How Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order 2 Can Improve Cal Kestis' Character

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Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order introduced new and beloved designs and concepts to the iconic franchise, many of which innovated on elegant lightsaber combat. Moreover, any good modern Star Wars entry seeks to add an adorable new alien or droid to its line of merchandise, and that is achieved with Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order’s BD-1. However, the truest test of a new Star Wars entry or IP installment is its protagonist character, who must carry the game on their back and lay a foundation for it to be experienced.

When Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order first released, the only talking point with regard to protagonist Cal Kestis was the physics engine that caused his signature, voluminous red hair to flow naturally in open air. Cameron Monaghan’s performance as the Padawan-turned-refugee was not poor itself, but Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order failed to give him many opportunities where his character needed to make decisions that were truly impactful. If Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order’s sequel reprises Cal, there are a few ways it can improve upon his character.

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order Lightsaber Coming to Galaxy's Edge

An easy, if not tired, way for Respawn to develop Cal’s character would be to invite more light and dark side influences from the Force. Unfortunately, every Jedi character’s moral complexities are commonly easy to boil down to binary choices between being morally agreeable or egregious. This does not ensure one way or another whether a character will improve, or be adequately challenged based on these decisions, and it can be tremendously reductive to comprehend them in such a narrow-minded manner.

In every practical sense, Cal’s origin story in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order should have spelled the introduction to him