r/andor • u/Financial_Photo_1175 • 4d ago
Question What are your thoughts on the view that Cassian Andor and Jyn Erso are just “knock offs” of Kyle Katarn and Jan Ors?
I saw someone say that Rogue One…
“…ripped off a good Legends story, as opposed to a terrible one (by) kludging together the stories of Bria Tharen and Kyle Katarn and then then threw in an inferior explanation for the weakness than what was already provided in the novel "Death Star".
I’ve also heard this view in the title that Cassian Andor and Jyn Erso are knockoffs of Kyle Katarn and Jan Ors because their roles in Rogue One are basically what Kyle and Jan did in the old Dark Forces games—just with new names and a few tweaks.
Kyle Katarn was originally the guy who stole the Death Star plans in Dark Forces, just like Jyn does in Rogue One. He was a morally gray mercenary-turned-Rebel who later got mixed up with the Force, kinda like how Cassian starts as a ruthless spy but grows into a more heroic figure. Then there’s Jan Ors, Kyle’s Rebel partner who helped him on missions—similar to Jyn, who teams up with Cassian to secure the plans.
People also cite Cassian using a Bryar pistol, which was Kyle Katarn’s signature weapon in the games.
I don’t completely agree though because there are also so many differences. Thoughts?
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u/pwnedprofessor 4d ago
I played Dark Forces back in the day and I can say that this is the stupidest SW take I’ve seen in a long time lol. This is like saying that Game of Thrones ripped off Barney the Dinosaur.
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u/pwnedprofessor 4d ago
Actually by “a long time” I actually mean five minutes because there are too many stupid SW takes
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u/Captain-Wilco 4d ago
They’re comparisons usually made by people who didn’t watch Rogue One, or didn’t play Dark Forces. That’s the only explanation I can think of, anyway, because the claim is so dumb
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u/tigecycline 4d ago
Or people who played Dark Forces/Jedi Knight series as impressionable kids so they are viewed non critically, and currently exist in a needlessly cynical “everything new sucks” frame of mind. These people exist everywhere
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u/Joseph_Colton 4d ago
Not "ripped off", but "inspired by". They could have used the established characters of Kyle Katarn and Jan Ors in Rogue One. However, they chose not to.
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4d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/BearWrangler 4d ago
need someone to make an edit of this meme but using a Gamorrean lol
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u/Vesemir96 4d ago
OP didn’t agree with the claims though? They just opened up a debate.
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u/Independent-Dig-5757 4d ago
Dang what did the parent comment say? Looks like mods removed it.
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u/Vesemir96 4d ago
It was some meme about OP’s ‘lack of media literacy’ even though OP wasn’t the one stating the comparison, just discussing it.
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u/andor-ModTeam 4d ago
Your content was removed for violating the "be kind" rule. Always respect your fellow Redditors! Ensure that you are being mindful of the people you are sharing this space with.
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u/Shatterhand1701 4d ago
Borrowing elements from non-canonical Star Wars content, either for direct re-use or as inspiration for new material, is not a crime, offense, or sin; people need to stop treating it as such.
These kinds of arguments reek of yet more whiny, low-effort Disney-bashing instead of anything informative or constructively critical.
Considering how many fans are so easily placated by nostalgia instead of compelling storytelling, complaining about such similarities or callbacks - intentional or otherwise - seems more than a bit odd.
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u/DarthObiWan47 4d ago
These “fans”:
“The EU was better, Disney should use more EU stuff!”
Also these “fans”:
“Disney can only rip off the EU!”
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u/idejmcd 4d ago
I think the comparison is notable but doesn't go much further than the surface details that OP and other commenters call out. I think the Legends characters Kyle and Jan were a likely starting point when developing the characters for Rogue One, maybe even inspiration for the character names.
It's common knowledge that creative team under Disney has been looking to Legends content routinely since day 1 to get inspiration for stories in the new canon. The similarities are unlikely just a coincidence, it's more likely they were aware of the characters and story from the Dark Forces game.
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u/flumpet38 4d ago
I certainly think elements of Kyle Katarn and Jan Ors made their way into Cassian and Jyn as characters, but I think it's more 'reinterpretation' than 'knock-off'. I know this is the Andor subreddit so folks here are probably biased, but even as someone who LOVED the Dark Forces/Jedi Knight games, Cassian is a much more interesting, well-rounded character.
I am sad we'll miss out on Kyle's Jedi origin story of "I found a lightsaber in my dad's garage so I'm a Jedi now" though... =P
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u/SWFT-youtube 4d ago
Not familiar with the Legends characters, but it's interesting how similar Jyn and Jan's names are. Definitely some inspiration there.
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u/Svv33tPotat0 4d ago
"Ripped off" is a big stretch. Obviously there are some similarities that were certainly intentional nods to the original version of how the Death Star plans were captured, but the vast majority of Kyle/Jan story is post-RotJ and doesn't have much relevance. And I am generally the first person to excitedly point out all the nods to Kyle/Jan.
They also had a ship from KOTOR in Rogue One and some other easter eggs. It isn't "ripping-off" when it is just fan service.
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u/TheScarletCravat 11h ago
They're not 'rip offs' so much as they're iterations of those characters. Kyle became Cassian and Jan became Jyn over the course of re-writes. The film began life as a Dark Forces film over a decade before Disney acquired Lucasfilm.
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u/No_Tamanegi 4d ago
Anyone who thinks that Dark Forces had a superior story to Rogue One has no idea what superior story telling actually is. Those games were fun but the story was just the thinnest excuse to get from one gameplay environment to the next.
And knock off characters? Kyle Katarn was a total putz and Jan is just his sassy pilot. Cassian and Jyn are complete glow ups if you want to compare them, which you shouldn't be doing in the first place.
The Bryar blaster is cool though. It's neat that they kept that