Star Wars : Jedi Knight : Dark Forces II Star Wars : Jedi Knight : Dark Forces II is a first - person shooter computer game released on September 30 , 1997 , by LucasArts . This was the first game in the series to include multiplayer capabilities over the Internet or over an LAN . It was also the first computer game to allow players to take control of a Jedi character using both the Force and lightsabers in a multiplayer setting . The similarly titled novella " " is somewhat a companion piece to the game . Plot Summary . " Star Wars : Jedi Knight : Dark Forces II " takes place a year after the second Death Star has been destroyed . The Dark Jedi Jerec and his six Dark Jedi seek the map to the Valley of the Jedi and captures the Jedi Qu Rahn for it . Meanwhile , the mercenary Kyle Katarn chases the informant droid 8t88 for a data disc that belonged to his father , Morgan Katarn . After retrieving the disc , Kyle returns home to the planet Sulon where he is able to read the disc with his droid WeeGee . He is granted a lightsaber and a quest to protect the Valley of the Jedi by a hologram of his father contained in the disc . Katarn receives help from his trusted partner and pilot , Jan Ors . During the game Katarn encounters the Dark Jedi and finds the map to the Valley of the Jedi on the planet Ruusan . At the valley , Jerec plans to absorb the ancient power that lies in the valley . His plans are , however , stopped by Kyle Katarn , who arrives and kills him in a lightsaber duel . Major characters . Kyle Katarn . Kyle Katarn returns from " " as the protagonist . Having helped with the retrieval of the first Death Star plans , Katarn is now several years later contemplating his dead father . Katarn is contacted by the droid informant 8t88 who reveals that he has a disc that comes from Katarn ' s home . 8t88 runs off with the disc when Katarn refuses to decipher it , resulting in a chase . Kyle retrieves the disc but is then caught up in his father ' s , and the old Jedi Qu Rahn ' s , wishes of him becoming a Jedi and to prevent any harm to befall the Valley of the Jedi . During his quest he faces off against the Seven Dark Jedi whose leader , Jerec , is the man who killed Katarn ' s father . He is accompanied by his partner Jan Ors , who pilots his ship , the " Moldy Crow " . Ors is eventually captured by the Dark Jedi . Katarn travels to The Valley of the Jedi where Jerec is using the valley ' s power to become even more powerful . Katarn defeats all seven Dark Jedi and saves the captured Jan Ors . He also frees the spirits that had been trapped in the valley since the Seventh Battle of Ruusan fought in the New Sith Wars . In honor of Qu Rahn and Katarn ' s father , he erects statues of them in the valley . Jerec . Jerec is the main antagonist in " Jedi Knight : Dark Forces II " . He is the leader of the seven Dark Jedi who seek the power of the Valley of the Jedi . Prior to the game ' s start Jerec leads an assault on Morgan Katarn ' s home in search of the map to the Valley of the Jedi , and kills Morgan Katarn when he doesn ' t reveal anything . Years later his flagship chases down the old Jedi Qu Rahn from who he gains the information that the map is at the Katarn ' s home . Jerec retrieves the map and heads for the Valley of the Jedi . At the landing site he gives an offer to Kyle Katarn to embrace the Dark side of the Force and join him , the latter refuses and Jerec keeps Jan Ors as a hostage . The Dark Jedi then descends to the Valley and bathes in its power . Kyle Katarn reaches him and in a climactic lightsaber duel , Jerec is defeated and the power of the valley slips from his fingers . Jan Ors . Jan Ors is the trusted partner of Kyle Katarn and the pilot of his ship , the " Moldy Crow " . Ors piloted Katarn to wherever his missions led him and bailed him out of trouble when he needed an escape . During the quest for the Valley of the Jedi she was taken hostage on Ruusan by the Dark Jedi . Jerec , the leader of the Dark Jedi , tried to use her to turn Katarn to the dark side , but failed . Ors was then taken to the Valley of the Jedi and was soon rescued by Katarn . Sariss . Jerec ' s right hand and one of the antagonists in the game , Sariss accompanied her master and the other Dark Jedi to capture Qu Rahn . The Jedi , however , attempted an escape in which Sariss dueled against him for a short while before he was struck down by Jerec . Later , Sariss , along with Yun and Boc Aseca , retrieved the map to the Valley of the Jedi . She followed her master to Ruusan , where she stood by her master in the confrontation with Kyle Katarn . Katarn made his escape but crashed with his ship . Sariss along with Boc and Yun ventured after Katarn , whom they found semiconscious . As Sariss attempted to strike Katarn down , she was hindered by Yun , whom she accidentally killed in reflex . This bought Katarn the time to regain himself , take Yun ' s lightsaber , and defeat Sariss in a duel . Yun . The youngest of the Dark Jedi , Yun looked forward to his first battle with the Light side of the Force . As the game starts , Yun is following his master and the other Dark Jedi to hunt down Qu Rahn . In the interrogation , the old Jedi managed to steal Yun ' s lightsaber and attack the Dark Jedi . Rahn was , however , struck down quickly by Jerec . After these events , Yun followed Boc and Sariss to retrieve the map to the Valley of the Jedi from the Katarn homestead . Yun stayed with the map at Barons Hed where 8t88 was deciphering it . There he faced off with Kyle Katarn , but was defeated . Yun was surprised , however , that Katarn spared his life , and made his escape shortly after . He ventured with his master to Ruusan and watched the confrontation between Jerec and Katarn . And when the latter made his escape , he ventured with Boc and Sariss to kill him . But as Sariss was about to strike the semiconscious Katarn down , Yun interfered and was killed by Sariss , explaining that Katarn deserved a battle . Synopsis . Chase on Nar Shaddaa . In the Smuggler ' s Bar on the moon Nar Shaddaa , Kyle Katarn met with the droid informant 8t88 in the hopes of finding information about his deceased father . 8t88 informed Katarn that his father was killed by a Dark Jedi called Jerec . The droid then threatened Katarn so he would decipher the information on a disc he found in Morgan Katarn ' s home . Katarn retaliated but 8t88 had already escaped forcing Katarn to hunt down the disc and 8t88 . Katarn chased 8t88 over the Nar Shaddaa cargo docks and caught up to the droid when he was about to leave in his shuttle . Before 8t88 could escape into his shuttle , Katarn fired his blaster at the droid ' s right shoulder which severed the arm that held the disc . A TIE bomber appeared after 8t88 ' s shuttle left and fired at Katarn but was shot down by Jan Ors in the " Moldy Crow " . Katarn informed his partner that he ' d meet her at the top after he got the disc . He found the disc under the landing pad and proceeded through cargo storages , conveyor belts and other areas all the way to the top of the building . As Ors picked him up , he was severely injured and had to spend the night in a medical frigate . Returning Home to Sulon . Upon returning to his home on the planet Sulon , Katarn noticed an Imperial shuttle parked outside his old family house . He hid out of sight as Yun , Aseca , and Sariss were loading the pieces of map leading to the Valley of the Jedi into the shuttle . He continued to watch the Dark Jedi as they set off into the sky with the shuttle , and proceeded to his house when they were out of sight . To Katarn ' s disbelief , his house was crawling with Grave Tuskens . Despite the uninvited guests , Katarn made his way through his old home , but the path to his father ' s workshop had caved in . He did not despair , for there was another way into the workshop beyond their water supply . As he entered the workshop , he saw that it was in disarray , but he immediately spotted the family droid WeeGee . After he turned the droid on , Katarn inserted the disc he got from 8t88 and was shown a recording of his dead father , Morgan Katarn . Morgan told his son that he had left two very important items for him . The first was a lightsaber which had belonged to the Jedi Qu Rahn , and the second was the map to the Valley of the Jedi , which was embedded in the stone ceiling . The ceiling was , however , what the Dark Jedi had loaded onto their ship , so Katarn made it his next mission to locate the map . He was , however , unable to go the same way back since he had entered the room from the ceiling and the exit was blocked . Katarn simply made his way through the irrigation channels and was eventually picked up by Ors in the " Moldy Crow " . Barons Hed . Katarn and Ors set off to find the map which led them to the city of Barons Hed . The city had forcefully been taken over by the Empire and had now a giant fortress stationed in the middle of the city . Assuming 8t88 was in the top of that tower , Kyle made his way through the city . After a difficult time getting into the fortress tower , Katarn used the elevator to reach 8t88 ' s chambers . The droid had just finished sending the deciphered map to Jerec and was told his payment awaited him on the starship " Sulon Star " . Katarn demanded the map back when he entered the room , and 8t88 replied that it was all his for the taking . However , an elevator descended from the roof with one of the Dark Jedi . Yun , the newest of the Dark Jedi , proceeded to make short work of the map by destroying it . He blasted Katarn with his Force powers and exclaimed that he had expected more from the Light side . Kyle defeated the young Dark Jedi who then told him to finish him off . Katarn spared his life , however , which confused the young man . Yun escaped through the roof , and Katarn set off after 8t88 . But Katarn was too late . As he reached the top of the tower , 8t88 flew away in his shuttle . Shortly after , Ors arrived to pick him up . The Sulon Star . The pair followed 8t88 ' s shuttle in the " Moldy Crow " to a fuel station where the " Sulon Star " was waiting . To avoid alerting the Imperials of their presence , Katarn sneaked aboard the ship through the giant fuel lines of the station . Once aboard , he had to traverse down to the docking bays which lay on the lower deck . As Katarn came upon 8t88 ' s shuttle , he opened the door behind it , and to his joy 8t88 was standing right there . But when Kyle touched the droid , its head fell off alarming the Jedi . From behind him emerged the so - called twins of the Dark Jedi , the small Pic and the much larger Gorc . Boodle informed Katarn that he would not be lucky to experience the Valley of the Jedi and attacked Katarn . Despite having to face two foes at once , Katarn defeated them and claimed 8t88 ' s head . He then traveled to the upper deck where Ors picked him up , and they set off for the Valley of the Jedi on the planet Ruusan . Ruusan . The " Sulon Star " came to a halt above the Valley of the Jedi on Ruusan . The " Moldy Crow " landed in the mountainous area nearby in order to conceal its presence . Katarn made his way through the rocky surroundings to an elevator that would take him up to the " Sulon Star " landing platform . He was , however , attacked by Maw as soon as he stepped out of the elevator . Katarn battled the levitating half that was Maw to the " Sulon Star " and defeated him there . In his final moments Maw provoked the Jedi by telling him how he thrust Morgan Katarn ' s head on a spike . Katarn slashed Maw to death in anger with his lightsaber . Behind him Jerec approached and commended Katarn for going down the path of the Dark Side , which he claimed was his true calling . The Dark Jedi had also managed to capture Ors and as a final test he demanded Katarn to strike her down . The Jedi refused and was sent flying by the Jerec ' s Force push to a catwalk connected to the " Sulon Star " . The force of Jerec ' s attack caused enough damage for the cargo ship to lose its hover capabilities and started to descend , pulling some of the landing platform with it . Katarn jumped on board the " Sulon Star " and in a desperate fight with time he made it to a lower docking bay where the " Moldy Crow " was being held . With Katarn in the " Moldy Crow " , he managed to narrowly escape the crashing cargo ship , but he was unable to straighten the ship properly and crashed a stabilizer into a rock formation . Without its proper flight capabilities , the ship crash landed . The three Dark Jedi — Boc , Yun , and Sariss — pulled the incapacitated Katarn out of the wreckage and waited until he started to regain consciousness . Boc smashed Katarn ' s lightsaber with a rock while making fun of it . Sariss took out her lightsaber and was just about to strike Katarn down when Yun intervened . By instinct Sariss lashed out at the young Dark Jedi , inflicting a deadly wound . As she asked why , Yun replied that Katarn was a Jedi and deserved a battle . As Yun passed away , Katarn regained complete consciousness and took the dead man ' s lightsaber . Sariss was soon defeated by Katarn near the wreckage of the " Sulon Star " . The Valley of the Jedi . Having killed Sariss , Katarn followed Boc to the Imperial excavation facility and had to traverse a long way down underground until he reached the place where the Imperials had stopped digging . Katarn found himself inside ancient ruins and stumbled upon traps and Kell dragon s . Eventually , the Jedi reached the center of the valley where he found Ors tied to a pole . After rescuing her , Boc surprised them from behind , having hid as a statue . Brandishing two lightsabers , Boc attacked Katarn . But , the former was defeated by the latter . At that time , Jerec awoke from his meditation inside the center of the valley . Having mastered a great amount of power from the valley , he attacked Katarn . As they fought , Jerec set in motion ancient machinery that would eventually grant him the full power of the valley . The Dark Jedi was , however , stopped every time and soon lay at the mercy of Katarn . Jerec remarked that he was defenseless and implored Katarn to finish him off . To further entice Katarn to the dark side , he reminded him that he was the one who killed his father . Katarn used the Force to grab Jerec ' s deactivated lightsaber off the ground , he told Jerec that he had not forgotten , and he threw the saber back at Jerec ' s feet . The Dark Jedi charged for one final attack but was cut down by Katarn . The spirits that had been trapped in the valley for a long time were finally released and flew around in the chamber in a spectacle of light . As a tribute to his father and Qu Rahn , Katarn erected two statues in the valley . Ors and Weegee stood beside him as Katarn finished his work . Gameplay . Single player . " Jedi Knight " is noted for the ethical decisions integrated into the gameplay . Katarn is a neutral character for most of the game , neither fully light nor dark . Actions against unarmed civilians throughout the game , as well as what Force powers a player chooses throughout the game , will sway Katarn towards the light or the dark sides . Eventually , the character Katarn must choose between light and dark ; how he chooses depends on the player ' s actions throughout the game . This feature would later be greatly expanded upon in games such as " " and its sequel , " " . Katarn starts the game with no knowledge of the Force . As the player progresses through the game , Katarn gains Jedi abilities , known as " Force Powers . " These powers fall in three general categories : Neutral , Light , and Dark . The game awards one " Force point " upon the completion of each level , and an additional point if the player finds all of the secret areas . These skill points can be allocated towards any Force power , boosting that power ' s effects . Multiplayer . Another part of " Jedi Knight " ' s gameplay was explored in online , multiplayer arenas . Plot and Force alignment became irrelevant as players were able to forego the game ' s Artificial intelligence and instead engage in multiplayer combat . It was also online that the unique aspects of " Jedi Knight " distanced it from other , otherwise apparently similar first - person shooters . Single player mode did not significantly benefit from Force powers , agility , and large weapons , whereas online play demanded attention to these attributes . The game lacked a dedicated server and was hosted by the MSN Gaming Zone , although several " IP boards " were hosted on fan sites such as JediKnight . net and Ron Mercer ' s Qtracker ( formerly hosted at stomped . com ) . Most games were confined to the Nar Shaddaa ( Nar ) game room which became a refuge for clan wars , recruitment , and challenge . Four game types were used almost exclusively : Full Force ( FF ) Battle Ground Jedi ( BGJ ) , Canyon Oasis ( CO ) , No Force ( NF ) Battle Ground Jedi , and JI Oasis ( an add - on level created by the Jedi Infantry clan ) . Games varied from two - player to four - player , allowing free - for - all , teams , and head - to - head combat . Another popular game type was Capture the Flag ( CTF ) . The lack of dedicated servers created difficulties in lag time for online play . Messages sent were never centrally processed , and so a " hit " in one person ' s frame nearly never guaranteed an actual event . Players compensated for lag by shooting " ahead " of the opponent so as to register a hit on their computer . Canyon Oasis was a commonly played map due to its variety of weapons / pickups and varied terrain ( including water tunnels and ramps ) . It was also brightly lit , meaning stealth was a less viable tactic as it was in many of the darker maps favored by the development team and mod makers ( such as Blades of Death ) . Despite its huge popularity , there was a movement against its overuse as well , to the point where a player group was formed with the slogan " Because we ' re sick of Canyon Oasis . " At times the game suffered from extensive cheating , until the third - party program known as " Kicker Helper " was released to combat the cheating . " Jedi Knight " ' s permissive checksum system allowed most of the " hacks " or " cogs " ( as the cheats were commonly called ) to work . The physics engine and Force system of the game , however , were so permissive that some normal actions were construed as cheating . " Hypergrip , " or " Supergrip , " referred to using Force grip on an opponent at a faster - than - normal rate to kill the opponent in seconds . This is performed simply by targeting an opponent with Force grip and then repeatedly pressing the assigned " Use Force Power " key . Each iteration sends another pulse of grip , eventually killing the opponent . The same procedure can be used with Force pull to repeatedly draw a weapon , often creating multiple copies within the level due to lag . To this day , GameSpy Arcade and QTracker support " Jedi Knight " and " " online play . However , a more populated place to play is at IG Zone , which is a spiritual successor to MSN Gaming Zone ' s CD game section . A few groups also meet up for games on IRC . One dedicated server is at NarShaddaa . net for its remaining devoted fans , and many mod projects keep interest alive . Behind the scenes . Although the game was marketed as " Star Wars : Jedi Knight : Dark Forces II " on the game box , the jewel case , the instruction manual , the official strategy guide , and the official web page at LucasArts . com , the game ' s opening crawl displays the title as " Star Wars : Dark Forces II : Jedi Knight " . The cover of the version that is packed with " Mysteries of the Sith " depicts Darth Vader fighting the Jedi protagonist . However , Darth Vader does not appear at all in " Jedi Knight " nor in " Mysteries of the Sith " ( his role in the Bespin secret level in the latter is taken by Dark Mara and Dark Kyle ) . Alternatives in gameplay . If the player chooses the dark side , the alternate ending is triggered : Kyle Katarn kills Jan Ors and then becomes Jerec ' s rival , this time for dominion over the Valley . Katarn again retreats to the falling ship and escapes in the " Moldy Crow " , but this time doesn ' t crash - land . Instead of fighting Sariss by the ship ' s wreckage , he faces Yun again , now in a match that could only end in death . He then makes his way to the core and defeats Boc . Katarn defeats Jerec , and becomes the new Emperor of the Imperial Remnant , with Sariss at his side . Production . Similar to the previous game " " , it uses live - action videos , but with over twice the amount of scenes . The actors took six days to film the scenes in front of a blue screen , with several of them being added with computer graphics later . Michael Burnett did the makeup for the creatures , while Justin Chin wrote the story . Game manual . The accompanying game manual is notable for providing the first name " Qu " for the Jedi Master Rahn . It also had descriptions of various enemies and Force powers , presented as quotes from Qu Rahn ' s journal . Pathways to the Force . The demo disc for " Jedi Knight : Dark Forces II " is notable for having a subtitle , " Pathways to the Force " . It contains three levels from the full game and was sold as an OEM . The disc ' s image is the same as Disc 1 for the full game , but there is also a version that has a yellow layer over the image . " Mysteries of the Sith " . Just four months after " Jedi Knight " ' s initial release , LucasArts released " Jedi Knight : Mysteries of the Sith " , an official expansion pack , created by the LucasArts team that worked on " Outlaws " ( a spaghetti - western - themed first - person shooter ) which features the opportunity to play as Mara Jade for a significant portion of the game . This expansion significantly improved the original " Jedi Knight " engine by adding aesthetic features such as colored lighting , new enemies and Force powers ( and more controversially , doing away with the Dark / Light side duality ) . There were several under - the - hood changes as well , the most significant being that " COG " , the programming language that " Jedi Knight " uses to create scripted in - game events and interactivity ( doors , elevators , weapons , in - game cutscenes , enemy behavior , and many other things in " Jedi Knight " are controlled by COG scripts ) was expanded with new functions and capabilities , which the Sith Engine took full advantage of . In addition , while enemies in " Jedi Knight " would run away if stripped of their weapons , in " Mysteries of the Sith " they would attempt to fight with their fists . " Mysteries of the Sith " also featured new types of multiplayer action such as the gamemode KFY ( " Kill the Fool with the Ysalamiri " ) based on KFC , and included several new weapons . A few Force powers such as Throw and Lightning were replaced as well . Legacy . Since the release of " Jedi Knight : Dark Forces II " , all sequent games , comics and books have used the appearance of the characters first seen in this game . The appearance of the Holodisc was used in the episodes " Empire Day " and " Gathering Forces " of the animated series " Star Wars Rebels " , which also canon ized the appearance of the disc . Jan Ors ' ship , the " Moldy Crow " , was the basis for the HWK - 290 light freighter ship type , which appeared in the canon " " comic . This version was painted black and lacked an underside blaster turret .