![]() |
More to add, have you?
It is requested that this article/section of an article be expanded. Once the article contains more information, this template will be removed. |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
Ben Solo, formerly known as Kylo Ren, was a Human male and the son of Han Solo and Leia Organa, and the maternal grandson of Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala. He trained as a Jedi under his uncle Luke Skywalker but was turned to the dark side of the Force by Supreme Leader Snoke and the resurrected Darth Sidious/Emperor Palpatine. He became the Master of the Knights of Ren and served the First Order as its warlord, which he then took over after assassinating Snoke. However, he redeemed himself and helped Rey (who became the love of his life) defeat the Emperor before sacrificing himself to save her.
Biography

Luke Skywalker senses the dark side within Ben Solo and is tempted to kill him.

In his descent into darkness, Ben joined the Knights of Ren and became their master, Kylo Ren.
Ben Solo was born to Han Solo and Leia Organa under the rule of the New Republic. Before he was born, his mother sensed him through the Force and concluded that he was a boy. He didn't spend a lot of time with his parents and was whisked off to train with his uncle Luke Skywalker as a Jedi. Eventually, after sensing the dark side in Ben, Luke was tempted to kill him, which was the final push for Ben to turn to the dark side after being corrupted by Palpatine and Snoke for more than a decade. Ben sought Snoke and later became the master of the Knights of Ren, causing Luke to hide himself into exile. Serving the First Order, Ben took on the name Kylo Ren.
Kylo Ren arrived in his command shuttle on Jakku many years later and led the First Order in a search for the missing segment of the map to Luke Skywalker. He captured Resistance Pilot Poe Dameron who refused to give away the location of the map. Kylo took Poe to the Resurgent-class Star Destroyer Finalizer where he interrogated the pilot into revealing that the information was with BB-8 the droid. Finn escaped with Poe and crash landed on Jakku. When the First Order failed to stop Rey and Finn from escaping with the droid Hux and Kylo met with their master Snoke. Hux told Snoke that the Starkiller weapon was ready and was ordered to oversee operations. Snoke told Kylo that BB-8 was in the hands of Han Solo, his father. Kylo told Snoke that this wouldn't stop him even though his master is unsure.
Arriving on Takodana, Kylo landed in his shuttle and watched as his Stormtroopers attacked the castle. Rey and BB-8 watched from afar and Kylo Ren found them. Rey shot the dark warrior but he deflected every bolt, capturing the the scavenger. Discovering that she had seen the map to Luke Skywalker, Kylo told his men that they no longer needed the droid and that he would be able to get the map out of her mind.
Kylo interrogated Rey on Starkiller Base, surprised that she was "just a scavenger". Han, Chewbacca and Finn arrived and Rey escaped. Han and the group set explosives while Kylo searched for them. Kylo eventually crossed paths with his father at opposite sides of a bridge and told him that he had been looking forward to this day. Han asked him to remove his helmet since he wouldn't be needing it. Han slowly walked closer and attempted to explain to his son that Snoke was using him and that he would kill Kylo once he could no longer be used. Han asked him to come back and Kylo took his lightsaber, handing it to his father. Then, to the shock of Rey, Finn and Chewbacca who were watching from platforms, Kylo activated the saber, stabbing Han. Han touched his son's face before Kylo removed the blade. He watched as his father's body fell and then he failed to stop angry Chewbacca's shots which injured him.

Rey and Kylo duel on Starkiller Base.
With the group escaping, Kylo made his way outside to the snowy forest. When Finn and Rey arrived, he Force-pushed her against a tree. Finn activated the Skywalker's lightsaber and ran at Ren. Finn put up a fight and slashed Kylo's shoulder. Kylo sent the saber flying and slashed him from behind. Finn fell to the ground and Kylo attempted to use the Force to take his grandfather's lightsaber. It didn't budge for a while and then finally it came flying directly past him and into Rey's hand. After a moment of staring, in which Kylo looked at her surprised and fascinated, the two duelled. At first Kylo was dominating the fight and pushing Rey back. Eventually the ground around them started to fall apart since Poe and the Resistance had successfully destroyed the inner parts of the base. Ren cornered Rey beside a crevice and told her she needed a teacher. She used this opportunity to call on the Force and started to attack him. This time Rey was dominating and slashed Kylo across the face. Another crevice opened between them and Rey ran off to find Finn. Kylo was left to die on the exploding planet, but was rescued by Armitage Hux before the base was completely destroyed and was taken to Snoke to have his training completed.

Kylo and Rey touch hands through their Force-bond and start to grow close together.
Ben started to experience Force connections with Rey where they could see each other even though they were in a different locations. Rey tried to turn him back to the light and Kylo tried to get Rey to join him. Rey eventually turned herself into the First Order and Kylo brought her before Snoke. Kylo betrayed his master and killed him before teaming up with Rey to defeat Snoke's Praetorian Guards. After the fight finished each of them refused to accept the other's offer and it resulted in them accidentally splitting the Skywalker's lightsaber in half at the same time that Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo sacrificed herself to save the Resistance and rammed the MC85 Star Cruiser Raddus into the Mega-class Star Dreadnought Supremacy at lightspeed, cutting it in half.

Kylo facing of Luke Skywalker's projection on Crait.
Kylo was knocked out by the blast and when he woke up Rey had gone and taken Snoke's personal ship. Ren went down to Crait and faced down what he thought was Luke but realized too late that it was a Force projection. The Force projection cost Skywalker his life, causing Luke's physical body to die on Ahch-To, but distracted Kylo long enough to allow Rey to help the Resistance escape.
Kylo served as the Supreme Leader of the First Order in the wake of Snoke's death and for a year until Darth Sidious revealed himself to be resurrected. Kylo used a Sith wayfinder to find him on the hidden planet of Exegol. Kylo was tasked with finding and killing Rey in exchange of the Sith fleet. Kylo pretended to accept his offer but actually pursued Rey in an attempt to make her join him again. Kylo followed Rey and her Resistance comrades on her mission to find Exegol and duelled her multiple times. Leia was getting old and weak and used the last of her strength to reach out to Ben. After his duel in the ruins of the second Death Star with Rey, she confessed that she wanted to be with him as Ben Solo, not Kylo Ren. Then, Ben saw a vision of his father Han Solo which mirrored his last encounter with him on Starkiller Base. This time Ben chose the light and tossed his lightsaber out into the ocean. He ran back to Exegol in order to help Rey to confront Sidious.

Ben and Rey acknowledge their feelings for each other with a passionate kiss.
The Knights of Ren confronted Ben who no longer had his lightsaber but using their Force dyad Rey was able to give him the Skywalker's lightsaber which he used to defeat them. Sidious saw the connection they had and drained power from it, regaining his physical strength. He then used the Force to throw Ben down a nearby crevice. He managed to climb back out of the pit to find Rey dead after she had called on the power of the past Jedi and used all her strength to defeat Sidious. As she layed dead, he picked her up, embracing her while mourning her death. Then he decided to sacrifice himself by transfering his life-force to Rey. When she was revived, they shared a passionate kiss before Ben disappeared in her arms. He vanished at the same time as Leia's body, that was still on Ajan Kloss, became one with the Force.
Personality and Traits
Due to his parents busy lives, Ben spent most of his childhood under the care of droids and developed abandonment issues, causing a strong feeling of loneliness in him. In addition to this, Ben also thought his parents perceived him as disturbed after overhearing their worries about his uncontrolled Force-powers, so he concluded that they feared him. However, he was still attached to them, in spite of the neglect and abandonment issues, and he was never able to resent Han and Leia.
During his time at Luke's Jedi academy, Ben felt the burden of the legacy of the Jedi and made comparisons between himself and the heroic Jedi of past times. He immediately ascended in the rank of Luke's students, becoming the most prized apprentice. But in comparing these accomplishments with the ones of his family members and the past Jedi, he was left unsatisfied.
Ben was corrupted by both Snoke and Palpatine to fall to the dark side since his childhood, with them planting seeds of doubt on the boy's mind about the Jedi and his family. Eventually, when Ben was at the age of 24, he finally found out the truth about his grandfather, Anakin Skywalker, who was once the Sith, Darth Vader. Ben became enraged and frustrated that his family were hiding this secret from him and Snoke capitalized on this anger to promise him that he could be greater than Vader instead of trying to surpass the Jedi from the past. Shortly after, with Luke's betrayal, Ben was convinced that Snoke was right about everything and sought him, becoming his apprentice.
Upon turning to the dark side, Ben wanted to find his own identity and sever his connection with anything related to his past, including his family. Despite this, even sometime after turning to the dark side, he still showed signs of his attachment towards his parents. While training inside the Cave of Evil on Dagobah, Ben was unwilling to strike down the vision of his parents, as the images of Han and Leia told him that he was still loved and asked for him to come home, a vision that was a result of Ben inner conflict. On Starkiller Base, Kylo stated to his master that his father meant nothing to him, but he became overwhelmed with uncertainty over facing Han Solo after so many years. Desperate to escape his past and his attachments, Kylo accepts his master's instructions and kills his own father, but the patricide had not the result that he expected. Kylo is actually further weakened instead of strengthen by the action, which stokes up his conflict and left him lost with feelings of remorse and depression.
The patricide followed by being defeated by Rey, left him marked both in mind and in body as the girl gave him a facial scarring in their duel. The humiliation he endured from his master that considered him weak and called him a "child in a mask", just a pale imitation of Vader, because of his deafeat and his feelings of remorse after murdering Han Solo, made him think even lower of himself; he accepted himself as a monster with cold reservation, believing the dark side was part of his nature as Vader's grandson. After his failure and humiliation, he is motivated by desperation to prove his worth to his master. But it ends in failure after his inability to fire upon his mother, which once again reveals his lingering feelings of attachment towards his family.
The war he was in with himself psychologically was further aggravated upon starting to interact with Rey, with whom he found out he shares an unique Force-bond with. Rey was abandoned by her parents and had a lonely childhood like Ben Solo had, so they were soon able to emphasize and understand each other, and after sometime interacting through their bond, they eventually fell in love. In Rey, Kylo found not only someone to share his pain and the comfort that he was not obtaining while serving his master and the dark side, but also an equal, both in the Force and as an individual, a person he started to admire because of her strength of mind and determination. He was also touched by her compassion and kindness for him as Rey became determined to turn Kylo to the light and bring him to her side upon seeing glimpses of the man he was hiding behind the mask of Kylo Ren. At the same time, he began to wish to have her by his side and after seeing a vision of her parents, he was convinced that she would turn and stand beside him.
Powers and Abilities
Although Kylo was strong with the Force and was able to stop a blaster bolt in mid-air, he was still undertrained and most likely confused due to the mix of his training with Supreme Leader Snoke and with Jedi Master Luke Skywalker.
Weapons

Jedi/Knights of Ren
Main Article: Kylo Ren's lightsaber
Originally constructed as his Jedi blade, Kylo eventually bled the crystal when he turned to the dark side of the force.
Kylo Ren turned it into a crossguard lightsaber much like those used by the Sith and the Jedi during the Great Scourge of Malachor. The kyber crystal used was broken, causing the blade to be rigged unlike most lightsabers.
Vehicles
Command Shuttle
Main Article: Kylo Ren's command shuttle
Kylo owned a shuttle which he used as his form of transport to and from the Finalizer.
TIE Silencer
Main Article: Kylo Ren's TIE Silencer

Kylo was in possession of a TIE/vn space superiority fighter that he used during the Attack on the Resistance Fleet and almost shot the bridge of the Raddus where his mother Leia Organa was commanding the insurgents.
TIE Whisper
Main article: Kylo Ren's TIE whisper
Kylo later used a TIE/wi modified interceptor after he became the Supreme Leader of the First Order. He used it to confront Rey on Pasaana, and later taking it to Kef Bir after Rey traveled there to claim the Wayfinder. Following the pairs fight, Rey took the TIE whisper in order to return to Ahch-To. Planning to exile herself, Rey destroyed the TIE whisper, burning it on the shores of Ahch-To.
Relationships
Note: This list is incomplete
Family
Allies
Enemies
|
Legends Counterparts

Caedus's hair is slightly similar to that of Kylo Ren
Jacen Solo
In Star Wars Legends, the son of Han Solo and Leia Organa Solo is Jacen Solo. Kylo Ren is very obviously inspired by his character since Jacen, twin brother of Jaina and older brother to Anakin Solo trained as a Jedi and then turned down a dark path, becoming Darth Caedus.

Ben Skywalker
Ben Skywalker
The Son of Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade in Star Wars Legends, Ben Skywalker trained as a Jedi under his father. He was obviously named after Obi-Wan Kenobi, one of Luke's mentors. In a similar way Kylo Ren's real name is Ben and is most likely named after the old man that sacrificed himself on the first Death Star.
Trivia

- Kylo Ren was known as "Jedi Killer" during early concepts and production.
- Designs for Kylo Ren looked alike to Darth Vader and the Guavian Death Gang soldiers.
- The scar on Ren's face was moved slightly for The Last Jedi at Rian Johnson's request.
- There was a Legends character known as Kybo Ren but the characters show no similarities at all other then in the name.
- Adam Driver didn't audition for the role of Kylo Ren but rather just met with J.J. Abrams and Abrams decided to give him the role.
- Adam Driver doesn't normally watch his movies as it makes him feel uncomfortable. However, Driver made an exception for The Force Awakens and watched it with Daisy Ridley and Carrie Fisher.
- Kylo Ren was believed to be a Sith Lord in the initial teaser trailer for The Force Awakens but Abrams clarified that Vader was the final Sith Lord and Ren was a new type of dark-sider.
- Adam Driver chose the role of Kylo Ren over the role of Lex Luthor in Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice.
- Adam wasn't fond of the mask he had to wear while filming The Force Awakens. He stated that he could barely see what was on set while he wore it.
- Ren only wears the mask in one scene in The Last Jedi before destroying it. This could be a development of character for Kylo who is moving on from the Darth Vader persona and discovering who Kylo Ren is as his own individual character.
- The crew of The Last Jedi explained that Kylo Ren was shirtless in the movie to inform viewers that Rey could indeed see him through the telepathic communication they were experiencing. They then went on to say that it was also good humor.
- Leia named Ben Solo after Obi-Wan Kenobi who had gone by the name Ben Kenobi while on exile on Tatooine.
- Rian Johnson explained that the Knights of Ren did not appear in The Last Jedi due to the fact that the movie was already full. They could have been in Snoke's throne-room instead of the Praetorian Guards but that would have created unnecessary complications due to their connection to Kylo and the fact that they had to die so nobody knew Kylo assassinated Snoke.
Behind the Scenes

Kylo with his helmet on.
Kylo Ren is portrayed by Adam Driver in Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens, Star Wars: Episode VIII The Last Jedi and Star Wars: Episode IX The Rise of Skywalker.
Appearances
Note: This list is incomplete
- Star Wars: Force Arena
Star Wars Battlefront II
Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith 25 (Voice only)
A World Between Worlds (Voice only)
A Leader Named Leia
- Aftermath: Life Debt (Indirect appearance only)
- Aftermath: Empire's End
- Last Shot
- Bloodline (Appears in flashback(s))
The Rise of Kylo Ren 1
The Rise of Kylo Ren 2
The Rise of Kylo Ren 3
The Rise of Kylo Ren 4
Age of Resistance - Supreme Leader Snoke 1
Before the Awakening (Mentioned only)
Poe Dameron 10 (Mentioned only)
Poe Dameron 11 (Mentioned only)
Poe Dameron 12 (Mentioned only)
Poe Dameron 13 (Mentioned only in opening crawl)
Poe Dameron Annual 2 (Appears in flashback(s))
Poe Dameron 22 (Mentioned only)
The Children from Tehar (Mentioned only)
"Pest Control"—Star Wars Adventures 3
Age of Resistance - Finn 1
Age of Resistance - General Hux 1
Age of Resistance - Kylo Ren 1
Phasma (Mentioned only)
Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens (First appearance) (First identified as Ben)
- Star Wars: The Force Awakens novelization
- Star Wars: The Force Awakens: A Junior Novel
- The Force Awakens: Rey's Story
- The Force Awakens: Finn's Story
- Lightsaber Rescue
- Rolling with BB-8!
- The Force Awakens storybook
- The Force Awakens Golden Book (First identified as Solo)
- Finn & the First Order
- Finn and Poe Team Up!
- Chaos at the Castle
- The Fight in the Forest
Star Wars: Forces of Destiny—Rey (Appears through imagination)
- Star Wars: The Force Awakens Graphic Novel Adaptation
The Force Awakens Adaptation 1
The Force Awakens Adaptation 2
The Force Awakens Adaptation 3
The Force Awakens Adaptation 4
The Force Awakens Adaptation 5
The Force Awakens Adaptation 6
- Galaxy's Edge: Black Spire (Mentioned only)
Captain Phasma 1
Age of Resistance - Rey 1 (Appears in flashback(s))
—Star Wars Adventures Ashcan (Appears in flashback(s))
Star Wars: Episode VIII The Last Jedi
- Star Wars: The Last Jedi: Expanded Edition
- Star Wars: The Last Jedi: A Junior Novel
- The Last Jedi: Rey's Journey
- The Last Jedi: Rose and Finn's Secret Mission
The Last Jedi Adaptation 1
The Last Jedi Adaptation 2
The Last Jedi Adaptation 3
The Last Jedi Adaptation 4
The Last Jedi Adaptation 5
The Last Jedi Adaptation 6
The Relic Raiders (Mentioned only)
Station to Station (Mentioned only)
Poe Dameron 26 (Appears in flashback(s))
Poe Dameron 27 (Mentioned only)
Poe Dameron 28 (Mentioned only)
Resistance Reborn (Mentioned only)
Allegiance 1
Allegiance 2
Choose Your Destiny: A Finn & Poe Adventure (Appears in hologram)
Spark of the Resistance (Mentioned only)
Galaxy's Edge 2 (Mentioned only)
Galaxy's Edge 5
- Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge
- Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge—Rise of the Resistance
- Star Wars: Datapad (Mentioned only)
Resistance Heroes
First Order Villains
Star Wars: Episode IX The Rise of Skywalker
- Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker: Expanded Edition
- Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker: A Junior Novel
- Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Graphic Novel Adaptation