Revan

Revan is a Star Wars Expanded Universe novel by Drew Karpyshyn, author of the Darth Bane series and senior writer on Knights of the Old Republic and Star Wars: The Old Republic, to which it serves as a Distant Prologue. It wraps up the story of Revan, player character of Knights of the Old Republic, and the Exile, player character of Knights of the Old Republic II. The story takes place 2-5 years after the end of Knights and three hundred years before Star Wars: The Old Republic.

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Tropes used in Revan include:

• And I Must Scream: Both Revan and the Exile's spirit are trapped in this at the end, with Revan kept in stasis and the Exile bound to Revan, but they both find purpose in respectively fighting the Emperor's mind reading attempts and giving Revan strength to resist.
• Amnesiac Dissonance: Upon receiving his mask, Revan remembers everything, including his time as a Sith. He handles it well enough that it's essentially a massive power-up though.
• Armed with Canon: Drew Karpyshyn did several things that were considered blasphemous by fans, including giving the Exile a name and giving Revan a child by Bastila (although The Old Republic had already pretty well confirmed the latter.
  • On the plus side, he allowed for Revan's return.
• Awesome Moment of Crowning: "Mandalore has returned! I am Mandalore the Preserver, and I will restore the honor and glory of my people!" - As Canderous Ordo claims Mandalore's Mask.
• Bastard Bastard: Tenebrae/Vitiate. His mother was a farmer's wife, but his biological father was actually the local Sith Lord.
• Because Destiny Says So: Despite Revan warning Scourge that Force Visions are only possible futures that are shaped by the actions of today, Scourge betrays Revan and the Exile as soon as he sees a vision of a different Jedi defeating the Emperor.
• Bigger Bad: The Emperor.
• Black Eyes of Evil: The Emperor's eyes are completely black, and apparently were from birth.
• Bodyguard Betrayal: Scourge's plan for the Emperor when the Jedi from his vision shows up.
• Catch and Return: Revan uses this against Darth Nyriss' Force Lightning. Unfortunately, the Emperor's Force Lightning is too powerful for Revan to catch.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: Bastila Shan becomes suspicious of Revan and the Exile's relationship, though she accepts that the Exile must search for him alone, while she looks after their son. The Exile later admits that she's slightly jealous of Revan and Bastila's relationship, but clarifies that she loves Revan like a father.
• Cool Mask: Mandalore's Mask and Revan's Mask.
• The Dark Side Will Make You Forget: Ironically, the light side made Revan forget, and his mask, the symbol most closely associated with his Sith self, made him remember.
• Deader Than Dead: T3-M4, as the only character who could conceivably return from death/deactivation, is disintegrated by the Emperor.
• Delaying Action: Both Revan's initial attack on the Emperor, as well as his subtle hints through their shared mental link when he is kept in stasis delay the Sith Empire's attack on the Republic by almost 300 years.
• Distant Prologue: To The Old Republic
• The Dragon: Scourge is this first to Nyriss, then to the Emperor.
• Empty Piles of Clothing: The Exile may have pulled this, as her spirit survives, but not in the usual way of Star Wars. Her spirit binds itself to Revan, and helps keep him alive while the Emperor feeds on his power.
• Enemy Civil War: The Dark Council.
• Enemy Mine: Scourge, Revan, and the Exile team up to face the Emperor.
• Enfant Terrible: Vitiate was evil enough to personally kill his parents at age 6, and had conquered his planet by the age of 10.
• Genre Savvy: Scourge finds himself involved in a conspiracy within the Sith Empire to depose the Emperor before he can invade the Republic; the conspirators are convinced that to do so would eventually result in their eradication by the Republic and Jedi.
• Guns Akimbo: Revan briefly wields dual blasters while hiding his identity as a Jedi.
• Heroic Sacrifice: T3-M4, Revan, and the Exile all sacrifice themselves in attempt to kill the Emperor, and the latter two fight him as best they can when they are trapped in an And I Must Scream situation by the Emperor.
• Immortality Hurts: The price the Emperor and Scourge must pay for their immortality is a constant pain at first, then total numbness to all feeling.
• In the Back: Scourge kills the Exile with a lightsaber to the back.
• Meaningful Name: Both of the Emperor's names: Tenebrae is very similar to tenebrous, meaning shadowy or obscure, and Vitiate means to spoil or mar. Similarly, his home planet of Nathema is one letter away from Anathema, which means to set apart, as in set apart from the Force.
  • Revan's son is named Vaner, an anagram of Revan.
  • Canderous calls Revan "Anver" when among Clan Ordo; Revan is not impressed, and a few angry Mandalorians figure it out.
• Midquel: Of sorts. The first half of the novel happens between the two Knights of the Old Republic games.
• Mythology Gag: Revan's features are described as non-descript and average, in keeping with players being able to choose his appearance.
• Names to Run Away From Really Fast: Lord Scourge's new title, the Emperor's Wrath.
• No Name Given: Played straight with Revan, whose true name is never revealed (and possibly lost forever thanks to the Jedi), but averted for formerly nameless characters the Exile and the Sith Emperor (Meetra Surik and Tenebrae/Lord Vitiate). In the case of the Emperor, it is specifically stated that the Emperor stopped being Tenebrae/Lord Vitiate the moment he completed the ritual that killed Nathema, and is now only the Emperor.
• Omnicidal Maniac: The Emperor.
• Power of the Void: The Emperor, to an even greater extent than Darth Nihilus. When Nihilus feeds, he creates a Wound in the Force. When the Emperor feeds, he creates a complete Void in the Force, and takes away color and nearly all sound in the area.
• Power Nullifier: No one can use The Force while on Nathema, or any other Void in the Force.
• Physical God: The Emperor is among the most powerful Force users in history.
• Pragmatic Villainy: The Dark Council opposes the Emperor because being an Omnicidal Maniac is not conducive to their dreams of galactic conquest.
• Sacrificial Lion: T3-M4 and the Exile, although it is at the end.
• Screw the Rules, I Have Connections/Smug Snake: Sechel thinks he can boss around and insult Scourge just because he is a high ranking servant of Darth Nyriss. Scourge eventually kills him, of course.
• Sealed Good in a Can: Revan at the end.
• Self-Made Orphan: Tenebrae/Vitiate killed his father with the Force when the poor farmer reacted angrily to the fact that his wife had a child with a Sith Lord. Then he tortured his mother to death for dishonoring the family with her adultery.
• Sense Loss Sadness: A few characters experience this while cut off from the Force on Nathema, and have to struggle not to throw up or go mad.
• Sequel: Part one follows Revan after the events of the first game, Part two follows the Jedi Exile after the events of the second game.
• Shoot the Shaggy Dog / Senseless Sacrifice : Revan and Exile are betrayed by their alleged ally, suffer an And I Must Scream fate, and the Sith still invade and curb-stomp the Republic anyway.
  • However, their sacrifices does delay the Empire's advance and Revan's connection to the Emperor in stasis allows him to mentally influence the Emperor and help bring about the the Treaty of Coruscant, allowing new heroes to rise and successfully combat the Sith. Viewed in the long term, it becomes much more of a Bittersweet Ending.
• Token Evil Teammate: Scourge becomes this for Revan and Meetra.
• Undying Loyalty: T3-M4 and the Exile for Revan.
• Yin-Yang Bomb: Revan.

"Instead of charging forward, he opened himself to the Force, letting both the light and dark side flow through him like twin rushing rivers."