Kento Marek

"His father, Kento, was a Jedi Knight who lived for ten years among the Wookiees."

- Bail Prestor Organa

Kento Marek was a Jedi Knight of the Jedi Order during the Clone Wars and later the Great Jedi Purge. He was the husband of Mallie Marek and the father of Galen Marek.

Early life
Like many Jedi Knights of the time, Kento Marek was discovered young by the Jedi Order, and taken to the Temple for training. It was evident from very early on that Kento was gifted, however a number of personality problems regarding maturity were also evident. When the Clone Wars began, Marek hurried to the front so as to take part in the action, fighting alongside clone troopers. During the war, Marek met a young Jedi woman on Talus, named Mallie, and began to see the galaxy in a different way as a result. The couple secretly married, both quietly leaving the Jedi Order.

Self-exile on Kashyyyk


He and his wife Mallie were married for some time, during which they had a son named Galen. When Order 66 was enacted, the two lovers disguised themselves as medics, escaped to Kashyyyk, and befriended the Wookiees there. Mallie was killed shortly afterward while protecting a group of Wookiees from the surviving Separatist-hired Trandoshan slavers and mercenaries.

During the Great Jedi Purge, Kento's mentor was slain by Darth Vader.

Vader's invasion
Years later, when Kento was discovered on Kashyyyk, Darth Vader launched a full-scale invasion on the planet. Kento organized the Wookiees and led them against the Galactic Empire.

As Vader disposed with many Wookiees that stood in his way and arrived outside the Marek hut, Kento, disguised as a hermit, approached him and said that he wouldn't find whatever he was looking for. However, Vader saw through Kento's disguise and the Jedi used his Force powers to knock off the stormtroopers accompanying the Dark Lord of the Sith. Kento used all of his lightsaber skill and Force potential against his opponent, until Vader got the upper hand and smashed Kento through the doorway of his own hut. While using the Force to choke Kento, Vader sensed the presence of a much more powerful Force-user nearby. Vader assumed that it was Kento's master and demanded his whereabouts. Kento informed the Sith Lord that it was he who had killed Kento's Master long ago, and Vader replied that Kento would now share that fate. Before Vader could strike, his lightsaber was Force pulled from his hand and into the arms of Kento's young son, Galen. Kento yelled at his son to run, but Vader casually crushed Kento's throat and stood staring down at the young child, Vader's ignited lightsaber still clutched in his hands.

Three Imperial Stormtroopers and their officer arrived at the hut. They saw Galen with Vader's ignited lightsaber and the officer motioned for the troopers to fire at the boy, thinking that he was attempting to kill the Sith Lord. Vader grabbed his saber from Galen and deflected the blasts, striking them down as Galen watched in horror. He then turned to Galen and told him to come with him, for more troops would be arriving at any moment. The child took one last look at the body of his father and followed Vader to his shuttle. Thus, Galen became Vader's secret apprentice and was given the code name Starkiller.

After death
Over a decade later, Galen was sent on a mission to kill Jedi General Rahm Kota; they dueled in the bridge of a TIE Fighter Construction Facility over Nar Shaddaa and engaged in a vicious saber lock. Galen pushed his lightsaber closer and closer to Kota's, and just before he was about to strike Kota down, Kota changed into a vision of someone who had many of Galen's features. This incident disturbed Galen and he wanted nothing to do with it.

Later, Galen met the same vision on Kashyyyk after his false "betrayal" of Darth Vader, to rally his enemies and form the Alliance to Restore the Republic. It was in this hut, his home, that he went inside after sensing something that troubled him. Galen looked around, and there, he saw the ghost of his dead father: Kento. The ghost told him that being Vader's apprentice was not what he wanted for Galen and apologized greatly for his failure to prevent that. Then he disappeared, leaving Galen to reach out for what was now nothing but thin air.

Personality and traits
As a young Jedi Knight, Kento Marek displayed a lack of maturity, treating missions and tasks as merely favorable circumstances for adventure&mdash;chances to prove himself. When the Clone Wars began, he went rushing to the front lines without heed for patience, seeing the conflict as an occasion to perform heroic actions and great deeds. Unlike other Jedi who saw the war as a terrible thing, and who were shocked and appalled by the crimes and killings it gave rise to, Kento relished in the opportunity for acquiring distinction.

During the Clone Wars, he met Mallie, a Jedi who was fighting the Separatists on Talus. Disregarding the Jedi Code regarding relationships and attachments, they fell in love and secretly married&mdash;continuing to fight for the Republic until she found out she was pregnant. The news brought on a sudden maturity in Kento's way of thinking and he began to reflect on the horrors war meant to his secret family. The Jedi couple both quietly left the Order, hoping to raise their child in peace somewhere in the Outer Rim Territories.

Shortly before Order 66, they disguised themselves as medics and escaped into the Outer Rim, raising their son, Galen, far from the ensuing conflict. They moved from planet to planet in search of safe haven, until they relocated to Kashyyyk, where they were taken in and befriended by the Wookiees.

A few years later, Kento lost his wife when she tried to protect a group of Wookiees from Trandoshan mercenaries and slavers, leaving him to raise his son alone.

When Darth Vader tracked the Mareks to Kashyyyk, Kento did his best to hide his son from discovery. Kento staunchly resisted the Dark Lord, but he was no match for the Sith, and when ordered to surrender, Kento obstinately refused. Kento's death was momentarily delayed, however, when Vader was disarmed by the former Jedi's son, Galen, who defiantly confronted his father's attacker with the Sith's own lightsaber. In desperation, Kento ordered his son to flee, knowing that his own life was forfeit. However, he was unsuccessful in saving the young boy from capture.

Powers and abilities
Kento possessed at least a rudimentary level of skill with telekinesis for a Jedi Knight. During his battle with Darth Vader, he utilized the Shii-Cho and Makashi forms of lightsaber combat, and Vader considered that he had less skill in Form II than Form I. Though it is unknown exactly how skilled Kento was with the lightsaber, he was ultimately no match for Vader.

Behind the scenes
During the planning stages of The Force Unleashed, the creators of the game gave the name "Jacob Nion" to the character that would become Starkiller. As the planning continued, the creators opted for the name of "Galen Marek" instead. Despite this change, Kento's name in The Force Unleashed video game still appears as "Kento Nion" when viewed in the Databank on the Rogue Shadow.

Apparently, his clothes were left untouched when he died; his costume can be found in the damaged hut by Galen Marek in The Force Unleashed video game.

In the Wii/PSP/PS2 versions of the game, the scene where Starkiller faces a vision of his father is not on Kashyyyk; instead, it is at the end of Starkiller's third mission to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, after a lightsaber duel.

The face and voice of Kento Marek is played by Tom Kane, who also plays Ozzik Sturn, and Lobot in the Star Wars: The Force Unleashed video game.

Appearances

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

Notes and references
Kento Marek Kento Marek Kento Nion Kento Marek Kento Marek