Star Wars: Who Is Darth Revan And What Happened To Him?
When looking at the entire "Star Wars" Old Republic Era — the period thousands of years before the prequels — arguably the most famous name to come from it is Darth Revan: a warrior who served both the light and dark side of the Force throughout his life. The character debuted in the critically acclaimed 2003 RPG, "Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic," and has remained an icon ever since.
Trained initially as a Jedi over 3,000 years before the Battle of Yavin, over time, Revan becomes disillusioned with the Jedi Order. Its inaction over the ongoing Mandalorian Wars forces him to take matters into his own hands, standing on the front lines of the conflict himself. This eventually leads him to the Unknown Regions, where he and his friend, Alek, discover the Sith Empire and are turned to the dark side.
After returning to the Republic and wreaking havoc, Alek — now known as Darth Malak — betrays Revan. His memory is wiped by the Jedi and he becomes a Republic agent, later falling in love with Jedi Bastila Shan and getting revenge on Malak. In time, his memories reemerge, leading him to return to the Unknown Regions for answers. Revan's story ends with him being imprisoned by the Sith for 300 years before Republic forces free him. He then makes it his mission to topple the Sith Empire, but he's unsuccessful and promptly killed by Imperial troops. His time as both a Jedi and Sith fractures his spirit, leading the Empire and the Republic to join forces to stop him from causing mayhem from beyond the grave.
In the end, the two halves of Revan's spirit reunite, allowing him to finally become one with the Force. Sadly, his actual canon story is far less interesting so far.
Revan's canon story is woefully underdeveloped compared to his Legends one
The rise and fall of Darth Revan as explained previously falls under the "Star Wars" Legends designation, meaning that it and the projects it comes from aren't canon to the current "Star Wars" timeline. Be that as it may, that's not to say that Revan himself doesn't exist within the ever-expanding canon. Thanks to the book "Shadow of the Sith" by Adam Christopher, Revan has been made canon by the Sith Eternal. The army's 3rd Legion is known as the Revan Legion, and the Sith Cultists within the faction worship him, as well as some of the other most powerful Sith Lords in the "Star Wars" universe.
Sadly, this is all that's known about Revan in canon up to this point. However, he nearly appeared in one of the most beloved canon productions released to date: "Star Wars: The Clone Wars." During the now-iconic Mortis arc, which is dedicated to the unspeakably powerful Mortis gods and the very nature of the Force, Revan and Darth Bane — the creator of the Sith Rule of Two, based on Revan's ideology — were planned to appear. They would've specifically popped up in the episode "Ghosts of Mortis," guiding the Son (Sam Witwer) on his dark side journey. Ultimately, the scene never made it into the final episode, but the unfinished version has since made its way to YouTube.
Considering Darth Revan's enduring popularity, cool look, and the need for the "Star Wars" franchise to move past the Skywalker saga, one has to imagine that his canon story will be properly fleshed out in due time. It'll be interesting to see if there's any overlap between it and its Legends equivalent as well.