Lore questions regarding (red) Zabraks?

[leine-b]

Hi guys! I read the forum guidelines but am still a little unsure, so hopefully I am asking this in the right section!

 

Basically I'm trying to round out my main character, I have his personality down but am struggling a bit on his backstory? Admittedly I'm not too familiar to the extended universe, I've only played SWTOR and watched the films.

I made my character a Red Zabrak Sith Lord before I knew about the treatment of Near-Humans by the Imperials, so I've been trying to work out how I could make that make sense, since me and a friend are thinking of doing some fan-art/comics.

 

He's actually orange-tanned rather than red-skinned, so I'm debating over whether he was born into a Red Zabrak Sith family, but kind of alienated because of his skin? Or, if Zabrak hold no power despite their red-ness (It seems like it's a respected Sith trait, at least with Pureblood Sith?), maybe he was a past servant or adopted by a human Lord?

 

(TLDR) Questions:

1) Are red Zabrak respected by the Sith/Empire, if they have red skin? Would they be able to be Lords or sent to Korriban as respected students (Sith Warrior storyline) according to Empire values?

 

2) Does Darthomir exist in the Old Republic canon? If yes, would it make sense for Sith to find Zabrak servants/slaves from here? If no, can you recommend any other planets?

 

Sorry for all the rambling, I hope someone can help!

Also, if anyone out there is really into Star Wars Lore, could you recommend me anything else I can check out, that maybe has good examples of near-human characters? I like books and comics and everything haha Thank you so much!

[SteveTheCynic]

CENTER] (TLDR) Questions:[/center]

1) Are red Zabrak respected by the Sith/Empire, if they have red skin? Would they be able to be Lords or sent to Korriban as respected students (Sith Warrior storyline) according to Empire values?

They will be treated as miscellaneous aliens. In the Empire, there are three kinds of species: Humans+Pure Blood Sith, Chiss, and all the others, aka alien filth. So Major Bessiker's son got what was coming to him on Balmorra because when my DvL Rattataki Sorc showed up to rescue him, he called her "alien filth". Bad Move. Daddy didn't like it, but Daddy should have raised his son better.

[adormitul]

Basically he is considered and alien even if he is red but he can become a sith lord as power matters more then origin.

Racism takes a second place to power in the sith empire so you can have any origin you have.

[grania]

You don't specify warrior or inquisitor, which is something I'm curious about.

 

Zabrak was one of the original classes you could play as warrior, yes? Though unlike inquisitor there are no references to your species in the warrior story, right? No one calls the warrior alien filth regardless of what they are - I just want to confirm this detail because I've only ever played human warriors.

 

Sorry it's a little off the subject of the OP~

[Cuiwe]

Hi guys! I read the forum guidelines but am still a little unsure, so hopefully I am asking this in the right section!

 

Basically I'm trying to round out my main character, I have his personality down but am struggling a bit on his backstory? Admittedly I'm not too familiar to the extended universe, I've only played SWTOR and watched the films.

I made my character a Red Zabrak Sith Lord before I knew about the treatment of Near-Humans by the Imperials, so I've been trying to work out how I could make that make sense, since me and a friend are thinking of doing some fan-art/comics.

 

He's actually orange-tanned rather than red-skinned, so I'm debating over whether he was born into a Red Zabrak Sith family, but kind of alienated because of his skin? Or, if Zabrak hold no power despite their red-ness (It seems like it's a respected Sith trait, at least with Pureblood Sith?), maybe he was a past servant or adopted by a human Lord?

 

(TLDR) Questions:

1) Are red Zabrak respected by the Sith/Empire, if they have red skin? Would they be able to be Lords or sent to Korriban as respected students (Sith Warrior storyline) according to Empire values?

 

2) Does Darthomir exist in the Old Republic canon? If yes, would it make sense for Sith to find Zabrak servants/slaves from here? If no, can you recommend any other planets?

 

Sorry for all the rambling, I hope someone can help!

Also, if anyone out there is really into Star Wars Lore, could you recommend me anything else I can check out, that maybe has good examples of near-human characters? I like books and comics and everything haha Thank you so much!

 

0. Red Zabrak shouldn't even exist in SWTOR to be perfectly honest. Read Canon or Legends part of this: http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Nightbrothers/Legends and you'll understand. Pay extra care to the first sentence of history in the article I linked you.

 

1. No, it does not matter what color your skin is. The Sith Purebloods are Red because they adapted to Korriban(which is also...guess what? RED!) - not necessarily due to the DS influence. DS influence is visible in all those tentacles and what not, not in the skin color. Though lazy SW writers often use this tired trope. There are three classes in Empire: Human + SPBs(perfect choice for a SW), Chiss(Allies) and the rest of gutter trash(perfect for a SI). The only things that matter is your Force potential. And perhaps connections. And Race-but not skin color.

 

2. I don't believe so. Let me check. I was so very wrong. It does exist: http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Dathomir/Legends . But Zabrak were still not here, only Nightsisters and the Dathomiri. As for Zabraks...why not Iridonia - their homeworld? Besides even in KoTOR there are talks of Iridonians and how they're more savage and brutal than Zabraks(on Manaan, mentioned in quest). Maybe the Red Zabrak are actually Iridonians and not Zabrak? Meh. http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Iridonian

 

...that got confusing.

Edited April 1, 2017 by Cuiwe

[OldVengeance]

A Zabrak wouldn't have any more respect just because they have red skin. Zabraks are still just "aliens" to the Empire. Sith Pureblood aren't t respected just for specifically having red skin.

 

Gameplay wise you can pick a Zabrak and be a Sith Warrior, but the story wasn't designed with them in mind.

[Cuiwe]

A Zabrak wouldn't have any more respect just because they have red skin. Zabraks are still just "aliens" to the Empire. Sith Pureblood aren't t respected just for specifically having red skin.

 

Gameplay wise you can pick a Zabrak and be a Sith Warrior, but the story wasn't designed with them in mind.

 

With that said, even the game suggests you the races which you should play as a class:

 

Jedi Knight: Human, Miraluka, Twi'lek, Zabrak, Mirialan + Togruta

Jedi Consular: Human, Mirialan, Twi'lek, Zabrak, Miraluka + Togruta

Republic Trooper: Human, Zabrak, Cyborg, Mirialan + Cathar

Smuggler: Human, Twi'lek, Cyborg, Mirialan

 

Sith Warrior: Human, Pureblood, Cyborg, Iridonian(Red Zabrak)

Sith Inquisitor: Human, Twi'lek, Rattatak, Iridonian, Pureblood + Togruta + Cathar

Bounty Hunter: Human, Cyborg, Iridonian, Rattatak, Chiss + Cathar

Imperial Agent: Human, Chiss, Cyborg, Iridonian, Rattatak

 

And if you use some basic logic to prune this:

 

JK: Listed races are ok -> Togruta would be nice here too(maybe even Cathar?)

JC: Everything except Zabrak imo ->Togruta fits here too

RT: Idk about Mirialan tbh -> Cathar would be very nice here, too bad it's already taken by Aric

Smuggler: Yeah, those are ok

 

SW: Tbh, idk about Iridonian, but the rest are perfect

SI: Twi'lek, Ratta or Iridonian - big NO to Human and, especially, Pureblood

BH: Listing Chiss here is interesting...imo Cyborg or Zabrak of any kind fit this story very well(perhaps even Cathar)

IA: Perfect races for Agent are Human and Cyborg - maybe even Twi'lek(female). Big NO to Chiss, Ratta and Iridonian. I mean, wouldn't they feel out of place in ~90% places? And Agent, by its vocation, mustn't stand apart from his surroundings...so a Chiss Agent would be an epic fail imo(no, I don't care about Admiral Thrawn pandering).

Edited April 1, 2017 by Cuiwe

[OldVengeance]

Zabrak are one of the default possible races that could start playing as for the Sith Warrior, but I think that was added in late in development.

 

The actual story is designed for humans, purebloods or cyborgs because there are no references to being an alien, and the Warrior is supposed to be from the Empire's upper classes.

 

Inquisitors can be definitely be humans. Because humans can still be slaves in the Empire. Sith Purebloods, though, are also not one of the races that Inquisitors were designed with in mind. But it isn't as much of a problem because there aren't that many Pureblood references to be missing anyway. Plus, there did manage to include a sort of explanation for a Pureblood being a slave and also one line that sounds like it could be from Purebloods on Korriban.

[Cuiwe]

Zabrak are one of the default possible races that could start playing as for the Sith Warrior, but I think that was added in late in development.

 

The actual story is designed for humans, purebloods or cyborgs because there are no references to being an alien, and the Warrior is supposed to be from the Empire's upper classes.

 

Inquisitors can be definitely be humans. Because humans can still be slaves in the Empire. Sith Purebloods, though, are also not one of the races that Inquisitors were designed with in mind. But it isn't as much of a problem because there aren't that many Pureblood references to be missing anyway. Plus, there did manage to include a sort of explanation for a Pureblood being a slave and also one line that sounds like it could be from Purebloods on Korriban.

 

The point is, people cried in beta and 1,0 that SIs couldn't be Purebloods("but...muh Sith can't be a Sith!") nevermind that the class wasn't designed for them(quite the same as Iridonians and Sith Warrior...was added because "muh Darth Maul!"), so Bioware enabled it. Which is fine, more power to people(options are always good).

 

Agreed that humans can be slaves. Just look at Traga un Vol(or however you spell that) on Dromund Kaas. The last I checked, him and his merry bunch of killers were slaves. And the story arguably makes most sense for a Human. It's just that I'd write the story from the manipulator's perspective, hence Human being the last choice, really.

[leine-b]

Hi guys! I'm really sorry, I thought I pressed email subscribe to this but I got no notifications Thank you so much for all your contributions!

 

You don't specify warrior or inquisitor, which is something I'm curious about.

 

Zabrak was one of the original classes you could play as warrior, yes? Though unlike inquisitor there are no references to your species in the warrior story, right? No one calls the warrior alien filth regardless of what they are - I just want to confirm this detail because I've only ever played human warriors.

 

Sorry it's a little off the subject of the OP~

 

Hey Grania! And yeah, Zabrak are one of the playable classes at the start: I picked it as a non-subscriber for my first ever character. I didn't specify warrior or inquisitor because watching my friend playing as a (human) inquisitor, he started off as a slave rather than a Lord? so as far as I know Lords are exclusive to the warrior class.

 

As for the reference about being an alien in the story, actually there are a few here and there? But usually the response is like, if an imperial says something damning about aliens, and you call them out on it, they're like "Oh, but not your kind, my lord... I mean the savages". Which is why I got a bit confused about where Zabrak stand on the social ladder In hindsight, maybe it's because it's meant for Sith Purebloods? I'm not sure why zabrak are available as a starter race for warrior, maybe it's like Cuiwe said, because people really like Darth Maul. XD

 

<cropped>...that got confusing.

Yes it did XD but thank you, this makes for super interesting reading! Also, I remember ages ago reading about Iridonia in passing, but then I completely forgot about it. It would make a lot of sense as an origin planet but wah yeah, now I'm even questioning the meaning of what a Zabrak is I feel like this has both solved and created problems lmao. Thank you so much for the detailed answer though! Also I remember in-game it says something about the Rakata being responsible for creating the Zabrak amongst other races, or something like that? I guess that has something to do with their foundation on Rattatak maybe? Not sure.

 

Thank you to everyone else for your blunt answers by the way! So now I have it in the clear that only Purebloods and Human are good in the Empire, in the traditional sense. I've worked out how to work my way around it haha, hopefully to make him an exception (time for adoption and constantly hiding race lmao). Reading up on Iridonians, they really seem to suit my character because he's a fury-built marauder? So... excessive violence, good fit... I have a lot more head-canon to roll with haha.

 

quite the same as Iridonians and Sith Warrior...was added because "muh Darth Maul!"), so Bioware enabled it.

This explains a lot. XD

[SteveTheCynic]

As for the reference about being an alien in the story, actually there are a few here and there? But usually the response is like, if an imperial says something damning about aliens, and you call them out on it, they're like "Oh, but not your kind, my lord... I mean the savages". Which is why I got a bit confused about where Zabrak stand on the social ladder In hindsight, maybe it's because it's meant for Sith Purebloods? I'm not sure why zabrak are available as a starter race for warrior, maybe it's like Cuiwe said, because people really like Darth Maul. XD

When they say that about not meaning people like you, they mean "Not bad-a*s Sith lords like you standing in front of me with lightning crackling all around them ready to zap me into a crispy little bit of charcoal". Or, like the dude on Ilum when you're an Inquisitor, all of that plus you're on the Dark Council...

[leine-b]

When they say that about not meaning people like you, they mean "Not bad-a*s Sith lords like you standing in front of me with lightning crackling all around them ready to zap me into a crispy little bit of charcoal". Or, like the dude on Ilum when you're an Inquisitor, all of that plus you're on the Dark Council...

 

Lmao yes XD "Better not piss off the kid we just saw blow up a moon... And a bus... And a hospital..."

I wonder if the racism will continue in the new story, simply because (hopefully not too many spoilers implied), I think the Empire have had other problems on their mind.

[adormitul]

Ah SW really works as an Zabrak like Darth Maul as are pretty much copies there both field agents in the end and their martial prowess was their focus both could not use lighting and mind control and both where quite servant like then ruler like.

 

Actually I think SW was inspired more from Darth Maul more then Darth Vader.

Also this force using class in the least diverse in the force compared to the other JK could mind control at least.

[Nefla]

I think anything can work as long as you're creative and thoughtful about it. For example, who would think a sith pureblood would be a slave? Well he'd be born a slave if his slave mother was "forced upon" by a sith master. This kind of thing sadly happened a lot in real life. Your Zabrak SW could be logically respected for the most part, 1) Power trumps all (and even if they're racist against aliens, people should have a sense of self-preservation) 2) Even being an alien, the SW's parents could have greatly distinguished themselves and given the SW a good reputation 3) It could be a similar scenario as a pureblood SI where a human or sith pureblood had a Zabrak lover or spouse and kept the child 4) You could roleplay your character as disguising themself as a human by wearing a mask.

[leine-b]

I think anything can work as long as you're creative and thoughtful about it. For example, who would think a sith pureblood would be a slave? Well he'd be born a slave if his slave mother was "forced upon" by a sith master. This kind of thing sadly happened a lot in real life. Your Zabrak SW could be logically respected for the most part, 1) Power trumps all (and even if they're racist against aliens, people should have a sense of self-preservation) 2) Even being an alien, the SW's parents could have greatly distinguished themselves and given the SW a good reputation 3) It could be a similar scenario as a pureblood SI where a human or sith pureblood had a Zabrak lover or spouse and kept the child 4) You could roleplay your character as disguising themself as a human by wearing a mask.

 

Haha! In honesty I already do 4 a lot, kind of? My head-canon whilst I'm running around doing the main story. My kind of idea is that he doesn't really have sympathy for how other aliens are treated by the Empire, because he doesn't really class himself as one, so hiding his face was a pretty good way to do it

 

And aah! I really like your idea 3), I didn't think of that at all and it would work perfectly (really correlates with my idea of him struggling to relate to aliens too, maybe he was raised partially by the human/pureblood half?) Thank you! And I agree, I think anything can be made possible? I figured checking out what was and wasn't realistic/possible with others beforehand could help a lot with the "thoughtful" part though haha

[Nefla]

Haha! In honesty I already do 4 a lot, kind of? My head-canon whilst I'm running around doing the main story. My kind of idea is that he doesn't really have sympathy for how other aliens are treated by the Empire, because he doesn't really class himself as one, so hiding his face was a pretty good way to do it

 

And aah! I really like your idea 3), I didn't think of that at all and it would work perfectly (really correlates with my idea of him struggling to relate to aliens too, maybe he was raised partially by the human/pureblood half?) Thank you! And I agree, I think anything can be made possible? I figured checking out what was and wasn't realistic/possible with others beforehand could help a lot with the "thoughtful" part though haha

Yeah, #3 I think of the status a king's bastard would have. On one hand they don't have as much status as a legitimate heir but on the other hand their status is much higher than a peasant or even some nobles and it depends on how said king treats them (rejects or accepts and embraces) plus despite having lowly blood they may end up inheriting the throne and becoming king/queen. Something with a similar type of story is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belle_(2013_film) I know some people like to think of scenarios as black or white but I like things to be messy and grey. I think having something unexpected and doing the work to make it fit is really cool and interesting and makes me more likely to read and enjoy a story.

Edited April 18, 2017 by Nefla