Awesome / The Force Unleashed

Starkiller brings down a Star Destroyer with The Force. "Size matters not" indeed.

The Force Unleashed

• The trailer. As seen here, a Star Destroyer flies by, and then begins to fall out of the sky. The camera pans down, and it turns out a lone Sith managed to move that on his lonesome with the force.
• There's one in the first five minutes of the demo - You can Force Drop a TIE Bomber on a bunch of dudes. And if you do it right, you can Force SMASH a TIE Bomber onto a bunch of dudes. Awesome.
  • The first five minutes of the game are even better. Darth Vader stomping around Kashyyyk and kicking unholy amounts of ass with the Force? HELL. YES.
    • The Wii version somehow manages to top the console versions. In this version of the opening, Vader confronts Kento Marek inside a hut deep in the forest, alone save for Galen. In the Wii version, he slices his way through an entire beach’s worth of Wookiees before bringing the platform Kento is standing on down, leading to a throwdown on the beach while the battle rages behind them. Epic.
• Pick one. Slicing an AT-ST in half vertically? Blasting a Stormtrooper squad with a Force Wave and sending them into orbit? Deep-frying a rancor with Force Lightning after jamming a lightsaber into its face? Crushing a load-lifting Walker into a ten-foot-wide cube with the Force? Those are the minor ones! Forget "Moment", Galen is a Crowning Person of Awesome. The physics engine and Force powers are basically free license to make your own Crowning Moments.
• Rahm Kota's He's Back! moment. Also, when he steals Palpatine's lightsaber out of his sleeve with the Force!
  • Kota does the latter twice in the novel, once with Starkiller's lightsaber when the rebel meeting was being ambushed by Vader and again with the Emperor's near the end of the game as mentioned above. It seems to be a trick he does.
• "I did not summon him. His spies followed you here." The context of this is Galen returning from his final training test to see if he's ready to help Vader overthrow the Emperor. He shows admiration for Vader's cunning in summoning the Emperor to them, and is responded to with this line, followed by Vader's lightsaber going through his back.
• A rare (for this game) moment where the awesome is in a cutscene as opposed to something you do. Starkiller prepares to board the Death Star. Sure that she'll never see him again, Juno pulls him into a kiss. After returning it, Starkiller jumps off the ship's boarding ramp and the music nicely fades away from the romantic theme to the ending of "Anakin's Dark Deeds" as Starkiller plumments through the Death Star's incomplete superstructure. He lands in a hangar as the hood of his new Lightside Jedi robes falls over his head. Just. Plain. Awesome.
• This game has quite a few that don't involve absurdly abusing physics:
  • PROXY. Just...PROXY. He jumps Galen disguised as Obi-Wan, and later jumps him at the most inopportune time (intentionally) finally turning himself into Darth freaking Maul while explaining that he's deliberately withheld that particular program for all these years in case it took him years to accomplish his programming, so it would provide maximum surprise. He also pulls the Obi-Wan trick one more time against Vader on Corellia, buying Galen time to escape. He is quickly dealt with, of course, but his Heroic Sacrifice was still quite awesome, especially in light of his aforementioned attacks on Galen in the past. And the most awesome part is the choice of disguise, considering who is he attacking. If you look, you can tell that that threw Vader for a moment.
• Juno Eclipse giving Starkiller a What the Hell, Hero? speech followed by a Dare to Be Badass to reexamine his loyalties when she finds out he is still following Vader's orders in gathering the Rebel leaders to form the Rebel Alliance, in order to lure them into a trap.

  Juno: "Sometime soon, you will decide the fate of the rebellion. Not your Master. And when you're faced with that moment... just remember... that I too was forced to leave behind everything I've ever known. Please... don't make me leave another life behind."

• In the Wii version of the game, Starkiller's mission to Cloud City to find Senator Garm Bel Iblis to help form the Rebel Alliance is one big mission of awesome. The Sith Apprentice forms an unexpected Buddy Cop Show with Lobot of all people, allying with the cyborg and his Bespin Wing Guard to kill and repel numerous mercenaries and criminals of the most powerful and infamous crime syndicate, the Black Sun, attacking Cloud City, including the Gungan bounty hunter Kleef, a number of Mandalorians and the mercenary and crime lord Chop'aa Notimo, saving Garm who had been taken hostage by them.
  • In the same mission, Lobot in his introduction to Starkiller gets a moment of awesome when he is able to No-Sell the powerful Sith Apprentice's attempt at a Jedi Mind Trick, startling Starkiller.
• Perhaps Galen's best moment: dangling off a cliff as Vader explains that his scheme to overthrow the Emperor was just a ruse, Galen realizes how weak Vader really is. In spite of his close proximity to death, Galen throws this in his face: "Without me, you'll never be free."
• Whichever way the game ends, Starkiller goes toe-to-toe with Darth Vader himself. In the canonical light-side ending, he takes on Darth Sidious and fights him to the point where he has the Sith Lord at his mercy.
  • Think about it: Starkiller defeats Darth Vader, who has killed plenty of more experienced Jedi, taught Starkiller himself, and curbstomped him twice early on. Then, not 30 seconds later, he fights Palpatine and wins. Keep in mind, this is the guy who orchestrated the downfall of the Jedi and was only ever briefly beaten by Mace Windu using Vaapad, and pressured to where it seemed he would lose by Yoda, yet still prevailed over the Jedi Grand Master. He is the only Star Wars character who has managed to single handedly take on both Dark Lords of the Sith and put them on the ground.
  • Props must be given to Darth Vader in the non-canonical Dark Side ending. After being subjected to a Force equivalent of a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown, which gave him injuries equivalent to the ones he sustained on Mustafar, not only did he keep standing, he gave Starkiller a much harder fight than before.
  • Made even more awesome in the novel, where not only does Starkiller wipe the floor with Palpatine, without the advantage of Vaapad, but it turns out that the massive explosion was caused by him literally charging himself to the max and turning Palpatine's attack against him, grabbing him and redirecting Palpatine's own Force Lightning back through him, causing the old man to howl in agony. Even though it kills him, he knocks both Vader and Palpatine out, and absolutely devastated the entire Death Star. Afterwards, Palpatine even begrudgingly admits he had failed despite Starkiller dying.
  • Then there is the karmic and poetic justice of a Sith Apprentice like Starkiller, who has suffered at the hands of both Dark Lords of the Sith as their slave and victim, breaking his shackles and being the one to use their own Dark Side training and power against them. He undoes and causes their schemes for the Rebels to backfire, fights and humiliates both Sith Lords in front of the leaders of the Rebel Alliance, redeems himself by turning to the Light Side and dying a Jedi like his father before him, makes the better choice that Anakin didn't despite suffering the same or worse life circumstances, proves that love and attachment to someone doesn't lead to the Dark Side, and sets into motion the downfall of the Order of the Sith Lords and Galactic Empire by saving the leaders of the Rebel Alliance.
  • Making it even more karmic still, if both Sidious and Vader had been fighting together against Starkiller on the Death Star there is little doubt they would have won the battle, but because of the nature of the Sith Chronic Backstabbing Disorder they were both clearly hoping to use him to kill and replace the other Sith Lord, thus it was the Fatal Flaw of the Order of the Sith Lords that made it possible for Starkiller to fight and defeat them both individually, save the Rebel Alliance and bring about the Order's downfall.
• After destroying the shipyard at Raxus Prime, Starkiller uses the Force to bring down a Star Destroyer.
  • This scene also foreshadow's Kota's He's Back! moment, as Kota gives Starkiller instructions like a seasoned general and Jedi Knight again instead of a drunk.
• In the Ultimate Sith Edition, Lord Starkiller making Luke Skywalker fall, completely and utterly, to the dark side is both awesome and evil at the same time. He even tells Luke that giving into the dark side will save his friends and still comes out on top.
  Lord Starkiller: You are strong, Skywalker, but only your hatred will give you the power to save your friends! Give in to the dark side! (Luke roars and fires Force Lightning, only for Starkiller to casually reflect it back at him) (Evil Laugh) Very good, my Apprentice!
  • Before that, Lord Starkiller tries to open the doors guarding the Millenium Falcon with the Force, only to find Luke Skywalker waiting for him. Luke Force Pushes him, knocking him across the room, then closes the doors with one gesture.
• Toddler Galen Marek stealing Darth Vader's lightsaber with The Force.
  • Rahm Kota does him one better. He steals the Emperor's lightsaber and attacks him with it. It doesn't work mind you, but it was undeniably awesome.
• In the novel, Starkiller pumping out enough Force Lightning to fill the entire planet Raxus Prime, completely erasing The Core.
• Rahm Kota ripping the room out of the space station during his boss battle.
• Starkiller throws Shaak Ti into the sarlaac's mouth. Is that the end of the fight? Nope. Shaak Ti reveals she can control the creature and rises to the surface on its tentacle.
• The ending of the battle against Darth Desolous. Desolous spends the entire battle bragging about how he was such an awesome Sith Lord. Starkiller finally declares, "Your time is over, dead man! I am the future of the Sith!" and crushes Desolous with a statue.
• Darth Phobos in the Wii version. Historically, she proved to be Nightmare Fuel Incarnate. She grew so powerful that the Jedi AND Sith teamed up to kill her.

The Force Unleashed II

• The cinematic trailer. A new journey begins...
• Starkiller jumping straight out of a tower and blasting Stormtroopers, all the structures and balconies on the tower, and TIE Fighters with the force. And this sequence ends with him landing in a research facility, instantly killing any hapless Mook who happened to be in there. Oh, and did we mention that this is the first sequence of the first level?
  • What makes this even more badass is that Starkiller hasn't had anything to eat or drink in 13 days.
• In the last part of his fight against the Gorog, Starkiller is shown to hold his lightsabers with the blades behind him, accelerate, and smash right through the Gorog. His blades were behind him. That means that he smashed through about thirty feet of Gorog with his lightsabers, the Force, and his head.
• In the novel, Juno attacks Darth Vader with one of Starkiller's lightsabers and slashes him across the chest. A few minutes later, Starkiller pumps Force Lightning into the hole (Vader's armor's insulation was upgraded to be more resistant to lightning later on).
  • While Juno missed in the actual game, the fact that she pulled a Shut Up, Hannibal! on Darth Vader remains awesome. Not to mention that it leads to Starkiller pulling his Shut Up, Hannibal! on him as well.
  • Even what she does in the game, grabbing one of Starkiller's lightsabers and attacking Vader with it, is enough for her to take a whole bunch of levels in badass. Just so it sinks in properly, this girl with zero Force affinity picked up a lightsaber and attacked Vader with it. The consequences are entirely predictable, but it was still awesome.
• Starkiller using The Salvation to Colony Drop the cloning factory.
  • In the space sequence, in order to clear the path for the Salvation, he used the Force to move several ships and debris, including what's left of a Star Destroyer. He also destroyed an incoming asteroid, using the force.
  • And how does he then survive going splat? He grabs onto a passing TIE fighter, after destroying all the other TIE fighters flying towards him after the Salvation crashed.
• Starkiller and Kota facing the Gorog, a creature big enough to pick up a Bull Rancor and squish it.
• These two tv spots for the sequel just define epic. Starkiller Force-choking twenty stormtroopers at once? Awesome.
• Even if letting Vader live is a crazy idea, Kota's speech was amazing.
  Starkiller: You want to take him prisoner?
  Kota: To a hidden rebel base so we can interrogate him. To place him on trial for crimes against the True Republic! And then we'll execute him, to show the galaxy that we don't have to fear him any longer!
• Starkiller's speech to Darth Vader at the end of the game, as Starkiller confronted Darth Vader as he's strapped to a custom gurney. Sam Witwer's delivery was just kickass.
  "I let you live. You tell me I'm a clone, but I chose to spare you. (Beat) Maybe Kota's right. Maybe this is all a trick —a way to get me so confused... that I'd forget who I really am and become your slave again. But either way... I. Let. You. Live. I've finally broken your hold over me."
  • Though props must be given to Vader, for an effortless counter to that last line.
    "As long as she lives... I will always control you."
• The main cannon of The Salvation has been damaged & knocked offline, so what does Starkiller do? Use the Force to supercharge & fire the weapon, blowing a hole through a Star Destroyer in the process.
  • Blow a hole? It was LITERALLY TORN IN HALF!
• Vader's implied gambit at the end, which seems to be leading Boba Fett and the Dark Apprentice to the Rebel base where he'll be imprisoned.
• The entire fight between Starkiller and Darth Vader in the Kaminoan cloning facility is basically the fight against Darth Vader in its predecessor turned up a notch.
  • Unlike its predecessor, this fight shows Starkiller and Vader fighting in a Snark-to-Snark Combat.
    Darth Vader: You are a fool to challenge me alone.
    Starkiller: You'll have to kill me this time!

    Starkiller: I've always been stronger than you.
    Darth Vader: Yet you fail to defeat me. If you wish to play at being a Jedi, so be it.
  • Especially the second stage of the fight, on the platform with lightning pylons, making it a Battle in the Rain, with Starkiller tapping into his Unstoppable Rage against Vader.
    Starkiller: I'LL KILL YOU!
    Darth Vader: Rise above this! She means nothing!
  • Big, BIG points for Darth Vader. In the cloning facility, he tossed an entire platform of clones on Starkiller, a feat of power that hadn't been shown in its predecessor. It goes to show that The Worf Effect didn't apply to Vader in this game.
  • He then outdid himself in the second stage, after losing an arm, just as he did in Return of the Jedi, he came even closer to beat Starkiller, by ripping off one of the towering lightning pylons and pinning him under its tip.
• The end of the aforementioned battle, Starkiller using the electricity from several towers to supercharge his Force Lightning before unleashing it all on Darth Vader.
  • The dialogue afterwards, where Starkiller is holding his lightsaber at Vader's neck.
    Starkiller: You've taken everything from me!
    Vader: Your feelings for her are not real.
    Starkiller: THEY ARE REAL TO ME!
    • Even better, that line woke Juno up from her coma.
• In the comic, Boba Fett finishing off the Gorog, taking on Kota and PROXY (who turns into Jango Fett) before escaping and killing the Evilutionary Biologist who made the Starkiller clones (as well as clones of Boba himself).
• The entire first mission. It begins with Starkiller not having ate or drank in thirteen days, then after a quick training session Starkiller remebers Darth Vader's betrayal of his previous self. So what does he do? He knocks Darth Vader on his ass with his Force Lightning, blows a hole in the wall jumps to the ground floor hundreds of feet down, fights his way through but loads of Imperial soldiers and equipment and then jacks Darth Vader's ride and escapes.
• "He is no Jedi. A Jedi controls his emotions and his powers. But Starkiller... he does not know restraint. He will bring down an entire Star Destroyer on your head, if that is what it takes to kill you."
• Vader's defeat by Force Lightning is great evidence if you want to remind your friends what an Implacable Man and Made of Iron monster Darth Vader actually is. The average voltage range of a lightning strike is 300 million volts. Lightning temperatures cap off at 50,000 degrees, which is hotter than the surface of the sun. Very powerful lightning is capable of arcing in so many directions that it can cover hundreds of miles in a single flash. Starkiller took the electric potency of the lightning coming off the lightning rods, infused its energy with his own Force lightning (meaning this is stronger than regular lightning) and attacked Vader with it for close to 40 seconds straight. Vader remains standing during the entire barrage of lightning, and only falls over once Starkiller has ceased attacking — despite the lightning enveloping him in so much electrical energy that a powerful white vortex of energy surrounds him, lighting him up like a bright neon sign. It's no exaggeration to say that the lightning would have felt more painful than the lava that burned him on Mustafar (remember, 50,000 degrees), and yet Vader is such a beast he tried to push through the lightning. Forget the vulnerability Vader's suit has to electric shock, this moves beyond the suit as an issue, but to the question of of upper limits to what an organic being should be able to handle. At those voltages, at those temperatures, and with a sustained blast of electricity no organic matter should be able to survive — Vader quite simply should have been flash fried, cooked inside and out from the extreme heat, and yet not only does he survive this but it leaves him with no permanent injuries. To say Vader is a monster in the Force is an understatement.
  • By implication this also gives Palpatine a bit of extra merit, as if he needed it. It's been shown throughout the expanded universe that even if Vader's suit gets disabled he's able to give himself life support through the Force in order to sustain himself until he can get his suit repaired. The novel explains that Vader got his suit enhanced to withstand Force lightning, since Force lightning helped Starkiller beat him in the first Force Unleashed novel. Obviously the lightning rod went beyond the limits of his suit, but nevertheless Vader held on to life. Palpatine's lightning hit Vader for a far shorter amount of time than Starkiller's did, and yet Vader expired mere minutes after being exposed to it. Palpatine is truly one of the strongest Dark Side users ever to be able to do that to Vader.