Exar Kun was a Dark Lord of the Sith who flourished thousands of years before Darth Sidious and his Sith apprentice Darth Maul. According to the Qel-Droma Epics, Kun was a former Jedi who turned to the dark side of the Force and became a Sith Lord, leading a Sith Empire with fellow fallen Jedi Ulic Qel-Droma around 4000 BBY. According to the Qel-Droma Epics, the double-bladed lightsaber design dated back to Exar Kun.
During the Imperial Era, crime lord Dryden Vos owned a desk with an obsidian slab as its base, which he had plundered from a Sith temple. The stone was carved with the warding spells, as well as an inscription reading "Our temple honouring Sith Lord Exar Kun."
Exar Kun in the Star Wars Legends continuity
Exar Kun was first mentioned in the current Star Wars canon in Nexus of Power, a 2016 supplement to the Star Wars roleplaying products made by Fantasy Flight Games. The character was created by Kevin J. Anderson and originated in the Star Wars Legends continuity, where he first appeared, albeit unnamed, in the 1994 novel Jedi Search before being fully introduced in the sequel released that same year, Dark Apprentice. When creating the character, Anderson was initially unsure whether Kun should be a Dark Lord of the Sith or a "Dark Jedi," finally making his decision when George Lucas voted on the former.
In the 2018 reference book The Art of Solo: A Star Wars Story, Solo: A Star Wars Story set decorator described the obsidian stone used as the base for crime lord Dryden Vos's desk aboard the First Light as having been plundered by Vos from the Sith temple of Exar Kun. Half of the inscription on the base can be seen in the film, while the rest can be seen in the reference book Solo: A Star Wars Story The Official Guide.
The 2016 reference book Star Wars: Galactic Atlas contains an illustration of a building resembling the depiction of the Temple of Exar Kun from the 2003 video game Star Wars Galaxies. The 2021 reference book "Scarif and Other Planets in the Outer Rim," a part of De Agostini's Star Wars Encyclopedia series contains the Ralph McQuarrie depiction of the temple from the 1995 reference book The Illustrated Star Wars Universe. Both depictions feature a statue of Exar Kun, however, no connection has been made between them.
- Nexus of Power
- Solo: A Star Wars Story The Official Guide
- The Art of Solo: A Star Wars Story
- Gadgets and Gear