Titanfall studio Respawn Entertainment has been underway on new Star Wars title Jedi Fallen Order for a while now, the game sporting quite a few notable influences such as Castlevania, Dark Souls, and even past Star Wars games like Knights of the Old Republic. However, one popular feature that isn’t moving forward is the ability to customize the player character, the game instead following the singular story of male protagonist Cal Kestis.

While this choice isn’t necessarily a bad one (Gotham actor Cameron Monaghan is certainly enthusiastic), one has to wonder how Respawn came to adopt a male protagonist when a female or even an alien main character could have proved an equally-interesting alternative. Answering this question in an interview with The Game Informer Show, Game Director Stig Asmussen revealed the idea behind Cal actually came about because of Rey, the main character from the Star Wars sequel trilogy.

Revealed in the video above (at about 26:15), a male protagonist was chosen for Jedi: Fallen Order to set itself apart from the current run of Star Wars films, namely the female protagonist Rey featured at the forefront. “We talked about doing an alien creature …and we talked about different gender,” Asmussen revealed. “We arrived at where we were because at the time, Rey was kind of the thing for Star Wars, so it made a lot more sense for us to have a male protagonist.”

As for a potential alien in the starring role, Asmussen expressed his personal admiration of the idea but ultimately found such a decision might compromise the “human connection” of the game’s story-based campaign. “Ultimately we didn’t go with an alien race because we felt like–no pun intended–it alienated a lot of people,” he admitted. “We wanted to make sure that there was a real human connection to the character we have in the game.”

While Jedi Fallen Order won’t give players their chance to portray a female Wookie Jedi, the game does appear to have assembled quite the single-player experience for fans of the galaxy far, far, away. Not only are several series characters set to return, but Respawn has assured a compelling Jedi adventure awaits when Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order releases for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on November 15th.

What do you think? Do you think Jedi: Fallen Order should’ve included a female or alien protagonist, or do you appreciate what you’ve seen of Cameron Monaghan so far? Let us know in the comments below and be sure to follow Don’t Feed the Gamers on Twitter and Facebook to be informed of the latest gaming and entertainment news 24 hours a day! For more headlines recently featured on DFTG, check out these next few news stories:

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