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''What wouldst thou know, my Queen?''
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- “Forgive me. I feel it again...the call from the light. The Supreme Leader senses it. Show me again, the power of the darkness, and I'll let nothing stand in our way. Show me, Grandfather, and I will finish what you started.”
- ―Kylo Ren to Darth Vader's melted mask[src]
Kylo Ren (real name Ben Solo) was a leading member (later the Supreme Leader) of the First Order, the Master of Knights of Ren. He is the central antagonist of the Star Wars sequel trilogy, serving as the main antagonist of the first two installments, and the central antagonist who progressively becomes the deuteragonist of The Rise of Skywalker.
Ren was the son of Han Solo and Leia Organa, the nephew of Luke Skywalker, the grandson of Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader and Padmé Amidala, the apprentice of Snoke, and the sometimes rival of Armitage Hux. He wields a unique crossguard lightsaber that he constructed himself.
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Background
Born as Ben Solo to Han Solo and Leia Organa, he grew up in the middle of his parent's clustered lives. Leia was unable to spend as much time with her son as possible, as she was assigned to the position as a senator of the New Republic, while Han was unable to stay in one place for very long.
When he was twenty-three years old, Ben was sent to study alongside other Jedi students, being instructed and led by his maternal uncle, Jedi Master Luke Skywalker. Around that time, he began to struggle with his inner darkness.
Ben grew up hearing stories about his maternal grandfather, as he came to admire and revere his grandfather's power, but he also came to fear that he may never be as powerful as the Chosen One. However, he was unaware that Anakin was once the ruthless Sith Lord, Darth Vader.
At the age of twenty-four, Ben finally learned the truth about his maternal grandfather, when Senator Carise Sindian publicly revealed that Anakin and Vader were one-and-the-same. The revelation left Ben bitter and angry towards his parents when he learned they withheld the truth from him for so long; this discovery likely also caused him to struggle more with his internal conflict. Not long after, he started to admire and revere more of his grandfather's dark aspects than his light aspects.
An enigmatic individual named Snoke, the Supreme Leader of the First Order, preyed on Ben's internal conflict, and he ultimately fell to the dark side when he discovered his uncle Luke was tempted to kill him, because his master was afraid of his stronger connection to the dark side of the Force. Unbeknownst to Ben, Luke reconsidered his contemplation at that moment, and was plagued with guilt and shame of nearly going through with it. Ben killed most of Luke's apprentices and set fire to the Jedi Temple they had lived in, taking some of Luke's remaining apprentices with him to presumably become his followers. After he joined the First Order, he took on the name Kylo Ren and became the leader of the Knights of Ren. This act greatly delayed his uncle's plan to restore the Jedi Order to it's former glory and left his uncle despondent while Ren went on to terrorize the galaxy as a warlord of the First Order.
Ben's uncle Luke was the only one who managed to survive and escape the Jedi massacre. After Luke disappeared, Ren led the First Order against the Resistance while searching across the galaxy to find Luke.
Personality
In Ren's youth, as Ben Solo, Ben was unaware of his true heritage but suffered from issues of abandonment due to the struggles his parents had with their lives. He admired the power of his maternal grandfather Anakin Skywalker, but particularly in his Darth Vader incarnation. Because of this, Ben struggled with his inner darkness due to this obsession.
Kylo Ren throwing a tantrum.
As Kylo Ren, Ren is ruthless, merciless, brutal and confident, but appears to carry at least some guilt and remorse for his actions, and as such, he is short-tempered, hot-headed, and is torn by internal conflict much like his maternal grandfather Anakin Skywalker. However, unlike his maternal grandfather, Ren is far less able to control his temper and emotions, as well as the fact that he is far less level-headed and far more prone to bouts of rage. To establish his rejection of his past life, Ren serves the First Order with great passion towards its leader and his master Snoke.
Ren carries on his attachment to Vader into adulthood, where he will stop at nothing to uphold the Sith Lord's legacy by destroying all the Jedi. He is also quite cruel and brutal, as he is willing to attack and threaten his officers if angered, leading to them and any nearby troops avoiding him when they see him enraged, and keeping a table of ashes made from the remains of his enemies, upon which he would often place the burned helmet of his grandfather.
Ren is not without fear; he is afraid that he will never become as powerful as his maternal grandfather, Darth Vader and fears whatever hold the light side has on him, however, unlike Vader, Ren finds conflict with these traits, especially towards the idea of family, being seen as a focal point between the heritage of both the light and the dark also furthered his inner conflict, despite this, Ren chooses to believe that Vader's sentimentality was the weakness that led to the fall of the Empire. Feeling this care is what holds him back, Ren believes that to be greater than Vader - to embrace the dark side - is to finally abandon the light side.
Powers and Abilities
Powers
- The Force: As the grandson of the Chosen One, Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader, Ren is very powerful and has a very strong connection to the Force. Although Ren is not quite as powerful as his maternal grandfather and his maternal uncle Luke Skywalker respectively; at their peaks, he is still an exceptionally powerful Force-user. Ren's force powers is rivaled only by Rey at her peak. However, according to Snoke; Ren will grow stronger with the dark side of the Force.
- Telekinesis: Ren is extremely proficient in telekinesis, capable of freezing, and otherwise influencing the movement of a targeted object or person. This notably allowed him to suspend a blaster bolt in mid-air and then release it after aiming it at a wall. After being weakened by Chewbacca's bowcaster and the emotional turmoil of killing his father, his power was weaker than Rey's, allowing her to pry Luke's lightsaber out of his own telekinetic grip when he tried to summon it to his hand, causing it to fly past Ren and into Rey's hand instead. However, as the two grew to their peak potential with the Force, their powers were proven to be evenly matched.
- Force Push: Ren utilizes Force Push to send his opponents flying through the air, causing them serious injury or temporarily incapacitating them/knocking them unconscious.
- Force Pull: Ren utilizes Force Pull to pull his opponents or objects towards him, enough that he can hold people up with one hand while still pulling them with the Force.
- Force Choke: Like his grandfather and most dark side Force-users, Ren has the power to use the Force to constrict the organs of living organisms in order to suffocate and kill them.
- Force Grip: Ren utilizes Force Grip to lift his opponents off the ground and into the air, sometimes by the neck, to immobilize them. His telekinetic grip also allowed him to pull people by the neck towards him without otherwise harming them.
- Telepathy: Ren utilizes Telepathy to mentally communicate over small or vast distances with other individuals, especially with Rey due to their Force bond. His mental abilities also allowed him to induce sleep with as little as a wave of his hand; as he did to sedate Rey on Takodana.
- Mind Probe: Ren utilizes Mind Probe to sense and sift through the thoughts of a sentient being, for the purpose of interrogation or torture. However, another Force-user could resist this power, as Rey was able to turn it back on him to scan his mind to discover his fear of inadequacy in comparison to Darth Vader.
- Mind Trick: Ren utilizes Mind Trick to control the minds of other sentient beings. However, it does not work for individuals who have very strong wills. He attempted to force Rey to bring Luke to him when they first experienced shared visions of each other due to their Force bond, but was unable to affect her; due to her own power.
- Force Sense: Ren utilizes Force sense to sense another sentient being's emotions, the future, ripples in the Force caused by momentous or traumatic events, impending danger, and the presence of the Light side.
- Force Vision: Ren utilizes Force Vision, to have visions of the past, the present, and the future; however, like all Force-users, his visions are not always clear or sometimes has visions even when he is not utilizing this power at will. Due to his Force bond with Rey, he foresaw Rey fighting alongside him, as well as discovering that Rey's parents were mere junkers on Jakku who abandoned her.
- Force Dash: Ren utilizes Force Dash to move at amazing speeds.
- Telekinesis: Ren is extremely proficient in telekinesis, capable of freezing, and otherwise influencing the movement of a targeted object or person. This notably allowed him to suspend a blaster bolt in mid-air and then release it after aiming it at a wall. After being weakened by Chewbacca's bowcaster and the emotional turmoil of killing his father, his power was weaker than Rey's, allowing her to pry Luke's lightsaber out of his own telekinetic grip when he tried to summon it to his hand, causing it to fly past Ren and into Rey's hand instead. However, as the two grew to their peak potential with the Force, their powers were proven to be evenly matched.
Abilities
- Lightsaber Skills: Ren is highly skilled in lightsaber combat and a highly gifted duelist. He is one of the greatest lightsaber duelists currently alive; it was his exceptional skill with a lightsaber that ultimately greatly delayed the art of lightsaber combat from rising back to prominence with his massacre of most of the new, fledgling Jedi Order. His destruction of this new generation of Jedi Knights also earned him the nickname of "Jedi Killer" among the members of the First Order. However, despite this, he was defeated by Rey in a duel, despite being far more skilled and experienced in lightsaber combat then the latter. Although, it should be noted that Ren had already been wounded by Chewbacca and Finn respectively, thus was not at the peak of his strength. In addition, Rey's new-found abilities allowed her to meditate on the Force to gain enough strength to physically overpower him. In The Last Jedi, Ren at the the peak of his strength; was able to fight Snoke's Praetorian Guards on even terms alongside Rey, and eventually with her aid, overpower and kill the eight deadly warriors; despite the two lightsaber duelists being outnumbered. As of The Rise of Skywalker, Ren's skills in lightsaber combat had greatly improved to the point, that he could fight on par against Rey and ultimately overpowered her; which was demonstrated during there confrontation on Kef Bir. During the "Battle of Exegol", Ben was able to overpower and kill all the members of the Knights of Ren relatively easily; despite being outnumbere, this time without Rey's aid.
- Form I: Ren is very skilled in Shii-Cho.
- Form II: Ren is very skilled in Makashi.
- Form III: Ren is very skilled in Soresu.
- Form IV: Ren is very skilled in Ataru.
- Form V: Ren is highly skilled in Shien/Djem So.
- Form VI: Ren is highly skilled in Niman.
- Form VII: Ren is highly skilled in Juyo/Vaapad.
- Jar'Kai: Ren is highly skilled in Jar'Kai.
- Genius-Level Intellect/Master Tactician/Leader: Ren is amazingly intelligent and wise. As a warlord, later the Supreme Leader of the First Order, Ren is a highly skilled tactician and a very capable leader.
- Indomitable Will/High Tolerance For Pain/Expert Survivalist: Ren has an indomitable will and a high tolerance for pain; as he was able to continue fighting despite being shot in the side by Chewbacca, and slashed on the shoulder by Finn. In his battle with Finn, he was also seen withstanding the wound inflicted by Chewbacca, using his pain and anguish to fuel his connection to the dark side of the Force. Furthermore, while armored Stormtroopers were violently blasted through the air and killed instantly by the bowcaster's explosive blast, as Ren does not wear complete, but only doubled over in pain when shot.
Weapons and Equipment
Lightsabers
Ren's valued weapons and possessions are his blue and red-bladed lightsabers. So far, he has had two lightsabers.
- First Lightsaber: Ren had built a blue-bladed lightsaber, sometime after he became a member of the New Jedi Order; however, he abandoned the weapon after he fell to the dark side.
- Crossguard lightsaber: Ren had built a red-bladed crossguard lightsaber, sometime after he became a member of the First Order. Ren's lightsaber was crudely built off an ancient design dating back to an event known as the Great Scourge of Malachor and operated using a cracked Kyber crystal. It thus had an unstable blade, necessitating the use of exhaust ports and focusing crystal activators to channel and vent the weapon's excess energy so that it would not overload. The excess energy served as the lightsaber's quillons (crossguards) the weapon's blades also crackled and arced like electricity and funneled like fire, giving the weapon a ragged, menacing appearance and a deep, growling hum. As of The Rise of Skywalker; Ben abandoned the weapon after he come back to the light side and redeemed himself.
- Second Lightsaber: During the "Battle of Exegol", Rey gave Ben his grandfather, Anakin Skywalker's lightsaber, and he wielded the weapon against the Knights of Ren. She later took it back after his death.
Armor
- Knights of Ren Armor: Ren utilizes combat armor to protect himself from his enemies in battle; it is based on the battle gear worn by the other Knights of Ren. It is also based on his grandfather's armor, particularly the helmet, which he wore to conceal his identity and voice as he delved further and further into the Dark side. As The Last Jedi, Ren has completely abandoned the helmet; after realizing that he is only copying Darth Vader, as he will never be able to reach his full potential that way.
Appearances
The Force Awakens
Kylo Ren first appears on Jakku searching for a map leading to the missing legendary Jedi Luke Skywalker. After failing to recover anything from the planet, Kylo and his forces slaughter Lor San Tekka and capture the Resistance pilot Poe Dameron, where Kylo interrogates Poe by mentally torturing him with the Force. Poe escapes with the aid of AWOL stormtrooper FN-2187, nicknamed Finn, and Kylo is outraged. He implores on his maternal grandfather, Darth Vader, to help him.
Eventually, the First Order figures out that Poe's droid, BB-8, is on Takodana, and with it a map to the location of Luke Skywalker. On Takodana, Kylo leads the ransack for the droid. Encountering the Force-sensitive Rey, he takes her to Starkiller Base to discover the Resistance base. To gain her trust, he tries to read her thoughts, discovering that she has seen his father, Han Solo. Intent on gaining information from Rey, Kylo is ordered by Snoke to bring her to him for interrogation. However, Rey manages to tap into the Force and escape her bindings by using Jedi mind-control on a guard, leaving Ren to chase her with stormtroopers.
In the reactor shaft of the base, Ren is discovered by his father, Chewbacca, Finn, and Rey. When Han confronts his son and offers to help him with his emotional pain, Ren briefly thinks of his father's words before giving in fully to the dark side and stabbing him through the torso with his lightsaber; Han then falls into the shaft below them. An enraged Chewbacca shoots Ren in his side, leaving him severely weakened. Finn and Rey flee. Before he can react, the wounded Ren is briefly caught in the explosion caused by the detonations that his father and Chewbacca had planted around the area prior.
He finds Finn and Rey in the woods of the base and engages in battle with Finn, who is using Anakin Skywalker's lightsaber against him, much to Ren's anger. Due to Finn's lack of Force-sensitivity, Ren defeats and grievously injures him, but not without receiving a minor wound to the shoulder.
Afterward, he tries to claim his grandfather's lightsaber, but Rey uses the Force to claim it as her own and fights him. Ren tempts Rey to join him, but she refuses and, giving herself over to the full power of the Force, overpowers Ren, knocking away his lightsaber and slashing him in the face. With the planet collapsing with the destruction of the weapon, Rey abandons Ren and escapes with Finn. Before the planet implodes, Snoke instructs General Hux to retrieve Ren before departing to complete his apprentice's training.
The Last Jedi
Following the destruction of Starkiller Base and the Resistance's evacuation of their base on D'Qar, Kylo Ren was summoned to by Supreme Leader Snoke to his throne room aboard the Mega-class Star Dreadnought Supremacy. Kneeling before his master, Ren listened as Snoke loudly recalled the raw, untamed power that Ren possessed, abilities which had originally brought him to the dark sider's attention. Knowing the potential of the powerful Skywalker bloodline, Snoke revealed his belief that Ren could fulfill his grandfather's dark side legacy. But in light of his apprentice's defeat at the hands of an untrained scavenger girl, who had never before wielded a lightsaber, Snoke revoked his faith in Ren's power and proceeded to chastise him, calling him weak, sentimental, and childish. Enraged by his master's derogatory words, Kylo rose to meet his master and attack, but Snoke quickly suppressed the attempt on him with a surge of Force lightning, watched by the ever-ready Praetorian Guards. Leaving the throne room and embittered over Snoke's words, Kylo Ren smashed his helmet against the surrounding metal of the elevator lift he was in, having been ridiculed and regarded as nothing more than a child hiding in a mask, pretending to be Darth Vader. Upon emerging from the damaged lift, he ordered his ship to be readied, resuming his quest to eradicate the Resistance.
As Hux had anticipated through new tracking technology, the First Order armada emerged out of hyperspace to find the Resistance fleet unprepared and defenseless. The warship Supremacy led the charge, its powerful turbolasers showering the Resistance fleet with unyielding blasts. To complement the barrage, the Supremacy scrambled its short-distance fighters, with Kylo Ren spearheading the assault on his personal TIE Silencer. Covered by two wingmen, the Jedi killer intercepted the Resistance's Star Cruiser Raddus, capital ship of the fleet. Before the Resistance pilots could launch a counterattack, however, Ren destroyed the Raddus' hangar leaving them unable to resist Ren's fighter wing.
With the Resistance's flagship crippled, Ren turned his fighter to face the bridge of the craft, readying his rockets. At this moment he sensed his mother's presence aboard the Raddus, and Ren, hesitating, held his thumb over the trigger in a moment of intense self-doubt. After a moment, he surrendered to his second thoughts and abandoned the trigger control, knowing he could not bring himself to kill his mother. His two wingmen had no such qualms, and launched their rockets in Ren's place, destroying the bridge. The detonation killed Admiral Ackbar and other acclaimed figures of the Resistance hierarchy, but Kylo's mother survived, barely, by using the Force to propel herself through space to the airlock. Following this last offensive, Hux ordered the fighters back to the Supremacy, as the Resistance fleet had managed to pull itself out of the Supremacy's firing range in the intervening time.
As the First Order continued to pursue the Resistance fleet, Ren discovered he had a Force-bond with Rey, and once more prodded her for Luke Skywalker's location, as he was only able to see her and not her surroundings. During their first interaction, Rey fired her blaster at where she perceived Ren to be, only to damage one of the structures in the Jedi village where Skywalker resided. This also resulted in Kylo feeling the attack through their connection. During another conversation, Kylo Ren told Rey his version of the events leading up to the destruction of Skywalker's Jedi temple; that he woke up to see Luke standing over him with his lightsaber drawn, ready to kill him. Though she refused to reveal Luke's location to him during her training, Rey offered him her hand one evening, causing Rey to sense the conflict within him. Simultaneously, Kylo sensed that Rey's parents were mere simple junk traders that sold her off for money and that she had no connection to the galactic story that was playing out. Eventually, once Rey arrived at the Supremacy in an attempt to redeem him, Kylo promptly took her into his custody.
On the way to Snoke's throne room, Rey reminded Kylo that there was still a chance to return to the light. Sure enough, as Snoke tortured her for Skywalker's whereabouts, Kylo, aware through his father's words that Snoke would use him for his power and then dispose of him, killed his master by moving Rey's lightsaber with the Force to bisect him, tricking the Supreme Leader into believing he would strike Rey down. Snoke's Praetorian Guards immediately attacked Rey and Ren, who entered a temporary truce and quickly fought them off in a terrifying duel. With the guards dead, Ren once again asked Rey to join him, revealing the truth about her parents in the process, telling her that she was nobody, that her parents sold her for money and were dead, and that the only way to be free was to destroy everything that connected them to the past, be it Sith, Jedi or anything else. As on Starkiller Base, however, Rey refused and attempted to pull her lightsaber from him using the Force, causing Kylo to try to pull the lightsaber back towards himself. As the weapon floated between them in a stalemate, the power they exuded put too much strain on the weapon and the lightsaber split in half, the resulting Force shockwave knocking both of them unconscious as the Raddus split the Supremacy in half with a suicide hyperspace jump. When General Hux arrived in the throne room, Rey had escaped the Supremacy and Kylo was still unconscious. Hux prepared to kill his longtime rival, but Kylo awoke as Hux was readying his blaster, who put it away before he noticed. Ren falsely told Hux that Rey had murdered Snoke and his guards before claiming his master's mantle. Hux firmly refused to let Ren command his troops, prompting the dark warrior to Force choke him into acknowledging Ren as Supreme Leader. With his newfound supremacy assured, Ren ordered all forces to Crait to annihilate the remaining remnants of the Resistance.
Looming overhead in his command shuttle, Ren oversaw the deployment of AT-ATs, AT-M6s, and AT-STs to the salty surface of Crait, gathered from what remained of the Supremacy. Ordering a forward march, Kylo Ren positioned his troops opposite an abandoned rebel base which the Resistance had appropriated for its defense. When the First Order discovered a massive shield door impeding their advance into the enclosure, Ren further deployed a superlaser siege cannon (a battering ram created using miniaturized Death Star technology) to his advantage. In response, the Resistance launched a number of old ski speeders in an ultimately futile attempt to stop the cannon. While the Resistance attempted to halt the First Order's progress, Chewbacca and Rey joined the battle in the Millennium Falcon, and in a fit of rage, Kylo furiously sent every TIE fighter present to destroy his father's old ship. Despite the setbacks, Kylo Ren's offensive was ultimately successful in breaching the base's blast doors.
Shortly after the First Order breached the base, Luke Skywalker appeared and Kylo Ren, in a futile attempt to eliminate his uncle, ordered all of his forces to fire at him. After Skywalker shrugged off the attack virtually unharmed, Ren ordered his command shuttle to be set down, whereupon he confronted Skywalker personally. As they faced off, Luke said that if Kylo struck his uncle down, he'd never be rid of him, just like he'd never be rid of his father's memory. Though Kylo Ren swore he'd destroy Luke and end the Jedi, Luke replied that he would not be the last Jedi, as Rey would succeed where he had failed and warned him that the rebellion has already reborn and the war has started. Ren then swore that he'd destroy her and the Resistance as well, but Luke was not fazed by his nephew's threats. Kylo engaged his uncle in single combat, unable to land a blow until he slashed through Luke with no visible effect. Confused, Ren poked Luke with his lightsaber, revealing that Skywalker was not actually present for the battle and that he had been projecting an illusion of himself through the Force from Ahch-To, buying time for the remaining members of the Resistance to escape. Infuriated by the clever deception, Kylo and his forces scoured the now-empty base, but finding only Han's golden hanging dice, all Ren could do was bow in defeat as they vanished from his hand. As the Resistance evacuated, Ren saw Rey through their Force bond one more time as she boarded the Millennium Falcon; no words were said between them as she closed the door on him.
Disney Parks
Kylo Ren currently does meet-and-greets in the Star Wars Launch Bay at Disney's Hollywood Studios in Walt Disney World and Shanghai Disneyland. He formerly met in the Star Wars Launch Bay at Disneyland from February 2016 until October 14, 2016, where he was replaced by Darth Vader.
Relationships
Gallery
Trivia
- Prior to the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, many fans questioned if Kylo Ren and Darth Vader were related due to their similarities, which turned out to be true.
- In the movie novelization of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Kylo Ren is revealed to believe that the reason the Galactic Empire lost to the Rebellion was not because of poor strategy or arrogance, but because of sentiment, and that Darth Vader and Luke's compassion for each other were what caused the Empire to collapse.
- Also in the novelization, Snoke is also revealed to have chosen Kylo Ren as his apprentice because the former believes the latter to be a focal point in the Force; a perfect blending of light and dark due to his heritage as Darth Vader's grandson.
- A scene in The Last Jedi that caused some controversy was that during Kylo Ren and Rey's Force-Bond, Rey sees a shirtless Kylo Ren while he is having his wounds mended. This scene, despite being somewhat gratuitous in nature, was established by director Rian Johnson as Rey being able to see Kylo Ren entirely wherever he was and during whatever he was doing when they are bonded through the Force, not just seeing his eyes or hearing his voice.
- Kylo Ren was originally going to be one of the many characters in Ralph Breaks the Internet, but was cut when Lucasfilm took offense at how the movie depicted him as a "spoiled child".[2]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "[https://www.wdtvpress.com/disneychannel/pressrelease/season-two-of-the-high-flying-emmy-award-nominated-star-wars-resistance-premieres-sunday-oct-6-on-disney-channel-and-disneynow/ SEASON TWO OF THE HIGH-FLYING EMMY® AWARD-NOMINATED ‘STAR WARS RESISTANCE’ PREMIERES SUNDAY, OCT. 6, ON DISNEY CHANNEL AND DISNEYNOW]". DisneyABCPress. Retrieved on August 14, 2019.
- ↑ "'Ralph Breaks the Internet' Cut Joke About 'Star Wars' Villain Kylo Ren". The Hollywood Reporter (October 22, 2018).
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