Jai Kell

Jai Kell's birth and upbringing occurred on the world of Lothal during the Imperial Era. During his younger years, he and his family once visited Pretor Flats in winter, finding it a beautiful place. While his mother was still alive, Kell's father had passed away two years prior to his enrollment at the Academy for Young Imperials in Lothal's Capital City. The Academy for Young Imperials served as a preparatory institution, lasting one year, to prepare Imperial cadets for more specialized senior academies. These senior academies trained cadets for careers with the Stormtroopers, Imperial Army, and Imperial Navy, respectively. Jai's motivation for joining the Empire was to see more of the galaxy and to achieve a high rank within the Galactic Empire.

During his time at the Imperial Academy, Jai was assigned to Unit Aurek, a small group of four within the larger cadet squad LRC-077. He formed friendships with his fellow Unit Aurek members, Zare Leonis and Pandak Symes. However, Jai had a strained relationship with Nazhros Oleg, who was generally disliked by the other cadets due to his selfish and bullying nature. Unbeknownst to Jai and the other cadets, Leonis was secretly a rebel sympathizer who had infiltrated the Academy in search of his missing sister, Dhara Leonis, who had disappeared during a field exercise the previous year. Throughout their two-week orientation, Jai and his fellow cadets participated in frequent running drills and field exercises under the guidance of Sergeant Currahee and Lieutenant Chiron. Like the other cadets, Jai viewed Currahee as a "witch" due to her volatile temper, even giving her the nickname "Curry." Jai also considered Lieutenant Chiron to be "inhuman" because of his exceptional running endurance.

One night, while Symes was asleep, Jai caught Oleg stealing Symes' chance cube from his footlocker. When Oleg claimed that Symes had cheated to win the cube, Jai defended Symes, asserting that he was not a cheater. This prompted Oleg to return the stolen cube. Jai then engaged in a conversation with Leonis about their backgrounds. After learning that Leonis was a recent migrant who had been born offworld, Jai asked Oleg about his origins. Oleg revealed that he was from the Outer Rim colony world of Eufornis Minor, and expressed his ambition to reach a senior academy so that he would not have to return to Lothal, which he dismissed as a "dirtball." Jai remained calm and did not take offense at the disparaging remark about his homeworld, instead commenting that the seniors would have to wait.

The following morning, Jai and his fellow cadets were awakened by Sergeant Currahee, who conducted a footlocker inspection. The strict Currahee found infractions with the entire Unit Aurek and reprimanded Kell and Leonis for having dirt on their boots. As a consequence, she issued three demerits to each cadet in the unit. Later that day, Symes struggled to keep pace with the other cadets and was frequently scolded by Sergeant Currahee. When Leonis attempted to assist Symes, Jai advised him against it, arguing that it was not his responsibility.

As the orientation period progressed, Jai and his fellow cadets were issued helmets and E-11 medium blaster rifles, which were standard equipment for the Imperial Military. Near the end of the orientation phase, Jai and his fellow Unit Aurek cadets participated in a training exercise that involved deploying from a Sentinel-class landing craft into a lake. After disembarking, Jai and the rest of Unit Aurek had to reassemble their rifles before embarking on an obstacle course to reach a designated destination. While navigating the obstacle course, the cadets had to avoid being hit by trainers using blasters set to stun mode.

For the obstacle course, Jai and Symes chose Leonis as their leader, overruling Oleg, who had desired the position for himself. Under Leonis' leadership, Unit Aurek advanced in a wedge formation, with Jai and Oleg flanking Leonis on the right. The four cadets also collaborated to incapacitate a trainer, with Jai and Oleg distracting him so that Leonis could sting him with his blaster. Recognizing that the trainers held the high ground, Leonis instructed his unit members to switch to a file formation. This tactic proved successful, and Unit Aurek achieved their objective. However, Symes suffered a nervous breakdown, and Leonis attempted to help him. Shortly thereafter, the exercise concluded, marking the end of the orientation phase. While Symes decided to withdraw from the Academy, Jai, along with Leonis and Oleg, chose to continue their training.

After successfully completing the orientation phase, Jai and his fellow cadets quickly adapted to the routine of Academy life. He and his fellow Unit Aurek members were overjoyed when Sergeant Currahee failed to find any infractions during an inspection drill. For the remainder of the term, Jai and the rest of squad LRC077 underwent a series of rigorous physical assessments designed to evaluate the cadets' physical abilities, mental sharpness, leadership qualities, and strategic adaptability. Most of these assessments took place in the Well, a specially designed facility within the Academy that could be remotely configured to simulate a wide range of obstacle courses.

For their initial assessment, the Well was transformed into a deep pit with a large retractable device known as the Pillar positioned in the center. Under the orders of Commandant Cumberlayne Aresko, the cadets were instructed to attach their harnesses to rings hanging from the Pillar. After the Pillar rose, carrying the cadets with it, Jai and his fellow cadets were ordered to climb down. While descending, Jai and the other cadets also had to navigate a series of floating repulsorlift platforms that detached from the wall of the pit.

Taking a daring maneuver, Jai unlocked his carabiner and jumped down two meters, landing on a platform. He managed to reattach his harness to a nearby ring before the platform beneath him began to retract. Jai was among the first three cadets to reach the bottom, finishing in third place behind Cadets de Grom and Wheeler. As a reward, he and the other winners received an extra dessert ration and a free period. To encourage competition, Commandant Aresko announced that future top three finishers would be rewarded with weekend passes and work details at Imperial headquarters.

During the second assessment, Jai and his fellow cadets had to climb up the Pillar while navigating retracting platforms. This time, Jai worked in a team with Zare to reach the top. Despite their efforts, Oleg managed to beat them to the top of the Pillar while pushing down another cadet named Lomus. While this training assessment appeared to reward selfishness, it was designed to simulate the competing priorities that Imperial officers would face when trying to complete a mission. During a third exercise conducted by Sergeant Currahee, Jai was again paired with Leonis. This exercise involved firing an old Clone Wars-era projectile launcher at targets. This time, the two cadets successfully completed their objective by striking a target with a direct hit.

Jai Kell became friends with Dev Morgan, a transfer cadet from Pretor Flats Academy, who had been sent to replace Pandak Symes. While Kell quickly grew fond of the newcomer's humor, Leonis was suspicious of Morgan and disliked his arrogance. Meanwhile, Oleg despised the newcomer for being a "moisture farmer" who was out of place in the big city. Despite being a newcomer, Morgan excelled in the assessments and seemed to be in the right place at the right time. Unbeknownst to Kell and the other cadets, Morgan was actually Ezra Bridger, an undercover rebel and Jedi-in-training who had been sent by his rebel cell to steal a decoder containing the coordinates for a kyber crystal shipment. Nonetheless, they became firm friends in the short time they knew each other.

As the term progressed, Kell and his fellow cadets embarked on a week of training assessments under the supervision of Commandant Aresko, who would decide which academies they would attend the following year. During the first training session, Unit Aurek and Unit Besh were tasked with using floating repulsorlift platforms to climb out of the Well. During the assessment, Kell noticed that Morgan had an uncanny ability to anticipate the platforms before they appeared. After a challenging exercise, Morgan, Kell, and Leonis were the first three candidates to emerge from the Well. Morgan and Kell's success during the exercise caught the attention of Commandant Aresko, who praised the two cadets for setting course records. As a reward, the three cadets were given work details at the Imperial Complex in Capital City.

While Jai was working at the Imperial Complex, Leonis caught Morgan attempting to remove the Imperial Security Bureau Agent Kallus' decoder from his office. Instead of reporting him, Leonis saved Morgan by warning him not to take it out through the door since it would cause the place to go into lockdown. After discussing their motives for resisting the Empire, Leonis and Morgan made an agreement to steal the decoder. To get back into Imperial Headquarters, the two cadets made an agreement to win the next assessment in the Well.

As a result of this secret agreement, Kell's relationship with Morgan would be tested during the next training assessment. This time, the cadets had to use their blasters to activate the repulsorlift platforms in order to race to the top. To guarantee Leonis a spot in the top three places, Morgan sabotaged Kell by shoving him from a repulsorlift platform, causing him to fall to the bottom of the Well. Due to his efforts to befriend Morgan, Jai was angered by what he perceived as competitive backstabbing. He was further hurt when Commandant Aresko used Morgan's example to teach the cadets that there was no friendship in war and that the only thing that mattered was victory. When he confronted his former friend, Morgan merely explained that he did what he had to do; though Bridger was genuinely remorseful, he was forced to do so in order to complete his mission. Jai sadly responded, "Good to know."

Morgan's seeming "betrayal" of Jai Kell during the assessment allowed him and Leonis to proceed with their plan to steal the decoder from Agent Kallus' office. While Leonis distracted Kallus with a fake procurement order, Bridger crawled into a ventilation shaft above the ISB agent's office and used the Force to levitate the decoder into his hands. An opportunity for Morgan to make amends with Kell surfaced when the rebel infiltrator overheard a conversation between Commandant Aresko and the Grand Inquisitor, a high-ranking Dark Side agent of the Empire tasked with hunting down Great Jedi Purge survivors and recruiting prospective Inquisitors. Aresko had identified Morgan and Kell as two cadets who fitted the Grand Inquisitor's "special criteria." The Grand Inquisitor informed Aresko that he would be visiting the Academy the following to inspect these cadets, and to take them into custody if they indeed met his requirements.

Realizing that Kell was Force-sensitive, Morgan informed Leonis. Unwilling to allow Kell to meet the same fate as his sister Dhara, Leonis and Morgan agreed that they had to warn Jai before it was too late. After passing the decoder to Morgan's rebel colleagues, the two cadets awoke Kell from his sleep that night and brought him to the storeroom lair. Due to Morgan's recent backstabbing, Kell was initially unwilling to believe his and Leonis' story, and thought that they were trying to get him "busted" from the Academy. He also questioned the Inquisitor's existence and even welcomed the idea of the Inquisitor training him, not knowing of the fate that would befall him.

Leonis managed to win over Jai after he recounted how his sister Dhara had disappeared under similar circumstances a year ago. Since Jai's only family was his mother, he realized that he would never be able to see her again if the Inquisitor took him away, nor would she ever know why he had disappeared. Realizing that he was in danger, Jai agreed to cooperate with Morgan and Leonis. The three cadets then devised a plan to escape from the Academy by winning the next challenge in the Well. Since Commandant Aresko had announced that the top three cadets would be allowed to ride an AT-DP walker, Dev devised an escape plan which involved using the walker to escape the Academy.

The following day, the three rebellious cadets proceeded with their plan. However, their plan encountered an unexpected setback when Oleg fired on Jai and Dev took the shot for him, saving Jai at the cost of his own spot in the top three. Jai and Leonis managed to win the challenge along with Oleg. Despite Jai's misgivings, Dev told him to "stick to the plan." While riding in the AT-DP walker, Kell and Leonis heard an explosion outside. This was Jai's signal to stun the walker's driver with the blaster he had been given. He then stunned Oleg when he tried to intervene. Leonis then took control of the walker and attempted to reach the bay doors, but came under attack from an Imperial Troop Transport. After being rejoined by Morgan, the three cadets managed to breach the Academy's gates.

Upon exiting the blast doors, Kell and Leonis were met by Morgan's rebel associates Garazeb Orrelios and Sabine Wren. While Jai and Morgan escaped with the rebels on a landspeeder, Leonis decided to stay behind to find his sister. To cover his involvement, Leonis pretended to shoot at the landspeeder. After escaping Capital City, Jai and his rebel rescuers fled to the plains of Lothal, where they rejoined the other crew of the Ghost, a modified VCX-100 light freighter which served as the main base of the Spectres. The rebel cell's leader, Hera Syndulla, agreed to help Jai and his mother hide from the Empire, though Jai seemed pessimistic about their chances of success.

At some point during the ensuing four years, Jai became a member of the Lothal resistance group, headed by the former governor Ryder Azadi. During this time, the Empire initiated the construction and development of TIE/d "Defender" Multi-Role Starfighters on Lothal, overseen by Grand Admiral Thrawn. Eventually, a more advanced model of the Defender, the Elite, was created. By this point, Lothal was under strict lockdown, but Ryder managed to send a message to Alliance High Command on Yavin 4 regarding the fighter. Shortly after, Jho, a member of the Lothal resistance, was captured during an Imperial raid, and executed soon after. Ryder dispatched Jai to the Pit Stop, the cantina formerly owned by Jho, to await the arrival of the Spectres, as they were familiar with the location and unaware of the changed circumstances. When Ezra Bridger and Sabine Wren, disguised as civilians, entered the now-Imperial-owned bar, Jai was present.

He recognized them when Bridger mentioned to the cantina's new owner, Baron Valen Rudor, that he had frequented the place when it was still owned by Jho. When Bridger and Sabine were nearly detained by stormtroopers as they attempted to leave, Jai intervened to extricate them, calling Bridger "Oleg" as a hint to his identity. Bridger did not immediately recognize Jai, as they had not seen each other in years. When the rebels' attempt to escape from Jhothal in a landspeeder was thwarted, Jai led them to an entrance to the town's sewers, which Jho had maintained as an escape route. After being pursued by stormtroopers, the rebels found their way to the correct exit, where they were met by Ryder and escaped in his U-wing.

Jai later lent a hand in the search for Bridger and Sabine. Their disappearance followed their theft of the advanced TIE Defender Elite prototype. Not long after this, Jai, accompanied by Bridger and Zeb, was tasked with recovering the hyperdrive from the Defender Elite. Bridger and Sabine had concealed it amongst the rocks near the prototype's wreckage. Donning disguises, he and Bridger posed as scout troopers. Shortly after Bridger and Zeb located the hyperdrive, Thrawn's assassin, Rukh, materialized, aiming to aid in the hunt for the Rebels. He immediately detected the scent of the Lasat, Zeb. Sensing that Zeb was not alone, he moved towards the Rebels' location. Jai, acting as lookout, warned Bridger and Zeb about the assassin's approach. While Zeb focused on the hyperdrive, Bridger tried to delay Rukh.

With Jai providing support, Bridger attempted to convince Rukh that they were legitimate scout troopers who had just completed their search of the area. However, the Noghri's heightened sense of smell foiled their ruse, leading to a confrontation. Bridger revealed his Jedi abilities by using the Force to push Rukh away from Jai, just before they made their escape on a speeder bike. Rukh and two scout troopers pursued them. Meanwhile, Zeb successfully evaded the Imperials and commandeered a troop transport to escape and return to the Rebel camp. Rukh and the troopers chased Jai and Bridger through a complex network of rock formations.

During the pursuit, Rukh managed to secretly attach a homing beacon to Jai and Bridger's bike. Consequently, after the two escaped, Rukh was able to relay the Rebel camp's coordinates to Governor Arihnda Pryce once the Rebels arrived. As the Imperials attacked the camp, Sabine had just finished installing the hyperdrive on Ryder's U-wing. Hera and Chopper quickly managed to escape Lothal with the stolen flight data recorder from the Elite. Jai fled the camp in a landspeeder filled with crates, promising to reconnect with the others later.

Later on, Jai was present at the new base of the Lothal rebels, located in the southern hemisphere. When Alliance High Command sanctioned an attack on the planet's Imperial Armory Complex, Jai assisted Ryder and the Spectres in setting explosives on the anti-air turrets protecting the factory complex. He, along with the others, witnessed the Rebel fighters dispatched for the attack being shot down by a second wave of Imperial fighters over Lothal City, forcing them to retreat to their base.

After Hera's unsuccessful air strike and subsequent capture, Jai, along with Ryder and Mart Mattin, observed as the Spectres Bridger, Sabine, Zeb, and Chopper constructed three Loth-bat gliders for their mission to rescue Hera Syndulla. Despite successfully rescuing Hera, Kanan perished when Governor Arihnda Pryce bombarded the Lothal City fuel depot. Later, Jai, Ryder, and Mart listened to a propaganda broadcast by Alton Kastle, who claimed that the rebel cause on Lothal was lost. However, the Spectres later discovered that Kanan's sacrifice had not been in vain, as the explosion had disabled Thrawn's TIE Defender factory.

Jai Kell later took part in the scheme devised by Bridger and Ryder Azadi to ensnare Governor Pryce at the Lothal cliff dwelling. This was the initial move in Bridger's strategy to liberate Lothal from Imperial control. As part of the plan, Ryder feigned betrayal of the rebels, revealing their coordinates to Governor Pryce in exchange for his freedom from imprisonment.

Before the assault, Jai and Mart Mattin detected movement on the outskirts of the camp. Soon after, Governor Pryce launched an attack on the camp using a fleet of patrol transports, jump troopers, and stormtroopers. The Imperial forces eventually cornered the rebel defenders atop the Mining Guild ore crawler. Despite being overwhelmed and captured by the Imperial forces, the rebels were rescued by Hera's reinforcements and a pack of loth-wolves. Consequently, the Imperials were defeated and Governor Pryce was captured. Shortly thereafter, a rebel strike team led by Bridger successfully infiltrated the Imperial Complex, ultimately destroying it and liberating Lothal. However, to save his fellow rebels, Bridger summoned a group of purrgil, which defeated Lothal's Imperial blockade and carried him, Grand Admiral Thrawn, and the crew of the Chimaera into hyperspace.

In 9 ABY, Kell had risen to the position of Senator of Lothal and participated in a ceremony to commemorate the liberation of Lothal and to honor the Jedi, Commander Ezra Bridger, who had vanished during the liberation. After Sabine Wren, one of the heroes, could not be found, Ryder Azadi, the governor of Lothal, requested that he say a few words, to which he agreed with some reservation.

Jai Kell was known as a friendly and good-natured cadet who got along well with others. Possessing a keen sense of humor, he generally avoided becoming entangled in arguments. When Nazhros Oleg, another cadet, referred to his homeworld of Lothal as a "dirtball," Kell simply changed the subject and went to sleep. Kell also managed to endure the demanding training regimen at the Academy for Young Imperials by finding aspects to satirize. On one occasion, he quipped that Drill Sergeant Currahee subsisted on blaster gas and molten carbonite. Physically fit and agile, Kell also possessed Force sensitivity, though he remained unaware of this until his encounter with Dev Morgan.

As a loyal citizen of the Empire, Jai had enlisted in the Academy with the aspiration of becoming an Imperial Military officer. He also harbored a desire to explore the galaxy and admired the Galactic Empire for its efforts in rebuilding civilization and defeating the Separatists. Jai viewed the Empire as a positive influence in the galaxy, curbing corruption and ensuring safety by combating slavers and pirates. Furthermore, he appreciated the employment opportunities that the Empire had brought to his home planet of Lothal. While Kell initially doubted the reports of Zare Leonis and Dev Morgan regarding the Grand Inquisitor, he eventually accepted their claims after Leonis recounted the suspicious disappearance of his sister, Dhara. Jai was also deeply attached to his mother, as his father had passed away some time earlier, and it was the realization that he might never see her again that convinced him to escape the Academy.

Jai Kell made his debut as a supporting character in the Star Wars Rebels episode "Breaking Ranks," which aired on October 27, 2014. His background and character development were further explored in Jason Fry's Rebel in the Ranks, the second novel in the Servants of the Empire young adult series, which served as a supplement to Star Wars Rebels. He was voiced by Dante Basco in Rebels and portrayed by Vinny Thomas in the first episode of Ahsoka.