Bao-Dur (Spoilers)

khollar · Post by **khollar** » Mon Nov 29, 2004 4:58 pm

One of the things that peaked my interest most about the UK magazine review was the info provided about the character known as Bao-Dur. The review mentions that he "has an upgradable cyber arm". The picture shown of him is too cool! I like how the top part of his left arm ends above the elbow, with some sort of round device that projects an energy beam. The beam then connects to the lower part of his arm and hand.

I noticed this aspect of him when I downloaded the KOTOR II wallpaper but I never noticed it was his actual arm. I always thought it was a weapon he was holding that projected some sort of light.

That is such an unusual and very clever concept for a character. I'll bet the "upgradable" part means that you can swap out the lower part of his arm with different configurations such as weapons, useful items, stronger arm attachments, etc. Any thoughts on what those upgrades might be?

I also like the part that states "A dark, troubled past has seen him forever wandering the galaxy looking for peace". That one sentence opens up so may possiblities for this character.

Is he a dark side character? What troubles did he have? Is "forever" literally "forever"? Is he immortal? What happened to his arm? How did he lose it? How did he replace it with the cyber arm? Did he replace it himself?

Plus he just looks cool with all of those horns on his head!

At this point I'd have to say that he's my favorite character.

This game is going to be so awesome!

KrazyJedi · Post by **KrazyJedi** » Wed Dec 08, 2004 6:34 am

On the other hand, he could simply be Canderous Ordo with Dath Maul's head and R2-D2's ability to be a swiss army knife. Practically every character in KOTOR 1 had a "troubled past" of some sort. Mission was a snotty street urchin who got dumped on Taris by her ne'er-do'well big brother, Zaalbar was an outcast from his people, Carth was a guilt-ridden absent father, Jolee was a disillusioned Jedi cynic, Bastila was a spoiled brat from a broken home, Juhani was a slave-turned Jedi who tried to kill her master and fell to the dark side, Canderous was a soldier who left some of his troops hung out to dry, and HK-47 was an assassin droid with a bad memory board.

Heck, even the main character was Darth Vader with an attitude adjustment. The "troubled past" motif has been done to death in KOTOR.

Darth Itchy · Post by **Darth Itchy** » Wed Dec 08, 2004 9:02 am

Practically every character in KOTOR 1 had a "troubled past" of some sort.

I agree with you that the "troubled past" plotline has been done extensively in KOTOR, but I don't have the problem with it that you do. Quite the contrary; this is is an age old storytelling tradition. Look at any memorable story, in just about any genre; a character starts with a problem (personal, societal, financial, whatever) then spends the rest of the story trying to figure out a way to solve said problem. When the problem is solved, the story is done. This has been used as a device in everything from Beowulf to Bridget Jones' Diary. The writers of KOTOR (and now KOTOR II) were merely trying to create interesting characters.

Jack Dell · Post by **Jack Dell** » Thu Dec 09, 2004 3:54 pm

everybody has a story to tell, and its not like its all that difficult to imagine. Its just the star wars universe that makes it look surreal. But problematic pasts can be anything, like being endebted to a bookie for example, instead of to a giant slime/crime lord Jabba the Hutt, and broken homes such as Carth or Bastila are not at all overdone. Not every character has dark secrets, in fact most characters just have some baggage, not a whole section of quests and stories all by themselves, just one quest. I think its not that much of problem. And when something says a dark past, its because it is a much much bigger problem, no like Carth's whining, Bastila's *****ing or Jolee's... well.. nothing really, if you don't count that he has some friend who is in trouble. Big dark secrets are actually not that frecuent, so I think it looks cool in this case. And since you are not going to be the one with the big dark secret, like in the previous game, whats wrong with your npcs having big bad secrets?

KrazyJedi · Post by **KrazyJedi** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 10:52 am

[QUOTE=Darth Itchy]Practically every character in KOTOR 1 had a "troubled past" of some sort.

I agree with you that the "troubled past" plotline has been done extensively in KOTOR, but I don't have the problem with it that you do. Quite the contrary; this is is an age old storytelling tradition. Look at any memorable story, in just about any genre; a character starts with a problem (personal, societal, financial, whatever) then spends the rest of the story trying to figure out a way to solve said problem. When the problem is solved, the story is done. This has been used as a device in everything from Beowulf to Bridget Jones' Diary. The writers of KOTOR (and now KOTOR II) were merely trying to create interesting characters.[/QUOTE]

First, I *don't* have a problem with it per se - just that it's overused. Any legitimate storytelling device becomes tired when overused. Second, the original post made it sound like Bao-Dur's "troubled past" was unique, which it isn't.

It is entirely possible to have rich, complex characters without resorting to a "troubled past" (witness some of the characters Stephen R. Donaldson creates, or some of the plotlines from the Babylon 5 TV series). A writer can make something happen to a character during the story to make them interesting and complex - which really didn't happen in KOTOR 1. It would have been nice to see an NPC sidequest trigger because of something happening to them *during* the adventure, rather than something from their past creeping up on them. The closest we came in KOTOR 1 was Sunry's murder trial, except it didn't seem to affect Jolee. Might have been interesting for HIM to be accused of murder somehow and develop the story from there. Make it happen to someone the reader cares about rather than a walk-on.

Every character will have a backstory, but that backstory doesn't have to be the focus as it was in KOTOR 1. Every NPC sidequest was somehow tied to the NPCs' history, not their present.

jeremiah · Post by **jeremiah** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 10:57 am

I think the only thing upgradable about his arm is the damage it makes with unarmed attacks. It increases as he reaches certain levels.

Mellypie · Post by **Mellypie** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 1:29 pm

Bao-Dur also has special attacks that can instantly destroy enemy shields but you have to be controlling him.

JediCeres · Post by **JediCeres** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 5:16 pm

spoiler

I really don't think Bao-Dur is the character with the past you need to worry about the most. Atton's got dark shadows of his own that could bite you in the butt if you're not careful. Not to mention Kreia.

Mellypie · Post by **Mellypie** » Thu Dec 23, 2004 5:12 pm

Bao-Dur's main problem is guilt. You'll find out about what.

Rice~Boi · Post by **Rice~Boi** » Sat Dec 25, 2004 12:23 am

Bao-Dur was just a soldier back in the day. He lost his arm in the Madolorian wars. And his arm for "upgrades" the only FEATS that you can upgrade his arm are un-armed attacks so basically i don't use him...