Kanan Jarrus

"It was instantly clear that Kanan was in charge of the group, that he was the guy who called the shots. He's smart, like some sort of battlefield general. He's a crack-shot gunslinger and a born leader."

- Ezra Bridger

Kanan Jarrus (born Caleb Dume) was a Human male Jedi Padawan who survived Order 66. Going into hiding, he forsook the Jedi ways for some time, swapping his blue-bladed lightsaber for a blaster. Eventually, he would come to command the VCX-100 light freighter Ghost several years before the Battle of Yavin. While cocky and often sarcastic, Jarrus was eager to help out and fight the Galactic Empire. Five years before the Battle of Yavin, Jarrus met Ezra Bridger, a fourteen-year-old Force-sensitive Human, whom he decided to mentor.

Biography
"How about a little less attitude and a little more altitude?"

- Kanan Jarrus

A Human male, Caleb Dume was born during the waning years of the Galactic Republic. While he was integrated into the Jedi Order, and trained as a Padawan under Master Billaba, Dume had no time to reach the status of Jedi Knight; Supreme Chancellor Palpatine of the Republic issued Order 66, which branded all Jedi as traitors to the state and called for their immediate execution. Dume, at the age of 14, at the orders of his Master, somehow escaped the massacre and went into hiding, as Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi instructed all jedi to go into hiding form the empire. Meanwhile, Palpatine and his second-in-command Darth Vader started transforming the Republic into an authoritarian Galactic Empire, sending their Inquisitor to hunt down the remaining Jedi. Forced to hide his Force-sensitivity, he took the name "Kanan Jarrus" and kept his lightsaber locked away and forsook the Jedi ways for a long time, disguising himself as a freighter pilot, a bounty hunter, and a frontier ranger.

However, sometime over the next nineteen years, the former Jedi at the age of 28, led the motley crew of the VCX-100 light freighter Ghost, whose members tried to stand up against the Empire. One such stand was a raid on an Imperial supply convoy. After the raid, Kanan, Hera Syndulla, and C1-10P found themselves under attack by Imperial TIE fighters. After the attack disabled both the Ghost's shields and internal comm system, Kanan and Hera began giving Chopper conflicting orders over which system to fix first. It was Chopper who ultimately destroyed the final TIE, and his efforts were recognized by the two organics before the ship blasted into hyperspace. Another time, Kanan was supposed to rendezvous with Garazeb Orrelios. Zeb had shown up at the wrong alleyway and, against Kanan's protestations via comlink, picked a fight with several Stormtroopers, which culminated in the destruction of a TIE fighter. Kanan was nevertheless pleased and set out to meet Zeb.

Eventually, Jarrus and the crew met Ezra Bridger, a fourteen-year old Human pickpocket from Lothal who used the Force instinctively to survive. Jarrus ended up taking the boy under his wing to teach him how to deal with his powers.

Personality and traits
Kanan Jarrus was a lean, tan-skinned man with blue eyes and brown hair. He sported a ponytail and a short goatee. A secretive man, he would rarely talk about his past. Having felt adrift since the destruction of the Jedi way of life, he had developed a cynical and cocky personality.

Behind the scenes
Kanan Jarrus was first revealed as a character from the forthcoming animated series Star Wars Rebels at the January 2014 Nuremberg International Toy Fair, where Jarrus was included on the packaging of the LEGO Star Wars Rebels Ghost model. However, the packaging merely represented Jarrus's LEGO mini-figure as a silhouetted form holding a blue-bladed lightsaber.

On February 11, 2014, Lucasfilm began a promotional campaign to introduce the characters of Star Wars Rebels, starting with Kanan Jarrus. USA Today ran an online story featuring an exclusive first look at Jarrus's character and announcing that he would be voiced by actor Freddie Prinze Jr. The story included a Lucasfilm production video revealing the character's full design.

Appearances

 * A New Dawn
 * The Machine in the Ghost
 * Chopper Saves the Day
 * Entanglement
 * Zeb to the Rescue
 * Ezra and the Pilot
 * Rise of the Rebels
 * Star Wars Rebels: Spark of Rebellion
 * Star Wars Rebels
 * A New Hero