Kyp Durron

SW Character


bgcolor=#00b
fgcolor=#000
name=Kyp Durron
species=Human
gender=Male
height= 1.77 meters
hair= Black/Brown
eyes= Unknown
weapon= Lightsaber
vehicle= X-Wing
planet= Deyer Colony
position= Jedi Master on the Jedi Council
affiliation= Jedi, New Republic
portrayer= N/A

Kyp Durron is a fictional character in the "Star Wars" Expanded Universe.

Biography

Kyp was born on the Deyer colony of the Anoat System. In an Imperial roundup of dissidents, he and his family were enslaved and sent to the Kessel spice mines. His older brother Zeth was retrieved by Imperials to work as a Stormtrooper in an Imperial Academy. When the Empire collapsed after the Battle of Endor, Moruth Doole took control of the spice operations, and Kyp's parents were among the many executed in his purges. Around this time, Kyp encountered Vima-Da-Boda, who recognized his considerable Force talents and taught him some rudimentary skills. Eight years later, Han Solo and Chewbacca were taken prisoner and also forced to work in the mines, where they too befriended Kyp. With his help, they all managed to escape. In their flight, Kyp piloted them through The Maw, a cluster of black holes, and to a top secret military commanded by the fearsome Admiral Daala. It is here that Kyp and his friends first found the "Sun Crusher" and used Kyp's Force sensitivity to escape. Upon their return, Kyp found a place as one of the first students of Luke Skywalker's newly-begun Jedi Academy.

He became dissatisfied with the slow pace of Luke's teachings and came under the influence of the dead Sith Lord Exar Kun. With Kun's help, Kyp retrieved the "Sun Crusher" from the core of the gas planet Yavin IV where the New Republic had hoped to dispose of it, and used it to carry out his vengeance against the Empire. He first teamed up with Kun and attacked Luke; Kyp and Kun's strike cleaved Luke's spirit from his body. His next task was violating the mind of Qwi Xux, the genius who had developed the "Sun Crusher", wiping out all memories of her weapons development work. His second strike was to destabilize the stellar cluster in which Admiral Daala's two remaining Star Destroyers were hiding (out of her original four, she lost one when Kyp and Han Solo tore through it with the "Sun Crusher" during their escape from the Maw installation, and the second to Admiral Ackbar in her attack on Mon Calamari); he destroyed one, though he believed he destroyed both. He then proceeded to Carida, believing that there with the threat of the "Sun Crusher", he could either retrieve his brother from the Stormtrooper Corps or find out where he had been sent. The Imperials made the mistake of lying to Kyp, telling him that his brother had died. In his fury, Kyp fired a resonance torpedo into the Carida system's sun, ensuring death for the planet within a few hours, and annihilating the Imperial base located there. After he fired his weapon, the Imperials discovered that Kyp's brother was still alive and among the ranks of stormtroopers at the Imperial Academy there. Kyp was unable to save him in time, and fell farther into the clutches of the dark side. While many derided him as a mass murderer, others claimed that Kyp shortened the war and that Carida's graduates would have eventually killed more people than those who perished in the supernova.

After the destruction of Exar Kun's spirit by the other trainees and Han Solo's appeal to Kyp, Kyp returned to the light and went to the Maw to destroy the Sun Crusher. On arrival, he discovered the Death Star Prototype had left the Maw and had destroyed Kessel's moon. Knowing the uses to which the Empire could put out a third Death star, Kyp managed to destroy it by luring it into a black hole along with the Sun Crusher, only narrowly escaping by squeezing himself into a message pod thought too small for any human to inhabit. As a result of this, Durron suffered multiple broken ribs, limbs and other heavily damaged bones.

He quickly grew strong in the Force and took on Miko Reglia as his Jedi apprentice. Kyp and Reglia formed the Dozen and Two Avengers – a vigilante group of X-wing pilots. This squadron was one of the first to encounter the Yuuzhan Vong. Kyp lost his squadron and his apprentice to the Yuuzhan Vong, barely escaping with his own life in that encounter.

Although he favors more aggressive tactics than many of the other Jedi, he proves himself a valuable asset in the deadly conflict, as well as continuing to be a divisive figure. He briefly took on Jaina Solo as an apprentice and there were hints of a budding relationship between them, but she lost much respect for him when he tricked her into destroying a Yuuzhan Vong worldship that he claimed was a superweapon.

When Jaina fell to the dark side, Kyp stepped in and helped guide her back to the light and again took her on as an apprentice until she was knighted, and they developed a close friendship. In helping Jaina fight the dark side, Kyp also became much more stable, finally admitting that many of his methods were wrong. Since this reformation, Kyp has become more widely accepted in the Jedi Order.

Though Kyp disagreed with many of Luke's policies, he was appointed to the reformed Jedi Council. Kyp eventually learned to work out his differences with Luke and other Jedi, even though their views on certain subjects may differ. As Luke changed his own opinion on the ways of the Force, Kyp provided blowback to the ideas and successfully kept Luke's ideas within the realm of the traditional Jedi Lore. Kyp acknowledged Luke's authority and Luke agreed to listen to Kyp more, admitting in the first Jedi Council meeting (ironically when Kyp openly acknowledged being wrong) that Kyp did have a point about him being too cautious.

The Dark Nest crisis once again caused tension between Kyp and other Jedi. Chief of State Cal Omas felt that the Jedi were not handling the crisis properly; he took steps to control them and let the military handle the situation. Kyp was angered by this and stated that the Jedi should not have to answer to politicians. His main ideological opponents were Kenth Hamner and Corran Horn; Kyp and Horn almost came to blows over this disagreement, and Kyp stole several ships to openly defy what he considered to be the unjust remnants of the Jedi Council (Luke was elsewhere at the time).

Personality, power and reputation

As a Jedi Master, Kyp is an extremely powerful figure in the Order. When he was younger, he considered himself to be more powerful than Luke (in fact, a passage from in which this is stated was misread by many fans as an authorial endorsement of this idea). Canonically, Anakin Skywalker had the most Force potential of any individual ever to live, meaning that his children have the most potential of any being in the New Jedi Order. While comparison of abilities is not emphasized in the Star Wars novels, it is fair to say that Kyp has some of the strongest raw Force power of any Jedi in Skywalker's Order, though not more than Luke himself. In his older years, Kyp becomes one of Luke's most devoted followers, refusing to accept the leadership of another Jedi over the Order.

Many Jedi openly criticize Kyp for being brash and hasty in combat. He favours more aggressive tactics than most Jedi but has still managed to earn much respect and his own following within the New Jedi Order. During the war with the Yuzhan Vong, he started to become less aggressive and more wise, thus becoming part of the new Jedi Council. Occasionally skirting close to the darkside in his philosophies, he has managed to keep himself under control, though some consider his possession by Exar Kun to be an early step towards the darkside.

In the New Jedi Order, Kyp proves himself to be a formidable warrior. Unlike Luke though, who is looked upon for not only his skills as a warrior, but for leadership and wisdom, Kyp is regarded mainly as a warrior. He and Jaina Solo remain highly focused on one objective during the war with the Vong- namely, the utter destruction of their opponent, albeit without falling prey to the darkside again. As Jacen Solo mentions in Ylesia "If you met Cilghal, you knew at once you were in the presence of a compassionate healer, and Luke Skywalker radiated authority and wisdom. When you looked at Kyp Durron, you knew you were seeing an enormously powerful weapon".

In his helping guide Jaina back on the light path, Kyp's own views on the Jedi Order softened somewhat, and he willingly came back in the fold under Master Skywalker's leadership.

During the Kilik crisis, when the Jedi were split Kyp and Corran Horn emerged as the leaders of the opposing sides of the conflict.

References

*"Jedi Search", 1994. Kevin J. Anderson, ISBN 0553297988
*"Dark Apprentice", 1st edition paperback, 1994. Kevin J. Anderson, ISBN 0-553-29799-6
*"Champions of the Force", 1st edition paperback, 1994. Kevin J. Anderson, 0-553-29799-6
*"Star Wars: Darksaber", 1st edition, 1995. Kevin J. Anderson, ISBN 0-553-57611-9
*"Vector Prime", 1999. R. A. Salvatore, ISBN 0-345-42844-7
*"The Dark Empire sourcebook", West End Games, 1st edition, 1993. Horne, Michael, ISBN 0-87431-194-2
*"Star wars: the essential guide to characters ", 1st edition, 1995. Andy Mangels, ISBN 0-345-39535-2
*"The New Essential Guide to Characters", 1st edition, 2002. Daniel Wallace, Michael Sutfin, ISBN 0-345-44900-2

External links

* [http://www.starwars.com/databank/character/kypdurron/eu.html Kyp Durron] at Star Wars Databanks
*sww|Kyp Durron