Rahm Kota

"My records recall Kota as a blind drunk. But according to Imperial records, he was a respected general in the Clone Wars."

- PROXY

Rahm Kota was an elder Human male Jedi Master and general during the Clone Wars. His lack of faith in the clone troopers allowed the general to escape Order 66.

Early life
Prior to joining the Jedi Order, Kota fought in the trench warfare that plagued his homeworld. While negotiating a peaceful resolution to a brutal conflict, Mace Windu befriended the then-eighteen-year-old Kota. Once the mission was completed, Mace sought to bring Kota to Coruscant to begin training in the Jedi arts with Jedi Master Yoda as tutor. He gained few friends due to his outward hostility, but his courage was known to all. Kota always opted for the most hazardous missions. He became a tough, grizzled general and participant in many combat sorties during the Clone Wars.

The dark times
"A boy? Months of attacking Imperial targets, and Vader sends a boy to fight me?"

- Rahm Kota, not impressed of who he was facing

Kota believed that clones were not fit to be soldiers, relying instead on a militia of his own special troops, selected and trained by Kota personally. This ended up saving his life when Order 66 was issued, as his squad had no clone troopers to implement Palpatine's command. A squad of Antarian Rangers in his service managed to wisk him to safety and, learning what had happened to the rest of the Jedi Order, Kota and his loyal soldiers vanished into the Outer Rim Territories. Imperial records actually claimed he was dead.

Kota eventually became a secret ally of Senator Bail Organa and his assistant, Ylenic It'kla, who fed him information about Imperial targets, attacking them to draw the Sith out. In 3 BBY, acting on Organa's information, Kota and his followers took over a TIE fighter construction yard over Nar Shaddaa, but he was stopped and blinded by Galen Marek, an apprentice of Darth Vader who operated under the codename of Starkiller.



"Vader thinks he's turned you. But I can sense your future. And Vader won't always be your master. I sense only... me?"

- Rahm Kota tells Galen of his possible future

Kota believed that Galen had a far greater calling than just as Darth Vader's servant. During Kota's duel with the aspiring Sith, Kota used the Force to split the Construction Facility in half, and flipped it over making what was the ceiling the floor. At the climax of their duel, before the apprentice could finish off the Jedi, Kota said in a rather cryptic manner that he could see the young man's future, and in it all he could see was himself, and that he would not always be Vader's servant.

At the end of their fateful duel, Galen blinded Rahm by forcing his own lightsaber back into his eyes while in a saber lock. In this moment, Kota staggered back and released a telekinetic repulse that shattered all viewports and sent Marek flying. As then a gust of wind came sweeping through sucking Kota out the command center, sending him free-falling towards Nar Shaddaa. Marek, though, thought it possible that Kota leapt out.

However, Kota survived, but was blinded. He had apparently lost his connection to the Force, and led a self-imposed exile on Cloud City on Bespin. Galen, in his search to gather the enemies of the Empire, finally found him on Cloud City after months of tracking him, from Nar Shaddaa to Ziost. Kota led Galen to rescue Princess Leia Organa from the Imperial slave outpost on Kashyyyk, to convince her "father," his senate contact Bail Organa, to help them in their cause.

When Galen returned to Raxus Prime to destroy a Star Destroyer construction station with an ore cannon, one of the Destroyers came crashing through the atmosphere. Kota told Marek to use the Force to gently put it down before it crushed the Rogue Shadow. As the Rebels gathered on Corellia, Kota, who had removed his bandages, offered his experience and wisdom to the Alliance. But just as the Corellian Treaty was signed, the empire attacked and Vader reveals that Galen had lured them out to be captured. Kota tried to fight Vader but was caught in a Force grip and thrown aside. The Rebel Senators were taken to the Death Star to be interrogated, tortured and then publicly executed to crush further resistance. But Kota knew that there'd be another rebellion, as Galen, who had followed them, came to battle Vader. When the cyborg Sith was defeated, Palpatine tried to entice Galen to finish his apprentice but Kota interfered, snatching Palpatine's lightsaber with the Force but Palpatine attacked him with Force Lightning. Galen engaged the Emperor to save Kota, but when he had the emperor at his mercy, Kota told the redeemed Jedi that he shouldn't strike the Sith in anger. Palpatine then took advantage of their distraction to attack Kota again with Force lightning, but Galen interceded, at the cost of his life, to buy time for the Rebels and Kota to escape on the Rogue Shadow.

Regrouping on Kashyyyk, in the old hut where Galen's family once lived, the Rebels resolved to continue the work their founder (Galen) started, using the insignia of Galen's family as a symbol of hope. Kota then comforted a worried Juno, saying that when Galen found him at Cloud City, he glimpsed one bright thing in all of the dark thoughts in his mind: Juno.

Personality and traits
After the loss of his sight, Kota became disillusioned in his planned attempts at defeating the Empire and became a solitary drunk who was left alone. He believed that defeating the Emperor was a fool's errand as its vast warmachine was unbeatable with anyone attempting to achieve such a task being killed or facing a far worse fate. However, Marek's continued attempts at defeating the Empire inspired Kota to resume working for the defeat of the Emperor.

Behind the scenes
Kota is voiced by Cully Fredrickson, whose likeness was also used for the character.

Leaked Hasbro toy catalogs were the first sources to hint at Kota's character as a "Samurai Jedi."

Kota's character was originally going to be the disembodied spirit of Qui-Gon Jinn.

In the video game, if you enter MANDALORE as a cheat code, you can play as Rahm Kota.

In the PSP, PS2 and Wii versions of the Force Unleashed, Kota is found on Nar Shaddaa instead of Bespin.

Appearances

 * The Force Unleashed novel
 * Star Wars: The Force Unleashed comic
 * Star Wars: The Force Unleashed video game

Notes and references
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