Galen Marek, known as Starkiller, was Darth Vader’s secret apprentice in Legends. Trained in the dark side, he slew Jedi like Shaak Ti, defied Vader’s betrayals, and sacrificed himself to save the Rebel leaders. Mastering both lightsabers and immense Force power, he became a martyr whose legacy inspired the Rebellion.
Starkiller, born Galen Marek, is a powerful Force-sensitive human character introduced in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. In Star Wars Legends continuity, he is Darth Vader’s secret apprentice who plays a pivotal role in the events leading up to the Galactic Civil War.
Trained in the dark side, Starkiller ultimately redeems himself by catalyzing the Rebel Alliance’s formation through his heroic sacrifice. In official canon, however, this storyline is non-existent – the character remains exclusive to Legends, and elements such as the Rebel Alliance’s origin differ (for example, the Alliance starbird symbol’s origin in canon is unrelated to Galen Marek).
The following sections detail Starkiller’s complete Legends history and traits, while noting key distinctions from canon where relevant.
Galen Marek was born around 24 BBY on the Wookiee homeworld of Kashyyyk, the son of two fugitive Jedi Knights, Kento and Mallie Marek.
His parents kept his existence hidden during the Clone Wars, living in secrecy as the Republic fell and the Empire rose. After Mallie’s death during the upheaval, Kento raised the young Galen alone for several years on Kashyyyk until Imperial forces invaded the planet. During the invasion, Darth Vader hunted down Kento Marek.
In the ensuing clash, the Sith Lord discovered the child Galen, who surprisingly wrenched Vader’s lightsaber from his hand through the Force. Impressed by the boy’s raw power, Vader slew his own troopers to keep Galen’s existence secret from the Emperor and abducted him as an heir to the dark side.
Thus, Galen Marek was taken by Vader to be raised in the ways of the Sith, receiving the codename “Starkiller” as Vader’s secret apprentice and personal assassin.
Hidden from Emperor Palpatine, Starkiller was brutally trained by Darth Vader for years in the dark side of the Force and lightsaber combat.
Vader was a harsh master, subjecting the boy to merciless drills and lethal tests intended to forge him into an instrument of destruction. The apprentice’s life consisted of single-minded training for the day he and Vader would overthrow the Emperor.
Isolated from all companionship save for a prototype holodroid named PROXY (programmed to duel him in deadly combat simulations), Starkiller grew up emotionally stunted and obedient. Vader ensured Starkiller knew nothing but pain and fear – a “training” method the apprentice grimly accepted as natural, having never known a kinder upbringing.
Under Vader’s tutelage, Starkiller learned to kill without mercy and developed a fierce loyalty to his master, believing that survival of these trials would only make him stronger in the dark side.
Vader, for his part, instilled in Starkiller the secret ambition that together they would one day overthrow Darth Sidious. To that end, the Dark Lord kept Starkiller’s existence hidden until the time was ripe.
When Vader deemed Starkiller’s skills ready to be tested against live targets, he sent him on clandestine missions to eliminate surviving Jedi.
One of Starkiller’s first targets was General Rahm Kota, a battle-hardened Jedi veteran leading a militia assault on an Imperial TIE Fighter shipyard above Nar Shaddaa. Starkiller engaged Kota in a fierce duel during the space-bound battle.
Despite Kota’s formidable skills, the secret apprentice prevailed – Kota was blinded by Starkiller’s lightsaber and defeated, tumbling into the clouds below. Believing Kota likely dead, Starkiller retrieved the Jedi’s lightsaber as proof of victory.
The mission was a success, but Vader sensed flaws in his apprentice’s focus. In a debriefing aboard his flagship, Vader suddenly lunged at Starkiller with Kota’s lightsaber, nearly killing him to test his reflexes. Starkiller blocked the strike, but his momentary lapse convinced Vader that the young assassin “lacked focus”.
As a corrective, Vader dispatched Starkiller to a new challenge designed to sharpen his concentration and skills.
Darth Vader’s next order sent Starkiller to the abandoned Jedi Temple on Coruscant to undergo secret trials intended to complete his dark training. In the ruined temple’s halls, Starkiller faced a deadly Trial of Skill orchestrated by ancient Jedi training technology.
As he entered the Jedi Trials chamber deep inside the temple, his presence activated a holographic combat program modeled on the long-dead Sith Lord Darth Desolous. The simulacrum of Desolous – armed with a red lightsaber and cortosis shield – attacked Starkiller, forcing him into a vicious duel. The apprentice ultimately proved his lightsaber prowess.
Starkiller blasted the holographic Sith with Force lightning and pummeled him with telekinetically hurled debris, finally hurling the Desolous projection into a statue to destroy it.
By defeating this formidable phantom enemy, Starkiller completed the combat trial. The victory helped him regain his focus and confidence after the near-fatal lesson from Vader. Having passed the Trial of Skill, Starkiller left the temple with greater resolve to carry out his master’s next directives.
Starkiller’s second Jedi target was Kazdan Paratus, an eccentric Jedi Master who had fled to the junkyard planet Raxus Prime. In 3 BBY, Starkiller hunted down Paratus amid the ruined scrap-metal landscape of Raxus.
The deranged Jedi had built a mock Jedi Temple out of debris and populated it with robotic effigies of Jedi Council members, having succumbed to madness in his isolation.
Starkiller fought his way through Kazdan’s bizarre domain and engaged the Jedi in combat.
Despite Paratus’s creativity and the swarm of junk droids at his command, Starkiller killed the errant Jedi Master, eliminating another survivor of Order 66.
With Paratus dead, the Empire established full control over Raxus Prime’s valuable scrap yards. Starkiller’s success on Raxus Prime further proved his effectiveness as Vader’s assassin.
Upon returning, however, Vader dispatched him back to the Coruscant temple for yet another trial – a test of inner strength and insight – before facing his next Jedi prey.
During Starkiller’s second clandestine visit to the Jedi Temple, he underwent a harrowing Trial of Insight.
Penetrating the temple’s forbidden halls once more (now under heavier Imperial guard due to his previous incursion), Starkiller reached the ancient Jedi Archives deep within the structure.
There, his presence triggered a new dark side adversary: a holographic apparition of the female Sith Lord Darth Phobos materialized to test him.
Phobos was an illusion master, and her program sought to exploit Starkiller’s fears and attachments. Throughout the duel, the Phobos simulacrum shape-shifted into the form of Starkiller’s closest ally, Juno Eclipse, attempting to make him hesitate. Starkiller, however, remained steeled against the deception. Unmoved by the false visages of his beloved comrade, he fought back with ferocity.
He hurled large bookcases and other objects at the Sith apparition and ultimately impaled the Phobos hologram through the back, causing it to dissipate. By overcoming the fear and distraction Phobos presented, Starkiller successfully completed the Trial of Insight.
This victory demonstrated his growing emotional control – a crucial step for Vader’s apprentice, who was learning to suppress any inner conflict that could be exploited by his enemies or the Emperor.
Vader’s final Jedi target for Starkiller was Shaak Ti, one of the last surviving Jedi Council masters.
Shaak Ti had been hiding on the fungal world of Felucia, where she trained her apprentice Maris Brood and befriended the native Felucian tribes. In 3 BBY, Starkiller traveled to Felucia to eliminate Shaak Ti, as ordered. The mission proved to be an arduous trial.
Felucia’s environment was perilous and teeming with hostile wildlife under Shaak Ti’s influence – including ferocious rancors ridden by Force-sensitive Felucians.
Starkiller cut his way through these threats and eventually confronted Master Shaak Ti at the rim of the Ancient Abyss, a great sarlacc pit the Felucians held sacred. Their duel was intense; Shaak Ti’s mastery of the Force and her skill with a lightsaber made her one of Starkiller’s most powerful opponents.
In the struggle atop the sarlacc, Starkiller seized an opening by channeling Force lightning into the sarlacc itself, causing the beast to writhe in pain and throw Shaak Ti off-balance. The Sith apprentice pressed the advantage and struck her down.
As she lay dying, Shaak Ti used her final words to warn Starkiller that he was “nothing but a tool of Vader”, a slave to the dark side. With Shaak Ti’s death, Starkiller had eradicated all of Vader’s known Jedi targets. Unbeknownst to him, however, this victory was the precipice of a drastic turning point in his fate.
Starkiller returned from Felucia expecting praise and the next step in Vader’s grand plan. Instead, Darth Vader’s duplicity was revealed.
No sooner had Starkiller reported to Lord Vader aboard the Imperial flagship Executor than the Emperor himself—Darth Sidious—made contact, having sensed Vader’s apprentice.
Sidious demanded the apprentice’s death for treason, forcing Vader’s hand. In a shocking betrayal, Vader stabbed Starkiller through the abdomen and hurled him out into space to convince the Emperor of his loyalty.
The gravely wounded Starkiller was secretly retrieved on Vader’s orders, awakening aboard a medical frigate in orbit. Vader revealed that the attempted execution was a ruse to satisfy the Emperor.
Now that Starkiller’s cover was blown, Vader proposed a new mission: the apprentice was to gather the Emperor’s enemies – dissident senators, surviving Jedi, and rebels – into an alliance, thereby distracting Palpatine with an insurgency.
Vader claimed this was a stratagem for them to strike at Sidious while his attention was divided. Reeling from betrayal yet desperate for purpose, Starkiller reluctantly agreed to serve Vader once more in this covert assignment. Notably, he was commanded to cut all ties to his past life, including separating from his pilot Juno Eclipse.
Starkiller, however, disobeyed that order – he rescued Juno from Imperial captivity on the frigate Empirical, unable to abandon the one person who had shown him kindness. With Juno and PROXY at his side, the newly-freed Starkiller set out to fulfill Vader’s directive.
Unbeknownst to Vader, this path would awaken Starkiller’s own conscience and ultimately turn him against the dark side.
To build a resistance network, Starkiller sought out General Rahm Kota – the veteran Jedi he had blinded but not killed months earlier. Starkiller had learned that Kota survived their duel, albeit blinded and reduced to despair.
In 2 BBY he tracked Kota to Cloud City on Bespin. Starkiller found the former Jedi General in a seedy cantina, drunken and broken in spirit. He attempted to recruit Kota, only to find the Jedi wallowing in hopelessness, convinced that no one could defeat the Empire.
At that moment, Imperial forces (alerted to Kota’s presence by local informants) raided the cantina to arrest him. Starkiller sprang into action to defend Kota. For the first time, he fought Imperial stormtroopers as an enemy of the Empire rather than covertly eliminating witnesses.
He battled through Cloud City’s corridors, protecting the intoxicated Kota from squads of troopers and even an Emperor’s Shadow Guard (an elite Imperial sentinel wielding a lightsaber pike). Together, the unlikely duo managed to escape the Imperial dragnet.
Starkiller’s display of skill and his willingness to oppose the Empire helped snap Kota out of his stupor. Though still bitter, Kota recognized the apprentice had changed. Starkiller, for his part, revealed Vader’s new mission to gather rebels.
He convinced Kota to join him, knowing the general’s connections and leadership were vital. Thus, Rahm Kota became an uneasy ally and mentor to Starkiller, the pair forming the nucleus of what would become the Rebel Alliance.
Shortly after rescuing Kota, Starkiller felt an irresistible pull through the Force drawing him back to Kashyyyk, his birth planet. Defying direct orders to focus only on rallying allies, he detoured to Kashyyyk seeking answers about his past.
On Kashyyyk, Starkiller found the ruined homestead of his late father, Kento Marek. In the hut’s remains he discovered a hidden blue crystal – the kyber crystal from his father’s old lightsaber, which he kept as a precious memento.
More profoundly, the Force led Starkiller to undergo a final jedi trial (one of self-discovery) often called the Trial of the Spirit. While meditating in the remains of the Wookiee village, Starkiller experienced a vivid Force vision. He saw Darth Vader dueling a Jedi Knight within the old Kashyyyk hut.
Instinctively, Starkiller intervened on his master’s behalf and struck down the Jedi – only to realize, horrified, that the vanquished Jedi was Kento Marek, his own father.
The apparition of Kento spoke to Starkiller, expressing sorrow for the path his son had taken. Reeling from this revelation, Starkiller ventured deeper into the Force-induced vision. He soon encountered a manifestation of the dark side within himself – a specter of what he would become if he fully embraced evil.
Starkiller engaged this dark doppelgänger in a brutal metaphysical duel, ultimately slaying the Sith within and rejecting the dark destiny it represented. When the trial concluded, Starkiller emerged spiritually transformed by the knowledge of his true parentage and the confrontation with his inner darkness.
This experience on Kashyyyk planted the seeds of Galen Marek’s eventual redemption, even as he pressed on with his ostensible mission for Vader.
As Starkiller completed his introspective trials, General Kota put him in contact with another key figure in the nascent rebellion: Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan.
Leia had been coordinating resistance cells and was now on Kashyyyk attempting to liberate Wookiee slaves. At Kota’s behest, Starkiller undertook a mission to rescue Princess Leia Organa from Imperial captivity on Kashyyyk.
In 2 BBY, Starkiller arrived on Kashyyyk to find an Imperial slave operation in full swing – Wookiees were being rounded up and transported off-world via an orbital skyhook facility.
Starkiller fought his way through Imperial forces, including stormtroopers, Imperial Senate Guards, and even an Imperial Shadow Guard who guarded the slave compound.
Within the facility, he located Princess Leia, who had been captured while aiding the Wookiee freedom fighters. Starkiller freed Leia from her restraints. Though initially distrustful of Starkiller (Leia had sensed his dark-side nature, believing him an agent of the Emperor), Leia agreed to go with him after he made clear he was there to help.
She insisted that they destroy the Imperial skyhook before leaving, to give Kashyyyk’s Wookiees a chance at freedom. Starkiller obliged – he overloaded the skyhook’s orbital tether and collapsed the facility in a massive explosion, crippling the Empire’s slave operation on Kashyyyk. With Leia Organa safe aboard the Rogue Shadow starship, Starkiller had secured yet another influential ally against the Empire.
Fall of Felucia
Following the events on Kashyyyk, Starkiller learned that Senator Bail Organa (Leia’s father) had gone missing on Felucia.
Bail Organa had covertly traveled to Felucia seeking Shaak Ti’s help earlier, unaware that Starkiller had killed her. In Shaak Ti’s absence, her former apprentice Maris Brood had fallen to the dark side and taken control of Felucia’s native tribes.
The Empire, noticing Felucia’s upheaval, sent forces to subjugate the world, resulting in open warfare with Maris’s now-savage Felucian warriors. Bail Organa was caught in this chaos. Starkiller, guided by Kota (who felt responsible, since his advice had indirectly led Bail there), rushed to Felucia to locate and extract Senator Organa.
On Felucia, Starkiller navigated a battlefield between Imperial purge teams and enraged Felucians.
He discovered that Bail had been taken prisoner by Maris Brood, who aimed to use the Alderaanian senator as a bargaining chip.
Fighting through Felucia’s dense jungles and the Imperial genocide campaign (which even involved a Sarlacc stabilizer to flush out Felucian survivors from the Ancient Abyss), Starkiller entered the depths of the sarlacc pit and found Bail Organa bound at the Rancor Graveyard.
Maris Brood confronted Starkiller, revealing her descent to the dark side. Consumed by fear and anger over her master’s death, Maris unleashed her pet Bull Rancor against Starkiller and Organa. Starkiller engaged in a ferocious battle: he slew the massive Bull Rancor and then faced Maris in single combat. Ultimately, Starkiller defeated Maris Brood.
He chose to spare her life, recognizing that she was a fallen apprentice not unlike himself and hoping she might find redemption away from Felucia’s darkness.
As his penultimate mission for Vader, Starkiller returned to Raxus Prime, now heavily fortified under the Empire.
The objective (suggested by Kota and Organa) was to strike a blow against Imperial resources and further galvanize potential rebels. Raxus Prime’s shipyards and ore facilities, established after Kazdan Paratus’s demise, became Starkiller’s target.
With General Kota providing guidance, Starkiller infiltrated the Imperial ore refinery on Raxus, which was guarded by stormtroopers, Imperial commandos, and Emperor’s Shadow Guards.
During this mission, Starkiller’s trusted droid PROXY reappeared – and inadvertently added to the trials. PROXY’s core programming to test his master activated at an inopportune moment amidst the ore refinery assault. The droid assumed various holographic forms of Starkiller’s past adversaries (such as Maris Brood, Rahm Kota, and Shaak Ti) and ultimately the likeness of Darth Maul, challenging Starkiller to a series of duels as a final “training module.” Starkiller prevailed against PROXY’s deadly simulations, though not without difficulty, disabling the droid after a climactic fight with the Darth Maul program.
Pressing on, Starkiller rigged the ore facility to sabotage the Imperial orbital shipyard above. He aligned huge ore cannon conduits to fire upon the space station. When the firing sequence triggered, the shipyard was obliterated – but one Imperial Star Destroyer that had been docked in orbit was sent plummeting out of control toward the planet.
Standing on the surface, Starkiller faced the unimaginable: the mile-long Star Destroyer hurtled downward, guns blazing and escorted by swarms of TIE fighters trying to stop him. At Rahm Kota’s urging, Starkiller reached out with the Force on an unprecedented scale.
Tapping into all of his telekinetic might, Starkiller seized the descending Star Destroyer in the Force and slowly steered its trajectory, dragging the colossal warship away from an escape vector and instead directly into the Raxus junkyard below.
With an earth-shaking impact, the Star Destroyer crashed and was destroyed, along with the refinery. Astonishingly, Starkiller survived the cataclysm, proving the extent of his power. The feat left even Kota speechless. In the aftermath, PROXY – battered but functional – rejoined his master, lamenting that his primary purpose (to kill Starkiller in training) was now gone.
After Corellia, the captive Rebel leaders were transferred to Imperial custody on the nearly-completed Death Star orbiting Despayre. Refusing to abandon them, Galen Marek followed covertly, infiltrating the Death Star to stage a rescue.
With PROXY’s assistance (the droid created diversions by impersonating Imperial officers via hologram), Marek slipped into the battle station. Inside the colossal Death Star I, he fought his way through platoons of stormtroopers, Imperial Senate Guards, and novel defenses guarding the Emperor’s prize project.
As he drew closer to the detention level, Marek confronted Darth Vader once more in the bowels of the Death Star. Master and apprentice engaged in a brutal duel – a confrontation loaded with personal meaning after all their betrayals.
Galen, now calm and resolute in the light side, matched Vader blow for blow. He even voiced his pity for Vader, stating he would free the Dark Lord by killing him. The duel raged across the Death Star’s observation dome.
Ultimately, Galen Marek overpowered Vader, inflicting serious injuries and pinning the Dark Lord beneath wreckage (yet notably sparing Vader’s life when he had the chance to strike him down). The wounded Vader could only watch as Galen moved toward Emperor Palpatine to protect the others.
In the Emperor’s throne room, Darth Sidious revealed that he had orchestrated events all along: Vader’s secret apprentice was a pawn meant to draw out the Rebel leaders, and Sidious intended to crush them and perhaps claim Starkiller as his own new servant. Palpatine now attempted to turn Galen by goading him to kill the helpless Vader and fully embrace the dark side.
Galen was tempted and his anger toward Sidious surged – he realized the Emperor was ultimately responsible for his father’s death and his own tormented life. For an instant, Galen teetered on the edge of vengeance. But looking at his friends (Rahm Kota had grabbed Vader’s lightsaber and was ready to execute Vader himself out of hatred), Galen made his choice.
He rejected Palpatine’s temptation, reaffirming his identity as a Jedi. Turning away from the dark path, Galen Marek launched himself at Darth Sidious to stop the Sith Lord from killing Kota and the rest. The Emperor unleashed a furious storm of Force lightning, and Galen met it head on.
Marek absorbed the full brunt of Palpatine’s Force lightning, channeling unimaginable energy. With a colossal effort, he then released it in an explosion of light side energy that blasted Palpatine back and disrupted the entire throne room.
This sacrificial burst mortally wounded Galen Marek, but it also incapacitated the Emperor long enough for the Rebel prisoners to escape to safety.
Juno Eclipse raced in with the Rogue Shadow to extract Rahm Kota and the senators, who fled the Death Star as Imperial reinforcements arrived. In that climactic moment, Galen Marek fulfilled the destiny he chose – not as Vader’s weapon, but as the savior of the Rebellion’s founders.
Galen Marek died on the Death Star, having given himself fully to the light.
His final moments were peaceful and filled with purpose. His last thoughts were of Juno Eclipse, the woman who had helped him find his humanity; he whispered her name and at last became one with the Force.
The body of the fallen apprentice lay amid the ruins of the throne room. Vader and Sidious, recovering, stood over Galen’s corpse – Sidious remarking that Galen’s sacrifice was ultimately in vain, as the Rebel leaders would be hunted down again.
Vader gazed silently at the body of the student he had raised from childhood.
In a final contemptuous act, the Dark Lord crushed Galen’s lightsaber beneath his boot, destroying the blue-bladed weapon that Galen had made his own. Yet Vader could not crush Galen’s legacy so easily.
Galen Marek’s heroic martyrdom on the Death Star sparked the formal birth of the Rebel Alliance.
The Senators and Kota regrouped on Kashyyyk, shaken by Marek’s death but inspired by his example. Leia Organa addressed the group, stating that Galen’s sacrifice would not be in vain.
In honor of Marek, the Alliance founders adopted the Marek family crest as the symbol of the Rebellion, transforming his family’s insignia into the now-famous stylized starbird of the Alliance.
United under this symbol – and galvanized by the knowledge that Darth Vader’s secret apprentice had found the courage to turn against evil – the disparate rebel cells truly became an Alliance to Restore the Republic.
Galen Marek’s name became a rallying legend among the rebels (though for safety, his direct role was kept secret, and he was mourned privately by his friends). In Legends lore, Starkiller’s influence on the Rebellion was profound: he inadvertently brought its leaders together and became its first martyr.
Galen Marek/Starkiller’s personality undergoes a dramatic evolution from a cold-blooded Sith assassin to a selfless Jedi ally.
Raised by Darth Vader from childhood, Starkiller was shaped to be an instrument of destruction, knowing nothing but the dark side teachings and brutality of his master. As a result, the young Starkiller was initially aloof, emotionally stunted, and ruthlessly efficient.
He believed completely in the Sith mantras that might makes right; pain was simply a lesson and mercy a weakness. Vader’s constant harsh discipline instilled turmoil, anger, and apathy in Starkiller – he felt little beyond the drive to please his master and grow stronger. For much of his life, Starkiller feared Vader more than death and equated cruelty with the natural order of things.
He had no concept of normal social interaction or compassion. Notably, Starkiller’s only “friend” growing up was PROXY, his training droid. The droid’s companionship provided just enough comfort to keep Starkiller sane amid Vader’s abuse.
Even so, Starkiller remained very wary of PROXY (since PROXY was programmed to attempt to kill him), illustrating the lack of genuine trust in his early life.
Despite this grim foundation, sparks of humanity always lurked within Galen Marek. Unlike a true sociopath, Starkiller did experience conflict and guilt at times – for example, he felt disturbed when he had to slaughter Imperial troops during missions, rationalizing that their only crime was being in his way.
He simply buried these feelings to avoid Vader’s wrath. As Starkiller encountered Jedi like Kota and Shaak Ti, fragments of doubt appeared. He had been taught that Jedi were weak, yet he found them formidable and principled, sowing seeds of respect that he kept hidden. Starkiller demonstrated different sides to his personality as events unfolded: while confident and fierce in battle, he was also increasingly wary of his purpose in life and what destiny Vader had chosen for him. This wariness only grew after Vader’s first betrayal, when Starkiller began forming genuine bonds with others.
PROXY was a prototype holodroid and Starkiller’s closest companion during his years under Vader.
Vader provided PROXY to young Galen as both a tutor and constant test: PROXY’s primary programming was to repeatedly attempt to kill Starkiller in surprise training duels, forcing the apprentice to stay sharp. Despite this dangerous directive, PROXY also became Galen’s confidant of sorts.
The droid possessed an advanced holographic emitter enabling him to simulate various combatants – from legendary Jedi like Obi-Wan Kenobi to Sith like Darth Maul – giving Starkiller diverse dueling practice.
Over years of isolation, PROXY was Starkiller’s only friend, providing a semblance of camaraderie that the apprentice desperately needed to retain his sanity. PROXY’s cheerful personality and concern for Galen’s well-being (to the extent a droid could express such) offered Galen a hint of emotional support in Vader’s cruel environment. For instance, PROXY would congratulate Starkiller after each survival, and the two shared jokes between lethal sparring sessions.
Galen, in turn, showed genuine care for PROXY – he often held back in training bouts to avoid permanently damaging the droid, allowing PROXY small victories to boost the droid’s morale. This mutual compassion was remarkable given PROXY’s mandate to kill his master.
In the end, their bond proved strong: when PROXY was severely damaged on Raxus Prime protecting Galen, Galen was elated to find the droid still “alive” and personally helped him recover, telling PROXY he’d never abandon him. Likewise, PROXY’s nurturance had subtly kept Galen grounded in his youth – the droid’s companionship “helped provide the compassion and nurturing needed to stay sane,” effectively acting as Galen’s surrogate caretaker in Vader’s absence.
After Galen’s death, PROXY continued to serve the Rebel Alliance, carrying on his friend’s legacy. The PROXY–Starkiller relationship exemplifies how even in the depths of the dark side, Galen’s capacity for friendship endured. PROXY was both sparring partner and beloved comrade, and their friendship played a small but crucial role in preserving Galen’s humanity until he found true allies.
Starkiller’s entire life was defined by Darth Vader’s shadowy influence. Taken by Vader as a child and indoctrinated, Starkiller initially viewed Vader as a terrifying father figure – the only parent he had left. For much of his life, Starkiller lived in absolute fear and awe of Darth Vader.
Vader was brutally harsh, using pain and punishment to mold Starkiller in the dark side. Starkiller “learned, or died” by Vader’s credo; he endured lightning torture, deadly duels, and psychological manipulation as routine.
Over time, Galen came to think this was natural – he believed Vader’s cruelty was for his own good as a Sith, and he strove not to disappoint his Master. Starkiller internalized an almost slavish loyalty to Vader, investing deep trust in the Dark Lord despite the abuse.
He desperately sought Vader’s approval, measuring his worth by Vader’s praise or displeasure. This loyalty was so extreme that Starkiller even adopted a formal, almost aristocratic tone in Vader’s presence, unconsciously trying to be the dutiful pupil Vader wanted.
Yet Vader’s influence was ultimately poisonous. He raised Starkiller not to be a son, but a weapon – and betrayal was inevitable. When Vader “killed” Starkiller on the Emperor’s orders, it shattered something in Galen.
Deeply shocked by Vader’s betrayal, Starkiller’s faith was shaken. Still, Vader’s hold lingered; Starkiller returned to Vader when summoned, though now with growing wariness and hidden resentment. It wasn’t until the final betrayal on Corellia that Galen fully broke free. Seeing Vader coldly attempt to murder him again and harm the people he cared about extinguished the last vestiges of Starkiller’s slavish devotion.
In that moment, Galen realized Vader had never cared for him at all – he had been used from the start, just as Sidious used Vader. This epiphany led Galen to feel an unexpected pity for Vader, recognizing the Sith Lord as a victim of Palpatine’s manipulation, much like himself. During their final duel, Galen even expressed understanding: “You wanted me to be a son to you…was that how your father treated you?” he asked Vader, who of course had no answer.
Galen Marek’s romance with Captain Juno Eclipse was the heart of his redemption. Juno, an Imperial TIE pilot reassigned to be Starkiller’s personal shuttle pilot, was the first person to show Galen basic kindness and respect since childhood.
When Starkiller first met Juno, he was unsure how to act – she was an attractive young female officer, far different from the soldiers and droids he was used to. Their initial interactions were polite but awkward; Galen found her attempts at light conversation puzzling, yet intriguing. Over time, traveling together on missions, Galen grew comfortable around Juno and started to value her opinion and company.
He quietly admired her bravery, skillful piloting, and the humanity she maintained even as an Imperial. Juno, for her part, sensed there was more to Starkiller than a silent enforcer. She treated him not as a frightful Sith, but as a comrade – joking with him, calling him by his name, and even questioning Vader’s orders when they seemed off.
Galen slowly developed genuine affection for Juno, experiencing warm feelings he’d never had. He found himself wanting to protect her and earn her approval, an unfamiliar yet motivating desire. This attachment scared Galen initially; he feared Vader would sense it and punish them both. Indeed, after the first betrayal, Vader ordered Galen to sever all ties, including Juno. And although Galen pretended to obey, he ultimately rescued Juno from Imperial captivity on the Empirical, defying Vader’s command. He couldn’t leave her to die – an act that even he didn’t fully understand at the time, but which demonstrated his heart overruling Vader’s indoctrination.
Darth Sidious (Emperor Palpatine) was the puppeteer behind Starkiller’s tragedy, a fact Galen only fully grasped at the very end.
During most of Starkiller’s life, his attitude toward the Emperor was distant reverence – he viewed Palpatine as the ultimate Sith Lord, the man who crushed the Jedi Order, and thus someone he indirectly served by obeying Vader.
At the same time, he secretly trained for the day he and Vader would overthrow Sidious, as per Vader’s promise. Starkiller devoted years to honing his power for this imagined coup against the Emperor. That perception shattered when Sidious finally became aware of Starkiller. When the Emperor “discovered” Vader’s apprentice, he cruelly ordered Starkiller’s immediate execution and relished the young man’s suffering.
Starkiller barely survived, but the incident ignited in him a personal hatred of Sidious. He realized the Emperor was the source of all the pain – not only had Sidious tried to kill him, but Sidious was responsible for twisting Vader into what he was, and by extension, responsible for Galen’s stolen childhood and Kento Marek’s death.
Seeking revenge against Palpatine became Starkiller’s new motive during the rebel-gathering mission. This hatred was stoked further upon discovering the Death Star. Seeing the battle station’s planet-killing power, Galen was horrified by the depths of Sidious’s evil – genocide on an unimaginable scale.
It cemented Galen’s resolve that Sidious had to be stopped at any cost.
When Galen finally confronted Darth Sidious face-to-face on the Death Star, Sidious revealed the final cruel twist: Starkiller had been Sidious’s pawn all along. The Emperor gloated that Vader never acted alone – the plan to use Starkiller to flush out the Rebels was Sidious’s from the start. He even admitted that he orchestrated Kento Marek’s murder and Galen’s abduction through Vader, meaning Sidious had been Galen’s true master from the very beginning.
This revelation was the last straw. Galen attacked Sidious with all of his fury, nearly succumbing to the dark side’s pull in the process. He engaged the Emperor in a duel, impressively holding his own in lightsaber combat against the galaxy’s most powerful Sith (although Sidious intermittently threw Imperial Royal Guards at Galen to wear him down).
Fueled by righteous anger, Galen even gained the upper hand briefly, blasting Sidious with the Force. But the Emperor’s cunning nearly turned the tables: Sidious feigned weakness to tempt Galen into striking down Vader in hatred. At that critical juncture, Galen resisted.
He realized that killing Vader in anger would only make him Sidious’s slave (“It was you all along,” Galen said to Sidious, rejecting his manipulations). Instead, Galen made the selfless choice to protect his friends over slaying his enemies.
He absorbed Sidious’s ferocious lightning and then released it in the sacrificial burst that ended the confrontation. In doing so, Galen definitively turned away from the dark side, denying Palpatine the corrupt victory he sought. Sidious survived the encounter, but Galen Marek’s refusal to join him marked Sidious’s failure to convert the apprentice.
Palpatine was left momentarily vulnerable (and furious) as the rebels escaped, thanks to Galen’s sacrifice. Starkiller’s legacy would haunt Palpatine – the Rebel Alliance born from Marek’s actions would go on to challenge the Empire he built.
In sum, Galen’s relationship with Palpatine evolved from distant fear to intense hatred, and finally to defiance. He died ensuring that he would never become the Emperor’s thrall, achieving in death what he could not in life: freedom from Sidious’s control and a spark of hope against the Sith.
General Rahm Kota went from Starkiller’s adversary to his greatest mentor and ally. When Starkiller first learned of Kota, he dismissed the veteran Jedi as just another target – albeit one he was excited to duel, having never fought a Jedi Knight before.
During their battle above Nar Shaddaa, Kota’s unexpected skill and courage earned Starkiller’s respect.
Kota was unlike the “weak” Jedi of Imperial propaganda; he was a hardened warrior who nearly matched Starkiller blow for blow.
Starkiller brutally blinded Kota and assumed him dead, but tellingly, he felt a tinge of respect and spared Kota’s life by not verifying the kill, leaving the fallen Jedi’s fate to the Force. This small mercy would prove fateful.
After Vader’s betrayal, Kota became the first person Starkiller sought out, drawn by visions and a subconscious hope for guidance.
Finding Kota drunk and broken in Cloud City, Starkiller at first needed Kota’s help to rally an army, but soon the dynamic flipped – each became the other’s salvation.
Starkiller’s intervention gave Kota renewed purpose, and Kota’s faith in Starkiller’s potential gave the young man something to strive for beyond Vader’s approval. Over time, their relationship evolved into a surrogate father-son bond.
Kota took on the role of Jedi mentor, teaching Galen about the Force in ways Vader never did – emphasizing conscience, restraint, and what it truly means to be a Jedi.
He also gave Galen the emotional support of a parental figure who actually cared for his well-being. In return, Galen’s trust and growing goodness helped pull Kota out of despair and back into the fight. In a way, they saved each other.
By the final act, Kota was fiercely protective of Galen (e.g. attempting to take on Palpatine to save him), and Galen likewise was willing to die to save Kota.
During the Death Star duel, when Galen saw Kota in danger, he reacted as a true Jedi, placing Kota’s life above vengeance and thus sealing his own fate. After Galen’s death, Rahm Kota honored Galen Marek’s legacy, carrying forward the training he had imparted.
Kota became a key leader in the Alliance, ensuring that Galen’s sacrifice would lead to something enduring.
He also was known to speak proudly of Marek’s redemption, telling other rebels of the “boy who gave his life as a Jedi, not a Sith.” The relationship between Starkiller and Kota underscores one of the central themes of The Force Unleashed: no matter how dark one’s path, a guiding light in the form of friendship or mentorship can lead to redemption.
Kota was that guiding light for Galen, and Galen in turn rekindled Kota’s flame. Their bond bridged the gap between Sith and Jedi, proving instrumental in founding the Alliance that would eventually restore hope to the galaxy.
As both Vader’s apprentice and a self-taught warrior, Starkiller became an exceptionally skilled lightsaber duelist – one of the most formidable of his era.
Trained from childhood to defeat Jedi, Starkiller honed his lightsaber techniques through relentless practice and deadly trials. Darth Vader personally sparred with him in brutal training sessions, forcing Starkiller to adapt and create his own fighting style to survive.
Additionally, PROXY’s combat modules allowed Starkiller to practice against simulations of legendary duelists: PROXY could replicate opponents like Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Maul, giving Starkiller a taste of their styles.
Starkiller won every training duel, whether against Vader or PROXY’s holograms, steadily improving his reflexes and technique.
By the time of his missions, Starkiller was an incredibly potent lightsaber combatant – he defeated a roster of experienced duelists that few could match. His victories included besting General Rahm Kota, Kazdan Paratus, and Maris Brood, all skilled Jedi or adepts, and even overwhelming Jedi Master Shaak Ti, renowned as one of the finest swordmasters of the Jedi Council.
Most impressively, Starkiller twice fought Darth Vader – himself a master of Form V lightsaber combat – and prevailed (the second time decisively). Starkiller also held his own against Darth Sidious in close-quarters duel, something almost no other non-Sith has done, though ultimately he relied on the Force to overcome Sidious rather than pure blade work. These feats firmly solidify Starkiller’s reputation as a peerless duelist in Legends.
Technically, Starkiller mastered all seven classical forms of lightsaber combat to an extent, allowing him to recognize and counter an opponent’s style with ease.
He showed particular aptitude in the aggressive Form VII (Juyo), the defensive Form III (Soresu), and Form V’s Shien variant. Starkiller’s default style was a hybrid of Juyo and Shien: he often employed an unorthodox reverse grip Shien stance (holding the lightsaber backward along his forearm) for offense.
His fighting method was characterized by unpredictability and overwhelming offense, mixing physical strikes with sudden Force attacks (like telekinetic blasts or lightning) in the middle of lightsaber sequences. This made him highly adaptable and hard to read.
When pressed or outnumbered, Starkiller could fall back on Soresu techniques – interestingly, he taught himself Soresu by studying PROXY’s Obi-Wan module, achieving remarkable proficiency despite no formal training.
Beyond his lightsaber skills, Starkiller’s command of the Force was extraordinarily powerful, earning him a reputation as one of the most formidable Force-users in Legends.
Born of two Jedi Knights, Galen Marek had an innately high midi-chlorian count and tremendous Force potential from early childhood. Darth Vader sensed this raw power when Galen was a boy and believed that, if properly trained, Galen could become powerful enough to help overthrow even Palpatine.
Indeed, Emperor Palpatine himself later acknowledged that Starkiller’s strength in the Force could potentially rival his own, a stunning admission given Sidious’s prowess. Under Vader’s tutelage, Starkiller was pushed to develop his abilities aggressively, focusing on combat-oriented dark side powers.
He excelled in telekinetic offense, perhaps more than any Force adept of his generation. Starkiller could unleash concussive Force pushes and Repulses capable of shattering ranks of stormtroopers or droids with a single burst.
His fine telekinetic control was also honed to lethal precision – for instance, he could grab a group of enemies in a Force grip and slam them around or choke them effortlessly.
His most famous telekinetic feat was on Raxus Prime, where Starkiller used the Force to drag a falling Imperial Star Destroyer out of the sky into a collision course, overcoming the tremendous mass and the ship’s engines through raw power and focus.
This feat was considered nearly impossible, highlighting just how deep Starkiller could tap into the Force’s energy.
Rahm Kota’s guidance (“What is mass? It’s all in your mind!”) during that event helped Starkiller realize the only limits were in his mind – he truly embodied the notion that for a Jedi (or Sith), size matters not.
Starkiller primarily wielded lightsabers as his weapon of choice, going through a few iterations that symbolized his shifting allegiance. His first lightsaber, constructed during his early training under Vader, featured a stark crimson blade in line with Sith tradition.
Vader supplied young Galen with synthetic red kyber crystals, and Starkiller favored the violent red hue as it fueled his dark meditations with imagery of blood and fire. This red-bladed saber served him throughout his Jedi-hunting missions.
Notably, Starkiller’s original saber hilt had a utilitarian design and he often applied a reversed grip in combat. He was adept at adjusting the blade intensity and had built the weapon to be stable under heavy abuse – a necessity given his high-impact fighting style. However, this first saber was lost during Vader’s unexpected betrayal.
When Vader stabbed Starkiller on the Executor bridge to appease Palpatine, Starkiller’s lightsaber was flung away into space (along with the mortally wounded Starkiller). Vader chose not to retrieve it, effectively discarding the weapon along with his apprentice.
Thus, Starkiller’s initial red lightsaber was gone, and with it the red synth-crystals he had long used.
Upon his survival and return, Starkiller found himself without a lightsaber for the first time in years.
To continue his mission for Vader (and eventually for himself), he needed a replacement. This came in the form of Rahm Kota’s lightsaber, which Starkiller had kept after defeating Kota on Nar Shaddaa. Kota’s saber had a distinctive guardless hilt and emitted a green blade (the color of the crystal Kota used).
Starkiller appropriated this weapon during his escape from Vader’s ship and used it in the interim. He found the balance and weight of the green-bladed saber acceptable and wielded it effectively through missions like Cloud City and Kashyyyk.
However, Galen never truly felt attuned to Kota’s green crystal. In meditation, the green blade disturbed his focus, reminding him it belonged to someone else and likely resonating with the light side in a way Starkiller wasn’t used to. This unease led him to seek a more personal solution.
Starkiller’s opportunity to forge a new personal lightsaber came on Kashyyyk. In the ruins of his family home, he discovered the kyber crystal from his father Kento Marek’s lightsaber – a brilliant aqua-blue crystal.
Starkiller took this crystal as a keepsake of his lineage, and at Rahm Kota’s guidance, decided to install it into Kota’s lightsaber hilt, replacing the green crystal.
In summary, Starkiller’s lightsaber journey went from Sith red to Jedi green to personal blue, mirroring his path from dark to light. Each blade color corresponded to a phase of his life: the red synth-crystal for Vader’s brutal apprentice, the borrowed green for his uncertain transitional period, and the self-chosen blue (from his father) for his liberated Jedi self. Along the way, Starkiller also experimented with numerous other lightsaber crystals and configurations thanks to his unique experiences.
Starkiller’s initial lightsaber was steeped in the dark side, reflecting his upbringing. As a secret Sith apprentice, he wielded a crimson-bladed lightsaber supplied with red synthetic crystals by Darth Vader.
Sith synthetic crystals typically produce a stronger blade and, in Legends lore, require the user to pour their hatred into their forging – fitting for Starkiller’s mentality at the time. Starkiller preferred the red blade not just for tradition, but because of the mindset it helped invoke.
He would meditate on the color, imagining fire and blood, using those violent images to fuel his aggression and connection to the dark side.
By focusing on destructive symbolism (“faceless, disposable stormtroopers” falling to his blade, etc.), Starkiller could deepen his fury. The red lightsaber thus became an extension of his dark identity as Vader’s enforcer.
In Starkiller’s clone saga (as depicted in The Force Unleashed II), the resurrected or cloned Galen Marek adopted an evolved lightsaber style – wielding dual sabers simultaneously.
This Jar’Kai dual-blade technique was something the original Starkiller hadn’t used in his first life, but Vader’s cloning program experimented with different training to optimize his creation.
Most of Galen’s clones were trained to fight with two lightsabers at once, giving them an edge in combat through offense and defense versatility.
The rogue clone (Subject 1138) who escapes in TFU II naturally carries on this training. Starkiller’s clone favors Form IV: Ataru and Form VI: Niman when dual-wielding. Ataru provided acrobatic, aggressive moves, while Niman (the “diplomat’s form”) provided balance – in Jar’Kai variant, Niman is often used for dual blades.
Through these, the clone mastered Jar’Kai, the art of wielding two lightsabers in unison.
In the end, Starkiller remains one of the most compelling figures in the Star Wars Legends mythos—a warrior forged in secrecy, defined by betrayal, and ultimately redeemed by choice.
His life illustrates the destructive cycle of Sith manipulation, yet also the enduring resilience of compassion and loyalty.
From his tragic childhood on Kashyyyk to his heroic stand on the Death Star, Galen Marek’s journey is both a cautionary tale and a story of hope, showing that even the darkest apprentice can find light when guided by love and conscience.
Though absent from modern canon, his legend continues to resonate with fans as a symbol of the untold stories that enrich the galaxy far, far away.
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