Kyp Durron

"What good is being Jedi if we do not act?"

- Kyp Durron

Kyp Durron (5 BBY&mdash;) was a Jedi Master, one of the first to be trained at Luke Skywalker's Jedi Praxeum. Durron was a powerful Jedi, but a frustration to Skywalker's attempts to create a good name for the New Jedi Order.

As a Jedi Master, Kyp was one of the most powerful Jedi in the Order, almost rivaling Luke Skywalker in lightsaber and Force skills.

Early life
Kyp Durron was born on the Deyer colony of the Anoat system. In an Imperial roundup of dissidents, he and his family were sent to be slaved in the spice mines of Kessel. Durron was only eight years old. His older brother Zeth was conscripted into Imperial service.

Jedi training
While laboring in the spice mines, Durron met Vima-Da-Boda, who taught him what minor Force skills she could before being removed by Imperial authorities. Eight years after his enslavement, Han Solo and Chewbacca were taken prisoner and forced to work in the mines. With the help of Kyp, they managed to escape. In their flight, Kyp piloted them through The Maw, a cluster of black holes, and to a top secret military program under Admiral Daala. It was here that Kyp first found the Sun Crusher, which he used to escape. Upon their return, Kyp found a place at Skywalker's Jedi academy when Luke felt Kyp's force potential; the son of Anakin Skywalker was thrown across the room by the young man.

He soon became dissatisfied with Luke's slow pace and was possessed by the dark side's Exar Kun. Kyp recaptured the Sun Crusher and pursued a destructive course. One of his first actions was to destroy Carida's sun, annihilating the Imperial base located there. After he fired his weapon, he discovered that his brother Zeth was not dead as the Caridan officials claimed, but was alive among the ranks of stormtroopers at the Imperial Academy there. Kyp was unable to save him in time though, and fell farther into the clutches of the dark side because of it.

Luke and Han Solo were eventually able to catch up to him and return him to the light. He then destroyed the Sun Crusher, piloting it into a black hole, and only narrowly escaping by squeezing himself into a message pod thought too small for any human to inhabit.

Yuuzhan Vong invasion
Kyp quickly grew strong in the Force and took on Miko Reglia as his Jedi apprentice. Kyp and Reglia formed the Dozen-and-Two Avengers, a vigilante group of X-wing pilots. This squadron was one of the first to encounter the Yuuzhan Vong. Kyp lost his squadron and his apprentice to the Yuuzhan Vong, barely escaping with his own life in that encounter.

Although he favored more aggressive tactics than many of the other Jedi, he proved himself a valuable asset in the deadly conflict. He briefly took on Jaina Solo as an apprentice and there were hints of a budding relationship between them, but she lost much respect for him when he tricked her into destroying a Yuuzhan Vong worldship that he claimed was a superweapon. After the Fall of Coruscant, Kyp was one of those who managed to reach Hapes. As he watched Jaina come close to falling to the dark side, Kyp finally understood how dangerous his own aggressive tactics were. Jaina managed to come back from the edge, and she re-apprenticed herself to Kyp. Leia Organa Solo, however, warned him that if he ever hurt Jaina again, the Yuuzhan Vong would be the least of his problems. After this incident, he became a much more stable person, and since his reformation he gained greater acceptance among the other Jedi.

Though Kyp disagreed with many of Luke Skywalker's policies, he was appointed to the High Council, and later the Masters' council. Kyp eventually learned to work out his differences with Luke and the other Jedi, even though their views on certain subjects often differed. Kyp was one of the Jedi to fly a Zonama Sekotan Fighter in defense of Zonama Sekot.

Dark Nest Crisis
By the Dark Nest Crisis, however, Kyp was once again at odds with the other Jedi. Though he consistently defered to Master Skywalker, he was, along with Mara Jade Skywalker, a leader of the faction which felt the Jedi had a duty to the Galaxy at large before the Galactic Alliance. This brought him into conflict with Corran Horn and Kenth Hamner, who felt that the Jedi were answerable to the Galactic Alliance. When Skywalker was out of contact on Woteba, Cal Omas attempted to disorganize the Jedi by appointing Horn the order's interim leader. Durron refused to take part in it, saying that Luke Skywalker lead the Jedi, and that there would be no peace as long as Cal Omas was Chief of State.

Behind the scenes

 * Kyp Durron was created by Kevin J. Anderson.

Appearances

 * Jedi Search
 * Dark Apprentice
 * Champions of the Force
 * Simple Tricks
 * Darksaber
 * Jedi Academy: Leviathan
 * Vector Prime
 * Dark Tide I: Onslaught
 * Dark Tide II: Ruin
 * Agents of Chaos II: Jedi Eclipse
 * Balance Point
 * Edge of Victory II: Rebirth
 * Star by Star
 * Dark Journey
 * The Apprentice
 * Enemy Lines I: Rebel Dream
 * Enemy Lines II: Rebel Stand
 * Destiny's Way
 * The Final Prophecy
 * The Unifying Force
 * Dark Nest I: The Joiner King
 * Dark Nest II: The Unseen Queen
 * Dark Nest III: The Swarm War