Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Fan Theory - Was Starkiller Already a Clone from the Start?

Despite Disney’s controversial management of the Star Wars franchise, long-time fans still enjoy revisiting their favorite moments from a galaxy far, far away. In my case, this involves replaying the popular Star Wars: The Force Unleashed video game duology.

I recently put together a fan theory concerning the games’ protagonist Starkiller that I don’t think many other fans have considered before. If Lucasfilm Games ever revisits the series with a Force Unleashed III and incorporates a version of this idea, it could lead to one of the biggest reveals in Star Wars history.

Heads up: This discussion will contain heavy spoilers for both Star Wars: The Force Unleashed and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II.

The Theory

Fans love to debate whether the version of Starkiller featured in the second game is a clone or the original individual somehow resurrected and suffering from memory loss.

I say this back and forth is meaningless because to me, he is a clone; not a clone of the Starkiller that gave his life to inspire the Rebellion, but rather a clone of the Starkiller that was still loyal to the dark side at the beginning of the first game.

The Force Unleashed (or How Real-Life Physics Should Apply in Certain Cases of Fiction)

To quickly recap the plot, Starkiller is introduced at the start of the game as Vader’s secret apprentice, a boy he kidnaps from Kashyyyk after murdering his Jedi father. Vader trains Starkiller in isolation, away from the eyes of the Empire, promising him that one day the two of them shall overthrow Palpatine and rule the galaxy together.

But Starkiller’s lifelong dream gets brutally crushed when Vader suddenly betrays him under Palpatine’s orders.

As Palpatine steps onto the bridge of Vader’s ship, Vader without warning stabs Starkiller in the back with his lightsaber and thrashes him around before finishing the job by hurling him out the airlock into the cold, black void of space.

It does not matter if the Force is with you; there are elements of science and nature that you are bound to. This includes not being able to survive in space. There’s no denying it: Starkiller died at this point. Now here’s where things get interesting.

Following Vader’s betrayal, Starkiller wakes up on a private Imperial ship where Vader tells him his act of treachery was a ruse to fool Palpatine.

"You! You killed me!" - Starkiller

"No. The Emperor wanted you dead. I salvaged your body and brought you here to be rebuilt." - Darth Vader

Note Vader’s specific choice of words: “I salvaged your body” rather than “I salvaged you.” Was that a possible Freudian slip?

According to the novel adaptation of The Force Unleashed, Starkiller spent around six months being “rebuilt” by Vader. That certainly is a long time, enough for a Sith Lord to play around with advanced technology and put a plan into action, one involving cloning experiments on Kamino.

Vader killed Starkiller, but he wasn’t about to let all that great potential go to waste. I’m willing to bet that during those six months, he secretly cloned Starkiller with the intent of using this recreation of his apprentice to further his scheme.

As the game reaches its thrilling climax, Starkiller rejects the pull of the dark side and ultimately gives his life in a battle against Palpatine and Vader to buy a captured Jedi and some senators time to escape and form the Rebel Alliance.

Vader is last seen looking down at the body of Starkiller. Could he be lamenting the loss of a promising asset, or possibly planning his next move? Seems a trip to Kamino is in order.

The Force Unleashed II aka Why Bonus Cutscenes are Good for You

In the second game Starkiller returns, this time as a supposed clone created by Vader. Throughout the game he faces an identity crisis, a deep conflict left unresolved by the end.

Despite this loose end, the game features hidden cutscenes for players to discover after beating the main story. One cutscene especially stands out more from the others.

In it, Vader and another clone of Starkiller examine a body floating inside a tank. At first it appears to be just another copy, but closer inspection shows this person is wearing the exact same costume Starkiller wore from the first game when Vader initially stabbed him and threw him out into space.

If Starkiller was really the same character throughout the first game, why wasn’t the body dressed in the Jedi robes he wore when he sacrificed himself? Why show him in an outfit from that specific earlier moment? Something smells fishy…

My Verdict

Examined altogether, this evidence across both Force Unleashed games heavily implies that the original Starkiller was long dead before players ever realized it. I must tip my hat to the developers for thinking up such a brilliant twist!

But at the end of the day, this is nothing more than speculation. Will we ever know the truth? Sadly, probably not. Perhaps one day Lucasfilm Games will revisit the series and finally give gamers a definitive conclusion to Starkiller’s story.

Until then, thanks for checking out my blog, and may the Force be with you!