Jedi Shadow

[Nekrian]

Hi guys,

 

I really enjoyed star wars since I was young, and like the lore but don't know much about it at all. I was wondering if people could really explain the role of a Jedi shadow, what are examples of the kind of characters that would be shadows in the movies etc. Surely they kill for the republic and therefore flirt with the dark side, or am I miles off

 

 

Thanks for any responses.

[mattchanner]

Celeste Morne was a jedi shadow from the old republic times. she appears in a commic series (very good one) called knights of the old republic she is a jedi shadow tasked a mission to retrieve an ancient Sith artifact known as the Muur Talisman; created by a Sith Lord of the old Sith Empire, Karness Muur, the relic gave the wearer the power to control rakghouls. ( this is pre taris destroyed)

 

so in a nutshell what jedi shadows did was they would hunt sith and/or hunt sith relics and secure them. they were sometimes refered to as the secret hand of the jedi because most other jedi didn't even know they exsisted.

Edited February 11, 2012 by mattchanner

[KavaRensa]

Jedi Shadows are assassins without the name. They rely on stealth and killing power to survive.

In-game, you shadow can focus on either stealth focus or tanking. Tanking is really good as they have a lot of defensive measures.

 

Story-wise, shadows know the truths and dirty secrets the cocky Jedi will never admit they are guilty of. Shadows do the dirty work and given no praise or anything for it.

[Jaerion]

Jedi Shadows are assassins without the name. They rely on stealth and killing power to survive.

In-game, you shadow can focus on either stealth focus or tanking. Tanking is really good as they have a lot of defensive measures.

 

Story-wise, shadows know the truths and dirty secrets the cocky Jedi will never admit they are guilty of. Shadows do the dirty work and given no praise or anything for it.

 

Unfortunately, there are few times in-game that you get to experience this, as far as the class story goes.

[Rhadamanthine]

Unfortunately, there are few times in-game that you get to experience this, as far as the class story goes.

 

Yep. One of the few times I've noticed you even could, that

holocron-teaching-rakghouls-the-Force quest on Taris, you get Dark Side points for wanting to exterminate the lot of them. This is despite the fact that they are basically Muur's plague (though the PC isn't aware of the Sith's involvement with them) that are adding Dark Side powers to the mix. Keeping in mind a bunch of Jedi not many quests away eventually come to the conclusion (before they are eaten) that that batch of rakghouls is something they can't help.

 

 

I took it anyway cause that is my Shadow's job, but it really felt sour. The story generally panders far more to the Sage aspect than the Shadow one.

[Luthiel]

Jedi Shadows first appeared in the WEG Games Tales of the Jedi Sourcebook(Tabletop Roleplaying) which outlined the lore behind the Tales of the Jedi Series released roughly in 1994. One of the wonderful things about that book is that it had an expansive summary and explanation of Force powers. Jedi Shadows therefore are mentioned during the Tales of the Jedi TIme period roughly around 5,000 to 3986 BBY. There is some speculation about them being a secretive order within the Jedi Order themselves, but essentially they were Jedi who were dedicated to seeking out the Dark Side, and protecting the order from its threat within and without. Depending on a writer's interpretation, yes it would and could(and I would say should, based upon my own research and speculation) make them privee to esoteric facts about the Order that your regular run-of-the-mill Jedi Master or Joe Schmoe the Jedi would never have reason to learn or know. According to the book they would often steal away into enemy territory, stalking an enemy and trying to defeat them. This gives them a very "cloak and dagger" kind of feel hence the addition of rogue-like abilities given to the class.

 

I for one was very delighted when Bioware decided to incorporate them as a playable class, as they were a fringe part of the order than no one payed attention to until more people started digging into Star Wars lore around the KOTOR time period and more fanfiction was written citing often forgotten books as sources.

 

One thing you got to remember about Star Wars though is you cannot interpret the class completely within the context of the game. Since the lore existed before the game, you have to assume that the game approximates the lore in order for players to interact within that universe. NPC characters that are part of canon may or may not abide by the class rules or rules governing the abilities in the game.

Edited May 3, 2012 by Luthiel

[Hyfy]

To summarize the Shadow down to its most basic premise as others have already pretty much hit on, the Shadows are like the Spec Ops of the Jedi Order. They are a small close knit society within a relatively small society that uses tactics not dissimilar to those they hunt and are entrusted with secrets and knowledge that most will never know. They have the ability to work alone if required and skirt the outside edges of the confines of a much more restrictive and rigid ideology and way of life.

[DeutschGamer]

They were bound to add them after KoTOR II introduced the Watchmen, basically identical. One of the specs even shares the same name.

[Luthiel]

Not exactly.

 

Watchmen, like the Shadows, were also originally introduced in the Tales of the Jedi series, long before KOTOR II. Before Kavar was a Watchman for Onderon, there was Master Arca Jeth prior to the Sith War time period roughly 30 years prior, and there was also Master Thon who was watchman for the Stenness system when Nomi Sunrider came to him for training. Before them, there was Odon Urr who was assigned to the Koros system during the Great Hyperspace war.

 

While Watchmen were introduced as a class of Jedi in KOTOR II. According to their background lore, a Jedi Master would be assigned to a system. Most of this was retconned and expanded on as now Wookiepedia states this specifically for Jedi Sentinels, however the original sources state that this was more of a role given to Jedi Masters over specific systems to represent the Order and maintain diplomatic relations for the Republic.