Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

Surprisingly, this is the worst moment in the game. Except in the Wii version. Then it's as awesome as it should be.
"I bring Darth Vader's enemies to justice, and now so do you."
—Starkiller

A Star Wars-based multimedia project, like Shadows of the Empire eleven years before it. Covers a wide range of mediums including Comic Books, a novel (by Sean Williams), action figures and a Role-Playing Game, but the Video Game has received most of the attention. The new feature that has been paraded around is an advanced graphic and physics engine, allowing visuals and gameplay features that were impossible before. The environments are huge and you are capable of manipulating (and destroying) almost anything. You know some of the things Mace Windu and Yoda do in Star Wars: Clone Wars (flinging around star fighters, ripping apart armies with little trouble)... it's kind of like that.

The basic story of TFU centers around Darth Vader's secret Sith apprentice, born Galen Marek but codenamed "Starkiller", and explores his role in the Star Wars universe. Set during the time period between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, he ends up interacting with various canon characters and fills in new details.

Reviews for the game were mixed, with most complaints being a tricky targeting system for flinging objects around and that some of the large creatures were defeated using the exact same methods. Surprisingly the story has been given significant praise, which is unusual for a Star Wars original video game (they are usually an Excuse Plot with some fun action and characters).

A Downloadable Content pack entitled the Ultimate Sith Edition adds a What If story based on the Dark Side ending, that allows the player to screw around with the canon, with Starkiller proceeding to hunt down and destroy characters such as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker.

A sequel has been released that continues the exploits of Starkiller. Concerning his death in the first game, this character is supposedly a clone. But the game's story revolves around him trying to learn the truth.

That Other Wiki has more information. The other other wiki might help too.

Tropes used in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed include:
  • Action Commands
  • All There in the Manual: The real name of your character. While the game refers to him mainly as "Starkiller", the companion novel, towards the end, gives his name as Galen Marek.
    • The Dark Apprentice from the sequel's Dark Side ending. At no point is he even hinted at during the main storyline, his only appearance coming if the player chooses to kill Vader instead of arrest him. His origin is explained in a series of movies that the player can unlock by completing several challenges.
  • All Your Powers Combined: PROXY has the ability to use a hologram to transform into any Jedi he knows of, and is able to copy their lightsaber skills and even their Force powers.
  • Always a Bigger Fish/Bait and Switch Boss: In the boss fight on Cato Neimoidia in the sequel. It looks like the clone Starkiller is about to face off against a Rancor - and then an even LARGER arm reaches out, grabs the Rancor and pulls it into a darkened opening. Out of that opening comes the real boss, the Gorog.
  • Ain't Too Proud to Beg: In the second game, Galen does a Type 2 to Vader when the latter threatens to kill Juno.
  • And Your Reward Is Clothes: You get a bunch of different outfits to choose from right at the start with more being unlocked as you progress through the game.
  • Arrogant Kung Fu Guy: If you disarm Maris Brood during one of the quick-time events during the boss fight, Galen will casually toss her lightsabers back to her. Whilst she's defenseless face down in the dirt.
  • Artificial Brilliance: Suddenly comes out against the last boss. He adapts to your tactics, and punishes any weakness in your style. And if you try to be a cheapass and spam him... HE SPAMS BACK HARDER. Of course, since it's Darth Vader if the game gave you any less, people would complain.
    • Which leads to some (possibly unintentional) Fridge Brilliance: the best way to take him is to act as aggressively as possible, which is a very Dark Side way of fighting (see Luke's final fight with Vader, for example). Another way is to simply duel him, without relying too much on Force spam or buffs (see, well just about any duel in the movies).
    • Even more brilliant when you consider that the best way to tackle the other final boss is to deflect Palpatine's attacks back at him; a more defensive (and therefore Light Side) way of fighting.
  • Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: The Gorog in the sequel.
  • Awesome but Impractical: The metal claws on the Sith Stalker armor. How, exactly, does one do stunts with a lightsaber with 6-inch spikes coming out of your fingers?
  • Awesome McCoolname: STARKILLER!!!
  • Back from the Dead: Starkiller, twice.
    • Technically, the second time he's still dead. He just got cloned. The novel hints that it may have been the case first time as well.
      • Who is essentially a continuation of the Starkiller before and there's really no difference between them.
  • Badass Grandpa / Handicapped Badass: General Kota. He's blind, but can actually in some respects see better as he is used to sensing his environment with the Force, which basically gives him a mental picture of his surroundings, much like sight-only he can see through darkness, fog, smoke, etc.
  • Badass Cape: The Sith Robe costume. Oh yes.
  • Bag of Spilling: Either averted or justified in the second game. It's averted if the player character is a clone, and therefore has yet to develop all of the original Starkiller's powers, and justified if the player is the original returned, and therefore still recovering from his death.
  • Battle in the Rain: The Final Battle in the sequel.
  • Beam-O-War
  • Becoming the Mask: Galen's sent by Vader to organize the rebellion. That turns out to be his downfall.
  • Berserk Button: For Starkiller, it's Juno. Dear God, not even The Force will help you if you harm her in Starkiller's presence, something Darth Vader finds out when it appears he's killed Juno at the end of the second game. You DO NOT screw with Love Interests/family members of Star Wars characters. You end up getting squished like a bug, God-like powers or not.
  • Beyond the Impossible: Carbonite is known for its ability to sever a Jedi's Force connection. However, Starkiller can still use the Force to break out of carbonite with ease.
  • Bittersweet Ending: Starkiller manages to save his friends, but he dies while buying them time to escape.
  • Blade Lock
  • Blind Seer: Rahm Kota, who becomes this after he loses his vision in a lightsaber battle
  • Bonus Boss: The climax of the Jedi Temple mission[1] is a duel with an evil hallucination of the Dark Side version of Starkiller
  • Broad Strokes: While not exactly with a Literary Agent Hypothesis to justify it, but the crazy uses of the force can easily be used in this way. And accounting for the fact that despite how powerful Galen is, Vader and Palpatine still seem to be more powerful.
  • Bulletproof Human Shield: Appears in the sequel during the "Battle of Endor" DLC level. Starkiller uses Chewbacca as a shield against Han Solo's blaster.
  • The Cameo: Jar Jar Binks, who shows up frozen in carbonite in the Kashyyyk level. In addition, R2-D2 shows up in the background in a few cutscenes because... well, he's R2-D2, and the last hologram PROXY uses during his fight with Galen? Darth Maul.
    • There are loads of film and video game characters available as costumes, from Kit Fisto to Darth Sion to Obi-Wan.
    • Yoda and Boba Fett make brief appearances in the second game, with Wedge Antilles making a cameo in the novelization.
    • Guybrush Threepwood is playable in II as an outfit for Starkiller.
  • Captain Obvious: Kota descends into this sometimes, especially when he's serving as Mission Control in the second game.

(while staring down an enormous, God of War-style boss)
Starkiller: What the hell is this thing??
Kota: I have no idea. But it's big.
Starkiller: That's perceptive, for a blind man.

  • Code Name: see above - in fact, more fans know him better as "Starkiller" than his real name. Then again, his real name is only mentioned in the book.
    • In the second novel no one calls him anything but Starkiller and his real name is barely used once, and even then the speaker only gets the first syllable out before being cut off.
  • Collection Sidequest: The Jedi Holocrons.
  • Colon Cancer: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed: Ultimate Sith Edition.
  • Continuity Nod: One of the toughest non-boss enemies, the "Imperial Purge Troopers", are prototype Dark Troopers (Giant Mook killer robots) from the Dark Forces Saga.
    • And at the end of II the Rebels take Vader to Dantooine. Is it any wonder he knows about it and they've evacuated it by A New Hope?
  • Corridor Cubbyhole Run: Inside the Sarlaac and in the Death Star's cannon
  • Coup De Grace Cutscene: The Quicktime Events at the end of boss battles.
  • Cutscene Power to the Max: Finishing moves in boss fights. Come to think of it, this is actually the only way that he actually kills any bosses.
  • Darker and Edgier: The creators claim this for the story of the sequel with it being more personal for Starkiller. Turned out to be ironic since the sequel has a far happier ending than the first game.
    • Though they only have one year in-story for Vader to escape custody, Leia to be chased down, and Starkiller, Juno, and Kota to mysteriously disappear, so III will more than make up for it - if there is a III.
    • The series however is quick darker in general compared to Star Wars video games and even the trilogy itself. You are not some plucky Rebel resistance member who acquires the power of the force but rather an Anti-Villain turned Anti-Hero (possibly, unless you are playing the DLC which then turns the Darker and Edgier Up to Eleven as you completely destroy all hope) who works for the Empire (or rather Vader).
  • Deadpan Snarker: Starkiller goes into this territory sometimes, more obvious in the second game when another character is running Mission Control.

Starkiller: (after the lift stops) Do any elevators on this ship work?
PROXY: 6% of lifts are in working order...3%
Starkiller: Thanks for the update...

  • Death Is a Slap on The Wrist: You just go back to the last Check Point and lose a few Force points.
  • Death World: Felucia. Not only is it infested with rancors, some of which the hostile natives ride on top of, and has the largest sarlacc specimen in the galaxy, even the plants are out for your blood. Those that don't try to kill you directly by spitting venom at you at least explode violently if you so much as brush lightly against them.
  • Determinator: If Vader took Juno to the gates of Hell, Starkiller would be right behind him.
  • Development Gag: "Starkiller" was going to be Luke's surname in the prototypical Star Wars.
  • The Dev Team Thinks of Everything: So what happens when I pick up a TIE fighter, move it above an enemy, and then force push it straight down? The game awards me a "Crush Bonus".
    • You can get a bonus by freezing a number of storm troopers in carbonite, either throwing them into tanks, throwing the tanks at them or ripping off a pipeline and spraying them with it. In the sequel, there's even an achievement for it.
  • Did Not Do the Research: In the sequel, Starkiller flees Kamino in Darth Vader's fighter, the TIE Advanced x1 prototype, which has deflector shields, a low-grade hyperdrive, and no life support system (it's Vader's ship, and being Vader he always has one on). Apparently Starkiller can breathe in space.
    • Although he does show up in the next level in a dressed down Imperial Pilot's uniform. Maybe Vader had a spare for his valet?
  • Didn't See That Coming: Really, Palpatine. You didn't think your unnecessarily long plan to unite the rebels behind your apprentice's secret apprentice could backfire in any way?
  • Disposable Pilot: Galen mentions that there were seven pilots before Juno.
  • DLC: In the original, Tatooine and Hoth. The Jedi Temple is available as DLC as well, though it's already included in the Wii version.
    • Preordering the second game from Gamestop gave players Maulkiller costume, as well as silver lightsaber crystals. An Endor mission is available for purchase for II as well.
  • Doomed by Canon: Anyone who appears in the original trilogy has to survive, and, well, one would think an insanely powerful rogue Jedi/Sith would have been mentioned if he was still in the picture, wouldn't you?
    • He's still alive for there to be a sequel. Course he has to die one way or another in the end, though this being Star Wars, it's possible he's put on-ice or did die and someone brought him back via cloning. Word of God says that the plot of II will deal with finding out exactly who you are.
      • Turns out, Starkiller doesn't find out who he really is, though he will probably find out if there is a III, since Vader is captured by the Rebel Alliance. It seems likely that original Starkiller was Only Mostly Dead, since apparently cloning Force-Sensitivity results in psychosis, insanity and suicidal tendencies-and who wants an enraged Starkiller running around screwing up all your stuff.
  • Doppelganger Replacement Love Interest: Starkiller may qualify as this for Juno in the sequel.
  • Downer Ending: One choice you can make will unlock the non-canon dark side ending. Oh, boy, is it a Downer Ending—Everybody gets dead or screwed over. And the Sith Edition expands on it with new levels.
    • Well, I've got good news and bad news. Good news: Luke doesn't die and his friends escape Galen. Bad news: Luke succumbs to the dark side and becomes Galen's apprentice. Oh yeah, Obi-Wan's dead and the Rebellion is pretty much screwed, but hey! At least they blew up the Death Star.
    • Even the Light Side ending can be seen as a downer since Galen is killed in trying to save the rebels.
  • Dramatic Space Drifting: Happens to Starkiller after being spaced at one point.
  • Drowning My Sorrows: When Galen seeks out Kota for the Rebellion, he finds the Jedi in a bar on Cloud City, slightly tipsy.
  • Dual-Wielding: Maris Brood in the first game, Galen in the second game.
  • The Dulcinea Effect: Oh so much in the sequel though it isn't one-sided (at least not in the book where there is a lot more of Juno). Both Starkiller and Juno are fucking out of their minds in what they do to try and save each other even though their little flirtations in the first game didn't seem that serious.
    • Although it sort of makes sense. When you consider that Juno is the first woman Galen's had any real, meaningful interaction with/hasn't killed, and is the first person who has ever really cared about him, it makes a lot of sense that he would do anything to keep her safe. As for Juno, Kota outright told her that she was Galen's tether to the Light Side. I'm guessing that is not something she takes lightly.
  • Dying Declaration of Love: Right before Galen heads down to the Death Star to save the leaders of the Rebellion from Palpatine, his pilot Juno Eclipse gives him a Last Kiss in case he doesn't return.
  • Early-Bird Cameo: Starkiller appeared in Soul Calibur IV before the release of The Force Unleashed.
  • Easter Egg: Numerous. Two occur on the Raxus Prime levels in the first game. First time there, one thing you can pull out of the yellow toxic sludge is Luke's starfighter, a la Dagobah style. The second time you're there, you can spot a piece of junk in the wall - specifically, the front half of the Millenium Falcon.
    • Pressing the Lightning button while playing as Vader in the first level performs the classic "You Have Failed Me..." Force Choke. Except in the DS version.
  • Egomaniac Hunter: Ozzik Sturn qualifies.
  • Elite Mooks: Besides regular Stormtroopers, you fight a variety of elite special troopers, including flying, flamethrower-equipped Jumptroopers, black-armored Shadowtroopers with cloaking devices, and the Imperial Royal Guards.
  • Enemy Chatter
  • Escort Mission: Not as frustrating as others, though, as your ward is a goddamn Jedi! He's not invincible, but he has such a huge amount of health that basically the only way for him to die is to intentionally kill him.
  • Everything Breaks / Die, Chair, Die!: Even the windows on space ships! Metal shutters automatically seal the holes after about a second, but everything close to them will be sucked through. And everyone.
  • Evilly Affable: Proxy, due to his programming, becomes a hybrid of C-3P0 and HK-47. Though given that he sacrifices himself for Starkiller in the end and there were signs of genuine fondness for Galen (later Juno) mentioned in the novel, PROXY wasn't Evilly Affable through and through. The only reason he does qualify is that he really does try to kill Starkiller every time they duel (though it's justified as it's meant to keep Starkiller's combat skills sharp).
  • Evil Knockoff: The dark apprentice at the end of the second game.
  • Eye Scream: A lot in the first game - for starters, General Kota, with his own lighsaber. Ouch. The final cinematic in the Dark Side ending has some of this in 1st person view. The Stalker model also has a small droplet of blood leaking from the visor, hinting at some nastiness underneath, which is in some ways even more disturbing than the previous instance. The finishing move for some Rancors invokes this as well
  • Fake Difficulty: Happens occasionally due to interface troubles. The Kazdan Paratus fight is the most notorious example of this. Between the boss spamming Force Push indefinitely if the player turtles, to the Camera Screw limiting the player's motion, this fight is difficult for the wrong reasons.
  • Foreshadowing: In the prologue, Kento Marek is shown pulling down Tie Fighters. Guess what his kid does?
    • Shaak Ti's warning that the Sith betray one another. It's already shown that Vader is not actually training his apprentice to stage a coup. Then, Vader betrays his apprentice. Twice.
    • There's also Kota's warning to Starkiller that fighting the Empire is pointless and he'll eventually be killed or worse. He's exactly right, the two endings are a Heroic Sacrifice and a Fate Worse Than Death.
  • Fate Worse Than Death: The Dark Side ending in the first game has Starkiller enslaved by the Emperor and being transformed into a cybernetic monstrosity very much like Vader.
  • Five-Bad Band
  • Flash Step: Palpatine.
  • Flunky Boss: Palpatine. His guards will step in every once in a while.
    • Vader does this in the sequel. "Jump up to platform, send in Elite Mooks."
  • The Force: Duh.
  • Free-Fall Fight: The Gorog.
  • Fungus Humongous: The Felucia levels.
  • Gatling Good: The Militia Elites in the first level and the Rodian Heavy Defenders in the second and eighth levels.
  • Gambit Roulette: Going by the graphic novel, Galen's entire path to the Dark Side (being kidnapped as a child and taken to be raised/tortured for life by Vader, having Vader betray him, pretty much everything except maybe actually siding with the rebels) was one by the Emperor in order to take someone more powerful than Vader and shape him to be Vader's replacement.
  • Genre Savvy: The novelization of the second game makes a point that while Starkiller's purpose is still to Always Save the Girl no matter what, he is careful to avoid falling onto The Dark Side, as Juno most likely would not want to be with a monster he would become on it.
  • Gladiator Games: In the second game.
  • Good Costume Switch: The novel mentions that Starkiller starts wearing robes more like those of the Jedi in order to be more presentable to the Rebel leaders, who all remember the Jedi as the good guys of times past. His outfits are a bit more ambiguous in the game, where his last outfit is a gray and black robe.
    • The "Ceremonial Jedi Robes" unlocked after getting the (canonical) 'good' ending.
      • These make a comeback in the sequel.
  • Good Is Dumb: Zig zagged. At the end, when Kota tries the old If You Kill Him You Will Be Just Like Him spiel, Starkiller points out to him that it's a trick and Palpatine isn't beaten yet. He's fully aware it's a feint. But the moment he then lets go of his anger and makes a Heel Face Turn for good, he immediately forgets this and falls for the trick anyway. It's as if the act of becoming a good guy instantly halved his IQ.
  • Groin Attack: The X+A/Square+X grapple in the sequel has Galen stabbing many enemies here. It may look like the stomach at first, but the blade's going through that poor stormtrooper's codpiece.
  • The Gump: Galen. Full force and in all the wrong debatable ways.
    • Juno starts to get in on the action too during her story in the second novel.
  • Hailfire Peaks: An Imperial base inside a sarlacc? WTK?
  • Heel Face Turn: Starkiller and to a lesser extent Juno
  • Heroic Sacrifice: In the canonical light-side ending, Galen sacrifices himself to buy time for the senators to escape from the Emperor - and, as Vader and the Emperor note, in doing so, he's become a martyr for the Rebel Alliance that will ultimately be their undoing. Also, PROXY.
  • He's Back: When Galen and the Rebel founders arrive at Corellia to sign the Declaration of Rebellion, General Kota suddenly shows up, having shed his blindfold, and dressed in full Jedi General regalia. A bewildered Galen says, "I thought you were passed-out in the cargo hold," to which he responds, "I finally came to!"
    • You can say the same thing about Galen in the sequel given that he died in the last game.
  • Hitler's Time Travel Exemption Act: In the new alternate storyline, it is revealed that if you kill the Rebel Alliance's founding leaders, the Alliance is formed anyway, presumably by the escaped Leia. Given that the other members were all known and had to go underground or were under careful watch by the empire this is probably not that far from what happened in the lightside ending either.
  • Hoist by His Own Petard: Vader's plans for Starkiller end up this way. In the sequel, Starkiller can turn enemy attacks against them.
  • Hot Amazon: Leia in the Endor DLC. Sign me up for the rebellion!
    • Shaak Ti in Part 1.
  • Hunting the Most Dangerous Game: Galen hunting Jedi during the first game, obviously.
    • Ozzik Sturn, the general on Kashyyyk, also mentions that he'd like to hunt Jedi before attacking Galen in a custom AT-ST. Galen responds by ripping one of the guns off the AT-ST and clubbing the walker with it. Did we mention the gun's bigger than him?
  • If You Kill Him You Will Be Just Like Him: General Kota insists that Galen not kill the emperor because he thinks it will make him fall to The Dark Side. The key was "not kill him in anger". Force sensitives are like potential alcoholics: one little sip of The Dark Side and Bam! Face Heel Turn. A viable solution would have been to let Kota do the deed (he had better emotional grounding and slightly less hate for the emperor), or even one of the captured senators (what? Regicide is fun!) But of course, stopping to debate these things around Genre Savvy Palpatine is one surefire way to get lightninged up.
    • An alternate interpretation is that Kota himself is the one being Genre Savvy in this scene; he doesn't want Galen to attempt the killing blow because he's pretty sure the Emperor is playing possum and wants it for the chance to counterattack. Galen himself even says that Palpatine is stronger than anyone realizes and you can't trust his feeble appearance, even when he's flat on his back; the best option is to get away from him. The fact that Palpatine is able to get right up and attack so strongly that Galen has to sacrifice himself just to distract him long enough for the others to run gives this some credence. That is EXACTLY what Darth Sidious did to Mace Windu in order to trick Anakin Skywalker into thinking him helpless.
    • Oh no it's not. Palpatine moved to use lightning against the Rebels, so Starkiller moved in to block. He would have probably won again, but noticed Vader showing up with reinforcements, so to buy time and distract Vader and the reinforcements, not Palpatine, he gives himself to the Force and causes an explosion. Mace Windu did genuinely defeat Sidious. Mace invented a whole new lightsaber style, named Vaapad, which was all but unbeatable, channelling both the user's and the opponent's hate into a loop of Light Side energy. Even Sidious couldn't beat that.
    • There's also a practical political issue for the Rebels here, since their master plan relies on the fact once the Emperor and Vader are eliminated, the Empire has no clear line of succession and will descend into warring factions and outright warloadism that will be easy picking for the unified Rebels. However, if Palpatine is killed by an insanely powerful former Sith apprentice, there is a clear successor to the throne with a strong and legitimate claim to it. Sure he's allied with the Rebels now, but since he's already well acquainted with the Dark Side and killing Palpatine has well and truly put him down the Dark path, it's only a matter of time before he makes a Face Heel Turn and the Rebels are right back where they started.
  • I Just Shot Marvin in the Face: Starkiller looks to very nearly take Senator Organa's head off with his lightsaber in his Reverse Grip style while the senator is standing right behind him. You can see it here at 3:50.
  • I Lied: After Starkiller gathers the leaders of the soon-to-be Rebel Alliance in an attempt to distract the Emperor long enough for him and Vader to stage a coup, Vader himself crashes the party and tells his "apprentice" that the whole plan was a ploy to get all the rebels in one place and capture them in one swoop.

Starkiller: "You agreed to stay away!"
Vader: "I lied, as I have from the very beginning."

    • Happens again in the sequel's Dark Side ending.

Vader: I lied when I said the cloning process was not yet perfected.

Kota: The main cannon is offline. We're dead in the water without it! See what you can do.
Starkiller: Do I look like an engineer, General?

  • Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Many attacks involving the lightsaber. Also an ability.
  • Improvised Weapon: Well, basically anything, really, thanks to the Force and physics engine, but in the Hoth level of the Ultimate Sith Edition, you can rip the blaster cannons off of X-wings - and shoot them by using lightning.
  • In the Hood: Several of Starkiller's outfits, most notably the "Jedi Adventure Robe" which he wears at the end.
  • Ink Suit Actor: Starkiller, Juno Eclipse, Rahm Kota, and Maris Brood all look very much like their voice actors, as LucasArts used facial recognition technology to incorporate the likeness of the actors into the game. Bail Organa was also voiced by Jimmy Smitts, but he was in the live action movies anyway.
  • Invulnerable Attack
  • It Seemed Like a Good Idea At the Time: Amazing how a suggestion from one of the most feared people in Star Wars to entrap political dissidents ends up becoming a major problem to the Empire later on.
  • I've Got Your Girl: In the sequel Darth Vader hires Boba Fett to capture Juno Eclipse in order to lure Starkiller into a trap.

Darth Vader: As long as she lives, I will always control you.

  • I Want You to Meet An Old Friend of Mine: Sam Witwer (the voice of Starkiller) and David W. Collins (the voice for PROXY) are friends in real life.
  • Jedi Mind Trick: One of Starkiller's powers in the sequel. Taken Up to Eleven as it turns stormtroopers into bombs at max power.
  • Kubrick Stare: Pretty much any promotional material has Starkiller doing this nigh constantly.
  • Landfill Beyond the Stars: "Where droids go to die."
  • Leave No Witnesses: "The Emperor must not discover your presence. Kill everyone aboard..."
  • Loads and Loads of Loading: The first game. The PlayStation 2 version is notoriously bad about it - the gameplay itself runs smoothly enough, but going through the menus during the rest period between stages quickly becomes a hassle. Scrolling through the various custom outfits can take between 10–20 seconds per shift, with close to a dozen possible outfits to choose from and no way to skip to the one you want.
  • Kick the Dog: Or drop kick an Ewok in the sequel's Endor DLC level.
  • Loners Are Freaks: Kazdan Paratus. Being isolated on a junkyard planet led him to constructing a replica of the Jedi Temple out of scrap, complete with robotic versions of the last Jedi Council. He speaks to said replica Jedis as if they are alive, and freaks out when Starkiller/Galen trashes them.
  • Love Redeems
  • Meteor Move: The most satisfying of Galen's (many) moves in The Force Unleashed is a variation of Type B in which he slashes his opponent multiple times into the air with his lightsaber, grabs him by the throat and then crashes into the ground below, usually sending a resounding shockwave that ripples outward, sending the usually-present crowd of hapless Stormtrooper screaming into the air, setting up for yet-another combo.
  • Morality Chain: Juno Eclipse was the one clear thought, the one bright spark Galen Marek held on to, even at the end...sort of ironic, given she is a highly decorated imperial officer who worked her way up through the ranks (given the empire's considerable gender bias and if other imperial females who worked up the ranks are anything to judge by this suggests she must have been fanatically loyal) and is fine with carting around an assassin through space to kill just about anyone even other imperials just because she was ordered to do so. Yes really that is the backstory of the person who gets you to turn away from the dark side. Does that seem right to anyone else?
    • Not necessarily. Many a Rebel officer was once in Imperial colors (Han Solo, Crix Madine, Kyle Katarn), and many an Imperial officer was a Punch Clock Villain at best. Yes, Juno must have done a few nasty things in the line of duty...but she wasn't much older than Galen, and the Empire was all she knew. Juno was just as much as prisoner as Galen...just had a longer leash due to her NOT being Force-lit.
    • Apparently the reason she was flying for Starkiller in the first place was because she had misgivings about her orders and wasn't considered sadistic enough to go places. She wasn't particularly moral, but she was genuinely convinced to join the Rebellion when Starkiller was acting, and his love for her kept him focused on the Light.
  • Multi Platform: Released on just about anything that plays games. Anything means anything. Even the Mac. Even the N-Gage''.
  • Multiple Endings: Like most other Star Wars games, there's Light and Dark Side endings. As with all Star Wars games, the Light Side ending detailed above in Heroic Sacrifice is canon; the Dark Side ending has Galen forced to become Palpatine's new cyborg apprentice lackey, much like what happened to Vader...except Palps specifically tells him that he will soon cast him aside. Quite a Downer Ending if there ever was one.
    • The Ultimate Sith DLC adds an alternate story based on the Dark Side ending, with Starkiller becoming Palpatine's apprentice and proceeding to kill off the heroes of the series.
    • And the sequel as well. In the Light Side, you spare Vader's life and take him prisoner, but as the rebels jump to Hyperspace, Boba Fett's Slave 1 takes off behind you setting up a Sequel Hook. In the Dark Side, you are about to finish Vader when you're impaled by a lightsaber. It turns out you weren't the first stable clone, and THIS one is loyal to Vader. He then takes off to hunt down the remaining Rebels. The downloadable Endor mission follows. Oh, and in the Light Side, Juno lives and in the Dark Side she dies.
  • Mundane Utility: Force Lighting, the black line between the light side and the dark side, makes a great lantern.
    • Better than the lightsaber even.
  • Ms. Fanservice: Juno Eclipse, who is showing much more cleavage than is probably regulation for Imperial shuttle pilots. Hilariously, when Proxy assumes her form while telling Galen about her, his depiction has her in properly-fastened uniform. This is how you tell them apart until he drops the hologram.
    • Maris Brood was even more so than Juno. Her very purpose in the game seems to be so you can fight a hot chick as a boss.
  • Mythology Gag: In early drafts of the script for Star Wars, Luke's last name was supposed to be "Starkiller."
    • Also, in the Light Side ending, Vader declares that Starkiller is dead, and Palpatine comments that "he is more powerful than we can possibly imagine."
    • The Marek crest is the Alliance Starbird.
    • Kota's fleet comes out of hyperspace over Kamino to find that the Empire set a trap and were waiting for them. Sound familiar?
    • The Imperial announcer over Kamino's PA:

PA: Rebel troops have entered the base, Rebel troops have-->static<

    • The databank for the AT-ST has the Empire dismissing outrageous claims that it is prone to "falling over".
    • One of the database entries in II is written by one Lieutenant Piete, who hopes to transfer off Vader's ship before receiving any more promotions.
  • Neck Lift: Using his trademarked Force choke, Vader does this to Juno in the second game.
    • Vader did this in the first game to Kento Marek.
  • Nerf: The lightsaber, to some degree. The focus on the game is not so much direct combat but environment manipulation and force powers. And many enemies you don't want to get close to.
    • Indeed, attacking an enemy with a lightsaber seems tantamount to hitting them with a stick. Except in cutscenes, of course.
    • The saber thankfully improved in the sequel; at max power, it can take out an average mook in one to two hits.
  • New Game+
  • No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Meta-Example, as with enough playthroughs (and the powerups you get from New Game+ ) any match of you(the player) vs. any squad of mooks becomes this.
  • Nubile Savage: Shaak Ti dresses like this. The last 20 years may have been hard for her, but she was a Jedi Master! To be fair though, all those heavy robes probably wouldn't have been very practical in the jungles of Felucia (see Galen's own outfit for the first Felucia level.)
    • Her padawan, Maris Brood, is not exactly fully dressed either. At least from the waist up.
  • Old Save Bonus: Having a save file from the first game on the PS3/360 unlocks Galen's initial outfit and the costumes the player receives upon completing the Light & Dark Side Endings in the first game,
  • Ominous Walk: To emphasize that you're Darth FUCKING Vader you are limited to this in the first level which also serves as a tutorial level.
  • Our Giants Are Bigger: Force Unleashed II figures the only way to top a fight with a Rancor is to have Starkiller fight a beast big enough to crush a rancor in it's hand. And he still beats it!
  • Person of Mass Destruction: Galen, at least if the video game is any indication.
  • Power Creep, Power Seep: More of a meta example really, it is annoying that Starkiller is pulling Star Destroyers out of orbit while in the original trilogy Yoda, generally accepted as one of if the most powerful Jedi struggled to lift an X-Wing out of a bog. It makes the game fun, but it sort of cheapens other characters' accomplishments.
    • Technically, Starkiller didn't pull one out of orbit but rather nudged it in another direction while it was already falling out of the sky (it was knocked loose when the cannon destroyed its platform). He was a powerful Force user at the peak of his prime, fueled by an adrenaline rush to stay alive since the ship was going to fall on him if he didn't do something. Yoda with Luke's ship, on the other hand, was very close to the end of his life, wasn't in a life threatening situation and probably hadn't used his Force powers like that in years.
    • Word of God says that, canonically, Starkiller is THE most powerful Force user to have, thus far, entered the Star Wars universe. This is especially impressive when you read the Expanded Universe and see just how insane Luke gets.
  • The Power of Love
  • Pre-Ass-Kicking One-Liner

Juno: They're fortifying all positions to try to keep you out.
Starkiller: Let them try...

  • Press X to Not Die: The ends of boss battles use Quicktime Events.
  • Properly Paranoid: General Kota, who during the Clone Wars did not trust the Clone Troopers and instead relied upon personally trained soldiers. This helped him escape Order 66 rather easily.
  • Psychic-Assisted Suicide: Starkiller can make Mooks jump off ledges or into other situations that result in death with his Mind-Trick.
  • Raised by Orcs
  • Ramming Always Works: In the second game, during the Rebel attack on Kamino, you get to ram an evacuated Rebel cruiser into the main Imperial cloning facility / base. Easily one of the coolest moments of the series. And judging by the flash, the cruiser's reactors went up on impact, multipliying the destruction.
  • Redemption Equals Death: Galen.
  • Redemption Promotion: Galen is certainly skilled as the secret apprentice, but he becomes insanely powerful as he grows closer to the good guys.
  • Refuge in Audacity: The main selling point of the game is being capable of slicing an AT-ST in half vertically and launching Stormtroopers into the next time zone...and pulling a Star Destroyer down from orbit.
    • That last example is actually so audacious that Galen himself doesn't think he can do it... only for General Kota whom he'd earlier blinded, to tell him this, as a nod to what Yoda told Luke in the second part of the original trilogy:

"You're a Jedi, boy! Size means nothing to you!"

  • Resurrected Romance: In the sequel Starkiller's primary motivation for breaking free from Vader's control after being brought back from the dead is to find Juno. It's unclear whether he is a clone or not, but she seems quite willing to accept him back into her life.
  • Reverse Grip: Galen's lightsaber wielding style.
  • Robot Buddy: PROXY. Subverted in that PROXY's standing orders are to kill Galen. Nevertheless, he's quite friendly toward his master/target. And he even tries to save his master from Vader, sacrificing himself in the process.
    • Note that when he sacrificing himself, the programming that told him to kill Galen were also gone by that point after the smelter's computer core "possessed" PROXY and was destroyed when Starkiller killed the facility. Of course, it's understandable if it's not all that familiar, considering how the Wii version omitted this fact.
  • Say My Name: In the sequel...

Starkiller: PROXY!
PROXY: Master?
Starkiller and PROXY in unison: I thought you were dead?!?

  • Send in the Clones: The sequel might as well have been called Star Wars: The Force Unleashed: The Clone Saga.
  • Sequel Hook: The second game ends with a rather strong one.
  • Shadow Archetype: Galen has been described as Luke if he had joined Vader or if he were raised by him.
  • Shipped in Shackles: Vader at the end of the second game.
  • Shout-Out: Like many other Star Wars characters (Coleman Trebor, Dannl Faytoni), Kazdan Paratus' name is a shout-out to a crew member—namely, Lawrence Kasdan, who wrote Empire and Jedi (and Raiders of the Lost Ark).
    • May not be intentional, but the Kato Neimoidia level introduces a lucrative and lavish casino, and enemies that fire missles, which you can grab and redirect back at them. Very similar to a 2008 sci-fi game called Path of the Furon.
    • In the sequel, there is an achievement/trophy called "Poor Bob". One must lift a Stormtrooper in the air, impale him with your lightsaber, strike him with lightning, and fling him into an object. Which is what happened to a poor Stormtrooper (called Bob) in this Penny Arcade comic.
    • The achievements for beating Boba Fett in the first game's Tattooine DLC is called "And The Quarterback is Toast" - a rare case of a Shout Out to a Shout Out, as the original quote comes from Die Hard.
    • One of the Rebels in the Wii version shouts that the terror droids are "coming out of the walls!", in a very similar fashion to what some of the characters say about the Xenomorphs from Aliens.
    • The Achievement for killing a certain number of stormtroopers? Worst Day-Shift Manager Ever. Possibly an Actor Allusion, given the fact that Vader is voiced by Matt Sloan...
    • During the final battle with Palpatine, Palpatine will say to Starkiller "You will scream just like your father" in such a way that almost echoes what Andross told Fox McCloud in the Easy route of Venom in Star Fox 64.
    • In the first game, in the Empirical, Starkiller is refered to as "Subject 1138". Similarly, in the sequel, the password Kota gives The Salvation is "Talus Haroon Ten Eleven Thirty-Eight".
  • The Slow Walk: In the level where you control him, Darth Vader does not walk. He stomps forward. Not surprisingly, his battles against the defending Wookiees and the protagonist's father become a straightforward curbstomp or more correctly, a single-handed No-Holds-Barred Beatdown.
  • Spider Limbs: Kazdan Paratus.
  • Storming the Castle
  • Strapped to An Operating Table: Where Starkiller wakes up after being spaced. And it happens to him again in the dark side ending.
  • Supernatural Martial Arts: Most evident during the Action Command sequences. During the final sequence fighting Kasdan Paratus it almost feels like an Avatar: The Last Airbender action scene.
  • Superpowered Mooks: The Shadow Guard enemies have lightsaber-lances and can perform several of the same Force powers as you. The robotic Purge Troopers also qualify, thanks to their inhuman power and durability. They're immune to some of your Force powers, at higher difficulty levels, they can take a third of your lifebar with a single attack and their moves cannot be interrupted except by Force Lightning (their only weakness amongst direct Force attacks) or throwing objects at them.
  • Take That: In one level, you can find Jar Jar Binks frozen in a block of carbonite.
    • Salacious Crumb's disembodied head can be seen in one of the gladiator arena cutscenes.
  • Talking to Himself: Sam Witwer voices both Galen and Emperor Palpatine, and is a shockingly good impression of the latter.
  • A Taste of Power: The first level of the first game puts the player in control of Darth Vader, who has almost the full set of Force Powers that Galen will eventually use.
  • There Is No Kill Like Overkill: A fun overkill at lower levels is to pick up an enemy, throw your saber into them, shoot them with lightning, and then force push them (preferably into something explosive). And then you get the stronger force powers.
  • They Were Holding You Back
  • Trailers Always Lie: Trailers for the second game featured the tagline "Unleash Truth". At no point in the game is it ever stated if Starkiller is a clone or the revived Galen.
  • Tutorial Failure: Feel free to completely ignore the on-screen instructions in the Star Destroyer level, because you will get absolutely nowhere trying to follow them.
  • Tyke Bomb: Galen
  • The Unfought: Boba Fett from the second game.
    • Perhaps justified since Boba can already be fought in the first game during the Dark Side Tatooine DLC & the developers couldn't come up with a way to make the two fights different enough to warrant it.
  • The Un-Reveal: Is Starkiller a clone in the sequel? Your guess is as good as mine.
  • Video Game Cruelty Potential: The amount of ways you can kill enemies in the game is ridiculous. Penny Arcade has a comic that provides a sample.
    • Apparently the developers read that strip, because in the sequel, you get the "Poor Bob" achievement for Force Gripping a Stormtrooper, then stabbing, shocking and pushing him while in your grip.
  • Villains Never Lie: In the sequel, Kota calls Starkiller out for thinking this—believing Vader when he told him he was a clone. Though there is a lot of evidence supporting the idea, Vader has lied a lot in the past.
  • "Wake-Up Call" Boss: General Kota. While not too difficult, he is the first opponent that can resist and use Force powers that Galen (who at this time is considerably weaker than Darth Vader) faces.
  • We Will Use Manual Labor in the Future: Or in a galaxy far far away that has space ships, upsidedown cities and other modern marvels.
  • Weld the Lock: During your breakout from the Empirical, a cutscene shows a purge trooper welding shut a door through which you have to go. You also have to go through the purge trooper and two EVO troopers.
  • Wham! Line: This exchange, after which the direction of the game (along with Starkiller's life) changes completely.

Starkiller: You have lured the Emperor to us? When do we strike?
Darth Vader: I did not summon him. [ignites his lightsaber through Starkiller's back] His spies followed you here.

  • What Happened to the Mouse?: Inverted. In the Dark Side ending from the sequel, Starkiller goes to kill Vader... Only to be stabbed by a clone that Vader had rid of Galen's personality, with several unlockable videos explaining the Dark Apprentice's origin & where he came from. At no point is he even hinted at during the Light Side ending, making the supplementary videos entirely pointless if that's the Canon ending, since we get the origin for a character who canonically doesn't even exist within the game that introduced him.
    • Not quite. Notice that when he reveals himself, he has some kind of invisibility gadget or power? In the DS ending he shows himself because Vader is about to get killed. In the LS ending there's no reason for him to do so, but that doesn't mean he's not there. Invisible. Lurking.
  • What Measure Is a Mook?: Deluges of this trope. The novelization has Juno angrily tell Starkiller that one of the people he just casually massacred was an old friend of hers, but when he apologizes she says it's okay, since she hadn't talked to him in years anyway. Late in the novel Galen - by that point the narration had picked up on his name - is horrified about how Vader's plan involved letting thousands of loyal Imperials get slaughtered, nevermind that he'd done about half of that all by himself, delighting in how easy it was.
  • When All You Have Is a Hammer: Just use the Force & turn the hammer Up to Eleven. At least, that's Starkiller's reponse in the sequel when The Salvation has it's main cannon knocked offline.
  • White-Haired Pretty Girl: Juno Eclipse.
  • Womb Level: The Sarlacc pit.
  • The Worf Effect: Heroic, or at least protagonist, inversion - the second-to-last boss fight of the game is the original intergalactic Badass, Darth Vader. The fight ends when Galen picks him up, bashes him all over the room with the Force, and throws him through a wall. This is the black-armored man that haunted kids' nightmares for decades we're talking about here, and Galen throws him around like a ragdoll!
    • To be fair, the fight is fairly challenging up to that point. Also, if you choose the Dark Side ending by choosing to fight him again (instead of Palpatine), then the second time around he's a lot nastier. Seriously. Whoever said that the Dark Side was the "quicker and easier path" deserves to be shot.
      • And then in the second game he is back to being ominous Badass throughout the entire final battle no matter which ending you choose. Hmmm.
    • A Rancor, you know, like Jabba's pet, gets tossed about like a squeaky toy by the Gorog.
  • World of Cardboard Speech: In the sequel, Starkiller pretty much gives one of these to Vader.

"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."

  • Wreaking Havok: See Person of Mass Destruction and Video Game Cruelty Potential above.
  • Xanatos Gambit: Darth Vader puts in motion a gambit that helps regain much of his intergalactic badass quality he might have lost over the years. Even if, somehow, the members of the new rebel alliance escape, he still knows who they are.
  • You Have Failed Me...: Lord Starkiller's response to the bungling of the Hoth assault, to an unsuspecting Captain Keenah.
  • You Keep Using That Word: The word "destiny" seemed to be used by Darth Vader a whole hell of a lot but it was never consistent at all. Vader just seemed to use it when he wanted Starkiller to do something.
    • This is lampshaded a couple times in the novelization for the second game, used to highlight just how insane Darth Vader really is.
  • You Killed My Father: Starkiller shouts this during his final battle with Darth Vader. Disappointingly, Vader does not reply with "No, I AM your father!".
    • Inverted in the Ultimate Sith Edition where Starkiller tells Luke what happened to Vader.
  1. ↑ Included in the Wii version, optional DLC for the PS3, Xbox 360, and PC versions
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