KOTOR I Companion Analysis: Canderous Ordo

[The following article gives heavy spoilers for Knights of the Old Republic I and II.]

We have discussed the character of Canderous Ordo as Mandalore if you go back, it’s been discussed but more attention can be made to the first story we are introduced to the character, as well as mention some details and themes we didn’t get to before.

We have previously discussed the character of Canderous in his later appearance, but as with a cadre of colourful characters in the wake of the quest for the Star Forge, John Cygan’s stellar performance offers the best of the warrior culture recently defeated, as he brings a bounty hunter and reaver’s experienced eye across the galaxy. Both an older, uniquely Mandalorian figure and an unabashedly Dark Side one (without comedic caveats, it’s clear cut here with Canderous admitting to slaying innocents and freely providing combat drugs he despises).

What sells Canderous Ordo from the beginning is his hard bitten, reasonable sense of intimidation from the first encounter. One hardly expects him to be a companion, as part of the gangs most likely some kind of miniboss like the Bendak Starkiller gladiator you can fight in the Taris Arena.

In a game that should be commended for a genuinely wide range of very good voice actors and actresses selling original characters and roles unlike the IP and what has come to be the generic archetypes of most RPG’s nowadays, like Bastila, Carth and Mission Vao’s Catherine Taber has a voice once heard you purely associate with this game. Like HK-47 a ‘Dark Side’ aggressive character has the violent eagerness a player can enjoy, but cleverly the story ties this into the story in two good ways to deepen player immersion.

In the first case; his eagerness and experienced air is refreshing compared to naïve or beleaguered characters. Introducing his service as helping him steal a ship and get out of the very long and run-down Taris before it’s obliterated is practical and welcome. ‘Screw over the gangster and get the hell out of here’, much like not wanting to fight in the midst of the Rakgol infested underhive shows pragmatism one can like, and once the reveal is shown something the player character likely instinctively warms to at once. Fight, seek out conflict and adventure for the experience, and on the ship what could be a tiresome dedication to combat as the cornerstone of his worldview is actually continually engaging to a person playing a game.

Telling war stories broadens the scope of the game world, keeping the idea of conflict and encounters in the past as well as the present. Much of the Mandalorian wars, of glory in conflict comes solely from Canderous as the most palatable Mandalorian there is, and he offers the perspective in a story intelligent enough to present the companion character as someone to learn from, dispute, and see as a human being. He is not a caricature, there is no long and ham-handed political treatise. By living as he does, we have ‘the Mandalorian’ as much as Carth being ‘The Republic Soldier’, or Bastila ‘The Jedi Knight’.

Choosing whom we take, how we respond to them, and selection pairs off certain dialogue exchanges showing Canderous is not bereft of wit or interests as his exchanges can sometimes show very interesting and shorn philosophical dynamics. My favourite of these being his sincere admiration, and then debate with Carth as to the nature of combat, and then the dividing line between a warrior and a soldier.

Canderous is ruthless and amoral, but his presence brings a lot of benefit and possibilities from the options given to you as the character you are. A Jedi being around a Mandalorian alone is an odd experience, offering so many roleplay possibilities. Most interesting -and the source of most of the mass Revan appeal which has caused so much audience popularity- is how he describes Revan as a worthy adversary.

As fellow commentator SFDebris puts in a comparison I think hilarious and excellently fitting; the response to The Leviathan revelation is for him as a Batman fan to learn who his friend Bruce Wayne really is. His earnest respect for even an enemy to defeat them in honest combat provides probably the only warrior in the party with a straightforward and enjoyable view of honour and glory, large concepts befitting of a questing story, without said individual being naïve or their sense of honour being too easily dismantled or seeming tedious.

Canderous interestingly is more jaded, directionless, not quite ‘broken’ but less cohesive than he is in the sequel story deliberately intended to fixate on broken characters as a heavily reinforced theme. His arc from the moment we meet him in this game is disenchantment. We listen to the line really selling his circumstance and everything about him that: ‘I weep for my past’. 

The excitement he gives in discussing battle, as well as his genuine respect and humour around Jolee Bindo give a more positive and enjoyable dynamic within the first game, the companions here being overall a more likable band with their banter and joking mostly lacking an edge. If I could say one thing that differentiates the KOTOR I companions from the second and helps them be more easily liked and remembered: the critical factor I would say is respect.

No matter the politics or morals or worldview, respect is something we innately respond very heavily to. It’s interesting to discuss a venomous court or shaky alliance, but ultimately the quarrelling but co-operative companion group settles a little better within our minds. Canderous is an interesting case in that his values are different, his amoral and arguably evil actions set him apart as a potential threat to many in the galaxy, but he shows more respect for the player character, and presents a more cordial and disciplined manner than probably all the other companions aside from Hanharr and Jolee.

The formula as I see it is that a confident Canderous is shaken by every dialogue in KOTOR I, made to reflect. His certainty in battle is his strength, but with words, it catches up with him, absolute, unable to be questioned without doubts, or weariness. Unrepentant relentlessness is who he is. It is so deeply ingrained that a moral crisis, or even a physically traumatising event simply does not occur to him. His nature means that harsh transformation is possible, because his firmly set personality and belief will always be against the grain of galactic society. Interestingly, the height of his life, possibly his greatest contentment is amidst the disasters making up both games’ plot. Think about it: the disasters engulfing the galaxy are ripe for him to take advantage of, a warrior who understands war and disaster more than he ever will peace.

Mandalore’s contradiction is being both beyond martial glory, and serving within his greatest battles, the most historic quests. He is indeed an old veteran and grizzled warrior, but in truth, the player is offering him a fresh start, a rise to power and prestige. Canderous was a Mandalorian, during the quest he becomes a hero of the Republic, the next Mandalore. And set on a greater quest than previous Mandalores before or since; to preserve and immortalise, rather than being a puppet and prelude to greater factions such as the Sith.

A man trapped in his past, weary each time he tells a tale. Yet, he is a positive example of traditionalism. As he uses and retains efficient and unifying elements, and discards political assumptions and pride to prosper where others are failing. After all; why exactly must Mandalorians fight the Jedi? Why must they exterminate beyond the trappings of SW recycling conflict and the story demanding it? The difference is that these stories and the faction allowed for possibilities BioWare and Obsidian took and showed warrior militarism as a tool to be used against both the villainous and the innocent.

Of all companion stories, I find the evocative duel with Jagi on the Dune Sea to be the best conceptually, save for perhaps Jolee’s companion quest on Manaan. The question of honour, as well as Canderous in a rare state of hesitance, meeting another loud speaking and aggressive warrior offers a deal of questions, as well as multiple potential resolutions. The opening of the jaded Mandalorian is a very slight thing, acting over the years to metamorphose Canderous into his future character; but they are shown realistically in small glimpses, two major scenes which makes sense for a story conducted over months at best where the fate of the galaxy and a band of disparate explorers are constantly escaping or sneaking by fleets of the devastating Sith armada.

Canderous’s penultimate character development dialogue -aside from being really fantastic voice acting, being John Cygan easily the best voice actor for KOTOR I- sets up in the emotion he conveys when he says despairingly:

“It feels like…like something has changed inside and I don’t know what it is!”

The direct uncertainty of a man who has always been utterly confident, who has seen it all. The feeling of mastery is taken away, in return for a transition to mastery over his political position.

References:

Knights of the Old Republic. BioWare. 2003.

Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords. Obsidian Entertainment. 2004.