KoTOR Characters: Detailing The Main Companions In Knights of The Old Republic

As with many RPG games, players will come across numerous characters and people that will become companions, often remaining with the player throughout the majority of the game.

Bioware developed Knights of The Old Republic is no different, with its sprawling Stars Wars based story having some memorable interactions and dialogue with these companions. In this article, we will take a closer look at the KoTOR characters that the player character will encounters and describe some of their motives, character traits and other things about them.

The male characters romantic interest and one the main characters insofar as narrative and plot. Bastila is a fairly uncertain and novice Jedi knight who specialises in Battle Meditation (a way to control entire battles through meditating) and has been an effective instrument in the war against the Sith and their armies.

Revan, the player character, rescues Bastila from a gang known as the Black Vulkars on Taris. After introducing Revan to the Jedi Council on Dantooine, she and him share a Force Bond that binds them together and serves as a means to view the Star Maps, which serve as an explorative plot device.

After growing closer to Revan, emaciating and masking her emotions until they finally give in to them and kiss one another, she is captured by KoTOR’s antagonistic force Darth Malak. When she is turned to the dark side through torture and persuasion, Revan tries to persuade her into returning with him, although his initial attempts are in vain and she flees to the Star Forge.

Fighting his way through the cumulative forces of the Star Forge, Revan finally meets Bastila and fights her, showcasing his love for her as a means to bring her back to the light side of the force. Once this accomplished, she uses her Battle Meditation technique to alter the course of this final battle, assisting the Republic Fleet in defeating Malak’s forces.

Another integral part of the KoTOR characters and principal companions, Carth is a loyal and adept pilot, who shows signs of great pain, struggle and hurt throughout his conversations with Revan. Initially he is standoffish, not offering insight into his personal feelings or history, but through the course of events in the game he begins to open up to the player.

Blaming Sith Admiral Saul Karath for the death of his wife, he wants nothing more than to exact revenge on his former father-figure, finally getting his request aboard the Leviathan where Bastila is captured.

Working as a mercenary on Taris, Canderous is an ex-Mandalorian soldier, seeking a means to abandon his current line of work and get off the planet. He sees an opportunity when meeting with Revan, devising a plan to steal his current employers (Davik) vessel and evade the planet wide Sith blockade.

Although he shows blood-lust and some cutthroat opinions, Canderous is indebted to Revan and respects him greatly for his pre-game antics during the Mandalorian Wars. Playing off the idea of a honorable and war-driven race, Bioware created a great dynamic with Canderous and the other KoTOR characters, with some juxtaposing dialogue and integral conversations showcasing the relationships.

Finding himself on Taris with a young girl after being banished from his homeworld, Zaalbar pledges a life debt to his rescuer Revan, while trapped in the sewage systems in the Undercity of Taris. When one of the Star Maps is found on Kashyyyk, Zaalbar is thrust into a struggle against the malevolent Czerka corporation and its staunch restrictions on Wookie life.

After Revan & Co. save Freyyr (Zaalbar’s father) and restore him as Chieftain, Zaalbar is accepted back into his estranged clan, becoming heir apparent to his father’s rule. Deciding to solidify his life debt to Revan, he travels with the now Jedi Knight, defeating the Star Forge & Darth Malak before returning to his homeworld.

The Twi’lek urchin who traverses the lower depths of Taris with her Wookie companion Zaalbar, Mission is a socially naive girl with street smarts and a knack for computer hacking, with that being the fulcrum of her use to the player during missions. When Zaalbar pledges a life debt to Revan, after he rescues him in the sewer system of Taris’ underground, Mission tags along and becomes a part of the Ebon Hawk crew.

Through the remainder of the game, Mission takes a back seat to other principal KoTOR characters & companions, however her almost juvenile arguments with Carth and Bastila in particular are resolved by the end of the game.

A Cathar (cat-like humanoid) Jedi apprentice who resides on Dantooine. Juhani fell prey to the dark side when she believed herself to have killed her master. Although this was a ruse and a final test to remove her hatred & anger, Juhani absorbed the darkness around her and become one with the dark side, that is until Revan defeated her in battle.

After doing so, she willingly helps Revan in his quest for the Star Forge, lending her proficient Jedi skills. She also reconciles her aggressive nature due to Revan’s own predicament. At first she stumbles through her own emotions, but by the end of the game, her resolve to fight for the Jedi instead of the Sith comes through during the penultimate Temple of The Ancients mission.

A reclusive hermit, living on the densely forested surface of Kashyyyk, Jolee Bindo is a haggard old Jedi who could be seen as both grouchy and in contempt of those around him. He walks the line between light and dark, even labelling himself a “Grey Jedi”, which accounts for some of his views.

Believing in love and having a hurtful past involving his wife’s fall to the dark side, Jolee removes the stereotype of Jedi as a wholefully righteous entity, conveying a humanistic approach to their behaviour. He, like Juhani, comes to the fore during the Temple of The Ancients mission.

In classic Star Wars fashion, there are two droid’s used as KoTOR characters for the player chracter. While HK-47 is a murderous assassin with a penchant for amusing dialog, T3-M4 is the listless beeping equivalent of the Star Wars movies R2-D2.

Fun is definitely had debating the finer points of “meat bags” with HK-47, but T3-M4 is mostly a husk devoid of any real conviction or disposition, which limits his appearances & overall impact. Although the revelation that HK-47 was originally created by Revan is somewhat novel, the implicit worship HK then takes on for him is somewhat garrulous.