Starkiller

"You are yet another failure, like those that have come before you."

- Darth Vader

Starkiller was a clone of the late Galen Marek, the secret apprentice of Darth Vader. When Marek died, Vader endeavored to recreate his disciple by utilizing Kamino's cloning facilities. The cloning procedure was initially imperfect and many clones were too unstable to suitably replace Marek. After months of failures, one particular clone impressed Vader enough for him to hope that this version might become the first success. But as with the others, he inherited Marek's power and skills at the cost of receiving his emotions as well. Like those who came before him, the clone couldn't free himself from the emotional imprints passed on by Marek, especially his personal attachment to Juno Eclipse. As with Marek, the clone's dedication to the Dark side of the Force was undermined by Eclipse as he steadily became obsessed with her. When Vader judged him to be another imperfect copy, the clone escaped from Kamino and embarked on a personal journey to find Eclipse. Lacking a name of his own, and refusing to take the one that belonged to his template, he was subsequently known by Marek's callsign Starkiller. After visiting several worlds in his search for Eclipse, the clone's journey came full circle when Eclipse's capture forced him to return to Kamino and confront his master.

Creation
"Starkiller's emotions made him weak. If you are to serve me, you must be strong."

- Darth Vader telling the clone how to be better than the original Starkiller

Six months after the death the original Starkiller, Darth Vader took his body to Kamino and cloned him, hoping for a more powerful and obedient version of his deceased apprentice. After a series of deranged and deformed clones resulted in numerous failures, Vader finally created a stable clone of Starkiller. After spending thirteen days in isolation, the clone was visited once more by his creator, who had returned to Timira City to continue his observation of the clone's progress. Vader was impressed by the clone's ability to survive and thus assigned him a mission to further test him: travel to Cato Neimoidia and execute the original Starkiller's fellow Rebel.

However, having inherited the imprinted memories and emotions of the original Starkiller, the clone was constantly haunted by visions of his genetic template's life, including the sound of the rustling forests of Marek's home planet, a warning from the general during a past battle Marek took part in, and a woman's voice in his sleep. Vader explained that they were the memories of the clone's dead template, the result of a side effect in the accelerated cloning process and the memory flashes used to train the clone. In order to overcome them, Vader instructed the clone to be what his progenitor couldn't&mdash;to destroy what the original Starkiller created, and to hate what he loved.

Decision to leave
"Those who came before you went mad within months, tormented by emotional imprints I was unable to erase. Some would not kill their father, others their younger self. With you, it is this woman. Now you will suffer the fate they did."

- Darth Vader informs the clone that he is one of many failures

To find out if this clone would be the first success out of numerous failures, Vader provided him with a new test: kill several holodroids disguised as Rebel troopers and Juno Eclipse herself. It was purely symbolic, a way for Vader to find out how much the clone was willing to destroy his predecessor's legacy. Starkiller easily dispatched all of the troopers, but the imprinted emotions of his genetic template prevented the clone striking down the droid impersonating Eclipse. Vader destroyed the droid, disappointed with his latest failure. He explained that the clone was suffering from the same side effects of the cloning procedure just like all of the other clones that came before him. Just as Starkiller asked what would happen to him, he experienced another vision: Vader stabbing the original Starkiller in the back with a lightsaber on board the Executor. Now fully convinced that Vader was going to kill him, Starkiller lashed out with a bolt of Force lightning at his master before blowing a hole in the wall. With Vader momentarily dazed, Starkiller jumped out of the hole he created and began his escape attempt. After killing numerous Imperial stormtroopers and destroying several TIE fighters on the way to his master's TIE fighter, he quickly disposed of the stormtroopers and AT-STs guarding it. He then took the TIE fighter and escaped from Kamino, just narrowly avoiding Darth Vader as he left.

For a moment, Starkiller was unsure of what to do. Although he escaped, Starkiller knew better than to believe that he was truly free from Vader's control, or that Juno Eclipse would be safe. Overwhelmed by his progenitor's love for Eclipse, and convinced that Vader would try to use her to his advantage, Starkiller became determined to find Eclipse before Vader did. With a search grid no larger than the entire galaxy and the target being a fugitive woman on the run from the Galactic Empire, Starkiller realized that General Rahm Kota would be a useful asset in his mission to find Eclipse. Thus, with his stolen TIE fighter, the clone locked in a course for Cato Neimoidia.

Rescuing General Kota
"What do you think I'm afraid of?''" "Being yourself. Being Starkiller. Being Ga-" "Don't say that name. I'm not him. I'm a clone, a copy&mdash;and a bad one at that." "''Is that what Vader told you?"

- Starkiller and Rahm Kota, after killing the Gorog

After arriving on Cato Neimoidia, Starkiller landed his stolen TIE fighter at Tarko-se. He was immediately greeted by a squadron of stormtroopers and Baron Tarko who was instead expecting a surprise visit by Darth Vader due to his ship's unexpected arrival. When Starkiller inquired about Kota's location, the Baron became suspicious and asked Starkiller for the security codes. When it became apparent that he did not know them, the Baron retreated from landing bay after ordering his soldiers to kill the intruder.

Starkiller was undaunted by the Baron's Imperial forces and proceeded to make his way through the city through sheer power, leaving a path of utter destruction throughout the city. After fighting his way to the city's arena, Starkiller found Kota in the center of the arena, exhausted and wounded but alive and amidst a legion of fallen opponents. The general was shocked to see a person who perfectly resembled the the Rebel Alliance's fallen hero, having sensed him as he became one with the Force. Lacking time for explanations, Starkiller insisted that the general should leave the remainder of the fight to him, but Kota refused, determined to bring Baron Tarko to justice. Falling back on a last resort to kill both Starkiller and the general, Tarko ordered that the Gorog be unleashed into the arena, despite the concerns of his Neimoidian aides. While Starkiller withstood the onslaught of the savage monster, Kota used the clone's distraction to reach the Baron's skybox. Unable to kill the clone, the Gorog was tricked by Starkiller into destroying most of the arena's infrastructure, essentially ruining the integrity of the entire arena. As the arena began to collapse and fall into the sinkhole beneath it, Starkiller entered the skybox and found Kota preparing to put an end to Tarko's brutal reign. Before either of them could kill Tarko, the Gorog temporarily prevented its fall by grabbing onto the skybox, effectively destroying it as well. To Tarko's horror, his own gold throne scooped him up as it slid towards the skybox's broken viewport. Unable to prevent himself from being taken down by his throne's massive weight, Tarko could only scream in vain as he fell straight into the Gorog's mouth.

Before falling into the depths below, the Gorog reached into the skybox and caught Kota, dragging the general down with it. Having literally destroyed Tarko-se to find Kota in the hopes of locating Eclipse, Starkiller dived out of the skybox's shattered window and used the Force to propel his speed to catch up with the falling general. With a sudden discharge of Force speed, Starkiller shot right through the Gorog's torso, causing the creature to finally release Kota. As the two continued to fall, Kota contacted the Rogue Shadow. The ship succeeded in intercepting them just in time while the Gorog continued to its descent into the mouth of the sinkhole. As the Rogue Shadow departed from Cato Neimoidia, Starkiller entered the ship's cockpit, only to find that Eclipse was not piloting the ship, nor on the ship at all anymore.

Kota was under the impression that this was the same Starkiller he last saw on the Death Star, but Starkiller revealed that he was actually a clone created to take the original Starkiller's place. Kota thought that it was impossible to clone a Force-sensitive, believing that no one has ever attempted to clone Jedi or Sith. When Kota insinuated that Starkiller was too afraid to be Galen Marek, the clone adamantly refused to be called by that name, believing that it wasn't technically his name.

Aside from Starkiller's identity, Kota was more interested both in how to use Starkiller's power for the Rebel cause and his knowledge of the cloning facilities on Kamino, as he explained the fragile situation with the Rebel Alliance: their leadership was deadlocked, unwilling to commit resources and personnel to large targets or hit-and-runs. He firmly believed that with someone as powerful in the Force as Starkiller, the Alliance could finally inflict a major blow to the Empire. But Starkiller refused to be used in the general's plans, placing more importance in finding Juno Eclipse. Although he saved Kota so that the general could help him find Eclipse, he soon realized that that Kota wasn't any help at all. Moreover, he was unsure about what to do with himself and desired to find a place to meditate and think&mdash;without Kota's distractions. The Jedi general snapped at him for putting his personal feelings ahead of the needs of the galaxy, but relented and asked to be dropped off at a spaceport while the Rogue Shadow remained with Starkiller.

Meeting Yoda
"Whatever you have seen, follow it, you must.''" "''To the ends of the galaxy if I have to."

- Yoda and Starkiller

After leaving Kota on Malastare, Starkiller traveled to Dac, the home of the Mon Calamari, only to get no where in his search for Eclipse. Starkiller came to feel that rescuing Kota and traveling to Dac both turned out to be counter-productive in his mission, only further deterring off of the path to finding Eclipse. While studying a map of the galaxy, Starkiller remembered Kota's brief mentioning of Dagobah. Although he was unsure of how this would help him find Eclipse, Starkiller had no other way of finding her at the time.

Thus, he locked in a course for Dagobah, at their very least to find a place to meditate if the planet failed to be of any use in his mission. After landing the Rogue Shadow on the surface of the planet, Starkiller began exploring his surroundings. Shortly after discovering an entrance to a a dark cave, he encountered a small green sentient creature. The first thing Starkiller noticed about the creature was that it showed no sign of fear at the sight of the clone's lightsabers, and that its eyes were filled only with amusement. Sensing that the strange being posed no threat to him, nor tried to, Starkiller deactivated his lightsabers. Although he was unnerved by how the creature easily and accurately read the clone's situation, Starkiller inquired if what he was searching for was inside the cave. The creature dropped his pretense of amusement and encouraged the clone to enter the cave and seek out what he was searching for.

When he entered the cave, Starkiller was confronted by other clones of Marek, all reaching out for him. Although initially surprised, he chose to ignore them and press on deeper into the cave. He then received a vision of an event that occurred some after his escape from Kamino. In the vision, he saw a fully armored figure analyzing the room where Starkiller began his escape from the cloning facility. Realizing that he was seeing the vision through his master's eyes, he listened as Darth Vader assured the bounty hunter that the Empire would provide him with all the resources he needed to complete his mission, including a detachment of stormtroopers and a rather large and heavily armed droid that Starkiller was unfamiliar with.

He then experienced another vision, this time through the eyes of Juno Eclipse, who was commanding a ship with PROXY, the original Starkiller's droid companion, at her side. Then a battle commenced as the Rebel ship was caught in a surprise attack by Imperial forces. After a brief skirmish on the ship's bridge, Starkiller saw Eclipse fall from a blaster shot to the shoulder. As he exited the cave, the clone was deeply disturbed by the visions he endured and was determined to prevent Eclipse from dying at any cost. Before leaving, he saw that the little creature had remained by the cave's entrance the entire time. He briefly wondered how the creature was able to maintain such a calm composure around a cave that was immersed in the dark side, and then came to suspect that the creature possessed a power far greater than his appearance gave off. After the creature encouraged Starkiller to follow the path his visions directed him in, the clone nodded in acknowledgment of the creature's wisdom and departed from Dagobah to resume his search for the former Imperial captain.

Failed rescue attempt
"The fleet is converging exactly as you wanted it to." "Good, because if you hadn't sent the order I was going to go without you."

- Rahm Kota and Starkiller, shortly after Boba Fett captured Juno Eclipse

After leaving Dagobah, Starkiller quickly traveled to Malastare, where he found Kota and explained the details of his visions. After confirming that Eclipse was indeed in command of the Salvation, and that PROXY had been salvaged and reactivated after the incident on Corellia, Kota convinced Starkiller to take him and his squad to the Rebel fleet's location. Along the way, Starkiller continued to contemplate on Eclipse's relationship with the original Starkiller, and how his emotional imprints continued to dominate his mind and further drive his need to be with the woman that Marek loved. He came to realize that she had as much a profound impact on him as she did on Marek, and that he would sacrifice anything just to be with her - even the Rebellion that his progenitor helped to create.

Along the course from Malastare to the Salvation, Kota handed two blue crystals to Starkiller, which had been in his possession since the Clone Wars; Starkiller compared the crystals to the color of Eclipse's eyes. Meanwhile, Starkiller's thoughts drifted to the Rebel Alliance and what could be done to make it a more serious challenge to the Galactic Empire. To that end, he insinuated to Kota that he was willing to provide the Alliance with everything it needed to launch a successful attack on Kamino, namely the navigation coordinates and schematics for the secret cloning facility where Vader created him. Upon exiting Hyperspace, the Rogue Shadow arrived at its destination where the Salvation was located. Starkiller was surprised that the Rebels had not already been attacked. However, Kota counseled the clone that Force visions were rarely wrong. Before docking with the Salvation, Kota promised that he would use Starkiller's knowledge of Kamino to the Alliance's benefit.

Just as Starkiller secured the Rogue Shadow alongside the Salvation, the proximity alarms went off, indicating an enemy surprise attack. Recalling his earlier vision from the cave on Dagobah, Starkiller realized that Vader's bounty hunter and his Imperial escort were hiding behind asteroids, waiting for the clone to arrive before executing their mission. Upon boarding the ship, Starkiller and Kota headed towards the bridge, the path littered with the bodies of dead Rebel soldiers along the way. Although Starkiller did not find Eclipse on the bridge, he did encounter a heavily damaged PROXY, who was surprised to see a clone of his former master who died shortly before the holodroid's reactivation. After learning that the bounty hunter only injured Eclipse and took her to the ship's cargo bay on deck seven, Starkiller realized the true nature of the attack on the Salvation. It was never about killing everyone on board or taking the ship over, it was about capturing Eclipse alive. To Vader, she was more than just a fugitive captain of a Rebel ship, she was the bait he needed to lure the wayward clone back to Kamino. Anticipating Vader's intentions, Starkiller ordered Kota to have his squad fly the Salvation to Kamino, both to take the fight to Vader and just in case if Starkiller failed to stop the bounty hunter from taking Eclipse off of the ship.

While Starkiller made his way to deck seven, he encountered much opposition along the way, such as Terror Troopers and Terror Droids, dispatched by Vader to assist the bounty hunter in his mission. Although he succeeded in destroying all who stood in his way, Starkiller arrived in the cargo bay only to watch as the bounty hunter's ship, containing both its pilot and prisoner, escaped into the vacuum of space. Even as the Salvation traveled to Kamino, Starkiller felt his hatred and rage build up as he began sliding back towards the seductive power of the dark side. At that moment, while he was contemplating on how anyone who stood between him and Eclipse would die, Starkiller's mind was struck by another vision.

He saw himself standing victorious over his defeated master, wondering about whether or not he should strike him down and take his revenge. Just as Starkiller was about to finally destroy Vader, a red blade emerged through the center of his chest, causing him to drop his lightsabers and fall to the ground in shock and pain. After hearing the sounds of a short battle, Starkiller stared up to see the man who had killed him. When Vader explained that he lied about the cloning process not being perfected, the mysterious figure removed his hood and revealed his identity. His killer was another clone, an exact replica of Galen Marek just like him, only better and whole in every way. As the dying clone could do nothing more than listen, he heard Vader provide instructions for the reborn Starkiller. As the perfect clone of Marek obediently complied with his master's orders and prepared to depart in search of the remaining Rebel leaders, Vader used the Force to send the imperfect clone's body over the side of the platform and into the sea.

Although Starkiller was unsure of what to make of this latest vision or of the other Starkiller clone, he was not deterred from his goal to go to Kamino and save Eclipse from Vader. Although the clone knew that Eclipse's capture was clearly a trap to lure him back to Kamino, where Vader awaited his return, Starkiller warned Kota to launch the attack on Kamino, or he would do so alone without the Rebel Alliance. Eager to move on to bigger targets rather than continue with small hit-and-run tactics, Kota complied with Starkiller's demands, but also pointed out that Vader was waiting for the clone's return. Both he and Starkiller hoped that Vader would not expect the entire Rebel fleet to converge on Kamino.

Attack on Kamino
"I knew it was only a matter of time before you returned. Now you will surrender to me or you will die here where you were created."

- Darth Vader to Starkiller

Before he could join Kota and PROXY on the bridge, however, Starkiller was forced to intercept the giant droid from his previous vision on Dagobah, which was attempting to destroy the ship's secondary reactor. During the fight, Starkiller realized that the droid was merely a delaying tactic since the bounty hunter never intended to directly confront Starkiller. The clone was impressed by such a wise decision, since Starkiller would not have hesitated in slaughtering the bounty hunter had he stood between him and Eclipse. Even after disarming the giant droid of four legs and inflicted a severe amount of damage all over it's body, it still remained a considerable threat. The droid was finally neutralized after a hull breach caused the droid to get pulled out of the ship, vanishing into space while the Salvation was still traveling through hyperspace.

While returning to the bridge, Starkiller began to think about his master's origins. Like the original Starkiller before him, the clone wondered if Vader had been a Jedi Knight prior to Order 66 and Palpatine's ascension as the Emperor of the Galaxy. But he failed to recall any hints of Jedi training in his master's own techniques. Outwardly, everything about Darth Vader reflected Sith training and philosophy. But even though his lessons under Vader were extremely brutal and the cost of failure was always high, Starkiller noticed that Vader completely lacked the malicious cruelty usually exhibited by a Sith Lord. Starkiller believed that in Vader's mind, everything was black and white; the Master dictated what was to be done while the Apprentice obeyed without question. Failure to comply or succeed resulted in death, but it was all impersonal to Darth Vader.

After Starkiller returned to the bridge, the Salvation arrived at the coordinates for Kamino. Immediately, both Starkiller and Kota saw that Vader had indeed anticipated the Alliance's arrival and responded with a fleet of Imperial-class Star Destroyers to guard the planet from space while a massive Imperial garrison remained planet-side to defend the cloning facilities. But even with an entire blockade in orbit, it wasn't enough to stop Starkiller from sending the Salvation crashing into Timira City, thus taking down the planetary shields and allowing Kota's forces to land. As the battle raged on, Starkiller fought his way through the facility, occasionally assisting Kota and his troops when ever he could. But as he made his way to the top of the city, it became apparent that Starkiller was not going to wait for the Rebels to catch up with him.

Starkiller was far too driven by his template's feelings for Eclipse to be bothered with assisting the Rebels against the Imperials' counterattack. Although Kota was on the verge of begging for Starkiller's help, even going so far as to urge him to sacrifice Eclipse's life for the sake of the Rebellion, Starkiller continued to press on to Eclipse's location, single-handedly annihilating all Imperials who stood in his way. Near the top of the cloning facility, Starkiller was confronted by Darth Vader.

Master versus Apprentice
"I've always been stronger than you.''" "''Yet you fail to defeat me. If you wish to play at being a Jedi, so be it."

- Starkiller and Darth Vader

The two engaged in a lengthy duel, displaying their respective skills in lightsaber combat and Force techniques, reflecting the duel between Vader and the original Starkiller. During the fight, Vader released numerous aberrant clones of Marek from their clone tanks and ordered them to kill their renegade clone "brother." Although they also possessed Marek's Force potential and skills to a certain degree, these clones were of a much lower quality compared to Starkiller; their imperfections and unstable minds preventing them from utilizing Marek's power to its full degree. As a result, they were continuously defeated by Starkiller, who simultaneously pressed his attack on Vader. As Starkiller fought the clones, however, he became increasingly confused over his own origin. Although Kota insisted that it was impossible to clone Force-sensitives, the existence of the aberrant clones, however imperfect, was enough to prove that Kota was not entirely correct in his assumption. Starkiller came to wonder if the source of his feelings was nothing more than the imprinted memories of the first Starkiller, and if he held on to them with even greater desperation because deep down he knew they were not real.

Although Vader put up an almost impenetrable defense, utilizing telekinesis to hurl wrecked platforms and cloning tubes at the clone and nearly killing him with each lightsaber strike, his fighting ability was ultimately limited by his heavy prostheses; Starkiller used this to his advantage and prepared to deliver the final strike. But just then, he received a vision of Eclipse's apparent death, thus staying his hand. Vader was quick to capitalize on Starkiller's momentary distraction by delivering a telekinetic shove to put some distance between him and the clone.

As they made their way to the top of the cloning tower, Vader insisted that the clone find the willpower to push aside his template's feelings in order to become what he was created to be. When Starkiller refused, Vader revealed Juno Eclipse to him, threatening to kill her for the clone's defiance. Unwilling to see harm come to Eclipse, Starkiller dropped his lightsabers and fell to his knees in submission. Releasing Eclipse from his grip, Vader threatened to kill Eclipse if Starkiller refused to find and kill Kota; Starkiller silently complied. Further terms for Eclipse's prolonged safety was that Starkiller would submit once more to the dark side and then hunt down the Rebel leaders after training was complete; failure to meet any of Vader's terms would be punished with nothing less than the death of Juno Eclipse.

But while Vader was distracted, Eclipse grabbed one of Starkiller's lightsabers, refusing to allow the Sith Lord to use her as a means of controlling Starkiller, and attempted to kill Vader. She nearly succeeded, but Vader's senses were far too quick and he narrowly avoided Eclipse's attack. Although she managed to damage Vader's chest panel, he retaliated by hitting her with a powerful Force push, sending her out of a window and onto a lower platform where she lost consciousness shortly thereafter.

Master versus Apprentice, Round Two
"Her death gives you strength. Embrace it.''" "''I will kill you!"

- Darth Vader and Starkiller

Starkiller's reaction was a mix of utter terror for Eclipse's life and uncontrollable anger towards Vader. Grabbing both of his lightsabers through telekinesis, Starkiller unleashed all of his rage and attacked his former master without restraint. Despite his considerably enhanced power and skills, Vader refused to capitulate and firmly stood his ground. As the battle faded around them, both were far too distracted to care as they continuously battled back and forth, neither one wanting to be the first to relent. As Starkiller continued to try to get to Eclipse, Vader did all he could to stop him.

Vader did not give up on trying to persuade the clone to embrace the purpose intended for the original Starkiller. He insisted that it was their destiny to destroy Emperor Palpatine together as master and apprentice. Starkiller was initially baffled that Vader was again using the same unfulfilled promise he offered to Marek, but then came to wonder how similar he and his master actually were, and how far the Emperor had gone to create Darth Vader. Starkiller then felt a deeper sense of understanding for him, wondering if Vader knew exactly how his apprentice felt. He asked why Vader hadn't considered joining the Rebels since he and they shared a mutual goal&mdash;the destruction of the Emperor. The clone soon realized how absurd such a notion was since the Alliance would never trust the Emperor's right-hand man, and Vader made it perfectly clear that he wanted nothing to do with the Rebellion by pressing his attack on Starkiller.

Just as it seemed like the duel would never end, Vader threw his lightsaber at Starkiller, only for the clone to intercept the saber and send it back to its owner. Despite his own fast reflexes, Vader failed to catch the lightsaber and his right hand was sliced off by his own weapon. Starkiller finally finished the battle by unleashing several waves of Force lightning directly at his vulnerable master, thus bringing Darth Vader down to his knees in defeat. The clone moved in to rest his lightsaber at Vader's throat, contemplating whether or not to finally put an end to the Sith Lord once and for all.

At that moment, Kota arrived with a squad of Rebel Commandos and attempted to reason with the clone. Even though he wanted Vader dead as well, Kota argued that they should first take Vader as their prisoner, interrogate him to learn valuable information that could be used against the Empire, and then they could publicly execute him as a message to the rest of the Galaxy that the Sith were no longer worth fearing. Starkiller was reluctant to pass up on his chance to finally kill Vader, just as Marek had done before him. But Kota also pointed out that only Vader knew if the original Starkiller was dead or alive. For a moment, Starkiller was unsure of what to do. On one hand, he could finally complete his training by doing what Vader was never able to do himself&mdash;kill his own master. On the other hand, Kota made a point about how valuable Vader's knowledge could be to the struggling Rebel Alliance. Starkiller forced himself to believe that the only thing that mattered was that he defeated Darth Vader, thus choosing to spare his former master's life.

The Aftermath of the Battle
"As long as she lives, I will always control you."

- Darth Vader to Starkiller

As Kota and his men secured Vader, Starkiller ran to Eclipse's inert form where PROXY told him that he was unable to revive her. Distraught, Starkiller cradled her body in his arms, lamenting that he should have stayed on Kamino. But miraculously, Juno awoke and kissed him. With the battle won and Vader taken into the Alliance's custody, the Rebels prepared to leave Kamino before the Imperials could reorganize a counter-attack.

Before leaving, Vader was placed in the meditation chamber of the Rogue Shadow and contained within a harness designed with durasteel cuffs to restrain his arms and legs, magma locks to encase his waste, chest and throat, and a cage that surrounded his helmet and left only his mask exposed. Starkiller approached him, both to gloat about his triumph and in the hopes of getting information. Vader responded to none of the clone's words and ignored his provocations. Realizing that this tactic would get him no where, Starkiller chose to leave, but not before declaring that Vader's control over him was finally broken. But as Starkiller turned his back, Vader simply stated that he would always control him so long as Juno Eclipse was alive. Although caught off guard by this warning, Starkiller chose not to reply and returned to the ship's cockpit where Eclipse resumed her former role as its pilot. The Rogue Shadow then took off for Dantooine, unaware that Boba Fett's ship, the Slave I, was hiding in the wreckage of a Star Destroyer before tailing them.

Lightsaber Training
Having mastered the Jar'Kai form of combat, the clone favored dual-blades. He developed his skills in the form by delving into both Niman and Ataru, practicing the dual-blade training regimes common to both. He compensated for the inherent weaknesses of dual-blade combat by building up his physical strength and speed, becoming a formidable duelist.

Lightsabers
After his creation, the clone was provided with two red-bladed lightsabers by Darth Vader in order to test his apprentice's willingness to strike down holographic droids in the images of Rebel soldiers and Juno Eclipse. After escaping from Kamino, the clone continued to wield both lightsabers during his travels, especially on Cato Neimoidia. While on his way to the location of the Salvation, General Kota provided Starkiller with two blue crystals. Before arriving on the Salvation, Starkiller inserted each new crystal into his lightsabers, thus changing the color of his saber blades from red to blue. As in the Dark Apprentices training, he used white ones and when he got to thisclones level of training, striking down juno, he got red ones. So maybe Starkiller maybe had white ones too.

Force Powers
As with the original Starkiller, the clone had a formidable mastery of Force powers, although his abilities were less potent at first due to his incomplete training when he left Vader's side. The imprinted knowledge of his progenitor's skills would gradually surface within the clone, as well as the ability to amplify certain Force techniques to an overwhelming degree of effectiveness and lethality.

Like his template, the clone was very proficient in using Force lightning and was able to use it in unique ways. For instance, he could channel power directly from lightning spires, as demonstrated on Kamino, in order to amplify his own power and unleash a powerful blast of lightning, enough to bring even Darth Vader to his knees. He could also combine his lightning power with his saber attacks to unleash devastating strikes, just as the original Starkiller could.

He was also a master of Force repulse upon learning of the ability from the original Starkiller's memories. At full power his repulse would simply disintegrate his surrounding opponents unless they were Force users or had protective armor of sorts. He was also very proficient in lightsaber throw which, at full power could seek out enemies from long distances, kill multiple enemies at a time or cause devastating damage to a single opponent.

Another ability that the clone inherited from the original Starkiller was Force push, which he was able to utilize to a devastating degree. When fully charged, he could send multiple enemies off of their feet with a single blast. His Force grip ability was also very powerful, enabling him to grip very large and heavy objects, even two or three objects at the same time. He could also use this ability to grab and crush flying TIE fighters into blocks of scrap metal.

This clone was also proficient in the Jedi ability of mind trick, which allowed him to control the minds of his enemies, thus forcing them to either fight each other or commit suicide. After fully mastering this ability, the clone could control three people at once until they exploded in a blast of concentrated energy after the mind trick wore off.

The clone possessed an ability dubbed "Force rage." Upon building up a sufficient level of Force energy he could unleash it through his body, thus amplifying all of his abilities far beyond their already formidable levels. Through Force rage, he could grip and crush AT-STs with minimal effort. He was able to infuse all of his abilities with Force lightning to inflict massive damage. He would also utilize his sabers in a very brutal fashion and at range so his enemies couldn't even get close to him. He took full advantage of the Jar'Kai form using his speed and lightning to his advantage. His saber throw could travel over much more range, thus allowing him to kill enemy targets from even greater distances. He could Force push dozens of people at once, his repulse was imbued with Force lightning and created an immensely powerful discharge of energy that could knock enemies off of their feet and disintegrate them, and his Force lightning blasts could vaporize multiple opponents in mere seconds. Under the power of Force rage, the clone was a virtually unstoppable combatant. However, the clone could only use this ability sparingly as it would drain his Force energy reserves at a quick rate. Despite this limitation, he would not be weakened after its effects wore off, but required time to build up the same concentrated Force energy in order to use this ability again.

Behind the scenes
Starkiller's clone was created for the 2010 video game Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II, and was played by Sam Witwer like the original Starkiller.

It is implied throughout the game that he is possibly the real Starkiller and has been led to believe he is a clone so that Vader could break him into his tool again. Although it is strongly suggested that he is a clone in the dark side ending by way of another clone dispatching him and Vader revealing that he lied when he said the cloning process was imperfect, it is worth noting that the dark side ending may only be partially non-canon. This is because even though the clone responsible for killing the supposedly imperfect clone of Galen Marek does not reveal himself in movie canon, and that the light side ending is confirmed to be canon, the Distant Thunder cinematics which illustrate the origin of the Dark Apprentice take place before the ending of the game. These cutscenes have no impact on the game's progression, and because they precede the player's decision between the canonical or non-canonical endings, it is assumed that the Dark Apprentice character is canon. It is also interesting to note that in the dark side ending, the Dark Apprentice wields Starkiller's original lightsaber, which was thought to be lost when Vader first betrayed his apprentice.

In the novel, Starkiller's clone experiences a vision of how the Dark Apprentice kills him just before he can execute Vader.

The Distant Thunder scenes also reveal that Vader showed the dead body of the original Starkiller to the dark clone for progressing much farther in his training than his predecessors, thus further implying that the player character is a clone of the original.

In the early marketing of TFU2, the clone is seen wearing a different costume known as the "combat arena" costume in the PS3 unlock of costumes.

In the previews and posters leading up to the release of The Force Unleashed 2, the clone is seen wielding different lightsaber hilts than those in the actual game.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II
 * Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II novel
 * Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II comic