{"id":76812,"date":"2020-09-17T13:00:09","date_gmt":"2020-09-17T13:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gamerant.com\/star-wars-games-kotor-2-darth-nihilus\/"},"modified":"2020-09-17T13:00:09","modified_gmt":"2020-09-17T13:00:09","slug":"star-wars-games-still-havent-captured-the-raw-fear-of-kotor-2s-darth-nihilus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itteacheritfreelance.hk\/wordpress\/index.php\/2020\/09\/17\/star-wars-games-still-havent-captured-the-raw-fear-of-kotor-2s-darth-nihilus\/","title":{"rendered":"Star Wars Games Still Haven’t Captured the Raw Fear of Kotor 2’s Darth Nihilus"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

Most video games based on movies make meager contributions to the lore of their source material. The most important characters are those who are borrowed from the books or movies, while the original creations often feel like extras. But Star Wars\u00a0<\/em>is unique in that its games boast some of the best additions to the franchise’s extended canon. This is especially true of\u00a0Knights of the Old Republic<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0its antagonists.<\/span><\/p>\n

The original\u00a0<\/span>Knights of the Old Republic<\/span><\/em><\/a>\u00a0was released in 2003 and remains widely-regarded as one of the\u00a0finest Star Wars<\/em> games ever made, and it is unsurprising and fortunate that Respawn’s\u00a0Jedi: Fallen Order<\/em>\u00a0borrowed elements from KOTOR<\/em><\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0The\u00a0original KOTOR<\/em>\u00a0set towering expectations, not only in terms of mechanics, but storytelling as well, with the introduction of the recently re-canonized Darth Revan, one of the best-loved and most widely recognized\u00a0Star Wars<\/em>\u00a0characters who does not appear in the films.<\/span><\/p>\n

RELATED: Star Wars: Who Is Darth Revan?<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

Knights of the Old Republic 2: The Sith Lords<\/em>\u00a0released just over a year later. Despite the brief development cycle, it not only satisfied fans’ expectations, but exceeded them in certain respects. One victory was the introduction of a trio of villains who are still regularly discussed in the Star Wars<\/em> fandom: Darth Traya, Darth Sion, and Darth Nihilus. Of that trio, Darth Traya\u00a0frequently garners attention as a compelling, complex, and nuanced antagonist, but in terms of raw intimidation, she cannot compare to Darth Nihilus\u2014the masked Sith Lord of Hunger who graces the game’s cover. And he is an excellent example of why Respawn should continue to draw inspiration from the\u00a0KOTOR franchise<\/em><\/a>\u00a0for Fallen Order<\/em>‘s follow-up.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Most Star Wars<\/em> villains, particularly those in the new canon, are modeled after Darth Vader. They are instruments of war or avatars of imperialism\u00a0devoted to conquest in the name of the Dark Side. And while\u00a0he\u00a0one of cinema’s greatest villains of all time,\u00a0Vader\u00a0is a weak character in Fallen Order<\/em><\/a>.\u00a0<\/em>His appearance is\u00a0simultaneously predictable and disappointing in\u00a0a game that was carving out its own identity. Fallen Order<\/em>‘s primary antagonist, Second Sister Trilla Suduri, is also cut from the same cloth as Vader, and as a result, she\u00a0is ultimately forgettable\u00a0despite her complex history\u00a0with Cere.<\/p>\n

Darth Nihilus’ shares some commonalities\u00a0with Vader and Trilla. He was originally a Jedi who turned to the Dark Side, and his overwhelming power with the Force establishes him as a grave threat. His single-handed desolation of the planet Katarr is an absurd display of power, but in many respects, it is the\u00a0least important aspect of what makes him an excellent villain. Force firepower is essentially a requirement for Star Wars<\/em> antagonists rather than a mark of distinction or originality.<\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Aside from his haunting character design, the underlying creative concepts are what make Darth Nihilus uniquely terrifying and compelling. It is worth revisiting Knights of the Old Republic 2<\/em>‘s story<\/a> to track his journey from Jedi crusader to becoming a Wound in the Force to see what makes his arc intriguing.\u00a0In many ways, Nihilus is a Sith in name only. Even though he is a member of Darth Traya’s Sith Triumvirate\u2014a broader alliance of bad guys than the franchise’s standard Rule of Two\u2014he is\u00a0inscrutable and initially seems indifferent to his collaborators. His one goal is to feed.<\/p>\n

One could liken Nihilus to a cunning Force vampire, or, more accurately, a Force Lich. He\u00a0is calculating enough to scheme and plot, betraying or predating people from both\u00a0sides of the force. In essence, he is a sucking wound in the fabric of the\u00a0Star Wars’ <\/em>universe.\u00a0By the time the player encounters him, he has ceased to physically exist,\u00a0having fastened his soul to his mask and robes. All that remains is a caustic knot of Force energy that grows evermore powerful and ravenous. His very existence is a problem that exerts pressure on the player.<\/p>\n

That kind of villain poses the same world-ending threat as a Death Star, while still remaining conceptually novel. That\u00a0degree of distinction\u00a0from preceding, familiar threats allows Nihilus to be truly alien in a universe\u00a0saturated with a wide variety of alien races. He is a terrifying vision of otherness, and that quality of the unknown is a\u00a0common\u00a0quality in gaming’s most frightening villains<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It must be said, that Nihilus works so well because he is a part of ensemble of villains. He is not only a threat to the player, but to the more sympathetic and human villains as well. On his own, Nihilus would still be compelling, but he would also come across as a more conventional, otherworldly threat than an entity with a distinct persona.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, things are looking bright for the future of the\u00a0Fallen Order<\/em>\u00a0franchise.\u00a0<\/em>Seeing how the lead writer of\u00a0KOTOR 2<\/em>,\u00a0Chis Avelone contributed to\u00a0Fallen Order<\/em>‘s script<\/a>, it seems likely he will return to provide input for the sophomore effort.\u00a0But only time will tell if Respawn can craft a\u00a0villain as compelling, novel, and frightening as\u00a0Darth Nihilus.<\/p>\n

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0is available now on PC.\u00a0Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order 2<\/strong><\/em> is reportedly in development.<\/span><\/p>\n

More:<\/span>\u00a0Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 3 Story Revealed<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n

\\\"IT\u96fb\u8166\u88dc\u7fd2
\u7acb\u523b\u8a3b\u518a\u53ca\u5831\u540d\u96fb\u8166\u88dc\u7fd2\u8ab2\u7a0b\u5427!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n<\/br>Find A Teacher Form:\r\n<\/br>https:\/\/docs.google.com\/forms\/d\/1vREBnX5n262umf4wU5U2pyTwvk9O-JrAgblA-wH9GFQ\/viewform?edit_requested=true#responses\r\n<\/br><\/br>Email:\r\n<\/br>public1989two@gmail.com






\r\nwww.itsec.hk<\/a>
\r\nwww.itsec.vip<\/a>
\r\nwww.itseceu.uk<\/a>
<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Star Wars video games have yet to re-capture the dark magic that made KOTOR 2’s Darth Nihilus so frightening, intriguing, and original.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":667,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"slim_seo":{"title":"Star Wars Games Still Haven't Captured the Raw Fear of Kotor 2's Darth Nihilus - ITTeacherITFreelance.hk","description":"Star Wars video games have yet to re-capture the dark magic that made KOTOR 2's Darth Nihilus so frightening, intriguing, and original."},"footnotes":""},"categories":[607],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/itteacheritfreelance.hk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76812"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/itteacheritfreelance.hk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/itteacheritfreelance.hk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itteacheritfreelance.hk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/667"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itteacheritfreelance.hk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76812"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/itteacheritfreelance.hk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76812\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":76813,"href":"https:\/\/itteacheritfreelance.hk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76812\/revisions\/76813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/itteacheritfreelance.hk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itteacheritfreelance.hk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itteacheritfreelance.hk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}