- "I will eliminate you."
- — The Apprentice
The Apprentice (アプレンティス Apurentisu) (also known as Starkiller, real name Galen Marek) is a Sith Warrior, the secret apprentice to Sith Lord Darth Vader. He appears as a guest character on both home versions of Soulcalibur IV, along with the console exclusive characters: his Master, Vader, and Jedi Grand Master Yoda. The Apprentice is the main character of the Star Wars video game, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, and his presence in Soulcalibur IV was revealed in the trailer on June 6.
Like the other Star Wars characters, he can utilize the power of the Force to gain the upper hand in battle.
What lies in his soul is Destiny.
Appearance
The Apprentice appears as a fair-skinned man with dark shaved hair and brown eyes. His attire is that of his light training gear from the first game. As such, he appears wearing a tattered combat uniform featuring many bands of fabric tightly wrapped around his limbs and fingerless gloves.
Story
Darth Vader took The Apprentice in when he was young and trained him. Darth Vader sends his secret apprentice to investigate a dimensional rift that seems to be growing larger. Once he gets there, he waits until it is large enough to pass through into the Soul Calibur universe.
Soulcalibur IV Ending
The Apprentice strikes down Algol and returns to Darth Vader without Soul Edge or Soul Calibur, having deemed both swords to be of no value. Angered by his Apprentice's arrogance in making that judgment for himself, Vader Force-chokes him, prompting the Apprentice to reach for his lightsaber. Sensing this act of defiance, Vader releases him, and they both draw their lightsabers to duel. The text-only epilogue then says How he lived and where he traveled from there, is a story for another day.
- This ending is generally only available in the PS3 version. In the Xbox 360 version, it ends after the Apprentice kills Algol, though it can be viewed in full if the player downloads the unlock key for Darth Vader.
Stage
Star Destroyer Docking Bay
Critical Finish
Dark Force Attack: The Apprentice blasts the opponent into the air, pulls a few fancy slashes, bounces them off of the ground and finishes them off with a powerful shockwave move known as Force Repulse.
Against Yoda, due to his small stature, he levitates in the air, charges his power, and then blasts Yoda with Force Lightning.
Before performing his Critical Finish against most opponents, he will say "You're in my way." Against Darth Vader, however, he says "This will end it."
Fighting Style
The Apprentice is a mix between Darth Vader and Yoda. He is almost as fast as Yoda but aggressive as Darth Vader. Using the lightsaber fighting style of Sith Shien, the Apprentice uses the Force in many of his very damaging combos. His Force Lightning is one of the worst unblockable attacks in the game as it takes up a long time to charge up (long enough for him to say "give up" in Japanese), uses up half of the Force bar and does not deal that much damage. The Apprentice is also capable of using Force Levitation to decimate his opponents in mid-air. Force Levitation can be activated manually or after performing the Star Divide or Force Blast, the latter being a Force-consuming guard break attack. He is best played as an aggressive fighter who does not give his opponent any time to recover. He is considered by the tournament community as a mid tier character.
Quotes
Soulcalibur IV
- "What are you doing?" (2P entrance against Darth Vader)
- "I am no longer your pawn." (1P entrance against Vader)
- "I will eliminate you." (standard 1P entrance)
- "Leave at once!" (standard 1P entrance)
- "Are you done?" (standard 2P entrance)
- "I don't care about your situation." (standard 2P entrance)
- "This will be a waste of time." (standard 1P entrance)
- "It's too late. This is your end." (standard 2P entrance)
- "Not a bad time for a hunt." (Stage 1 entrance --- to Lizardman)
- "Bothersome creatures." (Stage 2 entrance)
- "I only need your swords, be gone." (Stage 4 entrance --- to Nightmare)
- "Show me the power within you." (Final Stage entrance --- to Algol)
- "It's time. Continue mission." (standard victory)
- "I guess you needed to see it for yourself." (perfect victory)
- "So you are what you are." (standard victory)
- "The weak will die. That's all." (standard victory)
- "I've wasted my time." (Stage 1 and standard Critical Finish victory)
- "Master... no." (standard victory over Vader)
- "Fool. You were only in my way." (Stage 2 victory)
- "Is this it? This is all there is to it?" (Stage 4 victory)
- "So this is the power master foretold." (Final Stage victory)
- "How foolish." (taunt)
- "I am free." (Critical Finish victory over Vader)
- "I must hurry." (victory with critical health)
- "You're in my way!" (standard Critical Finish announcement)
- "This will end it." (Critical Finish announcement against Vader)
- "Give up." (during Force Lightning)
- "Silence!"
- "This way!" (during Force Flip)
- "You're too slow." (during Force Flip with him facing opponent's back)
- "Fool!" (also during Critical Finish against Yoda)
- "Damn!" (Said when the force meter has depleted.)
- "I have failed." (When failed a mission.)
- "Pointless"
- "You dare to resist?"
Weapons
- Lightsaber
- Lightsaber Senth
- Lightsaber Dorn
- Lightsaber Usk
- Lightsaber Nern
- Lightsaber Aurek
- Lightsaber Forn
Music
Duel of the Fates
Trivia
- Even though The Apprentice is famous for his own game, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed he still had his first appearance or was introduced in Soulcalibur IV, since Soulcalibur IV came out July 29, 2008, and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed first came out on September 16, 2008.
- So the first game The Apprentice appeared in was actually Soulcalibur IV and not Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
- The Apprentice wields his saber with an enigmatic style known as the 'unorthodox'. The Unorthodox combines multiple lightsaber styles that are often used to keep a target off balance. The Apprentice uses Juyo, Shien and Soreusu. His application of Shien is inverted, a form rarely seen in both the Soul series and Star Wars franchise. Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano also uses this stance, as well as Jedi Council Member Adi Gallia. However, his style becomes notably unorthodox because of his use of Juyo in Shien, adopting the style named 'Sith Shien' as his own. This style augments normal attacks with the ferocious nature of Juyo and supplements his already incredible Force power by channeling it through his saber. These attacks often translate into both 'Force Unleashed' and Soulcalibur IV.
- The name "Starkiller" is a reference to George Lucas' original name for the character who would become Luke Skywalker, which was "Annikin Starkiller".
- Starkiller can be unlocked by beating the arcade with the corresponding Star Wars character (Yoda in the Xbox 360 version, and Darth Vader in the PS3 version).
- The Apprentice in Arcade Mode is considered by many players to be the most difficult stage in the mode, as the computer will abuse his force powers to such a point that he will run out several times in the match on average, and is one of the few openings in the computer's nearly endless stream of attacks. Most newcomers have a hard time with this fighter, as many of the moves that the computer uses (which the player likely wishes to copy after being beaten by it repeatedly.) are multi-button presses chained into combos using both vertical and horizontal button presses, and are much more complex than they appear. This will frustrate any newcomer attempting to use him for an easy win.
- Some information within the Soulcalibur seems to conflict with official information from Lucasarts:
- Soulcalibur lists his birthplace as the planet Kashyyyk, the Wookiee homeworld, in his father's hut. According to the book based off the game, his mother was killed a few months before Vader found his father by a band of slavers.
- The Apprentice appears to be far more cold and arrogant in Soulcalibur IV than he does in the Star Wars canon (At least game-wise). In The Force Unleashed, he is depicted as how most other heroes like are, such as being more sociable and caring for others, although this only happens when he begins his relationship with Juno Eclipse and his turn to the light side. However, his personality matches with the early stages of the novel.
- The Apprentice's costume is slightly different in Soulcalibur than in the video game, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, which he is the main character in.
- The ending (The Apprentice is disciplined by Vader for defiance) presents a rare glimpse into the tortures of Sith training. It also becomes a motivating force to the Apprentice in The Force Unleashed.
- People who knew a little about Star Wars might think that the Apprentice is the only character to wield the lightsaber backwards. Chronologically he's not the only character to do that there is actually another one using this same style: from the popular Star Wars: The Clone Wars series Ahsoka Tano also wields the blade backward. The form of backward lightsaber combat is a special form of Form V: Shien. However, The Apprentice is the first to use Sith Shien - a more furious form of Shien.
- The Apprentice, along with the other Force Unleashed characters does not exist in Star Wars Canon Universe. However, the character and story concepts and traits becomes bases for some characters and story progresses in Star Wars Canon's animated series Star Wars Rebels, such as:
- The main protagonist of Rebels series Ezra Bridger shares similar status for having 1 Jedi and 1 Sith Masters, then having a similar appearance as of Season 3. However, the roles on how they seek their first masters from a different side of the force are opposite.
- Ironically, The Apprentice's voice actor, Sam Witwer, not only currently also the voice of Emperor Palpatine in all recent Star Wars non-movie medias, but also voiced Darth Maul since Clone Wars, and happened to have his voiced character Maul blinded one of Rebels series' protagonist Kanan Jarrus (a Jedi who is based on Rahm Kota) in Rebels Season 2 Finale episode ("Twilight of the Apprentice"), like how Apprentice blinded Kota during their first encounter.
Gallery
External links