Canderous Ordo

"Many battles does that one have left in him... as Revan intended. A general needs an army, as he needs those he trusts. And Canderous is a loyal beast, no matter how much he is broken upon Revan's will."

- Darth Traya

Canderous Ordo was a veteran Mandalorian soldier who fought in the Great Sith War, Mandalorian Wars, and at the end of the Jedi Civil War. He would later become Mandalore, leader of the Mandalorians.

Biography


Canderous was born on the Mandalorian world of Ordo, to the Clan of Ordo. By the end of the Jedi Civil War, he had fought with the Mandalorians "for over forty of [Revan's] years." He fought with the Crusaders during the Great Sith War, and following their defeat, was quickly recruited by Mandalore the Ultimate into the Neo-Crusaders.

Before the Mandalorian Wars started, he witnessed what may have been the first Yuuzhan Vong scouting of the Galaxy when he spotted an asteroid-sized ship that spat fire and bore many similarities to those used by the Yuuzhan Vong. Yet, the vessel also resembles the asteroid-like ships used by the Vagaari. During that same time period, he took part in the First Battle of Althir in which he defeated an Althiri fleet ten times the size of his own and earned the command of an entire subsect of his clan–and the everlasting hatred of his old friend, Jagi.

When the Mandalorian war of conquest began, Canderous was given the rank of Mandalorian commander under Mandalore the Ultimate, and was one of the few Mandalorians (along with Cassus Fett and Jagi) to survive the Battle of Malachor V. After the defeat of the Mandalorian clans, Canderous came to be employed as an enforcer for a crimelord named Davik Kang on the planet of Taris. When the Sith blockaded the planet, he decided it was time to move on. Assisting Revan in stealing the Ebon Hawk from its current owners, they escaped the planet. Canderous followed Revan in his goals, despite often disagreeing with his choices during the course of his plans. Canderous often regaled Revan with tales of his battles, and would later explain that coming with Revan was a route to finding glorious battle once more, something he could not do under Davik. He also encountered Jagi, who had not forgotten him, and challenged him to a duel in the Dune Sea of Tatooine. Due to his negotiation skills, Revan had Jagi see it Canderous's way, but Canderous was still scarred when Jagi commited suicide.

When Revan left for the Unknown Regions, he knew he could not take any of his friends with him; the path ahead would doom all he cared about. Revan told Canderous that the Sith had helped cause the Mandalorian Wars to weaken the Galactic Republic, thus, the Mandalorian Wars were part of an even greater conflict to destroy the Jedi Order. Upon orders from Revan to unite the scattered remnants of the Mandalorians, Canderous soon recovered the helmet of Mandalore the Ultimate, who had been killed by Darth Revan, and took up the fallen mantle of Mandalore. He returned to their hidden base on Dxun, a small moon orbiting Onderon.

Only a select few knew Canderous was the new Mandalore: some time after leaving Revan, Canderous had sealed himself in a full-body suit of armor. It was rumored that he never took off this armor, except his helmet to eat and drink, and his bottom suit for the restroom. While it seemed Canderous did this to avoid his people realizing their leader was allied with Revan, comments from the former Dark Jedi Kreia implied that there was a second reason for his actions: Canderous did not wish to see his face, the face of a man Revan abandoned.

With the help of the Exile, Canderous united two additional clans to his force on Dxun, one peacefully on Nar Shaddaa, and one on Dantooine by killing its leader, Esok, and ordering the remaining Mandalorians to Dxun.



Doing this helped both Canderous and the Exile, with the most immediate effect being bolstering the Mandalorian ranks, which also helped the Exile as Canderous was pro-Republic, to the point of entering his force on the Republican side of the Onderonian Civil War and the Second Battle of Onderon against General Vaklu, a man he respected (and the sight of the dreaded basiliks coming onto Onderon not only made Vaklu's facists fear, but also the Royalists, even though they were on the Royalists' side), and the Battle of Telos IV against Darth Nihilus, which Canderous distinguished himself by leading a strike force that included the Exile, Visas, himself, disgruntled quartermaster Kex, and several Mandalorian soldiers onto Nihilus's flagship, the Ravager. Ordo helped the Exile and Visas finish off the Dark Lord of the Sith and escape the vessel uninjured.

Canderous was a true warrior, and although some would call him a fanatic, or even a murderer, he was bound by his honor and the pressures of the militaristic Mandalorian way of life. Canderous was always impressed by a show of force, and was an advocate of fighting before diplomacy. He respected Revan for his attack on the Mandalorian fleet and felt no regret or anger about being bested by a clearly superior foe.

Little information has been discovered as to Canderous's fate after his journey with the Jedi Exile. According to predictions made by Kreia, Canderous's future would be one still full of battle. In these battles, Revan's reasoning behind his order to Canderous would be explained; in ordering Canderous to reunite the Mandalorians, they would be remembered for thousands of years to come. It has been supposed that without these battles, the Mandalorians would not have been remembered as strong, honorable warriors&mdash;and without that memory, there would have been no reason for Jango Fett, and later Boba Fett, to don the Mandalorian armor.

Millennia later, a few years before the Clone Wars, clone trooper N-11 was named Ordo by Kal Skirata in honor of the legendary Mandalorian warrior.



Personality
"I've killed a lot of people... criminals, competitors, businessmen, police... women, children... I can't say I'm proud of it, but I have."

- Canderous Ordo

Canderous Ordo was a great warrior, possessing great physical and mental stamina combined with with strategic and tactical skills. His driving personality traits were best described as ambition, discipline, aggression, and loyalty.

He tended to speak in a gruff, serious manner, often relating old war stories. Whenever he encountered war veterans, he would usually ask them about the battles they fought in or what their opinion was of the Mandalorians. He often displayed disappointment when he found that many on the Republic's side did not share his fondness of the past.

Perhaps this was a contributing factor in Canderous becoming disillusioned after the defeat of the Mandalorians. He once expressed this feeling to Revan, explaining that he was no longer the Mandalorian he once was.

Behind the scenes

 * Canderous Ordo was voiced by John Cygan.
 * Canderous's helmet as Mandalore is probably used to show how the armor of later Mandalorians developed.
 * Although there is a Mandalore no helmet texture/model in KotOR II data files, Mandalore/Canderous is never visible without his helmet throughout the actual game. However, in one paticuliar cut element, the Exile can ask T3-M4 if he knew Mandalore, in which T3 and the Exile react as if T3 is showing a hologram, possibly of Revan and Mandalore without his helmet, but the droid actually displays nothing.
 * Bioware had previously used the name "Canderous" for a minor NPC in their first ever RPG, Baldur's Gate.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords
 * Republic Commando: Triple Zero