Kylo Ren facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Kylo RenBen Solo |
|
|---|---|
| Star Wars character | |
Adam Driver as Kylo Ren in Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)
|
|
| First appearance | The Force Awakens (2015) |
| Created by |
|
| Portrayed by | Adam Driver |
| Voiced by |
|
| Information | |
| Occupation |
|
| Homeworld | Chandrila |
Kylo Ren is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise. Introduced in the 2015 film Star Wars: The Force Awakens, he is portrayed by Adam Driver.
"Kylo Ren" is the chosen name of Ben Solo. Presumably, but not explicitly stated to be, named after Obi-Wan "Ben" Kenobi the son of original Star Wars trilogy characters Han Solo and Leia Organa. Though trained by his uncle Luke Skywalker as a Jedi, he has been seduced to the dark side of the Force by Supreme Leader Snoke and aspires to be as powerful as his grandfather, Darth Vader.
Ren is the master of the Knights of Ren, as well as a commander and later the Supreme Leader of the First Order, an organization spawned from the former Galactic Empire.
He first appeared as the primary antagonist of Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), in which he is portrayed by Adam Driver. Driver reprised his role in the sequel films Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019), with the character also appearing in Star Wars Resistance (2018–2020), The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special (2020) and LEGO Star Wars Terrifying Tales (2021).
In addition to appearing in the films and television series, Kylo Ren has also appeared in related media and merchandising. Driver's performance has received acclaim from critics and fans. For his performance in The Force Awakens, Driver won the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor, making him the first Star Wars actor since Alec Guinness to win the award. Driver received a second nomination in the same category for his performance in The Rise of Skywalker.
Contents
Concept and creation
.jpg)
JJ Abrams requested that the character's mask be designed to be memorable to a child. According to Abrams, "the design was meant to be a nod to the Vader mask", and concept designer Doug Chiang says that the character "takes on [the] persona of [Vader] to haunt Luke". According to The Force Awakens costume designer Michael Kaplan:
"I don't know if it was the kind of spaghetti type lines on it or what, but the next time J.J. [Abrams] came by that was what we presented to him and he loved it. Also the silver in those lines kind of reflects and changes color with the action. You know, if he's standing in front of fire you see that, so it almost brings you into the mask."
Driver's casting in the film in an unnamed role was first announced on April 29, 2014. Kylo Ren was first seen from behind, but still not named, in the 88-second The Force Awakens teaser trailer released by Lucasfilm on November 28, 2014, wielding a jagged red lightsaber with a crossguard. The name Kylo Ren, as well as the character's design, was revealed by Entertainment Weekly in a Lucasfilm-designed Topps-style trading card mock-up on December 11, 2014; a character named "Kybo Ren" was previously featured in the 1985 animated series Star Wars: Droids. A May 2015 Vanity Fair photo shoot by Annie Leibovitz confirmed that Driver would be portraying Kylo.
According to other cast members, Driver is a method actor, meaning that he sometimes stayed in character on set as Ren and left his mask on between scenes. Driver explained that his goal was "to forget you're in Star Wars and treat it like any other job that's filled with moments and problems", because from the perspective of the characters living within the film's universe, "Darth Vader is real."
Character
.jpg)
JJ Abrams told Empire in August 2015, "Kylo Ren is not a Sith. He works under Supreme Leader Snoke, who is a powerful figure on the dark side of the Force." Abrams had previously stated that the character "came to the name Kylo Ren when he joined a group called the Knights of Ren."
Kasdan told Entertainment Weekly in August 2015, "I've written four Star Wars movies now, and there's never been a character quite like the one that Adam [Driver] plays. I think you're going to see something that's brand new to the saga," noting that the character is "full of emotion". Abrams explained, "I think that what makes Ren so unique is that he isn't as fully formed as when we meet a character such as Darth Vader...[Kylo Ren] is not your prototypical mustache-twirling bad guy. He is a little bit more complex than that." Driver said in December 2015 that, despite the visual similarities to Darth Vader, Ren is "unlike any villain the franchise has seen". He explained:
"I feel there's a recklessness about him that's maybe not normally associated with the Dark Side. You normally think of order, and structure, and full commitment and no hesitation...he's just a little bit more unpolished. It's in his costume, in his lightsaber—how you kind of get the sense that it could just not work at any moment; that it could just blow up. That's kind of like a big metaphor for him."
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019) revealed that Kylo Ren and Rey were two halves of a "dyad" in the Force, which Terrio alternatively described as "sort of soulmate[s] in the Force" and "twins of fate, twins of destiny".
Appearances
- The Force Awakens (2015)
- The Last Jedi (2017)
- The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
- The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special (2020)===
Comics
- Age of Resistance (2019)
- The Rise of Kylo Ren (2019–2020)
Other works
Books
Kylo Ren is a point of view character in the 2015, 2017, and 2019 novelizations of the Star Wars sequel trilogy by Alan Dean Foster, Jason Fry, and Rae Carson.
According to the book Skywalker: A Family at War by Kristin Baver, as the son of Princess Leia, Ben Solo would have inherited the title of "Prince of Alderaan" if the planet and the royal House of Organa not been destroyed by his grandfather, Darth Vader, and Empire prior to his birth. Upon the birth of Ben Solo, he was considered a member of the Elder Houses of the galaxy, and entitled through hereditary succession to ceremonial titles, including "Supreme Governor of Birren", a small planet settled by Alderaanian explorers in the Inner Rim of the galaxy. Through his maternal grandmother, Padmé Amidala, Ben Solo is also descended from, and related to, the Naberrie family of Naboo.
According to the 2016 novel Star Wars: Bloodline by Claudia Gray, as well as the 2017 Chuck Wendig novel Star Wars: Aftermath: Empire's End, due to the destruction of Alderaan, Princess Leia gave birth to Ben on Chandrila, the home planet of Mon Mothma, as well as the temporary capital of the New Republic. Ben was born in 5 ABY, one year and four days after the Battle of Endor in the film Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (1983). Kylo Ren is also mentioned in the 2017 novel Star Wars: Phasma by Delilah S. Dawson, which takes place before the events of the film Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015).
According to the 2018 novel Last Shot: A Han and Lando Novel by Daniel José Older, which features a young Ben Solo, the boy was never formally raised or invested as a "Prince of Alderaan", despite his mother leading the Alderaanian diaspora. Out of the 2 billion inhabitants on Alderaan - with the modern-day populations of China and India having about 2.8 billion people combined - about 60,000 survived the destruction of the planet due to being outside of its star system at the time. One of the survivors, Cara Dune, served as a marshal of the New Republic, presumably under Princess Leia, Ben Solo's mother, around 9 ABY. Dune is played by Gina Carano in The Mandalorian.
Toys and games
Kylo is a playable character in the 2015 The Force Awakens add-on to the Disney Infinity 3.0 video game, with an Infinity character figurine available separately. He is also a character in the strategy video game Star Wars: Force Arena.
Hasbro has released a 3+3⁄4-inch (9.5 cm) Kylo Ren action figure, and a 6-inch (15 cm) figure in their Black Series line. He is also featured in the Lego Star Wars playsets Kylo Ren's Command Shuttle (2015) and Battle on Takodana (2016), as well as a Lego Buildable Figure. The Lego version of Kylo also appears in the 2016 short form animated series Lego Star Wars: The Resistance Rises, and as a playable character in Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Kylo appears in Star Wars Battlefront II, voiced by Matthew Wood and Roger Craig Smith, masked and unmasked respectively. In the game, Kylo interrogates Del Meeko about Lor San Tekka's location (who possess the map to Luke Skywalker) using his Force abilities. When Del finally relents and reveals the map and Lor San Tekka's location, Kylo leaves him for Hask, Del's former comrade in Inferno Squad.
Television
In January 2016, Driver reprised the role for a Star Wars: Undercover Boss sketch on Saturday Night Live, with Kylo Ren disguising himself as a radar technician named "Matt" to determine what the Starkiller Base employees really think of him. Driver again reprised the role in January 2020 for a follow-up Saturday Night Live sketch titled "Undercover Boss: Where Are They Now?" in which Kylo goes undercover as "Randy", an entry-level intern on a star destroyer.
Kylo Ren, voiced once again by Matthew Wood, also appears in the Star Wars: Resistance series finale episode "The Escape", where he kills Agent Tierny for failing to destroy the Colossus Resistance. Kylo Ren is also one of the numerous voices heard in the fourth and final season of Star Wars: Rebels in the episode "A World Between Worlds", with an excerpt of Driver's dialogue from The Force Awakens being used.
Theme parks
Kylo Ren appears as a walk-around character within Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge at Disneyland and Disney's Hollywood Studios. The character appears during Star Tours – The Adventures Continue and Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, with the latter featuring the character in audio-animatronic form with Driver providing the voice.
Other media
On November 28, 2019, Ichikawa Ebizō XI starred as Kairennosuke in Star Wars Kabuki: Kairennosuke and the Three Shining Swords (スター・ウォーズ歌舞伎〜煉之介光刃三本〜, Sutā Uōzu Kabuki ~Rennosuke Kōjin San-pon~), a kabuki production that re-enacted key events of Kylo Ren in The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi.
See also
In Spanish: Kylo Ren para niños
