Formerly an accountant for the Galactic Republic, the Human male named Joram Kithe was temporarily made a lieutenant within Republic Intelligence to scrutinize the effectiveness of clone troopers on the world of Pengalan IV. This assignment took a turn for the worse, and Kithe unexpectedly found himself in charge of leading the remaining survivors off the planet, all while taking out a missile production facility. Throughout this ordeal, Kithe overcame his self-acknowledged cowardice and selfishness, forming bonds with the clones under his leadership and sharing the dangers they faced.
Following this experience, Kithe opted to remain an intelligence agent, discovering a renewed sense of purpose in the fight against the Clone Wars. His accomplishments led the Republic to establish a pilot program that integrated bureaucrats, leveraging their analytical capabilities, into field intelligence roles. On a mission to Tarhassan, Kithe observed firsthand the shortcomings of this program. Despite the challenges posed by overly bureaucratic agents, he managed to prevent the mission's failure and successfully complete it by utilizing his developing skills.
Joram Kithe, a Human male with a light complexion and black hair, was orphaned at the tender age of three due to an airspeeder mishap. Consequently, his childhood years were marked by a series of relocations among various relatives, preventing him from establishing a stable sense of belonging. Upon reaching adulthood, Kithe successfully persuaded his wealthy and affectionate Aunt Tagdel to fund his diverse educational pursuits. Kithe enrolled in the Airspeeders for Bodyguards and Security Specialists course on Coruscant, the galactic capital planet, the Success Through Charismatic Influence course on Commenor, the Xenoecoengineering Financial Principles course on Muunilinst, and the Subaquatic Manufacturing Economies course on Mon Calamari. Eventually, Tagdel insisted that he secure employment. Leveraging her position within the Galactic Republic's Ministry of Finance, Tagdel secured her nephew a position in the Department of Cost Accounting. Despite Kithe's self-description as indolent and timid, he possessed the necessary skills for the role and appeared content with his situation.
With the outbreak of the Clone Wars, Kithe was tasked with observing the performance of the newly deployed clone troopers on Pengalan IV and compiling a report on their effectiveness. Unbeknownst to him, the specific group of troopers he was assigned to were Advanced Recon Commandos. Kithe was meant to believe that their exceptional performance was representative of all regular troopers.
However, the assault turned out to be a trap. The supposed diamond boron missiles factory was, in reality, a heavily fortified decoy, leading to the decimation of the Republic's assault force. Kithe's gunship was shot down. Due to his temporary rank as a lieutenant in Republic Intelligence, the surviving troopers placed him in command, despite his lack of genuine military expertise or background. Kithe assigned nicknames to the troopers and encouraged them to develop independence and deviate from rigid procedures. He delegated the majority of command responsibilities to Tooth, a trooper who had won a straw drawing for command before Kithe awoke and revealed his temporary commission. Kithe only intervened to prevent the troopers from strictly adhering to protocol when he believed it would hinder the mission's progress.
Eventually, Kithe and the troopers made their way to Tur Lorkin, the nearest village. Drawing upon his accountant training, Kithe discerned that something was amiss with the town—it lacked any discernible economic activity. While attempting to steal a ship for escape, he and Tooth discovered that the village was, in fact, the location of the diamond boron missile factory, and the other factory had been a diversion. Upon realizing this, the troopers resolved to complete their initial objective. Despite his strong survival instincts urging him to seize one of the available ships at Tur Lorkin's spaceport and flee, Kithe's sense of duty compelled him to join his men in destroying the factory.
Kithe was deeply affected by the deaths of several troopers, including Tooth, who sacrificed himself to disable one of the ships at Tur Lorkin as a diversion. Even after the troopers revealed their status as Advanced Recon Commandos, considering him one of their own, Kithe chose to uphold the high rating he had given the clone troopers. He reasoned that there was a purpose behind the deception, and without knowing what that purpose was, it was too risky to expose it.
His financial acumen proving vital in uncovering the planet's true nature, coupled with his demonstrated aptitude in this new field, Kithe remained with Republic Intelligence. He was assigned Mapper, a clone trooper recovering from a leg injury that prevented him from rejoining his unit, as his bodyguard and partner. Kithe's achievements even spurred the recruitment of bureaucrats from other Republic branches into Intelligence.
Much to his dismay, Kithe was compelled to collaborate with one of these bureaucratic teams on Tarhassan. His three fellow agents, complete novices, were constrained by bureaucratic red tape and procedures that Kithe found frustratingly pointless and counterproductive. Tasked with rescuing a captured Republic Intelligence agent, Edbit Teeks, Kithe, alongside Mapper, had to subtly guide his inexperienced mission commander, Cherek Tuhm, and the other two agents to ensure the mission's success without any casualties.
Unexpectedly thrust into the role of a seasoned agent, Kithe exhibited considerable skill, outmaneuvering Tuhm to prevent the unnecessary execution of a prisoner, uncovering information about Teeks that the group had overlooked, and averting the failure of their prison infiltration plan. Throughout, Kithe honored his commitment to Tuhm to follow all his directives, a commitment he was forced to uphold after he saved the group hours of work and effort by swiftly capturing a target—but going outside the bounds of the tightly planned mission agenda in doing so.
During that phase of the operation, Kithe found Tinian Hanther to be surprisingly promising as an agent. After Teeks was rescued, Kithe proudly welcomed her into intelligence service.
Joram Kithe's nomadic upbringing prevented him from forming strong attachments to any particular place. This resulted in an inability to commit to a single career and a constant pursuit of diverse educational and professional paths. Furthermore, Kithe regarded himself as lazy and cowardly and was largely unconcerned by it. However, he may have been more principled than he thought. Kithe could have turned down his mission to Pengalan but did not. Despite his protestations of selfishness, he did have a sense of duty, which Pengalan touched.
Kithe was not obligated to remain in Republic Intelligence, yet he chose to do so. He appeared to relish the sense of purpose, and even duty, that accompanied the job, although he occasionally reverted to selfish tendencies. However, he was generally quite committed and professional, a great improvement from his performance early on Pengalan.
Kithe possessed a wide range of skills acquired from his extensive educational endeavors, which contributed to his effectiveness as an operative. In addition to advanced economic skills and data analysis abilities, he was also a reasonably skilled pilot. He was adept at persuasion and even deception and gained proficiency in the use of weapons and spy technology and tactics as his career went on.
Joram Kithe was created by Aaron Allston for the Star Wars Insider 65 short story The Clone Wars: The Pengalan Tradeoff, published in 2003. Allston later included the character in the Star Wars Insider 73 short story League of Spies, published in 2004.