The name Starkiller isn’t uncommon in Star Wars. It was the original surname for Luke Skywalker in the original iteration of the space opera franchise. Years later, it would be used as the codename for Galen Marek, given to him by Darth Vader. Then, there was the planet killer seen in The Force Awakens.
This post will examine two of these three different uses of the Starkiller name in Star Wars.
Galen Marek – Starkiller
Galen Marek was the lead character in two video games, The Force Unleashed and The Force Unleashed II, where Sam Witwer portrayed the character. Witwer’s likeness was also used for the character, and he would later voice Darth Maul in The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels and Solo: A Star Wars Story.
In the first game, the original Starkiller was the child of two Jedi Knights born on Kashyyyk just before Order 66 happened. The child, Galen, was found by Darth Vader and taken to be raised as the Sith Lord’s apprentice. This was after Vader killed his parents. He had not expected there to be a child left behind as he had no clue the child existed.
Darth Sidious had no idea Vader had taken the boy in and was training him under his nose. So for the longest time, he went under the name Starkiller.
During his training, Galen became talented in the more destructive side of the Force. However, he struggled with the passive side of the Force.
Starkiller Base
After Disney bought Lucasfilm and the now Legends continuity was thrown out, the Starkiller name was later used for the name of a military base, weaponised as a superweapon affiliated with the First Order. It even had its own system known as the Starkiller Base System.
The superweapon was at least 1000 times bigger than both the Death Stars. Also, Starkiller Base was located on the ice planet of Ilum, the name planet where Jedi would be taken to construct their first lightsabers.
Finally, Starkiller Base was also where Kylo Ren fought Rey and Finn for the first time.
