‘Star Wars’: Kylo Ren Was an Awful Villain For a Reason
The first time that a Star Wars movie hit the big screen was back in 1997. Since that time, there have been a total of 12 films introduced into the Star Wars saga and the iconic franchise has also developed a cult-like following over the years.
One of the things that people love about these movies is the fact that it takes an in-depth look into what it means to be good and what it means to be evil. Star Wars creator, George Lucas, achieved this by creating the “dark side” and the “light side.” While watching these movies, viewers were able to be introduced to some of the bravest heroes as well as a wide range of extremely evil villains.
Over the years, many fans of the movies often disagreed about which villain was the most heinous in the series. However, for the most part, they all seem to be able to agree on the fact that Kylo Ren was one of the worst villains to ever be introduced into the Star Wars movies.
Who is Kylo Ren?
Kylo Ren’s original name was Ben Solo. He was the son of Hans Solo and Princess Leia., and he was first introduced in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
His uncle, Luke Skywalker, trained him to become a Jedi. However, as he became older, he started to follow in his grandfather’s (Darth Vader) footsteps and started to gravitate towards the dark side of the Force. Soon, he joined the Knights of Ren that was lead by Supreme Ruler Snoke of the First Order, and started to go by the name Kylo Ren.
In The Force Awakens, Kylo Ren uses the Force to help the First Order and also hunt down Luke Skywalker so that he can finish what his grandfather started and finally kill the legendary Jedi Master. Throughout the movie, Kylo Ren’s character definitely portrayed himself to be ruthless and heartless. This is especially true when he callously killed his father at the end of The Force Awakens.
In Star War: The Last Jedi, fans start to see a softer side of Kylo Ren. While he is still somewhat evil, he also shows viewers that he is constantly struggling with his desire to rule the dark side and his genetic makeup that will always tie him to the light side. And even though he is still working with the First Order, there are several instances where he shows compassion for the Jedi named Rey.
Many fans feel that Kylo Ren is an awful villain
In a recent Reddit discussion, many fans were quick to point out that Kylo Ren was not very good at being a villain. In fact, many fans thought that he acted more like a spoiled teenager than an evil villain.
One commenter wrote, “In a way Kylo is like the superhero who goes, ‘wait, they can’t actually stop me if I decided to do things my way,’ but he was never after a Sith ruled galaxy. It was a ‘My way’ rule of the galaxy.”
Another poster was quick to agree and said, “Yep. Kylo Ren is quite literally Ben Solo trying to cosplay as a villain like his grandfather was.”
Kylo Ren was an awful villain for a reason
While Kylo Ren may not have been a good villain, many fans feel that this was done on purpose and was actually part of his character arc.
In response to many fans thinking that Kylo Ren was not a good replacement for his grandfather, one commenter wrote, “Congratulations, you discovered the point of his character.”
Another fan agreed by saying, “It’s actually pretty brilliant. The filmmakers knew that they’d never make a true successor to Darth Vader, so they made their villain’s entire character based on him trying really hard and failing at being Vader’s successor.”
Other fans agreed and felt that the only reason why Kylo Ren was an awful villain was that the creators of the movie did not want Kylo Ren’s character to overshadow Darth Vader’s character. The creators want the fans to always think of Darth Vader when they think of the best villain in the movie.
Many fans feel that the creators of Star Wars did not want another run-of-the-mill bad guy. Instead, they were looking for a three-dimensional antagonist that could make the audience understand that good and evil is not always black and white.
