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| Kanan Jarrus Caleb Dume | |
|---|---|
| Star Wars character | |
 Kanan as depicted in the first two seasons ofRebels | |
| First appearance |
|
| Last appearance |
|
| Created by | Dave Filoni |
| Voiced by | |
| In-universe information | |
| Full name | Caleb Dume |
| Species | Human |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation |
|
| Affiliation |
|
| Significantother | Hera Syndulla |
| Children | Jacen Syndulla |
| Master | Depa Billaba |
| Apprentice | Ezra Bridger |
| Homeworld | Coruscant |
Kanan Jarrus (bornCaleb Dume) is afictionalcharacter in theStar Wars franchise, voiced byFreddie Prinze Jr. He is featured as one of themain characters of theanimated seriesStar Wars Rebels (2014–2018) and related works. HisForce spirit also appears as a disembodied voice in the filmThe Rise of Skywalker (2019), while a young Caleb Dume makes appearances in the seventh season ofThe Clone Wars (2020),The Bad Batch (2021) andTales of the Jedi (2022).
In theStar Wars universe, Kanan is aJedi Padawan who survived theGreat Jedi Purge after his master,Depa Billaba, sacrificed herself to save him.[1][2] From that point onwards, Kanan lived most of his life on the run, hiding from theGalactic Empire, before eventually meetingHera Syndulla and joining theGhost crew as its de facto leader. Although he initially keeps hisForce abilities hidden from his comrades, he re-embraces his Jedi role after meetingEzra Bridger, whom he begins training in the Jedi arts, while also attempting to complete his own training and become a Jedi Knight. Later, Kanan and his crew join theRebel Alliance to assist them in their fight against the Empire. While Kanan ultimately sacrifices himself to save his friends, his legacy lives on through their memories of him, as well as his and Hera's son,Jacen Syndulla.
Executive producerDave Filoni describes the character as a "cowboy Jedi". Animation supervisor Keith Kellogg said: "He is a Jedi but he's not a Jedi in the traditional sense that we've had before on the show. He's a little more rough around the edges. He's kept hislightsaber locked away, so he hasn't used it in a long time."[3] After being blinded, Kanan has been compared to theStar Wars Legends characterRahm Kota fromStar Wars: The Force Unleashed, another blinded Jedi,[4] which ledPablo Hidalgo from the Lucasfilm story group to say onTwitter that both characters were inspired byZatoichi.[5] Filoni compared Kanan toGandalf fromThe Lord of the Rings. The character's name was inspired byKanan Dume Road inMalibu, California.[6]
Prior to auditioning, Prinze was unaware that he was about to audition for aStar Wars series; he only learned of this immediately beforehand in the studioparking lot, when an unknown "legendary voice actor" informed him what he was actually auditioning for. Although Disney originally did not want Prinze in the role, Filoni disagreed. Prinze was officially hired later that day.[7]
During the development of the second season, the character was originally slated to be killed byMaul in the episode "Twilight of the Apprentice." However, Disney objected to the idea, as they thought that the character should be in "every episode" of the series.[7] In regards to the character's eventual death in the episode "Jedi Night" of the fourth season ofStar Wars Rebels, Filoni felt this was a natural end to Kanan promising he will see Hera again before being blinded and said: "In that moment he's not bound as this material thing that the physicality of sight would be a limitation to him." While sketching storyboards for Kanan's death, Filoni became reluctant to kill the character, but Prinze, who "was resolute about the fact that his character needed to die" since the beginning of the series, encouraged him to write the scene.[8]
Kanan is voiced byFreddie Prinze Jr. inStar Wars Rebels,Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker, and the episode "Aftermath" ofStar Wars: The Bad Batch.[9] He is also voiced byMichael Benyaer in the micro-seriesLego Star Wars: Droid Tales.[10][11]
Kanan first appears in a short film released prior to the series, "The Machine in the Ghost", and his voice is heard in another one, "Entanglement". In the two-part series premiere "Spark of Rebellion", Kanan is introduced as the de facto leader of the crew of theGhost, a Rebel starship, who mostly operate on their own and try to survive. Although he never finished his own Jedi training, Kanan sees great potential in youngEzra Bridger of Lothal, and decides to train him as his ownPadawan. In the season 1 finale "Fire Across the Galaxy", Kanan, who was captured by the Empire, is rescued by Ezra. Kanan then fights and defeats theGrand Inquisitor, before he and the rest of theGhost crew are invited into the Rebel Alliance, now that the Empire has become aware of the threat they represent. In "The Siege of Lothal", the two-part premiere of season 2, Kanan survives an encounter withDarth Vader,[12] while in "The Lost Commanders", he initially finds it difficult to trust the clone trooperCaptain Rex, because clones had murdered his master, Depa Billaba, as well as most other Jedi, in obedience to Order 66.[13] In "Shroud of Darkness", Kanan is promoted to the rank of Jedi Knight following a series of adventures in the Jedi Temple on Lothal. In "Twilight of the Apprentice", the two-part finale of season 2, Kanan travels with Ezra,Ahsoka Tano, and the astromech droid Chopper to theSith world of Malachor in hopes of finding the knowledge they need to defeat the Sith. There, they encounter the former Sith LordMaul, posing as a frail hermit, who has been left stranded on the planet for years. Though seemingly friendly at first, as he helps the three Jedi defeat a trio of ImperialInquisitors, Maul ultimately betrays them and escapes after blinding Kanan with his lightsaber.[14]
In season 3, a Force-sensitive creature called the Bendu mentors Kanan in the ways of Force-sight. Kanan still participates in Rebel missions, with his mastery of the Force compensating for his blindness, but he takes a less active role in leadership. In the two-part episode "Ghosts of Geonosis", Kanan meetsSaw Gerrera, the leader of an independent Rebel group, much like theGhost crew prior to joining the Rebel Alliance.[15] In "Trials of the Darksaber", Kanan trainsSabine Wren in lightsaber combat.[16] Season 4 portrays Kanan and Hera as being in a relationship, and at some point they conceive a child together.[17] However, Kanan sacrifices his life in the episode "Jedi Night" while rescuing Hera from Imperial captivity to trick enemy forces into shooting fuel reserves for the TIE defender fleet they were standing on, using the Force to get the rest of the Spectres to safety and regaining his sight as the fuel was exploding. The destruction of the fuel thwartsGrand Admiral Thrawn's plan to mass-produce the TIE defenders and easily decimate Rebel fleets, eventually leading to his downfall.
Despite his death, Kanan makes minor appearances in most of the remaining episodes. In "Wolves and A Door", while passing through the hyper tunnel on Loth-wolves, the remaining Spectres see several illusions of Kanan and hear his voice, like many others, such asthe Grand Inquisitor, Hera, Ezra, Ahsoka andZeb Orrelios. He appears later on in the same episode in Hera's imagination. She imagines him as a Force ghost comforting her. In the following episode, "A World Between Worlds", Kanan's voice is heard in the World Between Worlds by both Ezra and Ahsoka multiple times, until he finally appears through a portal. Ezra makes up his mind to save him and goes to the portal that depicts Kanan's final moments. Ahsoka stops Ezra from saving Kanan, telling him that he intended to sacrifice himself and interfering with it would allow the fuel explosion he caused to kill Ezra and most of the Spectres via thegrandfather paradox. Though reluctant to do so, Ezra allows Kanan to go on with his sacrifice. The ending of the series finale "Family Reunion – and Farewell", set after the Battle ofEndor, shows both Kanan and Hera's young son Jacen Syndulla, and a mural on Lothal painted by Sabine, which depicts theGhost crew, including Kanan.
Kanan is briefly mentioned by Ezra in the episode "A Disarming Lesson".
A young Caleb Dume makes acameo appearance in the episode "Old Friends Not Forgotten" of the final season ofThe Clone Wars, in which he is shown as a hologram alongside his master,Depa Billaba, during a meeting with other Jedi.[18]
A young Caleb appears alongside Depa Billaba in the premiere episode ofThe Bad Batch, "Aftermath", with Prinze reprising his role. While on a mission with the Bad Batch on Kaller,Order 66 is activated and Caleb witnessesclone troopers killing Billaba, who orders him to run. He defends himself from Bad Batch member Crosshair before Hunter, the leader of the Bad Batch, lets Caleb escape.[19][20]
A young Caleb makes a non speaking cameo alongside Depa Billaba in the episode "Practice Makes Perfect" ofTales of the Jedi, They are seen watching Ahsoka's training in the Jedi Temple and they are later seen walking past Anakin and Ahsoka.
Kanan is heard inThe Rise of Skywalker as one of the Jedi spirits who encourageRey to defeatDarth Sidious. He tells Rey that "In the heart of a Jedi lies her strength."
On September 2, 2014,Del Rey Books publishedStar Wars: A New Dawn, a prequel novel telling the story of how Kanan and Hera met.[21][22]
The comic-bookKanan ran for 12 issues from 2015 to 2016, and was published byMarvel Comics. The series is set during the events of the first season ofStar Wars Rebels and focuses on Kanan Jarrus having flashbacks to his time as a Jedi Padawan (when he was known by Caleb Dume).[23] Two story arcs were produced each ran for six issues, the first arc,The Last Padawan, focused on flashbacks which occur around the same time asStar Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, showing where Kanan was during Order 66. The events of Order 66 in the comic were later retconned inThe Bad Batch.[19] The flashbacks of the second arc,First Blood, focused on how Kanan was assigned under Depa Billaba's mentorship, as well as his first battle alongside clone troopers during the Clone Wars. It features an appearance from Rae Sloane, a character from the novelStar Wars: A New Dawn,[24] as well as one from Fenn Rau, aMandalorian character who would later appear inRebels.[25]
Kanan appears in theLego Star Wars: Droid Tales episode "Mission to Mos Eisley", which adapts his role in theRebels first-season episode "Droids in Distress".
Kanan also appears as a playable character in severalStar Wars video games, as described below:
The following games depict Kanan as he appeared during the first two seasons ofRebels.
The following games depict Kanan as he appeared at the start of the third season, in which he is coping with the loss of his sight.
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