Manufacture Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 To begin with, I didn't even realize that there was such a thing as an "Imperial" accent until one of my chat options had said something along the lines of, "You don't sound like a citizen of the Empire" that it finally dawned on me. Apparently in order to be classified as an Imperial, you needed to have some form of a British accent. Admittedly, that threw me into a bit of a loop. Granted I'm not a Star Wars know-all, and pretty much my only background knowledge of the Star Wars universe stems from the movies (yes, even the godawful prequels). But as far as I remember, accents ranged on both Republic and Empire. Qui-Gon and Obi Wan sure as hell didn't sound like John Wayne after all. So what's with the accents? Was there some kind of explanation in the canon that I'm completely oblivious to? Thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allyhoo Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 LOL I just made the connection b/w "true" imperials and British accents from that piece of dialogue last night, as well. I guess Bounty Hunters aren't citizens of the empire if that is really the case. My guess is that it has nothing to do with the Star Wars lore and more to do with the fact that BW wanted two distinct accents for the two factions (not really sure why) and British and American English (uh Galactic Basic) were probably just picked to allow for that (with the faction/accent choice being based on stereotypes). If we ever get a third faction maybe they will have an Australlian accent...I would love to listen to that all day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JawaJedi Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 I pretty sure there were several British Accents during the movies, at least the OT. Because, you know, British People are evil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meira_Arirai Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 In the original trilogy, almost all of the Rebels spoke English with American accents, whereas almost all of the Imperials spoke British English. Why they're choosing to carry that convention back 4000 years when we've got movies in between where all kinds of Republic cultures are speaking with all sorts of different accents, I'm not sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToEasy Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 The main reason I think Bioware made most of the imp classes have british accents was because in the movies a lot of the officers had british accents like on the death star on a new hope. Not completely sure though I believe that is why. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilsonstone Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 I pretty sure there were several British Accents during the movies, at least the OT. Because, you know, British People are evil. Not all of them. I used to date this chick from MAnchester and boy she was fiiiine..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilsonstone Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 The main reason I think Bioware made most of the imp classes have british accents was because in the movies a lot of the officers had british accents like on the death star on a new hope. Not completely sure though I believe that is why. I don't know their names, but a lot of imperial officers were played by brits in the movies. I don't mean just Peter Cushing. I only realized this because when rewatching the movies I noticed some of them I'd seen before on shows like BLake's Seven and Doctor Who. (the old school DW, not the new series) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viera Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 Eh. The original Star Wars had casting in London and alot of it was actually filmed in England lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegrognard Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 Don't you realise that the british government is evil? After all we're even building a giant deathstar right now to destroy our enemies! The sooner the americans take control of england, the better. joking, joking. Really I wouldn't know why, i mean for instance they did the same with FFXII where the "evil" empire were all british with thick british accents. Though there it seems more of a slap in the face as all the guards had a very thick british accent and not a more subtle one. What me and my friend discovered was that the imperial engineers all appears to be scottish which lead to me saying in chat "I can't do it cap'n. i don't have the power!" so I'm not certain if it's more star trek sneaking into star wars of if that was made completely by accident and is a weird co-incidence. the voices could stem from the many british actors that played as generals in the origonal star wars trilogy and now that's become part of their identity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stanjoly Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 How the hell did you make the link between needing an accent to be Imperial and then suddenly jumping to they must all be British?! You realize Britain includes Scotland, Wales, England and Ireland? Because I'm yet to see an accent that could be any of them but English. On Dromund Kaas, there is a Scottish Imperial Officer on the bridge that leads to the place where you go to get Revan's Mask he gives you a quest to find the plans to some new turret systems. Also. In a great many movies, the "Bad Guy" has an English accent. (E.g. X-Men.) Found this on google: http://h2g2.com/dna/h2g2/A891155 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jebazel Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 Well... we had one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teoita Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 (edited) Bioware has actually done something similar before: in dragon age: origins, elves have american accents while humans have british accents. I guess it's a good way to distinguish two different accents, it's a bit wierd i agree but it does make sense. Edited January 15, 2012 by teoita Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_strategos Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 it does make me wonder if the male jedi consular is an imperial expat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanguinal Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 (edited) How the hell did you make the link between needing an accent to be Imperial and then suddenly jumping to they must all be British?! You realize Britain includes Scotland, Wales, England and Ireland? Because I'm yet to see an accent that could be any of them but English. You've not played enough Imperial side then. I was expecting the old RP English=Evil connection, but you run across Scottish, Welsh, Northern English and I'm sure I heard a bit of Somerset at one point. Apart from the lack of N. Irish accents it pretty much is British=Empire. Edited January 15, 2012 by Sanguinal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grania Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 Whatever the reason is, I enjoy hearing all the different accents. I've heard English the most but sometimes they throw a Scottish or Australian one in. *shrug* Just enjoy the diversity? (As far as the alien racism, I can't say I enjoy that aspect of the Empire very much. Isn't everyone an alien to everyone else? How is it that my human isn't an alien?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanguinal Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 How is the Empire racist anyway? I've ran into NPCs of every colour and nobody makes the slightest reference to it. They may dislike aliens, but giving your own species preferential treatment over a completely unrelated species is pretty much universal outside the minds of fiction writers looking for a blunt racism analogy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkElvis Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 Whatever the reason is, I enjoy hearing all the different accents. I've heard English the most but sometimes they throw a Scottish or Australian one in. *shrug* Just enjoy the diversity? (As far as the alien racism, I can't say I enjoy that aspect of the Empire very much. Isn't everyone an alien to everyone else? How is it that my human isn't an alien?) The Empire, and moreso the Sith, have always been pro-human (as far as lore is concerned). It doesn't matter what planet you come from, as long as you're genetically human, you jump to the front of the line. An "alien," to the Sith, is anyone that isn't completely genetically human. It was especially so during Palpatine's reign, as he hated any and all non-humans (though he tolerated some, i.e. Maul and Thrawn, mainly for their usefulness). Accents are a little shakier, as lore-wise a British accent is considered a "Coruscanti" accent. However, since we are 3500 years prior to Coruscant becoming Imperial Center (when said accent becomes widely known), I suppose it works as sort of an origin bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philmors Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 Not all of them. I used to date this chick from MAnchester and boy she was fiiiine..... I'm sure she was quite 'evil' in the bedroom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dundeejedi Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 I pretty sure there were several British Accents during the movies, at least the OT. Because, you know, British People are evil. I'm british (well Scottish ahem) and i'm not evil. No wait a minute i just kicked a poodle. O well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crito Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 As a British person myself I can tell you that the Imperials in this game speak American English with a British Accent. It's almost as if an American wrote their dialogue for them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JawaJedi Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 As a British person myself I can tell you that the Imperials in this game speak American English with a British Accent. It's almost as if an American wrote their dialogue for them I wonder if.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fardreamer Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 How is the Empire racist anyway? I've ran into NPCs of every colour and nobody makes the slightest reference to it. They may dislike aliens, but giving your own species preferential treatment over a completely unrelated species is pretty much universal outside the minds of fiction writers looking for a blunt racism analogy. If you haven't noticed how racist the Empire is towards Aliens, then you simply have not been paying attention at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanguinal Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 (edited) If you haven't noticed how racist the Empire is towards Aliens, then you simply have not been paying attention at all. Read it again. Preference towards your own species is not racist, it's just nature. The Empire would be racist if it discriminated against pink Sith or black humans, which it does not. Edited January 15, 2012 by Sanguinal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tetrablade Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 I don't find it racist or speechist...or I guess whatever 'ist' you want to call this. Its just using accents to distinguish between cultures. Lucas choose to have the higher ranking officers speak American British. Lucas was involved in making this game so its not much a mystery. It can easily be hand waved by saying that they got the accent over time after being isolated for a thousand years. Same in how all the different languages got their accents. Guess I have to have an Australian accent to be a bounty hunter next right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manufacture Posted January 15, 2012 Author Share Posted January 15, 2012 How the hell did you make the link between needing an accent to be Imperial and then suddenly jumping to they must all be British?! You realize Britain includes Scotland, Wales, England and Ireland? Because I'm yet to see an accent that could be any of them but English. If you've played the Imperial side, you'll hear Irish, Scottish accents too. Haven't heard a Welsh accent yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was thrown into the mix. So don't get your panties in a twist over it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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