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giza815r · 2 years

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Okay, this is going to be a lot of text…

Re-playing kotor 2 made me want to pay closer attention to Atton’s character… And what a bad boy Atton is.

Atton constantly tries to make jokes and act like he’s a regular guy with less depth than a teaspoon, but he’s given away his own character time and time again, which he tries to hide. This will either immediately alienate the player or encourage the opposite to want to know who’s hiding behind that cocky smile. And as we know, there’s a lot to hide behind it…

Atton is not very fond of making compromises.

For example, Atton doesn’t like to give a choice; he likes to put his opponent before the fact, so that he has no choice but to agree with him. This is a rather noticeable trait of his character, which is well demonstrated to the player in developing a relationship with him. Yes, and even in his communication with him, and from the very first minutes of meeting him.

Remember how Atton instantly takes the lead in the conversation if you tell him you want to hear his plan first before you let him out. He immediately puts Exile in front of the fact that she MUST let him out, otherwise there is no way. Although he’s the one in the cage, not her, and she obviously has a better chance of escape than he does, which doesn’t put him in the position of the one who demands, but rather in the position of the one who asks. And yet, he is the one who demands, instantly assuring the Exile that she has no chance without him (and continues to assure her of that for some time even after her release)… which means there is no choice but to agree and let him go. A cheeky devil, all in all.

He needs a sense of control.

If Mira is on board the Hawk, then the player will have the opportunity to know that Atton is also watching the Exile when she is unsuspecting and alone with the Disciple.

He will watch her regardless of her level of influence. Even if the relationship is perfect and he has essentially nothing to fear, Atton will still do it. Commitment to the side of the Force also has no affect on this, whether light Atton or dark Atton doesn’t mind watching from the shadows to make sure nothing unnecessary happens… In light of Atton’s past, that’s saying something. The trigger for this scene is when the Exile learns from the Disciple how to meditate.

Perhaps it’s not just a matter of jealousy, but that it’s more usual and comfortable for him to have something he’s interested in under his constant control. And that goes for the Disciple as well, for Atton immediately suspected something wrong with him and then found out that he was really a spy, and for that he obviously had to spend time on purposeful surveillance. At any rate, as far as the Exile was concerned, he surely wanted to have control, even if not directly…

Perhaps it’s just an association trigger in his mind, because, just like the Disciple, Atton had trained the Exile to protect her mind before him, and this was the first steps toward their coming together…

In the same way, in his behavior Atton, though Kreia speaks of his helpfulness towards the Exile, still, consciously or not, sometimes shows a desire to dominate (for example, on Peragus, where he simultaneously shows interest in the Exile, touching concern and unwillingness to give in and with it a little aggression), which is also a manifestation of his categorical character.

He doesn’t like it when things don’t go the way he thinks they should.

If you commit atrocities and murders with or without cause, you’ll have no problem making a relationship with Atton (unlike most other companions), and the only thing he’ll ask for is just to warn him beforehand who the Exile wants to kill. At the same time, and just as interestingly, if you play a good character, Atton will react with displeasure to your good deeds. You’re wasting your time, that’s his thinking…

A very good demonstration of facets of his character. It distinguishes him from other companions, who are more unequivocal in their opinion of the situation, whatever your reaction is. For example, the same Disciple will never approve of murder whatever you say and will always approve of a good deed whatever you say. Atton, on the other hand, is more interested in… the Exile than in the situation, this explains why even if he doesn’t like the good deeds, he still approves of what the Exile has done, even if he disagrees. It also plays into the contradictions that go on in his soul–the craving for violence and the attempts to find his redemption.

This is exacerbated by the fact that he has been depressed for years, as shown by his indifference to his own appearance and the lives of others, and by his sudden outbursts of aggression, seemingly gratuitous, even towards the Exile, the person he likes. Depression is a consequence of many factors, and in Atton’s case I think there are two key points–his past, which oppresses him with guilt for the murders he committed, and his possible dissatisfaction, his inability to give vent to his cruelty, which once was not a problem if his violent tendencies are innate.

If at first you might think that Atton is prone to cruelty simply because it’s a consequence of depression or a part of his complicated character… then the moment he tells the truth about himself and his past, the realization comes quite clearly that the reason for this cruelty is that Atton is a sadist.

He admits that killing a Jedi is much simpler than everyone thinks (by the way HK-47 is of the same opinion, arrogance ruins Jedi, the myth of their invulnerability), it sounds easy from his lips, and later with pleasure in his voice he admits that it was more pleasant not to kill, but to torture Jedi, to bring them to the state when they will be psychologically completely broken, or to torture them to death, as he wanted to do with his last victim, as an example.

We can assume that he must also have enjoyed the fact that he was a blind spot to the Jedi. In his own words, even the Jedi of Revan might not have known he was nearby. Enough to imagine how heady such superiority is, also over those whom all others fear, at a time when to you they are like half-blind lambs.

From here comes the approval of the Exile’s evil behavior; it is a small and criminal outlet for him… maybe. It’s just a thought)

In fact, his predilection for hurting, especially the Jedi, can sometimes raise questions about the sincerity of his feelings for the Exile. Is it true love? Or just the hunter’s unconscious attraction to his prey masquerading as love? Either way is equally possible…

But he feels guilty about his past, doesn’t he? Yes, he does… I mean, we all remember what his last victim did. In his confession, Atton doesn’t say that he didn’t WANT to hunt Jedi anymore, he says that he CANNOT do it anymore (hence the reluctance), which is a bit different… So, what that girl did before she was killed by him, I would compare it to punishment for Atton, not salvation, and I would also compare it to… a strict collar. Wearing a strict collar makes a dog behave calmly, not because he suddenly realized it was the right thing to do, but because the spikes rest on his neck and hurt him. It is the same with Atton, his inner passions have not gone away, they are just actively suppressed by guilt.

Also, in favor of the fact that Atton doesn’t like to give a choice, is the situation with Mikal in general. From the very first minute he meets him, Atton lets him (and the player) know that he doesn’t want him on board, and immediately reacts negatively to Exile’s decision to take the Disciple. And remarkably, after that we can immediately see the first scene of jealousy by Atton, where he bluntly tells the Disciple that he first noticed the Exile, almost directly telling him that only he can claim her. However, this scene can be avoided if you make up for lost influence before returning to the Hawk by doing something to please your main yandere in the party.

Atton literally gives the player an ultimatum that the Exile will only be with him or no one at all. He is possessive to the utmost degree and is willing to kill and die for something that should belong only to him.

This contrasts markedly with the romances for the m!Exile, where a positive outcome is still possible, even if the player has a relationship with Visas. In Atton’s case, such a thing is impossible if you are with the Disciple, and he will, without a chance, just kill him because you chose Mikal over Atton. And what’s more interesting is that Atton doesn’t care what you think this relationship with the Disciple is, even if you say in your dialogue with Mira about it that you’d rather kill yourself than go out with Mikal, it won’t affect Atton’s decision to get rid of the Disciple as soon as the opportunity arises.

And the cherry on the cake is the fact that Atton, in his obsession, can even attack the Exile herself, for reasons that may be more than enough… from not wishing to live, knowing how the Exile saw him, to the simple desire to take her by force. Or the classic “So no one will have you”.

And all of this is combined in some incredible way with the love he feels for the Exile throughout the game, the need to protect her, to find redemption for her sake so that the shadows of his past no longer torment him, to rid himself of the demons in him. He trusts the Exile, which seems nonsense for someone who hates the Jedi so much, because he told her about his past, not just because he had no other choice, he hoped that one day, if he was confused himself, she would help him find himself, become a beacon for him.

Besides, in spite of his hatred of the Jedi, his saying that all acts of mercy are done by Jedi for more lies and manipulation, he believes that his last victim sacrificed herself for him to save… Not that maybe it was just a strategic sacrifice to get a successful Jedi hunter off the field, but no sacrifice to save his soul. After all, Atton has slaughtered Jedi by the hundreds thereby rapidly reducing their numbers in the galaxy.

And by the way, it’s pretty funny to hear his joking phrase at the beginning of the game about half-naked interrogation fantasies, considering that in the past he was exactly the torturer and interrogator… I wonder how much he allowed himself in those interrogations, considering his predilection for inflicting physical and psychological suffering on the victim?

Or, for example, his words to Mikal, considering that Atton himself lied to Exile about his past for a long time and never found the courage to admit that he loved her (except in the ending where he dies).

A lot of his phrases in retrospect start to sound more interesting when you already know about his past and who he was… or maybe, very deep down, still is who he was.

And by the way… when Atton watches HK-47 torture HK-50, it’s pretty hypocritical of him to call HK-47 sick… He’s no healthier than HK-47 himself :D

Atton is actually a wonderful and complex character, who is a collection of rather conflicting feelings, such as love and hate, loyalty and jealousy, and in this way is a bit like Hanharr, who is also devoured by conflicting beliefs. Yet Atton is equally as likely to be a good man as he is to be the very embodiment of evil. What a man at a crossroads indeed…

…And I also can’t stop admiring the atmosphere that Obsidian has created aboard the Hawk. Whereas in kotor 1, we came aboard the Hawk and could feel peace and safety, in kotor 2, upon returning to the Hawk, there is a constant sense of unspoken tension and something grimly unhealthy in the air…

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