Kyle Katarn

''This article is about the Jedi and mercenary. You may be looking for other uses of the word "katarn."''

"I'm no Jedi, I'm just a guy with a lightsaber and a few questions."

- Kyle Katarn

Kyle Katarn was a former Imperial trooper who became a Jedi Master and celebrated hero of the Rebellion and later the New Republic.

Early life
Katarn was the son of Morgan and Patricia Katarn, farmers from the Sullustan colony moon of Sulon. Kyle enrolled for education at the Imperial Academy on Carida when his mother was killed by a malfunctioning BT-16 perimeter security droid. He became a decorated Imperial stormtrooper officer, but his father, unbeknownst to him, was a supporter of the Rebel Alliance. During an attack on his homeworld of Sulon (which the Empire claimed was a Rebel attack), Morgan Katarn was killed. Kyle became immensely hateful toward the Rebellion, and supervised many Imperial operations against it.

However, he soon learned from Jan Ors, a double Imperial Intelligence agent who was actually working for the Rebellion, that his father was tortured and killed by the Empire for treason. He agreed to free Jan and defected, becoming a neutral mercenary. Jan introduced Kyle to Mon Mothma, the leader of the Alliance, and he became an important spy.

Kyle's first mission for the Alliance was the infiltration of an Imperial facility on Danuta to retrieve the plans for the first Death Star as a part of Operation Skyhook. These partial plans were eventually combined with those captured at Toprawa to create a complete outline of the station. Soon after the Battle of Yavin, Mon Mothma asked Kyle to investigate the destruction of Tak Base resulting from the Battle of Talay. He uncovered, investigated, and managed to stop a dangerous imperial project known as the Dark Trooper Project.

Kyle also was a member of a SpecForce mission assembled by Corwin Shelvay, in which he teamed up with Force-sensitives Shira Brie and Erling Tredway to sabotage the superlaser of Death Star II en route to D'rinba IV.

New Republic
One year after the Battle of Endor, Kyle was visited by the spirit of the Jedi Qu Rahn who told Kyle of the Jedi heritage of his father; Morgan had helped the Jedi Master close off the Valley of the Jedi.

Kyle located a recording from his father as well as the lightsaber of the late Rahn, setting him on the path to become a Jedi. He embarked on a journey to locate the Valley of the Jedi and protect it from a faction of Dark Jedi led by Jerec, his father's killer. The Valley was the site where many Jedi and Sith had been trapped by a thought bomb created by Lord Kaan at the end of the Battle of Ruusan. This site was now a nexus of power allowing great energies of the Force to flow through its user. Jerec was attempting to gain this power for his own ends. Kyle dispatched Jerec's minions and finally dueled Jerec himself, slaying him and freeing (according to the prophecy) the souls of the Jedi. During this adventure however, Kyle lost his ship, the Moldy Crow. Kyle continued working with Jan for the New Republic, cooperating with Bey, Dash Rendar and Guri on an insertion mission to the Tof fortress world Saijo, and nearly razing Space Station Kwenn while apprehending the Ketton spy Derrida. Kyle took a more permanent role with the New Republic and served with Lieutenant Judder Page's Katarn Commandos, executing missions on various worlds like Kashyyyk, Boudolayz and Garos IV.

Luke Skywalker offered to train Kyle further, but Kyle held a great fear of the dark side, and declined.

Approximately 5 years after Kyle faced Jerec, former Imperial assassin Mara Jade came under the tutelage of Kyle, taking up the rare bond of reciprocal apprenticeship, a facet of the Jedi Concordance of Fealty little practiced since the Cleansing of the Nine Houses. During this period, the pair moved to Altyr 5 to support the New Republic bases. While sabotaging an imperial assault, Kyle discovered a lead to the Sith ruins on Dromund Kaas, a long dead world. Kyle investigated the ruins but came under the influence of the dark side of the Force. His former pupil Mara Jade went to him and convinced him to come back to the Light. After nearly succumbing to the dark side, Mara helped him turn back.

Luke made a second offer to Kyle when he founded the Jedi Praxeum on Yavin 4, and Kyle accepted, believing it would help him tame his dark self. Kyle developed a friendship with fellow Jedi trainee Corran Horn, but when two students of the Academy fell to the dark side, Kyle's fear of succumbing to it multiplied. Kyle gave up the Force, entrusting his lightsaber to Skywalker, and returned to his mercenary ways as Jan Ors' partner.

Three years after the events on Dromund Kaas, Kyle was sent to the world of Kejim based on fragments of Remnant communication intercepted by the New Republic. Kyle was at first hesitant to go; the transmission had made mention of the Valley of the Jedi. However, Jan Ors soon accepted the mission on Kyle's behalf-- having been promised double their usual fee by Mon Mothma.

It was soon revealed that the Imperial Admiral Galak Fyyar was using the planet to experiment with crystals and the Force, particularly in infusing non-Force sensitives with Force potential. Although Kyle successfully infiltrated and shut down the outpost, Jan was later captured and apparently killed by Desann and his student Tavion.

Angered by his partner (and love interest)'s death, Kyle regained his Force powers by using the power of the Valley of the Jedi and once again treading dangerously close to the dark side. He went to the Jedi Academy to retrieve the lightsaber he had left with Skywalker, where he learned that Desann was a fallen student of Luke's. Luke and Kyle then set out across the Galaxy to bring Desann to justice. During his travels, he learned that Jan was still alive. She was eventually rescued, which allowed Kyle to overcome his thirst for revenge. Eventually he learned that Desann had discovered the Valley of the Jedi by following Kyle and had begun to create an army of Dark Jedi warriors called the Reborn to rule the Galaxy. Kyle tracked Desann back to the Jedi Academy on Yavin 4, and after an intense duel, killed him, ending his plan for domination.

Jedi
After Desann's defeat, Kyle kept his lightsaber and continued in the ways of the Force as an instructor at Luke's Academy. Kyle became the master of two students, Jaden Korr and Rosh Penin. Both students were talented, quickly learning through Kyle's wisdom. However, a new threat, the Sith cult known as the Disciples of Ragnos, began threatening the Galaxy. Rosh eventually succumbed to the dark side and joined the Disciples of Ragnos. Kyle again met Tavion, who was the leader of the cult. She possessed a device known as the Scepter of Ragnos and planned to resurrect the ancient Sith Lord Marka Ragnos.

Kyle's other student, Jaden, eventually became a Jedi, choosing to forgive Rosh rather than slay him; Kyle was proud of his students, who defeated Tavion. Kyle became the academy's foremost battlemaster, educating many Knights like Jaden Korr, and managing to stop a rampaging former Emperor's Hand by the name of Jeng Droga.

During the Yuuzhan Vong invasion, Kyle helped develop strategies against the invaders and freed the human captives of the Imperial Remnant world Ord Sedra. Near the end of the war, the living planet Zonama Sekot agreed to help the Republic, and Kyle was one of several Jedi Knights bonded to seed-partners and provided with Sekotan starships in the final battle.

After the end of the invasion, Kyle heard a rumor that the Sith still existed. Due to his personal experience on Dromund Kaas, Kyle investigated, following clues from Ord Sedra in the Clacis Sector first to Yaga Minor, and then halfway across the Galaxy to the Cloak of the Sith, near Roon. Kyle was missing in action, and Jan Ors and Jaden Korr set out to locate him.

Mara Jade Skywalker, Jaden Korr and a group of Alpha Blue specialists and Jedi led by Jan Ors tracked Kyle to Roon and freed him from Daye Azur-Jamin who had turned to the Dark Side. Daye was eventually redeemed. Kyle returned safely, and took an active role in Jedi affairs, being appointed to the Masters' council.

Five years after the war with the Vong, Kyle was a respected Master not afraid to voice his opinion and along with Han, Leia and Kyp traveled to Kr, fighting on the ground while Han and Leia helped Luke and Mara.

Kyle's character
Kyle's personality was almost a Janus-faced one. On the one hand Kyle appeared very self-confident and possessed an almost cynical dry sense of humor. On the other hand he often doubted himself and always gave every choice a good deal of thought. He was an independent and free-thinking person, but at the same time his primary concern was always the safety and well-being of those he cared for. An ever-present factor appeared to be fear - fear of dying, fear of doing the wrong thing.

Soldier for the Empire
It was this blend of personalities that made him a promising cadet leader while at the Imperial academy. Especially Sergeant Major Hong appreciated the young cadet's skills, admiring Kyle's reason-based approach to his assignment. He also appreciated the fact that Kyle was not too proud to ask questions and ask for advice.

Hong was therefore fully confident that Kyle would handle his Omega Exercise well, which in Kyle's case consisted of an assault on a small Rebel operation on the planetoid asteroid of AX-456. Here Kyle showed that his heart was softer than most other Imperials, as he could not bring himself to order the execution of the Rebels his men had captured, but in stead chose to let them go. Kyle’s team ended up barricading themselves in the kitchen of the rebel base. Once more displaying the mixture of cynicism, reason, and concern for others he inspired his team by giving them the following order: "Alright, men, stack some furniture in front of the door, and check the exits. It's time for lunch." Furthermore, he ordered some of his men to ransack the cooler storages of the kitchen, offering an overnight pass to the trooper who would create the most outrageous sandwich. Eventually, Rebel forces attacked, but Kyle's team managed to keep them at bay - suffering great losses though - until Imperial reinforcements arrived.

Kyle got injured in the process, but returned to the academy an Imperial hero.

Rebel agent
When Morgan Katarn died, and Kyle learned the truth about his death, Kyle changed. He became bitter and developed a strong hatred for the Empire. Accepting missions from the Alliance primarily directed at the Empire, he got the opportunity to kill many Imperial agents and thwart many of their plans. His fear of dying had vanished, but the fear of doing the wrong thing remained. While throwing himself into one death-defying situation after another, Kyle was always careful not to harm innocents and cared greatly for the safety of his partner and love interest Jan Ors.

Jedi Knight
In his early years after becoming a Jedi, Kyle appeared relatively weak and unsure about this way of living. During his youth he was never thought of as some superior Force user - not knowing his latent connection with the force - and thus his contact with it left him feeling overwhelmed and out of his place.

Although a powerful warrior, Kyle as a Jedi seemed to keep a low profile, being reluctant to embrace the Force itself. He repeatedly denied the ways of the Force, at one time going so far as to completely sever his own connection to it. The core of this reluctance was his fear of the dark side and distrust of his powers.

Eventually, he came to accept his destiny as a Jedi Knight and seemingly adopted a Potentium approach to the Force, arguing that no Force power is inherently dark or light, but that it fully depends on how and for what one uses it. He taught his student Korr and Penin this during their very first training session. When Penin finally managed to reject the temptations of the dark side and returned to the ways of the Jedi and Korr managed to steer clear of the dark path altogether and emerged the hero of the crisis of the Disciples of Ragnos, Kyle finally realized that he was a worthy and powerful Jedi and a great teacher. His confidence increased - and by the time of the New Jedi Order and the Dark Nest trilogy, it was clear that whatever hesitancy he may have once had was long since gone.

Behind the scenes
Kyle's story has an alternative ending in some of the games in which he appears. Although the abovementioned story is canonical, the player has the option to follow the dark side alternate ending in Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II.

There, Kyle kills Jan Ors and becomes the rival of Jerec. He also fights against Yun instead of Sariss. After he defeats Jerec in the Valley of the Jedi, he absorbs its power and takes his position as an Emperor in Coruscant, with Sariss on his side.

The same option is available to Jaden Korr in Jedi Academy. Jaden may turn to the dark side by killing Rosh instead of staying in the Light by forgiving him. If Jaden goes to the dark side, Kyle later duels Jaden, who overpowers him using the Staff of Ragnos, stolen by defeating Tavion. Jaden escapes and Kyle then questions whether or not he should be a Jedi, and takes a leave of absence to apprehend Jaden. It is not yet certain that this is the apocryphal ending; however, the fact that Jan sought out Jaden to rescue Kyle from the Cloak of the Sith suggests that the Light Side ending is the canonical one.

The alternative ending of Jedi Academy although not canonical, also gives some insights of Kyle's psyche in a case of failure and disappointment: He seems guilty for having lost two Apprentices (Penin is dead, and Korr becomes a Dark Jedi), and confesses to Luke that he is unsure if he should be a Jedi Master at all. However as a final desperate act (and probably as an act of self-punishment), he moves to correct personally his failure.

Kyle was originally slated to die in the novel Star by Star, but the scene was removed at the last minute, to leave open the possibility of any New Jedi Order era games.

Although created only for the needs of a video game, Kyle became surprisingly famous, almost as famous as Mara Jade and became a well established EU character. He appeared in various media since then, from comics to books.

Portrayal
Kyle Katarn was originally voiced by Nick Jameson for Dark Forces. The actor Jason Court acted as the character in Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II Full motion video sequences. The game sprite was of course modeled after Court's appearance.

Likewise, in Mysteries of Sith, Jedi Outcast and Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy, Kyle is exclusively a polygonal model, without FMV scenes, made to look like a slightly older Court. In these appearances, he is voiced by Rino Romano and Jeff Bennett. For the audio dramatizations, he is portrayed by Randal Berger.

Appearances

 * Dark Forces: Soldier for the Empire
 * Dark Forces
 * Dark Forces: Rebel Agent
 * Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight
 * Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith
 * Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast
 * Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy
 * Equals and Opposites
 * Force Heretic I: Remnant
 * The Unifying Force
 * The Joiner King
 * The Unseen Queen