Ben Solo

Ben Solo was a Force-sensitive human male who turned to the dark side of the Force and became known as Kylo Ren, the "Jedi Killer" who rose to power as master of the Knights of Ren and Supreme Leader of the First Order during the New Republic Era. Though neither Jedi nor Sith, Ren was trained in the ways of both orders and embodied the conflict between the dark and the light side of the Force, making him dangerously unstable. Despite his actions as Ren, Solo's connection to the light—combined with the love of his parents and his connection to the scavenger Rey—helped the fallen Jedi to reject the dark side shortly before his death in 35 ABY.

A scion of the legendary Skywalker family, Solo was the son of General Han Solo and Princess Leia Organa, as well as the nephew of Jedi Master Luke Skywalker, and grandson of the Chosen One Anakin Skywalker. Born in 5 ABY, Solo possessed raw strength in the Force and was trained in the Jedi arts as Skywalker's Padawan from 15 ABY to 28 ABY. Having inherited his bloodline's potential with the Force, Solo surpassed the other apprentices of his Master who hoped to see him rise not only as the first in a new generation of Jedi Knights, but also as a future leader in the restored Jedi Order. Unbeknownst to Solo at the time, he shared a powerful bond with Rey, granddaughter of the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, with whom he formed a powerful dyad in the Force.

Following the revelation of his grandfather's identity as the Sith Lord Darth Vader, Solo became disillusioned with his family and the Jedi Order, both of which he renounced after the destruction of the Jedi Temple on Ossus. Adopting the persona of Kylo Ren, the former Jedi took control of the Knights of Ren by killing their leader and subsequently championed the First Order's cause of rebuilding the Galactic Empire. Though trained in the ways of the dark side by Supreme Leader Snoke, Ren was unaware that his new Master was an artificial Strand-Cast created by Sidious, the fallen Galactic Emperor and Dark Lord of the Sith who was secretly resurrected on the planet Exegol in the Unknown Regions of the galaxy.

The outbreak of the First Order-Resistance War in 34 ABY resulted in a chain of events that culminated in Ren's rise to power, from encountering Rey on Takodana and killing Han Solo on Starkiller Base, to usurping Snoke's role as Supreme Leader and confronting Skywalker on Crait. During the last days of the First Order's war with the Resistance, Ren was lured to Exegol where Sidious offered to make the Skywalker heir his successor if he succeeded in killing Rey and ending the legacy of the Jedi. Through the sacrifice and forgiveness of his mother, Leia Organa, as well as the memory of his father and the bond he shared Rey, Ben Solo found his way back to the light and renounced the dark persona of Kylo Ren. After the Emperor's destruction during the Battle of Exegol, Solo sacrificed his life to save Rey, ultimately becoming one with the Force like his grandfather, uncle, and mother before him. Solo's death marked the end of the Skywalker bloodline, but his sacrifice ensured the survival of their legacy through Rey, who took the name Skywalker.

Text and facts from the “Ben Solo” article on Wookieepedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Modified for this site.