Allankles
Kwisatz Haderach
Originally posted by Gideon
I disagree, completely, and like I said, I can't [B]stand Revan's character due to the fanboyism and bias he's spawned. People who fellate him border on homosexuality, given that his character has been poorly defined (as in traits, attributes, and crap) and gameplay mechanic tries to set him up to be some sort of perfect guy - so I love it when I put down all those theories, and silently curse the KotoR staff for being so gay - and I could go on. 😛But, I debate fairly, and I think that you're a bit biased. Vader isn't as "great" as Revan in terms of accomplishments. He didn't do anything except execute Palpatine's commands - so the credit ultimately lies with Palpatine and Palpatine alone. In fact, if we are to get technical, Count Dooku did more than Vader did in terms of sheer "accomplishments". But both of them were just pawns, and I wouldn't rank either of them as Top 5 or probably not even Top 10 "greatest Sith ever".
So, firstly, I think it does nothing for your argument to try to cheapen Revan's military genius. He was an outrageously superb tactition (not average and not just "above average"😉. People who speak of his talents were also people who fought along side and against him, so you can't just refute their statements about him. So, please accept it that it is a fact: Revan is an outstanding tactition.
Secondly, Revan got pretty damn close to doing what Sidious did through subterfuge - except he did it during warfare. True, it lacks the subtlety or greatness (it'd be harder to conquer a galaxy through manipulation, in my opinion, than warfare) - but he got damn well close nonetheless, and there's no telling what might have happened had Malak not betrayed him.
Thirdly, like it or not (and believe me, I don't), Revan is Bane's direct inspiration for the Rule of Two, which is what allowed the Sith to survive. Had that not happened, it is likely that the Sith would have been wiped out - and Sidious would never have achieved the things he did. We can give a quiet round of applause to Revan for that.
Fourthly, Revan managed to do some outstanding things - though part of the dark side for a small amount of time - and his knowledge base surpassed Bane's own as well as the entire library on Korriban. That is very, very impressive, considering most Sith masters couldn't even begin to attempt to use some of the things Revan learned.
So, nah. I'm sorry. I hate Revan. I really, really hate Revan and I'm not ashamed to admit it - and if you look at any of my threads involving him, the hate is there. But what you're doing is, in my opinion, ridiculous. There's no reason to downplay a character we don't like. Perhaps we won't defend him or her as much, but still.
Revan is definately one of the very greatest Sith of all time, and he's likely one of the most powerful. [/B]
For a guy who doesn't like Revan, you seem to give him a lot more credit than is due. For one there's no evidence of Revan's 'genius' beyond the here say that made up little bits of his backstory in Kotor 1, so to assume he's an exceptional military genius based on that is a bit silly IMO.
Secondly to right off Vader's influence on the Empire as just "Palpatine's orders" is not only wrong but shows an absolute lack of regard for what Vader represented. He was the very face of the Sith, the unbeatable, indomitable presence that ensured stability within and without the Empire.
He was the cog that ensured everything in the Empire run as the Sith deemed fit. Revan was nowhere near the overbearing overlord Vader was to the galactic Empire. Palpatine may have been the ultimate authority in the Empire, but Vader was very much the ultimate supervisor in the Empire.
Thirdly, retcon or not Revan's influence over Bane's actions is only EU-canon. Bane's forging of the rule of two is G-canon, unchangeable outside of Lucas' say so. It was Lucas who designated Bane as the author of the 'rule of two'.
It would be down right retarded to give the honour to Revan seeing as he never authored the rule of two as is evident in Kotor 1 and star wars canon. I know Bane found Revan's holo. in POD but he might as well have found Mother Theresa's because it wouldn't change the fact that the rule-of-two started with Bane and no one else.
Again, how does Revan's inclusion in POD change the fact that the rule-of-two was already credited to Bane long before POD was published? What a silly argument.
And so what he had a 'vast amount of knowledge'? How does that affect his importance or influence in the Star Wars mythos? Traya likely had more knowledge of the force than Revan (note: I said likely) why don't I hear praises for her and her vast knowledge base?
It's not about knowledge or even the number of accomplishments authors retcon for a character, it's about overall impact on the mythos based on the relevant outcomes of the stories.
Hyping a character with a number of irrelevant attributes doesn't automatically make that character great. Again I don't underestimate Revan I could quite easily put him in the top 10 of this list, I just don't believe he's anywhere close to being the second or third greatest Sith behind Palpy.