Ben Solo

Kylo Ren, born Ben Solo, was a male and the son of Han Solo and Leia Organa.

Early life
Ben was part of a true family for a brief time following the war, during a golden age shared with Leia Organa and Han Solo. Leia nursed Ben while surrounded by her friends in what R2-D2 would later recall as a happy occasion before the dark times.

Jedi training
"We all know why you're so skilled with your saber, Kira, you came here already knowing how to fit your hand around wide-girthed grips, huh? Poor Ben, no wonder why he gets so angry every time you beat him sparring, I bet he's just imagining how you got those skills in the first place, and how he'll never compete with your first 'sparring partners'."

- Nellis, to Kira

Ben proved powerful in the Force, but lacked control, skill, and patience. His parents sent him to his uncle, Luke Skywalker, for training.

Ben became one of the Jedi students studying under Skywalker at his temple, and training alongside colleagues including Kira, Nellis, and Nashira. He grew jealous of Skywalker's affection for Nellis, further stoking the alienation he felt from his family, and was often beaten by Kira in sparring matches.

The fall of Ben Solo
"Luke was training a new Jedi Order. A young Jedi named Kylo Ren, who was a pupil of Luke's until he turned to evil, helped the First Order hunt down and destroy the Jedi Knights. Now the Jedi are all but extinct. Ren was seduced by the dark side of the Force...."

- The spirit of Obi-Wan Kenobi, to Rey

Tempted by the same passions as Darth Vader and ensnared by Snoke, Ben fell to the dark side of the Force, becoming Kylo Ren. He killed his fellow Jedi students in the destruction of Luke Skywalker's Jedi Temple. Rumors surrounded Kylo, with some suggesting that either he or Luke Skywalker was responsible for the massacre, while others suggested Ren was actually Skywalker himself in disguise. These ideas were perpetuated by First Order propaganda that claimed Skywalker was behind Ren's mask. Snoke dictated that Kylo Ren's birth name was forbidden to be uttered in the First Order. Ren was said to eat sun matter, absorbing the light to cast the galaxy into literal and spiritual darkness. He was also said to have a familial connection with Han Solo, either as his son, brother-in-law, or even his resurrected father-in-law. He joined the First Order and helped hunt down and destroy the remaining Jedi, and learned the legends of Darth Plagueis and the Wise Master from Snoke, who believed Kylo was his heir as Supreme Leader.

The rise of Kylo Ren
"If I fight Ben or Snoke myself, I will give in to the hate I avoided over Endor. If I train another, I will be setting them up to me massacred like my earlier padawans."

- Luke Skywalker

Kylo conducted further atrocities after the massacre, taking more victims. Leia continued to feel the conflict within her son, and blamed his actions on the influence of Snoke. His parents parted ways after his fall, and would not reunite again until an encounter on Takodana shortly before Han's death at his son's hands.

Kylo was Master of the Knights of Ren, and participated in the search for the last Jedi on behalf of Supreme Leader Snoke as part of the First Order. He utilized his superior skill with the mind probe to assist him. Kirana Promenti served as one of the Knights of Ren who sought Skywalker for her Master. Ren joined the battle on Takodana alongside a First Order strike force seeking Han Solo, and though it destroyed Maz Kanata's castle, the force was driven off by a Resistance squadron. Kylo captured the Force-sensitive scavenger Rey and subjected her to an invasive mind probe, performing mental rape on her with mind-constructs akin to dark tendrils that entered her most private areas.

Kylo was confronted by his father on the Precinct 47 bridge in Starkiller Base. Han called out to his son, though in the confrontation that followed Kylo killed his father. At this final reunion, Kylo no longer registered in the Force to Leia, replaced only by empty darkness. He fought Rey on the surface of Starkiller Base, driving her to the edge of a cliff, but was defeated in combat by her despite the girl's lack of training as the surface was wrought apart around them.

After Starkiller
"It seems like everyone has their idea what the Force is. Han, Maz, General Organa, even Ren. But why is it calling to me?"

- Rey, to the spirit of Obi-Wan Kenobi

Rey ruminated on her interactions with Ren while aboard the Millennium Falcon en route to Ahch-To, recalling his invasive mind probe and their duel on Starkiller Base. She spoke with the Force ghost of Obi-Wan Kenobi over Ren's fall, and expressed her worries over succumbing to the same passions that ensnared him.

On Ahch-To, Luke Skywalker mused on his failings with Ben after facing mimoids of some of his past lovers. He communed with the spirit of Anakin Skywalker, watching a twisted phantom of Ben appear before them briefly. Skywalker worried over helping Rey to confront Ren, his Knights, and their Supreme Leader.

Personality and traits
"I know what is coming. What will be expected of me, of my loved ones and my loyal allies. But with Ben, I face a new challenge unlike any before. And I'm not sure if this time I can win. He has so thoroughly turned against himself, so thoroughly cut himself off from the light, so thoroughly turned order to chaos...how can I not succumb if faced with him again?"

- Luke Skywalker, to the spirit of Anakin Skywalker

Ben lacked control and patience, and though he saw himself as the heir to the Jedi he remained a troubled student who was often behind in his studies and aptitude.

Ben was tempted by his passions when he fell to the dark side. He remained conflicted after his fall, flickering with light in the Force, though as Kylo Ren he began the slow process of killing his previous persona. Once he killed Han Solo, Ren's presence in the Force only registered as empty darkness to his mother. Rey considered him to be a child despite his age, believing he was a flawed person stuck in a state of arrested development thanks to a fixation on parental abandonment. Luke worried that he had cut himself off from the light, turned order to chaos, and had turned against himself.

Skills and abilities
As a young man Ben was powerful in the Force but lacked control, skill and patience without training.

Ben learned parables of the Wise Master from Luke, and Sith legends of Darth Plagueis from Snoke. Considered a Master by his Knights of Ren, Kylo Ren earned a dangerous reputation and was capable of using a mind probe with superior skill to perform mental rape on his victims. He committed many atrocities and claimed numerous victims, including his own father.

Leia Organa
Leia felt she had a missing connection with her son that, had she forged it by following her brother down the Jedi path, could have saved him from his fall. Following the Jedi massacre Leia continued to feel the flickering conflict in Kylo, though sensed only empty darkness after his murder of Han Solo and feared he was lost to her completely.