Please, don't adapt KOTOR

 See sense!

Recently there was a quote doing the headline rounds by one Drew Karpyshyn, author of 'Darth Bane' and 'Revan', senior writer for 'Knights of the Old Republic' and a lead writer for Mass Effect 1 and 2. This veteran talent in the very foundations of modern western RPGs, as well as Star Wars expanded universe literature voiced in a Reddit AMA how he doesn't want to see film adaptions of KOTOR or Mass Effect. Now we've discussed the problem with a potential Mass Effect adaption before, but the KOTOR angle seems to have rustle a few fresh jimmies. After all, we are all currently in the middle of the great resurgence of Star Wars, a period where any and everything from the Legends lore which was considered interesting or inspired is getting repackaged to fit in Disney's brute force 'plan' for the Star Wars franchise future. Why not bring what is often referred to as the single best Star Wars story every told into that esteemed pantheon?

He went onto to specify he wouldn't want an adaptation which follows the exact beats of the game because linear narratives are told differently to branching narratives and there is so much story in KOTOR that most of it would have to be gutted to make it into a theatrical runtime. Now I actually agree with his sentiments utterly, however I disagree with his reasoning; because as many have pointed out such provisions would not preclude a potential developed TV show, and I absolutely think there shouldn't be a KOTOR show either. Now let me just preface this by saying I'm not saying this because I think KOTOR is a bad story, or that it's world doesn't belong on the big screen. In fact, I think the Old Republic comics would make for a decent adaptation; or they could make something wholly new. (Imagine that!) But KOTOR, the original video game, should stay in it's medium for the integrity and strength of the story that it tells. 

Now I'm not going to ram down your throat affectations about how infallible and untouchable the KOTOR narrative is, because I don't believe that at all. In fact, I think that KOTOR is actually a very straightforward and foundational story at it's core that could easily have been used as a major springboard for a whole new frontier of the Star Wars franchise if creative talents were more centralised when it first came out. Now they are, and it makes sense that people are wondering if that missed opportunity can be seized, in the embers of the Skywalker saga and the ruined jumpstart of the Sequel series of events, we need a new spark to shake things up totally and move Star Wars beyond it's crumbling and dusty confines. I agree, we need a new voyage to embark on in the Stars before everything becomes the 'Tatooine adventures'; but KOTOR can't be it. At least not in the way that Disney would frame it.

At the centre of KOTOR, and the beating heart of much of it's fanfare, is the story of Darth Revan and the mysteries surrounding him/her. (Which I continue to consider mysteries, because I don't accept The Old Republic's butchering of his/her narrative as a legitimate 'evolution') Now of course the huge spoiler is a big reason for this, and I'm going to need to talk about that spoiler so if you haven't played KOTOR to completion than take this opportunity to go and do that and then come back. Okay? Has it been around about 50 hours- you played it yet? Good. So the player turns out to be Darth Revan and that's one of the reasons why this story has such a hold on people all these years later. It introduced a completely distinct Star Wars universe to the one we knew, filled it with unique and new legends, and then revealed us to be one of those legends in the flesh, thrusting the audience directly into the tapestry of the story before they ever knew what was happening.

Of course that sort of experience is going to rub-off a sense of 'ownership' on that character for the players who lived his shoes, and that's both the beauty of this twist as a narrative device and it's biggest crutch when it comes to the mutability of that story. The immersive and interactive nature of a full blown, 50 hour RPG is required in order to build that personal connection to the player character so that the shocking blow of learning your own past can land with such a splash. KOTOR even plays around specifically with RPG tropes in order to obfuscate and set-up it's narrative, dropping players into a prototypical 'bystander who is thrust into the spotlight' scenario just like every videogame fantasy story ever told had done so beforehand. This throws the player off the scent from suspecting their own intentionally vague background so that the twist can creep up on you out of nowhere! And again, it's a trick that's only going to work on an audience familiar with the tropes of games.

A movie going audience, or TV watchers, have a totally different mental repertoire to address and assess with when it comes watching these sorts of stories, and if you think they're going to fall for the 'stranger shows up on ship and becomes the unlikely hero' subterfuge you're on a different planet. Especially given the current state of Star Wars where everyone important is someone's uncle or niece or granddaughter. No matter what you do, there's no way to replicate that interpersonal attachment with the character of Revan that players have but for a passive audience. They just can't connect with a story in the same way behind that barrier of a silver screen, to the point where they actually embody the person and relate personally to them.

Which isn't to say that I think the character of Revan his/her-self is unadaptable, I hasten to add. If anything, Final Fantasy 7 Remake showed us deftly how you can take a character who is meant to be an avatar to the player and distance that relationship with an imbued voice and personality, but enrich that same character through that new personality as long as it matches the spirit of the original character proposition. (Part of Cloud's background is designed with metacontextual hooks as well, which allows that character to attach closely with a gaming audience on their level.) And on the other end of the spectrum; The Halo Show demonstrates exactly what happens when you try to actively distance yourself from that connection so hard that you end up creating a character which is nothing like the source. I do think Revan as a character can exist, and maybe even develop, on the big screen. But their origins must remain in gaming for that story to remain as special and deep rooted as it has for all of these years.

There will obviously be some Old Republic content coming our way, Revan has already been officially canonised into the Disney Star Wars scripture through way of a novel, as well as the upcoming KOTOR remake. If Disney wants to play this right, they'll respect the KOTOR remake as the avenue through which the story of Revan is told and not try to 'legitimise' that story through a movie adaptation. (Which would, in turn, delegitimise the game.) Will that limit the spread of that story to people who play the game or at least surround that world; yes, it absolutely will. But if Disney are smart they'll bite that easily swallowed bullet and plan accordingly. So for the love of integrity don't denigrate and eradicate the underlying strength of KOTOR out of that vampiric thirst for more content- and fans need to stop encouraging them!