Background apharsites
Most of the background of Revan can be found here. That and the actual game Knights of the Old Republic were my primary resources for basing my characterization of Revan. There's a few places where I disagree with the Wiki, and I'll make note of them. This will be less of a background/retelling of KOTOR and more of the motivation Revan and an extrapolation of his abilities from the game. If you want background/retelling of KOTOR and Revan, I shall refer you to the link above.
First some things that should be noted:
-*SPOILERS AHOY* I may make reference to things that happen in Knights of the Old Republic. If you don't want surprises ruined, you have been warned.
- Revan enters Apharsites from the moment he loses consciousness as he makes planetfall in the escape pod coming out of the Endar Spire. So he's still got no clue of who he really is.
- In Apharsites, Revan goes by Decan. This is the name the Jedi Enclave gave him when they reprogrammed his mind. He is instinctively not fond of it, but accepts it. Its pronounced "Dee-can" and rhymes with pecan. I was going to use the KOTOR random name generator, but was eating a piece of pecan pie as I was thinking about names. He was this >< close to being named Pee'cnpi. Its probably better for everybody it ended up this way.
- During the Big Reveal on the Leviathan, Bastila says that Revan's mind was destroyed and the Enclave gave him a new personality. Right. I'm highly skeptical of the Enclave saying the just installed a new operating system in Revan instead of reformatting the hard drive themselves (now ends clumsy computer metaphor), then just telling Bastila a canned story about damaged minds. The Enclave has no problems lying by omission, I mean, these guys find nothing wrong with a Master faking their own death just to see what would happen if their student is starting to Dark Side on them (see Juhani). So for my purposes, they did wipe his mind and brainwashed him.
This is going to come up later.
- Given that Knights follows the fairly standard RPG convention of having the PC sucking in the start and being completely badass at the end gameplay wise, but more or less the same for the story to take place in a fairly short amount of time, I had to make some decisions on how good Revan would be at things when he wakes up on that butcher shop roof.
- This is a work in progress. As Revan evolves as a character, his motivations are going to change along with his skills. I'll try to keep it updated and have additions noted as such.
Revan's Skills/Abilities
Republic Blaster Sponge FTW: As Revan was dumped into the Republic Militaries' basic training, he's learned the basic skills all of their soldiers are taught. How to shoot, maintain their weapons, basic swordsmanship, set up blaster turrets, how to spot and disarm some explosives and mines. None of this is very good training, as a topic that should have taken weeks to drill fundamentals in is sometimes give a day or two in the rushed version Revan took. Despite this, Revan absorbed these skills to a phenomenal degree and has the soldiering ability of a veteran. His swordsmanship in particular is way way waaay above somebody of his training. He's good, but not nearly Jedi-like yet.
Babel Fish Ear: Before his brain got sieved by Jedi, Revan used the Force liberally to understand everything around him. The Rakata said he ripped the language from their mind and jammed Basic into theirs so they could communicate. Now, Revan can remember all those languages, but it doesn't do him a lick of good learning Earth speech. Despite him having forgotten, he can still learn a language fluently in a few weeks, instead of nearly instantly before.
The Force Still Likes Him: The Force seems to have a big crush on Revan, since he was able to wield it to a degree that would make him legendary. And you can't just forget that completely. So it leaks out, despite the Jedi Enclave rewiring his brain. He still gets visions of his memories, and on the rare occasion things haven't yet occurred. He gets weird pings on people, knowing whether they are trying to screw him, a general feeling of trustworthiness or deception. Stuff that would seem like intuition, but after it keeps adding up its Not Coincidence. It also means he's got Destiny, which makes it so he's always going to be around events that have profound impacts.
Body by Jedi- Revan's in a high level of physical conditioning. Physically, Basic didn't trouble him unduly, at least until his DI's figured out he was in good shape and ran him three times as hard as the other recruits. Afterwards, he faked bing merely slightly above average so he could get some sleep. In any case, Revan's body type runs along the lines of a gymnast crossed with marathon runner. Besides this, he has a kinesthetic awareness that verges on sublime. He knows where his body parts are at all times in relation to the rest of him, and knows exactly how far and hard he can manipulate it to archive an effect. He can tumble down a hill and still catch a rock thrown at him from above. This is a large reason he is as skilled with blades and shooting as he is.
Revan's Motivation and Personality: ie. things that might set him off or crack him up
Got Nobody But Me: Upon entrance, Revan is alone. No family, no friends, nobody. He doesn't even have his moronic squad mates to make him think about suicide by cop ever time they annoy him. This gnaws at him. Even before the dimensional jump, the lack of any sort of attachments has left a raw hole in him that he would like filled by people someday. When he gets friends, and maybe even family, he liable to be EXTREMELY protective of them. God help the poor bastard that tries to hurt them, whoever they might end up being.
Form of; Bucket of Snark: Revan's a soldier, which means he has a soldiers sense of humor. It's cynical, wry, and has achieved a level of sarcasm that almost attains physical shape. It also can be extremely dirty when the mood strikes him, but thats usually rare. He also has a good sense of comic WTF when it seems appropriate and not actively screwing up his life.
I'm a Rich Boy With Issues, Lots of Issues: One day, Revan's memories will come crashing back on him. And on that day, he's going to freak out. The memories of a world burning Sith aren't pleasant, and depending on how things go he could go Bright or Dark. But its going to be epic when it does happen. Well, epic for him. He'll probably sit in his room and glare at the wall till it bursts into flames.
Addendum: If there are any other Jedi around, or God forbid Bastila or any of the Enclave, Revan is going to rip them a new asshole. He's not the sit around and stew if he has a legitimate target. The Revan Inquisition: Expect It.
I Got a Darkness Inside of Me: Revan was the Dark Lord of the Sith. He is capable of great cruelty and menace. If he's pushed; if people he cares about are hurt, he would grab that mantle and be Dark Lord of the Sith reborn. And he'd do it gladly. He'd done it before in another lifetime.
Hope's the Child of What Luck Brings: Conversely, Revan's capable of great acts of compassion and generosity. He has a genuine want to help people out, and defend those who can't defend themselves. He doesn't like people being exploited, and will stop it if possible. He has an instinctive dislike of hypocrisy, and cannot abide people who place their dignity and pride above others welfare. He could see how that gets people killed in Basic, and it stems from events he can't even remember.
I'm an American, I Demand Instant Gratification: At times, Revan can be headstrong an impulsive. If somethings going wrong now, it needs to be fixed now. He can see the long view, but if he thinks it cost too much to get their, he'll do something expedite but potentially problematic in the future. He's not so bad at this as when he was a young Jedi, as watching people blunder into things during Basic has given him more caution, but he's still not the wait and see kind of guy.
First some things that should be noted:
-*SPOILERS AHOY* I may make reference to things that happen in Knights of the Old Republic. If you don't want surprises ruined, you have been warned.
- Revan enters Apharsites from the moment he loses consciousness as he makes planetfall in the escape pod coming out of the Endar Spire. So he's still got no clue of who he really is.
- In Apharsites, Revan goes by Decan. This is the name the Jedi Enclave gave him when they reprogrammed his mind. He is instinctively not fond of it, but accepts it. Its pronounced "Dee-can" and rhymes with pecan. I was going to use the KOTOR random name generator, but was eating a piece of pecan pie as I was thinking about names. He was this >< close to being named Pee'cnpi. Its probably better for everybody it ended up this way.
- During the Big Reveal on the Leviathan, Bastila says that Revan's mind was destroyed and the Enclave gave him a new personality. Right. I'm highly skeptical of the Enclave saying the just installed a new operating system in Revan instead of reformatting the hard drive themselves (now ends clumsy computer metaphor), then just telling Bastila a canned story about damaged minds. The Enclave has no problems lying by omission, I mean, these guys find nothing wrong with a Master faking their own death just to see what would happen if their student is starting to Dark Side on them (see Juhani). So for my purposes, they did wipe his mind and brainwashed him.
This is going to come up later.
- Given that Knights follows the fairly standard RPG convention of having the PC sucking in the start and being completely badass at the end gameplay wise, but more or less the same for the story to take place in a fairly short amount of time, I had to make some decisions on how good Revan would be at things when he wakes up on that butcher shop roof.
- This is a work in progress. As Revan evolves as a character, his motivations are going to change along with his skills. I'll try to keep it updated and have additions noted as such.
Revan's Skills/Abilities
Republic Blaster Sponge FTW: As Revan was dumped into the Republic Militaries' basic training, he's learned the basic skills all of their soldiers are taught. How to shoot, maintain their weapons, basic swordsmanship, set up blaster turrets, how to spot and disarm some explosives and mines. None of this is very good training, as a topic that should have taken weeks to drill fundamentals in is sometimes give a day or two in the rushed version Revan took. Despite this, Revan absorbed these skills to a phenomenal degree and has the soldiering ability of a veteran. His swordsmanship in particular is way way waaay above somebody of his training. He's good, but not nearly Jedi-like yet.
Babel Fish Ear: Before his brain got sieved by Jedi, Revan used the Force liberally to understand everything around him. The Rakata said he ripped the language from their mind and jammed Basic into theirs so they could communicate. Now, Revan can remember all those languages, but it doesn't do him a lick of good learning Earth speech. Despite him having forgotten, he can still learn a language fluently in a few weeks, instead of nearly instantly before.
The Force Still Likes Him: The Force seems to have a big crush on Revan, since he was able to wield it to a degree that would make him legendary. And you can't just forget that completely. So it leaks out, despite the Jedi Enclave rewiring his brain. He still gets visions of his memories, and on the rare occasion things haven't yet occurred. He gets weird pings on people, knowing whether they are trying to screw him, a general feeling of trustworthiness or deception. Stuff that would seem like intuition, but after it keeps adding up its Not Coincidence. It also means he's got Destiny, which makes it so he's always going to be around events that have profound impacts.
Body by Jedi- Revan's in a high level of physical conditioning. Physically, Basic didn't trouble him unduly, at least until his DI's figured out he was in good shape and ran him three times as hard as the other recruits. Afterwards, he faked bing merely slightly above average so he could get some sleep. In any case, Revan's body type runs along the lines of a gymnast crossed with marathon runner. Besides this, he has a kinesthetic awareness that verges on sublime. He knows where his body parts are at all times in relation to the rest of him, and knows exactly how far and hard he can manipulate it to archive an effect. He can tumble down a hill and still catch a rock thrown at him from above. This is a large reason he is as skilled with blades and shooting as he is.
Revan's Motivation and Personality: ie. things that might set him off or crack him up
Got Nobody But Me: Upon entrance, Revan is alone. No family, no friends, nobody. He doesn't even have his moronic squad mates to make him think about suicide by cop ever time they annoy him. This gnaws at him. Even before the dimensional jump, the lack of any sort of attachments has left a raw hole in him that he would like filled by people someday. When he gets friends, and maybe even family, he liable to be EXTREMELY protective of them. God help the poor bastard that tries to hurt them, whoever they might end up being.
Form of; Bucket of Snark: Revan's a soldier, which means he has a soldiers sense of humor. It's cynical, wry, and has achieved a level of sarcasm that almost attains physical shape. It also can be extremely dirty when the mood strikes him, but thats usually rare. He also has a good sense of comic WTF when it seems appropriate and not actively screwing up his life.
I'm a Rich Boy With Issues, Lots of Issues: One day, Revan's memories will come crashing back on him. And on that day, he's going to freak out. The memories of a world burning Sith aren't pleasant, and depending on how things go he could go Bright or Dark. But its going to be epic when it does happen. Well, epic for him. He'll probably sit in his room and glare at the wall till it bursts into flames.
Addendum: If there are any other Jedi around, or God forbid Bastila or any of the Enclave, Revan is going to rip them a new asshole. He's not the sit around and stew if he has a legitimate target. The Revan Inquisition: Expect It.
I Got a Darkness Inside of Me: Revan was the Dark Lord of the Sith. He is capable of great cruelty and menace. If he's pushed; if people he cares about are hurt, he would grab that mantle and be Dark Lord of the Sith reborn. And he'd do it gladly. He'd done it before in another lifetime.
Hope's the Child of What Luck Brings: Conversely, Revan's capable of great acts of compassion and generosity. He has a genuine want to help people out, and defend those who can't defend themselves. He doesn't like people being exploited, and will stop it if possible. He has an instinctive dislike of hypocrisy, and cannot abide people who place their dignity and pride above others welfare. He could see how that gets people killed in Basic, and it stems from events he can't even remember.
I'm an American, I Demand Instant Gratification: At times, Revan can be headstrong an impulsive. If somethings going wrong now, it needs to be fixed now. He can see the long view, but if he thinks it cost too much to get their, he'll do something expedite but potentially problematic in the future. He's not so bad at this as when he was a young Jedi, as watching people blunder into things during Basic has given him more caution, but he's still not the wait and see kind of guy.