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Star Wars character
Jacen Solo
Jacen Solo holding a lightsaber
Position	Jedi Knight
Homeworld	Coruscant
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Height	Unknown
Affiliation	Dark Lord currently, Originally Jedi. Relatives= Shmi Skywalker, great grandmother (deceased). Anakin Skywalker, alias Darth Vader, grandfather (deceased). Padme Amidala, grandmother (deceased). Han Solo, father. Leia Organa, mother. Luke Skywalker, uncle and teacher. Mara Jade, aunt. Ben Skywalker, cousin and disciple. Thrackan Sal-Solo, cousin and enemy. Allana, daughter by Tenel Ka
Portrayed by	Not applicable

Jacen Solo is a fictional character in the Star Wars Expanded Universe. He is a major character in several Star Wars novels, particularly the Jedi Academy series.

He is the eldest son of Han Solo and Leia Organa Solo, the younger twin of Jaina and the older brother of Anakin. Even before he and his sister were born, their uncle Luke Skywalker could sense their strong presence in the Force. Jacen shares an almost inseparable bond with his twin sister, as well as close bonds with sentients and animals alike. He is trained in the Force by his uncle, and becomes an exceptionally strong Jedi Knight. Though he has not been formally declared a Jedi Master, Jacen has assumed the training of his young cousin, Ben.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Childhood 1.2 Jedi Academy Years (21-22 ABY – 24 ABY) 1.3 Yuuzhan Vong War (25 ABY – 30 ABY) 1.4 Dark Nest Crisis (35 ABY – 36 ABY) 1.5 Legacy of the Force (40 ABY+) 2 Stronger than Luke? 3 External links

"I'm more sure than ever that Jacen has a special destiny." —Luke Skywalker

The younger Solo twin was born near the end of the Thrawn Crisis on Coruscant, five minutes after his sister Jaina. This was 5 years after the Battle of Endor. Legend has it that the spirits of Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi and grandfather Anakin Skywalker looked on as the children were born. The twins, and eventually their younger brother Anakin, were sent to live at various safe havens for their first few years, under the protection of Winter. A majority of their time was spent on New Alderaan and Anoth.

The twins returned to Coruscant at age three and had many an adventure there. They once became lost in the underworld of Imperial City with C-3PO, but were quickly rescued and returned to their mother, the Chief of State of the New Republic.

Jacen's aptitude for the Force was apparent at a young age. As a toddler, he defended his unconscious uncle from the dark spirit of Exar Kun. Jacen used the Force to defend his uncle and future mentor with his uncle's lightsaber.

Unlike his siblings, who had inherited their father's mechanical aptitude and action-oriented mindset, Jacen demonstrated an affinity for living beings and empathy towards others. This perplexed Han, who wondered if his son was energetic enough, and why Jacen got along more easily with his mother.

When Jacen and Jaina were five, and Anakin was three, all three children were abducted, together with many other children with Force abilities, by a Dark Force user who tried to brainwash them into becoming Dark Jedi in order to bring about the rebirth of the Galactic Empire. The children defeated their captor, as told by Vonda McIntyre in The Crystal Star.

When he was old enough, Jacen travelled to Yavin 4 with his sister to begin his Jedi training. Jacen discovered a strong connection to the Living Force and was able to communicate with and calm many of the jungle creatures near the Academy. The young man even kept a small menagerie of animals in his room in the Great Massassi Temple. He and his sister befriended Lowbacca (nicknamed Lowie by his friends) and the warrior princess Tenel Ka, learning Jedi techniques quickly and going through many trials even as young teens.

In their exploration of the jungle near Luke's Jedi Academy, Jacen and Jaina discovered a crashed TIE fighter from the Battle of Yavin. Jaina decided to install a hyperdrive in the downed starfighter and begin fixing it to fly again. Jacen, Lowbacca, and Tenel Ka would help her to practice their Force skills until all were held captive by the TIE's original pilot, Qorl, who had been living in the jungle for 19 years. They eventually escaped, but so did Qorl, leaving the jungle moon behind and searching for any remnants of the Empire.

Qorl would discover the Shadow Academy, a training ground for Dark Jedi under the command of one of Luke Skywalker's fallen students, Brakiss and the remains of the Dathomiri Nightsisters. These elements of the so-called Second Imperium managed to kidnap Jacen, Jaina and Lowbacca, but they were resistant to the temptations of the dark side and were rescued by Luke Skywalker and Tenel Ka.

Jacen learned a valuable lesson while he was at the Shadow Academy. In a training exercise that pitted an unknowing brother and sister against each other, Jacen realized that he was not as powerful in the Force or as wise as he had thought. The young Jedi had wished to construct a lightsaber, but discovered how dangerous they were and how much knowledge and maturity were required to wield one.

The friends returned to Coruscant for a short vacation, and were reunited with the twins' childhood friend Zekk. They were happy to see the young man, but the boy was soon recruited by the Shadow Academy, who discovered before the twins that the boy had Force potential. Zekk would be forced to fight Jacen and Jaina several times, and the twins and their friends finally progressed far enough to be tasked with building their first lightsabers.

Jacen's hard-learned lesson hit home once again when Tenel Ka rushed to complete her lightsaber to keep up with her friends. She used an imperfect crystal and her blade shorted out in a sparring match with Jacen. His lightsaber passed through thin air where her weapon had been seconds before and severed the young woman's arm. Though the girl bore him no ill will, Jacen took it hard, and it became another event that would help shape him into the Jedi he was becoming.

Not long after, the Jedi trainees and the Shadow Academy would have their final confrontation on Yavin 4. The twins, with the help of their peers at the Jedi Academy, Luke, and Zekk would bring down the Shadow Academy and the Second Imperium forever.

Jacen and Jaina continued their Jedi training at Yavin 4, meeting new friends like Raynar Thul. They could not convince Zekk to stay at the Academy with them, but Jacen and Jaina remained friends with him. With his and Raynar's help, they ran into their first discovery of a new threat to the New Republic, the Diversity Alliance.

The all-alien anti-human group was building up massive support among peoples that had been oppressed by the Empire. They were led by a Twi'lek Nolaa Tarkona, the sister of Oola, Jabba the Hutt's murdered dancing slave. She was a very striking woman, with only one lekku (or tendril) and sharpened teeth that she kept perfectly filed.

Jacen, Jaina, and their friends were briefly held captive on Ryloth and had to escape to its harsh surface, all in an attempt to rescue their Wookiee companion Lowbacca, who had misguidedly gone to join the Diversity Alliance.

Finally getting to the bottom of a plot they had suspected all along, the Jedi trainees caught up with Raynar's father Bornan Thul to race the Diversity Alliance fleet to an Imperial storehouse hidden in the deep core. There was hidden a supply of deadly diseases created by General Evir Derricote almost two decades ago. Tarkona wished to unleash a plague against humans and wipe them all out, but was stopped by the Jedi and members of her own group, succumbing to one of the diseases herself on a faraway planet. Sadly, Bornan Thul died from one of the plagues right before his son's eyes.

As Jacen and Jaina got older and became more experienced Jedi, they went on a trip with their father to Ord Mantell to watch a race, and ran into Czethros, a bounty hunter who hunted Han Solo. They were ambushed by Black Sun agents, but were helped by Anja Gallandro, a young woman who wielded a lightsaber but was not a Jedi. Although attracted to Tenel Ka, Jacen found a small infatuation growing for the older woman. Anja had blamed Han Solo for killing her father, but Solo denied it because her father died in a trap while finding treasure.

When Lando Calrissian invited the twins and their friends to Cloud City, they discovered Czethros was a leader of Black Sun, and was attempting to gather enough power to overcome the New Republic. Jacen, Tenel Ka, and Lowbacca were ambushed by several Black Sun mercenaries, and Jacen was almost killed.

On another adventure, Jaina attempted to help Kessel and capture Czetheros while Jacen rushed to help Anja with her spice addiction and help her with Black Sun. With help, Anja beat her addiction and accepted her father's death. Jacen thought Anja had Jedi potential, but it turned out she didn't, and his infatuation disappeared when Anja went to work for Lando.

Once their training at the Academy was more or less complete, Jacen finally began to have a separate life from his twin sister. While she became apprenticed to Mara Jade Skywalker, he was taken under the wing of his uncle. Jacen learned much from Luke, though they disagreed on many philosophical issues, but not quite as many as he did with his younger brother.

Jacen believed in the Force not only as a tool, but as part of something greater. He once told his brother that the Force was a guide to find your place in destiny.

When the Yuuzhan Vong attacked, Jacen believed that many Jedi were adopting too aggressive a stance. He abandoned his powers temporarily to contemplate the Force and butted heads with his father over the morality of 'pirate' attacks on Peace Brigade vessels. Only his love for his endangered mother brought Jacen back into the front lines of the battle with the extra-galactic invaders. Eventually, Han and Jacen made their peace with one another, the former declaring that while he didn't always understand his son, he never stopped being proud of him. Jacen still sought answers to put his mind at ease, and remained a deep thinker in matters of the Force and its use, but would use his abilities to defend the galaxy once more.

Jacen applied his more passive talents in the Force in a daring mission to Myrkr. A Jedi strike force, led by Anakin, was to infiltrate a Yuuzhan Vong cloning facility where the invaders crafted deadly Jedi-hunting beasts called Voxyn. The mission ended disastrously, starting with Anakin's death, in which Jaina reacted by touching the dark side of the Force. Forced into the leadership position, Jacen used the Force Meld to bind the team together into a cohesive fighting unit. After destroying the voxyn queen, Jacen was captured by the Yuuzhang Vong army under the command of Vergere and Nom Anor.

Jacen disappeared, along with his presence in the Force. Many in the New Republic considered him dead, even his sister. Vergere was able to strip Jacen's ability to use the Force, and this ripped away his connection with Jaina. Jedi and even untrained Force-sensitives throughout the galaxy could feel Jacen's presence die in the Force, and only his mother trusted that he was alive, somehow, somewhere.

Jacen awoke to find himself in the Embrace of Pain, a rack-like torture device favored by the Yuuzhan Vong. His captor puzzled him with queries and riddles as Jacen drowned in his agony and sorrow. Yet his inner strength of character staved off madness or total collapse as he learned to become sustained by pain. He remained under the care and tutelage of the avian Vergere, who he learned had once been a Jedi of the Old Republic, and who had even met his grandfather, Anakin Skywalker.

Jacen was put to work at the Nursery in a Yuuzahan Vong seedship. His natural empathy for living creatures forged a strong bond with the dhuryam, a sort of larval form of a World Brain. Using the implanted slave seed beneath his flesh as a conduit, Jacen was able to communicate with the living instruments of Yuuzhan Vong technology. He used this connection to stage a daring escape from captivity, commanding Yuuzhan Vong amphistaffs to surround him like living armor. The dhuryam, protective of Jacen, aided his efforts of escape, but Vergere foiled his larger plans to destroy the seedship and all aboard.

Jacen and Vergere fled to Coruscant. The city planet's entire surface was undergoing a radical transformation. Yuuzhan Vong organic growths covered the once gleaming metropolis, remaking the planet into a Yuuzhan Vong paradise. The world was to be their new capital, a recreation of the planet that had spawned them, Yuuzhan'tar.

Vergere removed the slave seed from Jacen, but he found he could still sense the Yuuzhan Vong. Jacen was later surrounded by Yuuzhan Vong warriors that Vergere had led to him. Feeling deep hate for her for betraying him, taking the Force from him, torturing him, and being betrayed again by her, he channeled the hate into force lightning and used the dark side of the Force. Soon after running away, Vergere found him in his destroyed home and gave him back full use of the Force. Immediately afterward, he was once again surrounded by Yuuzhan Vong captors, he surrendered and agreed to join their cause. He became the "khattazz al'Yun," or Avatar of God. Nom Anor intended to use Jacen to sacrifice his twin sister, Jaina, thus fulfilling an ancient Yuuzhan Vong prophecy.

But young Solo's true allegiance was his own. During a test of Jacen's faith, the Yuuzhan Vong ordered Solo to sacrifice a captured Jedi, Ganner Rhysode. Instead, the two Jedi turned against their captors. As Ganner valiantly held off the Yuuzhan Vong, Jacen confronted the World Brain controlling the transformation of Coruscant. The World Brain remembered the bond that Jacen had forged earlier, and Jacen suggested to it to work against the Yuuzhan Vong.

Ganner perished that day, though Jacen escaped with Vergere. He returned to the dwindling New Republic territories, haggard, thin and hardened. He was given a much needed vacation, but returned to frontline combat aboard the cruiser Ralroost. His ability to start the Jedi Meld was a large asset to Admiral Kre'fey and Jacen joined the Alliance Fleet with elements of Garm Bel Iblis's fleet in a large-scale deception at Ebaq 9. The battle was a victory, but resulted in the death of his latest mentor, and finally friend, Vergere. Her spectral form would, however, appear to him soon after.

As the newly formed Galactic Alliance emerged, Jacen accompanied his uncle Luke Skywalker into the Unknown Regions to seek a solution to the Yuuzhan Vong menace. Jacen would be instrumental in the search for Zonama Sekot and in the efforts to convince the living planet to join the fight against the Yuuzhan Vong. Jacen killed Supreme Overlord Onimi, who had been using Shimrra as a puppet, in a spectacular confrontation where he became one with the Force without dying. After the grueling final confrontation and the war's end, Jacen told Luke that he had decided to travel the galaxy to learn more about the Force, possibly studying with other Force-users like the Aing-Tii Monks, Witches of Dathomir and the Jensaarai.

After spending much time with different Force-based societies and religions around the galaxy in an attempt to find answers to his questions about the Force, Jacen felt an urge through the Force and followed his sister to the Unknown Regions to help the insectiod Killik against an invading Chiss force. He returned to Republic space after his parents, resulting in his uncle and aunt to come for him, Jaina, and the other Jedi that had been called to the Unknown Regions. He then travelled to the Hapes Cluster to ask his old friend and love interest Tenel Ka to assist with the Chiss/Killik conflict, believing that the fleet could act as a buffer between the Killiks/Chiss, which could buy them time to come up with a better solution. She obliged and sent a fleet of Hapan Battle Dragons to protect the Killiks. However, Raynar Thul admitted to Jaina that Jacen had grown more powerful then even he or the Killik collective mind could control, so it is doubtful that Jacen was under any kind of mind control when he made the request. One of the many abilities he has learned from his time spent with other Force-based societies is the "flow walk" ability which allows him to manipulate time and the destinies of people both past and future. This has impressed and concerned the Jedi Masters, who believe that the power to control destiny is too dangerous for anyone to wield. It was during this time when Tenel Ka gave birth to his daughter Allana, who was then attacked by the Gorog. Jacen successfully repelled the attack and kept his daughter safe, for now. Possessed with a strong fear of his daughter or Tenel Ka being harmed, Jacen used the Force to send Tenel Ka's grandmother (the person behind the attack) into a comatose state. Immediately after, he sees a vision of a neverending war that will destroy the galaxy, with the Killiks at the heart of it. Determined to save his daughter and the galaxy from his vision, he sets out to provoke the Chiss into destroying the Killiks. But by provoking a war, some believe he has helped his vision come true. Jacen later revealed that he never knew who started the war in his vision, supporting the theory that Jacen began the never-ending war.

Jacen's rationale for the preemptive strike was to keep the Chiss forces from starting a war on their own terms; and it succeeded to a point. His actions prevented a genocidal attempt by the Chiss to wipe out the Killiks. He was able to disrupt their ability to fully develop and deploy the biogenic weapon against the Killiks. But, despite young Solo's efforts, the war eventually did spread to the Galactic Alliance when Killik forces tried to dominate the Alliance's insectoid species. Under Jacen's advice however, the Jedi managed to prevent all of the strikes except one attack which targeted the Alliance's bacta supplies.

Luke Skywalker came to respect Jacen almost as much as a senior master, much to the dismay of Jacen's peers. He took his advice so many times that he even listened when Jacen told him that he was not ready to face Lomi Plo, the Dark Queen of the Gorog. Jacen, Mara and Luke knew that doubt and fear would make Lomi Plo invisible to her enemy. Jacen, along with R2-D2, helped Luke conquer some of his fears about Mara's involvement with the death of his R2 unit's creator, and then accompanied him to face Lomi Plo.

During the fight with Lomi Plo, Jacen's concern was realized when Luke faltered for a moment when Mara was injured and allowed doubt to enter his mind. This enabled Lomi Plo to hold him in place, unable to move. In that instant, Jacen was critically wounded by Lomi Plo while saving Mara Skywalker's life. A well-placed shot from Mara blasted Lomi Plo away, after which Mara tended to Jacen's wounds. While he and Mara recovered in a medical bay Jacen taught Luke not to run away from his pain and fear, but to accept and embrace it. It was through this knowledge that Luke was eventually able to eliminate his doubt and defeat the Dark Queen. This, in conjunction with the capture of Raynar Thul ended the Killik threat.

During the Dark Nest crisis, Jacen joined his uncle in watching holovideos of Anakin and Padme, and saw his grandmother's death and his grandfather's fall to the dark side. Jacen actually sympathizes with Anakin's desire to protect his wife (while disagreeing with the manner in which he did it) and reminds Luke that Anakin had only been a fallible human being. In the end, Jacen was left wondering what caused Anakin to succumb to the dark side. It remains to be seen whether he will repeat Anakin's mistakes in the Legacy of the Force series.

Jacen continues to serve as a Jedi, training his young cousin Ben Skywalker in the ways of the Force. After a successful mission to Adumar that ended in a life threatening attack, they returned for a dinner party at his parents, Han and Leia's new home. There Han voiced his concern over Corellia trying to gain independence. A while later, Jedi Master Luke Skywalker, ordered Jacen and Ben to go to disable the essential Centerpoint Station, an ancient artifact that Thrackan Sal-Solo, leader of Corellia, was trying to use to his advantage. Ben disabled the station while Jacen kept Thrackan busy, ensuring the Galactic Alliance's partial victory, as another fleet built in secret spoiled the main attack.

After the skirmish, a mission to Kuat was organised, where several Jedi went along with Grand Admiral Gilad Pellaeon to meet the Corellian Prime Minister Aidel Saxan. It was there Saxan was assassinated by troops sent by Thrackan Sal-Solo. A tassel was found in the ensuing investigation, one that contained several similarities to the Sith Code. Jacen and Ben went to the planet Lorrd, to follow up on this lead.

It was there they met fellow Jedi Nelani Dinn. Several suicides took place while they were on the planet, and Jacen and Nelani, missed the threat of one while they were arguing. Ben spotted the deception and warned everyone off. Jacen knew that some couldn't be saved, and two people died as a result of one of his decisions. Eventually they met a woman called Brisha Syo. She led them to an asteroid near Bimmiel, where they were to fight a Sith Lord. It was all a ruse however.

While travelling to the subterranean base, Ben and Nelani were forced out of a mining car. Then Brisha Syo created a dark side phantom of Luke Skywalker, to attack and very nearly kill Jacen. Eventually, Brisha stopped the projections and took Jacen to an office, where the supposed Sith Lord they were hunting, lived. After fighting force projections with Ben, Nelani caught up with them.

It was there that Brisha was revealed to be Lumiya, the Dark Lady of the Sith. She revealed that Vergere was a Sith apprentice, and that Jacen had already received Sith training. Jacen's resilience started to falter, and Nelani became worried that he was going to become a Sith. Lumiya said that Jacen was going to become the next Sith Lord. At that time Nelani stated that Lumiya was under arrest. Unsure of his next action, Jacen used the force to create visions of the future. It showed in each case where Lumiya was arrested, the galaxy being consumed in an endless war that would eventually place Jacen against Luke. The two fought in the vision, and Jacen killed his uncle. Horrified by what he had seen, Jacen decided to spare Lumiya. Nelani then tried to arrest the Sith but failed when Jacen intervened.

Jacen realized that Nelani would, if allowed to survive, possibly send the galaxy on the path to the future he had seen. He couldn't allow that, and pursued Nelani when she escaped. He caught up with her and defeated her. He had her at his mercy, and apologized to someone who had feelings for him, possibly romantic ones, before killing her. He agreed to think over what Lumiya had said and left the asteroid with an unconscious Ben. Jacen then erased Ben's memories of Lumiya (Brisha) and told him that both Lumyia and Nelani had been killed by dark side phantoms. They then returned to Coruscant. However, after Jacen departed, Lumiya was noted as saying that she had won, indicating that she was up to something. Because of the interest placed on Jacen some have speculated that he has just begun to realize his potential in the force. This is also implied by the idea that it is accepted that at sometime in the near future, Jacen Solo will be able to kill Luke Skywalker, indicating that Jacen becomes more powerful. Jacen now has two paths before him, and one of them is like his grandfather's, the way of the Sith.

Fully pledged to Lumiya, Jacen began to engage in much more morally questionable behavior. As the standoff with Corellia continued, Jacen became head of the GFFA's newly-formed secret police, the Galactic Alliance Guard. With Ben at his side, he began rounding up Corellians for internment and deportation. During an interrogation of a suspected assassin (who turned out to be Ailyn Vel, Boba Fett's daughter), Jacen tried to use the Force to extract information; he ended up killing her.

Jacen also took command of Rogue Squadron while it participated in the blockade of Corellia. He shot down a civilian freighter that was attempting to to run the blockade, then relieved his sister from duty because she had refused to do it. Lumiya said she was pleased by his progress, but instructed him that to truly become Sith he would have to undergo the Trial of Sacrifice: to kill that which he loved most. After much painful struggle Jacen decided there was only one way to fulfill this last obstacle; he would have to kill Tenel Ka and their daughter.

His family and relatives have each reacted differently to Jacen's changed personality. Mara is grateful that he has helped open Ben to the Force, and partially out of fear of alienating Ben, continues to defend Jacen. Though he does not want to acknowledge it, Luke realizes that Jacen is moving towards the dark side, but is extremely conflicted about how to face him. After learning what happened to Ailyn, Han told Jacen that he was no longer his son. Interestingly, Fett is the most clear-eyed about the affair. As he was personally acquainted with Darth Vader, he immediately recognizes that Jacen is following a Sith philosophy. Rather than share this information with the Solos and Skywalkers, Fett decides that letting Jacen run loose with his new power will be the best way to punish the galaxy for Ailyn's death. Complicating matters even more is a faction within the Jedi Order that recognize Jacen's ever-increasing Force powers and wish to grant him greater status in the Order feeling that this may bring him more compliance with the Order's ideals.

• Jacen's explorations into various Force traditions have often brought him into conflict with more conservative Jedi; not the least of which his own uncle Luke Skywalker. These conflicts can be traced to the beginning of the Yuuzhan Vong war, when Jacen was far less enthusiastic about using the Force for violence than other Jedi. His ordeal with Vergere, however, is seen by many fans as the point at which Jacen diverged from mainstream Jedi thought.

• After his five-year sabbatical studying various Force traditions, Jacen is now one of the most powerful Jedi in the galaxy. One of the many abilities he has learned from his time spent with other Force-based societies is the "flow walk" ability which allows him to manipulate time. Among other things, he has used this ability to view Anakin Skywalker during the massacre at the Jedi temple. Jacen's new abilities have impressed and concerned the Jedi Masters. Jacen believes that his willingness to embrace different teachings will allow him to accomplish great things (including, ultimately, the galaxy's salvation) while older, hidebound Jedi refuse to open their minds out of fear of the dark side. As of the events of Legacy of the Force: Bloodlines, Jacen considers himself to be the second most-powerful Jedi in the galaxy; he also believes that once he masters Sith teachings, he will be more powerful than Luke.

• Luke Skywalker represents the full power of Anakin Skywalker, had he ever lived to achieve his true potential. In addition, Jacen Solo himself has been the latest in-universe character to state that his former master is currently the most powerful Jedi in the Order. It is essential to remember, however, that raw potential does not necessarily correlate into actual ability.

• Jacen Solo on the Star Wars Databank
• Jacen Solo on Wookieepedia: The Star Wars Wiki
• Viridity: A Jacen Solo shrine and fanlisting