Revan/Legends

Revan was a fallen Jedi and Dark Lord of the Sith. He lived 40 years after the Great Sith War and the fall of Exar Kun, or 3,956 BBY. Revan sought what many considered to be the complete annihilation of the Galactic Republic, a tendency later followed on by his apprentice Darth Malak.

Early Life
"Revan had a mother and father, parents, ancestors, like all Jedi do. And when he awakened to his potential, I was there to see it. But where he was born, where he came from, I do not know... anymore than I know where he walks now. Some said that Revan was born in the Outer Regions, beyond the Rim, and that's what called to him during the Mandalorian Wars... and after. It was the call of home."

- Kreia

Details of Revan’s early life are shrouded in mystery, though it is suspected that he was born in the Outer Rim. Whatever his origins, it can be assumed that his exceptional strength with the Force was discovered at a young age and that he was inducted into the Jedi Order soon afterwards.

Jedi Training
Initially his instruction was undertaken by Jedi Master Kreia on Coruscant, yet Revan's appetite to learn proved insatiable, and he and his friend Malak were soon visiting Jedi Master, Zhar Lestin, for additional training. This love of knowledge did not go unnoticed by the elder Jedi, yet he dismissed it as simple exuberance and eagerness, seeing in Revan a future champion of the Jedi Order.

In time, Revan left Kreia's tutelage entirely, going on to study beneath numerous Jedi Masters, including the aforementioned Zhar, Master Dorak and Master Kae. As he is believed to have been a practitioner of the lightsaber Form X, Jar'kai, it is possible that he received some instruction from Master Kavar as well, a known as a master of that form, though Revan was clearly more than competent in the more traditional forms of lightsaber combat also.

It is possible that he sought knowledge of ancient Sith Magics during this time, as Master Vrook Lamar seemed convinced that he had done so. Whatever the validity of his accusations however, after his corruption and embracing of the dark side, the general consensus amongst the Jedi Masters on Dantooine was that Revan had been a promising padawan yet also headstrong and proud, being too quick to dismiss the dangerous lure of the dark side.

The Mandalorian Wars


"Many of the young Jedi admired Revan."

- Zhar Lestin

At the start of the Mandalorian Wars, the Republic, desperate and in need of assistance, petitioned the Jedi Council for aid and though the Council promised to intervene eventually, they declared that it would be after considerable meditation on the matter. The scars from the recent Sith War still ran deep and the Council was reluctant to charge into another conflict so soon after the last. They also believed there to be something amiss about the whole situation, as though the true threat had not yet presented itself.

Not all the Jedi were willing to accept this stance of apparent inaction however, most notable amongst them being Revan and Malak. Since becoming a Jedi Knight, the charismatic and powerful young Revan had developed a sizable cult of personality, being a figure of admiration and awe amongst his peers… it thus came as no surprise that upon rebelling against the Council and sending forth his call to arms, hundreds of Jedi, Padawans, Knights and even some Masters, rallied to his seemingly noble cause.

Revan’s entrance into the war marked its turning point and he and Malak rapidly rose through the fleet, all the while being praised as heroes. Though Revan’s remarkable military strategies and tactical ability were hailed by many as the salvation of the Republic, others were quick to point out Malak’s fiery determination and desire to win against all the odds.

Together, they liberated Taris, fought Cassus Fett, Mandalore's prime strategist, at Jaga's Cluster, and eradicated much of the Mandalorian regime on Althir.

Even so, some voiced concern at the extreme measures that both Jedi were taking in their approach to war. Though Revan’s strategies and plans were flawless and Malak’s righteous fury was unmatched, the pair began to find themselves mirroring the Mandalorians they were fighting, growing to despise weakness and indecisiveness in all its forms.

At some point during the war – it is uncertain when exactly – Revan learned of a planet the Mandalorians were “forbidden” to step foot on, the shadowy Malachor V. Travelling to the planet’s surface alone, he soon found what would eventually be known as the Trayus Academy, an ancient bastion of the Old Sith Empire. Revan was quickly set upon by the vile Sith energies of stronghold, yet such was his strength of will that he was able to feed on and not be totally consumed by the power of the dark side. What truly transpired in the heart of that dark place is unknown – what is certain is that there Revan discovered the continued existence of the old Sith Empire, long thought defeated, and the threat that they represented to the galaxy. He came to the conclusion that the Republic as it stood was ill equipped to defend the galaxy from the ravages of the old Sith Empire and as such a new order would need to rise in its place, an order founded upon the Sith teachings that their enemy would be practising. He would save the galaxy through conquest, become the galaxy’s greatest hero by adopting the role of it’s foulest villain. In that black moment, Revan fully abandoned his former self and took on the mantle of Dark Lord of the Sith, adopting the name Darth Revan.

For some time he dwelt on Malachor, learning all he could about the Sith, the ways in which those strong with the light side could be seduced into seeing the strength inherent in the Sith teachings, tireless in his studies. Eventually he uncovered knowledge of the Star Forge, a relic of an empire even more ancient than the Sith, an instrument of the dark side that allowed vast armies to be produced in virtually no time at all by harnessing the power of the stars… though it came at a price. Revan soon realised that he had discovered the means to quickly conquer the Republic and prepare it for the coming attack of the ancient Sith.

After many resounding victories, Revan put the Mandalorians on the back foot and drove them towards Malachor V. He planned to unleash a device (the Mass Shadow Generator) invented by one of the Iridonian technicians in his service, Bao-Dur, on the planet – thereby wiping out the majority of the Mandalorian fleet as well as those Republic forces and Jedi who were not fervently loyal to him. He trusted the device’s activation to his most capable general (the Jedi Exile) whilst he did battle with Mandalore himself.

The Jedi Civil War
"After Malachor, after the Mandalorian Wars, that's when the Sith teachings started spreading through the ranks."

- Atton Rand

After his slaying of Mandalore and victory at Malachor, the Republic praised Revan as a hero and saviour, yet the Sith teachings were already sweeping through the ranks of those who had followed him to war… and the Jedi who would become the Exile left his service entirely.

With a third of the Republic fleet under their direct command, Revan and Malak disappeared from the known Galaxy in search of the Star Forge. For many months they were believed lost, though there were scattered, unconfirmed sightings of both Revan and Malak on planets across the galaxy. When the celebrated heroes finally returned to the galaxy at large however, they were at the head of a huge Sith invasion fleet, having reformed the former Republic forces who followed them into a militaristic imperial force, a new Sith Empire.



Evidence from acquaintances of Revan point out that he, during the Wars, discovered something outside the realm of the Old Republic: the original Sith Empire, believed to have collapsed millennia ago. In learning this, they say, Revan felt compelled to protect the Galaxy from this threat. Under this revelation and others, Revan's actions become quite different than the rash, destructive goals of Darth Malak and other, later, Sith. These include:


 * Ignoring, militarily, any planet with a strong industrial infrastructure: one that would be required to defend the Galaxy against the unknown threat. Revan's plan was to leave the Old Republic's infrastructure intact, giving him a relatively functional military and economy to work with once he had conquered the Galaxy, rather than starting from scratch. Also, had he failed in conquering the Galaxy, the end result would have remained: a stronger, more capable Republic.
 * Use of assassin droids, such as HK-47, to assassinate those who would have destabilized local governments, planets, or entire sectors.
 * Focus on conversion, rather than murder, of Jedi. In joining the dark side (or at the very least, abandoning the constrictive Jedi teachings), these Dark Jedi would be stronger against the ancient Sith Empire.

Revan and Malak separately knew of the Star Forge's almost sentient nature. It wanted to exist and was willing to go to any lengths to keep itself "alive". Whereas Malak, like the Rakata before him, allowed himself to be corrupted by it utterly - one could almost say that the Star Forge actually took control of him, Revan minimised his exposure to it. Also, Revan didn't want to become over-reliant on the Star Forge; once its existance was exposed to his enemies, it would become the number one target hence a strategy of trying to capture planets rather than eradicate them.

The reinvigorated Sith won battle after battle, until a young Jedi named Bastila Shan entered the fray with her Battle Meditation. This powerful Force ability increased the combat effectiveness of the Republic's forces and sapped the will of enemy combatants. Even with this power, however, the Republic forces knew that they could not hold out forever against the Sith. In a desperate attempt to end the war, the Republic set a trap for Revan and Malak, during which Bastila and a team of Jedi boarded Revan's flagship and managed to corner the Dark Lord on the bridge. Undoubtedly one of the most powerful Sith Lords of all time, it is likely that Revan would have defeated Bastila and the remnants of her Jedi strike force.

However, Darth Malak chose that moment to attack his master's flagship, attempting to kill both Revan and Bastila at once. He fired upon the flagship from a nearby battle cruiser, but was unsuccessful in killing either his master or Bastila. In the ironic turn of events, Revan succeeded and failed at his task to destroy the Sith at that time. Unexpectedly betrayed by Darth Malak, Revan's plans were quickly quashed by his brash and violent apprentice, who sought to destroy the Old Republic entirely. It was only chance, or the Force, that kept Revan alive.

Bastila Shan was the only remaining member of the Jedi strike force to be left standing, after the turbolaser blast rocked through the bridge. Upon regaining her wits, she was confronted with the broken body of Darth Revan. The Dark Lord was nearly dead&mdash;by Bastila's own admission, just a tiny spark of the Force remained alive within him. For whatever reason; perhaps a sense of duty to the Republic, pity, or a simple urge to save his life, young Shan took the decision to grab a hold of that waning spark and keep Revan alive. Through that act, Bastila somehow tied Revan's life to her own, unwittingly forging a powerful Force bond.

Revan, though, was still in a critical condition and his mind remained heavily damaged. Bastila brought him to the Jedi, where his broken mind was reprogrammed by the Council to conceal the Dark Lord's old identity, while enabling Bastila to draw out Revan's subconscious memories, in order to find a way to defeat the apparently endless Sith fleet. Using his slowly-returning memories, Revan was accomplishing his original tasks.

Search for the Star Forge
"You cannot win, Revan!"

- Bastila Shan

Revan, under an implanted name, with no recollection of his real history or even of his mastery of the Force, was enlisted as a common soldier in the Republic army and placed under Bastila's command on the Republic warship Endar Spire. Malak, thinking his master dead, devoted all his forces to the hunt for Bastila. In orbit over the world of Taris, the Endar Spire was attacked by a Sith fleet and destroyed. Bastila managed to escape to the planet's surface, followed soon after by Revan and fellow Republic soldier Carth Onasi. The Sith blockaded Taris, intent on capturing Bastila. They were unaware that the young female Jedi had already been taken prisoner by a swoop gang called the Black Vulkars, who intended to give her to the winner of an underground swoop racing tournament as a slave. Revan eventually succeeded in rescuing her when he infiltrated and won the tournament. In orbit, Darth Malak, deciding that the search for Bastila was taking too long, gave the order to destroy the entire planet. Positioning themselves in strategic positions, the ships of his fleet unleashed a devastating planetary bombardment that wiped out nearly all life on Taris's surface. Revan, Bastila, and Carth, along with their newfound crew, barely escaped in time aboard the Ebon Hawk, formerly the personal spaceship of the late Taris crimelord Davik Kang, whose estate they had infiltrated in order to assassinate Kang and steal the Ebon Hawk.

Revan and his companions fled to the Jedi stronghold of Dantooine, where Bastila convinced the Jedi academy council to retrain the amnesic Dark Lord in the ways of the Jedi. After Revan completed his unprecedentedly short formal training, he and Bastila were sent to investigate an ancient stone structure. Inside, the two uncovered an ancient artifact known as a Star Map, a relic of the long-forgotten Infinite Empire of the Rakata. Though the Map was not complete, it pointed the way to the worlds of Tatooine, Kashyyyk, Manaan, and Korriban, on which more Star Maps could be found. Only with the combined information of these five worlds would Revan be able tp discover the location of the mysterious Rakatan artifact&mdash; the "Star Forge".

Revan, Bastila, and their companions journeyed to these worlds, tracing the steps Darth Revan had taken years before. On each planet, the powerful dark side aura of the Star Maps had created perilous conditions that made access to the Maps difficult. Additionally, the crew of the Ebon Hawk found themselves hunted by Sith and bounty hunters, and confronted with the problems of the local populace at every turn.



As the crew attempted to reach the fourth Star Map (including the one on Dantooine), Revan and his allies were captured by the Sith flagship Leviathan. They managed to escape from their holding cells, but, as they fled toward the Ebon Hawk, Revan was confronted by Darth Malak, who revealed to him his former life as the Dark Lord of the Sith. A vicious lightsaber duel ensued, culminating with Bastila's capture by Malak. Revan was forced to deal with Malak's revelation and his loss of Bastila as the quest for the Star Forge stepped up, until at last it was found in the home system of the ancient Rakata.

After gaining the support of this race, Revan was forced to confront a fallen Bastila. Following weeks of torture at Malak's hand, Bastila had at last given in to her hate and had fallen to the dark side. She was now, she claimed, the Dark Lord's new apprentice. His original apprentice, a former Jedi named Darth Bandon, had previously been slain by Revan during the search for the Star Maps.

Atop an ancient Rakatan temple, Bastila attempted to entice Revan to reclaim his former title of Dark Lord of the Sith. This was the climax of the quest for the Star Forge, and it ended with Revan, once again, making a choice that would change the fate of the Galaxy.

Revan made the choice of a Jedi, rejecting Bastila's temptation. Enraged, Bastila retreated to the Star Forge. Revan and the crew of the Ebon Hawk pursued her as a Republic fleet commenced an assault of its own.

Aboard the Star Forge, Revan almost single-handedly defeated nearly endless waves of Sith soldiers and Dark Jedi, displaying his incredible power in the Force and mastery of the lightsaber. Revan faced off against Bastila once again. After defeating her, he attempted to convince her to return to the light side by drawing on the powerful bond of love that had formed between the two during the course of their quest. He succeeded and Bastila used her Battle Meditation to aid the Republic now. Finally, Revan again confronted his old friend and apprentice, Malak, in an epic lightsaber duel, while the Republic fleet, now no longer hindered by Bastila's Battle Meditation, continued its bombardment of the Star Forge. During their duel, Malak continually sucked the life-force from Jedi held in stasis to replenish his energies, but even this was not enough to defeat Revan. Revan, instead, freed as many of the Jedi as he could and allowed them to become one with the Force, and shortened Malak's supply of energy. At last, Malak was cut down. Before his friend's death, Revan apologized for starting him down the dark path, even though Malak had continued down it willingly. Malak accepted his apology, realizing that he had no one to blame for his fate save himself. Thus Darth Malak, Dark Lord of the Sith, died, his life ending in darkness and regret, and the Star Forge was destroyed.

Into the unknown
"Savior, conqueror, hero, villian. You are all things, Revan... and yet you are nothing. In the end, you belong to neither the light nor the darkness. You will forever stand alone."

- Malak

A year after the defeat of Malak and the collapse of the Sith Empire, Revan left the Republic, having remembered the remnants of the ancient Sith Empire he had rediscovered as the Dark Lord. Hoping to put an end to the threat it posed before it could attack the weakened Republic, Revan bade farewell to the nine comrades who had accompanied him on his quest, knowing that none whom he loved could safely accompany him in the places he had to walk.

He entrusted Carth Onasi with the Republic's safety, and said goodbye to Bastila. "It would have been better," Kreia would later remark, "if he had made her understand. But she was always strong-willed, that one, and did not understand war as Revan did." Then Revan disappeared, leaving the Ebon Hawk with T3-M4 and HK-47 on Malachor V, on the edge of Known Space.

Behind the scenes


Revan's story, as dictated here, is the plot of the computer game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.

Although the player of the game may have Revan end up as redeemed Jedi or a renewed Sith Lord, the canonical ending has him returning to the light side. This follows the usual practice of LucasArts, where the canonical storyline of all videogames ends in victory for the light. Additionally, although Revan can be either a man or a woman in the game, it is officially stated that, in canon, he is a man.

While Revan's lightsaber color is selectable by the player (and corresponds to the character class the player chooses - green for Jedi Consular, yellow for Jedi Sentinel or blue for Jedi Guardian), the canonical color is blue, as shown in the comic Shadows and Light during Duron Qel-Droma's vision. This color likely corresponds to the powerful Mantle of the Force crystal Revan obtains during his quest for the Star Forge. This crystal produces a bright blue blade.

Many have also noticed a few notable similarities between Revan and another Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Vader. Both were considered to be the most powerful Force-users of their time, as well as being highly skilled Generals who fell to the dark side of the Force at the end of Galactic conflicts&mdash;the Mandalorian and Clone Wars respectively. The two characters' identities also went through drastic changes as the result of lightsaber duels (though Revan's were mental, while Vader's physical). Both Vader and Revan also share having constructed and lost protocol droids, only to be reunited with them on the same planet&mdash;Tatooine by the will of the Force. The two Dark Lords also have strikingly similar attire&mdash;black robes and armor, with a face covered by a metallic mask designed to strike fear at the hearts of enemies.

There is also an alternate ending (the "dark side" ending) which although different, is parallel and similar to the canonical one in some points (Star Forge eventually destroyed, Revan disappeared):

Dark side ending
Accepting Bastila's offer, Revan struck down the Jedi Jolee Bindo and Juhani, the stain of their blood on the temple stone symbolizing Revan's return to power.

Returning to his starship, the Ebon Hawk, Revan explained the absence of Jolee and Juhani to his stunned party. Shocked by his return to the dark side, Carth Onasi fled, leaving Mission Vao to be mercilessly struck down by Revan. (Alternatively, Revan used his mind-dominating force powers to convince Zaalbar to kill Mission.)

Flying to the Star Forge, Bastila used her Battle Meditation to thwart the Republic fleet, allowing Revan to penetrate the depths of the Star Forge to fight with Darth Malak. Striking Malak down ruthlessly, Revan regained his rightful place as Dark Lord of the Sith. The epilogue cut scene of the game now occurs on Top of the Rakatan Temple.

Using the resources he now commanded as Master of the Star Forge, Revan created an infinite fleet that rolled forth to crush the Republic. Surprisingly, however, Revan soon halted his offensive. It was noted as odd that Revan deliberately avoided striking the Republic's manufacturing facilities in his previous war, and again that he seemingly ended the Star Forge's production of vessels early. Bastila Shan, in a holocron discovered on Korriban, reported that Revan mysteriously vanished one day and told her to wait for him. Without its strong leader, the Forge atrophied and was destroyed. It is assumed that Darth Revan visited all his former strongholds searching for something that is not yet readily apparent. It is known, however, that he headed for the Unknown Regions with the intent of stopping something menacingly powerful, something that was apparently responsible for initially coercing the Mandalorians to invade. Revan's former master, Kreia, suggests that Revan was searching for the original Sith Empire.

''NB: In the sequel to Knights of the Old Republic, Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords, both endings are left open as possibilities, the course of events after Malak's death being nearly the same regardless of Revan's choice. Despite this, Lucasfilm has stated that the true, historically canonical ending is the light side choice.''

Revan's Gender
While Revan's gender is specified by the player, the canonical Revan is confirmed by Leland Chee to be male. Also, The New Essential Chronology and the Chronicles released by Obisidan prior to the release of The Sith Lords both refer to Revan as male. The canonical appearance has never been defined other than what is seen in the KotOR game. It must be noted, however, that there are many KotOR fans against the idea of a canonical gender being set, and they are unlikely to recognise any such attempt at doing so.


 * In KOTOR II, if the player chooses the dialogue option along the lines of "I don't care about Revan," in their conversation with Atton Rand, the game automatically sets Revan to a light-side male.

Appearances

 * Shadows and Light (vision to Duron Qel-Droma)
 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
 * Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords (vision to the Jedi Exile)