Kreia
Kreia Darth Traya | |
---|---|
Human | |
Gender | Female |
Title | Darth Traya |
Apprentices |
|
Kreia is a character and
Written by
She was positively received, and is often pointed to as the highlight of The Sith Lords. Praise went to the questions and dialogue she provided, as well as her voice acting. The character has appeared in numerous "top lists", often commending her as a Star Wars character. Attention was drawn to one moment where Kreia lectures about the dangers of charity. Despite this, Avellone felt he failed in creating a "sympathetic" Sith Lord, though he has called her one of his favorite characters in the game.
Conception and creation
The first draft of the game placed a figurehead similar to Kreia as the leader of matriarchs ruling
In the game proper, Kreia was written by
A multi-page biography was created for narrative reference, art and audio.
Narratively, Kreia had several roles in The Sith Lords, acting as a party member, a
English actress Sara Kestelman voiced the character in the game.[13] In voice directors Will Beckman and Darragh O'Farrell's "Designer Diary", the character was considered the most critical character to cast, though a challenging one as few games cast women of her age group. Obsidian worked hard in finding Kreia's voice, which had to match with her model without being "witchy or grating" due to her lengthy amount of dialogue.[14]
Developers tried to give each companion a unique ability to make them distinct from any other companion.
Character
Kreia is shown as an elderly blind woman, whose eyes have atrophied from lack of use in preference of viewing things through the Force, viewing normal sight as a distraction.
Kreia was the personification of Avellone's frustrations with the concept of the Force.[7] He called her "one redeeming feature" her love of the player character, and what they represent: a way of destroying the Force and its predestination in favor of giving freedom to the galaxy.[7] She shuns the light-side and the dark-side divide of the Force,[2] as well as blanket good and evil, favoring choices that emphasise personal strength for the player.[16] The A.V. Club's Julie Muncy described her philosophy as "a pessimistic and borderline-Randian way of thinking focused on the importance of power and strife".[13]
She is initially presented as an ally and a teacher,
Appearances
In The Sith Lords
The game was first released in December 2004, on
Kreia serves as a party member throughout the game, and may interject at certain points of it to offer her perspective. Depending on each decision the player makes, Kreia may gain or lose "Influence", which measures how much "trust, confidence, or control" the player has with a party member.[16] Unlike other party members, Kreia's alignment is not affected by the player's Influence level with her and is instead set at neutral, though Influence will unlock new conversations with her. In gameplay, she may only equip one hand, and is a "Jedi Consular", focused on using the game's Force powers. Having her in the party grants the player extra experience, and any Force effects the player character or Kreia use on themselves will also affect the other.
After the player finds all the in-hiding Jedi Masters, Kreia will retake her mantle as a Sith Lord. If the player does not kill the Jedi, she will intervene when they attempt to cut the Exile off from the Force, draining the Jedi of the Force herself and killing them. If the player chooses to kill the Jedi, she will renounce the Exile.[TSL 4] Either way, she will leave, and the player must hunt her to Malachor V, the site of such great atrocities and death that they caused a wound in the Force. Kreia seemingly plans on creating another wound in the Force there, deafening all to the Force and causing its "death", as well as potentially killing all those touched by it.[TSL 5][TSL 6] The player faces Kreia, now "Darth Traya", as the final boss, and after she is defeated she offers to describe the future she foresees before dying.
Later appearances
The character would make no more future appearances in Star Wars fiction. However, Kreia is mentioned in several Star Wars
Reception
Kreia has been positively received. Alexander Gambotto-Burke, for Eurogamer, considered Kreia to be the greatest villain in video gaming, praising her dialogue, Kestelman's "intelligent and subtle" voice-acting, and the way she forced the player into making choices and considering their decisions.
The character is often considered The Sith Lord's greatest or most important character. Julie Muncy of The A.V. Club said she was the greatest part of the game and called her the game's most "captivating" character, which she credited to her "cold charisma". Muncy found herself genuinely changing her character based on her opinions, overly caring about how Kreia viewed her character.[13] Similarly, PC Gamer credited Kreia with The Sith Lords's success, calling her "clearly haunted, bitter, manipulative, and yet right in so many ways". By looking at the Star Wars world through the view of her philosophy, they felt Obsidian made "the most thoughtful take on Star Wars we'll ever get".[23] Robert Purchese, writing for Eurogamer, called her "the strongest and most memorable character" in the game, praising her writing and how she embodied The Sith Lords's gray areas.[24] Allen Rausch of GameSpy described her as the game's most compelling character, commending Kreia for her challenges to his choices and noting how one example, concerning the importance of lightsabers, changed his view of the game.[25]
The character has appeared in numerous lists, often reflecting her good reception as a Star Wars character.
Not all reception of the character was positive. Adam Rosenburg of
In a moment described as "(in)famous" by Cross,[20] on Nar Shaddaa the player may give a beggar money or leave him; if he is given the money, Kreia shows how he is made a target of and attacked, and if he is refused Kreia reveals he attacks others. Owen called this moment the crystallization of the game's gray areas.[21] Anthony Brock of Gamers Hell noted how it led to him passionately arguing with a game character, complimenting Obsidian for how involved he felt.[33] Cobbett similarly highlighted the moment when praising the character.[22] Buecheler, however, criticized the scene for using an unlikely chance event to make its point.[32]
Kreia won "Best Character" in GameSpy's 2005 game of the year awards. They called her a "deeply unpleasant, highly disturbing, and incredibly hateful person", but also "easily the most intriguing, complicated, enigmatic, well-designed and nuanced character in a video game [in 2005]".[34] She was also nominated for GameSpot's 2004 "Best New Character" award,[35] though lost to "The Boss" in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater.[36]
Avellone retrospective
Avellone has said he felt he failed in creating a sympathetic Sith Lord, recalling buglists by QA testers referring to her as "that crusty annoying lady," and he considered the ending's explanations of her motivations more "hamfisted" than sympathetic.
Analysis
"Sometimes you face a situation with no good options, where tokenistic acts of morality may have unforeseen consequences. It's an interesting case where the restriction of player choice paradoxically opens up an exploratory space for the player."
— "Moral Code: Learning from 'Lawful Good' in roleplaying games", Katherine Cross[20]
Alexander Gambotto-Burke felt the character was a presentation of Avellone's criticisms of the Star Wars mythos and the morality presented in most post-Garriott video games, and called her "a tutorial, an incentive to explore moral avenues you might have otherwise ignored". Gambotto-Burke considered her not purely evil, and felt even at the end of the game "you can't help but see her as a flawed visionary".[2] GameSpot considered her point to be for the player to move on from "self-defeating" nihilism and realize "the act of choice is what gives form and pattern to the universe".[34]
In her piece analysing game morality, Katherine Cross highlighted the beggar scene on Nar Shaddaa. Cross noted how it illustrated Kreia's morality, shed doubt on "tokenist" moral acts, and highlighted the player's own powerlessness.[20] Hilary Goldstein noted how her philosophical points questioned the roles of the Jedi and the Sith.[17]
See also
- Blindness in literature
- Will to power
References
- Game
- ^ Obsidian Entertainment. Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords. Scene: Talking to Kreia.
Exile: What's wrong with your eyes? / Kreia: There is nothing wrong with my sight, if that is your question. I see all that I need, though the seeing of things flesh and blood has failed me some time ago. They were distractions only. / Exile: There might be a way to heal your sight. / Kreia: There is nothing wrong with my eyes - they have simply atrophied from use. They are adequate to distinguish shapes, silhouettes. If need be, I could heal them, restore my sight, but sight can prove a distraction. When one relies on sight to perceive the world, it is like trying to stare at the galaxy through a crack in the door. But that is a lesson for another time. You must learn to see crude matter for what it is before the veil is lifted.
- ^ Obsidian Entertainment. Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords. Scene: Talking to Kreia.
Exile: You walked her path? / Kreia: I was a historian, gathering the relics of the Jedi, learning the ancient mysteries. Always, there were more questions. One quickly learns that the Jedi Code does not give all the answers. If you are to truly understand, then you will need the contrast, not adherence to a single idea. That is why Atris and the others blamed me, sentenced me. They believed me responsible for Revan's fall.
- ^ Obsidian Entertainment. Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords. Scene: Talking to Kreia.
Exile: You trained him? / Kreia: He came to me, yes. Both before and after, before Revan knew himself. And after, in the times was coming into his own and learning he was more than he had been told. At one time, Revan was my Padawan. In times past, long ago.
- ^ Obsidian Entertainment. Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords. Scene: Jedi Masters killed. Level/area: Rebuilt Jedi Enclave.
Kreia: To have the Jedi Masters brought low by such a failure, there is no victory in that. You have not heard a thing I have taught, and for all I have said, you have never learned to listen. [...] You were my last hope, the only one who could change what is to come. And now you have left me nothing. I shall teach you no longer. Our bond remains, but that is all. Stay here and die, apprentice, among the wreckage of all that remains of the Jedi. It is a fitting grave until the Sith come to end you... to end everything. And as you lie here, I pray you will listen... and finally awaken.
- ^ Obsidian Entertainment. Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords. Scene: Atris defeated.
Exile: What does this have to do with Kreia? / Atris: Now she seeks to create another echo, a wound in the Force, greater than the one before - greater than the one you caused. It will deafen all touched by the Force, until no life is left. You were strong enough to withstand it once - but few have your strength in such matters, especially if they are unprepared.
- ^ Obsidian Entertainment. Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords. Scene: Atris defeated.
Atris: She seeks the death of all Jedi, all Sith... and the death of the Force. It is madness, it is impossible - but she believes you are the key.
- Other sources
- ^ a b Chris Avellone (October 14, 2009). "Kotor II Questions". Obsidian Forum Community. Archived from the original on February 27, 2014. Retrieved June 10, 2015.
- ^ a b c d e f Alexander Gambotto-Burke (December 2, 2009). "Born Under A Bad Sign". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on April 4, 2010. Retrieved June 10, 2015.
- ^ "Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords Wrap Report, Part 1". IGN. December 23, 2004. Archived from the original on December 27, 2019. Retrieved June 16, 2015.
- ^ Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Archivedfrom the original on May 23, 2015. Retrieved June 10, 2015.
- ^ a b Pavlos (February 23, 2009). "Chris Avellone interview (part 1)". StarWarsKnights.com. Archived from the original on April 30, 2009. Retrieved June 16, 2015.
- ^ Chris Avellone (September 21, 2007). "Un-Ravel-ling Torment". Obsidian Forum Community. Archived from the original on November 3, 2015. Retrieved June 10, 2015.
- ^ a b c Emperor Devon (September 24, 2007). "StarWarsKnights Interview w/ Chris Avellone". StarWarsKnights.com. Archived from the original on January 18, 2012.
- ^ "Chris Avellone: A Man Of Many Words". GamesTM. n.d. Archived from the original on March 25, 2016. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
- ^ "Kotaku Asks: The Lead Writer And Designer Of Planescape: Torment". Kotaku. April 24, 2015. Archived from the original on June 14, 2015. Retrieved June 13, 2015.
- ^ Lightspeed Magazine. Archivedfrom the original on July 17, 2015.
- ^ Brian Menze (January 27, 2012). "RE: Kreia". DeviantArt. Archived from the original on April 14, 2016. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
- ^ 1UP.com. Archived from the originalon February 24, 2005. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
- ^ a b c Julie Muncy (March 6, 2015). "Desperately seeking a Sith Lord's approval in Knights Of The Old Republic II". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on June 9, 2015.
- ^ "Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords Designer Diary #4 - Voices". GameSpot. January 31, 2005. Archived from the original on January 14, 2016. Retrieved June 16, 2015.
- ^ "Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords Sequel Interview". RPG Vault. IGN. October 12, 2004. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved March 1, 2016.
- ^ a b c Hilary Goldstein (November 29, 2004). "KOTOR II: How to Talk Dirty and Influence People". IGN. Archived from the original on November 30, 2015. Retrieved June 10, 2015.
- ^ a b c Hilary Goldstein (November 30, 2004). "KOTOR 2: Meet Your Team". Archived from the original on July 17, 2015. Retrieved June 10, 2015.
- ^ "Knights of the Old Republic". Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on June 1, 2009. Retrieved June 16, 2015.
- ^ "Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes - The Road Ahead". Galaxy of Heroes official website. February 8, 2018. Archived from the original on March 5, 2018. Retrieved March 4, 2018.
- ^ Gamasutra. Archivedfrom the original on June 1, 2015.
- ^ a b Phil Owen (May 30, 2014). "Why Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2 Is Better Than The Original". Kotaku. Archived from the original on July 17, 2015. Retrieved July 19, 2015.
- ^ a b Richard Cobbett (July 29, 2015). "Now it's got Steam Workshop support, is Knights of the Old Republic 2 worth returning to?". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on July 31, 2015. Retrieved July 29, 2015.
- ^ "The best Star Wars games of all time". PC Gamer. February 12, 2015. Archived from the original on June 16, 2015. Retrieved June 10, 2015.
- ^ Robert Purchese (July 31, 2013). "Fear is the path to the dark side". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on June 22, 2015. Retrieved June 10, 2015.
- ^ Allen Rausch (February 4, 2005). "Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords". GameSpy. Archived from the original on February 7, 2005. Retrieved July 19, 2015.
- ^ "Top 100 Star Wars Characters". IGN. Archived from the original on March 10, 2013. Retrieved June 10, 2015.
- ^ Jesse Schedeen (April 25, 2008). "Top Star Wars Villains: Fan Favorites". IGN. Archived from the original on December 13, 2014. Retrieved June 10, 2015.
- ^ Joe Juba (December 22, 2011). "Gaming's Best And Worst Star Wars Characters". Game Informer. Archived from the original on May 10, 2015. Retrieved June 10, 2015.
- ^ Liz Lanier (November 2013). "Top Ten Female Villains". Game Informer. p. 24.
- ^ Edwin Evans-Thirlwell (June 3, 2015). "The 25 greatest Star Wars moments in Xbox history". GamesRadar. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved June 10, 2015.
- ^ Adam Rosenburg (December 6, 2008). "The Worst Star Wars Expanded Universe Characters". UGO Networks. Archived from the original on February 16, 2013. Retrieved June 10, 2015.
- ^ a b Christopher Buecheler (March 1, 2005). "The Resident Cynic - Eulogy to a Flawed Developer". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on January 25, 2021. Retrieved August 4, 2015.
- ^ Anthony Brock. "Star Wars Kotor 2 Review". Gamers Hell. Archived from the original on July 21, 2015.
- ^ a b "GameSpy's Game of the Year 2005". GameSpy. Archived from the original on July 28, 2013.
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- ^ "Interview with Writer Chris Avellone". EUCantina.net. April 27, 2008. Archived from the original on March 26, 2015. Retrieved June 16, 2015.
External links
- Kreia on Wookieepedia, a Star Wars wiki