Kylo Ren in Star Wars: Who He Is, Who Plays Him and What Happens

Kylo Ren is the First Order warrior played by Adam Driver in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, and the credits of the last film give his name as Kylo Ren / Ben Solo. He first appears in the 2015 film, directed by J.J. Abrams, as a dark warrior in black who captures the Resistance pilot Poe Dameron and hunts for the map to Luke Skywalker. He returns in 2017 under director Rian Johnson, and again in 2019 under Abrams. Driver is billed fourth in the first film, third in the second and fourth in the third.

Kylo Ren, also called Ben Solo, matters to the saga because of his family. In Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Han Solo confronts Kylo Ren, who is revealed to be the child of Han and Leia. That makes Leia Organa his mother and Han Solo his father. Luke Skywalker is his uncle and Anakin Skywalker, who became Darth Vader, is his grandfather. If you are new to the saga, the full list of films sits on our Star Wars movies hub.

Kylo Ren's story runs from hunting the map to Luke Skywalker in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, to killing Supreme Leader Snoke and claiming the title of Supreme Leader in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, to being offered a fleet by Emperor Palpatine in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. In the first film he captures Poe Dameron, who holds part of that map, and later tries to pull the same map out of Rey's mind. She resists and discovers a strong connection to the Force. Han Solo then confronts him, and Kylo kills his father with a lightsaber. Resistance pilots blow up the First Order's giant base, and Rey defeats him in the snowy woods using the Force, though he survives, badly wounded.

The Last Jedi turns him from a pursuer into a rival with plans of his own. Luke admits he once considered killing Kylo, and that moment led Kylo to destroy Luke's Jedi students. Rey and Kylo begin to speak to each other through the Force. When she is brought before Snoke, Kylo kills him and fights beside her against his guards. He then asks her to rule with him, she refuses, and he declares himself Supreme Leader. On Crait he faces Luke, only to learn that he is fighting a Force projection while the real Luke dies peacefully on Ahch-To.

In The Rise of Skywalker, Kylo Ren gets hold of a Sith wayfinder that points to the hidden world of Exegol. There Palpatine offers him a huge fleet if he will kill Rey. He ends the trilogy as Ben Solo, dying after he gives Rey his last Force power to bring her back to life.

Kylo Ren is the son of Han Solo and Leia Organa, the nephew of Luke Skywalker and the grandson of Anakin Skywalker, and his closest on screen bond outside the family is with Rey. Han defines the first film, because in Star Wars: The Force Awakens the father walks toward his son and is killed by him with a lightsaber. Leia survives the attack that kills most of the Resistance leadership in Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

Luke is the second family tie. The Last Jedi has Luke admit he once considered killing Kylo, which, in that telling, led Kylo to destroy his Jedi students. Darth Vader, who was Anakin Skywalker, is the third, as Kylo's grandfather.

Rey is the pairing the sequel trilogy is built around. They speak through the Force, they fight the guards of Supreme Leader Snoke side by side, and she refuses his offer to rule together. In Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Emperor Palpatine offers him a fleet if he kills her instead. Snoke is his first master, and Kylo kills him in the throne room.

Kylo Ren dies in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, as Ben Solo, after giving the last of his Force power to bring Rey back to life. The moment follows Rey's defeat of Emperor Palpatine, whom she beats by turning his Force lightning back on him with the lightsabers of Luke and Leia. Ben Solo's gift is the final act of his arc, and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker credits the character as Kylo Ren / Ben Solo.

Before that he passes through two other states. In Star Wars: The Force Awakens he survives his defeat in the snowy woods, and in Star Wars: The Last Jedi he ends the film as Supreme Leader of the First Order. Afterward, Rey buries the lightsabers on Tatooine and introduces herself as Rey Skywalker, which closes the Skywalker saga and the sequel trilogy.

Kylo Ren's best scene is the throne room in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, where he kills Supreme Leader Snoke and then fights beside Rey against the guards. This is my ranking, and here it is in order:

1. The throne room. The film lets the audience believe he has turned, and the offer to rule together that follows is a sharper twist than a simple betrayal. Kylo kills Snoke to take power, not to save anyone.
2. The confrontation with Han. In Star Wars: The Force Awakens it sets the cost of his choices early and gives the first film its turning point.
3. The Crait duel. Luke appears and Kylo only later learns he has been fighting a Force projection, which shows the character losing control of a fight he thought he had won.
4. Ben Solo's final act. In Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker he spends the last of his Force power on Rey, a fitting ending for a character who has spent three films taking things from other people. The film gives him less room than the middle chapter does, so I rank it below the throne room.