locked. So there should be only "Twi-night" on that side, and only ever "Truenight" on the far side.

* PragmaticVillainy: For obvious reasons, when Corran goes undercover with the Invids in ''I, Jedi'', he starts [[InvokedTrope encouraging the other pirates to practice this]] to promote cooperation in the future. While a few of the pirates are in it more ForTheEvulz, most of them recognize the potential of this racket [[spoiler:and end up accepting a legitimate security contract at the end of the novel.]] Later, when the pirate gang has to fight its way out of a confrontation with the New Republic Navy, Corran convinces the crew's leader that they should use ion cannons to disable the Republic fighters... because some forces will have to be diverted to rescue the pilots, distracting them from chasing after the Invids.

** Later, when the pirate gang has to fight its way out of a confrontation with the New Republic Defense Force, Corran convinces the crew's leader that they should use ion cannons to disable the Republic fighters... because some forces will have to be diverted to rescue the pilots, distracting them from chasing after the Invids.

* GoodFeelsGood: There's a couple of moments in ''I, Jedi'' where characters describe the Light Side of6 TheForce as feeling like every positive feeling they've ever experienced.

* PragmaticVillainy: For obvious reasons, when Corran goes undercover with the Invids in ''I, Jedi'', he starts encouraging the other pirates to practice this to promote cooperation in the future. While a few of the pirates are in it more ForTheEvulz, most of them recognize the potential of this racket [[spoiler:and end up accepting a legitimate security contract at the end of the novel.]] Later, when the pirate gang has to fight its way out of a confrontation with the New Republic Navy, Corran convinces the crew's leader that they should use ion cannons to disable the Republic fighters... because some forces will have to be diverted to rescue the pilots, distracting them from chasing after the Invids.

** If Corran sleeps with Tavira, his ego (and other things) get stroked, she, the leader of the group he's infiltrating, won't be suspicious of him, and he can get closer to finding his wife. Ethically, it's just part of the deception; Mirax is the love of his life and he really would do anything to save her. Plus, Tavira really hates rejection and might well have him killed. But would he really be doing this out of a genuine desire to endure anything for Mirax, or would it be a matter of lust and pride? Eventually Corran [[TakeAThirdOption takes a third option]].

** ''I, Jedi'' was the first novel in the modern EU to directly retcon events of an earlier novel, mainly by establishing that Corran Horn studied at Yavin IV under Luke over the course of ''Dark Apprentice'' and ''Champions of the Force'' (neither he nor his alias Kieran Halcyon was ever mentioned in the earlier trilogy). Later sourcebooks filled in all but two of Luke's [[FanNickname Original Twelve]].

* SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale: When Kyp destroyed the Carida star system by causing its sun to go nova, he killed 25 million people. Even if Carida was the only inhabited body in the entire system, that's still a very small number for a planetary population above a bronze-age level. For comparison, New York state '''''alone''''' has a population of around 20 million. While Carida is described as being quite inhospitable (this being precisely why the Empire chose it for a Stormtrooper training facility), it ''also'' had a native non-human population who presumably would be well-adapted enough to their own planet's conditions to produce a larger population than that. Originally, it was "billions" who perished, which sounds more plausible. The lower number comes from sourcebook fluff, and may have been intended to mitigate the backlash against Kyp's actions.

* EvilCannotComprehendGood: Tavira's belief that Luke Skywalker ordered the destruction of Carida was because: 1, that's what she would have done to her foes had she a Sun Crusher; and 2, grace such as Durron was shown is completely outside her understanding.

* SleepingTheirWayToTheTop: Often taken as the reason why Daala became Admiral. It's kind of confirmed in ''Literature/DeathStar'', where she's Tarkin's lover and he privately believes that the boost he gave her career is just enough to get her past the difficulties female Imperials have in the military. She takes brain damage in that novel.

* DidntThinkThisThrough: Corran's plan for confronting Exar Kun hinges on Kun's seeming inability to interact with the physical world, and need to act through other agents. Corran forgot that Kun had managed to short out the Holocron by himself, and does the same with the device that Corran brings with him. [[OhCrap Only then does Corran realize his mistake.]]

* ConspiracyTheorist: The fact that Luke ''doesn't'' suppress the knowledge of Kyp Durron's investiture gives the anti-Jedi crowd a huge propaganda coup. Daala's also convinced ''everyone'' she encounters is secretly with the Rebellion, no matter what.

* BodyguardCrush: Wedge Antilles was Qwi Xux's bodyguard. Yes, for some reason a general was the bodyguard of a high-ranking ex-Imperial scientist. In ''I, Jedi'' Corran was horrified to discover Wedge developing feelings for Qwi and Qwi returning them, since it was terribly unprofessional and he didn't think it would work out at ''all'' - actually, he shipped Wedge with his old partner Iella. Of course, when Kyp Durron decided to [[MindRape traumatically destroy Qwi's memories]], Wedge wasn't able to stop him. They break up at the start of Creator/AaronAllston's ''[[ComicBook/XWingSeries Starfighters of Adumar]]'', with Wedge later marrying Iella.

* TakeThat: Stackpole does this to Anderson. Repeatedly. Particularly regarding Kyp Durron getting away with ''genocide'' through destroying a planet.

* FixFic: Stackpole uses ''I, Jedi'' to make the ''Jedi Academy'' trilogy more palatable. Note that ''I, Jedi'' also has lots of crossover with the ''Literature/HandOfThrawn'' books by Creator/TimothyZahn, which are even more of a FixFic for the whole EU.

* SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale: When Kyp destroyed the Carida star system by causing its sun to go nova, he killed 25 million people. Even if Carida was the only inhabited body in the entire system, that's still a very small number for a planetary population above a bronze-age level. For comparison, New York state '''''alone''''' has a population of around 20 million. While Carida is described as being quite inhospitable (this being precisely why the Empire chose it for a Stormtrooper training facility), it ''also'' had a native non-human population who presumably would be well-adapted enough to their own planet's conditions to produce a larger population than that.
** Originally, it was "billions" who perished, which sounds more plausible. The lower number comes from sourcebook fluff, and may have been intended to mitigate the backlash against Kyp's actions.

* SleepingTheirWayToTheTop: Often taken as the reason why Daala became Admiral.
** Kind of confirmed in ''Literature/DeathStar'', where she's Tarkin's lover and he privately believes that the boost he gave her career is just enough to get her past the difficulties female Imperials have in the military. She takes brain damage in that novel.

* SwordAndFist: Corran challenges Luke to a lightsabre duel prior to leaving the academy. Thanks to his prior hand-to-hand experience, [[CombatPragmatist he is able to use other techniques against Luke to turn the fight to his advantage]]. Luke actually picks up on this and makes use of such techniques upon [[BigDamnHeroes later coming to Corran's aid]].
* TakeThat: Stackpole does this to Anderson. Repeatedly.

* WeWillNotUseStageMakeupInTheFuture: Averted. Disguising his identity, Corran grows a beard and uses hair dye. Hair dye which he initially misuses, making all of his hair green and forcing him to call his old partner for help.

* WhatTheHellHero: Corran gives Luke a spectacular TheReasonYouSuckSpeech and quits the academy for forgiving Kyp Durron for... what prefix, exactly, do you use before "-cide" to describe blowing up an inhabited solar system?
** "Stellar"-cide?

*** Investigating a [[Series/AdamTwelve 415 family disturbance]], he found a {{Domestic Abuse}}r had battered his wife severely, and he was so furious that he was sorely tempted to employ PoliceBrutality, to let the abuser know what it felt like. But he held back.

** If Corran sleeps with Tavira, his ego (and other things) get stroked, she, the leader of the group he's infiltrating, won't be suspicious of him, and he can get closer to finding his wife. Ethically, it's just part of the deception; Mirax is the love of his life and he really would do anything to save her. Plus, Tavira really hates rejection and might well have him killed. But would he really be doing this out of a genuine desire to endure anything for Mirax, or would it be a matter of pride? Eventually Corran [[TakeAThirdOption takes a third option]].
* [[WhoDares Who]] '''[[WhoDares DARES?!]]''': Exar Kun, the ''Franchise/StarWars'' equivalent of a Sith DastardlyWhiplash, says it word-for-word to a thoroughly unimpressed Mara Jade, who goes on to [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech describe how poorly he stacks up to the Sith Lords that she personally knew]] (not to mention Ysanne Isard, who wasn't even Force-sensitive).

** Mirax later has a similar reaction to Admiral Tavira saying much the same thing. After that, Luke decides that Corran's earlier comment about making sure that Mirax and Mara never meet is good advice.

*** [[Literature/TheCallistaTrilogy Another backup of the Death Star plans is stored deep in the archives of the Imperial Palace on Coruscant, and the original lead designer had been reassigned away from the Maw years earlier so he's still at large.]]
*** Daala also escapes to the Imperial Remnant with a portion of the data, and some of it gets used to build weapons in later series. ''Literature/HandOfThrawn'' initially declares it all AwesomeButImpractical, but Daala returns in ''Literature/LegacyOfTheForce'' with other, field-ready weapons built to Maw specs.

* OrbitalBombardment: In ''Dark Apprentice'' Daala uses her three remaining [=ISDs=] for a terror attack on Mon Calamari before a gambit by Admiral Ackbar costs her a second star destroyer and forces her to retreat.
** In ''I, Jedi'', Corran tells Tycho that if the Jedi apprentices are defeated, to convince Ackbar to order orbital bombarment of Exar Kun's temple, as that would the only way to destroy it while staying far enough way to be safe from mental influence by Kun's spirit.

** The way used by Han Solo, once he has stolen the Sun Crusher, to deal with one of Daala's Imperial Star Destroyers, that is blocking their escape path of the Maw.

** ''I, Jedi'' was the first novel in the modern EU to directly retcon events of an earlier novel, mainly by establishing that Corran Horn studied at Yavin IV under Luke over the course of ''Dark Apprentice'' and ''Champions of the Force'' (neither he nor his alias Kieran Halcyon was ever mentioned in the earlier trilogy).
*** Later sourcebooks filled in all but two of Luke's [[FanNickname Original Twelve]].

* ColourCodedForYourConvenience: Oddly, ''I, Jedi'' has the lightsabre colours backwards - the Dark Jedi use blue ones and the Light side Jedi seem to use any colour ''but'' blue. Part of that might be an example of [[CharacterizationMarchesOn continuity marching on]]: until Episode I, the idea that all Dark Jedi and Sith used exclusively red lightsabers was WordOfDante, and many fans (apparently including Stackpole) found the idea silly and arbitrary given the rainbow of colors used by light-side Jedi (and ironic considering that the Sith are treacherous and individualist, while the Jedi are so effective because of their ability to work together harmoniously).

* ConspiracyTheorist: The fact that Luke ''doesn't'' suppress the knowledge of Kyp Durron's investiture gives the pro-Order-66 crowd a huge propaganda coup.

* GeneralRipper: Daala is a sort of hybrid of this and ColonelKilgore. She's ''both'' a paranoid fanatic who lashes out at every little starship or planet she runs into (Because they're ''[[ConspiracyTheorist obviously]]'' part of the Rebellion!), ''and'' a crazy sadist who just loves blowing things up.

'''Corran:''' Think Hutt, but with eyebrows.
* GoodFeelsGood: There's a couple of moments in ''I, Jedi'' where characters describe TheForce as feeling like every positive feeling they've ever experienced.

* HurlItIntoTheSun: What the New Republic decides to do with the Sun Crusher, although they picked a gas giant instead of a sun. At the end of the trilogy, Kyp hurls it into a black hole, where it cannot be retrieved from.
** The fairly lame suggestion by the New Republic Council that a gas giant would be good enough seemed to be deliberately implying that at least some of them were ''hoping'' that someday they'd be able to retrieve the Sun Crusher and use it against the Empire once political opposition to using an Imperial superweapon died down.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: Luke has about a dozen students. While the others will get characterization in future works, only about four or five actually have a personality right now. Some of them weren't even ''named'' in the trilogy.
** To this day, some of them ''still'' haven't been named.

* AMillionIsAStatistic: Kyp Durron used the Sun Crusher to kill a ''lot'' of people. But one of those was his brother, he feels bad about that, Han talked him out of being evil, and he almost died sticking the Sun Crusher into a black hole, so... let's bring him back to the Jedi Academy and work on that temper! In ''I, Jedi'', this is what finally drives Corran Horn to quit. Pretty much every other book in the EU to have Kyp has his KarmaHoudini brought up, and Kyp himself becomes TheAtoner.
** Since Carida was an Imperial planet and a major Stormtrooper training center, it explains why many in the New Republic weren't all that dismayed by its destruction. Particularly given that the [[AssInAmbassador Caridan ambassador]] had just shortly before attempted to assassinate the New Republic Chief of State (though they did not know that at the time). However, since the Jedi '''''felt''''' the deaths of the planet's millions of inhabitants in excruciating detail, including all the civilian population, some of them were less inclined to be so forgiving.

** Exar Kun wasn't ''dormant'', precisely, since he bred monsters, but an academy of semitrained Jedi was exactly what the pharmacist prescribed to get him back into intergalactic affairs.

* ColourCodedForYourConvenience: Oddly, ''I, Jedi'' has the lightsabre colours backwards - the Dark Jedi use blue ones and the lightside Jedi seem to use any colour ''but'' blue. Part of that might be an example of [[CharacterizationMarchesOn continuity marching on]]: Until Episode I, the idea that all dark Jedi and Sith used exclusively red lightsabers was WordOfDante, and many fans (apparently including Stackpole) found the idea silly and arbitrary given the rainbow of colors used by light-side Jedi (and ironic considering that the Sith are treacherous and individualist, while the Jedi are so effective because of their ability to work together harmoniously).

** ''I, Jedi'' has two references to Tatooine being Obi-Wan Kenobi's homeworld. While this was a reasonable inference at the time (especially given that the novelization of the first Star Wars movie identified Owen Lars as Obi-Wan's brother), unfortunately for Stackpole ''The Phantom Menace'' was released only one year later and contradicted it. One of the references was indirect (Kenobi wasn't actually mentioned by name, it was just clearly implied to be him) and the other could be written off as in-universe records having mistakenly said Kenobi was a Tatooine native (the original records showing him being born on Coruscant could have been lost in the destruction of the Jedi Temple).

*** Investigating a [[Series/AdamTwelve 415 family disturbance]], he found a DomesticAbuser had battered his wife severely, and he was so furious that he was sorely tempted to employ PoliceBrutality, to let the abuser know what it felt like. But he held back.

* AMillionIsAStatistic: Kyp Durron used the Sun Crusher to kill a ''lot'' of people. But one of those was his brother, he feels bad about that, Han talked him out of being evil, and he almost died sticking the Sun Crusher into a black hole, so ... let's bring him back to the Jedi Academy and work on that temper! In ''I, Jedi'', this is what finally drives Corran Horn to quit. Pretty much every other book in the EU to have Kyp has his KarmaHoudini brought up, and Kyp himself becomes TheAtoner.