Should Revan / The Exile be given faces or names in the KOTOR comic book series?

Sorry, messed up there.

Anyways, this question was posted over at DarkHorse and was wondering about your thoughts on this matter.

Personally, I hope that Revan's name and face are both kept secret and that he just wears his signature mask. The Exile, on the other hand, I feel should be at least given a name. This would allow future stories involving her a possibility. Imagine a novel saying "The Jedi Exile did this...", "the Jedi Exile said to him..." You know? While, with Revan, you can just say Revan. Also, since Revan DOES have a canon look, I see no reason to show his face, his mask keeps his face up to the reader. The Exile, however, does not and I don't see them pulling the "Unknown Hooded Jedi" trick again.

So, what do you think?

 

I also think they should keep Revan cloaked (he shouldn't start wearing his signature mask and robe until he has visited Malachor though). I just want to see Revan interact with Zayne a little. If they plan on using the Exile then I think they will give her both a name and a face. Who knows Revan may have multiple female Jedi generals, so we may have to wait until the end of the series to find out which one is the Exile. If Revan has only one female general then it becomes obvious.

 

I don't see why the Exile can't just be called "General" to get around the name issue. Enough of the characters in the game itself just called her that and it was what she was known for during the Mandalorian Wars.

The face is harder to get around though I'm not all that fussed if she gets a face. I doubt she will though else they wouldn't be obscuring Revan either. I figure either they'll do the same big hooded cloak deal or just design a cool outfit for her to wear that covers her face. Nobody ever said Revan was the only dude known for covering his face. Besides, there are other getups they could design for "the General" beyond a face plate. I'd be happy with a sort of full head and face covering Lumiya type of veil.

I do want to see the General though. I'll be greatly disappointed if she isn't featured as a prominent military leader from the Revanchists once they go to war.

Similarly, I want to see Revan don his trademark getup once the Revanchists make their move, which should be soon judging by the timeline (the comics are in the same year). I'm fine though with the artists designing a different less Sithly look for him to have initially though. Alek got his pre-Sith look, no reason why the Revanchist can't too in my mind. They need not give him a name or a face to be able to have an artist give him a more stylish look.

Personally, I've always liked the idea he stole the face plate from a Mandalorian (they did say that Revan and Malak became more and more like the Mandalorians themselves as the war went on ). I'd really like to see him donning some half-Jedi/half-Mando looking getup that was halfway between his Jedi-look and eventual Sith-look. I'm essentially thinking Darth Revan but not so much black, more neutral, grays and browns.

Of course, I also always liked the idea his face plate was Mandalore's... but KOTOR2 spoiled that one for me with Canderous.

 

I would like to see faces and names for both - as long as either of them wouldn't be named Skywalker - but at least for Exile if they want to keep Revan as the enigmatic faceless and nameless figure he is now.

 

You've pretty much embodied my entire thinking with that post. I agree with you on all accounts.

 

Yes. Next question.

Seriously, I've never understood the desire to cripple the ability of these characters to be portrayed anywhere outside their respective game and undergo any expansion simply for the sake of preserving the virginally pristine quality of the gameplay experience for fans unable to comprehend the outrage-inspiring idea of not having the canonical character be exactly like their PC. Give Revan a face. So what? It's better than having him be Wilson for the next twenty years.

 

I think it would be all right if the Exile was just called "General" during this period of time. It could be one of those strange "Don't call me An'yo Kura. I am the Dark Woman. My name is a possession and I have given up all possession to show humility in front of the force" type things.

I can't really remember if the Exile actually went "Dark" but as time progresses her name could morph into an arrogance thing. "There are a lot of generals out there, but I am THE General."

Following a similar train of thought, once she is no longer the General, she becomes the Exile. Her name is not as important as what she is.

 

I still wish the Exile was a dude. The Handmaiden story was much more interesting....

Yes, show their faces.

 

That sounds like that locomotive from the Buster Keaton classic...

In the beginning, I think I had selfish thoughts, only wanting my version of the game to exist. But seeing how well the comic is doing, I'd agree that we'd better have canon depictions and get it over with. "The Revanchist" is a genius way of pussyfooting around the issue, but with the Exile, pulling something similar off would be... irritating. And I'm too fond of the whole Alek/Malak story to just have Revan being a non-entity until the Star Forge gives him his Sith outift, they should really include him more.

But it's not an official question over at Dark Horse, is it?

 

Revan had his signature robe and mask before he found the Star Forge. I think it would make sense for him to take up the robe and mask after he goes to Malachor (becomes darker). I do hope Revan gets more involved in future issues as well. I mean he doesn't even need to have his mask or a face because he could stay hidden behind the robe. I like you think it would be easier to give him a canon depiction, but if keeping him robed works then that is fine as well.

 

Hmm... A good question.
As much as I think Revan is Revan, the hood and the awesome mask, all that, I would want to see more of his early days. And he wasn't born with that mask on. Revan has a face and it would be interesting to see it.

[image=http://images.wikia.com/starwars/images/d/d3/Manyfacesofrevan.jpg]
My Revan was always the Jedi-mullet guy. And the one in the top right corner is not bad either. But yeah, if DH decide to give Revan a face I'll have make peace with that, whatever portrait they chose. We take what is given.
On the other hand, it may be something completely different than those options from the game. In the comics, Revan is still a Knight in the Mandalorian Wars, before he became a Sith. And if his memory was 'erased', maybe his looks have been changed as well (like hair)...

As for the name, it's not really necessary for Revan, but it is for the Exile. Saying The Jedi Exile all the time is not really convenient.

Same here.

 

I chose the center face in the top row the first time I played (I thought the Jedi could use a central protagonist who wasn't white).

 

Pre-KotOR Revan to me is Top Right dude (with the same style of beard he develops as a dark sider) and long hair. The beard and hair is shaved after his capture, and contributes - in part - to his ability to go around unrecognised.

That bald toy be damned.

Besides, it's not a T-Visor.

 

Most vehemently no. They should never have given them a gender, either, but that ship seems to have sailed. You'd think LFL would've learned from the unadulterated fiasco that was Rebel Assault II, but noooooo...

Really. I'm still upset about that one. There have been few moments in my life more horrifying than the day I learned that MY Rookie One had been replaced by some blonde elbow with a bad haircut.

 

Oh yeah right, like Revan would ever go against trend-setters like Malak, Bandon, Uthar, and Jorak Uln. Every important male Sith in the Second Sith Empire has to be bald, didn't you know that?

 

I'm still annoyed they made Revan a dude and The Exile a chick - should have been the other way around.

 

Any reason why you think this should be the case?

 

Yes, that.

 

Yes.

And it should be the ugliest, most hideous face available. Make him look slightly retarded.

 

The Exile - yes. A name and a face would be extraordinarily useful.

Revan - a name, sure. That would be handy. His real name could be Revan (making 'revanchist' a pun on that instead of the other way around), but since Alek took a new name, it would be weird if Revan didn't. Strange that no one mentions it in the game, though. Even the Jedi Council, after admitting everything, still call him 'Revan' in the LS ending.

A face, though... I'm not so sure about. Revan's trademark look is that facelessness. It's his thing, visually. I could see him deliberately hiding his face after starting the Revanchist movement for reasons similar to that of the Dark Lady. 'Who I am is not important - my message is', as he said, and it fits quite nicely into his 'mad prophet' image in that early stage. Perhaps you could say that's also why he took the name Revan from 'revanchist', to say 'this is not about me. I am unimportant. Don't follow me. Follow the cause'. Revan could thus create an image of himself as the embodiment of the cause. It makes him look more than mortal, and also helps to deflect the idea that he's simply trying to gather temporal power.

 

I second that.

Personally (and I know I'm gonna get flamed for this) I'm sick of all the guys gettin nearly all spotlight as the Ultimate Hero/Villain of the era. And the ladies? Sidekicks and potential loveinterests.

And if anyone says "Exile is a chick and she gets an entire game of her own as well!" Yeah, well she started off as a general under male Revan's command.

I don't mind if there are people out there prefering playing male Revan and female Exile. The choices exists in the game to be played. But putting it all into a comic and making it canon is a blow to us who favors another gameplay.

So having Revan beeing mentioned in the comics as "the Revanchist", "Revan" or "Master", and havin a figure shrouded in a wide Jedi robe - that's entirely okay to me. Mentioning the to-be-Exile as "General", "Sir" or even "Master Jedi", and also being hided in a wide Jedi robe - also okay to me.

But no - I don't want to see either Revan's nor Exile's face in the comics (and not their body-shapes either). And I don't want to hear either being mentioned as "he" or "she". I make female Revan and male Exile fan art, and I get yelled at enough for not making them the canon way.

 

For me, the problem isn't that, but to do with the plot. Affirmative action with female characters is ridiculous; I'm most concerned with what makes for a better plot.

As such, in my opinion, the Exile ought to be male because the game's story works better that way. The Brianna subplot is simply that much better than the Mical one. (Especially when it comes to the ending fight against Atris. With no Brianna there... what's the Exile doing there? The handmaidens pop up out of nowhere to take Kreia to Atris; while it's nice and logical if Brianna's there.) Plus you feel half of Visas' plot worth drift away when you remove the sexual subtext.

Revan... I like both the male and female Revans. Tentatively the male Revan is better because the Bastila romance arc fits the overall shape of the plot better than the Carth one, but in honesty I must say I find the Revan/Carth arc very cute.

So, were it up to me, I suppose I would end up with both male. Now that's not to do with sexism but with consideration of the relative merits of each gender for each one. I can sympathise with the desire to make a main characters canonically female (who was it who said that?), but I think the Exile was the wrong choice.

Did you miss the part where Kreia expressly says 'You are greater than any I have ever trained'? According to the woman who taught both Revan and the Exile, the Exile's better. If you feel compelled to try and decide which is better because Heaven knows it's too difficult to simply like both according to their own merits without getting into comparison territory.

 

The Carth story is as good as the Bastilla one.

But only the Dark Side Revan where they commit double suicide.

 

Yes to both.

This isn't a game, it's a comic and the series can't duck or evade these particular characters.

 

You know, reading that, I'm inclined to say I agree in a Mass Effect "Why can't there just be one canon Commander Shephard?" kind of way. It's not like the fact there's a canon Shephard stops me still having my Shephard.