Alexsandr Kallus

"&hellip;in the course of my duties, I have encountered a rebel cell."

- Agent Kallus, to the Inquisitor

Kallus was a Human male Agent of the Imperial Security Bureau, operating number: ISB-021, in the years prior to the Battle of Yavin. Kallus, a firm believer in the Imperial cause and bringing order to the galaxy, was tasked with suppressing resistance against the Galactic Empire before such acts could spark a full-scale rebellion. He was also involved in the cleansing of Lasan and the near-extinction of the Lasat. He would later be assigned to Lothal, where he pursued the rebels who operated there in an attempt to stop them from fomenting a larger rebel movement.

Early life
"I was there when Lasan fell. I know why you fear those disruptors. I gave the order to use them!"

- Agent Kallus, to Garazeb Orrelios

Kallus, a Human male, was born on Coruscant several years prior to the Invasion of Naboo, during the final years of the Galactic Republic. After Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine declared himself Emperor and transformed the Republic into the Galactic Empire, Kallus joined the Imperial Security Bureau, a secret task force that pursued and destroyed rebellious activity throughout the galaxy. Kallus, whose codename was ISB-021, became a high-ranked ISB Agent and commanded his own Imperial-class Star Destroyer, the Lawbringer.

As an ISB Agent, Kallus took part in the cleansing of the planet Lasan, in which the planet's species, the Lasat, was all but destroyed and completely driven away from their homeworld. Kallus gave the order for Imperial troops to use T-7 ion disruptors against the population. These rifles were powerful enough to disable starships and had gruesome results when used against sentient beings. These weapons were ultimately banned by the Imperial Senate as a result of their destructive power. Before the cleansing of Lasan ended, Kallus took an AB-75 bo-rifle from a member of the Lasan Honor Guard that he had killed.

Trapping the Ghost
"The Imperial Security Bureau pays attention to patterns. When the Empire's operations are targeted on an ongoing basis, it could signify something more than the theft of a few crates. It could signify the spark of rebellion. Next time they make a move, we'll be waiting for them to snuff out that spark before it catches fire."

- Kallus, to Commandant Cumberlayne Aresko

Five years before the Battle of Yavin, a rebel cell operated on Lothal, where they hit a number of Imperial targets. These attacks drew the attention of the Imperial Security Bureau. Kallus took special interest in the crew, which operated off the starship Ghost, and inspected the damage the rebels caused after stealing crates of food and weapons. He was briefed by Commandant Cumberlayne Aresko, one of the leading military officers on Lothal, about the attack, and Kallus explained that it was part of a pattern&mdash;one that, if not stopped, could lead to a larger rebel movement.

In an effort to destroy the rebels, Kallus prepared a trap to lure them in by making the rebels believe they had learned the location of Wookiee slaves being held by the Empire. Although the Empire was holding Wookiee prisoners, the rebels were fed false information as to their location, and the Ghost docked with a Gozanti-class cruiser that the rebels believed held the slaves. Jedi survivor Kanan Jarrus, Lasan Honor Guardsman Garazeb Orrelios, Mandalorian warrior Sabine Wren, and the droid C1-10P boarded the ship, while the Lawbringer dropped out of hyperspace and captured the Gozanti-class cruiser and the Ghost. With the ships captured, Kallus and his stormtroopers also boarded the cruiser and attacked the rebels. Wren and the droid shut down the gravity generator on the ship, taking the Imperials by surprise and giving the rebels an opportunity to escape. As they did, Kallus was able to capture Ezra Bridger, a new member of the Ghost crew who had boarded to warn the rebels that the Lawbringer had arrived.

With Bridger in custody, Kallus intended to use the boy in order to lure the rebels back, believing that they would mount a rescue attempt. Kallus spoke to Bridger in his cell and told the young rebel of the plan, but Bridger did not believe that the Ghost would return, as he had never seen anyone risk their lives for other people before. Despite Bridger's insistence, the rebels did ultimately return, though the boy escaped from his holding cell on his own. The Ghost landed in the lower hangar, which the Imperials detected. Kallus ordered all stormtroopers to converge on the lower hangar, where he would meet them, though he diverted some to the upper hangar; Bridger, who was listening to Imperial communications through a stolen stormtrooper helmet, posed as a stormtrooper and suggested that the lower hangar could be a diversion.

Kallus led his stormtroopers to the lower hangar, where he found that Bridger had already met back up with the rebels. The rebels fled at the sight of the Imperial troops, who pursued them and fired on the Ghost. As the rebel ship was preparing to depart, Kallus noticed graffiti art on the hangar floor, which had been drawn by Wren, and realized it was an explosive. He ordered his men to take cover, but the explosion ripped through the hangar and some of his men. Kallus, however, survived, and was thrown forward by the explosion. The damage caused a hull breach, and many stormtroopers were sucked into space. Kallus himself was nearly pulled into space as well, but he held onto the hangar deck long enough for a force field to cover the damage to the hull. He remained in the hangar as the Imperials recovered from the rebel attack, and was brought the helmet that Bridger stole and left behind&mdash;prompting the ISB Agent to realize that Bridger had overheard that the true location of the Wookiee prisoners was the spice mines of the planet Kessel.

Knowing that the rebels would not pass up the opportunity to rescue the Wookiees, Kallus allowed the rebels to reach Kessel, where they freed the Wookiee slaves from the Imperial forces stationed in spice mine K76. Before the rebels could leave, however, Kallus and additional Imperial forces arrived, firing on the Ghost and forcing it to flee while the rest of the rebels remained in the mine. Kallus and a squadron of stormtroopers landed at the mine and advanced on the rebels, forcing them to take cover. With the rebels pinned down, the rebel leader, Jarrus, stepped forward and ignited a lightsaber, revealing himself as a Jedi who had survived the destruction of the Jedi Order. Kallus ordered all of his soldiers to focus their fire on Jarrus, which gave the rest of the rebels and the Wookiees a chance to enter a cargo container, which would be picked up by the Ghost when it returned.

While the stormtroopers focused on the rebels, Kallus followed Bridger to a walkway overlooking the mine, where the boy had gone to rescue Kitwarr, a young Wookiee who had escaped and was chased by a stormtrooper. Kallus arrived to see Bridger attack the stormtrooper with an energy slingshot, knocking the trooper over the railing. Kallus believed that Bridger was Jarrus' apprentice and prepared to kill the boy, but the Ghost arrived to rescue Bridger. Jarrus, who stood atop the ship, deflected Kallus' fire back at the ISB Agent. Kallus was struck with blaster fire, knocking him over the railing, which he held onto as the Ghost escaped. The stormtrooper, who had also fallen over, clung to the railing as well and asked if Jarrus was the first Jedi that Kallus had ever seen. In response, Kallus kicked the trooper off the railing, sending him falling into the mines.

Kallus left the spice mines and returned to the Lawbringer, which remained in orbit over Kessel. From the ship, Kallus contacted the Inquisitor, a dark side warrior tasked with hunting down Jedi survivors. Kallus told the Inquisitor, who appeared via hologram, about what happened on Kessel and that the leader of the rebel cell was a Jedi, to which the Inquisitor said Kallus had done well to inform him of.

Droid distress call
"Have no fear. Help is on the way."

- Kallus, to C-3PO

After their successful rescue of the Wookiees, the rebels engaged in a mission to steal T-7 ion disruptors from the planet Garel. It was there that Minister Maketh Tua of Lothal was attempting to procure the illegal weapons from Amda Wabo, an Aqualish weapons manufacturer. The rebels were able to reach the disruptors before the Imperials could and stopped the arms deal, taking the weapons for themselves&mdash;as well as two droids, R2-D2 and C-3PO, who were part of the arms deal on orders of Governor Arihnda Pryce of Lothal and who were covertly working for the secretly rebellious Senator Bail Organa of Alderaan. After the rebels stole the weapons, Tua contacted Agent Kallus and informed him of what had transpired on Garel, and Kallus recognized it as the work of the Ghost crew. C-3PO, believing himself to be the prisoner of criminals, attempted to send a distress signal to Governor Pryce, but the signal was rerouted and intercepted by Kallus aboard the Lawbringer. C-3PO provided Kallus with the location of the Ghost, and Kallus lied by telling the droid that help was on the way.

The rebels returned to Lothal, where they intended to sell the disruptors to the Devaronian crime lord Cikatro Vizago. Before the deal could be completed, Kallus and his forces arrived in Imperial Troop Transports, bringing All Terrain Defense Pods with them. While the stormtroopers and AT-DPs fought most of the rebels, Kallus challenged Orrelios to single combat with bo-rifles. The enraged Lasat met the ISB Agent in battle, and the two fought while the rebels took on the Imperial forces and destroyed the disruptors. By the end of their duel, in which Kallus taunted Orrelios about the fall of Lasan, Orrelios was nearly beaten. Kallus attempted to make a fatal blow, but he was stopped by Bridger, who used the Force to push Kallus away. This gave the rebels a chance to escape, leaving Kallus behind to watch the Ghost fly away.

Incident at the Academy
Kallus was in his office at the imperial headquarters, a complex part of the Imperial Academy at Lothal, when Ezra Bridger posed under the name Dev Morgan as a cadet to infiltrate the facility. His task was to steal a decoder that had the location of a transport of Kyber crystals. Since the decoder was in Kallus' office, Ezra went there when he left this just left the room, but when he was getting out he was stopped by Zare Leonis, which warned him of the fact that the decoder would activate a sensor that would locked the complex. The cadets had, therefore, the next day, to complete the exercise in the first three of their group to enter in the imperial headquarters. Ezra climbed through the ventilation shaft, so he could catch the decoder with the force, while Zare from the agent, by pretending this had to sign a report on the delivery. Kallus realized how Zare looked back once in a while, but when Kallus turned Ezra already had the decoder. Zare accepted that the delivery would be a mistake and went off with Ezra. The cadets had, therefore, the next day, to complete the exercise in the first three to enter the imperial headquarters. Shortly after, Zare and Jai Kell managed an AT-DP to run off the academy. When they met with the rebels themselves, Zare decided to stay in the Academy to try to find his sister. After the incident, Kallus was with Aresko and Zare in the Inquisitor's office. The Inquisitor recognized Ezra and asked Zare to say everything about his fellow partners.

Personality and traits
"Wow, you're about as bright as a binary droid."

- Ezra Bridger, after learning he would be used as bait to capture the rebels

As an Agent of the Imperial Security Bureau, Kallus was a firm believer in the Imperial cause and held a fierce loyalty towards the Emperor. Kallus hated disorder and rebellious activity, and made it his life's work to ensure stability within the Empire. He had a sense of superiority over others, which inflated his disdain of lawlessness in the Outer Rim Territories. Through his position as an ISB Agent, Kallus hoped to achieve greater prominence within the Empire. Any time he could defeat rebel insurgents, he would consider it a prize that he achieved for the Empire, a prize that could help him move onto something bigger.

Kallus, a skilled fighter, did not command soldiers from afar, but rather fought alongside them on the front lines, including against the crew of the Ghost. Kallus even took pride in his role in the destruction of the Lasat species, and he showed an eagerness to fight Orrelios on Lothal in bo-rifle combat. Kallus saw his actions as necessary in order to do his job and ensure stability and efficiency within the Empire.

Skills and abilities
"Only the Honor Guard of Lasan may carry a bo-rifle." "I know! I removed it from a guardsman myself!"

- Garazeb Orrelios and Kallus

Kallus was trained in both riot control and heavy combat, and he wore an ISB helmet designed for such situations. He underwent extensive training to become proficient in fighting and was a dangerous foe in hand-to-hand combat. After the fall of Lasan, he learned to use a bo-rifle and kept his as a trophy of his actions during the cleansing. He was able to successfully use this weapon against Orrelios, a trained Honor Guardsman, during a fight on Lothal.

Behind the scenes
"So Kallus, definitely an interesting character, and one to watch out for&mdash;especially if you're a rebel."

- Dave Filoni

Agent Kallus is one of the primary antagonists of the animated television series Star Wars Rebels, in which he is voiced by British actor David Oyelowo. Kallus was created as a rebel hunter and a recurring antagonist for the rebel crew, one who would be on the front lines of conflicts between the rebels and the Empire. Kallus went through a number of different designs, including one in which he was depicted as a Chiss; in Star Wars Legends stories, the Chiss were prominently featured in such works as the Thrawn Trilogy, in which the villain, Grand Admiral Thrawn, was a Chiss. The production team settled on a Human character, and Oyelowo was cast to the play the part. The show's co-creator, Carrie Beck, said that Oyelowo was able to bring "a voice that is very authoritative, and very commanding, and very cool without betraying any sense of insecurity or weakness."

The character was first revealed at the 2014 Hasbro Toy Fair. He appeared in multiple trailers, including the full trailer released on May 4, 2014, before becoming the subject of his own introductory video. He made his first on-screen appearance in Star Wars Rebels: Spark of Rebellion, the show's premiere television movie that debuted on October 3, 2014.

His name is likely a play on the word "callous", fitting his personality.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Rebels: Spark of Rebellion
 * Ezra's Wookiee Rescue
 * Star Wars Rebels: Head to Head