The following persons are available to join your party. They are listed with basic character information and a description of their "quest" and how to resolve it. The listing is by order of appearance in the story. Each party member is a particular class, and, unlike many other RPGs, there is no "multi-classing" in SW:KotOR. (With the exception of you, the PC. But you're special. Very special.) See the manual (and/or my page on classes ) for information about each class.

Carth Onasi (Human Soldier)

Carth is your only choice for quite a while after the adventure starts. He comes prepared to be a two-fisted shooter, and should be kept that way. His personal blaster is upgradeable, and pretty decent too. Make sure you keep an eye on his skill/feat/attribute selection, as there are later parts of the story where you will have to continue to make do with him. Personally, I can't stand the whiny twit, and didn't bother with his romance subplot when I played a female PC.

Carth's Revenge

Carth's quest is, more-or-less, woven into the main story. You can't really avoid it so you might as well hear him out (despite all his whining). He wants revenge against his former commander, Admiral Karath. You'll get it for him after obtaining the third Star Map.

Carth's Son

Go far enough in Carth's conversation tree (before retrieving your third Star Map) and you will discover he had a wife and son. His wife was killed on Telos when Admiral Karath attacked. His son disappeared. Once you have reached this point in his conversation, cross a messenger point and you will meet an old friend of his named Jordo. Jordo will eventually inform Carth his son, Dustil, is alive and has joined the Sith academy on Korriban. In order to save Dustil, you will need to complete the double-double-cross between Uthar and Yuthura at the Sith Academy (unless you or a member of your party has really high Security and can slice Uthar's door) and retrieve a datapad from Uthar's room. Find Dustil and use the datapad to convince him to turn his back on the Sith.

Mission Vao (Twi'lek Scoundrel)

Mission has a pretty high DEX (as suits a scoundrel) and limited feat selection. Focus her feats on ranged fighting, either single or double blasters. She's got sneak attack damage ability, but that means keeping the focus of your enemies on yourself or your other party member. Max out her Stealth & Security skills (and probably her Demolitions/Awareness as well) if you don't have these skills yourself. She's a better fighter than the little droid and more useful. On Ebon Hawk, Mission will make security spikes for you or play Pazaak with you.

Mission's Brother

Mission was abandoned on Taris by her brother, Griff, an all-around loser. You can find him, in captivity, on Tatooine. Whether you help him or not depends on which side you are playing. Once you rescue Griff, he'll want to involve you in a scheme to manufacture Tarisian ale. To do so he needs Tach Glands from the little monkey creatures on Kashyyyk. Provide him with some and he'll disappear, never to be seen again. Once you have spoken to his boss, Greeta in the Czerka corporate office on Tatooine, you will "complete" the quest.

Zaalbar (Wookie Scout)

Zaalbar is most-suited for melee combat. While the idea of a wookie firing a bowcaster (Zaalbar has his own, upgradeable, bowcaster) is romantic, he really sucks at ranged fighting. His DEX is low, but his STR and CON are very high. Still, he can't wear armor so his Defense is really bad as well. Except for the early game on Taris, you're probably better off without him. Especially once you become a Jedi and have other Jedi in your party because you'll be handling most of the more personal fighting. If you do decide to use him, make sure you control his levelling and select melee-oriented feats and attribute increases. He gets a really nice, upgradeable sword after finishing Kashyyyk, so you might want to make him a duelist. On Ebon Hawk, Zaalbar can make grenades for you.

Zaalbar's Exile

This is another associate quest that is woven into the main story. When you get to Kashyyyk, you'll find Zaalbar's brother in charge of the wookies, and he's selling them into slavery. As part of completing the Kashyyyk world, you'll have to choose between supporting Zaalbar or his brother Chuundar.

Bastila (Human Jedi Sentinel)

Bastila is the romance option for male PCs and one of the pivotal characters in the plot, even for female PCs. She comes equipped with a double saber, and you should focus her feat selection on improving her skill with that weapon. She never becomes fully light or fully dark, so choose force powers that will complement your own. There are sections of the story where Bastila must be a part of your party, so it behooves you to control her levelling. Later in the story, she is forcibly removed from your group of associates and is not available during the search for the final Star Map.

Bastila's Mother

Listen to Bastila's stories of her past, and you'll find she loved her father, but hates her mother. Once you have defeated Calo Nord, cross a messenger point with Bastila. You will meet Marale, who will inform Bastila her mother, Helena, is seeking her and was last seen in the cantina in Anchorhead on Tatooine. When you meet with Helena, she and Bastila will argue and you'll find Bastila's father is dead and Helena wants his holocron (sort of a diary). It can be found in the krayt dragon cave in the Eastern Dune Sea, next to the Star Map. (It will only appear there if you have received the quest to find it, so it behooves you to finish another world before Tatooine so you don't have to go out there twice...) Return to Helena with the holocron, and, if interested in romancing Bastila (or playing LS), encourage the two ladies to reconcile.

T3-M4 (Expert Droid)

You get this droid in Taris for a specific purpose (breaking into the Sith base). T3-M4 is an Expert Droid and has excellent Security and Computer Use skills. He can be, if fitted out properly, fairly useful in a fight (think flamethrowers and carbonite projector). If he has a quest, I haven't discovered it. On Ebon Hawk, T3-M4 can make computer spikes for you.

Canderous Ordo (Mandalorian Soldier)

Canderous comes with his own hand cannon, a repeating blaster rifle. Unfortunately, he's not very good at ranged fighting. You'll want dueling or two-weapon fighting feats and appropriate melee combat feats and the best armor you can find. As a melee fighter with two weapons, he's a human mincing machine. On Ebon Hawk, Canderous can make stimulants for you.

Canderous' Honor

Advance Canderous' conversation to the point where he promises to someday tell you about working for Davik. The next time you cross a messenger point with him, he'll be approached by one of his former soldiers, Jagi. Jagi will insult him and challenge him to a duel on Tatooine. When you get to Tatooine, exit Anchorhead and head for the right side of the large derelict harvester. Look for Jagi to approach (with friends) from the dunes. Jagi can be Persuaded he is wrong about Canderous, but he'll then kill himself. Regardless of the outcome, Canderous will begin questioning his bloodlust. Follow through on his conversations to close this quest.

Juhani (Cathar Jedi Guardian)

Juhani is a combat-oriented Jedi who is only available if you first turn her back to the light side when you encounter her on Dantooine. She is also an alternate romance option for female PCs. (Yes, female PCs. That's not a typo.) Juhani should be set up with melee combat feats, such as the Two Weapon Fighting or Dueling trees (depending on whether you want her to use one or two weapons). Critical Strike is a good branch as, later, you can give her a lightsaber upgraded with Keen and Massive Critical damage. Juhani is a good choice as a "tank" character if you play more of a support-style (Sentinel or Consular) character.

Juhani's Fall

You complete Juhani's main quest when you first meet her. If you turn her back to the light side, she will join your party. Otherwise, you have to kill her and you won't see her again. If you kill her, you'll drive her best friend Belaya to the dark side, and you'll have to kill her later on as well.

Juhani's Nemesis

Get far enough in Juhani's conversations, and you will find she was raised on Taris and was going to be auctioned as a slave until some Jedi saved her. Next time you cross a messenger point with her, you'll meet a down-on-his-luck Twi'lek named Xor. Turns out he was the one trying to buy Juhani off the auction block. Now he wants nothing more than to kill her. Sometime later, as you exit Ebon Hawk with Juhani, he shows up and tries to kill Juhani and you. With his dying breath he tries to turn Juhani to the dark side. You can encourage Juhani to give in to her hate for DS points for yourself, but she won't turn.

HK-47 (Combat Droid)

You buy HK-47 from the droid dealer on Tatooine; although, it is not necessary to do so unless you wish to complete the Sand People quest in a (relatively) peaceful manner. Droids can't use melee weapons, so concetrate on building up HK-47's ranged weapon abilities. He can be a very effective two-fisted blaster fighter, especially later in the game when you can boost his defense rating into the mid to upper 30's with heavy droid plating. Put his one measly skill point per level into Repair, so he can fix himself during battle. HK-47 has, perhaps, the most entertaining dialogue in the game. He's worth having around just to listen to him call people "meatbags". On Ebon Hawk, HK-47 can initiate fighter simulations for you to practice with the gun turrets.

HK-47's Memories

If you have a decently high Repair skill (note, that is you the PC, not anyone else in your group) you can attempt to repair HK-47's damaged memory cores. Doing this not only allows you to learn more about his past, it permanently upgrades his abilities as well. There are four levels of repair (each requiring a higher Repair skill). After the first repair, HK-47 will have a permanent +2 Dexterity. After the second repair, he will gain +2 Defense. After the third repair, he will regenerate 1 vitality point every 6 seconds. After the fourth repair, he will gain another +2 Dexterity and regenerate 1 vitality point every 3 seconds. Not bad, and definitely worth investing in some Repair skill (you'll need a total of 17 points in Repair to finish all four stages of HK's repairs).

Jolee Bindo (Human Jedi Consular)

As a Consular, Jolee is primarily a support player. Set him up with lots of party-wide Force defensive powers (such as Energy Resistance, Valor, Cure and Heal) and set him to use the Jedi/Droid Support scripts. Equip him with a single lightsaber and the Dueling feats (for the improved Defense, mostly). He's not bad to have around, and his stories (and the voice acting) are fantastic. But, he lacks combat ability and has no useful skills, so you probably won't use him in your party much except where you are forced to do so on Kashyyyk and the Unknown World. On Ebon Hawk, Jolee makes medpacks for you.

Jolee's Poachers

Before he will join your party, Jolee wants you to get rid of some Czerka tach poachers nearby. The peaceful solution is to Persuade a couple of guards to disable their sonic emitters. Once two have been shut down, a terentatek comes along and drives the poachers away (don't worry, you don't have to fight it...yet). The dark side solution is to simply kill the poachers. This won't make Jolee happy, but he'll join up with you anyway. You can also get tach glands in the poachers' camp, for Mission's brother's quest.

Jolee's Old Friend

When you travel to Manaan, you'll find one of Jolee's old friends, Sunry, has been charged with murder. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to become Sunry's arbiter and uncover the truth. See the Manaan walkthrough for a complete description.