The characters have overall been well-received, with the first Knights of the Old Republic winning the Academy of Interactive Art's 'Outstanding Achievement in Character and Story Development', and both Kreia and HK-47 receiving other awards.

The second game's playable characters also include Atton Rand, Bao-Dur, Mical, Mira, Hanharr, Brianna, Kreia, Visas Marr and G0-T0. HK-47, Canderous Ordo and T3-M4 appear in both of the video games as playable character, while the first game's playable characters also includes Carth Onasi, Mission Vao, Zaalbar, Bastila Shan, Juhani and Jolee Bindo. The player can control three characters at one time in both games. In both games, the main character can either be a human male or a human female, with other characters joining the player's party and becoming controllable. The main and player character of the first game is Revan, and the main and player character of the second game is the Jedi Exile.

The series also encompasses a 2006 comic book series. The Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic series consists of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, The Sith Lords and a massively multiplayer online role-playing game called The Old Republic, with the first game being released in 2003 and set 4,000 years before the Star Wars films.