Kybo Ren, whose full name is Gir Kybo Ren-Cha, was a male Ropagu pirate who roamed the space lanes during the early years of the Galactic Empire. He hailed from the planet of Tarnoonga, where he also maintained his base. Ren's crew were notorious for their frequent attacks on shipping near the planet Tammuz-an. In 15 BBY, Kybo Ren orchestrated the capture of the Demolisher, a Gladiator-class Star Destroyer, from an Imperial repair facility. He intended to use it in a large raid on Tammuz-an itself. To weaken the Tammuz-an space navy, Ren seized a transport vessel carrying crucial fuel supplies destined for the planet. However, the transport's crew managed to escape, which forced Ren to commence his attack prematurely. As the Demolisher engaged in battle with the naval forces of the Tammuz-an King Mon Julpa, the droids R2-D2 and C-3PO cleverly sabotaged the Star Destroyer. This act of sabotage left the ship disabled, ultimately leading to Ren's capture. He was then imprisoned on Tammuz-an. However, his first mate, Jyn Obah, later rescued him. Following his escape, he kidnapped Princess Gerin Toda, the daughter of the Tammuz-an warrior-chieftain Lord Malameu Toda, holding her as a hostage. Ren then fled to the Bog moon of Bogden, demanding that Toda release his captured crew and surrender Mon Julpa in exchange for his daughter's freedom. Toda seemingly agreed to Ren's demands, but secretly concealed himself and a squad of Tammuz-an soldiers aboard Ren's modified attack ship, the Dianoga, which was to transport the pirates to Bogden. When Ren attempted to break his promise to release Gerin, Toda's troops revealed themselves, resulting in Ren's recapture during the subsequent skirmish.
Gir Kybo Ren-Cha, more commonly known as Kybo Ren, was a male Ropagu who came from the planet of Tarnoonga located in the Outer Rim Territories. During the early years of the Galactic Empire, he established himself as a pirate captain. His crew, which was primarily made up of non-Human members, used a base that was constructed within an island mountain rising from the ocean on his homeworld. Ren's crew utilized a number of captured Imperial TIE fighters, which were adorned with their gang's emblem: a stylized red wampa skull painted on the solar panel wings. Ren's personal vessel was a modified attack ship called the Dianoga, which also displayed the pirates' emblem.
Ren's operations frequently took place in the space surrounding the planet Tammuz-an, where he would conduct raids on convoys that were traveling to the planet. Recognizing the immense wealth of Tammuz-an, he began planning a large-scale assault against the planet itself in 15 BBY. To gain an advantage over Tammuz-an's naval forces, he stole the Demolisher, a Gladiator-class Star Destroyer, from an Imperial repair dock and converted it into his personal flagship. Knowing that the Empire would inevitably search for their missing ship, he planned to scuttle the vessel on a remote planet after it had served its purpose, thus eliminating any evidence that could link him to the theft.
Shortly before launching his attack on Tammuz-an, Ren was aboard the Dianoga when a small freighter, piloted by a young woman named Jessica Meade, entered the system. This freighter was transporting the Tammuz-an heir apparent, Prince Mon Julpa, back to his home planet. Ren's ship engaged the transport, skillfully evading return fire to position itself in the freighter's path. As Ren approached his target, preparing to disable its engines, the two ships collided. The pirates quickly recovered, but Meade and her passengers managed to abandon ship before Ren resumed firing, destroying the freighter. Unbeknownst to the pirates, Ko Zatec-Cha, Julpa's rival, had hired the bounty hunter IG-88B to capture the Prince. Determined to protect his bounty, IG-88B's starfighter fired upon the Dianoga, enabling Meade and Julpa to safely reach Tammuz-an.
Not long after, Ren received information about a fuel shipment en route to Tammuz-an, intended to supply the planet's starfighter defenses. Recognizing that the absence of this fuel would leave Tammuz-an vulnerable to attack, Ren decided to seize it. The newly appointed King Mon Julpa anticipated Ren's intentions and dispatched a decoy shipment in advance, hoping to deter the pirate. However, Ren's spies informed him about the decoy, allowing him to let it pass while awaiting the arrival of the real shipment. The fuel transport, named King's Ransom, soon arrived, piloted by Jessica Meade and escorted by an R-22 Spearhead flown by the Human pilot Jann Tosh. Ren's TIE fighters launched an attack, engaging Tosh in a dogfight and allowing Ren to approach the King's Ransom in the Dianoga. After docking with the freighter, the pirates breached the vessel's hull, and Ren personally led the boarding party, taking control of the ship, its crew, and its cargo. When C-3PO, Tosh's protocol droid, contacted his master to warn him, Ren demanded Tosh's surrender. The pilot complied, and the Dianoga, still connected to Meade's ship, used a tractor beam to capture Tosh's fighter before returning to Tarnoonga.
Upon returning to his base, Ren ordered his prisoners to be brought before him in his throne room. The pirate captain had become infatuated with Meade's spirited nature and kept her as his "personal guest." With his crew finalizing preparations for the attack on Tammuz-an, Ren was unwilling to risk Tosh interfering with his plans and ordered the young pilot's execution. Tosh, along with C-3PO and the astromech droid R2-D2, were taken on a skiff out to sea. Ren forced Tosh and the droids to walk the plank, leaving them to be devoured by the predatory miridon creatures that inhabited the area, before returning to his base.
Later, Ren discovered Meade attempting to escape from her quarters. He tried to persuade her to stay with him willingly, promising to acquire kingdoms for her with the wealth of Tammuz-an. Meade pretended to be swayed by Ren's offer and, activating a nearby training remote, asked him to demonstrate his skills. Ren eagerly obliged, chasing the remote around the room in an attempt to catch it. While Ren was momentarily distracted, Meade tried to slip out of the room, but was stopped by Jyn Obah, Ren's first mate, who informed his captain that Tosh and the droids had survived and returned to the base to rescue Meade. Leaving Obah to guard Meade, Ren set out to intercept the intruders.
Ren soon arrived at the base's combined hangar and sea dock, only to find it under attack by miridon, which had followed Tosh into the base. Spotting Tosh and the droids, Ren attempted to capture them, but Meade, who had escaped from Obah, surprised him and trapped him in a net. The pirate quickly freed himself and ordered his crew to stop Tosh, Meade, and the droids from escaping. However, his crew was preoccupied with fending off the miridon, and the group managed to escape in the King's Ransom and Tosh's R-22. With his plans jeopardized, Ren ordered the immediate attack on Tammuz-an.
As Ren's fighters launched, the pirate captain made his way to the Demolisher and intercepted Tosh as the young pilot attempted to leave the system. Tosh's R-22 was caught in a tractor beam and brought aboard the Demolisher, where Ren had Tosh imprisoned and forced C-3PO and R2-D2 to load torpedoes. With Tosh and the droids in custody, Ren initiated the hyperspace jump to Tammuz-an, pursuing Meade. The Star Destroyer reverted to realspace near Meade's fuel transport, and Ren opened fire, destroying the ship moments after Meade escaped in an escape pod. The small explosion surprised Ren, who realized that the transport had been empty. At that moment, Tosh, who had been freed by C-3PO and R2-D2 during the journey to Tammuz-an, arrived on the bridge. Tosh revealed that the transport had been a decoy and that the real fuel shipment had already reached Tammuz-an. Ren was enraged by the deception, but remained confident that the Demolisher would secure his victory over the approaching Tammuz-an navy. While his TIE fighters engaged Tammuz-an R-22s, Ren prepared to target Mon Julpa's capital ships. However, unbeknownst to Ren, R2-D2 had sabotaged the Demolisher's torpedoes, loading them in reverse, causing them to backfire upon launch. The resulting explosions crippled the Star Destroyer's engines and systems, rendering it disabled.
Julpa sent transports to collect the stranded pirates, and Ren was incarcerated in the dungeon of Julpa's castle located in Tammuz-an's capital city. In an effort to unite his people against future invaders, Julpa began negotiating a peace treaty with Lord Malameu Toda, the Tammuz-an warrior-chieftain. During these discussions, Jyn Obah infiltrated the fortress and freed Ren from his cell. The two pirates made their way to the castle's landing pad, where they encountered Mon Julpa with Toda's daughter, Princess Gerin. Obah used a stunner to incapacitate Julpa, but Gerin seized the weapon and turned it on Ren. As C-3PO rushed to assist, the pirate captain grabbed the droid and threw him at Gerin, causing her to drop the weapon. After using the stunner on Gerin, Ren boarded an R-22 Spearhead with her as his hostage and escaped, leaving Obah to be captured.
Ren fled to the bog moon of Bogden, where he established a temporary prison in a freighter hidden within the swamps. He warned Gerin that any attempt to escape her cell would leave her at the mercy of the wild sungwas that infested the ship. The pirate contacted Toda and Julpa, demanding the release of his crew in exchange for the princess's safe return. The two Tammuz-an leaders agreed, but, having learned the location of Ren's hideout from Obah, dispatched Tosh, Meade, C-3PO, and R2-D2 to launch a rescue mission. After reaching the princess, the group attempted to escape the ship, only to be attacked by a pack of sungwas. Observing the events from the freighter's bridge, Ren was confident that the interlopers would not survive the predators and contacted Toda and Julpa once more, informing them that the rescue had failed and demanding that Toda now surrender Julpa to him as a result of their deception. Blaming Julpa for his daughter's kidnapping, Toda agreed.
Meade and R2-D2, who had separated from the rest of the group and evaded the sungwas, attempted to confront Ren, but were incapacitated by a force field as they reached the bridge. After contacting Obah aboard the Dianoga to ensure that his crew was not being followed, Ren left Meade and R2-D2 tied up in vines and set off to find Tosh, Gerin, and C-3PO. After Ren left, however, his prisoners freed themselves and used the ship's intercom to warn their friends, who took cover as Ren searched the corridor in which they were hiding. Hearing a noise around the corner, Ren thought he had found his quarry, but instead found himself facing a pack of sungwas. The predators gave chase, but Ren managed to evade them and proceeded to the hangar, where the Dianoga had arrived in time for Ren's crew to stop the rescue party as they attempted to escape. The captive Julpa told Ren to uphold his end of the bargain and release Gerin. When Ren refused, Julpa gave a signal, and Toda emerged from a hidden compartment built into the hull of the Dianoga, along with several guards. Ren attempted to escape during the ensuing firefight between his crew and the Tammuz-an soldiers, but he was intercepted by C-3PO and recaptured.
Ren-Cha was a Ropagu of short stature and portly build, characterized by dark brown eyes and easily identified by his long, drooping mustache and small goatee. Ren typically wore a helmet, which concealed most of his black hair, which had thinned considerably by the early years of the Galactic Empire. As a notorious pirate, Ren was willing to resort to violence to achieve his objectives and commanded a large, well-organized pirate group. While he primarily targeted convoys traveling near Tammuz-an, Ren was known to conduct more daring raids on occasion. He acquired Imperial military equipment, including the Demolisher, a Gladiator-class Star Destroyer, and numerous TIE fighters, with the ultimate goal of attacking Tammuz-an itself to plunder the planet's wealth. Ren's success fostered extreme egotism; he held court on a throne in his base on Tarnoonga, frequently boasted about his accomplishments, and referred to himself by name. He demanded immediate obedience from his subordinates, issuing commands in a raspy voice to anyone within earshot and often erupting in a boisterous, bellowing laugh.
Although Ren personally led his pirates on raids, he prioritized his own safety. When Jyn Obah rescued him from imprisonment on Tammuz-an, Ren fled, leaving Obah to be captured after they were confronted during their escape. However, Ren later attempted to secure the release of his crew, including Obah, in exchange for the return of Princess Gerin. Ren became captivated by Jessica Meade's fiery spirit and intended to hold her captive on Tarnoonga as his "personal guest," promising to acquire kingdoms for her with the wealth of Tammuz-an. However, his advances were not reciprocated, and his attempts to impress Meade nearly allowed her to escape. Ren's crew primarily consisted of non-Humans, and he was fluent in a language used among his crew, in addition to Basic.
Peter Sauder created Gir Kybo Ren-Cha for the 1985 Nelvana animated series Star Wars: Droids. Ren made a brief appearance in the second episode of the second story arc, "The New King," which was first broadcast on October 12, 1985. He then served as the main antagonist in the two subsequent episodes, "The Pirates of Tarnoonga" and "The Revenge of Kybo Ren," broadcast on October 19 and October 26 respectively. Don Francks voiced Ren in all of his appearances. The character was only referred to as Kybo Ren-Cha in Droids; his full name was revealed in the second edition of A Guide to the Star Wars Universe in 1994.