Atton Rand

"Atton is, as always, the fool. And the Force watches out for ones such as him, I feel."

- Darth Traya

Atton Rand, nicknamed "Jaq", was an Echani-trained pilot that helped the Jedi Exile defeat the post-Jedi Civil War Sith Lords.

Biography
Atton fought in the Mandalorian Wars as well as the Jedi Civil War. He originally fought with the Republic, but when Revan won against the Mandalorians and became Darth Revan, Atton joined him and the Sith. During the Jedi Civil War, Atton was part of an elite unit of assassins, trained to hide their presence and thoughts from Force-users and sent on missions to kill or capture Jedi to be broken and converted to Sith.

After many successes, Atton was eventually confronted by a female Jedi who informed him of his Force-sensitive nature, warning him that the Sith would undoubtedly come after him and break him into a Dark Jedi if they found out. Atton struck her down, but before her death, she opened up her mind to his, giving him a glimpse of the Force as she saw it. Flying into a rage, Atton killed her, though the impression she left caused him to become disillusioned and desert the Sith.

After fleeing the Sith, Atton hid in the refugee sector of Nar Shaddaa. It is unknown what happened next, but he ended up in a cell in the Peragus Mining Facility. He was soon discovered by the Jedi Exile and, after their mutual escape from the Sith, traveled with his rescuer for the rest of the Exile’s journey. However, Atton acted quite dismissive to his comrades and benefactor.

During this time, Kreia used the Force to dive into Atton's mind and found his disturbing past. She then used this knowledge to effectively blackmail Atton into service of the Exile. However, the Exile soon convinced Atton to tell him the full tale of his past. The Exile was able to forgive Atton for his crimes and, at Atton's request, trained him in the ways of the Jedi. Atton continued to travel with the Exile, participating in the defense of Telos against a Sith armada led by Darth Nihilus and, shortly after, taking the Exile to Malachor V, where the Exile went on to defeat Darth Sion and Darth Traya. Darth Traya predicted that Atton would remain the fool he ever was, but that the Force would watch and guide him.

Personality and traits
"I've hunted a lot of people in my line of work, but I never met someone who wants to get lost more than you do."

- Mira to Atton

Atton faced the galaxy with dismissive apathy. His laid-back attitude and unwillingness to take a position of responsibility often jarred with Kreia's grimness as the two traveled together. He also had an irrational hatred of droids - on Peragus, he asked the exile if he/she had destroyed the HK-50 because "droids can't be trusted," referred to T3-M4 as a "trash compactor" and even accused that T3 had stolen the Ebon Hawk on Telos, saying "He's probably joyriding around the system right now, laughing at us - laughing at me!" Where this dislike for droids stems from is unknown.

The most remarkable aspect of Atton's nature was his resistance to Jedi mind techniques. He was originally taught these so that he would make an effective assassin, as they would prevent him being detected and give him some resistance to Force powers. The defense was so effective that even Kreia had to make a concerted effort to probe his mind. He later taught the Exile the technique he used; it simply involved a repetitive task to keep the mind occupied. These could be as simple as counting Pazaak cards in his head.

Atton was also a man who refused to give up, often standing to rejoin a fight even when seriously wounded. He furthermore relied on his gut instincts to see him through. These instincts turned out to be surprisingly reliable, though this could well be attributed to his Force sensitivity.

Should the Exile have enough influence, the player hears Atton's secret and has the opportunity to train him as Jedi Sentinel.

Behind the scenes

 * Atton was voiced by Nicky Katt.
 * According to Chris Avellone, Atton was patterned after a developer called Darren Monahan.
 * Atton Rand was originally supposed to be the name of the main character of the early production version of Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy, but was cut out of it. The player character was eventually named Jaden Korr.
 * If the Exile follows the path of the dark side, Atton will go back to being a murderer and will kill every Jedi he sees until there are no more Jedi left; he will be consumed by his desire to kill them.
 * Among his removed cutscenes were his and his companions' confrontation with Darth Traya, a duel between him and Mical if the Exile is a female and had more influence with Mical, and a confrontation between him and Darth Sion which could either lead to his tragic death in the arms of the Exile where he would announce his love for the Exile or him leaving with the Exile into the Unknown Regions. Here is a link to which will give you all the deleted dialog and even the sound files from KOTOR 2, including all of Atton's voice recordings as well.
 * Despite the fact that he asked the Exile how he could understand droid talk, or "garbage," he later understood what T3-M4 was saying when T3 returned after stealing a ship ID signature from Vogga the hut.
 * Like many other names in the game, Atton's name suggests a word, atonement.

Atton's homeworld?
When Atton is describing to the Jedi Exile why he joined the Sith, he talks about three planets which were ravaged by the Mandalorians during the Mandalorian Wars - Serroco, Duro, and Eres III. Since Atton talks of a time when his people were asking the Jedi for help against the Mandalorians that they never received, it's possible that he may be from either Serroco or Eres III. It's unlikely, of course, that he's from Duro, as the primary inhabitants of that planet are Duros. As reported here on Wookiepeedia on the Serroco link, "Serrocoans seem to have Asian characteristics when compared to Earth standards," therefore possibly making another elimination in his homeworld. He has more of a Corellian look than most examples we have seen however.

Appearances

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