Fallen Order developers reportedly scrapped black or female lead

Cal Kestis, the main protagonist of the video game Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, could have been a female or Black character.

However, according to a tweet from a former game developer, that concept was shot down.

According to an article from Gamesradar, Nora Shramek, a former developer from Respawn  took to Twitter to “claim that developers of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order advocated from the game’s protagonist to be Black and/or a woman.” But ultimately, the developers cited other reasons to go a different direction.

“When I worked on SW:JFO a LOT of devs wanted & advocated 4 the main character 2b black &/or a woman. ‘Reasons’ 4 NO: We already have 2 black people in the game. Rey is a woman & we can’t do that to’ guess what the demographic of the people making those decisions looked like?” Shramek tweeted.

The developer added another tweet in which she explained that she heard  an unnamed colleague mentioning that he or she thought “’that all the black people need to have more glossy skin because black people have more oily skin than other people’”

In a following tweet, Sharamek noted that there was “dead shock on everyone’s face” when the colleague made the statement. She also mentioned questioning the person when she was asked “Right Nora?”

In addition, she also made tweet stating that the gaming industry “isn’t systemically racist, misogynistic, or homophobic (Sarcasm).”

Furthermore, Sharamek tweeted a video titled “Why No Black People in Video Games?” In the video, the creator Captain Astronaut goes into detail the nuances of how black characters are represented in video games or how many black characters they have. The video went into detail as to how most video games do not have a black character or minority as the main protagonist.

Ultimately, the developers at Resdpawn would choose Cal Kestis (portayed by Cameron Monaghan) to be the main protagonist for Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. Kestis would be a survivor of Order 66 after witnessing the Clone Tropers kill his Jedi Master, Jaro Tapal.

The game takes place five years after the end of the Clone Wars and it centers around Kestis coming to grips with the trauma he experienced during Order 66.  One the run from the Empire, the young Jedi fugitive would meet Cere Junda (portrayed by Debra Wilson), a former Jedi Master who experienced her own trauma by seeing her padawan Trilla Suduri (portrayed by Elizabeth Grullon) get brainwashed by the Galactic Empire’s Inqusitorious. Trilla would become become the Second Sister and one of the main antagonists of the game.  Kestis and Cere’s mission was to restore the Jedi Order after its destruction at the hands of the Empire.

The Gamesradar article also mentions that a sequel to Fallen Order is being developed By Respawn. Another article from the media site also mentioned that the sequel to the Game may make its debut during Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim.

What are thoughts on this alleged controversy surrounding Respawn’s decision to not have a black or female lead in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order ? Please comment below!

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