User blog:Brandon Rhea/The Name’s Starkiller, James Starkiller

The Name’s Starkiller, James Starkiller

No, not really, but I needed a catchy opener. So basically, this is just a brief blog to explain something that a few people have asked me about. In private, some have remarked that my using the name “Starkiller” for the character Kane Starkiller, who will be introduced in my Star Wars: Episode IV (which takes place around 17 BBY and features Starkiller, Bail Prestor Organa and Organa’s daughter, Princess Leia, embracing a bit of her “darker side”), is somehow unoriginal because I “ripped it off” from Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (which, by the way, I have never played).

The Force Unleashed was announced in May 2006, and I began creating my Starkiller character in late 2004 and early 2005. I also posted story elements using the name Starkiller before the announcement of The Force Unleashed or Galen Marek’s codename of “Starkiller”. Unless I have a secret time machine that allows me to see the future, I doubt I ripped off the name. The name was actually first presented to me by Gregg Tasoulas, who I was originally working on an alternate trilogy with before I went to form my own Alternative Saga which then became part of the Alternative Star Wars Saga. Before then, the name Starkiller originated in the original drafts of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope until it was changed to Skywalker. This is also where the developers of The Force Unleashed got the name “Starkiller”.

Now, why have some people suspected this? Well, Kane Starkiller, as the Dark Commander of the Dark Guardians of Lettow starting in my Star Wars: Episode IV, is Darth Vader’s de facto apprentice. He’s not really a secret apprentice, but he’s in line to become Vader’s apprentice should anything happen to the Emperor. Of course, in the end, Starkiller becomes a little jealous once Vader starts trying to convince a girl, whose name rhymes with Playa Morgana, to be his apprentice once she starts recognizing her darker side.

So basically, the question of whether I ripped off the character comes from the name itself and the apprentice of Darth Vader angle. Is this confusion a big deal? No, not really. Just figured I’d clear the air a bit. Just to fend off any possible questions in this regard, did they steal the idea from me? It’s a flattering thought, but no.

Now this is me, signing out. Comment if you have a comment.