Knights of Ren

"What now?" "Let's go find something to burn."

- Vicrul and "Ren"

The Knights of Ren were a mysterious order of Force-sensitive elite warriors that followed the dark side of the Force in an age when the Sith were extinct and the Jedi Order was all but destroyed.

Although rumours had spread throughout the Unknown Regions of a group of mysterious raiders known as the Knights of Ren, they only emerged in the larger galaxy following the downfall of the Galactic Empire in 5 ABY. The six Knights, commanded by an individual known only as Ren, began scouring the galaxy for other Force-sensitives to join their ranks.

They later came under the command of Kylo Ren. Seduced by the power of the dark side, the former Ben Solo renounced the Jedi and adopted a new name in addition to the title master of the Knights of Ren, becoming Supreme Leader Snoke's disciple and a warlord of the First Order. Under Snoke's guidance, the Knights of Ren filled the vacuum left by the demise of Kylo's grandfather, Darth Vader, the last Sith Lord. Ren, who earned the nickname "Jedi Killer" by destroying the generation of Jedi trained by Jedi Master Luke Skywalker, was determined to destroy the last Jedi and fulfill his grandfather's legacy.

As the war escalated between the First Order and the Resistance after the destruction of the New Republic, Kylo Ren killed Snoke during a confrontation between his master and the Jedi apprentice Rey, and became the new Supreme Leader of the First Order. The Knights of Ren emerged from relative obscurity to act as Ren's bodyguards and enforcers, stifling opposition to his rule within the First Order and assisiting him in his hunt for Rey. However, when Ben Solo redeemed himself and Kylo Ren ceased to be, the Knights traveled to Exegol where they were killed by their former master during the Battle of Exegol.

Description
"The Ren doesn't stop to worry about what it's burning or the right or wrong of it, or the goals it might achieve. The Ren just is. It lives, and it consumes, and it doesn't apologize. It is its nature and nothing else."

- Ren, a leader of the Knights, explaining the group's philosophy

The Knights of Ren were neither Jedi nor Sith, but a new generation of dark side warriors that emerged to fill the void left by the supposed demise of the last Sith Lords, Darth Sidious and Darth Vader. They had code, to which they were flexible in following: living life the way they wanted, taking what the galaxy gave them, and consuming what the dark side sent them.

The archetype of this new generation was Kylo Ren, the master of the Knights of Ren and heir to the bloodline of the most powerful Jedi and Sith in galactic history. The Knights of Ren served as Kylo's most mysterious and deadly servants. Force-sensitive like their master, albeit only to a middling degree. The Knights could tap into the dark side, though not to the extent of the Jedi or the Sith. Nevertheless, their fighting skills and martial prowess were without equal.

Despite Kylo Ren's ties to the First Order, the other Knights were not aligned with the Galactic Empire's successor, as Kylo and Supreme Leader Snoke were the only two beings who could command the Force in that hermit state. However, after Snoke's death at Kylo Ren's hands, the Knights of Ren's presence amongst the First Order became common. Having become the Supreme Leader of the Order, Ren looked at the Knights of Ren as his own equivalent to Snoke's Elite Praetorian Guard. However, the Knights could only be commanded by Ren, much to the displeasure of the Supreme Council.

History
"Even you, master of the Knights of Ren, have never faced such a test."

- Supreme Leader Snoke, to Kylo Ren The legend of a gang of marauders known as the Knights of Ren existed for centuries in the galaxy and were known throughout folklore in the Unknown Regions, though it was unknown if the Knights of Ren that operated during the New Republic Era were these legendary warriors or if they simply used their name and reputation. By the era of the New Republic, a group of six Knights of Ren operated in the galaxy from their ship Night Buzzard, and were under the command of a Force sensitive individual known only as "Ren." These six Knights, Vicrul, Ap'lek, Ushar, Trudgen, Cardo and Kuruk, were all Force-sensitive, though only to a relatively minimal degree. Under Ren, the Knights followed a creed called the Ren, which they believed was simply a force of nature. As a result, the Knights of Ren were not concerned with the morality of their actions, and believed that they simply existed to consume what the dark side of the Force sent them and what the galaxy had to offer.

At some point, the Knights of Ren sought out Karrst and his brother Filin with the aim of recruiting the former to their cause due to his connection to "the shadow" and his mass murders. The Knights massacred Sector Security them, and Ren tried to recruit Karrst. However, when Ren mentioned that a good death was needed to be committed for him to join, Filin shot Karrst dead with a blaster, hoping to take the spot intended for his brother. However, because he was not able to "touch the shadow," Ren killed him. The Knights then moved on to find something to burn.

When Ben Solo arrived to Snoke following the destruction of Luke Skywalker's Jedi temple, he expressed his interest in the Knights of Ren. The Knights of Ren would eventually fall under the command of Kylo Ren, the dark side apprentice of the mysterious Supreme Leader Snoke, who gifted the Knights of Ren to Kylo Ren after Ren passed a test given by him. Ren then became the master of the Knights of Ren.

Although the Sith lineage of Darth Bane ended with the death of Kylo Ren's grandfather, Darth Vader, the dark side of the Force endured and was strong with Kylo as well as his master, Supreme Leader Snoke. Kylo, who was originally trained as a Jedi by his uncle, Jedi Master Luke Skywalker, was seduced by the dark side like his grandfather before him. Discarding his former life as Ben Solo, Kylo adopted the roles of master of the Knights of Ren and warlord of the First Order, while Skywalker hid in exile out of shame and regret for his part in Kylo's fall to darkness.

Having forsaken his family and Jedi heritage, Kylo oversaw the First Order's mission to hunt and destroy the last remnants of the Jedi, including his uncle and former Master Luke Skywalker. However, he still felt the pull to the light, and would turn to one of his artifacts&mdash;the charred helmet of his grandfather&mdash;in hopes of strengthening his connection to the dark side and his commitment to the First Order's cause. As Kylo's quest drew him closer to an eventual reunion with his estranged father, Han Solo, Snoke warned his oft-conflicted acolyte that he would soon face his most difficult task. Confident in his training under the Supreme Leader, the master of the Knights of Ren believed he would not be seduced by the light, and was determined to succeed where Vader and his sentimentality failed.

During the waning hours of the cold war, Rey&mdash;a scavenger native to the forlorn frontier world of Jakku&mdash;traveled to Maz Kanata's castle on Takodana, where the Force ultimately led her to find the Jedi lightsaber that once belonged to Luke Skywalker and his father, Anakin Skywalker, in turn. Though unaware of her dormant connection to the Force, Rey was able to experience several Force visions by touching the lightsaber. Among the things she saw were the Knights of Ren. After the galaxy was cast into a state of war as a result of the New Republic's destruction in 34 ABY, Kylo assassinated Snoke and claimed his throne as the new Supreme Leader of the First Order.

A new Supreme Leader
"Knights of Ren.''" "''Cool."

- Two First Order stormtroopers, upon seeing the Knights of Ren

As a result of Kylo becoming the Supreme Leader, the Knights of Ren replaced the Elite Praetorian Guards as his new personal guard and began following him more closely. However, only Kylo had control over the them, much to the displeasure of the Supreme Council. The presence of the Knights in most places that Kylo went also caused intimidation or general discontent for some First Order personnel, yet there were instances where members of its Stormtrooper Corps reacted with admiration upon glimpsing Knights striding by.

Palpatine's return and the hunt for Rey
"Prepare to crush any worlds that defy us. My Knights and I are going hunting for the scavenger."

- Supreme Leader Kylo Ren

In 35 ABY, the entire galaxy witnessed the return of Sheev Palpatine, the former Emperor of the Galactic Empire and Dark Lord of the Sith, who had perished during the Battle of Endor in 4 ABY, but had managed to come back to life. Using a Sith wayfinder retrieved from the ruins of Fortress Vader on Mustafar, Kylo tracked the resurrected Emperor to the Sith world of Exegol in the Unknown Regions with the intent of killing him, as he considered him to be a threat of his reign. However, Palpatine revealed to him that he had created Snoke as a puppet, and then explained his plan to reclaim the galaxy through the Final Order — an armada of Xyston-class Star Destroyers outfitted with axial superlaser cannons which he had been building for decades — and offered an alliance: he would let Kylo take command of the fleet, thus giving him the means necessary to establish a new Empire and rule the galaxy, in exchange for finding and killing his granddaughter Rey.

Kylo accepted the offer, although he secretly planned to convince Rey to join him so that together they could kill Palpatine and rule the galaxy together. Afterwards, Kylo had his helmet rebuilt, with the Knights attending the process. He later returned to his Star Destroyer, accompanied by the Knights, to hold a meeting with the Supreme Council, informing them of this new powerful fleet, although some members were doubtful about trusting this mysterious cult.

Despite this, Kylo truly believed that Palpatine's fleet could finally help him claim the galaxy for himself and began his hunt for Rey, eventually tracking her down to the desert planet Pasaana through their connection. Accompanied by the Knights of Ren, Kylo traveled to Pasaana and confronted Rey after she had him crash-land his TIE whisper, while her friends — Finn, Poe Dameron, the Wookiee Chewbacca, and droids BB-8 and C-3PO — prepared an old, rusty ship, formerly owned by assassin Ochi, for take off. However, after Rey was distracted by Kylo emerging from his destroyed ship, Chewbacca went to inform them that they were ready to leave, unaware that the Knights were also present and watched the entire ordeal. Subsequently, the Knights captured Chewbacca and took him prisoner aboard one of the two transporters, taking him to Kylo's Star Destroyer. The other transport was destroyed by Rey using Force lightning during her confrontation with Kylo, leading her and the others to believe that Chewbacca had perished, although they later discovered the truth and rescued him from aboard the Star Destroyer above Kijimi. During this, Kylo informed Rey of being Palpatine's granddaughter and her parents abandoning her on Jakku to protect her for him, before being killed by Ochi.

Collapse
Kylo later went to Kef Bir after Rey traveled to the moon seeking a Sith wayfinder located amongst the ruins of the Death Star II. Kylo was defeated and fatally injured by Rey after sensing the death of his mother, Leia Organa, who used her last remaining energy to reach out to her son in an attempt to redeem him. Rey, having sensed Organa's death as well, used Force heal to treat Kylo's injury, before leaving in his repaired TIE whisper. As a result of his mother's death, as well as speaking with a vision of his father, Han Solo, Kylo redeemed himself and left his Kylo Ren persona behind, becoming Ben Solo once again.

The remaining Knights later traveled to Exegol and, during the Battle of Exegol between the remains of the Resistance and the Final Order, they attempted to stop their former leader, Solo, when he came to Rey's aid. Initially outnumbered and unarmed, Solo reached out to Rey through their connection and she gave him one of her two lightsabers to fight with. Solo proved his skill in combat against the Knights and soon managed to slaughter them all, ending the Knights of Ren.

Equipment
The Knights of Ren wore battered, rusty armor and concealed their faces beneath ominous masks–echoing the helmet of Kylo himself. Each Knight was armed with a unique and lethally effective weapon, suited to both close-quarter and long range combat.

Behind the scenes
"They’re characters that, when we came up with them in Force Awakens and had very brief sighting of them, it was something that we had a lot of ideas of sort of further adventures with them, backstory, you know, and all sorts of things that were not the focus of the central story, and never made it into the movie."

- J.J. Abrams

The Knights of Ren were created for the 2015 film Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens and appear in one of Rey's visions on Takodana. They were based on rejected designs for Kylo Ren. The Knights later appeared in the 2019 film Star Wars: Episode IX The Rise of Skywalker, where they were portrayed by Martin Wilde, Anton Simpson-Tidy, Lukaz Leong, Tom Rodgers, Joe Kennard and Ashley Beck.

During the Director commentary of The Force Awakens, director J.J. Abrams noted that the Knights had backstory, but it was not revealed at that time. While fleshing out the Knights of Ren for the Star Wars: The Rise of Kylo Ren comic book series, Charles Soule took inspiration from motorcycle gangs, classic Westerns and Samurai tales to dramatize some of the lore behind the Knights.

According to Rian Johnson, writer and director of the 2017 film Star Wars: Episode VIII The Last Jedi, the reason why the group do not appear in the film is that the movie was already full and there was no room for them. Johnson mused that they could have been used in place of Snoke's Elite Praetorian Guards, but it would have been a waste because all the guards had to die and Kylo's connection to the Knights would have added unwanted complications to the scene.

In May 2019, Vanity Fair revealed that the Knights of Ren would finally appear in The Rise of Skywalker. The article also featured a photograph of the Knights during filming at Jordan, alongside director J.J. Abrams. Vanity Fair described the Knights as "masked warriors with specialized weaponry who add an element of chaos to the war between the Resistance and the First Order" and compared their brutish look to those of the characters from the Mad Max films.

Non-canon appearances

 * LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens
 * Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes