Ashin Varanin
Professional Enabler
Q: What's the difference between a holocron and a datacron?
A: A holocron, or holographic chronicle, can only be activated by Force-sensitives. Force-insensitives can interact with the holocron as normal after it has been activated. A datacron, or data holocron, can be activated and used by Force-insensitives. It is often used to store encrypted data. Minor holocrons and datacrons have been known to be used for such things as personal journals, family chronicles, and top-secret information storage.
Q: How are holocrons secured? How is their information controlled?
A: It depends. Many holocrons respond to variations in the Force signature of the user; for example, a Jedi holocron will be more forthcoming with a Master than with a wayward student. Sith holocrons have similar constraints, but are known to give out too much information for their audiences, packaged in such a way as to be dangerous. Many holocrons guard their knowledge closely, such as the holocrons of Bane, Nihilus, and Andeddu, which refused to teach Darth Krayt how to transcend death and take a new body. Some holocrons may be taken apart with the Force; a removable crystal inside forms the key to their activation. The main advantage of a datacron, in terms of security, is that its information cannot be digitally copied, accessed, or altered remotely.
Q: How are holocrons and datacrons made?
A: Holocrons are made through meditation upon the guided growth of a crystalline lattice. The process takes days, and a single mistake will destroy the entire holocron before it is completed. Also it takes very specialized knowledge, and almost certainly requires mastery of the Force. Darth Bane himself failed twice before successfully creating his personal holocron. At many points in galactic history it has been a lost art. In the modern era, some Master-level researchers know how to make holocrons, to a lesser or greater degree. Datacrons, as a derivative technology less connected to the Force, may be made by specialized machines, but the process is quite expensive.
Q: How is information added to holocrons and datacrons?
A: Generally by recording, as if the holocron was a holocamera. In some instances, skilled Force users have been known to transfer their thoughts directly into the holocron.
Q: Can a holocron or datacron be copied?
A: Only by recording sessions of question and answer, taking many, many hours. The best 'copies' still only produce approximate results, and one can never be sure one has gotten everything.
Q: What is a gatekeeper?
A: An impression of the holocron's maker (or a major contributor), a sort of sentient-echo-slash-artificial-intelligence who guides the user through the content of the holocron. Gatekeepers are not the same as, for example, a recording of a Jedi Master giving a mission report to the Great Holocron. The former has a personality; the latter is basically just a video clip. Many holocrons have more than one gatekeeper, added at various points in the holocron's operational life; for example, Palpatine added himself as a secondary gatekeeper to the Tedryn Holocron four thousand years after its creation.
Q: What about spirits and suchlike thingies?
A: Darth Andeddu and others bound their souls to their holocrons. Those who use a Sith holocron face the unsettling possibility that this particular gatekeeper might not just be a collection of memories, but a malevolent soul masquerading as a gatekeeper.
Q: Are all holocrons superior to all datacrons? Worth more?
A: There's no evidence of this that I can find. Many canonical holocrons are very minor, having only a few items. For example, Darth Vectivus' personal holocron contained only his trademark Force Phantom technique and some insights on business. A datacron or a holocron is, by and large, only as valuable as its information. The most valuable holocrons, containing generations of insight, are generally considered to be the Great Holocron (Old Republic Jedi), Tionne's holocron (New Republic Jedi), the Codex of Tython (Old Republic Jedi), the holocron of King Adas (ancient Sith), and the Telos Holocron (Sith of many eras). As of the writing of this FAQ, all of these were accounted for.
Q: How easy is it to break or destroy a holocron or datacron?
A: By all accounts, relatively easy. These items are precious and fragile.
Q: Which came first? What's the history here?
A: The holocron is pretty much the only piece of Rakatan technology allowed on Chaos. The Rakata invented it, the ancient Sith King Adas adopted it, the Jedi learned it from the Sith, and only then were datacrons developed, at some point before 4000 BBY or thereabouts.
A: A holocron, or holographic chronicle, can only be activated by Force-sensitives. Force-insensitives can interact with the holocron as normal after it has been activated. A datacron, or data holocron, can be activated and used by Force-insensitives. It is often used to store encrypted data. Minor holocrons and datacrons have been known to be used for such things as personal journals, family chronicles, and top-secret information storage.
Q: How are holocrons secured? How is their information controlled?
A: It depends. Many holocrons respond to variations in the Force signature of the user; for example, a Jedi holocron will be more forthcoming with a Master than with a wayward student. Sith holocrons have similar constraints, but are known to give out too much information for their audiences, packaged in such a way as to be dangerous. Many holocrons guard their knowledge closely, such as the holocrons of Bane, Nihilus, and Andeddu, which refused to teach Darth Krayt how to transcend death and take a new body. Some holocrons may be taken apart with the Force; a removable crystal inside forms the key to their activation. The main advantage of a datacron, in terms of security, is that its information cannot be digitally copied, accessed, or altered remotely.
Q: How are holocrons and datacrons made?
A: Holocrons are made through meditation upon the guided growth of a crystalline lattice. The process takes days, and a single mistake will destroy the entire holocron before it is completed. Also it takes very specialized knowledge, and almost certainly requires mastery of the Force. Darth Bane himself failed twice before successfully creating his personal holocron. At many points in galactic history it has been a lost art. In the modern era, some Master-level researchers know how to make holocrons, to a lesser or greater degree. Datacrons, as a derivative technology less connected to the Force, may be made by specialized machines, but the process is quite expensive.
Q: How is information added to holocrons and datacrons?
A: Generally by recording, as if the holocron was a holocamera. In some instances, skilled Force users have been known to transfer their thoughts directly into the holocron.
Q: Can a holocron or datacron be copied?
A: Only by recording sessions of question and answer, taking many, many hours. The best 'copies' still only produce approximate results, and one can never be sure one has gotten everything.
Q: What is a gatekeeper?
A: An impression of the holocron's maker (or a major contributor), a sort of sentient-echo-slash-artificial-intelligence who guides the user through the content of the holocron. Gatekeepers are not the same as, for example, a recording of a Jedi Master giving a mission report to the Great Holocron. The former has a personality; the latter is basically just a video clip. Many holocrons have more than one gatekeeper, added at various points in the holocron's operational life; for example, Palpatine added himself as a secondary gatekeeper to the Tedryn Holocron four thousand years after its creation.
Q: What about spirits and suchlike thingies?
A: Darth Andeddu and others bound their souls to their holocrons. Those who use a Sith holocron face the unsettling possibility that this particular gatekeeper might not just be a collection of memories, but a malevolent soul masquerading as a gatekeeper.
Q: Are all holocrons superior to all datacrons? Worth more?
A: There's no evidence of this that I can find. Many canonical holocrons are very minor, having only a few items. For example, Darth Vectivus' personal holocron contained only his trademark Force Phantom technique and some insights on business. A datacron or a holocron is, by and large, only as valuable as its information. The most valuable holocrons, containing generations of insight, are generally considered to be the Great Holocron (Old Republic Jedi), Tionne's holocron (New Republic Jedi), the Codex of Tython (Old Republic Jedi), the holocron of King Adas (ancient Sith), and the Telos Holocron (Sith of many eras). As of the writing of this FAQ, all of these were accounted for.
Q: How easy is it to break or destroy a holocron or datacron?
A: By all accounts, relatively easy. These items are precious and fragile.
Q: Which came first? What's the history here?
A: The holocron is pretty much the only piece of Rakatan technology allowed on Chaos. The Rakata invented it, the ancient Sith King Adas adopted it, the Jedi learned it from the Sith, and only then were datacrons developed, at some point before 4000 BBY or thereabouts.
