Kir Kanos

"Death to all traitors of the Empire."

- Kir Kanos

Kir Kanos was the last known surviving member of the Emperor's Royal Guard and after the betrayal at the hands of fellow guardsman, Carnor Jax, he was best described in one word: relentless. A true zealot of the Galactic Empire's ideals. Peace, order, and most importantly justice-for-all pushed the Empire's penultimate warrior into an unending crusade against those who conspired to behead the Empire. From the traitorous Carnor Jax to the greedy Imperial Interim Ruling Council, Kanos sense of vengeance was unending.

Biography
Not much is known of Kanos' early life, other than he was born on Coruscant and was believed to have had a harsh existence that prepared him for the trials he would face later in life. He was believed to have been a stormtrooper before joining the Royal Guard.

Under the harsh training of Ved Kennede and the brutal conditions of the Squall, the Empire's most proficient killers were tempered into disciplined guardsmen. Their will manipulated, loyalty tested and camaraderie consolidated through the torturous nature of their training, it seemed unlikely that one as devout as Kanos would befriend the egotiscal and arrogant Carnor Jax, and instead he found fellow zealots and befriended his training partner Lemmet Tauk.



After several years of intense training Kanos and Tauk were summoned to take the place of fallen guardsmen, but before their ascension they were given one final test by Palpatine, to face each other in mortal combat. A confirmation of their ultimate loyalty, to kill one's training partner meant not only to purge the weaker apprentice but to relinquish one's devotion wholly to the emperor. Kanos with hesitation killed his friend and won his place amongst the Empire's most honorable.

As Palpatine left, Kanos approached his slain compatriot and broke out in grief and apologized for his actions. Darth Vader watching from afar, was angered by such an outburst and ordered Kanos to fight him. Fighting with the best of his abilities, Kanos failed to even touch the Sith Lord and so was punished with a lightsaber scar across the face.

An eternal reminder that his entire life is now dedicated entirely to the Emperor, and that such attachments are not welcome.

Kanos continued to loyally serve Palpatine until the latter's death at the Battle of Endor. Like many of the other Guardsmen, Kanos chose not to ally with any of various Imperial usurpers of the time and instead stood watch on worlds the Emperor had deemed his most precious, trying to live by the standards the Emperor had inculcated in him.

When Palpatine was reborn in 10 ABY, Kanos and the other surviving Guard journeyed to Byss to resume their service to him. However, Kanos' old rival Jax had treacherously damaged Palpatine's supply of clones, thus contributing to his death at the hands of Luke Skywalker.

The despondent Royal Guard made their way back to their headquarters on Yinchorr. However, they were also betrayed by Jax, who used his supply of Blackhole Stormtroopers to slaughter the Guard, with only Kanos escaping.

Kanos made his way to the planet Phaeda, where he managed to convince the local New Republic commander, Mirith Sinn, that they shared a common enemy. When Shev, an officer loyal to Jax's Imperial Interim Council, attacked Phaeda, Kanos defeated his soldiers, then returned to Yinchorr. Despite the fact that Sinn wanted Jax alive, Kanos — in a poetic ending to their rivalry - faced the traitor in a duel in the Squall of the abandoned Academy.

During the duel sound of shots reached Kanos and Jax from below, and Kanos realized what Jax had set up. Further enraged, the two continued their vicious battle. Jax gained the upper hand and Kanos fell over the edge of the platform, barely hanging on by one hand. Before he could make the killing move, Jax was stopped by the arrival of Sinn and Sadeet, who got him in the sights of their weapons and demanded that he surrender to them as a live prisoner. Jax expressed his regret at not killing Sinn earlier and left Kanos to kill them.

Both Sinn and Sadeet were injured by Jax, but the distraction allowed Kanos to clamber back onto the platform and impale Jax on his blade. Shocked, Jax reminded Kanos that his friends wanted him alive. Kanos said they were not his friends.

"Thus die all traitors," Kanos proclaimed over Jax's dying form. When Sadeet tried to stop him, still in a bloodlust, Kanos reacted on instinct and killed him as well.

Due to having killed the two men and so having reneged on his agreement with the New Republic, Kanos went into hiding from both sides, despite the romantic feelings he had developed — and suppressed — for Sinn. He then assumed the identity of Kenix Kil, a bounty hunter. Meanwhile, the Empire put out a huge bounty of at least 200 million credits for him alive, half that dead.



He eventually made his way to the Imperial world of Baramorra, whose governor, Boss Banjeer, was amassing bounty hunters on behalf of the Council and its new Emperor, Xandel Carivus. Kanos killed the governor and decided to bring down Carivus as well.

Kanos first decided to take care of Grappa the Hutt, who he had learned had captured his love, Mirith Sinn. He succeeded in rescuing her, although he himself was subsequently captured by Grappa and sent to the planet Genon.

Sinn rescued Kanos, and together they dealt with Grappa - although she did not recognize the real identity of "Kil".

Kanos, choosing not to reveal either his identity or his feelings to her, left Sinn to finish his task of killing "Emperor" Carivus. He managed to accomplish this task and debated settling down with Sinn&mdash;but decided that a Rebel and an Imperial could never be together. He later fought and killed one of Sinn's former soldiers, Massimo, who had betrayed Kanos to Grappa the Hutt and who was then intent on getting revenge on Kanos for abandoning him to the Zanibar on Genon.

The next year, during the Orinda campaign, he appeared on Dathomir, in a mission to assassinate the corrupt "governor" the Imperial Remnant had appointed in its attempt to take over the planet. He eventually succeeded, having formed an alliance of convenience with some New Republic heroes.

Following his exploits on Dathomir, he disappeared. It is believed that he possibly had a hand in the downfall of the Shadow Academy and its false emperor. His further exploits, and final fate, are unknown.

Behind the scenes

 * Kanos was roughly based on a character that Randy Stradley planned for an unwritten story of Marvel Star Wars. Like Kanos, the earlier character was an Imperial Guard who was out to avenge Palpatine's death; and like was planned for Kanos in the proposed Crimson Empire III, he would have eventually fought Luke Skywalker.
 * According to Stradley, when writing Crimson Empire they worked under the idea that all Royal Guards were clones, with the shot of the unmasked Jax supposed to show that he and Kanos were from the same prime clone. However, the establishment of Jax's father, and the fact that other Royal Guardsmen have been developed, seem to have vanquished that concept (unless they are all oblivious GeNode clones).
 * In the audio drama version of Crimson Empire, Kanos was voiced by Patrick Coyle.
 * It is interesting to note that the Imperial Knights' (Star Wars: Legacy) uniform is very similar to Kir Kanos' personal attire.
 * The Nightsaber role-playing adventure contains statistics for Kanos which indicate that he is Force-sensitive. Although this is never explicitly alluded to in the comics, and Kanos himself may be unaware of the fact, it would be supported by:
 * His seemingly superhuman combat capabilities,
 * His ability to deflect blaster-bolts off his vibrostaff,
 * The fact he could defeat Carnor Jax, identified as a Sovereign Protector and Sith Apprentice, in single combat,
 * The fact that he was able predict that a damaged TIE interceptor would crash into its own forces,
 * And the fact that a panel of Crimson Empire seems to show him pulling a vibrostaff into his own hands

Products
An action figure of Kir Kanos was made in 2006 by Hasbro as part of an Expanded Universe two-pack with Carnor Jax. The set was packaged with a reprint of Crimson Empire 6 and was a dual-exclusive to StarWarsShop.com and Entertainment Earth. The figure came with a removable helmet, blaster, and double-bladed staff.

Appearances

 * Crimson Empire
 * The Bounty Hunters: Kenix Kil
 * Crimson Empire II: Council of Blood
 * Hard Currency
 * Nightsaber