What's the big deal about Revan?

[Corinthian]

Yeah. Not EVERYBODY in Star Wars has their significant abilities derived from some Force Power. Some people are just natural strategists.

[jonathan7]

I highly doubt that. For instance, the Jedi strike team probably wouldn't have been able to board his ship if that were the case, since they were only able to do so through Bastila's Battle Meditation.

 

Actually, it's the Exile who Kreia notes is "something more" than a leader.

 

Well; what about the Endar Spire and Bastilia been taken by suprise; I would have thought given his successes Revan must of had some sort of Battle Meditation ability;perhaps a lesser version than Bastilia had.

 

The Exile had power at forming relationships and is a great leader hence being a General; my saying that Revan was better IMO was no saying the Exile wasn't very good. It's a bit like saying Maradonna is better than Cristiano Ronaldo...

 

Yeah. Not EVERYBODY in Star Wars has their significant abilities derived from some Force Power. Some people are just natural strategists.

 

Aye, Revan was definatly that too, but personally I think there must of been abit of Battle Meditation in there too.

[JCarter426]

The Exile had power at forming relationships and is a great leader hence being a General; my saying that Revan was better IMO was no saying the Exile wasn't very good.

 

I'm not saying Revan wasn't a good leader; I was just pointing out that there's no reason to think either is a better leader.

 

Well; what about the Endar Spire and Bastilia been taken by suprise; I would have thought given his successes Revan must of had some sort of Battle Meditation ability;perhaps a lesser version than Bastilia had.

 

Revan was successful because he was a leader.

 

As for the Endar Spire, what does that have to do with Revan? Supposedly, Bastila was taken by surprise, and didn't have time to use her Battle Meditation. Revan's capture was different; if Bastila had time to use hers, Revan probably could have used his, if he had it.

[Gurges-Ahter]

IMHO, there's a combination of reasons for why people obsess about Revan. Like others have said, one of the reasons is that you get to play as him in K1 and that gives the impression that they are actually Revan and that way they increase his abilities considerably and over the edge. Another valid reason that has been mentioned before, is that Revan was one of the greatest Sith Lords/Jedi Knights of his era and so he gets fanboys from both sides of the barricade. Yet another reason for the obsession with Revan is that he's the Anakin Skywalker of his era...incredible force potential and great lightsaber skills. Eventually people get bored with Anakin and so move on to another character with similar characteristics to the Chosen One, in this case Revan.

 

I definetely think that the exaggerated fanboyism is hurting Revan as a character though and some arguments I have seen for Revan winning a battle are just plain ridiculous. I won't lie, I'm probably infected with Revan fanboyism as well, but I still don't think he's all-powerful, invincible or 'teh uber'. I just like to think of him as one of the greatest Jedi/Sith Lords of his era, because that's what he actually is.

 

I totally agree with this assessment, and the only thing I can think of to add is that Revan is a bada$$ name. It's easier for me to glorify a character whose name is as strong as his use of the force/jedi skills.

 

I also think the mystery/aura surrounding his past leads to over-glorification of how strong he was as a Sith Lord. I haven't played KOTOR II/TSL yet, so my opinion is based solely on KOTOR I.

 

Lastly, IMO, the story line of KOTOR I is as good (and probably better than) the movies, so it makes it really easy to identify and fully accept how powerful Revan can be.

 

I also found this interesting about Revan's name (from wikipedia):

The name "Revan" is possibly derived from the term revanchism,[1] which is used to describe a political manifestation of the will to reverse territorial losses, often by the way of war; a posture that Revan adopted against the Mandalorians.

[Jvstice]

I don't think Revan's strategising was force inspired, other than maybe occasional flashes of insight, like when you play K1 "seeing" the inside of the Star Map caves. But that could really be just as easily be explained by old memories resurfacing in part, and so there's really no need to attribute even that to force abilities inherent in Revan. Though that could have been Bastilla tampering with his dreams and unlocking parts of his mind when it suited her. Bastilla was a prodigy of battle meditation. I think she'd have commented if she ran into someone on a per with her specific talent in the force in K1, so I think it's safe to say that whatever the source of Revan's skills, it was different in nature than what Bastilla did.

 

TBH, the only force precognition we've seen are by Exile with her danger sense of the immediate future, and Kreia with the predictions of what your companions will do at the end of K2. So I'd argue that Revan's leadership wasn't simply seeing the future with the force and acting on that, but more based in logic and charisma. And more akin to natural ability in these areas.

[t.walters]

well, revan had a badass mask and robe, plus, if you get every little detail out of kreia about revan, you'd start to think hes a badass, plus the entire KOTOR series is centered around him obviously!

[Lord Foley]

I love Revan, but let me tell you, I hate it when people insist he was the best Jedi/Sith ever.

 

I love Revan because his story is compelling and he is simply the best of his era. The fanboyism stems from the fact that Revan was one of if not the most powerful Force users of his time, and no one comparable (movie characters, exar kun and ulic...) was around to take him down a notch. His story is "Revan kick asss, loses his memory, then kicks more ass." I think that's why people love him. I really don't think he was particularly amazing. But he just kept winning.

[TKA-001]

and he is simply the best of his era.

To be fair, there's not much competition. Unless Exar Kun counts.