Juhani and Belaya

Belaya (on left) and Juhani (on right), after many attempts to capture them in the same frame. Stop walking past her, Belaya!

Juhani and Belaya are LGBTQIA+ characters from the video game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Juhani, an optional party member, was the first character in the Star Wars universe to be deliberately portrayed and recognized as LGBTQIA+—specifically, she is lesbian—and the first gay character of any gender in a video game developed by BioWare. Juhani's "dear companion" Belaya was implied within the game to be Juhani's ex-lover and confirmed to be written as such (multiple times, by Knights of the Old Republic co-designer David Gaider). Although this should make Belaya a joint "first", she is often omitted in overviews of queer representation in Star Wars. Focus instead goes to how the player character (PC) can embark on a romance with Juhani only if the PC is female. Juhani and the male PC do not express one-sided or reciprocated romantic affections. The PC's gender was later canonically established as male, but that doesn't erase Juhani's sexuality; Belaya and her history with Juhani remains regardless of the player's choices.

Juhani and Revan has that specific pairing and more on Juhani's sexuality in general.

Belaya and Juhani's backstory

Juhani was a... a dear companion to me for many years. We spent many nights together alone under the stars. That will never happen again, thanks to you. Curse the Council for sending you, of all people, to speak to her! Could you have done nothing else?!

— Belaya, if the player character does not save Juhani from the dark side

The character Juhani and the quests on Dantooine were primarily written by Peter Thomas, whose notes are found in Belaya's game files. Depending on the player's choices, they may never have a playthrough that reveals any part of Belaya and Juhani's backstory. The backstory itself is not changed by the player's choices, so it's canonical regardless of gameplay decisions. You have to play dark, though, to actually get anything about Juhani and Belaya being together before the game! And no matter which way you play, Juhani never actually mentions Belaya. (Bury Your Gays in the dark side?)

On Dantooine, the Jedi Council sets a trial for the player character to investigate an Ancient Grove. Juhani fled there when she believed she had killed Master Quatra when she lost control of her anger during her own trial. Juhani is convinced she has irrevocably fallen to the dark side. When the PC arrives, Juhani attacks.

If the PC chooses the canonical light side option, (Spoilers for light side choice) which is choosing to spare Juhani's life and instead of killing her and then convincing her to embrace the light side, they may optionally speak to Belaya afterward about Juhani's fall. Belaya says: "You have done a great thing. One of our own had strayed, but you have returned Juhani to the Order. For this you deserve the highest praise." Not much to be learned there. (And whether or not the player plays it this way, the canonical story after this is Juhani traveling with the male player character.)

If the player chooses the dark side option, (Spoilers for dark side choice) which is killing Juhani instead of saving her, they may learn Juhani's backstory with Belaya through dialogue choices made afterward. An unavoidable encounter with Belaya triggers upon returning to the Enclave. She is heartbroken; now Juhani and Belaya will never again get to spend "many nights together alone under the stars". She believes the PC did not give Juhani a chance and that the Council should have sent a more experienced Jedi. If you ask why Belaya did not go to Juhani herself, she answers, "Why? Because the Council believed that my closeness to her might do more harm than good... and yet they send *you*, instead? And look what has happened." To Belaya, the Council failed to believe Juhani deserved better and was worth saving. Regardless of the player's intentions, Belaya cannot be consoled for her loss of Juhani and the PC cannot stop her from running away.

Dark side Belaya

After Belaya's disappearance, the player can ask Vandar or Vrook about her. Vrook observes that Belaya failed to show up for a lesson with Master Lestin and was seen leaving the Enclave; he does not know where she may have gone and warns against forcing her to return should the player encounter her. Vandar expresses his concerns: "I do not believe she has died, or fallen prey to beasts, but I worry that she may have done something rash. She had always been close to Juhani, (Spoilers for Belaya's dark side path) and her death may have hit Belaya... hard." Massive understatement: Belaya fell to the dark side because of her grief and became a student at the Sith Academy on Korriban. The PC will meet her again when they travel to that location.

In an automatic encounter with Belaya at the entrance, she confronts the PC and angrily questions their presence, threatening to expose them if they are acting on behalf of the Jedi Council. Regardless of which dialogue option the PC chooses, (Spoilers for the outcome with Belaya) Belaya wants vengeance and declares, "It was your murder of Juhani that placed this bitter blackness in my heart!" The PC is forced to duel and kill Belaya.

If Dantooine is still available for travel, the PC can return and tell Master Lamar of Belaya's fate. Disturbed by her fall and considering it a failing of the Jedi as her teachers, Lamar cautions the PC not to give in to darkness lest they experience a fate similar to Belaya's.

Retrospectives

There's another character she [Juhani] mentions in the game who was her lover in the past, but she never says, 'She was my lover.' She just says, 'We were very close,' things like that.

— David Gaider, co-designer of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, at the GaymerX 2013 convention

At the first GaymerX convention, David Gaider said of Juhani's sexuality, "We kind of hid it in the game a little bit because she never comes out and actually says 'I love you.' She talks around it. There's another character she mentions in the game who was her lover in the past, but she never says, 'She was my lover.' She just says, 'We were very close,' things like that." Gaider was mistaken on some specifics. Juhani never speaks of Belaya herself; instead, Belaya and another character (Vandar) are the ones who describe the former couple's closeness, and they only do so if the player chooses the dark side when they meet Juhani.

In an earlier question-and-answer series on LucasArts' now-defunct LucasForums, Gaider wrote of Dantooine and Korriban that the player "could run into Juhani's former lover as well (and she would attack you if you killed Juhani)." These descriptions of events only match Belaya.

After the 2021 announcement of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic – Remake, Gaider was asked via Twitter about LGBTQ+ representation in the original game and about a section of Juhani's Wookieepedia article written by Immi Thrax, which at the time read: "Juhani was the first character in the Star Wars universe to be explicitly portrayed as LGBTQ+, and one of the earliest positive representations of LGBTO+ characters in video games." Gaider responded, "Mmm not to undermine the intention, but I'd say it's a far cry to describe Juhani as 'explicitly' LGBTQ+. We couldn't have her say 'I love you' to another woman, for instance, or refer to her past relationships as anything other than 'friends'."

Fan resources

• Belaya/Juhani (Star Wars) relationship tag on Archive of Our Own (NOTE: This link has NSFW content only appropriate for those 18+.)

References

Online sources [web]

This page adapts content that originated on the Wookieepedia pages "Belaya" and "Juhani". The material was originally or primarily created by the user Immi Thrax. As with content on Star Wars Fic Reference Wiki, it is licensed under the Creative Commons – Attribution-Share Alike License.