Kylo Ren

Kylo Ren

Series	Star Wars
Age	29-30
Birthday	Unknown
Sex	Male
Species	Unknown
Height	6'3 (1.90m)
Weight	N/A
Alignment	Chaotic Evil (Until The Rise Of Skywalker) Chaotic Good (Redemption)

“	Show me, grandfather, and I will finish what you started.	„
	~ Kylo Ren

Kylo Ren, originally Ben Solo, is the central antagonist of the Star Wars sequel trilogy.

Background[]

Kylo Ren was born Ben Solo, the son of Han Solo and Leia Organa. Ben showed large amounts of potential with the Force, and was sent to train as a Jedi with Leia's brother Luke Skywalker, to avoid Ben becoming like his idol Darth Vader, who went to the Dark Side of the Force and became a Sith Lord. However, Snoke, leader of the First Order, convinced Ben to come to the Dark Side and become as powerful as his grandfather. Ben ended up slaughtering the rest of the Jedi trainees and joining the Knights of Ren, Snoke's personal army, renaming himself Kylo Ren. As Kylo Ren, Ben became Snoke's main enforcer of the First Order, and despite his unfinished training, was still an extremely powerful warrior with the Force.

During his descent into darkness, Ren ordered the massacre of civilians and murdered of his own father, but the act of patricide failed to end his inner turmoil. Believing he was destined to rule the galaxy, Ren assassinated Snoke and usurped the position of Supreme Leader, seizing both military and political control of the First Order.

Though sworn enemies, Ren and the Jedi apprentice Rey formed a prophesied dyad in the Force, and therefore bound together through a unique bond. Their conflict came to a head in 35 ABY with the return of the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, who urged Ren to destroy Rey and become the new Emperor. His compassion for the former scavenger, however, as well as the death of his mother and the memory of his father, killed the persona of Kylo Ren and restored his identity as Ben Solo. After the battle on Exegol, Solo sacrificed himself to revive Rey, and the two shared a kiss before he died, ending the Skywalker bloodline.

Powers & Abilities[]

The Force: Being from a family of powerful Force users, Ren is very in-tune with the Force, an energy that spans throughout the galaxy, and is skilled at manipulating it.
- Telekinesis: Ren can use the Force to manipulate people and objects with his mind. He's skilled enough with this to manipulate the movements of living beings with his telekinesis.
  - Force Stasis: The ability to forcefully freeze a person or object in place. Ren's shown enough skill with this technique to stop a blaster bolt in place before it could hit him, leaving it suspended in midair.
- Telepathy: The Force allows its users to manipulate the minds of others.
  - Mind Probe: Ren has enough skill with the Force to sift through the thoughts of others to find information. This process causes the target incredible discomfort, meaning it's useful for torture.
- Force Jump: Ren utilizes Force Jump to jump or leap at great distances. He performed this ability while fighting Rey in the Death Star ruins.
- Force Bond Connection: As a consequence of them being a Force Dyad, Kylo and Rey have a Force bond that connects them at random moments. During the connection, they are able to see, talk and touch each other through spaces.
  - Fold Space: Ren utilizes Fold space to bend space to instantly transport an object between places during a Force bond connection. He used this ability to grab Rey's necklace from her with the intent to figure out where she was.
  - Force Healing: Ben utilizes Force Healing to heal Rey bringing her back to life after she is killed defeating Palpatine. Ben was able to use this power because of the nature of his connection with Rey, as this is a power that individuals in a dyad possess.

Equipment[]

Lightsaber: The preferred weapon of Force users. It is a plasma blade powered by a kyber crystal and emitted from a metal hilt, the laser blade being able to cut through almost anything. Ren's lightsaber was crudely constructed, and very unstable. This is the reason for the blade's crossguards, which are really vents to let out excess energy, though Ren likes to use it to burn enemies when clashing weapons with them.

Feats[]

Strength[]

Overpowered and defeated Finn while injured.
Lifted and strangled a grown man with one hand.
Crushed a Sith wayfinder in his hand.

Speed[]

Reacted to and stopped a blaster bolt in mid-flight.
Reached the outside of Starkiller Base before Rey and Finn, despite them having a head-start.
Far superior to Luke post A New Hope, who is capable of fending off IG-100 MagnaGuards for a brief period of time with little training.

Durability[]

Survived a shot from Chewbacca's bowcaster.
Took several blows from a lightsaber.
Survived a direct hit in the stomach from a lightsaber.
Tanked a blast of Force lightning from Snoke.

Skill[]

Slaughtered all of Luke's other trainees by himself.
Led the Knights of Ren.
Killed Han Solo.
Defeated Finn while injured in the waist.
Snoke considered him to be the ideal embodiment of the Light and Dark sides of the Force.
His power was held in high regard by his uncle and he was regarded as a potentially great Jedi.
Killed Snoke to usurp his leadership over the First Order.
Fought and bested Snoke's Praetorian Guards alongside Rey.
Dueled a Force projection of Luke on Crait.
Was able to obtain more power in the galaxy for a year as more worlds submitted to his rule in the First Order.
Slaughtered the Alazmec of Winsit.
Acquired a Sith wayfinder on Mustafar, which he used to locate Palpatine on Exegol.
Overpowered Rey in their final duel and would've killed her had Leia not reached out to them.
Severed his ties to the First Order and reclaimed his former identity as Ben Solo after realizing Palpatine was using him.
With Rey, defeated the Knights of Ren with Luke and Leia's lightsabers.
Resurrected Rey with his life force after she died defeating Palpatine, sacrificing himself and becoming one with the Force in the process.

Weaknesses[]

Subject to fits of rage.
Hotheaded.
Suit doesn't protect against blaster fire.
A Force-sensitive individual can turn his Mind Probe back on him.
His attachment to his loved ones causes his Light and Dark Side powers to conflict.

Fun Facts[]

Ren is the grandson of previous Star Wars antagonist, Darth Vader, and is obsessed with him to the point of wearing pun similar clothes, using similar Force powers, and even talking to Vader's burned helmet.
While Kylo Ren ultimately redeemed himself in The Rise of Skywalker, it wasn't originally planned for him to be redeemed: the original script written by Colin Trevorrow, the original director of the film, had Kylo Ren rejecting any chance of redemption and ultimately dying at the hands of Rey and the Force ghosts of Luke, Obi-Wan and Yoda. Furthermore, Kylo Ren would have been revealed to have killed Rey's parents under Snoke's orders, as Emperor Palpatine didn't come back from the dead. Had this version of the story been kept in the finished film, Kylo Ren's character arc would have played out differently to that of Darth Vader, which was the original intention according to Adam Driver.
- Nevertheless, while Kylo ultimately redeemed himself, his character arc ended differently to that of Darth Vader: while Anakin Skywalker failed to save Padmé Amidala, the woman whom he loved, Ben Solo was able to save Rey, the woman whom he loved, yet at the cost of his own life.
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".