Kira Carsen

"Eat lightsaber, jerk!"

- Kira Carsen

Kira Carsen was a Human female Jedi Knight who served the Jedi Order during the Cold War and the Second Great Galactic War between the Galactic Republic and the resurgent Sith Empire. During the Great Galactic War, she was born as a Child of the Sith Emperor, Lord Vitiate, she fled Korriban as a child and sought refuge on Nar Shaddaa. There, she met Master Bela Kiwiiks of the Jedi High Council on Tython and was taken up as her Padawan, all the while keeping her dark past in the Sith Empire to herself.

Later, Kira became the apprentice of the Hero of Tython, to help prevent the use of the Planet Prison weapon on Coruscant. However, the Sith Lord Darth Angral had stolen the weapon and both Jedi were sent to put a stop to his murderous campaign across the galaxy.

When her secret was revealed in a confrontation with one of her former "siblings", Valis, she was brought to Tython to confess before the Council. Fortunately, her Master spoke on her behalf and convinced the Council to let her go. Kira was given a chance to prove her loyalty to the Jedi Order and the Galactic Republic. When Master Bela Kiwiiks was kidnapped by the would-be redeemed Lord Praven on Tatooine, Kira rescued her former master, all the while admitting the past she had hidden from her since the day they met.

Once the Jedi finally caught up with Darth Angral on the Oppressor above Tython, the Emperor took control of Kira and ordered Angral to attack the Hero of Tython. Angral was killed in the duel and the Emperor fought in his stead through Kira's body. But Kira was strong enough to push the Dark Lord's influence out of her before the Oppressor was destroyed. She was given the rank of Jedi Knight, a slave to the Empire no longer.

Child of the Emperor
Kira Carsen was born to human parents in the territory of the Sith Empire during the Great Galactic War. Early in her life, the Empire learned that Kira was Force-sensitive, and her parents were forced to give her up to the Sith academy. However, during her time at the Academy, Carsen noticed that other children would disappear for unknown amounts of time. When they returned, they were different, unable to remember where they had been or sometimes who they or others were.

At some point, a ten-year-old Carsen discovered she could not recall days or weeks of time, and realized that she too had been taken. She became a Child of the Sith Emperor, meaning that the Emperor could possess her mind and body at will. Fearful of what the Emperor could do to her, she stowed away on a cargo ship headed out of Imperial space. She finally settled on Nar Shaddaa, where she spent years living in alleys and stealing to survive. She joined a group of alien refugees in the High Security Lockdown, where she met the Evocii Enaq and Darshyn.

Carsen spent the next eight years on Nar Shaddaa, using her nascent Force powers to defend herself and her friends. She would often bundle up in extra clothes to make herself look bigger, and was fiercely protective of her friends. When a street gang called the Ur'kossags began terrorizing the refugees, Kira paid the gang a visit. However, her attempt to negotiate with them ended poorly, and Carsen ended up killing several gang members. Carsen's actions backfired, however, causing everyone in the area to fear the refugee group's reputation. Carsen did not understand what she had done, because she left the planet not long after.

Meeting Master Kiwiiks
Carsen's life changed when she attempted to steal a hyperdrive engine from an expensive ship in the spaceport. She did not realize, however, that the ship belonged to the Jedi Master Bela Kiwiiks. Master Kiwiiks quickly recognized Carsen's affinity for the Force and offered Carsen the opportunity to join the Jedi Order. Carsen decided her best hopes of ending the evils that the Sith Empire had committed, against herself and others, was with the Jedi Order and accepted an apprenticeship with Master Kiwiiks.

The Hero of Tython
Eventually, Carsen met the Padawan of Orgus Din, and they worked together to stop Tarnis from unleashing the Planet Prison. She chose to travel with her new partner, now a Jedi Knight, and Satele Shan made her the Padawan of the Hero of Tython after Bela Kiwiiks left on a lone assignment to Tatooine. Carsen was later captured by agents of Darth Angral on the Ord Mantell space station. Angral, who had sworn a vendetta against Carsen's new master, demanded to know where the Knight was. Carsen misled him into believing that her Master was on Corellia. As Angral's retainers kept an eye on her, her new partner/master freed her. Unfortunately, this allowed the Sith Emperor to find her at long last. He arranged for another Child, Valis to retrieve her. Carsen and her teacher were able to best Valis but Carsen was forced to come clean about her past, and decided to reveal the truth to the Jedi Council. Despite Jaric Kaedan's attempt to have her imprisoned, the rest of the Council decided to show leniency.

Later, Carsen and her master rescued Bela Kiwiiks on Tatooine, and redeemed Lord Praven. She told her former master everything about her past. Kiwiiks, an understanding Jedi, explained that she always had great faith in Carsen and her potential to become a Jedi.

Free of the Emperor
Eventually things came to a head on Tython. Darth Angral, driven insane by the death of his son, had attacked and planned to use the Desolator to destroy the entire planet, and the majority of the Jedi. Kira and her master disabled the superweapon and confronted Angral. The Emperor possessed Carsen, and ordered Angral to kill the Knight. Soon after, Carsen regained her senses and felt the Emperor's hold over her. Angral encouraged her to join him, claiming it was her destiny to be Sith. Carsen stated that she'd "rather jump out of an airlock naked." When Angral failed, the Emperor stepped in, reasserting control over Carsen, and engaged the Knight. He had seen visions in which the Knight would rise and defeat him and he was determined to keep that from happening. When the Knight proved stronger, the Emperor called Carsen weak, unfinished from being away from him for so long. He then began to channel red Force energy through her in a renewed attempted to kill her Master, even if Carsen was to die in the process. Carsen refused to be his pawn and opened herself to the light, banishing the Emperor and severing the link. Returning to Tython's surface, Carsen was formally granted the rank of Jedi Knight by the Jedi Council.

Carsen eventually became part of a Jedi strike team tasked with capturing the Emperor and redeeming him to the light side. Unfortunately, they underestimated the Emperor's power, which he used to subdue the Jedi and corrupt them to the dark side. Carsen was placed in an interrogation device called the Tormentor, about to be subjected to torture by her own Master. Luckily, her Master had been released from the Emperor's control with the assistance of the ghost of Orgus Din. After disposing of the Sith Overseer, Carsen and her Master made to free their companions, only to find the Emperor's Wrath, Lord Scourge, had already done so. Scourge stated that he had waited three hundred years for the appearance of Carsen's Master, whom he believed to be the one who would destroy the Emperor. He was right.

Personality and traits
Kira Carsen was a headstrong and confident Jedi, with a strong sense of loyalty towards her friends and allies. Behind this confident front, she hid fear of her past and a near-desperate desire to prove herself. She believed that her past in the Sith Empire would cause those she knew to turn on her if they ever found out, so Kira was determined to prove her loyalty and worth to the Jedi Order. She was also mildly claustrophobic, and she masked fear behind a quick tongue and sharp wit.

Powers and abilities
Kira Carsen was quite apt in wielding a double-bladed lightsaber.

Behind the scenes
Kira Carsen appears in the BioWare MMORPG Star Wars: The Old Republic, as a companion character for the Jedi Knight character. The player gains her as a companion during the class storyline on Coruscant. Kira is voiced by Laura Bailey.

Romance
If the Jedi Knight is selected as male, the player can choose to have a romance with Kira Carsen, even go so far as to marry her.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: The Old Republic