History Sandbox / KotorIITropes

* NoPronunciationGuide: Alek ''Squinquargesimus''. You know him better as Malak.

Don't mind me, just shoving these here to put into the VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicII article.

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* RealityHasNoSubtitles: In ''Knights Of The Old Republic 2'', Darth Nihilus' speech (in the ancient Sith language) is left untranslated in subtitles and the player character doesn't seem to be able to understand him either, despite her ability to understand a wide variety of alien languages.

** Pretty much every player character/party member pairing from both games qualifies, as the official ''StarWars'' canon states that both [=PC=]s left their loved ones behind and departed to the Unknown Regions for good.

* KryptoniteIsEverywhere: No wonder cortosis is rare during the StarWars trilogy. Apparently [[GameplayAndStorySegregation every single weapon and piece of armor]] in the old republic days were made of it.

* LaserBlade: And plenty of them. [[StarWars In case you hadn't guessed.]]

* NoCanonForTheWicked: Canonically in the ''StarWarsExpandedUniverse'' both games ended with the hero following the path of the Light Side. Can be averted in the second game, where some MultipleChoicePast questions allows the player to decide that the player character followed the Dark Side during the first game.

* TheObiWan: Jolee Bindo is a good example of this, even beginning with the audience being introduced to him during his self-exile, much like the actual Obi-Wan. Kreia is definitely this in the second, guiding and training the Exile in various ways. HK-47 explains that Revan taught his followers and HK [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPeI4mX8Nus recites numerous techniques to combating Jedi he picked up from Revan's teachings to the Exile]]. Mira also requests that the Exile shut down HK-47 since HK-47 often explains how to kill various things. These make HK-47 qualify for this trope as well. And in a nice turn of events, [[spoiler: both playable characters have been Obi-Wan's at some point. Revan with the aforementioned teachings and the Exile can train multiple party members in the ways of the Force]].

* WeakWilled: [[TheObiWan The Force can have a strong influence on the weak-minded]] and there are plenty of weak-minded in both games for the player to practice his or her Force Persuade technique on. Canderous will lampshade this.

IrrelevantSidequest:
** The second game calls attention to this by appending such missions with "Bonus Mission".
** Steal a few trinkets from a Hutt after drugging his dogs and hypnotizing him with erotic dancing.
** Track down a thief who has stolen a part of a water-farming machine.
** Question a bar full of nameless dissociative aliens to find the only one with a name.
** All of the Mandalorian sidequests done for "Honor", while fun, do not have anything to do with the main story

* CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot: The Exchange plot. An incredible amount of trouble for the Exile (not to mention [[EarthShatteringKaboom the destruction of Peragus II]]) can be traced to Goto's decision to put out a bounty on the Exile as a means [[spoiler:to try to hire him/her to save the Republic. The Exile can point out that s/he would have done this anyway.]]
* CouldSayItBut
-->'''B-4D4:''' No, there is nothing stopping you from attacking the guards outside with your stun ray.
-->'''B-4D4:''' Of course, I would be obligated to stop you. Therefore it would be best if I were distracted, say by that console behind you.
-->'''B-4D4:''' Thank you, T1-N1. Please do not abuse my trust and attack the guards outside, thereby creating [[WeNeedADistraction a diversion]] that will allow me to escape with the stolen files.
* ContinuityNod: ** When Dantooine is threatened you can offer up Alderaan as an alternative candidate.
** Play through the game twice as light and dark. On the third go round, Atton greets the female Exile like this:
--->[[ThePhantomMenace "Are you an angel?"]]
** Mira is an {{expy}} of [[StarWarsExpandedUniverse Mara Jade]]. ''By The Emperor's Hand'', which predated ''Sith Lords'' by seven years, even had Mara wearing the exact same outfit Mira has.

* DealWithTheDevil: Darths Sion and Nihilus learn from Darth Traya's teachings of Force Wounds and become strong, [[FaustianRebellion eventually overthrowing her]]. Nihilus becomes a nearly unstoppable force while Sion essentially becomes immortal. But the prices were very high. Nihilus is described as being not a man but more of an essence of what remains of his being and always hungers through the Force. [[HorrorHunger Draining other beings of their very essence]] sustains him for a while but the hunger always returns greater than last time. Sion lives in constant agony and looks like a walking corpse.
* InTheEndYouAreOnYourOwn: You're the only character to go to confront [[spoiler: Kreia]] on Malachor V. Of course, by that point, your character is so overpowered it's not like you might have noticed, anyways.

* PosthumousCharacter: Coorta in the Peragus level. He is referred to by several of the holocrons that serve as the ApocalypticLog and being someone who wanted to sell the Jedi and was shown as being a troublemaker around the mining facility. By the time you finally make it to the dorms, you find that he (as well as everyone else) was killed by the HK-50 droids.
* PointOfNoReturn: returning to Dantooine and entering the rebuilt Jedi enclave in the second. Arguably, completing the 4th planet in the second game, because Kreia will no longer refocus that damn unfocused crystal or answer your questions.
* OneTimeDungeon: Goto's Yacht cannot be revisited, as it is destroyed after you complete it.
* OneDegreeOfSeparation: The Exile commanded the Handmaiden's mother and Bao-Dur at Malachor V, a battle Atton was also involved in and Canderous fought in on the other side, and ended it by using the Mass Shadow Generator, killing Mira's adoptive family, inadvertently creating Visas' master, and inspiring Revan to commission HK-47 so he wouldn't need such overkill in the future. The Exile was also the Disciple's intended master before they ran off, so the Exile's not only a dominant influence in the lives of everyone on that ship, she's also responsible for all their significant neuroses. Also, the Exile was a general for Revan during the Mandalorian Wars.
* MoneySpider: Occurs in the second game, though in this case, justified in that it is limited to cannoks, which have a reputation for [[ExtremeOmnivore eating just about anything]].
* MeaningfulName:
** Atton, whose name may in fact be derived from "[[TheAtoner atonement]]." He also believes rather firmly in the rights of the individual and self-reliance, has nothing but contempt for "collectivist" Jedi ways, and with just a slight sociopathic streak - his last name is [[Creator/AynRand Rand]].
** "Telos" is Greek for 'the last' or 'the end' (as in English, it can also mean 'goal' or 'purpose'). The second meaning is appropriate, given how much damn time you have to spend on the Peragus tutorial areas (unless you have a very handy PC [[GameMod mod]]). The first ''could'' be appropriate: [[spoiler:it's the second-to-last planet, and you finally get to encounter and fight Darth Nihilus, the most prominently featured Sith Lord in the art, and so very over-hyped in the game.]]
** "Visas Marr" can be interpreted as "vision impaired" (marred).
** [[spoiler: Kreia's Sith name, Darth Traya, is derived from the word "betrayal". She suffers from ChronicBackstabbingDisorder.]]
** Darth Nihilus' name is derived from the words "nihilist" and "anihlilate." He is one of the most destructive beings in the StarWars universe, but there is nothing left of him besides his desire to consume.
** Darth Sion's name is derived from the word "scion." He is jealous of the Exile's status as Kreia's ulitmate student.
* LoveMakesYouEvil: In cut content from the second game, a jealous Handmaiden/Atton could eventually kill Visas/Disciple, depending on the player's actions. This also seems the case on the part of [[spoiler:Atris, who envied the player character's determination to fight in the Mandalorian Wars. In the case of a male, her dialogue with the Handmaidens as well as Kreia make it abundantly clear of her feelings.]]
RequiredPartyMember: You need Bao-Dur to track down the Ebon Hawk on Telos. Mandalore is needed for the Iziz level before the Onderon Civil War since he's got the Basilisk War Droid License. Kreia is required in your party during the civil war at Onderon. During the assault on the ''Ravager'', you are forced to bring Visas and Mandalore with you.
TheUnreveal: According to Kreia, where [[spoiler:she plays with the fourth wall by stating that the player character was probably expecting a big revelation, but there is not one.]]
-->"Perhaps you were expecting some surprise, for me to reveal a secret that had eluded you, something that would change your perspective of events, shatter you to your core. There is no great revelation, no great secret. There is only you."

* AfterCombatRecovery


* AncientTomb: Korriban in both games has tombs of ancient Sith Lords.

* ArtifactOfDoom: A common item between both games is the sword of Ajunta Pall, though it is only mentioned in the second game. Ajunta warned the player character that keeping Ajunta's sword was a bad idea as Ajunta believed it was what corrupted him.
* ArtificialAtmosphericActions: [=NPCs=] will walk around randomly, back and forth and back and forth, in both games.

* TheComputerIsACheatingBastard: Pazaak. Lampshaded in a deleted scene in the sequel where T3 is bugging Atton to play, and Atton lists the reasons he does not want to ("You're programmed to always make me go first, and you always get just the card you need...") which will be very familiar to anyone who has played the first game.

* EveryoneWentToSchoolTogether: In the second game, the Exile is mentioned as being a student at the Dantooine Jedi Academy alongside Revan and Malak. A vision on Korriban likewise shows Bastila amongst the group that Malak attempted to recruit during the war, which immediately clues the Exile in that it's false, as in reality, Bastila utterly ''refused'' to join them.

* EvilMakesYouUgly: The more Dark Side points they get, the more sinister-looking the player character becomes.

* TheFellowshipHasEnded: After the events of the first game, the group disbanded, as far as we know, never coming together again. This is mostly due to [[MagneticHero Revan's]] departure. In the second game, Kreia predicts this, and the only thing that canocially stops it from happening is the Exile training the Humanoid party members in the force, with them going on to rebuild the Jedi Order.

* {{Foil}}: [[spoiler:Thematically Revan and the Exile. Whereas Revan was a walking conduit for the force, the Exile was more of a black hole. One was [[TheChosenOne chosen by destiny]], [[TheUnchosenOne while the other got there by sheer force of will]].]] Both are [[MagneticHero highly charismatic]].

* FromBadToWorse: The first game ends with you either having saved the Galactic Republic and the Jedi or crushing them and ruling over the galaxy. Cue the second game where the Republic is on the verge of total collapse and the Jedi have been hunted down to a few individuals or the new Sith "empire" is little better off.

* GameMod: Both games can be modded to do a great variety of things, such as model redesigns allowing the player character in the first game to get the attire Darth Revan is seen wearing in cutscenes. A notable mod for the second game is The Sith Lords Restored Content Mod which adds a significant portion of the cut content from the second game.
* GameplayAllyImmortality: No matter how many lightsaber stabbings, blaster shots, or force-chokings your allies receive, they will always limp back to you after the fight is over.

* GiantFlyer: The Brith which circles the skies on Dantooine. [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Flying_ray The Star Wars Wiki has a small page about them.]]

* GunsAreWorthless: Guns are more viable in the sequel, provided you use the weapon crafting system and invest in Precise Shot feats so those pesky sabers stop reflecting them.

* HelloInsertNameHere

* HitchhikerHeroes: Played straight in the first game, [[JustifiedTrope justified]], [[DiscussedTrope discussed]] and utterly [[DeconstructedTrope deconstructed]] in the second.

* ItemCrafting: A minor portion of the first game, which had a few upgradable weapons, each of which could fit one of a standard add-on. The sequel added a ton of upgradable items and a slew of standardized components, rather than unique effect from a small selection.

* JediMindTrick: Present in both games.
* KarmaMeter: Light/dark side. Your allies in the first game get it too, but though they get the benefits (cheaper Force powers), they can not change.

* LockedOutOfTheLoop: The first game's PlayerCharacter. In the second game the ''player'' is locked out of a lot of backstory even when the player character already knows.

* ManualLeaderAIParty: The game allows customization of the party members' equipment and tactics, and allows direct control over all characters. AI scripts direct characters that are not being directly controlled, and can be customized by the player. It's even deconstructed. In the first game, Carth will mention that he attacked the same person you attacked even though he didn't want to. In general its expounded that your force powers are having an influence on your teammates behavior.
* MasterApprenticeChain: Revan went though such a chain according to the second game. A potent piece of EpilepticTree fuel is that [[spoiler:Kreia and Arren Kae are both identified as his first and also his last.]]

* PowerGlows: Although the films never give the Force any visual effects other than what it is acting ''on'', Force powers here have a variety of swirly light patterns and colors; handy visual shorthand if there's a lot of it going on at once. Advanced combat feats have similar effects.

* SpaceBattle: This ''is'' Star Wars. The game starts in a ship that's been scuppered in a fight, you get to shoot down enemy fighters several times in a minigame, and the game ends on a massive battle between the Republic fleet and the Star Forge.

* SpeakingSimlish: Both games have this with alien languages. They sound impressively coherent and similar to the (actual) languages used in the StarWars movies, but there's no actual meaning to the words being spoken. You'll notice the same sounds being repeated for different dialogue by the midway point of either game.

* ALighterShadeOfBlack: Kreia will praise the character in the Darkside Ending because they're "not really" a Sith. Even if you are a full dark-side user, that apparently makes you better than the Sith.

** All of the Mandalorian sidequests done for "Honor", while fun, do not have anything to do with the main story except being a temporary obstacle.
* GameplayAndStorySegretation: ** Atton's backstory mentions he is versed in at least some martial arts and Brianna/Handmaiden comments on him having used an Echani fight stance for a moment, but unless [[spoiler:he takes levels as a Jedi]] he does not have any improved unarmed attack abilities.
** Darth Nihilus could wipe an entire planet clean of all life, even the Jedi Masters on it, and was [[DummiedOut originally]] supposed to be so strong that even the immortal Dark Lord Sion wound up getting [[CurbstompBattle decisively beaten]]. But don't worry, all you need is his apprentice and Canderous to defeat everyone on his ship and then him. This one's justified, though; [[spoiler:the Exile is a wound in the Force, like him, and feeding on him/her backfires, weakening him considerably.]]
** During the story arc quest that requires the Exile to enter the Jekk'Jekk Tarr, it's stated that it's impossible for a human to do so even with a breath mask, because the poisonous atmosphere would seep through their pores. This will surprise any player who has already strolled through the level with only a breath mask before it became a plot point.
** The second game has the party members. Every party member can be brought down the path of the Dark Side if the player acquires Dark Side points. Kreia is the exception to this because she remains neutral no matter how many Light or Dark Side points you acquire. [[spoiler: Atris]] also turns to the Dark Side by the end of the game as a result of being too heavily influenced by Sith holocrons. General Vaklu does not turn to the Dark Side but he does make a deal with Darth Nihilus to overthrow and betray his cousin Queen Talia, bringing battle to Onderon once more.
* EarlyGameHell

* LivingLegend: Revan, Bastila, Calo Nord, and Bendak Starkiller are all legendary for their past accomplishments and skill.

* LonersAreFreaks: Both examples humorously revolve around sexuality. Elise Montagne, a woman on Dantooine in the first game, began treating her droid C8-42 as if it were her husband. [[RoboSexual All the time]].

* LostForever: Everything on Taris and Dantooine (and the Sith Academy, if you kill everyone in it when you're done with the tomb).
* LostTechnology: The Star Forge, the secrets of which were lost to the galaxy when [[spoiler: the Rakatan empire crumbled. Even the Rakatans themselves can't even reach it now, let alone make use of it]].

* MatchMakerQuest: The quest to find the missing droid in the first game. If resolved the right way, the droid's owner will meet a new man. The Sandral/Matale feud can also be one, though the way that ends is largely [[VideogameCrueltyPotential down to the player]].

* MultipleEndings

* NotableNonSequitur: Ask Canderous early on why the [[ProudWarriorRace Mandalorians]] attacked the Republic, he shrugs and says that ''"the Sith came to us with an offer"'' before diverging into ''why'' Mandalorians seek the hardest fights across the galaxy. Little did ''anyone'' know that "Sith" was [[StarWarsTheOldRepublic Sith Emperor Darth Vitae]], and how much that comment exploded all over the sequel and the MMO!

* OpeningScroll: Just like the movies.
* OpeningTheSandbox: When the player steals the Ebon Hawk on Taris. You can visit the Star Map planets in any order you like, (usually) leave them in the middle and go back or forward to anywhere else, etc.

* TheParagonAlwaysRebels: Revan, one of the Jedi's greatest students, persuaded a large number of fellow Jedi to take up arms against the Mandalorians and then to become Dark Jedi.
* PassingTheTorch: The first game plays with the idea in two instances. Darth Malak [[spoiler: took the torch when he ordered his ship to attack Revan's ship. With Revan gone, Malak became the head of the Sith]]. The second instance is when the playable character destroys the torch when they kills Uthar Wynn, leaving the Sith academy in chaos.

* PlanetaryNation: Taris seems not only be a planet with one Government, it seems to be a planet of one ''city''!

* PointOfNoReturn: Davik's estate, Leviathan, the Unknown World, and the Star Forge.
* PosthumousCharacter: Subverted with [[spoiler:Darth Revan]] in the first game, [[spoiler:since a brainwashed Revan is actually the PlayerCharacter]].

* ProlongedPrologue: Your sojourn on Taris sets up the main plot without actually being relevant to the main plot. [[EarthShatteringKaboom Then it explodes]]. The second game would go on to copy this formula.

* RecurringBoss: Calo Nord and Darth Malak.
* RequiredPartyMember:
** 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.
** Inverted on Korriban, where taking Bastila is emphatically ''not'' an option because she'd be recognized and captured.
* RescueSex: If you play as a female, a man will offer "earthly pleasures" as a reward for rescuing him, but you cannot accept. Being a sleaze, what woman would?

* {{Retcon}}:
** Darths running around three millennia before Darth Bane, who supposedly started the tradition. Later got an explanation in a tie-in Darth Bane novel (which, unsurprisingly, was written by [=KotOR=]'s lead writer).
** Also, though it is set just forty years later, the aesthetic and philosophy of the Jedi are far more in-line with the prequel trilogy (four thousand years later) than ''ComicBook/TalesOfTheJedi'' (four ''decades'' earlier). Understandable, perhaps, for marketing purposes. It makes it a bit strange for the Jedi to have a strong taboo against romance and marriage when the previous head of the Order, Nomi Sunrider, had been openly married to a Jedi, had a child, and then entered another relationship with another Jedi during a war. Especially as Jolee talks about this very period of history as though the taboo was in place and the original plans called for Vima Sunrider--the product of said happy and totally unremarkable Jedi marriage--to have Bastila's spot in the party.
* TheReveal: The big plot twist in this game is quite famous: [[spoiler:You, the player, are Darth Revan. Bastila saved Revan from near-mortal injury that left them with amnesia and the Jedi molded Revan's mind into a useful shape for them to find the Star Forge in hopes of defeating the Sith]].

* RidiculouslyHumanRobots: Every robot with speaking lines seems to have a human personality and human emotions ranging from deception, ego, loyalty, manipulation, pain, pleasure (mostly pleasure from sadism), sarcasm and snark. HK-47 is the standout in this game.

* SchmuckBait:
** Half the security terminals have the option to overload the terminal, which kills whoever is standing at the terminal (i.e. '''''you''''') and anyone in the near vicinity. You can count on one hand the number of times this is actually a viable way to dispatch enemies.
** On Korriban you can be offered the job of hauling a box from there to Tatooine. You are repeatedly warned, whatever you do, to not open the box. Nary a player will reach Tatooine before doing so.

* SelkiesAndWereseals: The Selkath seem to be a space version.

* SmurfettePrinciple: Ice is the only female on dueling ring.

* StockPuzzle:
** ThreePlusFiveMakeFour is the final obstacle on Manaan. The player can bypass it if they're willing to take the dark side points [[spoiler: and never step foot in Manaan again.]]
** TowersOfHanoi shows up on Korriban.

* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: Zelka doesn’t like being accused of knowing anything about those Republic escape pods.

* TrueCompanions: Played mostly straight in the first game, the team really does become a rather intimate unit.

* VoiceGrunting: The player character has voiced grunts, sounds of pain, and a few battle cries ("hiya!" "Now ''that'' had to hurt.." etc.) but is otherwise a SilentProtagonist in the voiceover department. This includes a rather clumsy cut-scene where the subtitles show the PC having a line, but still remain silent. With the in-game voice grunts giving the character a voice, it would surely have made sense to record this line.

* WhoWantsToLiveForever: Ajunta eventually gives up his existence as a Force Ghost (or the Sith equivalent of it) when the player character shows him the light.

* AlmostDeadGuy: Xor, who's part of Juhani's character sidequest. Despite being attacked by two lightsaber-wielding Jedi, he lives long enough to run through all available questions. Sure, he coughs and wheezes, but he still lives longer than he ought to. Saul Karath also qualifies as he lives until he passes a message to Carth and then laughs at him. The second he stops laughing, he dies.

* AsLethalAsItNeedsToBe: The lightsabers. Although they are [[SwordOfPlotAdvancement extremely powerful weapons]] in both games (arguably the ''only'' powerful weapons in the first one), they generally do ''not'' behave like the lightsabers of the traditional Star Wars lore and can't even cut through a door. They are more like normal swords, possibly to avoid the GameBreaker status. Possibly justified through the use of "cortosis", a material which blocks lightsabers. Presumably, the overuse of cortosis in this era rendered it rare by the time of the movies.

* BatmanGambit:
** The premise of the first game is a Gambit enacted by the Jedi Council: [[spoiler:The Jedi Knights rewrite the memories of a brain-damaged Darth Revan and hope that, through their visions, Bastila will be able to track down the Star Forge. They even train Revan as a Jedi to help facilitate this.]]
** The player character can perform a Batman Gambit on Korriban by [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder triple-crossing people and backstabbing everyone]].
* BattleCouple: The PC and Bastila, Carth, or [[GayOption Juhani]].

* TheChosenOne: A {{deconstruction}} with the tale of Andor Vex, a haughty Jedi who was surrounded by "swirling Force," making both himself and the Jedi Order believe he had a great destiny. However he was killed by having his body thrown down a reactor shaft by a warlord who got tired of his arrogance. His great destiny turned out to be that his body would cause the reactor to explode, killing the warlord and altering the fate of the sector of space that the warlord ruled.

* ContinuitySnarl: Jolee Bindo, in his youth, married a woman named Nayama in secret due to the Jedi prohibition on romance. This was during the Great Sith War, and he also talks about meeting Nomi Sunrider. The problem? The Jedi in ''ComicBook/TalesOfTheJedi'' have no prohibition on marriage. Nomi was openly married to a Jedi, had a child, and was openly dating another Jedi during the same time period that Jolee apparently had to keep his love with Nayama a secret.
* CoolStarship: The ''Ebon Hawk'', modeled after the original trilogy's ''Millennium Falcon''.
* CorruptedData: Several cases. One is where sabotage on the part of an angry wife leaves her philandering husband stranded in the Tatooine desert. Your call as to whether or not you fix his droids or [[StuffBlowingUp "fix"]] his droids. The other notable case is when using T3-M4 to stage the breakout. The Sith droid tries a memory wipe and T3-M4 uses the opening to corrupt the other droid's data.

* TheDragon: The Sith love this trope. Revan had Malak, who in turn had Bandon. [[spoiler: Bastila also becomes TheDragon to Malak after her FaceHeelTurn late in the game. She also becomes TheDragon to your character should you chose the dark side ending.]]
* DualBoss: Calo and Davik at the end of Taris. Calo is a GlassCannon, dishing out serious punishment but not being too tough to kill (he's a lot stronger the second time, though), while Davik is a StoneWall with an energy shield that will keep him at full health for a long time. Beating either one counts as a victory, though you can't actually kill Calo.
* DualWielding: Doing it adds penalties to chance to hit, but you can take Feats to negate some of it.

* DyingTruce: [[spoiler:At the end Revan manages to mortally wound Malak, after which the two of them have a short conversation about the choices they made and the consequences of them until Malak dies.]]
* DysfunctionJunction: Every party member except T3-M4 in the first game seems to have some unresolved issue(s) from their past, leading to strange, and oftentimes downright neurotic behavior. This was especially true in the first game, but continued on a much smaller scale in the sequel [[spoiler: Carth Onasi and Atton Rand were probably the worst offenders, but Atton was better seeing as you could make him into a Jedi if you got him to trust you.]] HK-47 actually lampshades this in the sequel, mocking Carth and Bastila as he does so. Brutally and hilariously.

* EarlyGameHell: You start out without a lightsaber, and take a whole world to get Force powers.

* EvilIsEasy: Actions toward the TheDarkSide are simpler, quicker, affect your alignment to a greater extreme, and are more numerous than Light Side. For example, there's one sidequest that is nothing but Dark Side acts... and some of the best equipment you can get without paying. Do them all and you can drop from full Light to half in just five easy steps. You have to do at least twice as many Light Side acts for such a shift.

* EvilMentor: Master Uthar Wynn and Yuthura Ban, headmasters of the Sith Academy. Though you get to school them in the end.

* FantasticRacism: On Taris, the only nonhumans who can walk around in the Upper City work for the local Exchange boss or are pretty Twi'lek shopkeepers. Others get pelted by stones thrown by children, as seen once. There is a street preacher calling nonhumans a "plague that sweeps through our streets". A seedy hotel has alien occupants despite this being illegal. The slum-like and generally miserable Lower City, overrun by gangs, is where most of the nonhumans live. The racism [[spoiler:Juhani]] experienced as a child on Taris is a major point in her sidequest.

* FlunkyBoss: Calo in your second fight with him and Darth Bandon. Calo has a small group of grenade-throwing Rodians while Bandon has a couple of Dark Jedi.

* GameplayAndStorySegregation:
** Bastila's Battle Meditation is stated multiple times to be a huge factor to the Republic winning a galactic war, but do not expect to make use of it when she is in your party. While it is true that she has to meditate to use it, hence the name, this was made into an unlockable force power in the sequel (which can be used in battle), and is even a unique dialogue/Force option during the final battle on Onderon (where the Exile actually meditates to use it).
** Carth is a decorated war hero and Trask describe him as seeing more combat than all the Endar Spire crew put together. When Carth joins you, he starts at level 3.
** According to dialog, being bitten by a rakghoul transmits [[TheVirus a disease which transforms that person into a rakghoul]] if not healed early enough with a specific serum. During actual fights, when someone from the player's team is hit by a rakghoul there is a random probability that he/she will be affected by a standard poisoning effect, which disappears after a few minutes and can be cured with standard antidote packs.

* GladiatorSubquest: Taris' (non-lethal) dueling arena.

* GunsAreWorthless: [=KotOR=] 1's ranged weapons did almost no damage, save for a couple of obscenely expensive heavy weapons that you can buy at the end: melee weapons were always better to have, regardless of the situation. There are any number of guides on how to successfully use ranged weapons, but this requires meticulous character building and mainly serves as a challenge. The fact that Jedi Guardians have an ability to directly jump into melee from 25 meters away and deal bonus damage while they are at it adds insult to injury. Guns are more viable in the sequel, provided you use the weapon crafting system and invest in Precise Shot feats so those pesky sabers stop reflecting them.
* HeelFaceMindScrew: [[spoiler:Revan. It is up to you whether it sticks or not.]] This is a case where the questionable moral implications ''are'' pointed out, and it can be the motivation [[spoiler:if you decide to fall back to the Dark Side.]]

* HighlyConspicuousUniform: Soldiers of the Old Republic got to battle wearing bright red combatsuits, and the Mandalorians seem to like wearing armor in nearly every color of the rainbow (though at least they have cloaking devices). Both are easily topped by the Sith Troopers and their shining silver armor.
* HitAndRunTactics: A pattern of firing, taking a hit, retreating, healing, firing, taking a hit and so on can wear an enemy down. Against really strong foes or ones that keep dodging, mines will hasten the process considerably. You can beat the final boss this way if you can not disable his healing mechanism, but be prepared for a long fight and pray you saved up as many healing items as could be mustered.

* HopelessBossFight: While completely optional, you can fight Calo Nord in the bar after he toasts the 3 would-be bounty hunters, but he is one of the "[[OneHitKill one hit = dead]]" fights. But he eventually does become a winnable boss fight [[spoiler: ([[NoOneCouldSurviveThat twice]])]] later on.

* HypocriticalHumor: Canderous would like you to know that your need for performance-enhancing stims is another sign of human weakness compared to Mandolorians. Yes, you can have some of his ample supply.

* IfYouTauntHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim: The Sith will taunt you on Manaan. Usually, if you taunt back, you will be arrested and go to jail.
** Or, for extra fun, you can mind-control the guard that comes to arrest you to instead arrest the Sith. You naturally get some Dark Side points.
* {{Immortality}}: The series has different kinds of immortality. The famous Force Ghost type is present in the first game with Ajunta Pall, who maintained his existence well after his body died.

* InCaseOfBossFightBreakGlass: The key to defeating the final boss is shattering containers with prisoners, from which he keeps leeching life to heal himself.

* InsurmountableWaistHeightFence: In this case, primarily due to the ironic absence of a jump key - since as we all know [[SarcasmMode Jedi]] ''[[SarcasmMode never]]'' [[SarcasmMode do that...]]
* 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.

* IrrelevantSidequest:
** Pazaak and swoop-racing.
** Griff Vao's obviously hopeless GetRichQuickScheme, which involves trekking down to the Kashyyyk forest floor to murder a harmless animal, going off to do something else for a while, and coming back to find him, your money, and your time, gone. If you decline to fall for the SchmuckBait, the quest will stay forever uncompleted in your journal.
* ItemAmplifier: Most weapons and armor can be fitted with various upgrades to improve damage, critical chance, protection, and even health regeneration.

[[foldercontrol:Unsorted]]

* {{AFGNCAAP}}: Directly invoked [[spoiler: by the Jedi Council as the cover identity for the player character, who is really an amnesiac Darth Revan]].

* AlignmentBasedEndings: In ''Knights of the Old Republic'', the player is free to choose the ending, although the ultimate decision takes place shortly before TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon. In the sequel, by contrast, the ending you get depends on your alignment in the endgame.

* ArmorAndMagicDontMix: In the first game wearing any armor other than Jedi robes means that certain Force powers, are unusable.