Let me know down below, do you think Nihilus is a good Villain? Or are you of the persuasion that he is a bad one? Also, 1:05 is perfectly visually synced with 'blah, blah blah' and I didn't mean it but it's hilarious to me.

Darth Nihilus is the litteral drug addict of the force. He drained a life out of one person, and all his pain was gone. Yet the pain returned even worse than before, and he wanted to feel it again. Eventually, he held all power, yet his hunger could not be satisfied. Darth Nihilus is easily one of if not the most tragic character in Star Wars, imagine the fact that the energy of an entire planet is not able to sustain your pain.

He never spoke a single understandable word and yet, he was much more epic and profound than every Sequel Trilogy's villain combined. That's how awesome he was

Me as an adult: “Wow this is a well-written character that truly gets us to understand the consequences of what the Dark Side is and poses a juxtaposition to the player’s choices and is holds a mirror to one’s actions. Truly a Shakespearean work of art.” Me as a kid: “Haha I like the Spooky Sith man” Also me as an adult: “Hehehe I like spooky Sith man”

The villains of Kotor 2 (mainly Nihilus and Sion) always felt like a great example of the downsides of the Dark Side. Both had incredible powers thanks to the Dark Side of the Force. Sion was practically immortal, always coming back after being killed; while Nihilus is pretty much proof that something like the Death Star is nothing compared to the power of the Force. But they both also had major problems. Sion was in constant pain from his injuries. He was only alive because he held onto his hate. Against a female Exile, he needed to kill them because he felt love for them, and that love threatened his ability to keep on living. He had eternal life, at the cost of not actually being alive. And Nihilus was consumed by his hunger for the Force. He was pretty much a slave to his own power, with no greater ambitions than to kill everything. It wasn't even a question of if Nihilus would die, only how much would he consume before then.

I always think of Nihilus as a terrifying precursor to the supposedly even MORE POWERFUL Sith Lords promised for the unmade KOTOR 3. Can you even imagine?

They were all good. They each reflected a part of the Exile. The pain she went thru and had to hold her self together. The burn hunger she felt after her loss of the force. Her betrayal at the hands of the Jedi which offered no help in her recovery but yet exiled her. when you think about it this is a story of drug abuse.

The writing in KOTOR2 just blows my mind, what a story. We're lucky to have had this gem as a part of our childhoods.

You could also make this case with Darth Sion as well. He’s hyped up to be this incredibly powerful villain who bathes in pain and uses it to its fullest extent to keep him alive and constantly regenerate…. However, he’s not that difficult to beat when you get to Malachor. I think the main reason Sion and Nihilus aren’t as hard to beat is because Kreia set them up that way. They not only betrayed her but were also seen as failures who lost sight of what Kreia tried to teach. Remember, Kreia sent Nihilus to Telos knowing full well there were no Force Users there to consume. She also knew Meetra would be far too powerful for Sion to beat away from Korriban.

I think the implication that the exile (being a wound in the force) is the only person who renders nihilus' powers (feeding on the force) useless is pretty easy to miss. A lot of blind playthroughs I've seen seem to think that the player beats nihilus simply because they're the player, which comes across as obviously pretty bad writing.

I love that interpretation of Darth Nihilus! I always found that character intriguing because of that boss fight, because of how the game present it to you. For me it was to humanize the character and show what the dark side could do on a broken man. but the way you present it with the themes of the games makes total sense. And I love it

It’d be cool if within the Old Republic era there was a cult that worshipped Nihilus. Whenever a follower is deemed “worthy” enough, they would be fed to Nihilus under the guise that it’s a great honor

Dude I came here to watch some cool Star Wars lore but you breaking down mental health and saying to take it step by step to heal . Man that touched me bro great video thats deeper than the subject matter ❤️ thanks

I really like this take, I always liked nihilus, it never bothered me that the boss fight was easy, because he always worked well as the ominous, looming threat. But I never considered him as a metaphor for mental health struggles. Its what makes KOTOR 2 so amazing honestly, so many different ways to interpret the game and its message

All of KotOR II’s main villains are awesome, it’s great how they are so many things at once. Reflections of the Jedi Exile, representations of the classical archetypes of horror(zombie, witch and ghost/vampire), representations of characteristics of the dark side and so much more. Also great how each is a very different kind of villain. Atris is also incredible, even though she is less prominent in the game.

I feel like Meetra's and Darth Nihilus' fight being so easy makes sense for the 2 of them. In a way they are kind of like opposites too. Meetra is a being a flesh and has a physical body living without the force while Nihilus, is a mask and a robe forges to him with the force and he needs to consume the life force of people and jedi to be able to live. His easy defeat makes sense in ever way - Visas disconnecting her connection through the force to weaken Nihilus weakens him because she is almost like a portable, small fuel source for him of the force - getting Nihilus to try and consume the force out of you weakens him because there is nothing for him to consume, and thus weakens himself by wasting his energy.

Nihilus has always been one of my favourite Sith, his story is what drew me in. His destructive power and insatiable hunger, the fact when he did speak, his veery speech could cause pain and death, honestly is terrifying to me. For a fictional character to scare me, it always makes them a favourite of mine (like The Joker)

This is a great explanation of Nihilus, as someone who's actively dealing with trauma the "hole" you feel is indescribable. This game always held a special place in my heart due to the comparable feelings of some of it's characters .

Great video! I've always been critical against Nihilus in K2 for the exact reasons you mentioned. But this really made me think about it!

"the darkside of the force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural"-Palps Nihilus is a dark mirror of the jedi exile

The issue I have with Nihilus is that he's barely in the game in comparison to his 2 counterparts, with Scion being a constant threat throughout the story, and Kreia being... well Kreia... While Nihilus is just kinda in the background until it's time for him to die. They could have had moments where he consumes planets that you visit, maybe even have you witness it first hand and have to escape the dying world. In the state of the game, he kinda just exists, and isn't really part of the story

I think Nihilus is a fantastic villain! Maybe anticlimactic, but ultimately haunting and fascinating. I think he's a living personification of death - perhaps the closest thing star wars will ever have to a demon or malignant force entity. We don't know who Nihilus used to be, and we dont need to. He's like the Joker, he could have been anyone, from any walk of life. He was a human, probably force sensitive, who survived an entire world being killed at once. Death involves many godawful emotions, but what represents it best perhaps is the lack of emotion itself. Emptiness in a place you werent even paying attention to. Through the force, you can feel every life a person touched, and the resulting hollowing out of these lives upon death. To feel all of this at once, may imply something worse than a person burying themselves in an unhealthy coping mechanism of the dark side. I think, Nihilus is an environmental phenomenon. If you kill a planet, it might be safer to finish the job with a Death Star. Otherwise the Force itself may collapse into a singularity of Death, repeating itself wherever it can. And I think said singularity consumed whoever Nihilus was years ago. There is no consciousness there, his voice is just his own echo from a ghost. Death itself became sentient and self-perpetuating through Nihilus. Or something, idk

Beautiful take on more meaning to seemingly simple themes. This is awesome and much appreciated! 😎👏🏽

I also like the detail that the past literally catches up with the exile in the form of a Sith infested Republic Cruiser.

I admit when I was younger I was like that, thinking that Nihilus was a bit anticlimactic. Well maybe I was a bit too young to understand a lot of the game when I first played it. It took me replaying in many years latter and watching your videos (not this one, some older ones) to finally understand and appreciate this character.

Darth Nihilus has ALWAYS scared me with his dark Phantom Of The Opera vibes. And he makes a perfect villain🦹‍♀️for my Gem💎Titans sagas series.

Nihilus will always be my favorite member of The SITH Triumvirate based solely on the spine tingling I get when I hear visas and traya telling his story

Darth Nihilus was always my favorite Sith Lord. And now you've added layers and depth to that!

Needed a second comment, the deeper I get, the more I rewatch the better the allegories are! This is such great food for thought, thank you again and this is really impressive analysis. Your channel kicks ass!

I love your videos. KotOR II is my favorite video game and I’ve beaten it dozens of times. I always look forward to hearing what you have to say about the game and it’s characters. Keep up the good work!

Wow fascinating idea! I’ve been dealing with a lot of anxiety and cPTSD and this rings soooo true. I didn’t really have these issues (from the cPTSD) perspectives when I played the game so looking back it’s so true.

Honestly it's mostly because he shows up at the beginning of the game, disappears for the entire thing, and then he pops up again at the end and you murder him in two hits.

Just got into your channel and I love it. Keep up the excellent work, brother!

my favourite star wars channel, keep it up!

Very interesting take and I concur. Great channel mate, keep it up :)

I would really like to see a series. A series where you play through knights of the Old Republic one and two. And give us your narrative through the whole thing. You explaining what you think this means what is so great about this part what is so bad about this part what you think this should mean when it doesn't, what you think they got right what you think they got wrong. I would love to see a series like this from you, and I think it would add an entire new layer to the game for me.

Pretty deep points!! Your pain & trauma, the thing that most people fear and can’t imagine being or living with, that may even make you suicidal… those things are what make you unique. And if you can see that spark is actually powerful, then it can be the engine that you can hold on to and build yourself fully. Overcome it, overcome the barriers that say you can’t… and then you can do ANYTHING!! Even beat the ultimate villain!

I played the game so many years back and loved it. Your analysis of Nihilus is better than I thought myself. Good job. KOTOR 2 was such a good game for mature audiences.

I remember thinking and pondering alot of these concepts. The only thing I could think to articulate my thoughts were "they are relatable". You have done such a better job creating an argument that I couldn't think to put into words. Well done. :)

Nihilus is fine, always been alright in my books. Nothing exciting but not terrible either. I enjoyed your take regardless. Cheers!

God damn you explaining trauma is more on point than my therapist lol

I already loved Darth Nihilus but this video just made me love him even more, if anyone doesn’t know he was literally created by the dark side after a planet malachor v was destroyed by a very unconventional and deadly weapon, he’s “a wound in the force” a living reminder that when we do terrible things, terrible things happen, and sometimes when terrible things happen, we can become like Nihilus if we so choose, inflicting our suffering unto everyone else, but it will only end in pain…

I just finished the two KOTOR games but I've been following your channel for a while. I was not expecting them to be as good as they were, but it was really fun. I really enjoyed KOTOR II despite its flaws, and I agree with you, I think that all of the villains in KOTOR are perfect as they are.

That shot in 10:40 seems to be a Death Star reference in some way, I don't know if it was intentional but a nice touch by Obsidian regardless

I really wish Nihilus had more screen time. He’s my favorite Sith Lord of all time. I used to be scared of him when I was a kid and the only other Sith that was able to scare me was an unmasked Darth Vader

I loved this video. This is exactly why star wars is great. It's so relatable to us and our own feelings and experiences in life even though it's a galaxy far far away.

Hes probably my 2nd fav antagonist after Kreia and my 3rd fav character after Kreia and Revan

This was a big brain conclusion. Loved it.

As an enemy in the boss fight, he's easy to beat, and the fight itself is forgettable. BUT as a character, Nihilus is a terrifying villain. I've never forgotten how in awe of him I was, on my first playthrough.

I never heard this argument about the themes of Nihilus before, I love it. Thank you, very well said.

I beat him about an hour before you uploaded this, great timing!

See this is why I’m a subscriber. We are both of like minds, philosophical and never taking what we see at face value

What great timing the day after I finished the game. Nihilus is a very interesting villain

He's such a strong lore Sith and thematically a great dark vision of your future, it's mostly a case of being mechanically let down, where most of his lore is locked behind Visa and Kreia checks so beyond that to many players he's just a cool mask that appears in some cutscenes and ate all the Jedi off-screen.

very on point, good job

I've heard people say that he is empty and hollow and has little character, and my response is always "exactly"

Brilliant! Well done.

Wow, what a great video, what great insight on a mysterious character. Great job. I personally always liked Nihilus, he fits his role very well, and I can see where people felt he was underwhelming but I don't personally feel that way. I also see why you think he is the perfect villain, and I certainly think he is closer to perfect than bad or mediocre. But as some other commenters have done better at pointing out, I do feel a little more delving into the character should have been done to truly make Nihilus live up to his full potential, to fully convey the story/theme you so eloquently pointed out. Probably just another casualty of the shortened development cycle...oh what could have been.

There's a big difference between not liking a character and the character being poorly written. The problem with Nihilus is that the symbolism around him is so subtle that most people don't even notice it. He's well written, that much is certain. However people don't pay enough attention to the details to notice. That's why there's been numerous characters throughout the generations that took the general audience years to fully understand the symbolism and characterization of. So when people say, "Nihilus is not well written," they haven't thought about it enough. But when someone says "I don't like Nihilus," that's a completely acceptable opinion to have. For instance, I don't like Spider-Man. But I can also agree he's well written, he's just not a character I enjoy. Anyways. I loved the video. Keep up the good work!

Im new to this channel, but not to this game. I playe it when it came out and i didnt understand Darth Nihilus at all, I didnt think he was bad, but he wasnt what i was expecting... some years later, life changes as we know. i find myself a broken man, physicaly and at one point mentaly. (military injuries and what not... >.

You are right about this. I have always loved this game, and all of this makes sense.

I was just at a con today. The 501st leader I spoke to is working on a Darth Nilhilus outfit for many of the same reasons you pointed out!

I suffered a depression last year. And you described better than i could. The Best thing to do is give it time. Fight back slowly and with little good actions. And by stop blaming yourself for what’s happening. Or in Meetra’s case, forgiving yourself

Literally anyone other than the Exile would have died facing Nihilus. The reason he became so easy to kill is because he realised he couldn't feed on the Exile, and it crippled him.

I love almost every aspect of that game. It's the closest to perfection that any story besides the Bible and Mika Waltari's Mikael Hakim has made me feel

I usually make joke comments but this is a great video. for people who suffer with mental health... it's just great. Thanks.

KotOR 2 is a brilliant game. Criminally underrated. Excellent, nuanced, deep characters and story. Bleak yet hopeful. Just wonderful.

The thing with him just being a man under the mask hits your point perfectly. Great video.

one of the reasons i love nihilus as a character is because of the fact that if you choose the darkside route , kriea will be dissepointed and heart broken of the fact that you have become exactly like nihilus , that there is no way to escape from that hunger , and thats why you have utterly and completely failed her . by choosing the lightside route , you show to kriea that its possible to escape form the hunger and not be consumed by it , that it is possible to lose the force , and still be a human , and that , is what kreia wanted to see all along

Well said, also meetra surik and visas marr both have ways of counteracting darth nihilus's power.

Darth Nihilus was great! he was the embodiment of Vader's comment that: "The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant compared to power of the Force." he really displayed how a battle of force users could really be awesome. Not just flashy swords and lightning, but fighting on an entire different realm of reality that beings of "this crude matter" cannot perceive or comprehend.

I always thought Nihilus’ character was interesting, he seems to be this ominous, powerful entity rather than a human. The way he speaks and his force abilities are unusual. When I was younger and played KOTOR2, he spooked me.

Now I love Darth Nihilus even more.

I never thought about it that way. -In my first run I barely talked to my companions so I missed A LOT, basicly all that can be achieved by talking to characters. So I wasnt dissapointed because I didnt know what he was able to do. -On the second run I talked to try and figure everything out. I knew he was a planet killer and when I faced him again, I was like: "oh well, guess for some strange reason he got weakened by trying to use his power on the exile" So I kinda thought that since you and him are wounds in the force, and since you are supposed to be a void in the force, he would weaken himself by trying to drain a void in the force (you). The conversation lit says: "you will expose yourself if you use your power here" (or something along those lines). So I dont get how people could miss that. That would be the explanation I took from the story point of the game. The other thing that I thought was that from the gameplay perspective. Since he was basicly a god and to defeat a god you would have to be godlike yourself, then to reach those levels as a player would make the rest of the game so easy. So they "nerfed" him to make the battle possible while not breaking the game. Out of topic: As a huge Star Wars and Lego fan, Id love to see a Nihulus minigifure, we had TOR sets and I have Satele Shan and Darth Malgus, why not Malak, Kreia, Sion, Nihilus, Bastila, Meetra and pretty much all of the Ebon Hawk characters from both games?

The Lord of Hunger walked so Palpatine could run

Brilliant!

The reason Nihlus can't "eat" Surik is only because Surik is the original Force black hole. He's a void, but Surik is a greater void in the force, and when he tries to consume her, he instead looses power.

I would really appreciate if they had subtitles for whatever language he spoke.

Nihilus really is as strong as everyone says, he would solo Revan, but you as a wound in the force are uniquely suited to defeat him because you lost your connection to the force which Nihilus feeds on.

Honestly from what I've been gathering from reading on Wiki pages and watching some vids on the guy, Nilius seems to work as more of an antagonist that is a looming force rather than someone who is constantly confrontable to the heroes. Given his vocal tone being chants rather than normal words, his wraithful appearance, his ability to absorb the lives out of entire planets, he kind of feels similar to that of an Eldritch Being. Granted he was at one point a man in his life, but he has a similar fall somewhat like Sauron, where he lost his physical body and his own mind from becoming so attached and reliant on the Dark Side. Also I love the analogy you used to make a connection between the player and Nilius, it gives them some time to think if we actually didn't have bonds with all of our allies and we gave ourselves to much into the Dark Side, would we become the next Nilius ourselves.

You’ve earned my trust

im starting to see darth nihilus everywhere on youtube, feels like something is coming up

He also stuns your party when you walk in and is only fightable once he attempts to drain you

See how i always viewed it, the nihilus fight is so manageable for the exile, and the exile alone because she is also a wound in the force that completely cut herself away from its influence. Essentially he can't consume what isn't there in the first place although Meetra feels the force again, its just as Kreia says "when i look at you its like staring at the death of the force"

Thank You

Darth Nihilus is like big school bully who scares everybody else and no one dares to oppose him cause he seems unbeatable. At least as long as someone like Exile, who is so lost and feels like have nothing else to lose decides to confront him and reveal his true weakness.

Nihilus: *Feeds himself by devouring the life force of all planets* Also Nihilus: *Gets quickly defeated by a Jedi who was rediscovering her powers* Visas: "How the hell could you beat him so easily, master?!" Meetra: "We are in a video game, Visas. Do not try to find any logic" Visas: "B-But ..." Meetra: "Would you be so kind as to pick up his mask? Atton will love seeing me wearing it next time we bang in the hyperdrive room!"

Case in point, no one in KOTOR II explicitly says the name "Darth Nihilus." Although his name appears in journal logs, everyone refers to him simply as "Visas' Master" or the "Master of the Ship (Ravager)."

Game wise it is simply just a matter of how much stronger you have become and made Nihilus a push over. Thematically it's brilliant that the trauma and horrors of the exile is taken a body and shape in Nihilus and this shows that she has moved on while the once man has utterly fallen into darkness like so many sith. Too many of us back then we're thinking too much like gamers, not only missing the mark since we were too young but because our minds were overtaken by KOTOR 1 which was much closer to the traditional Star Wars than its sequel. Right now we're older and are experiencing our own traumas and demons, here we are finally realising the brilliance of KOTOR 2 when we should have done so when it came out

I agree with all your points and this video is great! The journey of the Exile is such a powerful and personal story that is worth talking about. But I do disagree on one fundamental point, which sadly is the subject of the video. Darth Nihilus IS a dark mirror of the Exile, a terrible vision of what she could have and still could become. Also a manifestation of her trauma and inner demons. But does that make him a villain? In my opinion, he is a threat, a powerful force the Exile must overcome but like you said, through her own personal journey of self-healing. But she only meets him at the end of her journey. She is not hounded by him. By her own problems yes but since he is the manifestation of these issues, he should be more present. Sion is more of a minor villain because he pursues the Exile. Chases her, hates her, admires her and ultimately his own doubts destroy him. Kreia is also a great setup for a scheming villain. She has been manipulating events from the very beginning, shaping and controlling everything in the Exile's path, even setting her up with this very confrontation with Nihilus. I think Kreia is the true villain of this story and she guides the Exile through her journey. Kreia helps Meetra understand herself, the Force, the bonds and echoes, the interconnection of everything and the importance of the actions she takes. Then she forces her to confront her demon and after all of that, Kreia puts her student to one final test. Can she beat the master? What Kreia ultimately wanted was her teachings of living without the Force or at least the understanding of that to live on with the Jedi, that the new order would be better, as it was the flawed Jedi teachings that brought about most of this bad stuff.

A thing can be two things. Yes, thematically Nihilus is a great villain for the game. Yes, it makes sense that his great force power cannot harm the Exile. But still, Nihilus being a challenging battle would not have harmed that theme. Indeed, it had the tools to show us how powerful our healing had become. By overcoming a powerful foe in a desperate battle. Sion communicates his love for the Exile despite the comparative ferocity of that encounter. Kreia sees her lesson completed despite that being a difficult encounter. I can't accept that Nihilus being a tame encounter was entirely intentional. Especially given Josh Sawyer's lamentations about how RPGs never have combat to match the quality of the story. And PoE trying to make a system that could both challenge the player and convey a great narrative.

Indeed his mere description is enough to terrify you.

And to those who want a "real" reason why Nihilus wasn't overpowered in the final fight. He was hungry, he hadn't fed in awhile and craving. He was in a weakened state. And The Exile was a wound, an emptiness. He couldn't drain them because there was nothing to drain. But what I love about the Kotor 2 villains is that: Nihulus = Exile: Two forces wounded and empty, searching to fill the void within them. One heals, the other doesn't. Sion = Atton: Two individuals full of anger and loathing. Both "unkillable", Atton can't be killed so long as someone else is fighting, he will keep reviving and fighting until everyone around him falls, and Sion just keeps fighting. One does so out of selfish reasons, the other does so to protect others. Kreia = Traya: Quite literally. The Triumvirate is mirrored in the first 3 main party members. It's a beautiful symmetry. Kreia even says that she is a mirror, only showing you what you can't already see. That the "villains" mirror the "heroes"

Could you do a video on the story of Ulic?

I am currently exploring Telos looking for the Ebon Hawk. While listening to these spoilers I cannot help but want to help Sion and Nihilus. These two took their pain the wrong way and would have benefited from therapy; Vader had similar issues. Major depressive disorder, unfortunately, seems to be common amongst the Sith.

im ok with what u tell on the video, i LOVE nihilus but im ok too with people blaming the fight, we can agree how trash the battle is, i hope in the remake we had a better one without change how we win

I always found Nihilus to be an interesting villain even just from a theoretical perspective, both his and Sion’s backstories really pushed ideas about what the Dark Side was truly capable of, but Nihilus more so than Sion because he embodies everything Kreia hates about the Force. He’s a slave to his hunger and despite having the power to consume planets he has no control over it to the point that he has completely lost himself and his corporeal form. Which I think compliments the Exile’s journey quite nicely, especially considering the healing you mentioned in the video. Where Nihilus has so utterly lost himself that he is barely even human, the Exile accepts her human i.e. flawed qualities and becomes stronger for it. When you think of their narratives that way, it’s easy to see how Kreia goes from being cynical to seeing hope for the galaxy within the Exile when before she had none.

Personally i find every villain in star wars before disney to be intimidating, memorable and dimensional enough, that they were equally if not more compelling than any other character in star wars.

A tragic villain indeed. And I still look for the day where we see why the Jedi (especially the council) were so…well, arrogant

There is a fan video of Nihilus draining Katarr i think that if his threat level was established visually instead of through dialogue only people would give him more credit, because his boss fight was indeed easy but for the right reasons, it was because the exile had learned what he truly was.