An in depth character biography of HK-47 from the Xbox and PC role playing video game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (also known as SWKotOR and KotOR) and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords (also known as SWKotOR2 and KotOR2).

Page Guide: Quick Facts, History, Discuss HK-47

Special Feats: Assassin Protocols, Integrated Assassin Protocols, Modified Assassin Protocols, Droid Upgrade Class 1, Droid Upgrade Class 2, Droid Upgrade Class 3, Logic Upgrade, Logic Upgrade Tactician

Quick Facts

Here are some quick facts about HK-47. He is an assassin droid. He was owned by both Darth Revan and the Jedi Exile. His height is 1.8 meters. He has no real affiliation since he does whatever he is ordered to do. His voice acting was performed by Kristoffer Tabori, who has done voice work for video games such as "EverQuest II" and has  appeared on Television Shows such as "Sliders." To learn more about Kristoffer Tabori visit the Internet Movie Database page about him http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0846070/.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

History

HK-47 was originally created by Darth Revan to be the quintessential assassin. While he is completely loyal - friendly, even - to those he identifies as "master", he has virtually no regard for any form of life, and is driven by an unquenchable thirst for blood. He characteristically uses the term "meatbag" when speaking of organic lifeforms, especially humans. This insult was originally used in passing by HK when insulting Revan's apprentice, Darth Malak. Revan found the insult (as well as Malak's annoyance) funny enough to order HK to consider all organics as "meatbags".

He is a high-performance assassin droid who excels and delights in all manner of violence. Despite his inherently menacing appearance, he is often mistaken for a protocol droid by a number of characters in the game, and has used this to his advantage on more than one occasion, hiding his true nature. He actually has a number of protocol functions in additional to his less legal ones, being fluent in Galactic Basic, a Sand People (Tusken) dialect, the beeps and whistles of astromech droids, and many other forms of communication, as is standard. In The Sith Lords, HK-47 claims to be able to double as a protocol droid.

In the first Knights of the Old Republic, depending upon the repair skill of the player, a number of interesting stories can be extracted from HK-47's memory. These stories reveal what HK had done before the player met him, and why HK-47 did the actions that he did. In all of them, he directly or indirectly killed his employers, still doing exactly what was asked of him. His programming prevents him from killing his master except by accident (if his master is killed, he shuts down automatically until manually restarted). In addition to these stories, HK-47 combat skills will be upgraded, resulting in raised dexterity, and the ability to regenerate over time.

In the sequel, The Sith Lords, HK-47 is found in a compartment on the Ebon Hawk in a state of disrepair. With the addition of four missing vital parts, HK can come back to life and serve the party once more. Also in the sequel game there are droids that the Jedi Exile encounters that resemble HK-47 that call themselves the "HK series droids" or the HK-50s that seem to have been hired to hunt Jedi (including the Jedi Exile). Their existence in the game was also supposed to include a HK factory that manufactured them, but that was cut from the game. Gamesave modders found the factory in KotOR II's game code and made it available for download to gamesave devices. [1] (http://home.alltel.net/jls31/index.html)

In The Sith Lords, a great deal of information is learned about HK-47, if the player is willing to gain influence with the droid. HK-47 explains that his creation was inspired, however indirectly, from the actions of the Jedi Exile. The Exile's experiences using the Mass Shadow Generator caused Revan to believe that, instead of mass slaughter, isolated and specific assassinations would be more effective for his goals.

It is also learned that those Revan ordered HK-47 to kill were not killed out of hatred: every being Revan used HK-47 to kill was a destablizer, a sentient who intentionally worked to weaken the galaxy as a whole. While The Sith Lords goes far to reveal that most of Revan's actions were strangely noble, HK's use as a galaxy-stabilizing tool is most remarkable.

His name is probably derived from the term "Hunter-Killer," relating to his assassin protocols. Also, some believe the name comes from the famous assault rifle the AK-47, the famed Hitman known as Mr. 47, or coming from H&K or Heckler and Koch, the German weapon manufacturer.

It is ironic to note that while HK is an insatiably violent and bloodthirsty killer, especially by droid standards, he stands out as one of the biggest sources of comic relief in the game. He often makes sadistic or insulting remarks while perpetually retaining an almost-aristocratic tone in his voice. At one point, HK informs the main character that the most optimal way of defeating a group of enemies is to simply toss grenades in every direction. The droid does not even care that the fight is taking place in a fully loaded bar. Some also assume that his usage of the word "meatbag" was inspired by Bender Bending Rodriguez from Futurama, who is also a major comic relief.

It is unknown if Revan programmed some of HK's "morals and ethics", or if they simply formed on their own. One example of HK's quotes has that similar moral ambiguity prevalent in his programming. When the Exile asks HK-47 if he knows what love is, he responds: "Definition: 'Love' is making a shot to the knees of a target 120 kilometers away using an Aratech sniper rifle with a tri-light scope...Love is knowing your target, putting them in your targeting reticule, and together, achieving a singular purpose against statistically long odds." Whether this is a metaphor with wisdom or merely more of the droid's blood lust is arguable.

Special Feats

Assassin Protocols
Prerequisites: Level 1 HK-47

These protocols are left over from HK-47's days as an assassin droid. When a critical hit is achieved, there is a 20% chance that extra damage equal to one-quarter of the target's remaining life (applied after normal damage is dealt) will be dealt. A successful Fortitude save of DC = 10+ Attacker's level by the target can avoid this extra damage.

Integrated Assassin Protocols
Prerequisites: Level 17
HK-47

HK-47's assassin protocols have become fully integrated with his operation programming and the two are now indistinguishable. When a critical hit is achieved, there is a 20% chance that extra damage equal to one-half of the target's remaining life (applied after normal damage is dealt) will be dealt. A successful Fortitude save of DC = 10+ Attacker's level by the target can avoid this extra damage.

Modified Assassin Protocols
Prerequisites: Level 11
HK-47

HK-47's assassin protocols have learned from his own experiences, developing into a more efficient termination program. When a critical hit is achieved, there is a 20% chance that extra damage equal to one-third of the target's remaining life (applied after normal damage is dealt) will be dealt. A successful Fortitude save of DC = 10+ Attacker's level by the target can avoid this extra damage.

Droid Upgrade Class 1
Prerequisites: Level 1 Droid

As a droid gains experience, its programming becomes more adaptable to new situations. This allows it to accommodate more sophisticated upgrades. Droid Upgrade Class 1 allows the use of level 1 upgrade items.

Droid Upgrade Class 2
Prerequisites: Level 7 Droid

As a droid gains experience, its programming becomes more adaptable to new situations. This allows it to accommodate more sophisticated upgrades. Droid Upgrade Class 2 allows the use of level 1 and level 2 upgrades.

Droid Upgrade Class 3
Prerequisites: Level 13 Droid

As a droid gains experience, its programming becomes more adaptable to new situations. This allows it to accommodate more sophisticated upgrades. Droid Upgrade Class 3 allows the use of level 1, level 2 and level 3 upgrade.

Logic Upgrade
Prerequisites: Droid

Having witnessed the effects and actions of the combat first hand, the droid is able to self-upgrade its defensive algorithms. This feat is always active and grants defense bonuses in combat. This bonus starts at +2 and level 1 and increases by +2 for every subsequent 6 levels (levels 6, 12, 18, etc.).

Logic Upgrade Tactician
Prerequisites: Level 6 Droid

Having witnessed the effects and actions of combat first hand, the droid is able to self-upgrade their defensive algorithms. This feat grants +4 to defense and is always active. This feat replaces the Combat Logic Upgrade.

*Certain portions of this page was retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HK-47"