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| 5 | %% Please list all movies by their full titles instead of "Episode #". |
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| 9 | !All spoilers regarding the Skywalker Saga and ''The Clone Wars'' are unmarked. Examples relating to Disney's EU can be spoiler-tagged if deemed necessary. |
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| 11 | To return to the Character page for ''Franchise/StarWars'', go '''[[Characters/StarWars here]]'''. |
| 12 | ---- |
| 13 | [[header:Supreme Leader Kylo Ren/Ben Solo]] |
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| 15 | %% Images selected per Image Pickin threads: |
| 16 | %% https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=17073611110.25921200 |
| 17 | %% https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=17060071160.36142400 |
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| 20 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cac402f8_2348_4920_a932_bde49ce99a1b.jpeg]] |
| 21 | [[caption-width-right:300:''"Let the past die. Kill it, if you have to. It's the only way to become what you were meant to be."'']] |
| 22 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/427ce6b0_537c_4ad2_8e59_fab8ecb82bad.jpeg]] |
| 23 | [[caption-width-right:300:''"I know what I have to do, but I don't know if I have the strength to do it."'']] |
| 24 | %%[[caption-width-right:300:some caption text]] |
| 25 | !!!'''Species:''' Human |
| 26 | !!!'''Homeworld:''' Chandrila |
| 27 | |
| 28 | ->'''Portrayed by:''' Creator/AdamDriver |
| 29 | ->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/AlejandroOrozco (Latin-American Spanish), Fernando Cabrera (European Spanish), Creator/KenjiroTsuda (Japanese), Valentin Merlet (French), Sérgio Cantú (Brazilian Portuguese), Creator/MatthewWood (''Battlefront II'', masked; ''Resistance''), Creator/RogerCraigSmith (''Battlefront II'', unmasked) |
| 30 | ->'''Appearances:''' ''[[WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels Rebels]]'' [[note]] voice only [[/note]] | ''[[Literature/AftermathEmpiresEnd Empire's End]]'' | ''[[Literature/StarWarsLastShot Last Shot]]'' | ''[[Literature/ShadowOfTheSith Shadow of the Sith]]'' | ''[[Literature/StarWarsBloodline Bloodline]]'' | ''[[ComicBook/StarWarsTheRiseOfKyloRen The Rise of Kylo Ren]]'' | ''[[ComicBook/StarWarsAgeOfResistance Age of Resistance]]'' | ''[[ComicBook/StarWarsAdventures Adventures]]'' | ''[[VideoGame/StarWarsBattlefrontII2017 Battlefront II]]'' | ''Film/TheForceAwakens'' | ''Film/TheLastJedi'' | ''[[WesternAnimation/StarWarsResistance Resistance]]'' | ''[[ComicBook/StarWarsAllegiance Allegiance]]'' | ''Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker'' |
| 31 | |
| 32 | -->''"The dark side is in our nature. Surrender to it."'' |
| 33 | |
| 34 | The son of Han Solo and Leia Organa and nephew of Luke Skywalker, Ben Solo was destined to become a Jedi Knight under his uncle's guidance, but was lured to the Dark Side of the Force by Supreme Leader Snoke and became his apprentice as Kylo Ren. He is the Master of the Knights of Ren. Kylo Ren wears a black mask reminiscent of his grandfather, Darth Vader, and wields an unstable crossguard red lightsaber. |
| 35 | |
| 36 | He was second-in-command of the First Order until deciding to "kill the past" by murdering Snoke and usurping him. Supreme Leader Kylo Ren aims to crush the Resistance, turn Rey to the dark side, and conquer the galaxy together. |
| 37 | |
| 38 | ---- |
| 39 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 40 | |
| 41 | [[folder:A-C]] |
| 42 | * AccidentalHero: A ''villainous'' variation. When their ship crashlands in ''Age of Resistance'', he uses the Force to protect himself and Hux from the resulting explosion and rubble. When Hux expresses disbelief that Kylo saved him, Kylo remarks that he didn't ''intentionally'' save him; he was attempting to protect himself and Hux just happened to be nearby. |
| 43 | * AccidentalMurder: Hennix flings his lightsaber at Ben after believing he'd killed Voe. Ben instinctively uses the Force to deflect the lightsaber, which swings back towards Hennix and kills him. Ben is genuinely horrified. When he tells the Knights of Ren about it later, Ren even lampshades this, saying he's not certain that counts as a 'good death' because Ben didn't intend to kill Hennix. |
| 44 | * AcePilot: In ''The Last Jedi'', he demonstrates piloting skills similar to his father's and grandfather's when he leads an assault on the Resistance flagship and comes through unscathed despite the heavy crossfire. He cripples the Resistance's defenses by flying inside the flagship to blow up the hangar, its complement of X-wings, and many of their pilots with one missile. |
| 45 | * AffectionateNickname: ''Last Shot'' reveals that [[HonoraryUncle Lando Calrissian]] had a few for him when he was a kid, including "little buddy" and "little starfighter". |
| 46 | * AllForNothing: |
| 47 | ** Killing his own father was meant to advance his growth in the dark side, as Snoke wanted to test his commitment to the First Order. Instead, Snoke admonishes Kylo for becoming even more emotionally unstable over what happened and Han's death accomplishes nothing for the First Order. |
| 48 | ** Trying to kill Luke, end the Jedi, and destroy the Resistance also ended in bitter failure. Luke's final stand on Crait inspires the Galaxy and a generation of partially-aware Force wielders to stand up against tyranny, and not only has Luke become more powerful than he could possibly imagine, but he gained nothing from "defeating" him, either. Meanwhile, the Jedi live on through Rey and the Resistance itself is still determined to fight in spite of their devastating losses. |
| 49 | * {{Ambadassador}}: Inverted; diplomacy isn't Kylo's area of expertise, but in ''Age of Resistance'' he's sent to negotiate with the Benathy king to stop them from expanding their territory. King Kristoff boasts and insults Kylo, so Kylo employs his family's tradition of AggressiveNegotiations. |
| 50 | -->'''Captain Ruthford:''' That was supposed to be a negotiation. |
| 51 | -->'''Kylo Ren:''' Yes. |
| 52 | -->'''Captain Ruthford:''' It's kind of hard to negotiate with dead people. |
| 53 | -->'''Kylo Ren:''' [[DeadpanSnarker Really? I didn't hear anyone objecting to my demands.]] |
| 54 | * AntagonisticOffspring: He is a dark side practitioner who leads the evil First Order in opposition to his heroic parents, Han Solo and Leia Organa, and he kills his father in ''The Force Awakens'' to go further into the dark side. |
| 55 | * TheApprentice: To Supreme Leader Snoke, and [[APupilOfMineUntilHeTurnedToEvil formerly]] to Luke Skywalker. |
| 56 | * ArchEnemy: |
| 57 | ** To Luke Skywalker, his uncle and former Jedi Master. Luke, overcome by fear of his troubled nephew, considered killing young Ben in his sleep. Luke decided not to go through with it, but when Ben awoke and saw him holding an ignited lightsaber, he came to his own conclusions, destroyed Luke's Jedi enclave (and likely killed other Jedi apprentices) and dedicated himself to the dark side. Kylo was seeking to kill Luke ever since. In ''The Last Jedi,'' when he sees Luke on Crait, Kylo orders him annihilated by a massive barrage. When this fails, he confronts him in person. Luke, for his own part, feels no hatred for Kylo but rather guilt and despair, and a sliver of hope that Kylo might one day turn away from the dark side. |
| 58 | ** Also to [[TheHero Rey]]. Although Kylo Ren does not have as much animosity towards Rey as he does towards his uncle, Rey confronted him far more frequently during the First Order-Resistance War. Kylo Ren gained her ire when he captured her, attempted to interrogate her, and [[MentorOccupationalHazard murdered her mentor]] Han Solo. Rey in turn defeated Kylo Ren in a lightsaber duel, scarring his face and causing him to lose face with [[BadBoss Supreme Leader Snoke]]. The two repeatedly attempt to turn the other to their side, with Kylo Ren [[WeCanRuleTogether seeking]] to become Rey's EvilMentor. The two bury the hatchet after Kylo Ren [[HeelFaceTurn renounces the dark side]], becoming Ben Solo once more, confronts [[BigBad Emperor Palpatine]] alongside her, and [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifices his life force]] to revive Rey. |
| 59 | * ArcWords: [[OncePerEpisode In each film]], he says "I know what I have to do" before a life-altering decision-- killing his father, [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder killing Snoke]] instead of Rey, and making a HeelFaceTurn. In ''The Force Awakens'' and ''The Rise of Skywalker,'' he follows this with "but I don't know if I have the strength to do it." ''The Rise of Skywalker'' has a variation when he tells Rey, "You know what you have to do". |
| 60 | * ArmorPiercingQuestion: |
| 61 | ** To Rey in the climax of ''The Last Jedi'': |
| 62 | ---> '''Kylo Ren:''' Do you want to know the truth about your parents? [[BelievingTheirOwnLies Or have you always known? You've just hidden it away]]. |
| 63 | ** In ''The Rise of Skywalker'', he tells Rey that in ''The Last Jedi'' he could sense that she wanted to take his hand, and she doesn't have a response when he asks, "Why didn't you?" Later in the film, she gives him an ArmorPiercingResponse. |
| 64 | ---> '''Rey:''' I did want to take your hand. ''Ben's'' hand. |
| 65 | * ArmorPiercingResponse: Gives one to Rey during their second [[PsychicLink Force bond]] scene, leaving her silent and stunned. |
| 66 | --> '''Kylo Ren:''' You have that look in your eyes, from the forest. When you called me a monster. |
| 67 | --> '''Rey:''' You ''are'' a monster. |
| 68 | --> '''Kylo Ren:''' [[IAmAMonster Yes I am.]] |
| 69 | * AristocratsAreEvil: He's ''double royalty'', with his mother being the former princess of Alderaan, and his grandmother the former queen of Naboo, technically being a prince of both royal families. |
| 70 | * AscendedFanboy: Kylo is obsessed with his grandfather, Darth Vader, and tries to become his successor and "finish what Vader started". When he visits the ruins of Vader's castle in the novelizations of ''The Rise of Skywalker'' and claims Vader's wayfinder, he is fannishly pleased and proceeds to reforge his helmet for its Vaderesque intimidation factor. |
| 71 | * AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: He becomes one with the Force upon his death after sharing a kiss with Rey. |
| 72 | * AsskickingLeadsToLeadership: |
| 73 | ** In ''Age of Resistance,'' Kylo subdues the Benathy army by killing their [[spoiler:king and then their "god,"]] which is actually a [[spoiler:Zillo Beast that Darth Vader failed to kill]]. |
| 74 | ** When Hux challenges his authority as the [[KlingonPromotion self-promoted]] Supreme Leader in ''The Last Jedi,'' Kylo reminds him that it's unwise to go ChallengingTheChief when the "Chief" can use the Force to strangle anyone who disagrees. |
| 75 | --->'''Kylo Ren''': ''[Force-choking Hux]'' The Supreme Leader is ''dead''.\ |
| 76 | '''Armitage Hux''': ''[struggling]'' Long live the Supreme Leader! ''[Kylo releases him]'' |
| 77 | ** During the climax of ''The Rise of Skywalker,'' a redeemed Ben demonstrates why he was the leader of the Knights of Ren when he makes quick work of his former subordinates. |
| 78 | * AtLeastIAdmitIt: When Rey scathingly calls him a monster in ''The Last Jedi'', Kylo [[SincerityMode agrees with her]], leaving her visibly stunned. |
| 79 | * TheAtoner: Becomes this in the third act of ''The Rise of Skywalker'', putting all his effort into helping Rey stop Palpatine and nearly singlehandedly taking out all the Knights of Ren. After Rey dies killing Palpatine, he sacrifices his own life to bring her back, also ensuring the Jedi will continue. |
| 80 | * AxCrazy: He has violent outbursts and destroys equipment with his lightsaber when frustrated in ''The Force Awakens''. In ''The Last Jedi'', he is red-faced and spitting when he orders the ''Millennium Falcon'' to be shot down and screams for the barrage of gunfire on Luke's position. He uses the Force to choke subordinates who anger him in each of his film appearances and in ''Star Wars Resistance''. |
| 81 | * BackToBackBadasses: In ''The Last Jedi'', he teams up with Rey to take on Snoke's Praetorian guards after assassinating Snoke. Rey jumps ''on'' Kylo's back to kick a guard away. |
| 82 | * BadassBoast: |
| 83 | ** "I'll ''show you'' the dark side." |
| 84 | ** "Let the past die. Kill it, if you have to." |
| 85 | * BadBoss: This trope escalates as his authority increases. |
| 86 | ** In ''The Force Awakens,'' he terrifies his subordinates by destroying equipment and they avoid him when they overhear it in case he turns on them. When an officer brings him bad news, he first targets the equipment then telekinetically pulls the officer over to throttle him, albeit he ultimately leaves the officer alive. |
| 87 | ** After giving himself a KlingonPromotion to the First Order's Supreme Leader in ''The Last Jedi,'' Kylo violently silences Hux's objections by Force-choking him into submission, and later responds to one of Hux's insolent comments by telekinetically flinging him into a wall. |
| 88 | ** In the finale episode of ''Star Wars Resistance,'' he threatens [[spoiler:Commander Pyre and Agent Tierny]] with a Force-assisted mutual suicide if they don't destroy the Colossus immediately. When it's clear they're unable to do any damage to the space station, Kylo decides [[YouHaveFailedMe they've run out of chances]] and begins to Force-choke [[spoiler:Tierny]] to death moments before the Star Destroyer explodes. |
| 89 | ** He Force-chokes a general and crushes him to death against the ceiling for questioning his command decisions in ''The Rise of Skywalker,'' intimidating the rest of the council into asking no further questions. |
| 90 | * BadIsGoodAndGoodIsBad: His KnightTemplar mentality and desperation not to be "seduced" by the light side implies that he views the dark side as genuinely good. Whether this is due to Snoke's influence, Kylo's own dubious sanity, a case of BlueAndOrangeMorality, or some combination of the above is unclear. |
| 91 | * BaitTheDog: |
| 92 | ** In ''The Force Awakens'', Han Solo confronts him and begs him to come home. Kylo appears conflicted as if considering a HeelFaceTurn, and asks his father for help doing what he isn't sure he has the strength to do. Han agrees and Kylo holds out his lightsaber. Unfortunately, Kylo means [[{{Patricide}} killing Han]] to further his journey in the dark side and ignites his lightsaber. |
| 93 | ** Kylo and Rey become BackToBackBadasses in ''The Last Jedi'' to defeat Snoke's guards after Kylo kills Snoke instead of Rey. It appears his growing connection to Rey inspired a HeelFaceTurn until he ignores Rey's request to order a ceasefire and [[WeCanRuleTogether asks her to join him.]] |
| 94 | * BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: |
| 95 | ** Kylo wants to be as strong as his infamously intimidating and powerful grandfather, Darth Vader, but growing stronger in the dark side makes his life worse since BeingEvilSucks. |
| 96 | ** He wants to turn Rey to the dark side for most of ''The Last Jedi'' and ''The Rise of Skywalker'' so they can [[WeCanRuleTogether rule the galaxy together]]. She's closest to the dark side during their duel on Kef Bir when she stabs him through the gut with his own lightsaber. He only survives because she stays on the light side and heals him, which helps facilitate Kylo's HeelFaceTurn. |
| 97 | * BeingEvilSucks: All of his film appearances depict this trope. |
| 98 | ** In ''The Force Awakens,'' Kylo [[{{Patricide}} kills Han Solo]] out of the belief that it will make him stronger in the dark side, but he becomes more emotionally unstable and [[HoistByHisOwnPetard weaker]] as a result. |
| 99 | ** ''The Last Jedi'': |
| 100 | *** In his first scene, Snoke reprimands Kylo for his prior failures, insults him, and electrocutes him when he moves to attack. |
| 101 | *** When Kylo tries to finish becoming a SelfMadeOrphan by [[{{Matricide}} killing Leia]], he can't go through with it and sees his wingman take the shot instead, apparently killing her. |
| 102 | *** He starts to form an emotional connection with Rey, but his refusal to save the Resistance and [[HeelFaceTurn return to the light side]] while asking her to join him returns him to ArchEnemy status. In the end, he kneels alone on Crait with a hollow expression as his father's dice disappear and Rey closes a door between them. |
| 103 | ** In ''The Rise of Skywalker,'' Leia sacrifices herself so he'll turn back, Rey makes clear his evil is why she refuses any connection to him, and his HelpfulHallucination of Han makes him accept that things will always suck if he remains evil. |
| 104 | * BeneathTheMask: |
| 105 | ** Is worried, or even straight-out believes, that he is not as powerful as Darth Vader. He puts Vader on such a pedestal that there's no way he could ever live up to the god-like image he has for him. |
| 106 | ** In a more literal sense, when wearing his mask, Kylo is AxCrazy and ill-tempered, but generally steady and confident. When he isn't wearing it, he shows more emotion, inner conflict, and mental instability. In fact, his face gives away so much emotion it's possible he wears it ''because'' he can only pass as TheStoic by covering up his expressions. |
| 107 | * TheBerserker: His lightsaber fighting style is aggressive and reckless. In ''The Force Awakens,'' he fights despite a gut wound and pounds repeatedly on it to increase his pain and rage. |
| 108 | * BigBad: Kylo is the main antagonist of the first two films in the Sequel Trilogy, serving as TheHeavy to Snoke on Starkiller Base who kidnaps Rey in ''Film/TheForceAwakens'', and kills Snoke himself to take over as Supreme Leader of the First Order in ''Film/TheLastJedi''. For the Sequel Trilogy as a whole, though, it's horribly subverted, as he gets almost immediately DemotedToDragon by Palpatine, who claims credit for Snoke and Kylo's fall to the Dark Side. |
| 109 | * BigBadWannabe: Kylo Ren ''really'' wants to be the next Darth Vader, but he's too emotionally unstable and inexperienced to pull that off in ''The Force Awakens'', and ends the film conflicted and seriously injured having ultimately lost to the novice Rey, something Snoke berates him for among other failures. By the end of ''The Last Jedi'', he successfully murders and usurps Snoke as Supreme Leader of the First Order and becomes the looming background EvilOverlord in works set between films, but he only manages it via [[InTheBack cheap shot]], needs Rey's help in beating Snoke's guards, and while he successfully intimidates Hux and the rest of the Order into following him he winds up screwing up the Battle for Crait [[GeneralFailure due to his poor decisions]] and Luke makes a fool of him across the galaxy right in front of his troops. In ''The Rise of Skywalker'', Kylo [[DemotedToDragon loses his power over the galaxy]] when Palpatine emerges as the true BigBad, the Resistance shifts its focus away from Kylo, and Rey almost kills him. |
| 110 | * TheBigDamnKiss: He gets one with Rey in ''The Rise of Skywalker'' after he revives her. |
| 111 | * BlackCloak: A BadassCape that's been singed from multiple battles. |
| 112 | * BlackKnight: Kylo is the leader of the Knights of Ren. His attire is a variation on the Medieval surcoat commonly depicted in artwork of UsefulNotes/TheKnightsTemplar, his helmet resembles the helmets of that era, and his lightsaber evokes a broadsword or claymore. |
| 113 | * BlindedByRage: During the Battle of Crait, Luke sends his AstralProjection to confront Kylo face-to-"face" with an appearance tailored to press Kylo's TraumaButton and drive Kylo into such a rage that the remaining Resistance can escape. It works like a charm; Kylo is so distracted trying to kill Luke that he doesn't notice hints that Luke isn't physically there until it's too late to prevent the Resistance from escaping. |
| 114 | * BloodbathVillainOrigin: Ben Solo turned to the dark side and became Kylo Ren shortly after destroying Luke Skywalker's Jedi temple, which killed the students inside; he then accidentally killed Hennix, killed the Knights of Ren's leader in a duel, and murdered Voe. Canon and creator sources confirm Ben is responsible for the temple destruction, but ''ComicBook/StarWarsTheRiseOfKyloRen'' is [[AmbiguousSituation ambiguous]] about whether he momentarily intended to LetThePastBurn or unintentionally manifested his anger as lightning. |
| 115 | * BlueIsHeroic: As a Jedi acolyte, he wielded a blue lightsaber. After his HeelFaceTurn in ''The Rise of Skywalker,'' he throws away his red lightsaber and uses the blue Skywalker lightsaber to fight the Knights of Ren. |
| 116 | * BondVillainStupidity: In ''The Force Awakens,'' Kylo leaves Rey in his interrogation room with one guard after she demonstrates her rapidly growing ability to use the Force. She utilizes it to escape. The guard [[TheCameo is played by]] Creator/DanielCraig, an actual James Bond. |
| 117 | * BrokenAce: He's an AcePilot gifted pilot, skilled melee fighter with his lightsaber, and demonstrates powerful Force abilities such as freezing blaster bolts and people in place with telekinesis and exerting little effort to initiate a MindProbe. He's also an AxCrazy PsychopathicManchild who [[{{Hypocrite}} hypocritically]] [[YouAreWhatYouHate is what he hates]] in other people. |
| 118 | * BrokenPedestal: |
| 119 | ** Towards his parents, Han Solo and Leia Organa. He loved them as a toddler, but grew older feeling [[ParentsAsPeople neglected because of their busy lives]]. He changes from wanting to be like Han in ''Last Shot'' to killing him in ''The Force Awakens.'' When and how Leia's pedestal broke is unconfirmed. |
| 120 | ** Towards his uncle, Luke Skywalker. Luke was his Jedi master whom Ben used to love and admire, but that changes when Ben thinks Luke is going to kill him. When he believes he killed Luke in ''The Rise of Kylo Ren,'' he dismisses the idea of going to his mother and decides he can only trust Snoke. |
| 121 | ** Towards [[EvilMentor Snoke]]. In ''The Force Awakens'', Kylo defends Snoke to Han as a "wise" master whom he [[WellDoneSonGuy constantly tries to impress]]. ''The Last Jedi'' shows he also despises his continual abuse by Snoke, and he accepts that Snoke is a parasite only interested in using him for his power, just like Han said. [[MistreatmentInducedBetrayal He betrays and kills Snoke]] after Snoke tortures [[MoralityPet Rey]] and orders Kylo to kill her, then [[KlingonPromotion assumes Snoke's title as Supreme Leader]]. |
| 122 | * BrutalHonesty: In ''The Last Jedi'', Kylo tells Rey that her parents were nobodies who sold their daughter for drinking money and died; ''The Rise of Skywalker'' confirms that Kylo believed this was true. He is blunt when he explains to Rey that he was wrong about her parents and reveals that she is Palpatine's granddaughter. |
| 123 | * ByronicHero: Kylo is tormented by a split in his soul between the light and the dark, emotional, determined, cynical, and TallDarkAndSnarky. His oppression of the galaxy, accumulation of power, and murderous actions put him in conflict with everyone who cares for him and wishes he'd [[HeelFaceTurn come back to the light]]; in ''The Rise of Skywalker'', he does. |
| 124 | * CallingParentsByTheirName: In the films, he always refers to his father as [[FullNameBasis Han Solo]] until he calls his vision of Han "Dad". |
| 125 | * TheCameo: His voice, specifically him talking to his grandfather's helmet in ''The Force Awakens'', can be briefly heard alongside many other pivotal characters in the ''Star Wars'' canon as Ezra walks through the World Between Worlds in ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'', about 6 years prior to his birth. |
| 126 | * TheChosenOne: Luke Skywalker tells Rey in ''The Last Jedi'' he used to believe Ben Solo would be this trope for the current generation until Luke failed to prevent Ben's turn to the dark side. |
| 127 | * ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: He is afflicted with this despite [[YouAreWhatYouHate hating traitors]]. |
| 128 | ** Ben Solo betrays his fellow Jedi and his family by turning to the dark side and joining Snoke. |
| 129 | ** In ''The Last Jedi,'' Kylo kills Snoke and [[KlingonPromotion usurps his position]] as the First Order's Supreme Leader. |
| 130 | ** When Palpatine offers power and resources to Kylo at the beginning of ''The Rise of Skywalker,'' Kylo accepts then shortly after tells Rey that he intends to kill Palpatine. |
| 131 | ** Kylo betrays the First Order, Palpatine's Final Order, and the Knights of Ren when he [[HeelFaceTurn turns back to the light side]] and joins Rey to defeat them. |
| 132 | * ColdHam: In ''The Force Awakens'' and ''The Last Jedi,'' he swings from TheStoic and DeadpanSnarker to AxCrazy with LargeHam shouting and BadBoss violence; his moods aren't as extreme in ''The Rise of Skywalker.'' |
| 133 | * CombatPragmatist: He makes use of the crossguard on his lightsaber to injure Finn during their duel on Starkiller Base. |
| 134 | * CompanionCube: Keeps Vader's half-melted mask close to him, and speaks to it with deep reverence. |
| 135 | * TheConfidant: Serves as this for Rey in ''The Last Jedi''; following her upsetting experience in the [[EldritchLocation dark side cave]], she ends up pouring out everything to him; [[PetTheDog he sits there listening to everything she says before trying to comfort]]. |
| 136 | * ContemplativeBoss: The novelization of ''The Force Awakens'' has him looking looking out the front deck window of the ''Finalizer'' and apparently in a chatty mood when Lt. Mitaka shows up to bring him some bad news. |
| 137 | * ContrastingSequelAntagonist: |
| 138 | ** Kylo wants to be the next Darth Vader, but he's an inexperienced PsychopathicManchild who isn't fully trained in the Force despite his innate skill and exceptional raw power. In contrast, Vader is a Dark Lord of the Sith with a coldly menacing and brooding presence, he expertly channels his rage, and he's a hardened veteran. Anakin became Vader because LoveMakesYouEvil and he was desperate to gain the power to protect those closest to him; as Vader, he acts towards Luke out of a warped view of what's best for him. Kylo, on the other hand, falls to the dark side when he thinks it's his only path, views love as a weakness, and kills his own father in order to cut off his emotional attachments to his old life in contrast to Anakin for whom the death of his mother played a major role in pushing him to the Dark Side. This even spills over to their fashion choices; while Vader was permanently stuck in his armor, which he despised, and had to wear by necessity due to his horrendous injuries that left him horribly scarred all over his body, Kylo is physically normal and even quite handsome and very fit and muscular, and in no need of a life support system, but insists on wearing his suit due to his obsession with Vader and to make himself more fearsome, to the point that his obsession over his helmet became a source of conflict between him and Snoke and Kylo goes spends long periods without his helmet, even going without it for almost the entire second film. |
| 139 | ** After ''The Last Jedi'', he becomes the political successor of Emperor Palpatine[=/=]Darth Sidious after taking the title of Supreme Leader of the First Order. Sidious is [[EvilOldFolks old]], calculating, methodical, and [[TheSociopath without feelings]], whereas Kylo Ren is a YoungConqueror who's impulsive, unpredictable, erratic, and still torn by emotions that he tries to put aside for his ambitions. Much like Palpatine, Kylo is responsible for the end of his era's Jedi Order and drives its leader into an exile of impoverished seclusion, though in Sidious' case it was because Yoda fought him to a draw and Yoda fled to survive, whereas Kylo shatters Luke's morale, driving him away in shame over their confrontation. Sidious and Kylo both murder their masters, Darth Plagueis the Wise and Snoke respectively, to further their grab for power. Where Palpatine is content to [[OrcusOnHisThrone rule from a distance]] and govern through subordinates (Grand Moff Tarkin, Darth Vader, his army commanders), Kylo Ren is hands on, insisting on [[FrontlineGeneral micro-managing and commanding his troops]] and personally executing "traitors" who resist. In many respects, Kylo Ren is the Skywalker heir Palpatine wanted all along, being neither dependent on life support like Anakin, nor incorruptible like Luke, and carrying out the act of {{Patricide}} that Luke refused to do at the Emperor's command. |
| 140 | * CoolHelmet: Kylo's emulates Darth Vader's and covers his entire head to make him look more intimidating, electronically deepen his voice, and give him a constant aggressive glare. Unlike Vader's, Kylo's helmet is only for appearances and not part of any life support system. It serves different roles in each film: |
| 141 | ** In ''The Force Awakens,'' it suggests Kylo is monstrous beneath the mask until he removes it and reveals TheyLookJustLikeEveryoneElse. |
| 142 | ** In ''The Last Jedi,'' Snoke calls it "childish" and tells him to "take that ridiculous thing off." This enrages Kylo into destroying it, leaving [[HelmetsAreHardlyHeroic him unmasked for the rest of the film]], which showcases his instability and impulsiveness. |
| 143 | ** In ''The Rise of Skywalker,'' a Sith cultist reforges Kylo's broken helmet to be stronger than before with a webwork of Sith alchemy; [[AllThereInTheManual per the visual dictionary]], "its fused shards mirror the breaking and rebuilding of Kylo's own identity." |
| 144 | * CoolStarship: He gains one of these with every film. According to ''The Rise of Skywalker'' Visual Dictionary, he pushes First Order engineers to outdo their best efforts. |
| 145 | ** In ''The Force Awakens'' he isn't shown personally piloting any starships, but has a personal ''Upsilon''-class shuttle with massive, menacing black wings that slide in on one another. |
| 146 | ** In ''The Last Jedi'', he pilots a TIE/vn space superiority fighter, or TIE Silencer, which is essentially a cross between a TIE Interceptor and Vader's TIE Advanced X1, with a little bit of Vulture Droid thrown in. |
| 147 | ** In ''The Rise of Skywalker'', he modifies a TIE whisper to have the wings of his TIE Silencer, resulting in a blazingly-fast interceptor model with the more traditional hexagonal viewport and red armor protecting enhanced stealth and hyperdrive systems. |
| 148 | * CoolSword: Kylo Ren modifies his Jedi lightsaber to incorporate a cracked kyber crystal, necessitating crossguard vents for its excess heat and producing an unstable red blade. [[AllThereInTheManual Kylo prefers it this way]] and makes no efforts to repair it. |
| 149 | * CorruptionOfAMinor: Snoke began observing and manipulating Ben when he was a child, and they had telepathic conversations during Ben's early Jedi training. ''Aftermath: Empire's End'' implies Snoke or Palpatine started this while Ben was still in Leia's womb. |
| 150 | * CosmicPlaything: Deconstructed. The galaxy has it out for him and it has been disastrous on his emotional and mental state. Snoke began corrupting him to the dark side in his infancy, a killing virus-infected droid almost attacked him as a toddler in ''Last Shot'', he felt abandoned by his parents who struggled with his outbursts and growing power, and his uncle considered killing him as shown in ''The Last Jedi''. It's implied that this culminated with his turn to the dark side and PsychopathicManchild state. |
| 151 | * CostumeEvolution: Kylo Ren adds a BadassCape to his costume in ''The Last Jedi'' and smashes his CoolHelmet in a fit of rage after Snoke humiliates him, while also trading his robes for a more pratical tunic. In ''The Rise of Skywalker,'' he has his helmet repaired to include a lattice of red lines where it was welded together. |
| 152 | * CreepySouvenir: In ''The Force Awakens,'' Kylo puts his CoolHelmet on a table topped with ashes that Creator/JJAbrams says are the remains of Kylo's dead enemies. |
| 153 | [[/folder]] |
| 154 | [[folder:D-F]] |
| 155 | * DaddyIssues: Played with. He grumbles a bit about Han, but his DaddyIssues aren't why he [[{{Patricide}} killed him]]. Instead, he did it mainly due to his belief that LoveIsAWeakness and as a way to plunge himself deeper into TheDarkSide. He even later tells Rey that he didn't hate Han. |
| 156 | * DarkAndTroubledPast: Ben Solo fell victim to CorruptionOfAMinor by Snoke. His uncle and mentor, Luke Skywalker, instinctively ignited his lightsaber and almost used it when he sensed Ben's turn to the dark side, which appeared to Ben as if Luke came to murder him in his sleep. Ben retaliated, LetThePastBurn, fled to Snoke, and became Kylo Ren. |
| 157 | * DarkIsEvil: Kylo dresses only in black and aligns himself with the inherently evil [[TheDarkSide dark side]] of the Force. In ''The Force Awakens,'' Kylo refers to "the power of the darkness" in his SurrogateSoliloquy to Vader's helmet. One of his goals is resisting the light side by dedicating himself to the dark. |
| 158 | * DarkIsNotEvil: He still wears black clothing following his HeelFaceTurn in ''The Rise of Skywalker,'' minus the Vader-esque elements such as the cape, gloves, and tunic. |
| 159 | * DeadGuyJunior: Kylo Ren's birth name is Ben Solo, as in Obi-Wan "Ben" Kenobi. He hates being named after a legendary Jedi Master he never even knew and rejects the expectations that come with such a name. Ironically, he's frequently snarky, just like his namesake. |
| 160 | * DeadpanSnarker: What else do you expect from the son of deadpan snarkers Han and Leia, who's trying to imitate ''Vader''? |
| 161 | ** In a moment of BlackComedy, he snarks at Lor San Tekka before murdering him. |
| 162 | --->'''Kylo Ren:''' I'll show you the dark side. |
| 163 | --->'''Lor San Tekka:''' You may try, but you cannot deny the truth that is your family. |
| 164 | --->'''Kylo Ren:''' You're so right. ''[cuts Tekka down with his lightsaber[=]=]'' |
| 165 | ** After Finn's desertion, Kylo has this response when Hux insists his troops are the best: |
| 166 | --->'''Kylo Ren:''' They're obviously skilled at committing high treason. |
| 167 | ** Poe's defiant attitude under torture brings out the snarker in Kylo: |
| 168 | --->'''Kylo Ren:''' ''[to Poe, who is shackled to a metal slab]'' Comfortable? |
| 169 | ** In ''The Last Jedi'', during a [[PsychicLink Force bond moment]] with Rey: |
| 170 | --->'''Rey:''' ''[tiredly]'' I'd rather not do this now. |
| 171 | --->'''Kylo Ren:''' ''[drily]'' Yeah, me too. ''[turns around and reveals he's [[ShirtlessScene half-naked]][=]=]'' |
| 172 | * DeathByIrony: Kylo Ren idolized Darth Vader [[LoonyFan to an extremely unhealthy degree]]. Ben Solo goes out remarkably similar to how Anakin Skywalker did; [[RedemptionEqualsDeath atoning for his crimes and saving someone dear to him]]. |
| 173 | * DeceptiveLegacy: A grandparent variation. Ben's parents and uncle did not share with him the [[DarkSecret dark family secret]] that Darth Vader was Luke and Leia's father. Ben learned he's Vader's grandson when he was twenty-three, after Leia was publicly outed and [[SinsOfOurFathers vilified as Vader's daughter]], and she could no longer put off telling Ben. It's unclear how Ben reacted to the revelation, but within months he turned to the dark side and decided to follow in Vader's footsteps as Kylo Ren. |
| 174 | * DeconstructedCharacterArchetype: In- and out-of-universe, Kylo Ren is inspired by Darth Vader's appearance and mannerisms, like many villains in non-movie SW works, the prequels, and [[FountainOfExpies even in other franchises entirely]]. However, Ren only tries to copy Vader's superficial appearance and penchant for the Dark Side while lacking Vader's strength, maturity and discipline, which are largely responsible for making Vader such an admirable villain, he ultimately ends up as an inferior knockoff of the Dark Lord and feels insecure about it. For added irony, he is Anakin's grandson and Luke's nephew. |
| 175 | * DemotedToDragon: Kylo became [[EvilOverlord Supreme Leader of the First Order]] in ''The Last Jedi'', but Palpatine's return in ''The Rise of Skywalker'' makes Kylo lose his power over the galaxy and [[DragonWithAnAgenda temporarily play along]]. |
| 176 | * DentedIron: He shrugs off a blast that was shown as being able to kill multiple Stormtroopers earlier on, but it comes at the immediate cost of greatly hindering his mobility and making him vulnerable enough to be defeated by two people with much less experience at lightsaber combat. He also received a shoulder wound in the first part of the duel with Finn that Rey matches on the other side. The end result is that the blast to the side slows him down and weakens him while the arm wounds allow Rey to overpower him in a contest of strength at the end of their duel. |
| 177 | * DespairEventHorizon: Kylo is generally unhappy and cynical, but in ''The Rise of Skywalker'' he gives up hope after he realizes his mother has died and Rey confesses she would've joined him as Ben Solo. He realizes that BeingEvilSucks, but thinks there's no one left who would accept him if he returned to the light side. A conversation with a HelpfulHallucination of his late father [[SubvertedTrope convinces him otherwise]]. |
| 178 | * {{Determinator}}: |
| 179 | ** Despite being shot in ''The Force Awakens,'' Kylo chases down and fights Finn and Rey through lightsaber injuries they inflict, only stopping when Rey wounds him too badly to even get up. |
| 180 | ** In ''The Rise of Skywalker,'' the Knights of Ren beat the crap out of him, Palpatine drains his life force and flings him down a chasm, then he ''still'' climbs back up and half-limps, half-crawls across the ground to help Rey. |
| 181 | * {{Deuteragonist}}: Kylo joins Rey in experiencing the most pronounced development across the films, mostly as the primary antagonist then becoming a protagonist alongside Rey in the last act of ''The Rise of Skywalker.'' Creator/RianJohnson describes him as a "dual protagonist" in ''The Last Jedi'' in terms of story focus. |
| 182 | * DidntThinkThisThrough: Ben marks his HeelFaceTurn in ''The Rise of Skywalker'' by throwing away his red crossguard lightsaber, the enduring symbol of his devotion to the dark side. This leaves him armed with only a blaster when he arrives on Exegol to help Rey. He gets his ass kicked by the Knights of Ren until Rey sends him the Skywalker lightsaber. |
| 183 | * DieChairDie: Twice in ''The Force Awakens'' a VillainousBreakdown results in Kylo wrecking a room to bits. One of his first scenes in ''The Last Jedi'' has Kylo again venting his rage on the scenery, this time smashing his helmet against an elevator wall. |
| 184 | * DiedInYourArmsTonight: He dies in Rey's arms after giving up his own life to save her. |
| 185 | * DiscOneFinalBoss: Even though the beginning of ''The Rise of Skywalker'' reveals Palpatine is behind everything, Kylo Ren still continues as the primary antagonist for most of the film as he pursues and tries to turn Rey to the dark side. Kylo and Rey battle one last time on Kef Bir, ending with him defeated and undergoing a HeelFaceTurn. After that, the focus shifts to Palpatine as the true BigBad. |
| 186 | * TheDogBitesBack: Snoke corrupted him, manipulated him, and ordered him to kill one of the only people to show him any real kindness. Kylo's response was brutal, but well-deserved on the part of his victim. |
| 187 | * DoNotCallMePaul: Kylo rejects the use of his birth name and claims he always hated it. He tells Han in ''The Force Awakens'' ThatManIsDead and reacts angrily in ''The Last Jedi'' when Snoke calls him "Young Solo." The First Order is forbidden from mentioning his birth name. |
| 188 | * TheDragon: |
| 189 | ** Kylo serves Supreme Leader Snoke as his dark side apprentice and as a warlord in the First Order, until Kylo kills Snoke in the third act of ''The Last Jedi'' and [[TheStarscream takes his place]]. |
| 190 | ** Kylo [[DemotedToDragon becomes one for Palpatine]] in ''The Rise of Skywalker'' when Palpatine's return results in him dropping on the threat hierarchy. |
| 191 | * DragonWithAnAgenda: |
| 192 | ** In ''The Last Jedi'', he decides to "let the past die" and seize power for himself, so [[TheStarscream he kills Snoke and becomes Supreme Leader]]. |
| 193 | ** In ''The Rise Of Skywalker'', Palpatine claims he wants to make Kylo as the new Emperor if Kylo kills Rey, but Kylo wants to turn Rey to the dark side so they can kill Palpatine and rule the galaxy together. |
| 194 | * DramaQueen: When things don't go his way, he flips into the furious screaming side of ColdHam, engages AxCrazy mode, and often takes out his anger on [[DieChairDie surrounding objects]] or [[BadBoss subordinates]]. |
| 195 | * DramaticallyMissingThePoint: His idolization of Darth Vader completely disregards the good in Anakin Skywalker that ultimately emerged, with Kylo's attitude being more like "Darth Vader was awesome, but he failed to complete his work, so now I'll do it." He also doesn't realize that Anakin absolutely ''hated'' being Darth Vader and was completely miserable and unhappy during his time as a Sith Lord, taking absolutely no satisfaction or pride in all the terrible things he's done. The mask, too, also plays into this, as it is merely an accessory for Kylo, where it was mostly necessary for Vader. |
| 196 | * DramaticDrop: Kylo Ren drops his lightsaber in the middle of his duel with Rey on Kef Bir when he feels his mother die contacting him one last time. |
| 197 | * DramaticIrony: The way he talks about the light side of the Force, calling it a corruption that keeps calling to him, is the way many have described the dark side. |
| 198 | * DramaticUnmask: |
| 199 | ** Twice in ''The Force Awakens''. The first time, he takes it off when a captive Rey tells him that she doesn't want to talk, and the second time, he takes it off at his father's request. |
| 200 | ** In ''The Last Jedi'', Snoke orders Kylo to take his mask off. Kylo stares at it in an elevator, then smashes it to pieces. |
| 201 | ** In ''The Rise of Skywalker'', he takes his reforged mask off when telling Rey about her lineage and extending another WeCanRuleTogether offer. |
| 202 | * TheDreaded: His men fear him, but they don't have much in the way of admiration. Hux actively talks down to Kylo whenever they're in Snoke's presence. |
| 203 | * DrivenToVillainy: Kylo believes he never had a choice in turning to the dark side. Snoke's CorruptionOfAMinor and his perception of ParentalNeglect pushed him closer to darkness, which Luke saw and feared to the point of momentarily contemplating murdering Ben in his sleep. Luke was immediately ashamed of himself and didn't, but Ben woke up to see his uncle standing over him with a drawn lightsaber, and came to the obvious conclusion. He fled the temple destruction to join Snoke. After choosing the dark side, he rejects pleas to turn back from his close friend, Tai; his father; and Rey. |
| 204 | * DualWielding: When Kylo duels the Praetorian guards in ''The Last Jedi,'' he briefly wields both a lightsaber and a guard's [[VibroWeapon electro-bisento]], a weapon similar to a spear. |
| 205 | * DuelingScar: In the climax of ''The Force Awakens'', he receives a diagonal scar across his face and down his upper torso during a lightsaber duel with Rey. After their final duel in ''The Rise of Skywalker,'' it disappears when Rey heals him. |
| 206 | * DyingAsYourself: Ben gives his life to save Rey, something he would never do if he'd remained on the dark side as Kylo, and Rey recognizes him as Ben before he dies. |
| 207 | * TheEmperor: By the end of ''The Last Jedi'', Kylo has assumed his master's position as Supreme Leader of the First Order, a rogue state that seizes control of the galaxy and has no legitimacy behind the title. In ''Rise of Skywalker'', the resurrected former Emperor Palpatine offers to pass his title and empire on to Kylo if Kylo does his bidding. |
| 208 | * EstablishingCharacterMoment: The assault on Jakku demonstrates Kylo Ren's brutality, his confrontation with Lor San Tekka establishes his loyalty to the First Order, his desire to find and kill Luke Skywalker, his vehement need to cut ties with his past, and his violent temperament (he kills Tekka for telling him that he can't escape his true identity), and stopping Poe's blaster shot in mid-air shows him to be a powerful Force user. |
| 209 | * EtTuBrute: Ben perceived Luke, his uncle and Jedi Master, as betraying him and attempting to murder him in his sleep. Although Luke only had a momentary instinctive response to Ben's darkness, his ignited lightsaber made it appear otherwise, so Ben attempted to kill him first. By ''The Last Jedi,'' Luke still regards his MomentOfWeakness as [[MyGreatestFailure failing]] his nephew, his family, and the galaxy; Luke's perceived betrayal led to Ben destroying Luke's Jedi temple and becoming Kylo Ren. |
| 210 | * EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: |
| 211 | ** In ''The Last Jedi'', he cannot go through with killing his mother and is distraught when he believes she's been killed moments later. According to the novelization, Kylo would've used the Force to stop the missiles, thus [[VillainousRescue saving his mother's life]], if he hadn't been caught off-guard by them. |
| 212 | ** When he hears Leia calling to him in ''The Rise of Skywalker'' and then senses her death in the middle of a duel with Rey, it affects him so much he just stands here while Rey stabs him. His mother's death and the realization she loved him right to the end is part of the reason for his HeelFaceTurn. |
| 213 | * EvenEvilCanBeLoved: His parents and uncle love him very much despite his turn to the dark side. |
| 214 | ** Leia sends Han to bring their son home in ''The Force Awakens'', but [[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished Kylo kills Han after Han tries convincing him to turn back to the light]]; Han touches his son's cheek as he dies. |
| 215 | ** Kylo's uncle Luke has never forgiven himself for his role in Kylo's fall and apologises to him. Luke also encourages Leia not to give up hope when she despairs that her son is gone. |
| 216 | ** Leia felt Ben's FaceHeelTurn into Kylo, and maintains hope he'll "come home" until she senses him kill his father. Luke rekindles her hope before he dies. She dies reaching out to successfully call Ben back to the light. |
| 217 | * EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: |
| 218 | ** Deconstructed in ''The Last Jedi,'' which shows Kylo still loves his mother to the extent that he can't kill her himself, but it doesn't stop his evil actions. He also tells Rey that he "didn't hate" his father and is clearly [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone troubled after]] killing him, but he still killed his father in an attempt to distance himself from the light. |
| 219 | ** Reconstructed in ''The Rise of Skywalker;'' his love for his parents and Rey's compassion after his mother dies contacting him help him make a HeelFaceTurn. |
| 220 | * EvilCounterpart: To multiple characters. |
| 221 | ** To Luke Skywalker. Both resist the lure of one side of the Force to stay loyal to the one they choose; the dark side tempts Luke and the light calls to Kylo. When faced with possibly committing {{Patricide}} after a mentor's warning they must be ready for it, Luke nearly kills Darth Vader before coming to his senses and tossing his lightsaber aside, but Kylo pushes through Han's appeal to come home and kills him. In ''The Last Jedi,'' Luke and Kylo both express [[BrokenPedestal disillusionment with the Jedi and the Force]]; while Luke overcomes this for a HeroicSacrifice, Kylo [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope further descends into villainy]] because of his inability to let it go. |
| 222 | ** To Anakin Skywalker. While Anakin did become Vader, he did so extremely reluctantly and only to save his loved ones, a decision he would regret every waking moment of his life as a Sith, while Ben, as Kylo fairly willingly joined the dark side, obsessing over sinking deeper into it to the point that he wants his entire family dead over it. |
| 223 | ** To Finn. Finn was taken from a family he can no longer remember and subjected to brutal conditioning by the First Order to turn him into a stormtrooper. Snoke became TheCorrupter for Ben Solo at a young age, lured him to the dark side, and moulded him into a First Order warlord after Ben rejected the Jedi and his family to become Kylo Ren. The first time Finn is ordered to fire upon innocents, he knows it's wrong and bolts, and soon develops into a Resistance hero; Kylo views his better impulses as weaknesses and actively suppresses them, and kills Snoke to take over as EvilOverlord. |
| 224 | ** To Rey. In ''The Last Jedi'', Snoke explicitly describes Rey as the light that rises to meet Kylo's darkness. They are strong in the Force with contrasting allegiances -- the dark side and the First Order for Kylo, the light side and the Resistance for Rey. They were both sent away from their parents as children, Ben to his uncle for Jedi training and Rey into hiding on Jakku. They have opposing views of their families; Rey waits in vain for her family to come back after they abandoned her to hide her, while Ben feels emotionally abandoned by his parents' concerns about his uncontrolled powers and his uncle Luke's attention getting divided among multiple students. They also view Kylo's own family differently: Rey idolizes Luke until she meets him, sees Han as a surrogate father figure, and becomes Leia's apprentice; Kylo betrayed Luke and wants to kill him, kills Han, and believes he can't return to Leia. Their story roles are in opposition, with Kylo as TheHeavy and BigBadWannabe versus Rey as TheHero. Their {{leitmotif}}s are the inverse of each other, as noted by ''[[https://player.fm/series/rebel-force-radio-star-wars-podcast/star-wars-oxygen-vol-26-tfa-part-2 The Star Wars Oyxgen podcast]]'' in their breakdown of the ''The Force Awakens'' soundtrack. |
| 225 | * EvilIsCool: In-universe, and a {{deconstruction}}. Kylo is obsessed with Darth Vader, just like many real-world ''Star Wars'' fans. As a ''Star Wars'' character himself, this means he idolizes, and tries to emulate the acts of, a murderous tyrant. |
| 226 | * EvilIsPetty: Fitting in with his PsychopathicManchild tendencies, Kylo can be a bit petty from time to time. His very first line involves him mockingly telling Lor San Tekka "Look how old you've become" (Tekka snarks back "[[ShutUpHannibal Something far worse has happened to you]]"). During his interrogation of Rey, he also comments on her being a scavenger in a derogatory manner. Every conversation he has with [[WeAreStrugglingTogether Hux]] sees him making snide remarks or being silently passive-aggressive. |
| 227 | * EvilNephew: In addition to being AntagonisticOffspring, he's bent on tracking down his uncle Luke so he can kill him. |
| 228 | * EvilOverlord: By the end of ''The Last Jedi,'' Kylo [[KlingonPromotion assumes his master's position]] as Supreme Leader of the First Order, which dominates the galaxy through terror and military might rather than political succession or legitimacy. Much of this is AllInTheManual or depicted in novels and comics between film releases. |
| 229 | ** Kylo is even more of a BadBoss as Supreme Leader. |
| 230 | ** Under Snoke, the First Order secretly abducted children and people on the margins. Under Kylo, they continue to take children to brainwash into Stormtroopers but no longer hide it, openly arrest people on the streets or in nighttime raids, fabricate or exaggerate charges, and send people to labor or death camps without trial. They specifically target anyone outspoken or remaining neutral who might pose a threat, and anyone with ties to the old Rebellion. |
| 231 | ** Speaking against the Supreme Leader is a crime, and by Kylo's decree, Resistance "collaborators" and "subversives" or defiant worlds that oppose First Order rule will be crushed by Stormtrooper patrols, the Knights of Ren, or complete obliteration via orbital bombardment. For instance, the neutral world Tah'Nuhna is destroyed for helping the Resistance escape the Battle of Crait. Destroying the Resistance is the primary goal: |
| 232 | ---> '''Kylo Ren:''' We can and will chase every rumor, every scrap, every vapor trail across the galaxy! We will mobilize every bounty hunter and informant and turn over every rock to find ''all'' of them... and wipe every one of them out of existence! |
| 233 | ** When an official from the independent Fondor Shipyards refuses a request for aid from the Resistance, Kylo frames this communication as "contact" with the enemy, immediately punishes the "treasonous" official with beheading, and seizes the shipyards. |
| 234 | ---> '''Kylo Ren:''' We have learned from the mistakes of the Empire-- they were too ''lenient''. |
| 235 | * EvilSoundsDeep: His mask greatly augments his already dulcet tones -- much like Vader himself, but with a softer, more natural standard American accent rather than Vader's [[LargeHam theatrical]], booming Mid-Atlantic accent. |
| 236 | * EvilWearsBlack: He wears an all-black outfit like Darth Vader. This is deliberate, as he's trying to model himself on his grandfather. |
| 237 | * ExactWords: |
| 238 | ** As Snoke sensed, Kylo really did intend to ignite a lightsaber and strike down his real enemy. Snoke just failed to realize ''which'' lightsaber, and who Kylo now considered his real enemy. |
| 239 | ** ''Age of Resistance'' reveals this isn't the first time he's tricked Snoke this way; while inside the dark side cave on Dagobah, Snoke believes he can sense Kylo [[spoiler: striking down the visions of his parents, but he's actually hacking apart the tree roots beneath the cave, then brings down the cave]], and lets Snoke believe whatever he wants. |
| 240 | * EyesNeverLie: In the novel, the frightening intensity of Kylo's eyes is frequently pointed out as the most striking thing about him, hinting at the fanaticism and madness integral to the character. In the films this effect is achieved by zooming in on Adam Driver's dark eyes, which happen to reflect light very well, during scenes like the saber duel with Rey. |
| 241 | * FaceNodAction: During the climax on Exegol, Ben and Rey connect through the Force and silently communicate a plan; Ben nods once to confirm it and Rey then passes him one of her lightsabers through their bond. Cue the CurbstompBattle. |
| 242 | * FaceOfAnAngelMindOfADemon: He has a youthful, boyishly handsome face that sharply contrasts his explosive temper and homicidal tendencies. |
| 243 | * FacialHorror: Subverted when Kylo removes his mask in ''The Force Awakens''; despite the suspense leading up to it and unlike Darth Vader, Kylo reveals to Rey's surprise that he has a [[TheyLookJustLikeEveryoneElse perfectly normal face]]. When he gains a DuelingScar at the film's climax, it still avoids becoming this. |
| 244 | * FailedASpotCheck: |
| 245 | ** During his duel with Luke on Crait, Kylo's single-minded determination in killing his former master causes him to overlook the inconsistencies in Luke's appearance and his lack of footprints on the salt flats. |
| 246 | ** When he and Rey talk through their bond as he tries to determine her location on Kijimi, he doesn't notice that she's holding the Sith dagger in one hand that had been in his quarters and it takes their duel accidentally sending Vader's helmet to him for him to realize where she is. |
| 247 | * FanBoy: Kylo is completely obsessed with Darth Vader and tries to emulate him in every way except for one: his sentimentality for his family. Instead, Kylo wants to build an immunity to the light side so he can succeed where he believes Darth Vader failed, [[ChildSoldiers as Snoke taught him]]. |
| 248 | * FanservicePack: Zig-zagged across his films; Kylo LooksLikeCesare, but twice provides appearance-related {{Fanservice}}. |
| 249 | ** He only takes off his helmet twice in ''The Force Awakens''. His appearance is treated as [[TheyLookJustLikeEveryoneElse surprisingly ordinary]] and becomes darker and more unhinged with his VillainousBreakdown. |
| 250 | ** He spends most of ''The Last Jedi'' with his mask off, but compared to the prior film he has [[CreepyShadowedUndereyes darker eye circles]] and bruising, [[OverlyNervousFlopSweat nervous sweat]], and his newly-acquired DuelingScar. He has a {{Fanservice}} scene [[ShirtlessScene wearing only his trousers]] to display his wounded but muscular chest and shoulders, which [[PleasePutSomeClothesOn flusters Rey]] and makes her avert her eyes. [[WordOfGod Rian Johnson]] stated one of the reasons he added that scene was because Adam Driver just looked really good and they wanted to show it. |
| 251 | ** He's back to his [[LooksLikeCesare dark appearance]] for most of ''The Rise of Skywalker'', but HeCleansUpNicely after his HeelFaceTurn. |
| 252 | * FatalFlaw: His [[ATragedyOfImpulsiveness impulsiveness]] and [[HairTriggerTemper inability to control his emotions]]. Kylo is capable of cunning and forethought, but only as long as he's calm. The moment he starts getting angry, it completely dominates him and his thought process. Thus, he lost the chance to crush the Resistance at the end of ''The Last Jedi'' because he was too fixated on killing Luke. |
| 253 | * FauxAffablyEvil: He has a fairly calm, relaxed demeanor with most people, but that disappears quickly when something sets him off. During Poe's captivity, Kylo [[BaddieFlattery compliments him]] on enduring torture and for being the Resistance's best pilot before personally torturing him with the Force. |
| 254 | * FirstKiss: His and Rey's first kiss is also their [[LastKiss last]], as he [[DiedInYourArmsTonight dies in her arms]] moments later from having [[SacrificialRevivalSpell transferred his life force to save her]]. |
| 255 | * FlamingBlade: Kylo's lightsaber has an unstable blade with visible heat surrounding it, giving it a fiery yet wavering aspect that befits his personality. This appearance is caused by using a kyber crystal that he cracked and refuses to fix, which is also a good metaphor for the kind of person he is. |
| 256 | * FlawExploitation: In ''The Last Jedi'': |
| 257 | ** Snoke exploited his insecurities and feelings of abandonment by his family to seduce Kylo to the dark side and then to help him lure Rey into a trap. It backfires, as Kylo ends up tricking and killing Snoke in retaliation for [[MistreatmentInducedBetrayal his continual abuse of him]]. |
| 258 | ** During the Battle of Crait, Luke takes advantage of Kylo's [[HairTriggerTemper impulsive rage]] and [[RevengeBeforeReason desire for vengeance]] to distract him long enough for the Resistance to escape. Kylo insists on fighting Luke alone when a barrage of gunfire fails to scratch him and is so blinded by fury, he doesn't realise [[AstralProjection Luke isn't actually on Crait]] until it's too late. |
| 259 | * FoeRomanceSubtext: |
| 260 | ** In ''The Last Jedi,'' Rey and Kylo share multiple Force connections through their PsychicLink. Kylo has a ShirtlessScene that unnerves Rey, they maintain intense {{Held Gaze}}s in every scene together, empathize with each other's loneliness, and [[HoldingHands touch hands]] through their bond before Luke interrupts. They both believe the other will change sides to join them, and become emotional when the other doesn't turn after all. Kylo extends a WeCanRuleTogether offer to Rey, and when she rejects his offered hand, he demonstrates he's NotGoodWithRejection. |
| 261 | ** In ''The Rise of Skywalker,'' Kylo and Rey are revealed to be a "dyad" that makes them one in the Force. Kylo [[VillainousCrush obsesses over]] "reigning side by side with ''her,''" [[StalkerWithACrush stalks her]], and [[IfICantHaveYou threatens to kill her if she won't join him]]. She continues rejecting him and their dyadic connection, and is horrified yet tempted by visions where they share the Sith Throne. After she nearly kills then heals him out of compassion, she confesses she did want to take his hand--as Ben. Post-HeelFaceTurn, their previously antagonistic dyad feels right to them and they work in sync. Ben sacrifices himself to revive her, and [[ShipTease they share a kiss]] before [[ShipSinking he dies]]. |
| 262 | * {{Foil}}: To Rey, Luke and Finn, see the EvilCounterpart entry. Also to his grandfather which makes sense since he takes after Darth Vader and as revealed in ''The Rise of Skywalker'' both had Palpatine trying to manipulate them from a young age. |
| 263 | * ForcedSleep: Demonstrates this ability in ''The Force Awakens''; when he abducts Rey, he renders her unconscious simply by waving his hand over her face. |
| 264 | * ForgotAboutHisPowers: The very first thing he does to demonstrate his power is freezing a laser bolt mid-air, without having any warning about it coming from behind. After he stabs Han, Chewie spends a solid couple of seconds screaming before pulling the trigger, and Kylo just stares and takes it, despite the advanced warning. Justified as he's in shaken and out of it at the time. However there is never an explanation for why he doesn't use his ForcedSleep power again, as that is an obvious StoryBreakerPower that would have garanteed his victory. It's somewhat justified in the final fight of ''The Force Awakens'' as he was injured and in ''The Rise of Skywalker'' as Rey would likely have recieved actual training to resist that power, but there is no explation for why he didn't use it in ''The Last Jedi'' which is only a few days after the previous film. |
| 265 | * ForTheEvulz: Kylo Ren is tempted by the good in him throughout the film, so Snoke orders him to commit an act of heinous evil in order to fully turn to the dark side. [[DeconstructedTrope It does nothing but shatter Kylo's resolve]] and earns him a VillainousBreakdown for his troubles. |
| 266 | * FreudianExcuse: Although Kylo is ultimately responsible for his own actions, his DarkAndTroubledPast makes clear that a lot of his issues stem from it: |
| 267 | ** The novelization of ''The Last Jedi'' reveals that as a child, Ben would overhear his parents talking worriedly about his destructive outbursts, which he interpreted as them viewing him as some kind of monster. He felt [[ParentalNeglect neglected by his parents]] and when they sent him away to train with Luke so he could learn about the Force, he took this as [[ParentalAbandonment abandonment]]. As an adult, he acts resentful towards and dissociates himself from his father before committing {{Patricide}} to strengthen his dark side powers. |
| 268 | ** Kylo hates his uncle Luke and desires to kill him. Luke was his guardian and Jedi master for thirteen years, but Luke grew concerned about Ben's growing darkness and decided to confront him. Sensing the depths of Ben's darkness, Luke had a momentary impulse to kill Ben and prevent his future evil. Ben woke to see his mentor standing over him with his lightsaber ignited, and he lashed out to defend himself and attempt to kill Luke first. Ben's rage and confusion led to the destruction of Luke's temple and all of the students who were inside, and he decided to commit to the dark side as Kylo Ren. His primary goal in ''The Force Awakens'' is finding Luke to kill him. |
| 269 | ** Snoke was Ben's confidante in his youth, and they held psychic conversations where Ben expressed his frustrations and Snoke provided emotional support to manipulate his trust. When Ben fled the Jedi temple destruction, he believed Snoke was the only one he could turn to. He was aware that Snoke was using him as he became Kylo Ren, but believed he didn't have another choice after starting towards the dark side. Snoke takes advantage of Kylo's insecurities and self-hatred, inflicts physical and emotional pain, and uses Kylo for his power while caring nothing for him. Slowly accepting this truth leads Kylo to resent and despise Snoke. When Snoke orders him to kill Rey in ''The Last Jedi,'' Kylo instead murders Snoke. |
| 270 | ** It's revealed that Snoke was really just a pawn of Palpatine who had been manipulating Ben since childhood using Snoke and even pretending to be Vader to prey on Ben's already existing issues for his own ends. This is in addition to Ben likely inheriting the same tendencies towards mental illness, mainly Borderline Personality Disorder, that Anakin is implied to have had. |
| 271 | * FriendlyAddressPrivileges: Kylo usually [[DoNotCallMePaul doesn't tolerate people calling him]] "[[ThatManIsDead Ben]]", but in ''The Last Jedi'' he is only mildly surprised when [[MoralityPet Rey]] calls him Ben. In the film, he never corrects her; in the novelization, he revokes the privilege after they defeat the Praetorian guards. |
| 272 | * FrontlineGeneral: During the attack on Takodana, he personally joins the battle and tracks down and captures Rey. He later tries being this during the Battle of Crait as well, but [[GeneralFailure fails]] [[EpicFail epically]]. ''The Rise of Skywalker'' opens with him leading an attack on a group of Sith cultists on Mustafar, in which he completely wipes the floor with them and barely even needed his troops at times. |
| 273 | * FullNameBasis: |
| 274 | ** Kylo starts off always referring to his father as "Han Solo," disassociating himself from [[ThatManIsDead Ben Solo]]. He finally abandons this upon making a HeelFaceTurn in ''The Rise of Skywalker'', addressing an image of Han as "Dad." |
| 275 | ** Kylo is usually referred to as "Kylo Ren," though on occasion people use "Kylo" or "Ren" to refer to him. He's only called "Ben" by his parents, by Rey in ''The Last Jedi'' when she has temporary FriendlyAddressPrivileges, and after his HeelFaceTurn in ''The Rise of Skywalker''. |
| 276 | * FuryFueledFoolishness: A trait he shares with his grandfather, except he's even ''worse'' because he's much more emotionally volatile than Darth Vader. Luke takes advantage of this by casting an illusion of himself on Crait to buy the Resistance time to escape knowing that the sight of his uncle will make him too enraged to realize that it was just an illusion until it's too late. |
| 277 | [[/folder]] |
| 278 | |
| 279 | [[folder:G-K]] |
| 280 | * GeneralFailure: In ''The Last Jedi'', he orders all of his pilots on Crait to pursue the ''Millennium Falcon'' just to erase his past and kill Rey, even though the First Order is trying to eliminate the Resistance in a single battle. This gets all of them destroyed. |
| 281 | * GeniusBruiser: Downplayed; Kylo prefers to fight with brute force, but his assassination of Snoke while tricking Snoke into misinterpreting his thoughts displays cunning and he's also an excellent pilot and tactician, like his father and grandfather. His tendency to [[HairTriggerTemper let his anger dominate his thought process]] hampers his intelligence. |
| 282 | * GenerationXerox: |
| 283 | ** Of his grandfather, Darth Vader. They grew up with a loving family, were former Jedi who were seduced to the dark side, become the feared enforcers of dictators, kill their masters, make {{Heel Face Turn}}s, and die to save the lives of people they care about. |
| 284 | ** Of his dad, Han Solo. They have difficult relationships with their fathers, become {{Ace Pilot}}s in their youth, outwit and kill their {{Evil Mentor}}s who were manipulating them. |
| 285 | * TheGift: Ben was born incredibly strong with the Force, and Luke says he'd never met anyone with as much raw power until he encounters Rey. As a child, Ben inadvertently broke things with the Force when upset. At twenty-three, he pulled a roof down without seriously injuring himself yet catching the older and more experienced Luke off-guard. His control of his Force abilities is disrupted by the severity of his emotional issues, and his power [[DeconstructedTrope made him a target]] for [[TheCorrupter Snoke.]] |
| 286 | * GivenNameReveal: In ''The Force Awakens'', he's referred almost exclusively as Kylo Ren, the name he took when he joined the First Order. Late in the film, his birth name is revealed when Han calls him "Ben" to get his attention in an attempt to reach out to him. |
| 287 | * GoodCostumeSwitch: In ''The Rise of Skywalker'', his post-HeelFaceTurn appearance ditches Kylo Ren's garb for the simple black shirt and trousers he wore underneath, representing that he is Ben Solo once again. |
| 288 | * GoOutWithASmile: After sacrificing his life force to revive Rey and sharing a kiss, Ben gives her a warm, genuine smile and appears finally at peace as he accepts his death. |
| 289 | * GreaterScopeVillain: After killing and usurping Snoke, Kylo becomes this for the final season of ''Resistance''. He only appears in the finale as the greater threat to [[BigBadDuumvirate Pyre and Tierny]] but remains detached from the immediate plot beyond threatening them with death for failure. |
| 290 | * HairTriggerTemper: Kylo goes from calm to extremely angry with minimal provocation, and usually deals with it by destroying everything in his immediate area. |
| 291 | * HandicappedBadass: Even after being wounded by Chewbacca's bowcaster, he duels both Finn and Rey, managing to defeat the former and putting up a decent fight against the latter. |
| 292 | * HealingHands: In ''The Rise of Skywalker'' he uses this ability on Rey to restore her to life by transferring his own energy to her. |
| 293 | * HearingVoices: From a young age, he heard voices communicating with him, including Snoke and what he believed to be his grandfather. The voices told him he needed to listen to them if he wanted to overcome his weaknesses, and he told no one about them. This was how Snoke swayed him to the dark side and why Kylo talks to Darth Vader's mask as if hoping for a response. All of the voices came from Palpatine to manipulate him, even using Vader's. |
| 294 | * HeartbrokenBadass: Kylo Ren only drops his steely or enraged demeanor when he [[EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas comes close to killing Leia]], when he hears her and senses her HeroicSacrifice to save him, and when cradling Rey's lifeless body in his arms as Ben before he revives her with his own life force. |
| 295 | * TheHeavy: Similarly to Vader's relationship with Palpatine, Kylo is a violent enforcer and the most visible antagonist in the films while subservient to Snoke. |
| 296 | * HeCleansUpNicely: In ''The Rise of Skywalker'', he loses his DuelingScar after returning to the light side, has a healthier complexion, wears casual clothing that emphasizes his build, and his hair is pushed back from his face. |
| 297 | * HeelFaceTurn: {{Zigzagged|Trope}} |
| 298 | ** In ''The Force Awakens'', he tells his father that he's conflicted and that he's in need of help. [[SubvertedTrope Unfortunately, he ultimately decides that he's not looking to come back to Han and Leia, but that he needs to kill his dad to become more entrenched in the dark side]]. |
| 299 | ** In ''The Last Jedi'', Rey thinks Kylo will turn back to the light. It appears he may be doing so when he kills Snoke rather than execute her. However, he reveals that he saved Rey because he [[WeCanRuleTogether wants her to join him]]. This sequence is set up to mirror, then subvert, Vader's [[RedemptionEqualsDeath redemption]] in ''Return of The Jedi''. |
| 300 | ** Finally played straight in ''The Rise of Skywalker''; he rejects the name Kylo Ren, kills the Knights of Ren and helps Rey defeat Palpatine before giving up his own life to save her. Though unlike his grandfather, he at least lasted far longer. |
| 301 | * HeldGaze: Kylo and Rey share a lot of intense looks, especially in ''The Last Jedi''. The type varies with the context of the scene, usually Antagonistic, Platonic, or Supernatural, or all three at once. At their [[FoeRomanceSubtext most intense]], they touch hands through their Force bond while gazing into each other's eyes until Luke [[MomentKiller interrupts]]. |
| 302 | * HelmetsAreHardlyHeroic: Kylo ditches his signature helmet multiple times so the filmmakers can highlight his facial expressions, even though he's engaging in battles where it would be very useful. |
| 303 | * HelpfulHallucination: During his VillainousBSOD in ''The Rise of Skywalker,'' he has a conversation with the [[NotTooDeadToSaveTheDay memory of his murdered father]] that helps him [[HeelFaceTurn turn back to the light side]]. |
| 304 | * HeroesPreferSwords: The Knights of Ren all wield weapons, but only Kylo Ren carries a lightsaber. |
| 305 | * HeroicLineage: Kylo's grandfather Anakin was a hero of the Clone Wars until he [[FallenHero fell to the dark side,]] his grandmother Padmé was a champion of democracy and savior of Naboo, his adoptive grandparents helped found and led the Rebel Alliance, and both his parents and his uncle were prominent members of the Rebellion. [[SubvertedTrope However,]] Kylo himself rejects this in favor of Anakin's [[VillainousLineage darker legacy]] as Darth Vader. |
| 306 | * HeroicSacrifice: At the end of ''The Rise of Skywalker'' he [[SacrificialRevivalSpell transfers his own life force]] to Rey after she's fatally weakened by Palpatine. |
| 307 | * HeroKiller: |
| 308 | ** Kylo is known as the "Jedi Killer" for his backstory of hunting down remnants of the heroic Jedi Order and preventing its return. |
| 309 | ** His father, Han Solo, was a major hero in the ''Star Wars'' original trilogy, but Kylo murders him in ''The Force Awakens'' as the new protagonists watch. |
| 310 | ** Indirectly, he's responsible for Luke Skywalker's death since Luke dies exerting himself to distract Kylo and save the Resistance. |
| 311 | %% Leia is not an example unless you really stretch; per novelizations, she was already dying because she never fully recovered from her space exposure, but she chose to call out to Ben at the end -- not the same as dying BECAUSE she called out. |
| 312 | * HeyYou: At first, Kylo refers to Rey as "the girl." When they are growing closer in ''The Last Jedi,'' he begins calling her by her name. After she turns down his offer to rule with him, he goes back to calling her "the girl" and "the scavenger." When trying to turn her to the dark side in ''The Rise of Skywalker,'' he addresses her by name. |
| 313 | * HiddenDepths: |
| 314 | ** According to [[AllThereInTheManual the Visual Dictionary]] for ''The Last Jedi,'' Ben used to do calligraphy in his spare time before his FaceHeelTurn, and a flashback has a FreezeFrameBonus of his calligraphy set in his bedroom. |
| 315 | ** Despite the confident demeanor he presents, Kylo is very insecure about how he compares to his grandfather, Darth Vader. He confesses to [[CompanionCube Darth Vader's mask]] that he feels the lure of the light side. When Rey turns the tables on Kylo during her interrogation, she picks up on his fear that he'll never be as strong as Vader. |
| 316 | ** Although he's an AxCrazy PsychopathicManchild, Kylo can think his way out of problems instead of violently lashing out. He demonstrates cunning when he assassinates Snoke by dodging Snoke's mind-reading powers through ExactWords and using the Force to maneuver the lightsaber at Snoke's side. |
| 317 | ** His interactions with Rey via their [[PsychicLink Force bond]] in ''The Last Jedi'' shows he's capable of empathy and can be kind when he wants to. He listens to Rey tearfully pouring out her heart to him over her feelings of disappointment and isolation, and then reassures her that she's "not alone." |
| 318 | * HiddenHeartOfGold: To remain on the dark side, Kylo has to suppress any potential for compassion, empathy, and selflessness as these qualities are considered [[VirtueIsWeakness weaknesses,]] and he is harshly criticized for "compassion" towards Rey by Snoke. He acknowledges in ''The Force Awakens'' that he feels a call to the light. By the end of ''The Rise of Skywalker'', he embraces it and has a HeelFaceTurn. |
| 319 | * HistoryRepeats: |
| 320 | ** Anakin Skywalker started out [[GoodIsNotNice hot-tempered and cocky yet compassionate and selfless]], but his TraumaCongaLine made him [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope increasingly vicious, desperate to save his wife, and disillusioned with the Jedi Order]], all encouraged by his {{evil mentor}} Palpatine who promised he knew how to save Padmé. Ben Solo and his family deeply love each other before Snoke sows doubt and dependence on him, leading Ben to turn to Snoke after believing his uncle and Jedi Master Luke tried to kill him. Anakin and Ben both turn to the dark side, respectively becoming Darth Vader and Kylo Ren. |
| 321 | ** Vader impulsively attacked his wife [[TragicVillain after spending the entirety]] of ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'' trying to ''save'' her, which resulted in her death; in ''The Force Awakens'', Kylo deliberately kills his father, who has been trying to reconnect with him for ''years''. |
| 322 | ** In ''The Last Jedi'', Kylo turns on Snoke and kills him which saves Rey, and this initially appears to mirror Vader killing Palpatine to save Luke. However, Kylo did it to usurp the position of Supreme Leader and ask Rey to [[WeCanRuleTogether rule the galaxy with him]], while Vader died to save Luke's life and thus redeemed himself in ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi''. |
| 323 | ** Kylo asks Rey to rule the galaxy together in ''The Last Jedi'' and ''The Rise of Skywalker'' and gets rejected each time. Vader asked Padmé to rule the Empire with him in ''Revenge of the Sith'', and urged Luke to turn to the dark side and rule the Empire with him in ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack''; both rejected Vader. Kylo extends his gloved hand to Rey like Vader did with Luke. In ''The Rise of Skywalker'', Rey backs up to a perilous drop from the sky and she almost chooses to jump before the ''Millennium Falcon'' appears and she leaps inside it instead. This parallels Luke's perilous perch over a pit, but differs since Luke chose to fall and was later rescued in the ''Falcon''. |
| 324 | ** Vader and Ben both sacrifice their lives to save the hero from the death at the hands of the same BigBad, Palpatine. Vader was injured and his life support was fatally compromised by Palpatine's Force lightning, while Rey dies after facing Palpatine's lightning and Ben revives her. |
| 325 | * HoistByHisOwnPetard: |
| 326 | ** Kylo is set on capturing Rey and has her dead to rights near the end of their climactic duel on Starkiller Base. His critical error? He chooses mid-{{blade lock}} to volunteer himself as her teacher in the ways of the Force. This reminds Rey that she is Force-sensitive, and she uses it to overcome a severely wounded Kylo. |
| 327 | ** Kylo seeks to become more powerful and gain mastery over himself by killing his father. But when he does, the crime ''weakens'' him by making him more mentally and emotionally unstable. |
| 328 | ** His MindProbe of Rey not only truly awakens her to her own Force potential, but her glimpse into his mind unsettles him so much that he flees the room to consult Snoke. This gives Rey the knowledge and confidence she needs to successfully pull a JediMindTrick on her lone guard and escape. |
| 329 | ** Kylo ordering his army to attack Luke on Crait and then fighting him face-to-face only serves to humiliate him in front of the First Order when it turns out Luke was projecting himself from Ahch-To the whole time. This also gives the survivors in the Resistance time to escape onboard the ''Millennium Falcon'', meaning Kylo squandered an opportunity to snuff them out once and for all for the sake of his vendetta against Luke. |
| 330 | ** In ''The Rise of Skywalker'', his attempts to sway Rey over to the dark side enrage her to the point that she stabs him through the side with his own saber. |
| 331 | * HoldingHands: During a Force connection with Rey in ''The Last Jedi'', she offers him her hand and he reciprocates, taking off his glove so they can press their hands together despite being lightyears apart. It symbolizes their growing empathy for each other and the intensity of their connection, and Creator/RianJohnson describes it in ShipTease terms. |
| 332 | * HopeBringer: |
| 333 | ** In ''The Last Jedi'', Rey and Kylo learn about and empathize with each other, leading Rey to believe he can be turned back to the light. She tells Luke she believes Kylo is "their last hope" of stopping the First Order if Luke won't leave Ahch-To with her. When Luke refuses, she goes to the Supremacy hoping Kylo will turn. Unfortunately, [[SubvertedTrope she's wrong]]. |
| 334 | ** Played straight in ''The Rise of Skywalker''; Rey is on the verge of turning to the dark side to save her friends, but when she sees through their Force-bond that Ben has turned back to the light and come to help her, she's resolved to keep fighting. |
| 335 | * HotBlooded: Kylo's fiery temper is one of his signature traits, and he tends to be impulsive, erratic, passionate and [[ImplacableMan crazily]] [[{{Determinator}} determined]] once he's set his mind to something. |
| 336 | * {{Hypocrite}}: In ''The Last Jedi,'' Kylo fails to convince Rey that "it's time to let old things die," including the Jedi and the Sith, so they can "bring a new order to the galaxy." Despite espousing these beliefs about letting go of the past, he is unable to live up to them in ''The Rise of Skywalker.'' |
| 337 | ** His First Order is roughly the same as the Empire, ruling through fear and firepower in the service of the dark side. |
| 338 | ** The visual dictionary for ''The Rise of Skywalker'' [[AllThereInTheManual elaborates on Kylo's goals as Supreme Leader]]; he wants to "return the Sith to power and fulfill his grandfather's legacy." He plans to exploit the Sith Eternal's resources, kill Palpatine to secure another KlingonPromotion, and rule over this new Empire [[WeCanRuleTogether with Rey by his side]]. |
| 339 | ** He hasn't moved on from Rey's rejection of him, despite shouting in her face in ''The Last Jedi'' that ''she'' needed to let go of the past. |
| 340 | ** He characterizes the Resistance fighters as bad people for purportedly committing the same kinds of acts he frequently engages in-- see YouAreWhatYouHate. |
| 341 | * IAmAMonster: In ''The Last Jedi'', Rey and Kylo revisit her condemnation of him from ''The Force Awakens'', and he admits that she's right about him being a monster: |
| 342 | -->'''Kylo''': You have that look in your eyes. Like you did in the forest, when you called me a monster.\ |
| 343 | '''Rey''': You ''are'' a monster.\ |
| 344 | '''Kylo''': Yes, I am. |
| 345 | * ICantLookGesture: Downplayed. When Snoke uses the Force to torture and invade Rey's mind, Kylo keeps his eyes downcast to the floor. He doesn't look up again until it's over to give Snoke a quick DeathGlare. |
| 346 | * IdenticalGrandson: Not so much in physical features, but in terms of personality and fashion sense, he more greatly resembles his grandfather (Anakin Skywalker) than he does either of his parents (Leia Organa and Han Solo). |
| 347 | * IfICantHaveYou: |
| 348 | ** In ''The Last Jedi,'' Rey rejects Kylo's offer to join him in leading the First Order and he is NotGoodWithRejection. He orders his troops to shoot down the ''Millennium Falcon'' knowing she's inside and tells Luke that he'll kill her himself. |
| 349 | ** He threatens to kill Rey in ''The Rise of Skywalker'' if she won't turn to the dark side to rule with him, and they try to kill each other twice. |
| 350 | ---> '''Kylo Ren:''' I don't want to have to kill you. I'm going to find you, and I'm going to turn you to the dark side. When I offer you my hand again, you'll take it. |
| 351 | * IgnoredEpiphany: Repeatedly rejecting epiphanies keeps Kylo Ren on the dark side until his HeelFaceTurn. |
| 352 | ** Several times in ''The Rise of Kylo Ren,'' Ben briefly [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone realizes he's caused harm]] to his fellow Jedi students before turning [[TheStoic stoic]] and continuing his journey to the dark side. He stops having these epiphanies when Ren kills Tai in the middle of Tai trying to convince Ben to turn away from the dark side. Ben duels and kills Ren, murders Voe, and becomes Kylo Ren. |
| 353 | ** After Kylo kills his father in ''The Force Awakens,'' he looks unsure of himself; the novelization says that he feels weakened instead of [[WasItReallyWorthIt strengthening him against "the light"]]. This doesn't stop him from attacking Finn and Rey or remaining Snoke's apprentice. |
| 354 | ** In ''The Last Jedi,'' Kylo gets emotional targeting his mother and doesn't take the kill shot, but his wingman makes the shot instead and Leia nearly dies. After [[KlingonPromotion killing Snoke]] and taking over as Supreme Leader, Kylo orders his troops "no quarter; no prisoners" battling Leia and the remaining Resistance, and pursues their annihilation thereafter with no exception for Leia. |
| 355 | * IHaveYouNowMyPretty: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] in ''The Force Awakens''. While interrogating [[BadassInDistress Rey]] -- who is strapped to a table and helpless -- he comments "You know I can take whatever I want". Specifically, he's talking about reading her mind, but given the context it still has creepy implications. |
| 356 | * ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: Rey runs Kylo Ren through and [[HoistByHisOwnPetard with his own lightsaber]] as he's stunned, feeling his mother fade away. It would have been fatal had Rey not [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone double-backed]] on her own actions and immediately treating his wound. |
| 357 | * ImplacableMan: |
| 358 | ** In ''The Force Awakens'', Kylo isn't stopped when Chewbacca blasts his side with a powerful crossbow. Despite being visibly pained and bleeding, he turns his pain into motivation and intercepts Finn and Rey. Finn strikes him with a lightsaber, but Kylo takes him out. Kylo keeps Rey on the run for most of their lightsaber fight, and even when the fight shifts in her favor and she gets a couple of hits in, he keeps going. She stops him by slicing his face and torso to knock him down and he ''still'' pushes himself up to look at her in shock. |
| 359 | ** ''The Last Jedi'' shows Ben attempting to kill Luke with his lightsaber because he believes Luke is trying to do the same to him, and when that doesn't work, he pulls down the roof while they're both inside. Ben collapses a building ''on himself'' and survives despite lacking Luke's decades of experience, and ''The Rise of Kylo Ren'' shows he wasn't even injured by it. |
| 360 | * ImprobableAimingSkills: Whether due to his strength in the Force or an inheritance of his father's skills, the climax of ''The Rise of Skywalker'' shows Ben Solo to be a crack shot with a blaster, never once missing or needing a second shot while mowing down Sith cultists, and killing one with an OffhandBackhand. |
| 361 | * IncompletelyTrained: When Kylo debuts in ''The Force Awakens'', he's got work to do before approaching Darth Vader's level; his lightsaber technique is rough and heavy-handed, and his lightsaber ''looks'' cool but channels dangerously unstable energy from a cracked crystal. As the film ends, Snoke remarks that it's time to finish Kylo's training. Supplemental materials explain that Kylo killing Snoke in ''The Last Jedi'' completes his training as an unwitting Sith, but it's unclear if Snoke intends that outcome. |
| 362 | * InconsistentColoring: In ''Age of Resistance - Supreme Leader Snoke 1'' he's drawn with blue eyes in a few panels at the beginning, even though in the theatrical films he has dark brown eyes and in the comic itself he's also depicted as having brown eyes in later panels. |
| 363 | * InformedAttribute: |
| 364 | ** In the movies Kylo Ren is described by Snoke and Luke Skywalker as if he has more raw power in the Force than previous characters, but he doesn't demonstrate this. His abilities have either been seen before, are new applications but not stronger versions of known Force powers, or are attributable to his Psychic Link with Rey rather than individual ability. |
| 365 | ** Averted in the comics, in this case Kylo does have feats that support his reputation such as defeating a Zillo Beast or destroying a temple. |
| 366 | * InTheBlood: Luke refers to Kylo's "mighty Skywalker blood", meaning their shared strength in the Force from the ChosenOne, Anakin Skywalker. Though Ben was born with the potential for both the dark side and light, he turned to the dark side as Kylo Ren and makes a conscious effort to embrace and emulate Anakin as Darth Vader instead of the Jedi he once was. |
| 367 | * InTheHood: Kylo's original costume in ''The Force Awakens'' includes a black cowl worn over his face-covering helmet, indoors or outdoors, which doesn't serve a purpose besides aesthetics. NoPeripheralVision isn't a problem when you have the Force. |
| 368 | * IronicName: Unlike his true namesake, Obi-Wan "Ben" Kenobi, he wasn't IncorruptiblePurePureness. |
| 369 | * {{Irony}}: |
| 370 | ** One of the Galaxy's most notorious mass murderers and top enforcer turned Supreme Leader of the neo-Imperial First Order was born and raised on Chandrila-- a planet defined by its peacefulness, the homeworld of Rebel Alliance leader Mon Mothma, and the New Republic's first capital. |
| 371 | ** Kylo's obsession with becoming TheUnfettered and wiping out his past becomes a bigger weakness than his connections to the people he once loved, leading to his humiliation over the course of ''The Last Jedi''. |
| 372 | ** After two-and-a-half films trying to ease his inner conflict by rejecting the light side, he only finds peace in ''The Rise of Skywalker'' when he embraces it. |
| 373 | *** Prior to that, he tries to reason with Rey to come with him to Exegol and overthrow Palpatine despite shattering the Emperor's Sith wayfinder. When she refuses, he fights and defends himself the same way Rey did during their fight on Starkiller Base. |
| 374 | * IsThatWhatHeToldYou: Back-and-forth in ''The Last Jedi''. Kylo asks Rey if Luke told her what happened the night Kylo destroyed the Jedi Temple, and she says Luke did. Kylo senses that Luke didn't tell her the whole truth and proceeds to tell her what "really" happened -- but it's distorted from his point-of-view, too. He believes Luke feared Kylo was becoming more powerful than Luke and attempted to murder him in his sleep with a lightsaber; Kylo omits that he wasn't defenseless. Luke didn't originally tell Rey about his lightsaber, but Rey learns when she confronts Luke that he only ignited his lightsaber on [[MomentOfWeakness pure instinct]] after sensing the darkness in Kylo and would never have gone through with it, but all Kylo saw was his uncle standing over him with a weapon so he ignited his own... |
| 375 | * ItsAllJunk: Following his humiliation during a meeting with Snoke, he smashes his mask (which was particularly ridiculed by Snoke). It's also his way to get rid of his Vader-emulating past. He puts it back on in the very next movie. After making a HeelFaceTurn, he also flings his crossguard lightsaber into the ocean. |
| 376 | * ItsPersonalWithTheDragon: |
| 377 | ** Kylo is [[TheHero Rey's]] counterpart in the Force and her ArchEnemy whom she loathes for his murder of Han Solo, feels empathy towards when she glimpses his inner conflict, then hates and wants to kill when he won't stop trying to turn her to the dark side. In contrast, Rey sees Snoke as just some twisted monstrosity that heads the First Order, an impersonal enemy. |
| 378 | ** Kylo's enmity with Luke is personal as his nephew and former apprentice; his turn to the dark side was accelerated when he believed Luke tried to kill him in his sleep. Luke feels he failed Kylo and retreated from the galaxy over it, whereas Luke's conflict with Snoke is backstory and distant to the point that the two share no screentime before Kylo kills Snoke and assumes his role. |
| 379 | * IveComeTooFar: After destroying Luke's Jedi temple, Ben believed the only way forward was joining Snoke and becoming Kylo Ren despite his friend Tai's entreaty that could still change his path. One of Kylo's motives for not going back with Han when he asks is that Kylo believes he has done too much to deserve redemption. |
| 380 | -->'''Kylo''': It's too late.\ |
| 381 | '''Han''': No, it's not. Leave here with me, come home. We miss you. |
| 382 | * JediMindTrick: In ''The Last Jedi'', he ''attempts'' it on Rey through their Force-bond by ordering her to bring Luke to him, but because Rey is definitely not weak-minded, it doesn't work. |
| 383 | * JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: In ''The Last Jedi'', Kylo Ren hesitates to kill his mother and has a FoeRomanceSubtext with Rey, hinting that he could be redeemed. It looks like he's going to turn to the light side when he kills Snoke to save Rey and teams up with her against the Praetorian Guards, but then he immediately reveals he's claiming Supreme Leadership for himself. [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]], however, as he ''does'' have a genuine soft spot when it comes to his mother and Rey, but it doesn't do anything to stop him from embracing the dark side, and at the end of the day he's only after power. Later subverted as he has a genuine HeelFaceTurn in ''The Rise of Skywalker''. |
| 384 | * JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope: |
| 385 | ** Kylo feels tempted by the light side in the middle act of ''The Force Awakens'' after murdering and torturing in the first act. When he confronts Han Solo in the third act, he is genuinely conflict, leading Han to believe that he's going to choose the light. Then he murders his father and thanks him for it. |
| 386 | ** It's revealed in his backstory that a confrontation with Snoke and Luke acting in the heat of the moment was enough for Ben to join the Darkside and become the genocidal PsychopathicManchild he is in the sequel trilogy. |
| 387 | ** ''The Last Jedi'' raises the possibility that he didn't hit bottom after all but is sliding down; Snoke says his soul is split after killing his father, he hesitates to kill his mother, empathizes with Rey, and kills the unquestionably evil Snoke which saves Rey's life. Then he eliminates doubt by asking Rey to join him in assuming control of the First Order and fully embracing the dark side. Even Leia fears any remnant of her son is gone now after killing Han, ordering the deaths of the entire Resistance (including Leia), and becoming an evil overlord, although Luke encourages her to hold out hope for redemption. |
| 388 | * KickTheDog: |
| 389 | ** Kylo cuts down his old acquaintance Lor San Tekka while the old man is trying to convince him to turn away from the dark side. He even makes a coldly sarcastic remark before doing so. |
| 390 | ** After capturing Poe, Kylo orders his troopers to kill everyone in Lor San Tekka's village, even though they were defending themselves against a hostile invasion and were already pacified. |
| 391 | * KillItThroughItsStomach: Kylo kills the Benathy's god, which is actually a nigh-indestructible Zillo Beast, by deliberately diving into its mouth and cutting his way out of its stomach. |
| 392 | * KillTheGod: In his ''Age of Resistance'' issue, he aspires to do what Darth Vader never managed to and defeat the Benathy race's god. It's {{downplayed|trope}} as the "god" isn't a supernatural deity but a Zillo Beast, an overwhelmingly powerful and dangerous creature that the Benathy worship. Kylo kills it through its stomach, prompting the Benathy to submit to him. |
| 393 | * TheKingslayer: Kylo kills two rulers, King Kristoff who is ruler of the Benathy, and his own ruler, Supreme Leader Snoke. He blames the latter on Rey so he can become Supreme Leader himself, and anyone who suspects otherwise either approves or is too afraid to challenge it. |
| 394 | * KinslayingIsASpecialKindOfEvil: [[InvokedTrope Invokes this]] by killing his father in order to fully dedicate himself to the dark side. [[DeconstructedTrope This backfires]] as the act of {{Patricide}} splits him in half emotionally and spiritually, requiring further work to reject the lingering guilt. |
| 395 | * KlingonPromotion: |
| 396 | ** He became master of the Knights of Ren by dueling and killing the previous leader, Ren, after which the other Knights knelt before him. |
| 397 | ** He appoints himself Supreme Leader of the First Order after killing Snoke and blaming it on Rey. |
| 398 | * KnightTemplar: Kylo is convinced that his path is morally justified and that the light side is wrong, to the point his actor said he approached the role as a "religious fanatic" rather than a one-dimensional evil person. Kylo has literal [[UsefulNotes/TheKnightsTemplar Knights Templar]] aspects in his visual design, including a garment that resembles the medieval surcoat armor popularized by artwork, and a cross-guard lightsaber that resembles a more traditional sword and their symbol of a large red cross. |
| 399 | * KnowWhenToFoldEm: |
| 400 | ** When the Resistance shows up on Takodana and turns the tide against the First Order, Kylo orders a tactical retreat. Since he has Rey, who has seen the map he needs, fighting the Resistance to obtain BB-8 is no longer necessary. |
| 401 | ** In ''The Last Jedi'', he tries to use a Jedi mind-trick on Rey to get her to bring Luke Skywalker to him. It completely [[NoSell fails]] and Kylo slowly lowers his hand, looking awkward, and he doesn't bother trying it again. |
| 402 | [[/folder]] |
| 403 | [[folder:L-O]] |
| 404 | * LargeHam: |
| 405 | ** {{Downplayed}} in ''The Force Awakens'', which shows him bellowing while wrecking equipment and hollering "Traitor!" at Finn, but not hammy overall. |
| 406 | ** By the climax of ''The Last Jedi'', he's hammy to the point of '''{{suddenly SHOUTING}}''' several lines while wild-eyed and red-faced. |
| 407 | --> '''Kylo Ren:''' Blow that piece of junk ''out of the sky!'' |
| 408 | * LaserBlade: He wields a red-bladed lightsaber with crossguard vents due to having a cracked kyber crystal. After undergoing a HeelFaceTurn, Rey gives him his grandfather's blue lightsaber. |
| 409 | * LastKiss: Rey and Ben share their FirstKiss and only kiss just before he dies from transferring his life force to her. |
| 410 | * LastOfHisKind: When Leia dies in ''Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker'', he becomes the last living member of the Skywalker family. Then, after Rey dies in her efforts to kill Palpatine, Kylo uses the Force to revive her at the cost of his own life. Thus, the Skywalker family bloodline is no more. Rey does subsequently adopt the surname herself, but she's not a Skywalker by blood or marriage. |
| 411 | * LastSecondChance: Overlapping with RedemptionRejection; Han says it's not too late and invites Kylo to come home in ''Film/TheForceAwakens'' and Rey tries to convince him to turn back to the light in ''Film/TheLastJedi'', but Kylo refuses both times. |
| 412 | * LetThePastBurn: Ben Solo's Jedi past ends with the destruction of the Jedi Temple and the students inside; ''The Rise of Kylo Ren'' depicts the incident, and ''The Force Awakens'' and ''The Last Jedi'' show glimpses of the burning aftermath. |
| 413 | * ALighterShadeOfBlack: Kylo Ren is certainly no saint, but he's marginally better compared to the other First Order leaders-- [[EvilOverlord Snoke]], [[TheSociopath Hux]], and [[SociopathicSoldier Phasma.]] Unlike them, Kylo actually feels conflicted over his villainous acts and enough remorse for some of them to exasperate Snoke. He doesn't outwardly express any pleasure in torturing and killing people, whereas Snoke and Hux are sadistic and love humiliating their victims. Kylo shows he's capable of empathy and compassion, although he actively tries to suppress this (usually unsuccessfully). As a result, the audience is more inclined to root for him when he starts butting heads with Hux, Snoke, and Palpatine. He eventually has a HeelFaceTurn and that was never a possibility for the others. |
| 414 | * LightIsGood: In the flashbacks to when he was a Jedi apprentice, he wore all-white clothing, similar to the outfit Luke wore in ''A New Hope''. [[PlayingWithATrope Then again]], it is said that he had been plagued by the dark side all his life and by this point it had only gotten worse. It is a striking contrast to his later, [[EvilWearsBlack all-black]] outfits though. |
| 415 | * LightningBruiser: After renouncing the dark side and receiving Anakin's lightsaber from Rey, he fights and mows down the Knights of Ren and the Sovereign Protectors with an acrobatic, aggressive, and fast-paced fighting style similar to how his grandfather fought when he was a Jedi. It helps that Anakin's lightsaber is much lighter than his crossguard lightsaber, allowing him to dish out faster swings and strikes in combat. |
| 416 | * LikeFatherLikeSon: He has Han's DeadpanSnarker attitude, his ability to improvise and bluff his way to get ahead (i.e. going from being in Snoke's doghouse to his usurper), and much of Han Solo's originally cynical and dismissive attitude towards the Jedi and its legacy. Snoke does claim that Kylo has "too much of [his] father's heart in [him]", but he mostly is saying it to rile him up. Post HeelFaceTurn, Ben shows off some of Han's daredevil attitude (running off to confront Palpatine armed with a blaster) and adopts some of his father's cocky body language during his battle with the Knights of Ren. |
| 417 | * LimaSyndrome: In the novelized version of ''The Force Awakens'', he displays this towards Rey. When interrogating her, he releases her restraints, and states that he would've preferred not to [[MindProbe take the information]] from her mind and it won't give him pleasure. Snoke accuses Kylo of feeling compassion for Rey. In ''The Last Jedi'', it's developed into a [[VillainousCrush crush]]; he places her in handcuffs when she comes to him aboard the ''Supremacy'', but he isn't rough with her, speaks politely to her before they meet with Snoke, and gets [[TranquilFury pissed off]] when Snoke tortures her. This is one of the reasons he [[AssholeVictim kills Snoke]]. |
| 418 | * LineageComesFromTheFather: Zigzagged -- Kylo has various physical features that resemble Han -- the long legs, long nose and a similar mouth -- but he has absolutely zero of Han's laid-back charm though much of his audacity and daring. He more resembles his grandfather Darth Vader in being passionate, aggressive, and stubborn, which he gets from his ''mother''. A good deal of Kylo Ren's baggage growing up revolved around his legacy, being the children of heroes, and living in the shadow of his legendary uncle, who was keen on him being the MentorsNewHope on account of what he described as "that mighty Skywalker blood". |
| 419 | * LonelyAtTheTop: In ''The Last Jedi,'' after Rey shoots him a disapproving look and leaves, he's left kneeling on the ground, staring at his father's lucky dice forlornly whilst Hux glares daggers at him. He achieved what Darth Vader never did and became Supreme Leader, but everyone who truly cares about him is either dead or alienated from him, whilst his 'allies' obey him only out of fear (or in Hux's case, openly despise him). |
| 420 | * LonelyTogether: Through his Force Bond with Rey, the two of them come to empathize with the other's deep loneliness and sense of loss. |
| 421 | * LongHairedPrettyBoy: Much like Anakin before his injuries, Kylo himself is TallDarkAndHandsome and has a wavy, raven, shoulder-length hair. |
| 422 | * LooksLikeCesare: He's an AxCrazy EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette with CreepyShadowedUndereyes and MessyHair. This is exaggerated during his [[VillainousBreakdown breakdowns]]. As Kylo Ren, he [[EvilWearsBlack only wears black]]. |
| 423 | * LoonyFan: Kylo is the grandson of Darth Vader, and he admires Vader's legacy to the point of enshrining Vader's charred helmet and talking to it about finishing what Vader started. Kylo's CoolHelmet and wardrobe emulate Vader's. |
| 424 | * LoveAtFirstPunch: It's not explicitly clear when his VillainousCrush on Rey began, but he's very much into her even after she stabs him in the shoulder, cuts at his leg, and then slashes him across the face with a lightsaber. |
| 425 | * LoveIsAWeakness: Kylo believes this, seeing it as the cause of Vader's downfall, and is why he kills his father. Unfortunately, doing so backfires and only leaves him weaker and more conflicted than ever. Snoke isn't too pleased with this. |
| 426 | * LoveRedeems: Ultimately, it's Ben Solo's love for his parents and feelings for Rey that turn him away from the dark side and bring about [[ThatManIsDead the end of "Kylo Ren"]]. |
| 427 | * {{MacGyvering}}: His lightsaber. Close-ups show it has a cobbled-together look, complete with an exposed wire and rough metal work. [[AllThereInTheManual Secondary material]] reveals it uses a cracked power crystal -- hence the unstable blade and [[WeaponizedExhaust stabilizing vents that double as crossguards.]] |
| 428 | * MachoMasochism: During his duel with Finn/Rey, Kylo repeatedly strikes himself in his bowcaster wound. Given the advanced stage of VillainousBreakdown he's reached by that point, it's stated he's using the pain to further fuel his connection to the dark side. |
| 429 | * MadeOfIron: Kylo survives a bowcaster shot to the gut and keeps on fighting. Later, he takes several injuries while fighting Finn and Rey, but, although incapacitated, is still very much alive by the end of the fight. In ''The Rise of Skywalker'', he's still standing (barely) even after having the crap beaten out of him by the Knights of Ren and being chucked down a chasm (possibly breaking something in the process judging by the cracking sound). |
| 430 | * MalevolentMaskedMen: He wears a mask that shares similarities in design with Darth Vader's mask and stormtrooper helmets. Unlike Vader, who needed the mask to live, he has no reason to cover his face beyond covering his expressive face, which could stump his efforts of trying to be as "dark side looking" as possible. |
| 431 | * ManipulativeBastard: Is one toward Rey throughout the Sequel Trilogy to try to make her like himself, up until his HeelFaceTurn. In ''The Force Awakens'', despite of knowing of her potential in the Force, he admonishes her as being nothing more than a scavenger before telling her that only he can help her understand the Force and mocking her about her inability to stop him from killing Han. In ''The Last Jedi'', he takes Snoke's advice of manipulating weaknesses to try to convince her that Luke can't help her while also presenting the "truth" about her parents in a way that preys upon her insecurities. In ''The Rise of Skywalker'', he attempts to convince her that she doesn't have agency due to her heritage and that she's doomed to serve the Dark Side, and that neither of them can go back to Leia. Ironically, by the end, she's the one who helps convince him to move away from '''his''' path, rather than the other way around. |
| 432 | * ManlyTears: He openly sheds tears twice in ''The Rise of Skywalker''; first when he talks with a [[HelpfulHallucination mental projection]] of his father and [[HeelFaceTurn turns back to the light]], and later when he finds Rey's body following the fight with Palpatine. |
| 433 | * MascotVillain: Like Vader before him, Kylo Ren is the face of the dark side for the Sequel Trilogy as well as the new face of fear in the galaxy. |
| 434 | * MaskOfConfidence: When he's wearing his black, voice-altering mask (deliberately designed on Darth Vader's), he comes off as more cold, menacing and controlled. When the mask's off, he is a lot more awkward and emotional, to the point it's implied part of the reason he wears the mask is to hide his true feelings. |
| 435 | * MaskOfSanity: Kylo attempts to project a cold, menacing facade like that of his grandfather, Darth Vader, even using a mask to help. But when things don't go his way, his emotional and mental instability comes to the surface and he explodes in fits of rage and irrational decisions. |
| 436 | * MasterApprenticeChain: Subverted. He tried to learn the ways of the Jedi from Luke, but eventually turned on him and started his training as an acolyte of the dark side under Snoke, before turning on him and becoming Supreme Leader of the First Order. |
| 437 | * MeaningfulName: |
| 438 | ** "Ben" (usually shortened from "Benjamin") means "son/son of" in Hebrew and Arabic. Fitting as he is Han and Leia's son, and his parentage is of importance to the story. |
| 439 | ** Like his father, his surname "Solo" can indicate his isolation from others; his family, his former friends, and even within the First Order. |
| 440 | *** Combining his first name and surname essentially means he is called "the only son", an astonishingly appropriate name for the only son of Han and Leia. |
| 441 | ** The "Kylo" part of his name sounds familiar to the Latin word ''caelo'', which means "Sky". This is a hint that he's part of the Skywalker lineage. |
| 442 | ** In Welsh, "Ren" means "ruler", which is particularly appropriate after he becomes Supreme Leader. His mother's name of Leia also means "ruler" in Assyrian. |
| 443 | ** "Ren" is the Confucian term for the [[GoodFeelsGood positive feeling that comes from being altruistic to others]] and universal love. The word itself roughly translates from Chinese as meaning "humanity" or "benevolence". Doubles as an IronicName in this case, seeing as love and compassion aren't really Kylo's forté; then again, he ''does'' struggle with a pull to the light side and his [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes compassion for others]], namely [[FoeRomanceSubtext Rey]], adds more [[HiddenDepths depth]] to his character. |
| 444 | ** Additionally, one of the meanings for the Japanese unisex name "Ren" is "lotus" (from "renge", the full word for lotus); the name of Kylo's maternal grandmother Padmé comes from "Padma", which is the ''Sanskrit'' word for lotus. |
| 445 | ** Despite his rejection of his birth name of Solo, it is pretty fitting for him, especially by the end of ''The Last Jedi''; he grew up feeling [[LonelyRichKid cripplingly isolated]] and he cuts himself off from everyone in an attempt to forge his own path, only to find it's LonelyAtTheTop. |
| 446 | * MeaninglessVillainVictory: By the end of ''The Last Jedi'', he has overthrown Snoke, become Supreme Leader, and helped reduce the Resistance to a handful of survivors. Even with this victory, however, he humiliates himself in front of his men when trying to take down his uncle, and realizes that he's alienated or killed anyone who cares about him and has truly become alone. To emphasize the point, he finds his father's golden dice that Luke gave to Leia, but they fade in his hands; they were just an illusion. |
| 447 | * TheMentallyDisturbed: Kylo Ren shows signs of some serious mental and emotional problems (mood swings, fits of violent rage, lack of empathy, keeping the ashes of dead enemies, and talking to Vader's melted helmet). |
| 448 | * MightyGlacier: He fights using brute force, can take a lot of punishment, and prefers a slow pace rather than charging at his opponents. |
| 449 | * MindlinkMates: Subverted with Rey; their PsychicLink grows stronger over the course of the trilogy and [[ShipTease they share a kiss]] in ''The Rise of Skywalker,'' but [[ShipSinking Ben dies moments later]]. |
| 450 | * MindOverMatter: He manages the impressive feat of stopping a blaster bolt in mid-air with the Force. His unbalanced mental state in the finale affects this ability, however, as he struggles to call Anakin's lightsaber to his hand, with the weapon only moving when Rey calls it to her. He also cunningly uses this ability to turn a lightsaber and ''ignite it'' from across a room to kill Snoke in ''The Last Jedi'' and later smacks Hux into a wall simply by waving his hand. |
| 451 | * MisaimedFandom: InUniverse example. He's a LoonyFan of Darth Vader who considers Vader rather than Anakin Skywalker to be his "real" grandfather, and models himself on the very qualities that Anakin [[BeingEvilSucks hated]] and [[RedemptionEqualsDeath rejected in the end]]. |
| 452 | * MistreatmentInducedBetrayal: |
| 453 | ** In flashbacks within ''The Last Jedi'', Ben wakes up to see Luke standing over him with an ignited lightsaber, draws his own conclusions that Luke came to murder him, and attempts to kill Luke with his lightsaber and then by collapsing his hut on them both. |
| 454 | ** ''The Rise of Kylo Ren'' picks up after the hut collapse as Ben rages about Luke; in the process, Ben sets the Jedi temple on fire which kills everyone inside. Although he's immediately remorseful, he turns his back on the Jedi and calls the still-burning temple a lie that's now over, and flees to Snoke to join him and continue his journey in the dark side. |
| 455 | ** In ''The Last Jedi'', Kylo is fed up with Snoke thanks to years of being insulted, hit with Force lightning, and emotionally manipulated. After Snoke callously manipulates him through his interest in Rey, he pretends he's obeying Snoke's command to kill her, but instead murders Snoke and usurps his power as Supreme Leader. |
| 456 | * MoodSwinger: He can shift between TheStoic and AxCrazy within moments. In ''The Force Awakens,'' a messenger informs him that the droid with the map escaped, and he wordlessly slashes a computer terminal over and over again with his lightsaber while the messenger cringes and trembles. When Kylo stops, he immediately turns back to the messenger and matter-of-factly asks, "Anything else?" The messenger mentions [[Characters/StarWarsRey a girl]] and Kylo swings back around, Force-drags him across the room to grab him by the throat, and asks "''What'' girl?" |
| 457 | * MoralEventHorizon: InvokedTrope. He wants nothing more than to become completely immune to the light side, avoiding Darth Vader's [[RedemptionEqualsDeath ultimate fate]], so he tries to erase any remaining goodness in himself by murdering his own father on Snoke's orders. {{Deconstructed|Trope}} as his [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone guilt over it]] temporarily weakens his resolve, and he has more success through the less overtly evil act of [[AssholeVictim betraying his abusive master Snoke]] and seizing his throne as [[EvilOverlord Supreme Leader]]. |
| 458 | * MythologyGag: |
| 459 | ** His name is very similar to a VillainOfTheWeek from the old ''WesternAnimation/{{Droids}}'' cartoon -- Ky'''b'''o Ren. |
| 460 | ** His design intentionally draws from early Darth Vader concepts, many of which had a removable mask. |
| 461 | ** While it may not be intentional, this is [[Literature/LegacyOfTheForce not the first time that]] Han and Leia's son has turned to the dark side. This [[OlderThanTheyThink happened beforehand]] with [[Characters/StarWarsNewJediOrderAndLegacyErasSithAndDarkJedi Jacen Solo/Darth Caedus]] in the ''[[Franchise/StarWarsLegends Legends]]'' continuity. |
| 462 | * NearDeathExperience: |
| 463 | ** In ''[[Literature/StarWarsLastShot Last Shot]]'' the family culinary droid turns [[BrainwashedAndCrazy temporarily psycho with orders to kill all organics]] and advances on two-year old Ben. The signal is stopped just before the droid reaches Ben, leaving both parties unaware of how close they came to tragedy. |
| 464 | ** In ''The Force Awakens'', Rey comes close to killing him after defeating him in lightsaber combat; in the film, she stops attacking him and the collapse of Starkiller Base opens a chasm between them, and in the novelization, she rejects the urging of the dark side to kill him just before the chasm opens. Kylo survives his injuries from this battle, his gut injury from Chewbacca's bowcaster, and the destruction of Starkiller Base. |
| 465 | ** In ''The Rise of Skywalker'', Rey stabs him with his own lightsaber while he's distracted by his mother reaching out to him, but she immediately regrets it and heals him. |
| 466 | * NeckLift: Like Darth Vader, he has a tendency to employ this, though his method is different: he uses a Force pull by the target's throat and then grabs their neck. |
| 467 | * {{Nephewism}}: Downplayed. Ben was raised by Han and Leia, but they sent him to his uncle Luke for Jedi training, hoping Ben would gain stability with the person best equipped to guide him. Luke initially gave his complete focus to his adoring nephew, but he had to divide his attention when he took on more students. This would come back to bite him in the ass since Ben felt neglected and fell to the Dark Side. |
| 468 | * NerdInEvilsHelmet: It doesn't make him less dangerous, but under that helmet is an EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette who [[TheyLookJustLikeEveryoneElse doesn't look monstrous or threatening]]. In private, he shows a fanboyish obsession with Darth Vader and generally behaves like a PsychopathicManchild. ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaOSCASqLsE had a field day with this]]. |
| 469 | * NiceJobBreakingItHero: A post HeelFaceTurn example. When he arrives on Exegol to help Rey fight Palpatine, her grandfather decides it's far easier to drain their vitality to restore himself rather than goad his granddaughter into killing him, [[NearVillainVictory allowing him to nearly destroy the Citizen's Fleet to ensure the Final Order can leave the planet unopposed]], while throwing Ben into a chasm like [[Film/ReturnOfTheJedi Anakin did to the Emperor 31 years ago]] as [[BestServedCold payback]]. |
| 470 | -->'''Palpatine:''' As I once fell, so falls the last Skywalker! |
| 471 | * NiceJobFixingItVillain: |
| 472 | ** Early on in ''The Force Awakens'', he notices that Finn is disobeying orders to kill the villagers. Instead of executing him for treason or reporting him to Phasma, Kylo decides not to do anything. This leads to ''the rest of the sequel trilogy happening''. |
| 473 | ** His interactions with Rey end up doing the '''exact opposite''' of what he wants. Namely, when he tries prying into her mind, she discovers his insecurities and some key insight about the Force, and when he offers to teach her about the Force personally, she taps into it and becomes determined enough to defeat him. |
| 474 | ** Kylo bagged Rey instead of continuing the search for BB-8 and the map fragment he has because he discovered that Rey saw it when BB-8 showed a holoprojection of it. So on top of inducing Rey to exert her [[StrongButUnskilled nascent Force powers]] to repulse Kylo's attempt to extract that information, the First Order are right back at square one on the hunt for Luke. Hux is quick to chide Kylo for that in front of Snoke. |
| 475 | ** In the novelization, killing Han Solo not only doesn't suppress the call of the light side, but in fact strengthens it, and weakens him. This may be present in the film as well, as after killing his father and defeating Finn, he struggles to pull Anakin's lightsaber towards him, despite previously being shown capable of holding blaster bolts, and people, in place with little effort. |
| 476 | ** In ''The Last Jedi'', Kylo preoccupying himself with Luke gives the surviving Resistance time to escape (and give hope to the Galaxy) when he could have easily annihilated them. |
| 477 | * NoBodyLeftBehind: After he dies, his body disappears and he becomes one with the Force. |
| 478 | * NoNonsenseNemesis: When he has his head on straight, Ren is very focused and determined. His first instinct to seeing his uncle Luke is to shred him with artillery fire. Only going to engage him in single combat when it fails. |
| 479 | * NoSocialSkills: Kylo can hold a conversation when he's calm, though he tends to be rude, commanding, and emotionally distant. If something goes awry, he turns violent, destructive, and shouty. In his interactions with Rey, he employs BrutalHonesty, antagonizes her, and tries to kill her for refusing to turn to the dark side with him. Before his own turn, he was closed off from his peers at the Jedi temple, even his friend Tai. |
| 480 | * NotGoodWithRejection: In ''The Last Jedi'' and ''The Rise of Skywalker,'' Kylo responds by [[IfICantHaveYou threatening and trying to kill Rey]] for refusing his offers and demands that she turn to the dark side and rule the galaxy with him. |
| 481 | * ObviouslyEvil: Cloaked in black, masked, skulking about, and wielding a red lightsaber, it's not subtle at all that he's in the dark side. An InvokedTrope, as he actively wants to eradicate his goodness. |
| 482 | * OffhandBackhand: He shoots a Sith trooper behind him without even looking in the Battle of Exegol. |
| 483 | * OffscreenTeleportation: Demonstrates these powers on Starkiller Base when he somehow manages to beat Rey, Finn, and Chewbacca to the planet's surface despite being several staircases below them. |
| 484 | * OffscreenVillainy: In ''[[WesternAnimation/StarWarsResistance Resistance]]'', it's mentioned but not shown that he led First Order troops in a massacre of a village on Tehar. |
| 485 | * OhCrap: |
| 486 | ** His expression when Rey turns his MindProbe back on him smacks of this. |
| 487 | ** After Snoke blasts him with Force lightning, he briefly looks up in alarm at the Praetorian guard, who are ready to pounce on him until Snoke calls them off. |
| 488 | ** In the flashbacks to the night he turned to the dark side, he has an expression of growing horror and realisation when he awakens to see Luke standing over him with a lightsaber. |
| 489 | * OlderThanTheyLook: Often assumed by audiences to be around the same age as Rey, who is nineteen in ''The Force Awakens'', but he's ten years older than her. Adam Driver is several years older than his character. |
| 490 | * OminousOperaCape: Briefly wears one, Vader-style, when he comes to Snoke during their first scene in ''The Last Jedi''. Then he ditches it, signifying his move away from the worshipping of his grandfather along with the destruction of his mask, which Snoke ridiculed. It's back again during the Battle of Crait, though as ''Star Wars'' characters are wont to do, he shrugs it off before getting into a lightsaber duel. He wears a cape throughout ''The Rise of Skywalker'' until he makes a HeelFaceTurn. |
| 491 | * OneManArmy: He's naturally one thanks to being extremely strong in the Force. When Rey gives him Anakin's lightsaber in the Battle of Exegol, he proceeds to demolish the Knights of Ren [[CurbStompBattle without much trouble]]. |
| 492 | * OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: "Kylo Ren" is not the character's real name, but merely an alias that he adopted after joining the Knights of Ren -- an organization whose members all take "Ren" as a surname, similar to the Sith Order's title "Darth". His real name is Ben Solo. |
| 493 | * OvershadowedByAwesome: Played with. Kylo Ren is an exceptionally powerful Force User, to the point where Luke mentions in ''TLJ'' that he has the greatest raw power he has ever known, but he still feels inferior for not considering himself as powerful as Vader, but since they lived in different times it is difficult to compare them. |
| 494 | [[/folder]] |
| 495 | [[folder:P-S]] |
| 496 | * TheParagonAlwaysRebels: A villainous variant; Kylo Ren, master of the Knights of Ren, is the one who, post-HeelFaceTurn, wipes out the organisation. |
| 497 | * ParentalAbandonment: Kylo felt this is what his parents did to him, especially when they sent him away to his uncle. |
| 498 | * ParentalNeglect: Ben perceived himself as being neglected, particularly by his father. While Han and Leia weren't intentionally neglectful and clearly love Ben, [[ParentsAsPeople Leia was frequently away working to repair the galaxy and Han constantly second-guessed his parenting]]. Neither parent knew how to help their child with his Force abilities (especially Han, who was skeptical about the whole thing) and they privately feared he could end up like Darth Vader, so they sent him to Luke to learn about the Force and stabilize his destructive outbursts. Ben's doubts about his parents and their feelings about him were increased by his mental conversations with Snoke; he believed that instead of fears ''for'' him, they had fears ''of'' him. |
| 499 | * {{Patricide}}: He killed his father, Han Solo. |
| 500 | * PayEvilUntoEvil: |
| 501 | ** Kylo kills Snoke via telekinetic lightsaber bisection after Snoke tortures Rey, and earlier blasted Kylo with lightning and verbally cut him down. |
| 502 | ** Kylo uses the Force to [[BadBoss throttle Hux and other First Order underlings]]; most of these are [[DisproportionateRetribution disproportionate responses]], but Hux is just as murderous and psychotic. |
| 503 | ** Killing King Kristoff mostly for insulting him isn't exactly one of Kylo's greatest sins, seeing as Kristoff boasts about how he wiped out life on ''four'' planets while attempting to expand his territory, dismisses them as only being "small planets", and has no plans on stopping. |
| 504 | * PercussiveTherapy: Whenever Kylo succumbs to anger in ''The Force Awakens'', he doesn't kill personnel willy-nilly like Vader did; instead, he whips out his lightsaber and vents his frustration by slicing nearby hardware into charred ribbons. The staff are familiar with this, as two Stormtroopers can tell just from the sound that they should leave instead of investigating further. |
| 505 | ** This is arguably an expression of his light/dark struggle. Darth Vader KILLED his underlings when he got upset, but the worst Ren does is a NeckLift. |
| 506 | * PersonOfMassDestruction: Kylo Ren in the comics has feats like being able to destroy a Jedi temple, not so much in the movies. |
| 507 | * PerpetualFrowner: When he fails at being TheStoic, he's this. He only smiles once in the sequel trilogy, when he brings Rey back to life and they kiss.[[note]]During the elevator scene in ''The Last Jedi'', when Rey mentions their hand hold, he does appear to smile ''a little bit'', but it's so faint that it's unnoticeable unless you're watching for it.[[/note]] |
| 508 | * PetTheDog: |
| 509 | ** He is nicer to Rey than he is to any other character. Before the interrogation in ''The Force Awakens'' novelization, he removes Rey's restraints and tells her that he would have preferred not to [[MindProbe take information from her mind]] and will not take pleasure from it; in their duel, he says he could kill her now or he could teach her instead. In ''The Last Jedi'', he listens to her troubles and tries to comfort her when she's upset during their [[PsychicLink Force bond scenes]]. Protecting her is one of the reasons he kills Snoke, then asks her to rule the galaxy with him and states that she means something to him. |
| 510 | ** In ''The Last Jedi'', he comes close to firing upon his mother then backs off, and he is shaken when his wingmen complete the attack instead. |
| 511 | ** ''The Rise of Kylo Ren'' reveals he didn't massacre Luke's other students when the Jedi Temple was destroyed; he only attacked Luke in self-defence and then tried to leave peacefully, saying he would only use violence against three surviving students if they tried to stop him. He's true to his word; when Voe and Hennix attack him first, he defends himself but only incapacitates them (he does rather seriously injure Hennix, but only by mistake). When they try to pursue him into space, he disables their ship even though he could've easily killed them, which Tai points out to the others. |
| 512 | * PietaPlagiarism: He holds Rey like this after her fight with Palpatine. |
| 513 | * ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything: Snoke refers to Kylo as the Master of the Knights of Ren in ''The Force Awakens''. Nothing further is shown about his status as the leader of this group until ''The Rise of Skywalker''. His role appears to involve leading their dramatic walking, and directing them to seek his enemies for... dramatic looming and standing. Whatever it is they do, the audience doesn't see it; they're only active after Kylo becomes Ben again and they fight him. |
| 514 | * PowerIncontinence: As a child, he would telekinetically break objects around the house when he was [[PsychoactivePowers angry or upset.]] Being trained by Luke and later Snoke gave him ''much'' better control of the Force, although he is occasionally affected by this still; in ''The Force Awakens'' he's unable to summon the Skywalker lightsaber to his hand due to a combination of physical injuries, emotional turmoil, and Rey calling it to herself. |
| 515 | * PsychicLink: |
| 516 | ** Rey and Kylo are a "dyad," a rare Force bond that makes them "one in the Force." It allows them to communicate across space, physically interact from a distance, and in ''The Rise of Skywalker'' they can transfer matter to each other. The bond grew stronger when they worked together, eventually becoming so strong that Palpatine was able to absorb its energy to physically restore himself back to his prime. |
| 517 | ** His mother, Leia Organa, can sense him and vice versa during his assault on the Resistance fleet in ''The Last Jedi''. Kylo becomes visibly emotional and [[EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas cannot bring himself to fire at her]]. In ''The Rise of Skywalker,'' Leia uses the last of her strength to psychically contact him. |
| 518 | * PsychicStrangle: In ''The Last Jedi'', he takes another page out of his grandfather's book and brutally Force-chokes Hux for talking back to him. In ''The Rise of Skywalker'', he not only Force-chokes an underling who gets on his nerves, but simultaneously flings him up against the ceiling. |
| 519 | * PsychologicalProjection: He sees himself in Rey and expects her to become like him over the course of the Sequel Trilogy. [[UnreliableExpositor His commentary on the supposed truth about Rey's parents]], commenting that they sold her off to slavery (in spite of not actually knowing this), reveals his own insecurities about how he felt that his parents abandoned him to effectively be his uncle's pawn. |
| 520 | * PsychopathicManchild: He has little emotional regulation and stunted emotional development. |
| 521 | ** In ''The Force Awakens,'' he yells and destroys objects with repeated lightsaber slashes when he's frustrated. His insistence to Finn that the Skywalker lightsaber belongs to him resembles a child saying "mine!" |
| 522 | ** In ''The Last Jedi,'' he yells about and at Luke, and screams in rage when Luke disappears. |
| 523 | ** By ''The Rise of Skywalker,'' he is [[CharacterDevelopment more emotionally stable]] while remaining a BadBoss to one First Order officer that gets on his last nerve. However, he throws no tantrums at all. Tellingly, in his final duel with Rey, ''he's'' the stable one and she's the aggressor. |
| 524 | * APupilOfMineUntilHeTurnedToEvil: He betrayed the Jedi and actively seeks his former mentor, Luke, to kill him. |
| 525 | * PuttingOnTheReich: In keeping with the Nazi aesthetic inspirations for the Galactic Empire and the First Order as "Nazis in Argentina", [[http://nerdyrottenscoundrel.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Star-Wars-The-Force-Awakens-Kylo-Ren-Darth-Vader2.jpg Kylo's helmet]] has a flared edge over the neck reminiscent of the German [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stahlhelm Stahlhelm helmet]]. |
| 526 | * RaisedByRobots: Downplayed in ''Last Shot'' when Han and Leia have a droid with caretaker programming to help watch two-year old Ben when both parents are working, and to assist Leia with senatorial duties. This nearly ends in tragedy when the caretaker droid temporarily turns over Ben-watching duties to a culinary droid, and the culinary droid is infected with a virus that makes droids hostile to any organic life. Works mentioning Ben's later childhood don't include droid caretakers. |
| 527 | * RavenHairIvorySkin: He has long, dark hair and a pale complexion. |
| 528 | * RecurringElement: A Jedi who turned to the dark side, wearing an all-black suit with a voice-changing mask, Kylo Ren is a deliberate variation on Darth Vader. |
| 529 | * RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: His clothes are all black and his lightsaber is red, befitting his status as a dark sider. In ''The Rise of Skywalker'', his repaired helmet also has red cracks on it. |
| 530 | * RedBaron: He has earned the moniker of "Jedi Killer" from his past exploits. |
| 531 | * RedemptionEqualsDeath: Ben knowingly [[SacrificialRevivalSpell gives his life to resurrect Rey]], aware that he can't undo his many crimes but can bring her back to help the galaxy he tore apart. |
| 532 | * RedemptionRejection: Overlapping with LastSecondChance. |
| 533 | ** Han implores Kylo to come home and offers his help in ''Film/TheForceAwakens'', but Kylo kills him instead. |
| 534 | ** Rey mistakenly thinks he's turned back to the light and asks him to save the Resistance in ''Film/TheLastJedi'', but Kylo refuses and instead asks her to join him. After that, he's back to being her ArchEnemy. |
| 535 | ** Averted in ''The Rise of Skywalker'' when Kylo's vision of Han mirrors their conversation from ''The Force Awakens'', but this time Kylo chooses to abandon the dark side once and for all. |
| 536 | * RedIsViolent: He's a very unstable individual prone to violent outbursts and uses a red lightsaber like every other Dark Side user. His mask also has red cracks all over it after it was repaired in ''The Rise of Skywalker'' though it's downplayed as he's also much calmer and saner in that film. |
| 537 | * RedOniBlueOni: The red to Hux's blue. He's extremely passionate and intense, plagued with self-doubt and conflicted feelings, prone to violent outbursts, more likely to act on instinct, and more of a fighter than a strategist. |
| 538 | ** ZigZagged come ''The Last Jedi''. Initially, the duo seems to flip over the course of the film, with Kylo growing less conflicted and more self-assured and relaxed while Hux gets more emotional, impulsive, and upset by [[DudeWheresMyRespect his total lack of respect from anyone.]] However, this all goes out the window when Kylo sees Luke Skywalker, completely loses it, and Hux is the one who stays calm and rational. |
| 539 | * RejectedApology: During their duel on Crait, Luke tells him he's sorry he failed him, while Kylo makes it clear that even though Luke probably means it, he doesn't even care anymore. Especially when it looks like he's about to finish off him and the Resistance, putting an end the war. |
| 540 | * RevengeBeforeReason: Seeing Luke on Crait prompts Kylo to focus the First Order's troops on him instead of the remaining Resistance members, and he later stalls them to take on Luke in a one-on-one duel. This gives the Resistance enough time to escape. |
| 541 | * SanitySlippage: His dedication to the dark side takes a serious toll on his mental health, much to his own detriment: |
| 542 | ** ''The Force Awakens'': He slashes up equipment and speaks to the melted mask of his long-dead grandfather as if Vader hears him, and the stand Kylo keeps his own helmet on contains the ashes of various people he has killed. His {{Villainous Breakdown}} intensifies as the film progresses, especially after killing his own father. |
| 543 | ** ''The Last Jedi'': He initially seems more stable, but hearing Snoke disparage his mask and attempts to emulate Vader leads to Kylo violently smashing the mask to pieces in a fit of rage. After killing Snoke and being rejected by Rey, he becomes even more aggressive and violent and chokes Hux for refusing to acknowledge him as the First Order's new Supreme Leader. When leading the attack on Crait, he's nearly rabid, screaming for the ''Millennium Falcon'' to be shot down, ordering a massive amount of firepower to destroy Luke, and slashing wildly at his former mentor when that fails. |
| 544 | * SanityStrengthening: In ''The Rise of Skywalker'', he's much less unstable and childish. He even makes a HeelFaceTurn in the third act. Not having Snoke breathing down his neck probably helps (Palpatine is around but Kylo appears largely immune to his manipulations, making it clear to Rey he has no interest in following his plan and intending from the start to off him). |
| 545 | * ScarfOfAsskicking: In ''The Force Awakens'', he wears a long, tattered cowl scarf that doubles as a hood he can pull over his mask for extra intimidation. He switches to a BadassCape in ''The Last Jedi''. |
| 546 | * SelfMadeOrphan: He kills [[{{Patricide}} his father]], prepares to kill his mother before pulling back, then becomes indirectly responsible for [[HeroicSacrifice her death to save him]]. He's [[DeconstructedTrope utterly miserable]] about his parents' deaths and regrets them. |
| 547 | * SentOffToWorkForRelatives: A variation. When he was 10 years old, Leia and Han were concerned enough about his mental state and inability to control his Force abilities that they sent him to train as a Jedi under his uncle. They hoped that Luke would be able to help him channel his abilities into something good and find some stability. Unfortunately, Ben felt [[ParentalAbandonment abandoned]] by his parents, which made it easier for [[TheCorrupter Snoke]] to [[FlawExploitation manipulate him]]. |
| 548 | * SerialKiller: He is specifically hunting Jedi, having killed many before. According to WordOfGod, he keeps the ashes of at least some of the people he's killed. |
| 549 | * ShadowArchetype: Kylo Ren is essentially Luke Skywalker had he chosen the dark side. They both struggle with temptation from the opposite side of the Force (Luke tries to resist the dark side, while Kylo wants to become immune to the light), both come into conflict with their fathers, with Luke ultimately redeeming Anakin and Kylo ultimately murdering Han, and they both idolise Anakin Skywalker, with Luke proudly declaring himself a Jedi "like my father before me" and Kylo doing everything he can to emulate Darth Vader. |
| 550 | * ShedTheFamilyName: When he fell to the dark side, he took the surname of Ren and is angered when Snoke refers to him as "young Solo". Although he has [[ParentalIssues issues]] with both his parents, he is more openly hostile towards his father than his mother, which likely factors into his rejection of Han's name. ''The Rise of Kylo Ren'' reveals he dislikes the name Solo partly because he found out it wasn't even Han's "real" surname (he was [[Film/{{Solo}} given it by an Imperial recruiter]] just to fill out form), and so he considers it just another lie he's been fed his whole life. |
| 551 | * ShoddyKnockoffProduct: His lightsaber has rough modifications with exposed wiring, an unstable blade produced by a cracked crystal, and crossguard vents for the excess heat it generates. It was once the well-made, stable lightsaber he had as Luke's apprentice, but he didn't have the know-how to modify it at a higher skill level. |
| 552 | %% Shout-Out has to be intentional on the part of the creator, not a coincidental similarity-- is this confirmed? |
| 553 | %% * ShoutOut: The way he stands on the edge of the Death Star II wreckage, staring out at the ocean during a VillainousBSOD, is reminiscent of Caspar David Friedrich's painting "Wanderer above the Sea of Fog". |
| 554 | * SignificantBirthDate: He was born on the day the Galactic Concordance was signed, which formally ended the Galactic Civil War, with the New Republic as the victors. It's ironic, considering he later joins the Imperial remnant responsible for decimating the New Republic capital and fleet and kicking off ''another'' galaxy-wide civil war. |
| 555 | * SignificantWardrobeShift: He reforges his Vader-esque mask in ''The Rise of Skywalker'', but it now has red cracks on it, symbolizing how fractured his allegiance to the dark side and First Order has become (which Rey actually points out). By the film's third act, he ditches the mask for good upon making a HeelFaceTurn. He also ditches the Vader-elements of his costume, wearing a dark shirt and pants reminiscent of clothing his father used to wear. |
| 556 | * SinisterSchnoz: He has a prominent hooked nose which accentuates his [[LooksLikeCesare villainous appearance]]. |
| 557 | * SlainInTheirSleep: What finally [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope tipped Ben Solo over to the dark side]] was his belief that Luke, his Jedi master and uncle, was intending to do this to him. Luke clarifies to Rey he only ignited his lightsaber on pure instinct and was never going to go through with it, but Ben woke up at [[NotWhatItLooksLike the worst possible moment]]. |
| 558 | * SoftSpokenSadist: In stark contrast to his insanely violent behaviour, he hardly ever raises his voice. |
| 559 | * SoHappyTogether: The bad guys's been defeated, Ben and Rey acknowledge their connection and share a kiss, Ben smiles... and then he dies, because he gave his life force to her. |
| 560 | * SourOutsideSadInside: Kylo is a violent, moody, cold-hearted and rage-filled dictator-wannabe. But [[HiddenDepths beneath that]], he suffers from a lot of insecurity, loneliness and inner conflict. Despite his devotion to the dark side, he isn't ever happy or at peace [[BeingEvilSucks with any of his life choices]]. The only time he comes ''close'' to looking happy is when [[SympathyForTheDevil Rey shows him compassion]] and empathy. |
| 561 | * SpeakIllOfTheDead: Kylo calls Rey's dead parents "filthy junk traders" who "threw [Rey] away like [she] was garbage" and considers them "nothing", though [[JerkassHasAPoint he's got a point]] since he believes they sold their young daughter for ''drinking money'' and left her alone on [[CrapsackWorld Jakku]]. |
| 562 | * SpectacularSpinning: |
| 563 | ** Kylo twirls his lightsaber which can put more weight into his strikes. |
| 564 | ** In ''The Last Jedi'', he [[Film/ThePhantomMenace takes a page from]] [[Film/RevengeOfTheSith his grandfather's book]] and sends his TIE/vn Silencer into a flashy, impractical spin. |
| 565 | * SpinOffspring: He's related to the three main leads of the Original Trilogy. Han Solo and Leia Organa are his parents, while Luke Skywalker is his uncle. Furthermore, he's also related to the three main leads of the Prequel Trilogy; Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala were his maternal grandparents, and he was named after Obi-Wan "Ben" Kenobi. |
| 566 | * StalkerWithACrush: Towards Rey in ''The Rise of Skywalker'' until his HeelFaceTurn. He's intent on making Rey [[IfICantHaveYou join him in ruling the galaxy or he'll kill her]], so he uses their Force connections to invade her mind and track her down while she rejects and fights him. |
| 567 | * TheStarscream: Kylo turns on Snoke in ''The Last Jedi'', as he has become convinced that Jedi and Sith are both too trapped in their old ways of thinking and the only way to restore balance to the Force is to wipe the slate completely clean. He also becomes this to Palpatine in ''The Rise of Skywalker'', seeking to displace him as leader of the Final Order. |
| 568 | * StartOfDarkness: Ben was being manipulated from afar by Snoke and the dark side was growing within him, but he didn't commit to the dark side until he thought that his uncle, Luke, was trying to kill him. The initial incident is depicted in flashbacks in ''The Last Jedi'', while ''The Rise of Kylo Ren'' comic goes into detail about his fall to the dark side. |
| 569 | * StealthMentor: He's an unintentional one for Rey -- every time she uses the Force, it's after he did something similar, and her own powers don't fully manifest until he tries to [[MindRape probe her mind for information]]. By the end of ''The Force Awakens'' he catches on to what's going on and flat out offers to train her. |
| 570 | * StereotypeFlip: Kylo was born and initially raised on Chandrila, the first capital of the New Republic. Chandrilans tend to be thought of as being diplomatic and politically-oriented, if not a bit haughty and pedantic, who try to avoid violent conflict if they can help it. Kylo, on the other hand, is HotBlooded with NoSocialSkills; his idea of politics and diplomacy tends to skew more towards AsskickingLeadsToLeadership and what his granddad terms "aggressive negotiations." |
| 571 | * TheStoic: {{Defied|trope}}, as it's yet another of Vader's [[TranquilFury apparent]] traits that Kylo tries -- and fails -- to emulate. He ''tries'' to be calm, collected, and imposing, but doesn't have the discipline, mental and emotional stability, or anger management skills to maintain his composure under pressure. |
| 572 | * StoryBreakerPower: {{Justified}}. Being that Kylo uses the Force in a era where most Force-users are nonexistent, his ability to use the Force makes him a gamebreaker for the First Order. |
| 573 | * SurprisinglySuddenDeath: Ben gives Rey his own life force to revive her, they smile and kiss, but he falls backwards and his body fades as he becomes one with the Force. Rey looks shocked and confused before she understands what he did. |
| 574 | * SuperiorSuccessor: His goal throughout the Sequel Trilogy is to become one to Darth Vader, to mixed results -- while he becomes Supreme Leader and assumes a level of power that Vader never did, he's also a {{Sucksessor}} because inherits many of his failures, and [[LonelyAtTheTop doesn't find any peace at the height of his power]]. However, by the end of ''The Rise of Skywalker'', he's become one to Anakin Skywalker in one key respect -- he was able to keep the woman he cared about from dying, even if the cost of reviving her came at his own life. |
| 575 | * SurrogateSoliloquy: Whether it's because he's [[TheMentallyDisturbed not all there in his own head]], or just because he doesn't want to confide in any living person, Kylo has a disturbing, one-sided conversation with Darth Vader's half-melted helmet about the power of darkness and resisting the call of the light. It's implied when he says "again" that this isn't the first time. He seems to await a response from it, as if he ''did'' receive some kind of message from someone who appeared to him as Vader. ''The Rise of Skywalker'' reveals that Palpatine had actually been telepathically communicating with Kylo for years in a number of different voices such as Snoke and Vader, meaning that Kylo really might have been having conversations with Palpatine under the belief that he was speaking to his grandfather. |
| 576 | * SymbolicMutilation: The DuelingScar Rey gives Kylo in the climax of ''The Force Awakens'' is in the same place Han touched his face after Kylo fatally stabbed Han, symbolising that Kylo has been emotionally and psychologically scarred by the act, and providing a visual reminder of his failure on Starkiller Base. It also echoes the facial scar his [[GenerationXerox grandfather Anakin]] had during the Clone Wars. Notably, the scar itself is healed near the end of ''The Rise of Skywalker'' moments before he makes his HeelFaceTurn, forgives himself for what he's done, and heads off to bring an end to the Sith once and for all. |
| 577 | * SympathyForTheHero: In ''The Last Jedi'', he listens to and empathises with Rey's sense of isolation after her lifetime of loneliness on Jakku and her fears about her newly awakened connection to the Force, even taking the time to tell her that she isn't alone. |
| 578 | [[/folder]] |
| 579 | [[folder:T-Y]] |
| 580 | * TallDarkAndSnarky: He stands 6'2" and is dark, attractive and very apathetic, as well as creepy and twisted. He's feared for his strength and sometimes shows a dry sense of humour. |
| 581 | * TantrumThrowing: He spends most of ''The Force Awakens'' violently smashing things when he receives bad news or his plans are derailed. Judging by the way the Stormtroopers [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere react]] to his tantrum after Rey escapes her cell he's clearly been doing this for a long time. |
| 582 | * TeethClenchedTeamwork: He has zero affinity or respect for Hux, and the feeling is mutual. |
| 583 | * ThatManIsDead: |
| 584 | ** Like Darth Vader, he prefers to bury his past in favor of his new identity. He tells Han that "Ben" was weak and foolish, which is why "Kylo Ren" destroyed him. While he reacts angrily to Snoke addressing him as "young Solo" in ''The Last Jedi'', he has no problem with [[FoeRomanceSubtext Rey]] calling him "Ben" in the film. |
| 585 | ** On the verge of a HeelFaceTurn after Leia uses the last of her strength to reach out to him and Rey had saved his life after mortally wounding him, Kylo is faced with a vision of his father. Although Kylo claims, with far less conviction than he once did, that Han's son is dead, Han corrects him: Ben Solo is alive, and Kylo Ren is dead. Accepting the truth of this, Ben discards his red lightsaber, symbolically ridding himself of the last remnant of Kylo Ren. |
| 586 | --->'''Kylo''': Your son is dead...\ |
| 587 | '''Han''': [[YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre No. Kylo Ren is dead. My son is alive]]. |
| 588 | * ThenLetMeBeEvil: ''The Last Jedi'' novelization reveals that young Ben overheard his parents' concerned discussions about [[PowerIncontinence his lack of control over his Force abilities]] and believed they were afraid of him as if he was a monster, which he internalized as being dangerous. When he believed Luke was trying to kill him, he retaliated and believed he'd killed Luke, then his raging about it set fire to the Jedi temple and killed everyone inside. He told three fellow students he'd done it himself and Voe accepted it. In a confrontation with them, Voe shouted at him that he was a murderer, to which he responded by shouting "Is that what you want me to be?!" and attempting to murder her. Not realizing Ben had quickly changed his mind to save Voe, Hennix yelled at him that he was a monster and tried to kill him. As Ben completed his journey to become Kylo Ren, he told Voe "I'm a murderer, remember?" before murdering her. |
| 589 | * ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: Kylo's signature weapon is an enormous, overpowered lightsaber with ''laser quillions'', and he responds to any threat with maximum aggression and maximum firepower. For instance, his reaction in ''The Last Jedi'' to seeing Luke's Force projection is ordering all of his troops to fire upon Luke. |
| 590 | * TheyLookJustLikeEveryoneElse: When Rey says she was "being hunted by a creature in a mask" in ''The Force Awakens,'' Kylo takes his helmet off and reveals he is a pale young man, which visibly surprises her -- and the audience, who up until that point expected that as another Darth Vader, he had a scarred visage underneath the helmet. In the novelization, she thinks that he could be some nobody she met on Jakku except for his laser-intense stare. |
| 591 | * ThisIsUnforgivable: He hates Finn for turning on the First Order, busting out Poe and getting his droid to the Resistance, and then helping Rey escape Starkiller Base. |
| 592 | * ThisLoserIsYou: Kylo Ren is an in-universe representation of the MisaimedFandom surrounding Darth Vader -- he's a creepy, emotionally-stunted nutcase who acts as a {{fanboy}} to a truly vile individual, distancing himself from others in order to more closely resemble his idol. Naturally, [[BigBadWannabe he doesn't live up to those expectations]] and finds that [[BeingEvilSucks there's a lot of baggage that comes with emulating Darth Vader]]. |
| 593 | * ThresholdGuardian: In ''The Force Awakens'', Kylo Ren fills the role of the Threshold Guardian who guards the entrance to the "special world" and tests TheHero's resolve. When Rey faces him, he offers to teach the ways of the Force (read: the dark side), testing her commitment to the light. After defeating him, Rey is ready to enter the "special world" of the Jedi and seeks out Master Luke Skywalker, hoping to learn from him and recruit his help in the galactic conflict. |
| 594 | * TomTheDarkLord: From birth he had the quite inconspicuous name: "Ben". For comparison, Darth Vader was Anakin Skywalker, while Darth Sidious was Sheev Palpatine. |
| 595 | * TortureTechnician: He uses the Force to [[TortureAlwaysWorks interrogate and torture]] Poe Dameron aboard the ''Finalizer''. On Takodana, he painfully invades Rey's mind before knocking her unconscious, but when he interrogates her again, she inadvertently [[HoistByHisOwnPetard learns how to reverse it on him]]. |
| 596 | * TouchOfTheMonster: After hunting a terrified Rey through the forest on Takodana and [[MindProbe invading her mind]], he knocks her unconscious and abducts her for further interrogation. He carries her unconscious in his arms and into his ship while Finn yells her name. |
| 597 | * TrainingFromHell: Kylo's training under Snoke involves psychological and physical torment. Snoke manipulates him into questioning his family's feelings for him, encourages him to give into his anger, taunts him for his fears, tells him he must cut out any "weakness" such as compassion and mercy, backhands him, and strikes him with Force lightning. [[DeconstructedTrope The training succeeds in making Kylo loathe his master]] and he [[TheDogBitesBack turns on Snoke]]. |
| 598 | * TranquilFury: Kylo exists in a state of barely concealed rage at all times and even his calm moments show he could go berserk at any second. When he sees Luke again in ''The Last Jedi'', he speaks calmly but his voice and body language show he is practically seething with anger. |
| 599 | * TraumaButton: Luke's appearance at the end of ''The Last Jedi'', where he looks as he did the night he apparently attempted to kill Kylo and wields Anakin Skywalker's lightsaber, was specifically orchestrated to trigger Kylo. It shows--the minute Kylo sees Luke, he freezes up, then flies into a murderous rage that's extraordinary even for [[HairTriggerTemper him]]. |
| 600 | * TraumaCongaLine: Before the film events, Kylo was emotionally manipulated for years to depend on Snoke and believe his family was neglecting him, experienced what he perceived as his uncle trying to murder him in his sleep, and endured horrific dark side training under Snoke that encouraged breaking all ties to the past through murder. When given an opportunity to go home in ''The Force Awakens'', he instead murders his own father and gives himself more angst; a year later in ''The Rise of Skywalker'', he feels his mother die contacting him one last time to project all her hope and love for him despite all he's done. |
| 601 | * TryingNotToCry: Kylo struggles to hold back tears when he confronts and then murders his father, when he contemplates and ultimately decides against killing his mother, when he listens to Rey telling him how alone she feels, and when Rey leaves and rejects their Force connection following the Battle of Crait. He fails to stop his tears after he feels his mother's death and hallucinates his dad prompting him to come back to the light. |
| 602 | * TurnOutLikeHisFather: Or more specifically his ''grandfather''. Leia and Han were both deeply concerned that Kylo could end up like Anakin Skywalker (both of whom they only knew as Darth Vader). They attempted to avert this by never telling Kylo who his grandfather was and sending him to train as a Jedi under Luke (who had redeemed Anakin). Unfortunately, this had the opposite effect and Kylo ironically spent years trying to be ''as much like'' Vader as possible. |
| 603 | * TwitchyEye: He has one in ''The Last Jedi'', particularly when talking to Rey, emphasizing his SanitySlippage. |
| 604 | * {{Tyrannicide}}: In the third act of ''The Last Jedi'', Kylo turns on and kills [[TheEmperor Supreme Leader]] [[EvilSorcerer Snoke]], which did everyone a favour...[[SubvertedTrope unfortunately]], Kylo then decides to [[TheStarscream take the title of Supreme Leader for himself]]. |
| 605 | * TheUnfettered: He's actively trying to become this. His murder of Han is a major step towards destroying any restraints he still has. He takes this even further in ''The Last Jedi''; having killed Snoke, Kylo announces his intent to be free of the past, Sith and Jedi alike, in favour of forging his own path, seeing this as becoming who he was meant to be. |
| 606 | * UngratefulBastard: While his grievance towards his uncle could be legitimate considering what he perceived as happening at the time, Ben is shown to be ungrateful for any kindness he's given. Rey, Han, and Leia all show that they want him to give up his path down the dark side and the misdeeds he had caused, but this is met with Kylo either trying to kill them or ''succeeding'' at killing them. |
| 607 | * UnreliableExpositor: A downplayed one towards Rey. Kylo tells her that the night he turned to the dark side, he awoke to Luke trying to kill him out of fear of his power. Rey later learns from Luke that he had foreseen his nephew's fall to darkness and the destruction he would bring, and contemplated killing him for only a moment. However, Kylo wasn't really lying to Rey, as from ''his'' perspective, he woke up to see his uncle brandishing a lightsaber, so it was a reasonable conclusion to draw. |
| 608 | * UnskilledButStrong: He's an extremely powerful Force user, even more so than Luke or Anakin, but he lacks the training to fully utilize and control his powers. His lightsaber technique is also very wild and unrefined compared to his uncle and grandfather's more precise bladework, which allows more inexperienced lightsaber users like Rey and Finn to actually put up a fight against him. |
| 609 | * UnstoppableRage: [[ZigzaggedTrope Zigzags]] between this and TranquilFury due to his MoodSwinger tendencies. |
| 610 | * UnwittingPawn: |
| 611 | ** According to the novelization of ''The Last Jedi'', Snoke's main goal in corrupting Ben was to get at Luke, trick Luke into trying to rebuild the Jedi to support Ben, then destroy Luke and any chance of the Jedi Order being rebuilt. Everything else was a distant second. |
| 612 | ** In ''The Last Jedi'', Snoke uses Kylo to lure [[TheHero Rey]] into a trap. Snoke claims he created the [[PsychicLink Force bond]] between them, anticipating that they would [[LonelyTogether form a connection]] and that [[AllLovingHero Rey]] would be compelled to meet with Kylo in the hopes of either joining or helping him, thus playing right into Snoke's hands. Given Kylo's shocked reaction to this and Snoke's comments, he had absolutely no idea and his feelings for Rey are genuine. It ends up backfiring on Snoke, as Kylo betrays and murders Snoke... all according to laws of the Sith, making Kylo an even more unwitting pawn to someone he believes long dead, ''[[GreaterScopeVillain Palpatine]]''. |
| 613 | * UsedToBeASweetKid: If the flashbacks in ''Bloodline'' are of any indication, Ben Solo had been a decent son to Han and Leia. He's positively ''adorable'' as a two year old in ''Last Shot'', and in ''Shadow of the Sith'', he was a cheerful, eager Jedi-in-training. |
| 614 | * VillainHasAPoint: |
| 615 | ** When talking with Rey in ''The Last Jedi'', he points out she needs to stop living in denial about what she already believes about her past. She's "known" all along that her parents sold her for drinking money and died on Jakku, rather than legendary heroes or adoring parents who left but intended to come back for her. She wasted her life staying on Jakku for nothing. |
| 616 | ** He has a compelling point that the [[BlackAndWhiteMorality light versus dark and Jedi versus Sith]] conflicts caused cycles of violence and revenge which led to multiple civil wars; however, he's a hypocrite who undercuts his own argument about breaking from past institutions and dogma since he becomes the galaxy's evil overlord with the same style of tyranny as the previous Sith-led Galactic Empire. |
| 617 | ** His hatred of Luke is also not totally unjustified since Luke briefly drew a lightsaber on him when he sensed the dark side in him. Even Luke admits he failed Kylo. |
| 618 | * VillainousBreakdown: |
| 619 | ** In ''The Force Awakens'': |
| 620 | *** When Kylo learns that BB-8 escaped Jakku, he hacks a nearby computer to bits while yelling. |
| 621 | *** When he learns that Rey escaped his interrogation, he slices up the room while bellowing. Some Stormtroopers who were going to report to him wisely decide to come back later. |
| 622 | *** His eyes are tearful and he's emotionally shaky when he confronts his father, Han Solo. After he murders Han, he completely loses it. In the climactic battle against Rey and Finn, he pounds masochistically on the wound where Chewbacca shot him, yells that Finn's a "traitor", and falls apart emotionally physically as he incurs further wounds and gets rejected by Rey. |
| 623 | ** In ''The Last Jedi'', the sights on Crait of the ''Millennium Falcon'' with Rey and Chewbacca inside and Luke Skywalker walking out to confront him both sends Kylo into furious rages as he orders their destruction. Kylo tries to kill Luke in person, slashing at his former mentor in an ineffectual fury -- only to find himself swinging at air, as Luke had merely used the Force to create an AstralProjection as a diversion that would give the Resistance time to escape. This makes him wordlessly bellow in rage, and after walking inside the base, he drops to his knees while holding the illusion of his father's gold dice. |
| 624 | * VillainousBSOD: In ''The Rise of Skywalker,'' he knocks Rey to the ground and starts swinging his lightsaber down when he's [[JustInTime interrupted]] by Leia dying as she [[CareBearStare reaches out to her son]] across the galaxy. He remains frozen as he senses Leia's death, leaving himself open for Rey to impale him with his own lightsaber. After she senses Leia's death, she heals him and confesses she wanted to take Ben's hand while he silently watches her. He subsequently [[HelpfulHallucination has a conversation with his dead father]] and [[HeelFaceTurn turns back]] to the light. |
| 625 | * VillainousCrush: Kylo develops one on Rey. During their [[PsychicLink Force connection]] scenes in ''The Last Jedi,'' they open up to each other emotionally, he [[FriendlyAddressPrivileges lets her call him Ben]], kills Snoke [[VillainousRescue which saves her life]], asks her to [[WeCanRuleTogether rule with him]], and tells her that she is nothing but not to him. His response to her rejection is IfICantHaveYou, and this continues into ''The Rise of Skywalker''. |
| 626 | * VillainousRescue: In ''The Last Jedi'', he saves Rey from Snoke by bisecting his master with Rey's lightsaber, whilst tricking him into thinking he's going to kill Rey. His VillainousCrush on her and ambitions to rule the galaxy with her have a lot to do with it. |
| 627 | * VillainousValour: In ''The Force Awakens'', Kylo treats the dark side like a knight's code of honor and [[SurrogateSoliloquy worries aloud]] that he's being corrupted by the light side, then follows through with a horrifying interpretation of HonorBeforeReason when he tries to prevent this by putting the dark side before his family. Even after being shot by Chewbacca, he's {{implacable|man}} and starts (but loses) duels with Finn and Rey trying to prevent their escape. |
| 628 | * VillainsNeverLie: Kylo claims to Rey in ''The Rise of Skywalker'' that he has never lied to her; everything he told about his relationship with Luke is {{metaphorically true}} to him, and what he reported seeing in her mind about her family is true as far as he knows. He stalks her while badgering her to listen to his new information about her history. In the junior novel, she thinks about how he uses truth as a weapon against her, and in the expanded edition thinks about how he uses truth for falsehood. Still, he succeeds at creating enough doubt that she caves and asks him what he knows. |
| 629 | -->'''Kylo Ren:''' I've never lied to you.\ |
| 630 | '''Rey:''' ''[inner narrative]'' Oh, but he had deceived. Kylo's words always had an element of truth, even when their intent was pure falsehood. |
| 631 | * VillainTakesAnInterest: During the duel between Kylo and Rey in ''The Force Awaken'', he traps her against a cliff edge and could kill her if he wants to. Instead, he recognizes Rey's potential and offers to mentor her in the ways of the Force. |
| 632 | * VillainWithGoodPublicity: He is a "hero" within the First Order. After he becomes Supreme Leader, anyone who speaks out against him or the First Order is declared "subversive." His subordinates still know to stay far away from him during his violent outbursts, and he continues to [[PsychicStrangle Force-choke]] them. |
| 633 | * VocalDissonance: His unusually deep voice sharply contrasts his youthful, handsome appearance. |
| 634 | * WeaponizedExhaust: The "crossguards" on his lightsaber are actually stabilizing vents to prevent overheating due to the cobbled-together construction and cracked kyber crystal. He can use them offensively, as Finn found out the hard way. |
| 635 | * WeaponTwirling: Kylo twirls his lightsaber behind him to lead into downward strikes, presumably to put more weight into them. Other twirls appear to be {{intimidation demonstration}}s; when he approaches Finn after knocking out Rey, he menacingly spins his lightsaber around before screaming "Traitor!" at him, and gives it a quick twirl when Rey ignites the Skywalker lightsaber to defend herself. |
| 636 | * WeCanRuleTogether: Kylo offers Rey joint rulership of the galaxy in ''The Last Jedi'' after [[KlingonPromotion he kills Snoke]], and [[IfICantHaveYou demands she join him or he'll kill her]] in ''The Rise of Skywalker''. |
| 637 | * WellDoneSonGuy: |
| 638 | ** He wants to live up to Supreme Leader Snoke's expectations, and desperately wants to live up to the legacy of his grandfather Darth Vader. In ''The Last Jedi'', however, Snoke's manipulations and cruelty bring an end to Kylo's need for his approval, leading him to slay the Supreme Leader and take his place. |
| 639 | ** Inverted with his actual father, Han Solo -- whom Kylo describes as "a disappointment". Furthermore, Kylo kills him in order to assert his allegiance to the dark side and his loyalty to Snoke. This apparently wasn't always the case, though; it's mentioned that as a child he looked up to Han a lot, always following him around and telling everyone he was going to become a pilot like his dad before their relationship went south. |
| 640 | * WhatYouAreInTheDark: |
| 641 | ** For all his apparent outward devotion to the dark side, when he's alone with Darth Vader's helmet he confesses that he feels a strong pull to the light and fears he's failing Snoke, begging for his grandfather's guidance and soundly utterly lost in the process. |
| 642 | ** In ''The Last Jedi'', given the chance to open fire upon and kill his mother, Kylo seriously hesitates before accepting that he can't bring himself to do it. His wingmen, on the other hand, face no such struggle. |
| 643 | ** When he visits Dagobah with Snoke in ''Age of Resistance'', he enters the Cave of Evil and is faced with visions of [[spoiler:his uncle and parents. With Snoke's urging, he fights and kills his uncle, but he ultimately can't bring himself to kill his parents and instead destroys the cave, leaving Snoke none the wiser]]. |
| 644 | ** Following Palpatine's defeat, he comes across Rey's body, killing the Emperor having [[MutualKill proved fatal to her as well]]. Ben could've just left at that point and moved on with his life. Instead, he willingly gives his own life to revive her. |
| 645 | * WhenHeSmiles: After saving Rey with the Force, for the first and only time in the trilogy, he gives a genuine, warm smile. |
| 646 | * WhyDontYouJustShootHim: When Kylo sees Luke for the first time at the end of ''The Last Jedi'', Kylo's [[BerserkButton reaction]] is to order [[TheresNoKillLikeOverkill every single gun at his disposal]] to fire on the Jedi Master. As the barrage continues, Kylo begins screaming for MoreDakka until Hux cuts him off and utters a DeadpanSnarker line in response: |
| 647 | --> '''Hux''': Do you think you got him? |
| 648 | * WorfHadTheFlu: |
| 649 | ** One reason that he loses his fight with Finn and Rey is that he was wounded from being shot by Chewbacca shortly before the fight. [[AllThereInTheManual The novelization]] also implies that killing his father shook him up and weakened him in his fight. |
| 650 | ** He's only outmatched in his fight against the Knights of Ren because he fought them without a lightsaber. As soon as he gets one, he takes them out like yesterday's trash. |
| 651 | * WouldHarmASenior: Ruthlessly cuts down the defenseless Lor San Tekka, and his own father. And Snoke, though unlike the other two, he ''[[LaserGuidedKarma really]]'' [[LaserGuidedKarma had it coming]]. |
| 652 | * WouldHitAGirl: He knocks out Rey by using the Force to fling her against a tree and later engages her in a lightsaber duel. Unfortunately for him, Rey is more than capable of [[ActionGirl hitting him back]]. |
| 653 | * YinYangBomb: According to the Visual Dictionary, Snoke considers Kylo to be the "ideal embodiment of the Force, a focal point of both light and dark side ability." |
| 654 | * YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre: |
| 655 | ** He gets a speech from Lor San Tekka, who insists that Kylo Ren, unlike the First Order, didn't come from the dark side. Kylo murders Tekka for his troubles. |
| 656 | ** His own father, Han Solo, pleads with Kylo to turn away from the dark side and rejoin his family only to be impaled by him, although Kylo's internal strife during Han's speech implies that there may be more good in Kylo than he's willing to admit. |
| 657 | ** In ''The Last Jedi'', Rey tries to convince Kylo that there's still good in him, even using his discarded birth name to drive this point home. Like Tekka and Han before her, Rey is ultimately unsuccessful, although unlike them, she survives the experience. |
| 658 | * YouAreNotAlone: |
| 659 | ** Says exactly this to Rey in ''The Last Jedi'', when she confides in him how lonely and lost she feels. She responds that he's not alone, either. |
| 660 | ** In the novelization to ''The Rise of Skywalker'', his voice reaches out to Rey, distraught by his death, that he's still with her in spirit: |
| 661 | -->'''Ben Solo:''' I will always be with you.\ |
| 662 | '''Rey:''' [[MeaningfulEcho No one's ever really gone.]] |
| 663 | * YouAreWhatYouHate: Kylo hates and characterizes the Resistance as murderers, traitors, and thieves, to the point of screaming "traitor" at Finn-- however, he himself is a thief, traitor, and murderer; he often takes what he wants through [[{{Pun}} force]], betrays his family and Jedi ideals by turning to the dark side, and murders various innocents, including [[{{Patricide}} his own father]]. |
| 664 | * YouHaveFailedMe: |
| 665 | ** Subverted in ''The Force Awakens''. Unlike his grandfather, Darth Vader, he does not execute an officer for reporting that BB-8 escaped. He instead takes out his anger and frustration on a computer terminal. Once he's calmed down, he politely asks the officer if there is anything else. Unfortunately for the officer, he mentions a girl (Rey) which sets Kylo off again-- he Force-pulls the officer over, grabs him by the neck, and demands to know more. No death is shown. |
| 666 | ** After becoming Supreme Leader, Kylo responds to failures with [[BreadEggsBreadedEggs immediate throttling, murder, or murder by throttling]]. |
| 667 | * YoungConqueror: Becomes Supreme Leader of the First Order, aka, the political successor of The Empire and the Sith, at a very young age. |
| 668 | * YoungFaceOldEyes: In ''[[Literature/StarWarsLastShot Last Shot]]'', Han muses on then-two-year-old Ben's "ancient eyes." |
| 669 | [[/folder]] |
| 670 | ----- |
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