Mekel

"Can you... can you even go back? I've done some... I mean, I've hurt a lot of people.''" "''It's never too late for anyone to feel compassion. Or remorse. Not even you, Mekel."

- Mekel and Juhani

Mekel was a prospective student of the Sith Academy on Korriban during the waning year of the Jedi Civil War.

Biography
He was met by Revan outside the gates of the Academy tormenting a number of sentients wishing to be admitted. Mekel promised to admit whichever person was able to stand in one place the longest without food, water, or sleep. Revan was angered by this display of cruelty and spoke his mind to the brash Mekel, who only left with a huff and a half-hearted threat.

After Mekel left, Revan convinced the hopefuls to abandon their quest to join the Sith (some by convincing them of the truth and some by lying and saying they didn't make the cut).

Revan would soon meet Mekel again in the tomb of Tulak Hord in the Valley of the Dark Lords. A former headmaster of the Academy, Jorak Uln, had been driven out by Uthar Wynn and became a demented hermit holed up in the tomb, kidnapping any Sith students who happened upon him. Wishing to gain prestige to further infiltrate the Academy, Revan sought out Uln and discovered he had captured Mekel. Revan refused to give in to Jorak's game and allowed himself to be tortured in Mekel's place. Mekel was shocked that someone would sacrifice himself for him, and used the Force to free Revan and help him kill Jorak. Mekel was grateful to Revan for saving his life and decided to leave the Sith Academy.

Though Mekel left the dark side, nothing is known of his ultimate fate; however, statements he made to Revan after being saved seemed to indicate that he would probably not join the Jedi Order.

Powers and abilities
Although Mekel's full arsenal of Force powers is not known, he demonstrated his ability with the dark side power Force drain when he and Revan fought Jorak.

Behind the scenes
If the player chooses the dark side path for this scenario, he can allow Jorak to torture Mekel to death, or he can turn on Mekel after the two defeat Jorak.

Two alignment-neutral possibilities exist as well: If Revan does not kill Jorak quickly enough, Mekel may simply fall in combat, resulting in no alignment shift. If the player does not persuade Mekel to abandon the dark side after defeating Jorak, he will simply stay on at the academy. When the player returns from Naga Sadow's tomb, depending on which choice he made, Mekel may join in with the rest of the academy in attacking him and end up being killed.

Similarly, there are alignment-changing possibilities with Mekel's "hopefuls": Dark side points can be if Revan persuades the Aqualish hopeful that his final task is to kill the guard at the gate. The Aqualish charges the guard, and is quickly killed. Depending on which party members are present, the player will get different responses. Jolee will wonder aloud if all Sith are that gullible when they join the order. Juhani will criticize such cruel, manipulative behavior. Conversely, Zaalbar and HK-47 will be amused, with Zaalbar remarking that he feels no pity whatsoever for the dead Aqualish, and HK praising such skillful "eliminating of the opposition."

Mekel was voiced by Robin Atkin Downes and perhaps his appearance was made to resemble Downes. He is best known as the actor who played the telepath Byron on the sci-fi series, Babylon 5. Downes also provided the voice for Mission's brother in the game, Griff Vao. Downes also voiced the Prince in Prince of Persia: Warrior Within and the Prophet of Regret in the Halo series.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic