Star Wars Just Canonized a Fan-Favorite Character from Legends Lore

By Klein Felt Posted:
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic art

A fan-favorite Legends character was just canon in a recently released Star Wars comic. 

After all legacy Star Wars content (outside of the six mainline movies and Clone Wars TV series/movie) was deemed not canon when Disney purchased Lucasfilm back in 2012, the studio has slowly been hand-picking things from those legends titles and bringing them into the universe proper. 

The biggest example of this is probably what the studio has been doing with Grand Admiral Thrawn. The character originally debuted in the Legends book Heir to the Empire books by Timothy Zahn and has since been made canon. 

Another beloved Legends property that feels primed to have its impact felt on the Star Wars canon is the 2003 video game, Knights of the Old Republic, which has been rumored to have characters from it featured in an upcoming Disney+ series

Canonizing Beloved Star Wars Legend

Official art for the upcoming Dark Droids Star Wars comic arc appeared to officially canonize Legends character HK-47 from Bioware's Knights of the Old Republic (KOTOR) RPG. 

As spotted by Reddit user zackgardner, an official art piece from the comic features a droid design that is eerily similar to the fan-favorite KOTOR character. 

KOTOR Comic
Star Wars

Ever since, Knights of the Old Republic's original release back in 2003, HK has built up somewhat of a cult following, as the quirky Hunter-Killer Droid traveled the galaxy hunting down Jedi under the control of the villainous Darth Revan. 

HK47
Bioware

While the KOTOR franchise is beloved, HK-47 is often time cited as the best part of both games, bringing his deadpan delivery and utter disregard for organic life. 

Dark Droids is a limited comic series set for release this year, and has been heralded as the "most ambitious event in Star Wars comics history."

Does Star Wars Have Plans for KOTOR?

Of course, bringing back something from Legends is not anything new for Lucasfilm, especially when it comes to someone as beloved as HK-47. 

But the breadcrumbs are starting to stack up, making the case for bigger plans from the studio for the Knights of the Old Republic lore. 

As a part of a newly-released Star Wars timeline (revealed at this year's Star Wars Celebration), The Old Republic is on there despite not having any in-canon projects occupying that space. 

Perhaps Disney and Lucasfilm have bigger plans for the era beyond featuring one of its most popular characters in a comic story. 

Rumors of an Old Republic movie have been swirling for years, with first reports of the title dating back to 2021. So, this very well could end up being the next portion of the Star Wars timeline that they decide to fill in. 

In Legends stories HK-47 lived a long time, appearing as a quest-giver in the RPG Star Wars: Galaxies which takes hundreds of years after the events of the KOTOR games. 

This means that the character could logically appear in Dark Droids (which takes place during the time of the Original Trilogy) and be the first tease of more to come from the Old Republic era. 

Star Wars: Dark Droids hits store shelves on August 2. 

- About The Author: Klein Felt
Klein Felt is a Senior Editor at The Direct. Joining the website back in 2020, he helped jumpstart video game content on The Direct. Klein plays a vital role as a part of the site's content team, demonstrating expertise in all things PlayStation, Marvel, and the greater entertainment industry.