Revan


Revan is a fictional character in the BioWare video game Star Wars: , in which he is the playable protagonist. He also appears in related media in the now non-canonical Star Wars Legends continuity. Revan is a former Jedi who turned to the Dark Side of the Force and became the Sith Lord Darth Revan, forming his own Sith Empire alongside his friend and fellow Sith Darth Malak to contend with the army of the Old Republic. Following a battle, Revan was left with amnesia, which the Jedi used to their advantage, brainwashing him and leaving him with a false Jedi identity to serve their cause. Revan's true identity isn't revealed to the player until later in the game, prior to which the playable protagonist lacks any predefined identity and Darth Revan is believed to be dead.
Revan is customized by the player in terms of appearance, sex, and actions; canonically, Revan is male and follows the light-side path during the events of the game. Revan's story is further explored in Drew Karpyshyn's 2011 novella '. The book details the events of Revan's life after the events of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, in which Revan attempts to recover his lost memories from the period of the Mandalorian Wars and from his and Malak's travels to discover the Sith empire. In the massively multiplayer online game ', an incarnation of Revan serves as the titular antagonist of the Shadow of Revan expansion.
The character was voiced by Rino Romano in Knights of the Old Republic and by Jeff Bennett in .

Appearances

''Legends'' works

''Knights of the Old Republic'' series

Revan is depicted as a former Jedi who, along with Alek, left the Order to lead the fight in the Mandalorian Wars due to the Jedi's inaction. One year after the end of the Mandalorian Wars, Darth Revan returned to Republic space at the head of a massive invasion fleet. Calling themselves the Sith, they declared war on the Republic. Since his intention was to unite the galaxy under one ruler so he could attack the ancient Sith Empire, he avoided attacking key places such as Coruscant, Onderon, and Dantooine. The Sith won the battle and as the Dark Lord prepared to battle with the Jedi who boarded his flagship, Darth Malak, in the hopes of destroying both Revan and Bastila Shan, betrayed his Master, ordering the ships under his command to fire on Revan's flagship's bridge. Though Malak believed himself to have been successful in killing Revan, they survived. Revan, severely injured from the turbolaser blasts, was then taken by Bastila Shan and her Jedi strike team to the Jedi Enclave on Dantooine where the Jedi Council members chose to wipe Revan's memory, and imprint him with a false identity that the player creates at the beginning of the game. Knights of the Old Republic begins with Revan awaking on a starship under attack. Throughout the game, Revan learns of his forgotten history and assembles a band of followers as he searches for "Star Maps" that lead him back to the Star Forge, which Revan used to make his army. Revan encounters Malak, who tells Revan that he is the former Sith lord.
At one point Malak captures Bastila and turns her to the dark side. Her ultimate fate depends on player choices. In the game, the player can choose whether to turn Revan to the dark side or the light side of the Force. Regardless, Revan confronts Malak at the game's conclusion. According to canon, Revan returned as a Jedi Knight who stopped the Sith forces under Malak's control and destroyed the Star Forge. The last scene of the game's canonical ending shows the principal characters, including Revan, being honored by the Republic at the site of the temple on Rakata Prime; a picture of later events has emerged from subsequent games and novels.
The sequel reveals that a year after the defeat of Malak, Revan recalled a threat from his time as the Dark Lord, and left known space to deal with it. Clues to the nature of the threat emerge from in-game dialogue with non-player characters ; this varies according to alignment and sex.
Prior to the events of the sequel, 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; the only NPC with certain knowledge of where and why won't say. Also, at the ancient tomb of Ludo Kressh in Korriban, the Jedi Exile fights a silent vision of Darth Revan, in which he appears to wield two lightsabers, one red and one violet. The game lists the color crystal of the lightsaber the player obtains from him as a unique red color. This is Revan's only appearance in the entire game. Additionally, the Jedi Exile can speak with several companions and non-player characters within the game to learn more about the history of Revan, and his journey into the Unknown Regions.

''The Old Republic: Revan''

He appears as the primary focus of Star Wars: The Old Republic: Revan, a tie-in book to Star Wars: The Old Republic that was released by Bioware and EA on December 20, 2011.

''The Old Republic''

Revan re-emerges in Star Wars: The Old Republic after a team of Republic heroes manages to rescue him from the Emperor's Maelstrom Prison with the help of the ghost of the Jedi Exile. It is learned that he was kept prisoner by the Emperor to channel Revan's strength in the Force. Revan's link with the Emperor was two-way, however, and he was able to keep the Emperor's darker urges in check, thereby preventing the Emperor from unleashing his full power upon the galaxy. Though thankful to the Republic for rescuing him, Revan decides to fight the Emperor on his own terms and takes control of a Rakatan installation called "The Foundry" and engineers a droid army programmed to identify and eliminate any target with Sith DNA, which not only included Dark Lords of the Sith but also the majority of citizens of the Empire. Revan's plan is thwarted when a group of Imperials manages to infiltrate the Foundry and destroy the droid army and HK-47 before confronting Revan. After a vicious battle, Revan is defeated but disappears before a killing blow can be delivered.
Revan appears again in the "Legacy of Rakata Prime" flashpoint as the man behind the conspiracy in the "Forged Alliances" plotline. He is the primary antagonist of the fourth digital expansion to The Old Republic, entitled Shadow of Revan. During the digital expansion, Revan returns to destroy the Republic and Empire. He leads a group of followers, called Revanites, into infiltrating both galactic powers and influencing them into annihilating each other. Some Republic and Imperial forces also declare themselves for Revan. Revan then draws the Empire and Republic into a battle with his Revanite ships over the planet Rishi, so that neither the Republic nor the Empire can interfere when he confronts the Emperor. However, his plan is thwarted when the player's character sends a communication to Republic and Imperial ships informing them of Revan's plan and to cease fire.
Revan later is cornered on Yavin 4 where he tries to raise the Emperor but is confronted and defeated by the player and an alliance of Republic and Imperial characters. After The Emperor makes his presence known and leaves Yavin 4, an apparition of Revan appears and reveals that when he was defeated in the Foundry, his light side became one with the Force, but his dark side, fueled by hate for the Emperor, survived, setting off the "Forged Alliances" plotline. The two sides of Revan, one Jedi, the other Sith, then reunite, and his now whole spirit warns the player and his allies that they must un-do what he has done or the Emperor will see his evil plans through and everything will be lost.

Other appearances

', Revan appears as a holographic avatar for a holocron discovered by Darth Bane.
In celebration of KotOR 15th anniversary, Electronic Arts added Jedi Knight Revan to ' as a playable character on October 18, 2018. Months later, his Sith version, Darth Revan, came to the game as the first unlockable Dark Side mythic character. He was followed by Darth Malak.

Canon works

Revan was originally slated to appear in the animated series '. In the third-season episode "Ghosts of Mortis," Revan would have appeared as a Sith Lord alongside Darth Bane as advisors to the Son, a dark side embodiment. Revan was cut from the episode in late production since his presence would conflict with Lucas's view of the Force.
The visual dictionary guide for the 2019 film ' contains a reference to one of the Sith Eternal's legions named after Darth Revan.

Merchandising

In 2007, Hasbro toys released an action figure of Darth Revan. Revan received the second-highest number of votes in the 2006 ToyFare Fan's Choice Poll to determine the most requested Star Wars action figure. The highest number of votes was for Quinlan Vos, a Jedi who appeared in comic books and who Hasbro had already slated to be released in 2007 before the poll was conducted.
In 2009, Hasbro released a Darth Revan Mighty Mugg.
In 2014, Lego released a Darth Revan Minifigure as a free-with-purchase promotional item from May 3–5.
Revan won the 2015 Fan Choice Poll at San Diego Comic-Con, his figure was released in late 2016.
A GameStop exclusive figure of Jedi Knight Revan from was released in February of 2020.

Reception

Revan was chosen by IGN as the 12th greatest Star Wars character, as well as also being chosen by IGN's Jesse Schedeen as, along with Darth Malak, the fifth best Star Wars villain. IGN's readers chose Revan as their 7th top Star Wars character. UGO Networks put the character as the ninth top Star Wars expanded universe character. Jesse Schedeen listed Revan as one of the Star Wars character that she wanted in Soulcalibur, calling him "one of the rare Expanded Universe characters that unquestionably stands alongside the best of the movie characters." Robert Workman, from GameDaily, listed the character as one of his favourite Star Wars video game characters.
Although Revan ultimately did not make the cut, Game Informer staff considered his inclusion in their "30 characters that defined a decade" collection, with Matt Miller saying, "in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, the looming shadow of his presence hangs over everything, and the Revan-centric twist at the heart of the story shocked the gaming world."
ScrewAttack listed the revelation that the player character is Darth Revan as the tenth "" moment in video gaming. Edge also listed the moment as one of the most jaw-dropping moments in video games. GameDaily's Chris Buffa listed the moment as the fourth top video game spoiler, and Robert Workman listed the moment as one of the eight BioWare moments that shocked him.