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| Kyle Katarn | |
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| Biographical information | |
| Homeworld | |
| Born | |
| Physical description | |
| Species | |
| Gender | |
| Height |
5'10" (1.80 m) |
| Hair Color |
Brown |
| Eye Color |
Blue |
| Skin Color |
Light |
| Family information | |
| Family |
Morgan Katarn (father) |
| Political information | |
| Known Masters |
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| Known Apprentices |
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| Affiliation | |
- "I'm no Jedi. I'm just a guy with a lightsaber and a few questions."
- ―Kyle Katarn
Kyle Katarn was a famous human male who served the Galactic Empire as a stormtrooper, the Rebel Alliance as an operative, the New Republic as a Special forces soldier and the New Jedi Order as a Jedi Master.
Often paired with fellow Rebel agent and smuggler Jan Ors, he performed many covert missions for the Rebel Alliance and later the New Republic, including the sabotage of the Dark Trooper Project.
While on The Rebellion, Katarn was informed of his Force sensitivity, and taught himself to become a Jedi while in search of the Valley of the Jedi. While on this journey, he confronted the dark side within both himself and in the form of Dark Jedi Clement Jerec and his minions. Defeating them, Katarn went on to become a Jedi Master, teaching in the New Jedi Order. He participated in the offensives against the Yuuzhan Vong and became a part of the Jedi High Council.
Biography
Early life
Kyle Katarn was born on April 12 in 22 BBY to Morgan and Patricia Katarn, farmers from the Sullust colony moon of Sulon. Growing up on the farm, Katarn had a brother of sorts in his father's custom-made labor droid, WeeGee. As a result, Katarn became one of the few Humans in the Galaxy fluent in the electronic language of droidspeak.
Serving The Empire
- "Katarn was once an impressive Imperial officer, but he was weak and gave up on the struggle for our New Order."
- ―General Rom Mohc
Katarn enrolled for education at the Imperial Academy on Carida when his mother was killed by a malfunctioning BT-16 perimeter security droid. Living out on the rim, he had few other opportunities to obtain an education. Katarn began to suspect his Force potential, a trait passed to him by his father, during a raid on a Rebel asteroid base; he experienced several premonitions that saved the lives of many of his strike team members. While on the mission, Katarn also met Jan Ors, an agent for the Rebellion. Katarn and Ors were on opposite sides of the war, but they experienced a strange connection that led Katarn to spare her life as well as the lives of many of the station's inhabitants. As a result of the success of his mission, he became a decorated Imperial stormtrooper officer, but his father, unbeknownst to him, was a supporter of the Rebel Alliance.
Following this last mission, which was his Omega Exercise, Katarn learned that his father had been killed in a suspected Rebel raid on his homeworld of Sulon. Katarn, recalling the lives he spared on the asteroid base, became extremely hateful towards the Rebellion, believing them to be murderers.
Defection
- "Katarn was once an impressive Imperial officer, but he was weak and gave up on the struggle for our New Order."
- ―General Rom Mohc
Putting his grief aside for the time, Katarn took a pleasure cruise on the Star of Empire, his last bit of freedom before officially becoming an officer in the Imperial navy. It was while on this ship that he met Lando Calrissian, and ran into Jan Ors for the second time. After a brief chase and a brawl with some of Ors's fellow agents, Katarn's attention was grabbed when Ors dropped the name Sulon. Ors showed Katarn footage from the battle there that had been obtained by a reporter and her loyal droid. She explained to him that it was in fact the Imperials who had staged the attack. They had painted Rebel insignias on their ships to make it seem as if the Rebels had been the aggressors. Their use of standard Imperial tactics, which Katarn had studied extensively at the Imperial Academy, gave them away.
After seeing the footage for himself, Katarn defected, becoming a neutral mercenary. He left the Star of Empire with Ors and her fellow agents aboard their ship after a brief scuffle with some Imperials and a bounty hunter that worked for them. During this incident, the droid with the recordings of the battle on Sulon was captured and self-destructed, allowing Katarn and the others to make a clean escape. Ors took Katarn back to her base and introduced him to Mon Mothma, the leader of the Alliance, and he became a Rebel spy. Soon after his own recruitment into the Alliance, Katarn was responsible for introducing the Twi'lek Rianna Saren to the organization. He first tasked her with infiltrating a Black Sun warehouse on Coruscant to discover how they were involved with the Empire. After Saren successfully completed this mission, Katarn revealed to her that he was a Rebel agent and introduced her to Leia Organa.
Katarn's first mission for the Alliance was the infiltration of an Imperial facility on Danuta to retrieve the plans for the first Death Star as a part of Operation Skyhook. While viewing the briefing information, he recognized his friend from the Academy, Meck Odom, as one of the officers in charge of guarding the plans. Katarn met with Odom secretly, and he gave Katarn information that assisted him in completing his mission. He also deactivated the perimeter, allowing Katarn entry into the base. The partial plans stolen by Katarn were eventually combined with those captured at Toprawa to create a complete outline of the station.[1]
Fighting the dark troopers
- "A new trooper that can take out a Rebel base that quickly? I shoulda' kept working for the Empire."
- ―Kyle Katarn, to Mon Mothma
Soon after the Battle of Yavin, Mon Mothma asked Katarn to investigate the destruction of Tak Base resulting from the attack on Tak Base. Katarn accepted, and, upon request, took on Jan Ors as his mission officer. Katarn's investigation revealed the Imperial Dark Trooper project, led by General Rom Mohc. Several clues led Katarn to Anoat, where he captured Moff Rebus, an infamous Imperial weapons engineer. After raiding a testing facility for phrik on the planet Fest, Katarn was led to the Gromas system, where the mineral was being mined and the first stage of the Dark Trooper was manufactured. After destroying the facility, Katarn had to rescue Crix Madine from an Imperial detention center on Orinackra and traveled to the Ramsees Hed docking port on Cal-Seti. There, he was able to track a smuggling ship that was making runs to the frozen planet of Anteevy, where the second stage of Dark Trooper construction was being completed. Katarn destroyed the facility on Anteevy and was led to Nar Shaddaa, where he located a nav card describing the activities of all the smugglers involved in the Dark Trooper project. Upon leaving the planet, though, Katarn and Ors were briefly captured by mercenaries working for Jabba the Hut.
After defeating several kell dragons barehanded, Katarn was able to regain the card, rescue Ors, and escape the Star Jewel. Katarn and Ors infiltrated the ISO building on Coruscant, where he was able to decode the nav card. Using the new information from the card, Katarn and Ors tracked one of the smuggler ships to the Refueling Station Ergo. Katarn hijacked this ship and used it to sneak onto the ship with the information regarding the location of the Arc Hammer which was where the third and final stage of the Dark Trooper was being manufactured. Once on board, he stowed away on a cargo transport en route to the Arc Hammer. After an intense shootout against a Phase III Dark Trooper clad General Mohc, Katarn proceeded to blow up the Arc Hammer and escape, destroying the Dark Trooper Project for good. In gratitude for his bravery, Mon Mothma awarded him the Star of Alderaan.
New Republic
Katarn continued working with Ors for the New Republic, cooperating with Bey, Dash Rendar and Guri on an insertion mission to the Tof fortress world Saijo, and nearly razing Kwenn Space Station while apprehending the Ketton spy Derrida with the help of a pint-sized lagomorph. Katarn took a more permanent role with the New Republic and served with Lieutenant Judder Page's Katarn Commandos, executing missions on various worlds like Kashyyyk, Boudolayz and Garos IV.[2]
Valley of the Jedi
- "This has got to be bad for my health."
- ―Kyle Katarn
A few years after the Liberation of Coruscant, Katarn was visited by the spirit of the Jedi Qu Rahn, a Jedi Purge survivor that perished recently at the hands of an Imperial inquisitor, who told Katarn of the Jedi heritage of his father: Morgan had discovered the Valley of the Jedi on the planet Ruusan, where the spirits of many Jedi lay trapped after a cataclysmic battle over a thousand years earlier. This site was a nexus of power from which Force-sensitives could draw great energies of the Force. The locals on Ruusan prophesied that a "knight shall come, a battle will be fought, and the prisoners go free." Morgan could have been that knight, but chose instead to keep the knowledge of the valley safe, telling only the Jedi Rahn of its existence.[3]
Katarn located a recording from his father on the family droid WeeGee in his old farmhouse on Sulon as well as the lightsaber of the late Rahn, setting him on the path to become a Jedi. He embarked on a journey to locate the Valley of the Jedi and protect it from a faction of Dark Jedi led by Clement Jerec, who coveted the valley's energy for his own dark ends. Katarn's father, believed to have been killed in the battle of Sulon, had actually died at the hands of Jerec after refusing to reveal the location of the Valley of the Jedi. However, Morgan had etched a map to the valley into the ceiling tiles in the Katarns' house that was later discovered by Jerec. Katarn arrived after the map had been removed. He Infiltrated Jerec's tower in the city of Barons Hed, and located the droid 8t88, who had created a digitized version of the map. Katarn was intercepted by Yun, one of Jerec's dark pupils. Katarn defeated Yun, but he could not kill a disarmed opponent and allowed him to leave; Katarn was soon attacked and had to escape without either version of the map. He tracked 8t88's shuttle to a fuel station outside Baron's Hed, and he stowed away aboard a frigate headed for Ruusan. While on board, Katarn encountered and defeated two more of Jerec's pupils, the symbiotic "twins" Gorc and Pic, who had recently destroyed 8t88 to dispose of any witnesses to the Valley's location. After defeating Gorc and Pic, Katarn took the droid's severed head and managed to escape the vast ship.[4]
After arriving on Ruusan, Katarn infiltrated Jerec's outpost and defeated the Dark Jedi Maw, killing him in a violent rage as Maw told Katarn that it was he who had placed Morgan's head on a pike for all to see. Jerec confronted Katarn, revealing a captured and bound Jan Ors, offering Katarn a place at his side if he would strike her down. Katarn refused, staying true to his father. Disappointed but not surprised, Jerec blasted Katarn with dark side energy, damaging parts of the outpost and trapping Katarn inside. Katarn made his way through the tumbling vessel and attempted to flee in his ship, the Moldy Crow, but one of the wings smashed against the rock wall, damaging the vessel beyond repair. Upon hitting the planet's surface, Katarn was rendered unconscious. Two of the remaining Dark Jedi, Sariss and her apprentice Yun, pulled the unconscious Jedi from the wreckage. Boc, another Dark Jedi, destroyed Katarn's lightsaber tauntingly in front of him before leaving to assist Jerec. Sariss was about to kill Katarn when Yun, out of sympathy for Katarn, who had previously spared his life and feeling guilty for executing so many people, blocked her blow with his lightsaber. Sariss' blade was deflected and struck Yun, mortally wounding him. As Katarn regained consciousness, he heard the young man's final words, stating that as a Jedi, Kyle deserved a battle. With his own lightsaber destroyed, Katarn picked up Yun's saber and defeated Sariss.[3][4]
After Katarn defeated Sariss, he rushed to the Valley of the Jedi and rescued Ors. Disguising himself as one of the statues that littered the Valley, Boc revealed himself and attacked Katarn. Boc wielded two lightsabers but was no match for the Jedi Knight's dueling skills. Giving way to the dark side of the Force, Katarn struck Boc with an ancient dark side technique known as spear of midnight black. Immediately, Katarn feared he was lost to the darkness, and tried to remember how many steps it took to follow the dark path forever. It was then that Katarn realized he was truly a Jedi. After killing Boc, Katarn had defeated all of Jerec's Dark Jedi. Katarn then descended into the Valley Core to face the Dark Master himself. The two dueled, and though the Dark Jedi Jerec had already begun drawing power from the Valley of the Jedi and used its power to heal himself, Katarn was able to defeat him with the light. Disarmed, Jerec tried to turn Katarn to the dark side by reminding him of his father's murder, urging Katarn to strike him down and claim the Valley's dark power for himself. Katarn, not wishing to feed his hatred, showed Jerec mercy and tossed the Dark Jedi his lightsaber. Jerec would not accept Katarn's mercy and once again attacked him. Katarn's counterstrike killed Jerec, and he fulfilled the prophecy by freeing the souls of the countless Jedi trapped by Lord Skere Kaan for over a thousand years. Afterwards, Katarn carved statues of Rahn and his father, and thanked the spirit of his father.[4] Luke Skywalker offered to train Katarn further afterwards, but Katarn declined, still holding a great fear of the dark side.
Fall to the dark side
After Katarn's ordeal on Ruusan, he rededicated himself towards helping the New Republic in their efforts against the Empire. At around this time, Katarn befriended a rising soldier a few years younger than himself by the name of Morton Zekk. The two would later work together again in New Republic Intelligence and remain friends until Zekk was believed dead on a mission in c. 18 ABY. At the height of the Imperial Civil War, the Empire arranged for the capture of the former Imperial assassin Mara Jade, who had left the service of the Empire and cut herself off from them after killing a clone of Luke Skywalker in 9 ABY. After Jade was intercepted on a mission to Senex sector, Lord Cronal had her imprisoned, but she was eventually rescued by New Republic forces under the command of Kyle Katarn. Mara later sought out Katarn and persuaded him to train her in the ways of the Force, taking up the bond of an reciprocal apprenticeship.[2] During this period, the pair moved to Altyr V to support a New Republic base there. While sabotaging an Imperial assault, Katarn discovered a lead to the Sith ruins on Dromund Kaas, a long dead world. Katarn investigated the ruins, but came under the influence of the dark side of the Force. His former pupil Mara Jade went to him and dueled him. Seeing that combat was futile, she lowered her guard and opened herself to Katarn's killing blow. Just as Katarn's blade was about to touch Jade's neck, he stopped in remorse for his actions, turning back to the light side.[5]
Skywalker made a second offer to train Katarn when he founded the Jedi Praxeum on Yavin 4, and Katarn accepted, believing it would help him tame his dark side,[2] during which he put Yun's lightsaber away and built his own blue saber as part of his training.. Katarn, once again a Jedi Knight, developed a friendship with fellow Jedi trainee Corran Horn, but when two students of the Academy fell to the dark side, Katarn's fear of succumbing multiplied.[2] Katarn gave up the Force, entrusting his lightsaber to Skywalker, and returned to his mercenary ways as Jan Ors' partner. During the next year, Katarn was noted several times by NRI investigators for his overzealous attitude in eliminating Imperial soldiers. After a mission on Tatooine, he had only left one Imperial survivor for questioning who was so distressed from his ordeal that he could barely relate what little information he had while under interrogation. All that the interrogation staff could get him to say was that his orders had come from Kejim.[6]
Katarn was sent to the world of Kejim to act on this information and en route, fragments of Imperial communication intercepted by the New Republic were relayed to Katarn and Ors, which further affirmed the Republic's suspicions that something was going on. Katarn was at first hesitant to go as the transmission had made mention of the Valley of the Jedi. There was indeed a Imperial base on the planet where, upon a detailed inspection of the base, Katarn found strange crystals which, when analyzed, were found to be very similar to ones used in a Jedi's lightsaber. Their mission would have ended there, as Katarn didn't want to get involved with anything that involved the Force, but Ors accepted the job on his behalf, having been offered twice their usual fee by Mon Mothma.[6]
Personality and traits
Kyle Katarn
- "The truth can hurt. But lies are worse."
- ―Kyle Katarn
Kyle Katarn was a very complicated but good intentioned individual. Katarn appeared very self-confident and possessed an almost cynical dry sense of humor, but often doubted himself and always gave every choice a good deal of thought. He was an independent and free-thinking person, but at the same time his primary concern was always the safety and well-being of those he cared for. Katarn was also not one without fear, having a fear of death, and a fear of doing the wrong thing.
Katarn's blend of personalities made him a promising cadet leader while at the Imperial academy. Sergeant Major Hong especially appreciated the young cadet's skills, admiring Katarn's rational approach to his assignments and his humility when asking the superior officer for advice. During his Omega Exercise, Katarn showed that his heart was softer than most other Imperials. He could not bring himself to order the execution of the Rebels his men had captured, instead choosing to let them go. Katarn later used his cynical sense of humor, reason, and concern for others to inspire his team when the mission went south. This enabled them to pull together and complete the mission.
When Katarn learned the truth about his father Morgan's death, he underwent a dramatic change. He became bitter and developed a stronger hatred for the Empire. He accepted missions from the Alliance that were directed at the Empire to get the opportunity to personally kill Imperial agents and thwart their plans. He was no longer afraid of dying, but his fear of doing the wrong thing remained. While throwing himself into one death-defying situation after another, Katarn was always careful not to harm innocents and cared greatly for the safety of his partner Jan Ors. Ors considered Katarn reckless and saw his dare-devil attitude as a result of Katarn constantly wanting to impress others. During his years as a Rebel agent, Katarn was a lone wolf, who preferred to work on his own. Teamwork was, according to Ors, not one of his strengths.
Although a powerful warrior, Katarn as a Jedi seemed to keep a low profile, being reluctant to embrace the Force itself. He repeatedly denied the ways of the Force, at one time going so far as to completely sever his own connection to it. The core of this reluctance was his fear of the dark side and distrust of his own motivation to use powers. He knew that deep inside, he was driven by a lust for revenge and hatred against those that killed his father. He knew all too well that hatred was an emotion fed by the dark side. He did call upon the dark side of the Force twice in the scramble for the Valley of the Jedi, as he had killed Maw in anger. It was after the Dromund Kaas incident that he severed the bonds with the Force completely. His motivation for reconnecting with the Force was ultimately also motivated by revenge, as he sought to avenge Ors, whom he thought had been killed. But even in his darkest hours there would always be some light inside him. More often than not, he would spare the lives of even his worst enemies. When he learned that Ors was not dead, Katarn changed. His hatred was replaced with hope, and his lust for revenge was replaced with compassion.
Eventually, he came to accept his destiny as a Jedi Knight, arguing that no Force power is inherently dark or light, but that it fully depends on how and for what one uses it. Rather than being ashamed of his brushes with the dark side, he would openly share his experiences with his apprentices so that they would not make the same mistakes as he did. As time went on, his confidence increased and it was clear that whatever hesitancy he may have once had was long since gone. During his time as a member of the Jedi High Council he kept a low profile still, most of the time listening and gathering facts, instead of getting caught up in the passions of his fellow Masters. However it was noted that whenever he did speak, his comments were usually like a punch to the gut, in terms of how on point and honest they were.
Katarn never liked to wear traditional Jedi robes, instead choosing to wear the clothes he wore in his mercenary days. He still wore them even at formal gatherings, such as funeral's. He didn't like to be referred to with titles like "Master Katarn," as titles made him uncomfortable, and preferred to be on a first name basis with his apprentices. In this way, he reflected the idea that he still felt a connection to the common people of the galaxy, and showing humility by preferring not to stand out. He was noted by Luke Skywalker to probably be the most politically astute of all the Masters on the Council.
Relationships
Powers and abilities
- "Remember, abilities are not inherently good or evil, it's how you use them."
- ―Kyle Katarn
Katarn was adept at using a variety of weapons. His training at the Imperial Academy gave him great skill in using Imperial weapons. This training, along with a natural intuition, allowed him to effectively use every weapon he came across in his travels.
Despite being almost completely self-trained, Katarn became one of the New Jedi Order's most respected Jedi Masters. With relatively little lightsaber combat training, Katarn defeated seven trained Dark Jedi; Yun, Gorc, Pic, Maw, Sariss, Boc, and then Clement Jerec himself; an amazing accomplishment for the neophyte he was at the time. However, it should be noted that Katarn did learn many techniques from the spirits of Qu Rahn and the ancient Jedi Tal in the Valley of the Jedi, such as the Flowing Water cut and the Falling Leaf attack.
Despite knowing the dangers of the dark side, Katarn utilized Force grip and Force lightning even as a Jedi Master. In spite of this, he was equally strong in Tutaminis and Force protection, which he demonstrated during his mission with Jaden. During the events led by Desann, Katarn showed mastery of the Force by relearning abilities in a relatively short amount of time. However, it should be noted that Katarn revisited the Valley of the Jedi to quickly restore his connection to the Force, which increased his raw Force potential as a side-effect. Katarn showed a strong will, resisting the many taunts and mental tricks Desann used on him in the Yavin temple.
During the events of the Disciples of Ragnos Crisis, Katarn had already become one of the strongest swordsmen in the New Jedi Order and successfully trained Jaden Keller. An extraordinary swordsman, Katarn became the New Jedi Order's foremost Battlemaster. His general mastery of the Force was incredible and surpassed all but the strongest Jedi Masters.
Katarn demonstrated a comfortable understanding of Shyriiwook with his old friend Chewbacca.
Appearances
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Notes and references
- ↑ Star Wars: Dark Forces
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs nameddfs - ↑ 3.0 3.1 Dark Forces: Jedi Knight
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Cite error: Invalid
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<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedmos - ↑ 6.0 6.1 Star Wars: Jedi Outcast