The Definitive Ranking of All the Villains in the Star Wars Saga Films

3. Kylo Ren

Introduced in The Force Awakens, Kylo Ren is the primary antagonist of the film. As soon as we meet him, he kills Lor San Tekka on Jakku and executes an entire village.

Throughout the film, we learn a few pieces of Kylo Ren’s history. Born Ben Solo, he was the son of Han Solo and Leia Organa, who felt neglected by his parents and began his Jedi training under his uncle, Luke Skywalker. Upon learning about his connection to Darth Vader, Ben turned to the Dark Side and trained under Supreme Leader Snoke, eventually taking the name Kylo Ren. As Kylo Ren, he led the Knights of Ren in the slaughter of Luke’s padawans. Once Luke disappeared, Kylo Ren acted on Snoke’s behalf to find him and kill off the last remaining Jedi.

At the end of The Force Awakens, Han Solo confronts his son one last time. To complete his turn to the Dark Side, Kylo Ren impales Han Solo in the abdomen.

However, what makes Kylo Ren so menacing isn’t his heinous acts of cruelty, but rather his disarming and somewhat quiet approach to interrogating his victims. As seen with both Poe Dameron and Rey, he waits until provoked to begin his probing. Otherwise, he’s prone to tantrums, but only in when he’s alone or in private quarters. Unlike Darth Vader, Kylo Ren removes his helmet a couple of times in the film. And underneath, we don’t find a red and black tattooed Sith or aged Master, but simply, a young man who’s lost his way.

As parodied a few times before, Kylo Ren is just like a teenager who acts out the ultimate rebellion.