GAME · 2003 · CANADA
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
- Publisher
- Lucasfilm Games
- Platforms
- Microsoft Windows, macOS
33 archived facts 4 topics 2 sources Last reviewed Nov 2026
33 Interesting Facts About Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Interesting Facts (14)
- #001
When you are captured by the Sith, you are asked for the location of the Jedi base. While the base is actually on Dantooine, you can lie and say Alderaan. In Episode IV of the film, Princess Leia is interrogated by the Galactic Empire about the location of the rebel base while she is held captive. She lies and says Dantooine, trying to save Alderaan.
- #002
Possible ancestors of characters seen in the films can also be seen in this game, or at least discussed in the literature. Examples include: Galduran Calrissian, a possible ancestor of Lando Calrissian; Cassus Fett, a possible ancestor of Jango and Boba Fett; Komad Fortuna, a possible ancestor of Bib Fortuna; Admiral Forn Dodonna, a possible ancestor of General Jan Dodonna. The wealthy Organa family is also mentioned early in the game.
- #003
The name "Starkiller" was originally intended to be Luke Skywalker's name and was given as a tribute to the character Bendak Starkiller.
- #004
Darth Malak was modeled partly on Darth Vader from the original "Star Wars" trilogy. The game's programmers wanted to create a Dark Lord of the Sith who would instill images of Vader without being an almost complete copy of the character, so Malak was given a cybernetic voice implant and the rest of his body was left alone.
- #005
Of all the characters appearing in this game, only Darth Revan was included in the revised Star Wars canon. The character was later set to appear briefly in Ghosts of Mortis (2011) until the production was abandoned. In 2019, Darth Revan was mentioned in the book 'Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker: The Visual Dictionary' and was thereby adapted into canon. Since the revised canon occasionally adds popular characters from the old canon, it is possible that the same will apply to more characters from this game in the future.
- #006
The Ebon Hawk was modeled partly on the Millennium Falcon from the original "Star Wars" trilogy.
- #007
T3-M4 was modeled partly on R2-D2 from the original six episodes of "Star Wars."
- #008
Zaalbar is a tribute to Chewbacca from the six "Star Wars" films.
- #009
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic was highly detailed for its time, with grass waving in the wind, dust blowing across Tatooine and puffs of sand rising as the player walks across the seabed.
- #010
The PC version of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic includes an additional location, more NPCs, items, and weapons, and supports higher display resolutions up to 1600x1200 with higher-resolution textures; these additions were later made available on the Xbox version through Xbox Live.
- #011
Mission Vao says "I have a bad feeling about this" at least twice during the game. This is a tribute to the famous line repeated throughout all the Star Wars films.
- #012
The name Bastila was initially given to the Cathar character. When Bastila became one of the main characters, the Cathar Jedi was named Juhani.
- #013
The character Bastila Shan was originally conceived as Vima Sunrider, the young heroine of the "Tales of the Jedi" series in the Dark Horse comics. Vima was a character who received Jedi training in the "Redemption" series.
- #014
Depending on your main character's choices, the game has two different endings.
Production Story (14)
- #015
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic was initially titled Age of the Jedi, but LucasArts rejected that name and suggested Knights of the Old Republic instead.
- #016
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic was set four thousand years before Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, a decision that was among the first details about the game made public. LucasArts offered BioWare a choice between an Episode II game and a setting four thousand years in the past, and BioWare selected the earlier era for the greater creative freedom it provided.
- #017
BioWare sought to make Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic resemble the Star Wars films while remaining distinct enough to serve as a clear precursor. Concept work for the game had to be submitted to "the ranch" for approval before use.
- #018
Casey Hudson, project director for Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, described the game's combat system as both one of its greatest achievements and one of its greatest risks. He said the goal was to merge the strategic elements of the Baldur's Gate series and Neverwinter Nights with fast, cinematic 3D action.
- #019
- #020
Lucasfilm turned down BioWare's proposals to depict Tusken Raiders culture in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, as the company did not want the Raiders developed beyond their film appearances.
- #021
BioWare chose the Xbox over other consoles partly because of its background in PC game development and its greater familiarity with the Xbox; Gallo said the team could do what it wanted on the Xbox with less effort than on the PS2 or GameCube.
- #022
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic runs on the Odyssey Engine, which was based on BioWare's Aurora Engine from Neverwinter Nights but completely rewritten for Knights of the Old Republic.
- #023
Hudson stated that the graphics of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic had to be modified because consoles and PCs differ, with console games typically played on a TV across the room and PC games on a monitor only inches away.
- #024
Hudson also noted that the difference between a game controller and a mouse-and-keyboard setup influenced some design decisions for Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.
- #025
Voice production for Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic began six months before the game's beta release, with the voice production team receiving a script that was 90% complete.
- #026
A game the size of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic would typically take seven weeks to record, but LucasArts recorded all voices in five weeks, including two weeks of all-day and all-night recording.
- #027
Actors on Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic were recorded one at a time because the game's non-linear nature made recording more than one actor at a time too complicated and expensive.
- #028
Mike Gallo translated English into Huttese for Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic using Ben Burtt's Star Wars: Galactic Phrase Book & Travel Guide.
Behind the Scenes (4)
- #029
BioWare CEO Raymond Muzyka said that very little of the studio's content for Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic was rejected by LucasArts, describing the feedback as minor adjustments and good suggestions that improved the game. Muzyka added that the studio was pleasantly surprised by how easy LucasArts was to work with.
- #030
The design of Revan in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic drew inspiration from African tribal ornaments of the 16th to 18th centuries.
- #031
John Gallagher objected to the prosthetic-jaw concept for Darth Malak, and after his objections were overruled he left the design's development to other artists.
- #032
O'Farrell said that casting the right actor is key to recording alien dialogue, noting that some actors have taken to Huttese easily while others have not, and that in the past more than 150 Huttese lines had to be line-read to an actor.
Easter Eggs & References (1)
- #033
While talking with Canderous, he mentions chasing an asteroid ship toward the outer reaches of the galaxy. This is a reference to the Yuuzhan Vong, the villain race from the main Star Wars novel storyline of that time.
Sources & editorial notes
Sources for the entries on this page
- Wikipedia Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (video game) — Wikipedia
Information from external sources is independently selected, consolidated and edited by Arka Evren. Sources are listed for verification and further reading. Encyclopedia text is used under its licence (CC BY-SA). How we work