The Tales of the Jedi series is split into two parts. The first (written by Anderson and Tom Veitch) deals with the fall to the dark side of the Jedi Knights Ulic Qel-Droma and Exar Kun and their subsequent war against the Old Republic, four thousand years before A New Hope. A prequel series (written exclusively by Anderson) was later published, taking place a further thousand years earlier and showing the fall of the Sith Empire during the Great Hyperspace War, explaining and elaborating upon several important points which formed the background of the first series.
The importance of this series for Star Wars Legends is hard to understate, as it established many critical parts of the universe's lore. Moreover, it led directly to the critically acclaimed Knights of the Old Republic video games, which in turned paved the way for Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO. These games have spin-offs of their own, and they all owe that to the Tales of the Jedi.
The main story arcs in chronological order are:
- The Golden Age of the Sith
- The Fall of the Sith Empire
- Knights of the Old Republic
- Ulic Qel-Droma and the Beast Wars of Onderon
- The Saga of Nomi Sunrider
- Freedon Nadd Uprising
- Dark Lords of the Sith
- The Sith War
- Redemption
Tales of the Jedi is not to be confused with Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi, the 2022 Disney+ series of the same name, which is set before, during, and after the events of the Prequel Trilogy instead of in the distant past of the Star Wars galaxy.
Tropes
- Action Girl: Numerous among the Jedi. Jori, Nomi, Shoaneb Culu, etcetera.
- Action Mom: Nomi Sunrider starts out as an Action Survivor, but gradually becomes a more proactive heroine in her own right. One of the sequel comics shows that this comes at a price, however, as her time is eaten up by the Jedi and she can't raise her daughter the way she would want to.
- And I Must Scream: The final fate of Exar Kun, who ends up trapped in his temple as a disembodied spirit for four thousand years.
- All There in the Manual: Some details on backstory, like how some secondary Jedi joined the Order and the fact that the Qel-Dromas' mother was a Jedi herself, are included in a companion guide.
- Altar Diplomacy: Subverted. Princess Galia and Oron Kira Marry for Love first and foremost. However, they are keenly aware that their marriage can potentially end the centuries-long conflict between the city of Iziz and the Beast Riders of the wilderness. Indeed, despite her evil parents' overt hostility towards the union (expressed via The Dark Arts), when the Beast Riders and the Jedi defeat Queen Amanoa and King Ommin, Galia and Oron succeed in unifying Onderon and joining the Republic.
- Amplifier Artifact: There are a number of Sith amulets and bracers which enhance the wielder's anger and Force power.
- Art Shift: Several times, overlapping strongly with Depending on the Artist. For example, Nomi Sunrider switches back and forth between the long red hair of her iconic appearance and a more exotic cut with trimmed temples. It's often rather jarring.
- The Atoner: Ulic Qel-Droma, who goes into a self-imposed exile after returning to the light and helping the Jedi win the war against Exar Kun.
- Back from the Dead: Freedon Nadd's ultimate goal is to find an apprentice strong enough to use Naga Sadow's Sith alchemical techniques to craft him a new body. He eventually finds such a powerful student, only to discover that Exar Kun isn't interested in taking orders from him.
- Badass Normal: Empress Teta, Modon Kira and his son Oron, Republic Captain Vanicus and Mandalore the Indomitable stand out in particular.
- Bathe Her and Bring Her to Me: Gender-flipped from the usual. After Satal is done torturing Ulic, Aleema orders him delivered to her chambers so she can convince him to join the Krath.
- Big Bad:
- The Golden Age of the Sith/The Fall of the Sith Empire: Naga Sadow, the new Dark Lord of the Sith who wants to expand the Sith Empire with new conquests, and plans an attack on the Republic to do so.
- Knights Of The Old Republic:
- Ulic Qel-Droma and the Beast Wars of Onderon: Queen Amanoa, secretly a Sith Sorceress who ruled Onderon with an iron fist through the power of the Dark Side.
- The Saga of Nomi Sunrider: Bogga the Hutt, a crime lord responsible for the death of Nomi's husband Andur in order to steal the valuable Adegan crystals he was carrying, and later tried to have Nomi killed when his minions failed to get the crystals.
- Freedon Nadd Uprising: King Ommin, Queen Amanoa's husband and fellow Sith Sorcerer, who attempted to reclaim Onderon for the Dark Side after her wife's defeat at the hand of the Jedi.
- Dark Lords of the Sith: Satal and Aleema Keto, a couple of Force-sensitive Spoiled Brats cousins beloging to the Empress Teta system royal family, who began to study the Dark Side purely out of boredom.
- Sith War: Exar Kun and Ulic Qel-Droma, newly minted Dark Lords of the Sith who, alongisde the Mandalorians, launched a campaign of conquest against the Republic.
- Redemption: None. The story is about Ulic Qel-Droma trying to atone for his crimes during the previous arc, and training Vima Sunrider as a Jedi.
- Big Creepy-Crawlies: Colossus wasps are giant spacefaring insects native to the Stenness Node that grow to the size of large starships — in fact, their exoskeletons are a popular choice of spaceship hulls.
- Bittersweet Ending: The Sith are defeated and Exar Kun is sealed away, but Ulic Qel-Droma, the greatest of the Jedi Knights, fell to the Dark Side and lost everything he had sworn to protect.
- Bizarre Alien Senses: Shoaneb Culu is blind, but sees with the Force. In fact, her entire people, the Miraluka, have this ability. This is the reason why they lost their eyes over time, since they're redundant.
- Book Ends: Ulic's journey begins and ends in a death scene, complete with Pietà Plagiarism of a student holding their dead master's empty robes as the master has become one with the Force. At the beginning it's Ulic with his master Arca. At the end it's Vima with her master Ulic.
- Brain in a Jar: In Golden Age of the Sith we are introduced to the Jedi Master Ooroo and the Sith Lord Simus. Whereas the former appears to be an actual alien brain living in a giant crystal, the latter was defeated in combat by another Sith Lord and developed a means of keeping his head alive in a jar.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Exar Kun's Sith converts, whom he poisons with shards of a broken holocron. Ulic Qel-Droma also suffers this, but to a lesser degree—mind-altering chemicals lower his resistance, but More than Mind Control is what really brings him down.
- Cain and Abel: Ulic Qel-Droma, who falls to the Dark Side, and Cay Qel-Droma, who stays with the Jedi. It matches with Cay's golden hair and Ulic's darker shade. It's driven home especially hard when Ulic kills Cay in a duel.
- Call-Forward: Several to the Jedi Academy Trilogy and Dark Empire, also written by Anderson. Likewise, an armature very similar King Ommin's is used by the decayed Palpatine in The Rise of Skywalker.
- The Captain: Captain Vanicus is addressed as captain, even though he seems to be the overall commander of the Republic fleet.
- Cats Are Mean: Played with for the Beastfolk Cathar. Crado and Sylvar start off as loyal, good-hearted, brave Jedi (albeit arrogant in Crado's case and a bit of a Blood Knight in Sylvar's). Once Crado becomes corrupted by Exar Kun, both of their flaws worsen, but Crado ends up becoming a fawning sycophant and loses pretty much all his badassery (and never gains any real menace) while Sylvar's quite justified resentment causes her to become fanatical about both hunting down her former mate and making Kun pay for corrupting him. In the end Crado is so pathetic that you can't help feeling sorry for him when Kun sends him on a suicide mission in Naga Sadow's ship, while Sylvar is able to let go of her hatred and blood lust thanks to Nomi and Vima and thus forgive Ulic. The Cathar themselves, in the scenes in Redemption when Sylvar goes home to try and purge herself of her anger, only come across as strongly noble Proud Warrior Race Guys in tune with the natural world but able to control their animal urges, quite in keeping with their appearance as saber-toothed Kings of the Beasts.
- The Chains of Commanding: Nomi's position as Grand Master of the Order leaves her little time to spend with her daughter.
- Chekhov's Gun: Shortly before he is killed by Exar Kun, Master Odan Urr explains a technique to Nomi Sunrider that would allow her to defeat Dark Jedi without killing them by removing their connection to the Force. She uses this on Ulic after he kills his brother.
- Coming of Age Story: Redemption, the final arc. It focuses largely on Vima Sunrider when she is old enough for Jedi training.
- Confusion Fu: Very much Exar Kun's preferred fighting style, switching weapons and tactics almost on a dime. This is the primary reason he was to defeat his master, Vodo Siosk Baas.
- Continuity Snarl: With the Knights of the Old Republic games, which feature a completely different aesthetic and prequel-era ethos for the Jedi. In general, they can be said to have referenced/adapted the comics in Broad Strokes.
- Conveniently Close Planet: As conveniently close as you can possibly get without them crashing into one another - according to this series, Onderon and its largest moon Dxun share much of the same fauna because they are so close to each other that their atmospheres merge for a brief time every summer, allowing beasts from Dxun to literally fly over to Onderon.
- Dark Action Girl: Aleema Keto mostly prefers to use her psychic powers from a distance, but does fight in close combat as well. Especially against Nomi.
- The Dark Arts: The Dark Side of the Force is portrayed like this.
- Dark Lord on Life Support: King Ommin of Freddon Nadd Uprising is this, kept alive long past the time he should have died by being kept in a secret laboratory with a special armature; although it turns out the Dark Side is what sustains him, the armature itself allows him to stand, walk, move, and fight by supporting his aged flesh and softened bones. This, of course, makes him extremely vulnerable...
- Dark Messiah: How Exar Kun presents himself after becoming the Dark Lord of the Sith and returning to Ossus to round up Jedi converts.
- Deader than Dead: After refusing to help him get a new body, Exar Kun uses his new Sith amulet to utterly destroy the ghost of Freedon Nadd.
- Depending on the Writer: After Tom Veitch left, Kevin J. Anderson authored (roughly) the last two-thirds of the series. He had some input on previous material as well, so the shift isn't quite as jarring as with, say, Darksaber, but still detectable. All the main characters become noticeably stupider and more violent, there are a few subplots that go nowhere, and suddenly superweapons (which did not feature previously) are major plot devices.
- Died in Your Arms Tonight: Several major characters die this way, occasionally becoming one with the Force.
- Does Not Like Lightsabers: Nomi Sunrider initially refuses to become a Jedi because she dislikes the idea of having to kill her enemies.
- Early Adaptation Weirdness:
- Sith used blue and green lightsabers. In the case of Jedi-turned-Sith, like Exar Kun, it was justified, since they simply continued used the same lightsabers they had as Jedi. There was also Warb Null, who was always a darksider (although not a Sith) and used a green lightsaber. It wasn't until The Phantom Menace where it was established that all Sith, not just Vader, use red lightsabers.
- Instead of the Force Lightning (which, oddly enough, had already been introduced before these comics were made), the Sith had another offensive power called Force Blast
, which is the kind of attacks you'd see in a shonen anime/manga. - At least once, multiple Jedi are referred to as "Jedis."
- As the earliest comics were made before the prequel trilogy films, there are many differences from later official canon. For example, no Sith uses the "Darth" title (at that point in the franchise only Vader had ever canonically used it) or an alias, instead retaining their real names. The Jedi were not prohibited from marrying or having families. Force-sensitive children like Vima were not automatically recruited into the Jedi Order. Adults like Nomi were considered legitimate candidates for apprenticeship. Jedi Masters could, and often did, have multiple apprentices at the same time (the term "Padawan" had also not been introduced yet). Quite a bit of later expanded universe content would go into explaining how these differences came about.
- Earth-Shattering Kaboom: Naga Sadow's flagship was equipped with a device that allows the user to trigger a supernova with the Dark Side of the Force. The Sith use it to destroy the surface of Ossus.
- Egopolis: The Empress Teta system (yes, the name of the system includes her imperial title). A rare heroic instance of this (or at least, not completely villainous).
- Elite Mook: King Ommin's armored apprentice, Warb Null, who leads the Naddist cult's soldiers.
- The Empire: There was a Sith Empire in the stories which take place first chronologically. By the time of the Sith War, Mandalore notes that the Empress Teta system has become an empire that's nonetheless "bloated and overstretched by it's many conquests".
- Enemy Civil War:
- In the Great Hyperspace War, the Sith were united under Naga Sadow in their war against the Republic, but halfway into the war the Sith turned on Naga Sadow and civil war broke out while they were still fighting the Republic; by the time Naga Sadow had put down the usurpers, the Republic was able to finish off the weakened Sith Empire.
- Also to a lesser extent this is the original state of affairs between the different members of Freedon Nadd's followers (the Krath/Ulic vs. Exar Kun) until Nadd is killed (again) and the spirit of Dark Lord Marka Ragnos enforces an alliance between Ulic and Kun, and later still another version could be said to apply to their treatment of Aleema and Crado, although this falls more under You Have Outlived Your Usefulness, No Honor Among Thieves, and Treachery Is a Special Kind of Evil.
- Evil Is Not a Toy: Goes both ways in the relationship between Exar Kun and the spirit of Freedon Nadd. Kun finds out that poking around at ancient Sith burial sites is far more dangerous and corrupting than it is innocent archaeology. Nadd learns to his cost that just because you've successfully converted someone to the dark side doesn't mean that they have any interest in helping you.
- Evil Makes You Ugly: Queen Amanoa and King Ommin look much older, and Ommin is far more decrepit, than even their advanced years should explain.
- Fantastic Racism:
- Kun believes that human Jedi are inherently superior to Jedi from other species, though he has no problems with using alien Jedi as pawns he can control.
- There is a great deal of prejudice between the people of Iziz and the Beast-Riders (who, admittedly, are descended from exiled criminals). Naturally, the children of the ruling families fall in love.
- Fat Bastard:
- Great Bogga the Hutt, who causes all the problems in "The Saga of Nomi Sunrider". Starts by ordering her husband be mugged to death for the rare crystals he's carrying and continues trying to get them back until his minions are thoroughly whupped by Nomi and Thon.
- Averted by Aarba the Hutt, who has genuine sympathy for the Daragon twins so long as they don't endanger his business interests.
- Fate Worse than Death:
- Ulic Qel-Droma's connection to the force is severed by Nomi Sunrider after he kills his brother in combat and he is left to wander the galaxy.
- Although Exar Kun did die, his spirit would be trapped inside the darkness of his own temple for thousand of years.
- Five-Second Foreshadowing: At the conclave of Deneba, Cay mentions that the servant droids are acting funny. A few pages later they start attacking everyone.
- Foreshadowing:
- Every master that encounters Vima Sunrider says she'll become a great Jedi. Vima's actions in Redemption certainly put her on this path, although copyright nonsense prevented the EU from taking it further.
- Jedi in general do a lot of this consciously (what with being vaguely precognitive and all), such as when Cay tells Ulic he feels like they'll never see each other again.
- Freudian Trio: Arca's apprentices at the start of "Knights of the Old Republic." Ulic, though leader, is the brave to reckless Id. His brother Cay is the passionate but tempered Ego. Tott Doneeta is the calm and cautious Superego.
- FTL Test Blunder: Jori and Gav Daragon attempt to strike it rich charting hyperspace routes, as they would be able to earn fees the more ships use their path. Their first hyperlane, the Goluud Corridor, proves to be a disaster, as it crosses too close to a red giant star and thus destroys a freighter. Their next attempt ends up at the Sith world of Korriban, creating a route that allows the Sith to invade Republic space undetected, triggering the Great Hyperspace War.
- Giant Mook: Warb Null.
- Good Is Not Nice: A thousand years before the main story about Ulic and Exar Kun, the Jedi and Old Republic exterminated the Sith species, who at the time were a thriving interstellar civilization. Yes, it was during a war (that the Sith had started), and they were your average typical space-opera villains, but it's still a whole species of Human Aliens. And yes, it was said that they deliberately hunted down every last one of them (at least until Star Wars: The Old Republic rolled around...).
- Hope Spot:
- When Exar Kun is overwhelmed by the Dark Side power of the ancient Sith temple he's exploring on Korriban, he begins to have second thoughts about his search of forbidden Sith knowledge, wonders if his master's warnings had some merit, and decides to return to his ship in order to reconsider if he should continue on his endeavor. Too bad the spirit of Freedon Nadd causes a rock slide, blocking the temple's exit, and forcing Kun to explore the rest of the temple, which would ensure his fall to the Dark Side.
- Nomi and Cay think that they have a chance to get Ulic back when they sense him over Ossus. They really don't.
- Horrible Judge of Character: Vodo-Siosk Baas's failure to realize that his prized student Exar Kun was already one foot in the dark side, even though Kun was openly racist, injured his peers in training duels, and kept asking questions about Sith knowledge. It's to the extent that the authors of other Expanded Universe works have had their characters use Baas as an example of Jedi blindness.
- I Can Rule Alone: Exar Kun isn't particularly interested in serving Freedon Nadd for the rest of his life, or in sharing power with Satal and Aleema. He doesn't seem to mind having Ulic as his ally/general, though—while he does eventually abandon him on Ossus, this is more to carry out his own plans on Yavin than not wanting to share power, and he had earlier come to Ulic's rescue at the Senate trial. Sith prophecies, amulets, and tattoos are far better motivators than being ordered around as a lackey, who knew?
- "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight:
- Nomi's mission to retrieve Ulic quickly turns into this kind of fight. However, she calls a retreat before it gets too far, as it's clear he's too far gone and won't willingly come back with them.
- Cay confronts Ulic on Ossus, ending up in a defensive lightsaber fight while he tries to remind him that he used to be a good man. It has no effect and Ulic soon kills him. And then he awakens to the horror he's inflicted and returns to himself.
- Interrupted Cooldown Hug: At the end of Redemption, the estranged Nomi and Ulic embrace after she accepts the sincerity of his regret and he stops Sylvar from falling completely to the dark side. Then, Hoggan shoots him in the back and kills him. Then he gloats about it. He's quite shocked when none of the Jedi in the vicinity are pleased with him.
- Jedi Brat: Vima Sunrider is the daughter of two Jedi and grows up surrounded by them (and their battles, once or twice).
- Karmic Death:
- While he isn't actually killed for another four thousand years, Exar Kun's fate at the end of the Sith War is fitting for a man who was obsessed with darkness.
- Also Aleema, destroyed by the very Sith sorcery she was attempting to wield, an act of betrayal done in revenge for her betrayal of Ulic.
- Kill It with Fire: Nomi leads the Jedi in creating a "wall of light" to purge the dark side from Yavin IV. Much to their surprise (and dismay) this ends up igniting and sends an inferno raging over the surface of the jungle moon.
- Kissing Cousins: Implied to be going on between Satal Keto and Aleema. While nothing is spelled out, Satal's jealousy of Ulic when Aleema turns her attention to him strongly suggests it.
- Knights In Shining Armor: The Qel-Droma brothers are this for the Jedi, until Ulic's Start of Darkness. Then things go downhill for them both.
- Lady of War: Nomi Sunrider evolves into one as the series goes on, finishing as Head of the Jedi Order. Also, Empress Teta.
- Lizard Folk: Qrrrl Tok, a Warrior Prince and Jedi Knight, is a reptilian Nazzar.
- Luke Nounverber: The Sunrider family.
- Mad Scientist: Exar Kun, in his spare time.
- Magic by Any Other Name: Inverted. This is one of the few places in Star Wars where Force techniques and practitioners—mainly dark side ones—are referred to with terms like "Sith magic" and "sorcerer." The terms are occasionally used in other works to refer to Force users of this ancient era.
- Mama Bear: Nomi Sunrider, whose main motivation for becoming a Jedi Knight is a desire to protect her daughter.
- Master of Illusion: Aleema Keto.
- Mauve Shirt: The secondary Jedi trio of Shoaneb Culu, Dace Diath, and Qrrrl Toq. They appear in the background of most major events and often pursue some related line of investigation, or accompany Nomi, Cay, and Tott as backup. They're killed in the final battle of the Sith Wars.
- Medieval Stasis: Averted. This takes place thousands of years before the main series and it shows. Oddly, Knights of the Old Republic takes place only fifty years later and has the Prequel aesthetic, implying the galaxy used to look more primitive, then jumped ahead in a single generation, before going back into Medieval Stasis for another three thousand years.
- The Mole: Ulic Qel-Droma. He thinks he can infiltrate Cinnagar, gain the trust of the Krath and resist the dark side. Two out of Three Ain't Bad.
- More than Mind Control: Happens to Ulic when he infiltrates the Krath. Stal Keto injects him with a mind-altering poison that reduces his inhibitions, making him an easier prey for his own anger and Aleema's seductions.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Exar Kun after killing the two men who helped him find Freedon Nadd's tomb in a furious rage. Ulic Qel-Droma upon killing his own brother and Gav Daragon when he realizes that he's completely out of his depth with the Sith Empire.
- No Antagonist: The final arc, "Redemption". It takes place during peacetime and the conflict is around personal struggles left over from the wars.
- Noble Savage: The Beast Riders of Onderon, who are more civilised than many denizens of the city.
- "Not So Different" Remark: Sylvar's reasons for going after Ulic are pretty much identical to Ulic's motivation for murdering Satal. It's when Ulic forces her to realize this that she finally lets go of her anger.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: Naga Sadow behaves a bit like a crazy old man to deceive the Daragons.
- Older and Wiser: Several characters in Redemption, which takes place ten years after the Knights of the Old Republic/Freedon Nadd/Exar Kun arcs.
- Pietà Plagiarism: A variant when Arca Jeth is killed. Ulic is in the "Mary" pose, but what he's holding are empty robes. Happen's again with Vima in the "Mary" pose holding dying Ulic as he becomes one with the Force.
- Poke in the Third Eye: Nomi does this to Aleema during their psychic fight, causing the latter's illusions to dispel.
- Post-Script Season: Redemption.
- Prequel: The Golden Age of the Sith and The Fall of the Sith Empire. Both arcs were written by Kevin J. Anderson, without input from Tom Veitch.
- Protagonist-Centered Morality: Empress Teta, military dictator of the Koros system and anti-Sith crusader par excellence. She's supposed to be one of the good guys, but there are worrying little things in her portrayal. Like how the POWs from her victorious wars of unification for the greater good are still in hard labor camps a decade after the last war ended. Or how the system is renamed the Empress Teta System afterwards. Not to mention conquering other planets in wars which must have killed millions to begin with. which are explicitly described as quite brutal. The heroes don't seem to care since she's on their side. Granted, her enemies are also bad.
- Proud Warrior Race Guy: Mandalore and the Mandalorians, who are pretty thrilled to have a new crusade. Likewise the Beast Riders of Onderon, who prove to the Mandalorians that they do not have a monopoly on the Badass Normal thing. Also applies to Kun's Massassi warriors, who he genetically engineers to be deadlier.
- Reasonable Authority Figure:
- Despite the above points regarding her somewhat questionable actions during and after the Unification Wars, Empress Teta not only believes the vision related to her by Odan-Urr and tries to warn the Senate of the impending invasion (even though this risks her own political credit she's earned thus far), she also believes Jori Daragon when she sneaks into her chamber in the palace of Cinnagar rather than having her summarily executed as a spy and assassin (or for the crimes she and her brother had committed against Aarrba). And in the end, in gratitude for what she had done for the Republic and the brother she had lost, Teta grants Jori's request to take over Aarrba's repair dock.
- Modon Kira, the head of the Beast-riders, takes it in stride when three Jedi crash into his son's wedding banquet and invites them to join. He tells them that he's ready for peace, but also for war.
- Rebellious Princess: Galia is a positive example. She was opposed to her parents' evil ways and had secret dealings with the underground resistance movement, which is how she met and fell in love with Beast Rider noble Oron Kira. She conspired with him to have herself seemingly kidnapped from her palace chambers so that she could marry him. Together they would become the first rulers of Onderon in centuries who were not followers of the Dark Side.
- Redemption Equals Death: Somewhat of a subversion in Ulic's case. He's been turned back for some time and at the end, none of the Jedi are interested in punishing him anymore. His death is a result of a Jedi-worshipping pilot wanting a place in history.
- Religion of Evil: The Dark Jedi Freedon Nadd left behind a cult devoted to his worship on Onderon, which serves as the main opponent for the Jedi until Exar Kun shows up.
- Rich Boredom: Unlike most people who turn to the Dark Side, Satal and Aleema Keto did not start out with any great ambitions to fulfill, enemies to defeat or needs that had to be addressed. They were simply spoiled young members of the royalty of the Empress Teta system with time on their hands who developed an interest in Sith lore while visiting a museum and decided that it would be interesting to learn more. Things went downhill from there.
- Rock Beats Laser: Averted in The Sith War. While not rocks, the weapons of the Krath soldiers are basically antiques and they're no match for the advanced technology of the Mandalorians.
- Royal Blood: An important element of the power struggle among the lords of the Sith Empire. For example, Naga Sadow possesses minimal Sith blood and takes pride in the purity of his Jedi lineage, tracing his ancestry right back to the original Dark Jedi who fled the Republic and enslaved the Sith species.
- Royally Screwed Up: The royal family of Onderon, who have been receiving training from the disembodied spirit of Freedon Nadd for hundreds of years.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something:
- Even after becoming ruler of Onderon, Oron Kira is the first Beast Rider in the air when the Mandalorian attack begins.
- Also Empress Teta, Lady of War par excellence who a) unifies the seven worlds of the Koros system b) always fights on the front lines, willing to lay down her life for her cause and unwilling to order the deaths of her people without the same possibility befalling her c) believes Odan-Urr and Memit Nadill despite not being Force-sensitive herself, to the point of risking her political clout by telling the Senate of the impending Sith invasion and d) leading the battles which not only save Koros and the Republic but take out the Sith Empire at Korriban. No wonder she got an entire system named after her!
- Schizo Tech: A lot of the technology looks like it's made from stone or crude metal. (This is in stark contrast with the Knights of the Old Republic games, which take place not forty years from the end of the comics and basically look like the prequel movies).
- Sealed Evil in a Can: Lake Naath, used by Thon to seal a host of Sith spirits that threatened to overrun the sector. It's a rare example that actually works, barring some warped reptilian monsters that crawl out from time to time.
- Shout-Out: Among Bogga the Hutt's enforcers are Klaatu, Baratas, and Niktos.
- Smug Snake: Satal Keto and Aleema behave as though they will bring the galaxy to its knees, but they're just spoiled brats who dabbled in Sith magic out of boredom.
- Sorcerous Overlord: Very common. Freedon Nadd became this on Onderon centuries in the past and his descendants continued the tradition until Princess Galia rebelled. Satal and Aleema Keto become this in the Empress Teta system after learning Sith magic. Exar Kun makes a serious play to become this for the entire galaxy, which is what causes the Great Sith War.
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Spiritual Successor: The Knights of the Old Republic games and comics, which are set in the same era and contain various references to events and characters from this series. They were originally intended as a straighter sequel: KOTOR's Bastila Shan was even supposed to be Nomi Sunrider at first, but this floundered due to murky copyright claims. - Start of Darkness: For Exar Kun, it's his obsession with ancient Sith history and science. For Ulic, it's his failure to prevent the death of Master Arca.
- Sycophantic Servant: Crado is slavishly devoted to Exar Kun in spite of Kun's Fantastic Racism.
- Taking You with Me: Aarrba the Hutt takes out two Massassi by crushing them under his own girth.
- Tears from a Stone: The ice statue of Andur Sunrider begins to "weep" as it melts while Vima and Nomi embrace beneath it.
- Token Heroic Orc: Aarrba the Hutt, who is a rare case of a Hutt that's not a greedy criminal. He's actually fairly generous, when Hok and Timar Daragon leave him their ship as collateral on a loan and die before paying it back, he forgives the debt and gives the ship to their children purely to do something nice for the siblings who just suffered a huge loss. Amusingly, he's aware of this and insists people keep his less than cutthroat deals secret. It wouldn't do for word to get out that a Hutt is doing things like extending credit.
- Tongue Trauma: One of several unpleasant things inflicted by Aleema upon her tutor. He ends up with his lips sewn shut to keep the writhing, fanged thing she changed his tongue into from getting out.
- Training the Gift of Magic: Much of the story is driven by this trope. Nomi is initially Force-sensitive but considers herself too timid to become a Jedi until her husband is killed and Master Thon takes her as an apprentice. The royal family of Onderon has been receiving Dark Side guidance from the ghost of their ancestor Freedon Nadd for centuries. Satal and Aleema steal an ancient Sith spellbook from a museum and gain the means to read it from King Ommin. They also get some help from Freedon Nadd's ghost, who is even more interested in guiding Exar Kun to the ancient Sith knowledge hidden on Yavin IV for his own purposes. Vima Sunrider eventually ends up seeking out Ulic Qel-Droma because her mother and the other Jedi are too busy to train her even after years of commenting on her great potential.
- Two Lines, No Waiting:
- "Dark Lords of the Sith" switches between Exar Kun's adventures searching for Sith knowledge and Ulic's plan to infiltrate the Krath.
- Vima's search for Ulic and Sylvar's struggle with the Dark Side in "Redemption."
- Unwanted Rescue: Galia protests when Ulic, Cay, and Tott crash into the beast-riders' hall, interrupting her wedding to Oron Kira. She and Oron had staged her kidnapping in the first place and their marriage was entirely voluntary.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Gav and Jori Daragon were partly responsible for the Great Hyperspace War, when Naga Sadow used them as pawns to make himself ruler of the Sith and wage war on the Republic.
- The Vamp: Aleema, who seduces Ulic to the dark side.
- War for Fun and Profit: While they're still Proud Warrior Race Guys, the Mandalorians are at least partially motivated by their desire to plunder military technology from the Republic.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: In the middle of the Sith War story arc we see a montage of Exar Kun's Sith converts killing their former Jedi masters. At the end of the story these Dark Jedi are still unaccounted for; the only one really addressed is Oss Wilum, who is freed from possession by Master Thon and becomes The Atoner.
- Wretched Hive: Cinnagar is termed one in a Continuity Nod, though it's one of "persecution and dread" rather than "scum and villainy," thanks to Krath rule.
- Wolf in Sheep's Clothing: In their first battle against the Jedi fleet, Satal takes advantage of the Jedi's detection of their illusions by having Aleema create another illusory fleet, and then positioning actual ships within it.
- Would Be Rude to Say "Genocide": The Sith species quietly disappears from the setting after the fall of Korriban. Canon wouldn't outright admit what happened until The Old Republic MMO decades later decided to feature the descendants of refugees as a faction.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Exar Kun arranges the death of Aleema because she betrayed Ulic Qel-Droma and left him to be arrested by the Jedi, and Crado because he finds him annoying. Kun also turns on the spirit of Freedon Nadd once he has learned all he can from him (though to be fair this is also due to Nadd's continued attempts to manipulate him, including into making him a body so he can be restored to life). Karmically fitting, considering Nadd had done the same thing himself to Naga Sadow.
