Former Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order Developer Claims Non-White Male Protagonist Idea Was Rejected

A former Respawn Entertainment developer has said that many people working on Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order wanted the protagonist not to be a white male, but the idea was rejected.

First reported by GamesRadar, Nora Shramek, a former lighting artist at Respawn Entertainment, explained that developers advocated for Cal Kestis to be Black and/or a woman. Shramek says that there were several reasons why the idea was rejected. First, there were already two Black characters in the game, including Cere Junda.

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?
— NoraNevaBoreYa 🏳️‍🌈 (@NoraShramek) May 10, 2022

Additionally, Fallen Order's protagonist wasn't a woman because of the movie Star Wars: The Force Awakens, where Rey was already the protagonist. Shramek further chastized reasoning, saying, "guess what the demographic of the people making those decisions looked like?"

In Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Cal Kestis is played by actor Cameron Monaghan. A sequel to the game is reportedly being announced this year and will release in 2023.

In GameSpot's Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order review, we said, "Even with some rough edges, Fallen Order represents one of the most compelling game additions to the Star Wars franchise in years."

GameSpot has reached out to EA for comment.