History VideoGame / TheForceUnleashed

->"The Emperor must not discover your presence. Kill everyone aboard..."

* LaserBlade: Lightsaber combat is the second main gameplay element after the Force abilities. Leveling up unlocks new combos for the lightsaber and finding collectibles called "Holocrons" grants the player the ability to change the color and bonuses attached to their lightsaber.

** Jar Jar Binks of ''Film/ThePhantomMenace'' shows up frozen in carbonite in the Kashyyyk level. In addition, [=R2-D2=] shows up in the background in a few cutscenes and the last characters PROXY imitates during his boss fight? [[spoiler:Darth Maul.]]

* GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere: [[spoiler: The Dark Apprentice, who only appears in the Dark Side Ending of the sequel, at least in the main story. As Starkiller tries to kill Vader, the Dark Apprentice, who was hidden with a cloaking device and watching the duel the entire time, stabs the other clone in the back before de-cloaking. He does not make an appearance in the Light Side Ending, but could still be hidden and awaiting his next orders from Vader. There are unlockable videos showing the progression of the Dark Apprentice's training under Vader, which you can get after completing the challenge levels. The final one shows that Vader instructed him not to interfere with his fight with the other clone unless he was needed, like if Vader's life was in danger. The only other possible foreshadowing of the Dark Apprentice is that, in the Betrayal trailer, after Starkiller fights his way through the Imperials on Kamino, it shows Vader in a lab filled with Starkiller clones in cloning tubes. As he leaves, one of the clones suddenly opens his eyes. This clone could be one of the countless other clones Vader created, or it could be the Dark Apprentice. Regardless, unless you read the book first, you were probably caught off guard by the sudden appearance of this other clone in the sequel's Dark Side ending.]]

** The second one might not be the case. In the non-canon Ultimate Sith campaign, [[spoiler: you find his remnants in the basements of Jabba's Palace, where he is being reconstructed to be used by the Hutt for his own malicious purposes.]]

* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: Many attacks involving the lightsaber involve stabbing enemies through the back. "Impale" is also an ability, where Starkiller lifts an enemy in the air and throws his saber into their chest as they wrestle helplessly through the air.
** Also happens to Starkiller himself when Vader betrays him for the first time. [[spoiler: Other notable examples include: Starkiller stabbing the vision of the Sith Stalker in the back at the end of their duel in the Jedi Temple, from the Ultimate Sith Edition; Lord Starkiller stabbing Ben Kenobi through the chest as they fight in the Mos Eisley Docking Bay, also in the Ultimate Sith Edition; Starkiller's good clone being stabbed in the back by the Dark Apprentice in the sequel's Dark Side Ending; and the Dark Apprentice killing both Han Solo and Leia Organa by stabbing both of them through the chest during the sequel's DLC Endor level.]]

* DownloadableContent:
** In the original, the Tatooine and Hoth levels are available which continue the story from the BadEnding. The Jedi Temple is available as DLC as well, though it's already included in the UsefulNotes/{{Wii}} version.
** Preordering the second game from Gamestop gave players Maulkiller costume, as well as silver lightsaber crystals. An Endor mission is available for purchase for II as well, again continuing from the BadEnding.

* {{DLC}}:

* LeftHanging / OrphanedSeries: Canonically, the second game ends [[spoiler:you spare Vader's life and take him prisoner, but as the rebels jump to Hyperspace, Boba Fett's ''Slave 1'' takes off behind you]]. Unfortunately, the poor sales of the sequel, combined with Creator/LucasArts closing three years later (after {{Creator/Disney}} bought Lucasfilm, the parent company), suggests that it's not going to be resolved anytime soon (unless of course Creator/ElectronicArts does something about it).

* WorldOfCardboardSpeech: In the sequel, Starkiller gives one of these to Vader.
-->[[spoiler: "I let you live. You tell me I'm a clone but I ''chose'' to spare you. (*beat*) Maybe Kota's right. Maybe this is all a trick --a way to get me so confused... that I'd forget who I really am and become your slave again. But either way... '' I.'' Let. You. Live. I've finally broken your hold over me."]]

* VillainsWantMercy: Completely ''inverted'' with Palpatine at the end, who tries to goad you into killing him after you've beat him in order to lure you to the dark side. Maris Brood and Darth Phobos did however beg for there lives and Maris was spared but Phobos wasn't.

* VillainsNeverLie: In the sequel, Kota calls Starkiller out for thinking this -- believing Vader when he told him he was a clone. Though there is a lot of evidence supporting the idea, Vader has [[ILied lied a lot in the past]]. And damn never everything he said to Starkiller in particular was a lie in the first game.

* WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer: Just use the Force & turn the hammer UpToEleven. At least, that's Starkiller's reponse in the sequel when ''The Salvation'' has it's main cannon knocked offline.

* BlindSeer: Rahm Kota was a wise Jedi with a strong connection with a Force before he was blinded, but after Starkiller defeats him, he is so devastated by his loss of sight that he can do little but offer wisdom and guidance to future Jedi.

* BonusBoss: The climax of the Jedi Temple mission[[note]]Included in the Wii version, optional DLC for the [=PS3=], Xbox 360, and PC versions[[/note]] is a duel with an evil hallucination of [[spoiler:the Dark Side version of Starkiller]].

* MuzzleFlashlight: [[Mundane Utility Force Lightning's use]] includes being able to light the way.

* BackFromTheDead: Starkiller, ''twice''. Technically, the second time he's still dead. He just got cloned. The novel hints that it may have been the case the first time as well.

%%* BroadStrokes: Accounting for the fact that despite how powerful Galen is, Vader and Palpatine still seem to be more powerful.

%%* LargeHam: Emperor Palpatine, and Kota in the second game.

* MundaneUtility: Force Lightning, the black line between the light side and the dark side, makes a great lantern. Better than the lightsaber even.
%%* MuzzleFlashlight: See Mundane Utility.

%%* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Starkiller.

%%* ThePowerOfLove

%%* RaisedByOrcs

* RewardingVandalism: You can smash up the environments to find collectibles, at least in the Wii, [=PS2=] and [=PSP] versions of the first game.

The games were also the center of a multimedia project ala Literature/ShadowsOfTheEmpire, covering a wide range of media including ComicBooks, a novel (by Creator/SeanWilliams), action figures and a RolePlayingGame.

Wiki/ThatOtherWiki has [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars:_The_Force_Unleashed more information]]. [[http://starwars.wikia.com/ The other other wiki]] [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/The_Force_Unleashed might help too.]]

* AdaptationalExplanation: ''TFU'' novel by Creator/SeanWilliams not just expanded what we saw and played in the game, also gives TheProtagonist (The Apprentice, codenamed Starkiller) a proper name and a background: Galen Marek, son of the late Jedi Knight Kento Marek (unnamed in the games and killed in the first episode). His mother is briefly mentioned, but in the novel as well in ''TFU II'' got a name and a background too (Mallie Marek, also a Jedi Knight who died when Galek was just a baby).

* AllThereInTheManual:
** While the game refers to the player character as either "Starkiller" or "The Apprentice", the companion novel gives his real name as Galen Marek.

** One of the toughest non-boss enemies, the "Imperial Purge Troopers", are prototype Dark Troopers (GiantMook killer robots) from the ''VideoGame/DarkForcesSaga''.

** And at the end of II, the Rebels [[spoiler:take Vader to Dantooine. Is it any wonder he knows about it and they've evacuated it by ''A New Hope'']]?

** Inside the Sarlaac, Starkiller and a legion of enemies end up pinned against a wall by gusts of wing as the Sarlacc breathes. Starkiller's smart enough to dodge behind conveniently placed obstructions, but the enemies aren't so clever.
** In the final level of the first game, Starkiller runs through the Death Star's canons while dodging Stormtroopers and fighting turrets. This happens all while the Death Star is testing its planet-destroying laser, which will instantly kill any enemy and the player.

* LeftHanging: Canonically, the second game ends [[spoiler:you spare Vader's life and take him prisoner, but as the rebels jump to Hyperspace, Boba Fett's ''Slave 1'' takes off behind you]]. Unfortunately, the poor sales of the sequel, combined with Creator/LucasArts closing three years later (after {{Creator/Disney}} bought Lucasfilm, the parent company), suggests that it's not going to be resolved anytime soon (unless of course Creator/ElectronicArts does something about it).

* FreeFallFight: A gameplay mechanic in the sequel involves Starkiller diving through the air while using the Force to blow away any obstacles in his way. The mechanic comes into play three times:

* BattleInTheRain: The final boss of ''The Force Unleashed II'' takes place in a lightning-storm on Kamino, as the two combatants use the towers around them to absorb lightning and boost their natural abilities.

* WombLevel: The "Imperial Felucia" level has a segment where Starkiller must navigate through the segment of a creature called the Sarlaac (featured in the first act of ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'') and avoid the other creature it's swallowed so he can find an place to be spit out of it.

** You can also attack and kill your allies as well with no one to [[WhatTheHellHero chastise you for it]], and even earn Force Points for doing so on the Wii, PS2 and PSP versions.

** The first game's difficulty modes are based on titles held by the Sith; "Apprentice" is the easy difficulty, "Sith Warrior" is the medium difficulty, "Sith Lord" is the hard difficulty, and "Sith Master" is the HarderThanHard mode.

* BroadStrokes: While not exactly with a LiteraryAgentHypothesis to justify it, but the crazy uses of the Force can easily be used in this way. And accounting for the fact that despite how powerful Galen is, Vader and Palpatine still seem to be more powerful.

* BaitAndSwitchBoss: In the boss fight on Cato Neimoidia in the sequel. It looks like the clone Starkiller is about to face off against a Rancor - and then an even ''larger'' arm reaches out, grabs the Rancor and pulls it into a darkened opening. Out of that opening comes the ''real'' boss, the Gorog.

* EasterEgg: Numerous. Two occur on the Raxus Prime levels in the first game. First time there, one thing you can pull out of the yellow toxic sludge is Luke's starfighter, a la Dagobah style. The second time you're there, you can spot a piece of junk in the wall - specifically, the front half of the Millenium Falcon.

* EyeScream: A lot in the first game - for starters, General Kota, with his own lighsaber. Ouch. The final cinematic in the Dark Side ending has some of this ''in 1st person view''. The Stalker model also has a small droplet of blood leaking from the visor, hinting at some nastiness underneath, which is in some ways even more disturbing than the previous instance. The finishing move for some Rancors invokes this as well

** In the canonical light-side ending, [[spoiler:Galen sacrifices himself to buy time for the senators to escape from the Emperor - and, as Vader and the Emperor note, in doing so, he's become a martyr for the Rebel Alliance that will ultimately be their undoing.]]

-->'''Starkiller''': "You agreed to stay away!"
-->'''Vader''': "I lied, as I have from the very beginning."

--> '''Vader''': [[spoiler:I lied when I said the cloning process was not yet perfected.]]

-->'''Kota''': The main cannon is offline. We're dead in the water without it! See what you can do.
-->'''Starkiller''': Do I ''look'' like an engineer, General?

* ImprovisedWeapon: Well, basically anything, really, thanks to the Force and physics engine, but in the Hoth level of the Ultimate Sith Edition, you can rip the blaster cannons off of X-wings - ''and '''shoot''' them by zapping them with lightning''.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfLoading: The first game. The [=PS2=] version is notoriously bad about it - the gameplay itself runs smoothly enough, but going through the menus during the rest period between stages quickly becomes a hassle. Scrolling through the various [[AndYourRewardIsClothes custom outfits]] can take between 10-20 seconds per shift, with close to a dozen possible outfits to choose from and no way to skip to the one you want.

** The achievements for beating Boba Fett in the first game's Tatooine DLC is called "[[WesternAnimation/RobotChicken And The Quarterback is Toast]]" - a rare case of a Shout Out ''to'' a Shout Out, as the original quote comes from ''Film/DieHard''.

* WhatMeasureIsAMook: Deluges of this trope. The novelization has Juno angrily tell Starkiller that one of the people he just casually massacred was an old friend of hers, but when he apologizes she says it's okay, since she hadn't talked to him in years anyway. Late in the novel Galen - by that point the narration had picked up on his name - is horrified about how Vader's plan involved letting thousands of loyal Imperials get slaughtered, nevermind that he'd done about half of that all by himself, delighting in how easy it was.

** There are loads of film and video game characters available as costumes, from Kit Fisto to [[VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic Darth Sion]] to Obi-Wan Kenobi. Mara Jade is included in the PS2/Wii version.

* EvilMakesYouUgly: Vader and Palpatine are classic examples. Starkiller in the Sith ending as well as his evil clone in the second game also count, although the latter one is just very pale.