Kylo Ren

"Show me again, the power of the darkness, and I'll let nothing stand in our way. Show me, grandfather, and I will finish what you started."

- Kylo Ren to the ruined mask of Darth Vader

Kylo Ren, also known by his real name Ben Solo, is the main antagonist of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the first installment of the Star Wars sequel trilogy. He is the dark, powerful, and extremely obsessive leader of the Knights of Ren, as well as an agent of the First Order, which is the remnant faction of the Galactic Empire and is the apprentice of Supreme Leader Snoke.

He is portrayed by actor Adam Driver.

Background
Born as Ben Solo, offspring of Han Solo and Leia Organa, he was sensitive to the force. His mother feared Ben was too much like his grandfather Vader so she sent him to her brother Luke to train him and save him from the influence of the dark side. All efforts of Ben's uncle were wasted when Supreme Leader Snoke corrupted him to the Dark Side of the Force. Ben adopted new name Kylo Ren by becoming a member of the Knights of Ren, where he now began to hunt Luke down.

Star Wars: Bloodline
Reasons why Ben become the evil Kylo Ren was not just due to Snoke's corruption, but also due to his parents' tumulous relationship given that Solo used to be a smuggler whom cannot stay in one place for too long and Leia was political figure. Six years prior to events of The Force Awakens, Leia's political enemies exposed her parentage to the public, which is likely the reason how Ben learned that he was the grandson of Darth Vader.

Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens
Knowing that somewhere on the planet Jakku there is a map leading the way to Luke Skywalker, Kylo Ren arrives on the planet. His stormtroopers quickly round up all citizens of the nearby village, also capturing village elder Lor San Tekka, who gave the map to rebel pilot Poe Dameron before Ren arrived. Dameron witnesses the chaos the troops of the First Order are causing and gives the map to his droid BB-8, telling him to get away as far as possible. Kylo interrogates San Tekka, who recognizes him as the son of Han Solo and tells him that he can not run away from the family he was born into. Ren then slays the man with his lightsaber and orders Captain Phasma to kill all captured villagers before put the village off the map. While the stormtroopers carry out the gruesome task, one of them, Finn, does not participate in the slaughter. Dameron, witnessing the murder from a hiding spot, fires his blaster at Ren but Ren stops the laser blast mid air, freezing it. Kylo then uses the Force to overpower Dameron and has the stormtroopers take him captive. After Dameron is brought onboard, Ren leaves the scene, taking a long glance at Finn. When Ren is gone, the frozen laser blast is freed again and hits a wall.

Onboard a Star Destroyer, Ren interrogates Dameron by using the Force and finds out that Dameron hid the map with his droid BB-8. He sends his troops back to Jakku to find the droid, who has already met Rey. Dameron is then saved by Finn, who has chosen to desert the First Order and escapes with him to Jakku. After being told about Dameron's escape, Ren escalates and furiously demolishes the spaceship's interior with his lightsaber.In a meeting with his master, Snoke tells Ren that he soon will have to face his father. Ren replies that by Snoke's training he is prepared, but Snoke nontheless calls it the hardest test Ren has to face. Later, after Finn and Rey have met Han Solo and Chewbacca, Ren tracks the signal of the Millenium Falcon to Takodana. While his soldiers attack the building Finn and Han are in, Ren tracks down Ray, who has run off into the forest after having found out that she can use the force. Upon finding her, Ren demands to know the location of BB-8, but after realising that Rey has already seen the map, takes her captive as he plans to get the information out of her. Kylo tells his troops to retreat, as he now deems BB-8 unimportant. Han and Finn watch the retreat of the stormtroopers as well as Ren carrying Rey into his ship and flying of with her. Opon seeing Ren, Han immediately recognizes his son Ben, which he later tells Leia about. Kylo Ren brings Rey to Starkiller Base, where he plans to get the information of the map out of her. She refuses to talk to a man hidden behind a mask, so he takes of the mask, revealing how young he really is. When she refuses to tell him Luke's location, Kylo tries to break her spirit by using the force but is shocked when Rey blocks him out of her head, instead reading his mind. Disturbed by this, Kylo leaves the room, leaving Rey behind with a stormtrooper guard. However, Rey uses a force trick on the stormtrooper and forces him to free her. When Kylo returns to see Rey's chair empty he falls into a rage fit and destroys the room's interior with his light sabre while calling the guards, prompting two nearby stormtroopers to leave the scene before Ren can harm them in his rage.

After General Hux's speech Ren witnesses the destruction of the Republic's capital planet as well as the republic fleet by the Starkiller Base. When the rebels witness the power of Starkiller Base, they plan to destroy the facility before the First Order can destroy them with it. Han Solo, Chewbacca and Finn plan to infiltrate the base to turn off its shield generators as well as to save Rey. Before they leave, Leia tells Han to try to get their son back, which he promises. At the base, they deactivate the generators and rig parts of the facility with explosives. Ren, who is present on the base, senses the presence of his father and tries to find him. While searching for Han, Han instead sees Kylo who is just crossing a bridge. He calls him by his birth name, Ben, and approaches his son. Although Kylo states that Ben Solo was weak and therefore eliminated by Kylo Ren, Han tells him that Snoke corrupted him and that he still has the choice to change. He also tells his son to come home, as his mother is missing him. This touches Kylo, who admits that he is torn. Knowing that he would feel drawn to his family as long as his father is there, Kylo begs Han to help him into executing the choice he made. Han promises and Ren slowly hands him his lightsaber, intending for his father to kill him to end the pain. However that was a ruse as Kylo activates his lightsaber and thrusts it into his father's chest, thanking him for making this choice possible, as without his father Ren's ties to the light side are severed. Han's deceased body falls into the abyss. Chewbacca, furious about his friend's death, activates the explosives and shoots at Ren, hitting him and dropping him to the ground.

When Kylo Ren sees Rey and Finn leave the building and pursues them into the frozen woods outside of Starkiller Base. Rey tries to attack Kylo but he uses the force to lunge her far off into the trees, knocking her out. While Kylo screams at Finn that he is a traitor, Finn calls Kylo a monster and activates Luke's lightsaber. The two engage in a furious swordfight in which Ren gets the upper hand by ramming the crossguard light blade of his sword into Finn's shoulder. Though both of them are hit and injured multiple times, Ren in the end defeats Finn and slices his back, causing Finn to drop the lightsaber and fall to the ground. Kylo then tries to use the force to get his grandfathers lightsaber but is shocked when the lightsaber flies right past him into the hands of Rey, who now attacks Kylo to avenge Han and Finn. As a climactic fight progresses, the rebels manage to destroy Starkiller base, which results in a massive earthquake which creates deep rifts in the surrounding landscape. One of these chasms opens right behind the fighters and Ren drives Rey towards the edge of said rift. While pressing his lightsaber against hers, Kylo offers Rey to train her. This causes Rey to realise her potential and with the force she drives Ren back, hitting him multiple times with her lightsaber and eventually slicing him across the face. Kylo drops to the ground but before Rey can do more, a rift opens right between them, seperating Rey from Kylo. Chewbacca then steers the Milennium Falcon towards Rey and she enters the airship with Finn's comatose body, leaving Ren behind on the imploding planet.Shortly before the ultimate destruction of the planet, Supreme Leader Snoke gives General Hux the order to evacuate Starkiller Base and to bring Kylo Ren before him, so that Ren's training can be completed.

Though Kylo Ren was only last seen when a rift separate him from Rey, he was failed to prevent the return of Jedi with Rey finally found Luke and tries to convince the last Jedi to rebuild Jedi Order once more with her aid.

Star Wars Episode VIII: Fall of the Resistance
Kylo Ren will appear in Star Wars Episode VIII: Fall of the Resistance.

Star Wars Episode IX:
Kylo Ren will appear in Star Wars Episode IX.

Physical Description
Kylo Ren is a tall, dark and gangly young man. He has broad proportions, including unusually long and thin arms and legs, as well as a large nose and full lips. His hair is black, greasy and approximately chin-length.

While fully clothed, Kylo wears a metal mask the envelopes his whole head, which features ornamental patterns that draw contours around his visor. His mask is designed by him to take inspiration from the late Darth Vader, who Kylo has deep knowledge of. His clothing is black-themed and tailored around his lean physique. The clothing is predominantly made from a soft, flexible material, though his belt and boots are leather-based.

The most distinct physical element of Kylo, however, is his makeshift lightsaber. Its hilt is haphazardly constructed, with it being uneven and with exposed wiring. Its blade is the traditional Dark Side red, though it is shown to be unstable and does not retain the traditional uniformity of a professionally-manufactured lightsaber. Two small crossguard light blades are deployed with ignition of the weapon, giving the lightsaber resemblance to a medieval long sword.

Personality and traits
Kylo possessed an extremely convoluted and complex personality. At the start of the film, he is introduced as a mysterious, cruel, intelligent and utterly pitiless warrior who inflicted immense fear upon his allies and opponents alike. Kylo Ren displayed a very calm and reserved exterior in the presence of his men and his enemies, possibly to remind them of how powerful and ruthless he is, and even when he was killing or torturing others he remained entirely stoic.

Despite this, Kylo Ren was psychopathic and capable of unleashing an apocalyptic and fiery temper when pushed over the edge. During these episodes of terrifying violence, Kylo would furiously butcher everything around him with his lightsaber, during which time even his superiors would wisely stay out of his way until his mood swings surpass.

Kylo was also extremely obsessed with Darth Vader, his biological grandfather. He was obsessed to the point of fanaticism, and would go so far as to style his own physical appearance, attire, weaponry, fighting techinques and behavior on that of Darth Vader - his armor is subtly really similar to Vader's, in fact. He was unstable about his regarding of the latter, to the point where he would speak to Vader's ruined helmet as if expecting spiritual advice and motivation from it - the way people today would pray to God.

Kylo Ren, despite his ruthlessness and apparent lack of remorse, was very overconfident and prideful, shown when he captures Rey in the hopes of being able to access her mind to obtain information, as opposed to capturing the droid he was deployed to obtain. This uncanny demonstration of hubris proved to be his undoing in two ways - one, it hugely displeased his Supreme Leader, and two, Rey was unexpectedly able to redirect his mind-reading on himself and discover what he was afraid of.

He had a complicated relationship with his father, Han Solo - he was possibly a very troubled young man in his youth, expressed by how his parents discussed him. Leia and Han obviously loved him greatly, as Leia wanted Kylo - who had terrorized and killed possibly millions of innocent people - to be brought home to her if possible. Also, Han loved him to such an extent that, when the two finally met, Han called to him at the start of the event, giving away his position and ruining the chance to take him by surprise. Kylo, in vast contrast, bitterly hated his father and instead regarded his dark superiors as a father figure, particularly the deity of Darth Vader. He went so far as to cold-bloodedly murder his own father to please his master.

Powers and Abilities
Kylo was an extremely powerful Knight of Ren, and possessed a wide range of abilities with the Force. His telekinetic powers were so fierce that he could completely immobilize Poe Dameron and Rey in place, and send people flying through the air with a powerful Force Push. He could also augment his speed and strength, giving him incredible reflexes and aim - he was capable of ceasing the flight of a blaster bolt in mid-air with a lazy flick of his hand. He was also an exceptionally powerful user of mind-reading, and he was capable of entering, extracting and controlling the minds of others for the purpose of interrogation, manipulation or outright torture. He could sense disturbances in the Force, as well as the presence of old acquaintances, namely Han Solo. He had a high tolerance of pain, as he suffered a crossbow injury from Chewbacca, as well as several burns and lightsaber scars from Rey and Finn, but he could still fight the two latters off with near-perfect efficiency.

Kylo was exceptionally skilled in lightsaber combat, and was a very brutal opponent. In a manner akin to Darth Vader before his duel on Mustafar, he could augment his rage and fury to make him stronger and widely more dangerous in battle, making him hugely unpredictable and even frightening for an adversary like Finn. He was exceptionally learned in Shien and Soresu, shown by how he viciously duelled Finn at the climax of the film, and when he fluidly deflected every single blaster bolt that Rey shot at him. Still, Kylo Ren clearly wasn't in the peak of his talents, as he constantly let his fury get the better of him, and Supreme Leader Snoke explained that he hadn't yet completed his training - he was still obviously extremely competent, as he was trusted to lead the First Order in front-line conflict.

Reception
"He is gorgeously cruel, spiteful and capricious – and unlike the Vader of old, he is given to petulant temper tantrums, with his lightsaber drawn."

- Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian regarding Kylo Ren's character.

Both the character of Kylo Ren and Driver's performance have been positively received. Many complimented Ren's conflicted nature and depth, as well as his costume design, and noted there were many places the character could be taken in future installments. Terri Schwartz of IGN also called Driver's performance "spectacular", noting that "his performance adds great depth to a character who could have come off as one-dimensional, and the implications of his arc leave a viewer with plenty to think about after they leave the theater". Collin wrote, "To describe Kylo Ren as this film's Vader would be accurate in a sense ... But it would also be to undersell the deep ingenuity with which this astonishing character has been crafted by Abrams, Kasdan and Arndt, and also the wells of emotional tumult Driver invests in him." Comparing the character to the one-note Vader of the 1977 film, Leon calls Ren "a living battleground between darkness and light, making him a far more resonant and familiar portrayal of that struggle than we've ever seen in Star Wars ... makes him a far more interesting villain." Abrams told Entertainment Weekly, "it was a great joy to work with Adam Driver on this role, because he threw himself into it in a deep and remarkable way." Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter noted, "Ren is given a pronounced inferiority complex, a clever bad guy twist that could be taken to interesting places both in the writing and performance." Peter Travers of Rolling Stone wrote, "The bald-faced attempt to clone Vader, one of the greatest badasses in film history, is clankingly obvious, but Driver, masked and unmasked, gives him hypnotic and haunting contours." Kyle Buchanan of Vulture.com was underwhelmed by the reveal of Driver under the mask. Leon, however, argued: But that face—that of a normal, vulnerable young man—is the most subversively terrifying thing about J. J. Abrams' reimagining of A New Hope. Rather than pure evil, Ren is something far more familiar: He is human. Just like the real-life young men with minds clouded by fear, hate, and anger who commit unspeakable acts in our world every day ... all the visual cues that leave the character open to criticisms of not being "evil" enough—are all signs of Ren's struggle between the Dark Side and the Light.

Driver won a 2016 Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal.

Trivia

 * Kylo Ren's mask shares similarities in design with Darth Vader's helmet, and Darth Revan's mask and robe.
 * Kylo is inspired by the character Jacen Solo, son of Han and Leia and twin brother of Jaina. Like Kylo, Jacen also fell to the Dark Side sometime after receiving instruction by his uncle, Luke, leading to conflict with his family.
 * His name is based on another Star Wars villain, "Kybo Ren."