Kal Skirata

Born on the planet of Kuat, Falin Mattran was the son of a Kuat Drive Yards engineer and his spouse. Around the age of six, Mattran's family relocated to Surcaris due to his father's engineering contract on KDY warships stationed there. Shortly after their arrival, war erupted on Surcaris, resulting in the death of both of Falin's parents and his subsequent orphaning. He managed to salvage a three-sided knife from his father's body. Being alone, he taught himself to wield the knife, eventually achieving remarkable accuracy.

After a year of surviving amidst the war-torn ruins of Surcaris, Mattran was found by a Mandalorian named Munin Skirata, whom he immediately attacked with his father's knife. Amused rather than angered by the attack, Munin decided to adopt Mattran into his Mandalorian clan. He renamed him Kal Skirata—"Kal" meaning "blade" in Mando'a—and undertook the responsibility of training the young Kal. Munin Skirata, his Mandalorian father, emphasized how important it was to embrace his new Mandalorian heritage for his future.

Skirata later married Ilippi, who was not a Mandalorian, and they had three children: Tor, Ijaat, and Ruusaan. However, she struggled with his frequent absences and refused to allow their eight-year-old sons to accompany him into battle, as per Mandalorian custom. Eventually, Ilippi left him, taking all three children with her.

Early in his career as a mercenary, he suffered a shattered ankle from a Verpine shatter gun due to his disobedience. This injury became a persistent issue throughout his career, only being resolved after his adopted clone sons insisted on surgery.

When Jango Fett was recruiting the Cuy'val Dar, Kal was brought in due to fellow Cuy'val Dar Walon Vau's recommendation because of Jango’s initial reluctance and low opinion. He and Jango shared a long and complex history. Kal was a zealous Mandalorian traditionalist and deeply committed to the well-being of his troops.

Upon Ilippi's passing, Kal's sons attempted to reach him with the news. However, the extreme secrecy surrounding the clone army prevented him from contacting them. Unable to locate him for their mother's funeral, they severed their familial ties with him. While this was considered a significant disgrace among Mandalorians, Kal believed it was a worthwhile sacrifice for the safety of the clones he had grown to care for deeply.

Eight years prior to the Battle of Geonosis, Kal arrived on Kamino in response to Jango Fett's call for trainers for the clones. He joined the ranks of the Cuy'val Dar—a Mandalorian term meaning "those who no longer exist." He was repulsed by the arrogance and indifference of the Kaminoans towards the "reconditioning" (a euphemism for the killing) of clone children who failed to meet quality standards.

Kal's first encounter with the Nulls occurred when the Kaminoan technicians deemed them failures and intended to destroy them. Null-11 and Null-7 tried to protect themselves and their brothers, with Null-7 stealing Kal's hold-out blaster from his boot and Null-11 aiming at Kaminoan Orun Wa. Although Kal had little concern for the Kaminoan scientist's fate, he dissuaded Null-11 out of fear of repercussions for the boy.

Developing a strong empathy for the clones, Kal took the Nulls under his protection. He gave them names, personally trained them, and instilled Mandalorian values and heritage in them. The Nulls, in turn, held Kal in high regard and only obeyed his orders. During his time there, he also cultivated alliances and contacts with numerous other Cuy'val Dar, fostering close relationships with Walon Vau, Wad'e Tay'haai, Mij Gilamar, Rav Bralor, Dred Priest, and various other Mandalorians.

Kal's contract as a Cuy'val Dar concluded with the Battle of Geonosis. However, after the battle, when the Null ARCs were slated for stasis, they resisted and seized control of an entire barracks block. Skirata was summoned under willing CSF arrest to help pacify the Nulls. He agreed on the condition that he would be reinstated into the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) and that the Nulls would face no punishment.

A year into the war, following several terrorist attacks on GAR facilities, Skirata assembled a covert black ops team. This team consisted of himself, fellow Cuy'val Dar Walon Vau, clone commando squads Delta and Omega, Null ARCs Ordo and Mereel, and Jedi Generals Etain Tur-Mukan and Bardan Jusik. Their mission was to locate and eliminate Separatist terror cells operating on Coruscant.

For the operation, Ordo procured a substantial cache of explosives from GAR facilities. Skirata leveraged his criminal connections in the underbelly of Coruscant to pose as a seller of explosives. Once contact was established with the terror cell, the teams were assigned different objectives. Omega and Delta Squads, along with Jusik and Tur-Mukan, tracked the members of the terror cell. Walon Vau served as the interrogator for captured prisoners. Upon the exchange between Skirata and the terror cells, a strike was launched to eliminate all members of the cell.

During the mission, Kal developed an affinity for Bardan and considered him worthy of being his son. Subsequently, he persuaded General Zey to allow clone trooper Corr (an injured ordnance disposal trooper who had been swept up into the team during the investigation) to remain with him and train as a commando. It was also during this time that he discovered Etain's pregnancy with clone commando Darman and declared that he would raise the child in the proper "Mandalorian" way. He also expressed his disapproval of Etain's decision to withhold the news of her pregnancy from Darman, viewing it as an act of "using" him, similar to how the Republic exploited its clone army.

Several months after the Coruscant mission, Kal Skirata, accompanied by Ordo and Mereel, journeyed to Kamino to gather information on the whereabouts of the missing Kaminoan scientist, Ko Sai.

Shortly thereafter, Kal and Ordo were compelled to rescue Walon Vau from Mygeeto after he fell into a crevasse following a bank heist at the Dressian Kiolsh Merchant Bank. Upon their retrieval of him aboard their ship, Vau gifted Kal the stolen goods, causing Kal to reevaluate his perception of Vau and fostering a more amicable relationship between them.

Following the rescue, Kal formally adopted Ordo according to Mandalorian tradition. Although Kal had been angry at Etain for getting pregnant, he felt guilty afterward for bullying her. He tracked Ko Sai down and captured her with the help of Mereel after a firefight with a group of Mando'ade who her bodyguards were, something that made Kal believe Mando'ade should stop working for others and work for themselves. After learning of the order to euthanize Fi, Kal and Ordo left for Coruscant, leaving Etain on Mandalore at his home and made a call to Obrim for aid in retrieving Fi.

After the birth of Venku Skirata, Kal offered to let Etain stay on Mandalore with Venku if she left the Jedi Order, something she refused as she felt it would be betraying the other soldiers who served under her. Both he and Etain decided to pick the moment when they would tell Darman about Venku and rented a place for Laseema on Coruscant where he and Venku would stay. After retrieving Fi, Kal officially adopted all members of Omega Squad and the Nulls according to Mandalorian tradition, expanding the Clan Skirata.

Skirata assigned two of his Null adopted sons, Mereel Skirata and Jaing Skirata as "fundraisers" for his research into stopping the clone rapid aging, to give his boys a natural life. Agent Besany Wennen had previously given Kal and the Nulls her access into the national Republic Treasury access codes, so they could research where new clones were coming from to get new cloning research material and to see where the war was going. Upon Jaing's data-mining worm virus being discovered, the Republic Treasury launched a full investigation. The Republic special investigators brought in were Mereel and Jaing, their involvement in the actions that caused the investigations, unbeknownst to the GAR. Jaing and Mereel's investigations revealed no results, and that they would have to check Army databases in addition to treasury databases to see how far this "mystery program" went. The Republic agreed to give the Nulls full access to all GAR records.

While the Null investigation found nothing, the droid investigation revealed questionable access made by one of Besany's co-workers, Jilka Zan Zentis, who was investigating a government shell company on Besany's request. Besany felt awful that her friend Jilka was imprisoned because of her. Later, a Gurlanin spy told Besany that Jilka was framed, and the actions made on Jilka's terminal were made obvious by the Gurlanins, so the GAR wouldn't see any of Besany or Skirata's sons' actions. Besany was upset her friend was going to prison in her place, but Ordo and Skirata didn't understand why. Skirata ordered Jilka to be broken out of jail, her prison transport hijacked by Ordo and Wad'e Tay'haai.

Months later, Tor Skirata contacted, via comlink, his father to let him know that he had lost contact with Ruusaan and asked Kal to look for her. During the conversation, Tor said he was sorry for what he and Ijaat did to Kal.

To his surprise, Kal found out that Ruu was arrested for playing as part of the Separatists and was placed in a Republic Detention Center on Pols Anaxes. Kal sent Fi and Bardan Jusik, along with Spar and Sull with falsified records to escort Ruu out of the Pols Anaxes facility. Even though his biological sons had disowned him, and his daughter had not spoken to him for years, Skirata still protected his biological children, along with those he adopted.

Kal Skirata had made many plans and decisions; the first was that he would take his adopted sons, and as many clone troopers as decided to come, to desert the Grand Army of the Republic and live in his secret facility on Mandalore, while he had the best scientists in the galaxy use all the cloning data he could buy or steal (such as from Ko Sai) to create a cure for the rapid aging of the clone troopers. He told all his Null-Arc sons, but waited to tell Omega Squad because he feared the news would interfere with their concentration during missions. Kal had Mereel and Jaing raising money for the research materials, and through clever banking they amassed over a trillion credits.

The second thing he had to tell Omega was that he had told Etain that she was to keep secret that Kad was her son, and that Darman was the father. Kad/Venku was able to walk before Darman knew he was the father, and Darman's confusion as to how Kal could have hidden so much from him caused him to have a temporary mental break, punching Kal Skirata repeatedly, knocking out at least one tooth, and leaving Skirata's face broken and bloody, while Kal apologized for what he had done to Darman. Darman felt horrible for striking his father afterwards, and forgave Kal and Etain later, just hoping they also forgave him.

As Count Dooku and General Grievous waged war on Coruscant, Skirata decided that that was the time to get Dr. Ovolot Qail Uthan, but not before being reunited with Ruu. She couldn't believe that after all this time, her father had never forgotten her. Skirata told her that after the battle, Ruu would have the choice to return to Drall or go with the clan.

Carrying out their plan, Skirata, Vau, Bardan, Fi, and Ordo retrieved Dr. Uthan from the madhouse in Valorum Center, while the other inmates were evacuating. But before they could leave, Bardan went to collect another passenger: Arla Fett, the long-lost sister of Jango. Skirata was impressed by this discovery.

The dreadful Order 66, which commanded all clone troopers to betray and execute their Jedi commanders, was issued by Supreme Chancellor Palpatine while Skirata remained on Coruscant. It was at that moment that Vau revealed Jango Fett's master plan: the creation of the Grand Army of the Republic with the ultimate goal to destroy the Jedi Order. Skirata later discovered that Palpatine was, in fact, a Sith Lord known as Darth Sidious.

Skirata and Omega embarked on a search for Etain, who was attempting to blend in as an ordinary civilian, as she was trying to get off of Coruscant with Skirata's help. However, the 501st Legion, now under the command of Darth Vader, opened fire on a group of exposed Jedi Padawans and Younglings at the Shinarcan Bridge Extension.

During the intense firefight, Etain acted on instinct, interposing her own body to protect a clone trooper from a fatal lightsaber strike by a Jedi Padawan. Skirata and Omega both witnessed this event, and Skirata, enraged by Etain's demise, turned against the Jedi Padawans and Younglings, assisting in their slaughter. Niner suffered a broken spine during the battle, and all of the Jedi Padawans and Younglings were either killed or forced into desperate flight. Darman remained behind to care for Niner, awaiting the arrival of medical assistance.

Because Skirata stubbornly refused to immediately evacuate Coruscant, insisting that he would not leave without his family, Captain Obrim was compelled to set his blaster to stun. While Skirata was unconscious, Ordo carried him to safety along with the rest of the clan, including Ruu, Jilka, and Dr. Uthan, and they made their way to Mandalore.

Following the battle, nearly all members of Clan Skirata departed Coruscant and relocated to Kal's hidden refuge, Kyrimorut, on Mandalore, with the exception of Niner and Darman. Shortly before Etain's funeral, Skirata formally adopted Etain as his daughter, believing that "daughter-in-law" was an insufficient title for all that she had done for him and his sons.

In the aftermath of Order 66, Skirata established his base of operations at Kyrimorut, along with his extended family. Three weeks after Order 66, he arranged for Nyreen Vollen to transport the Jedi Tallisibeth Enwandung-Esterhazy, known as "Scout," and Kina Ha to his residence, secretly desiring Kina Ha's genetic information, a fact unknown to Ny at the time. During a conversation with Mij Gilamar on the matter, Kal privately acknowledged that his feelings for Ny were so strong that they frightened him, fueling his determination to discover a cure for the accelerated aging engineered into the clones. Mereel surprisingly agreed to treat Kina Ha with civility, despite her being a Kaminoan.

He also insisted that house rules would be followed, even as he desired a pair of Kaminoan gloves like the ones Jaing had, made from Ko Sai's skin. Jaing retorted by telling him to acquire his own Kaminoan, as he still needed the matching belt. Upon her arrival with the Jedi, Kal reverted to a youthful state, lamenting his lack of height. Kal was overcome with emotion upon seeing Scout's resemblance to Etain, and Mereel guided him back inside, cautioning him against comparing Scout to Etain.

At dinner that evening, Scout mentioned her weakness in the Force, prompting Kal to instinctively defend Etain, who also possessed a weak connection to the Force. It was evident during the meal that he remained uneasy around Jedi, and Ny wondered how to persuade him to give them a chance. When Vau returned from his unsuccessful search for Sev on Kashyyyk, they convened a meeting to determine their next course of action.

Mij proposed the creation of an antigen to FG36, Ovolot Qail Uthan's incomplete virus designed to eliminate clones with Jango Fett's genetic structure, modifying it to target all sentient beings instead. Jaing then revealed that the fortune they had "acquired" from the Republic's coffers generated 200 million credits per week, without compound interest.

This amounted to a minimum of 15 billion credits annually. When Kal expressed concern that the Empire would detect the vast sum in a single account, Jaing explained that he had distributed it across thousands of accounts throughout the galaxy and invested it in hundreds of companies. When asked if he trusted Gaib and TK-0 of Gaib & TK-0 Inc. enough to establish a secure, untraceable link to Niner, Mereel affirmed his trust, stating that they were motivated solely by credits, like everyone else.

Upon learning that Darth Vader was Sidious's apprentice, Kal wished that the Jedi and Sith would engage in a final, decisive battle on a distant planet and then leave the galaxy in peace. During this meeting, Mereel informed them that the 501st Legion, which included Niner and Darman, had been tasked with hunting down Jedi and deserters like themselves. While this news was unsurprising, it accelerated their plans to bring Niner and Darman home to their family. Prudii Skirata and Kom'rk Skirata volunteered for the mission, choosing a direct approach over stealth. Mij, Vau, and Skirata also resolved to eliminate Dred Priest if they encountered him again.

Kal later met with Mandalore Fenn Shysa, who still desired Kal's assistance in training resistance fighters for the inevitable conflict against the Empire. The Empire had begun purchasing Mandalorian iron at inflated prices to prevent Mandalore from launching an effective assault against them during their invasion. Shysa was unfazed when Kal informed him that Palpatine was a Sith Lord, stating that he was unconcerned as long as they continued to buy the iron.

Shysa attempted to gain Kal's approval to have Jusik used for breeding purposes to increase their numbers, which Kal vehemently rejected. Kal informed him that the Nulls would provide him with intelligence on the Empire in exchange for leaving Jusik alone and overlooking their activities. After a friendly game of bolo ball with Vau, Mij, and the boys (during which the 'old guard' scored the first and only goal before halftime), Ny had Kal try cookies she made specially for him; they were so good the remind him of his mother for the first time in years, bringing tears to his eyes. At this time, Ny and Kal openly admitted they feel something for each other.

Kal remained at home during the mission to rescue Niner and Darman, constantly worrying about his boys. He also gained a deeper understanding of how his former wife, Ilippi, had felt while waiting for him to return from war. While he awaited hourly updates from Ordo, the Empire unleashed Uthan's virus on her homeworld of Gibad, which had refused to join the Empire following the Clone Wars. He made the final decision to have Uthan create an antigen to FG36 and distribute it throughout Mandalore, vaccinating the planet and its inhabitants, which would also include the Imperial Garrison.

Kal opposed Uthan's plan to release the virus on Coruscant, as Niner and Darman, along with the Nulls, were still there. With Mij's assistance, he convinced her to begin work on the antigen, with Scout serving as their lab assistant. When Ordo and the others returned home without Niner and Darman sometime later, Kal acknowledged that Ordo hadn't failed like Ordo believed, saying that he could never disappoint him. He also discussed the possibility of marrying Ny in the future, and she was receptive to the idea. Kal's heart was broken when Jaing finishes analyzing the chip given to them by Jaller Obrim, which listed Ny as a Jedi sympathizer and ally against her knowledge.

When Ny confronted him about helping other Jedi, Kal responded that if he had to choose between helping the Jedi and helping a clone, he'd choose the clone every time; they also began to search out Jedi Master Djinn Altis during this time, to have him take the Jedi in. When Jusik returned with Maze and Arligan Zey, who was supposed to be dead, Kal was deeply hurt that Jusik didn't comm him first. He was also angry with Maze for helping the Jedi survive Order 66; when Maze began criticizing Kal, Ordo moved to strike him. Zey and Jusik both broke up the fight using the Force, casting more doubt on Jusik's allegiance. They also found Plett's Well is located in the Plawal Rift during this time, narrowing the search for Altis.

When Jusik found Altis, Kal struggled with how to get them to forget the location of the base, deciding to have Jusik mindwipe them if it was possible. He felt extremely guilty when Jusik told him that the Altisian Jedi invited Etain to join them, knowing if she had she would still be alive. When the antigen for FG36 is shown to work, Kal received Shysa's approval to spread it around Mandalore and has his boys do so; he was also shocked when he found that Cov was dating his daughter Ruusaan.

In 40 ABY, Taun We revealed to Boba Fett that Skirata had located and killed Ko Sai, utilizing her data to halt the aging process of all his clone sons. One of these clones, Jaing Skirata, later informed Boba Fett of his father Kal's death.

It also appears that Kal had cared for Venku.

Skirata firmly believed it was his responsibility to educate the clones of Jango Fett about their Mandalorian heritage; Boba Fett considered him a zealot. Upon discovering that Etain Tur-Mukan was pregnant with Venku, he was prepared to take the child from her and even hunt her down to achieve his objective. He had no reservations about torturing prisoners, and Fett regarded him as one of the most ruthless fighters.

A complex individual, Skirata disapproved of many of the Kaminoans' actions toward the clones and was deeply disturbed by the treatment of his "boys." He secretly provided treats and other prohibited items to the clones and encouraged them to embrace their Mandalorian culture. He detested living on the aquatic world of Kamino, as it exacerbated his shattered ankle. The Kaminoans also made him uneasy and irritated him with questions about his "defective" status. Kal had only ever felt sympathy for one Kaminoan, a female who had given birth to a child with green eyes. Because the Kaminoan caste system was based around the eye colors of gray, blue and yellow, the child had been labeled a threat to the Kaminoans' ordered society and had been exterminated shortly after birth. He also had serious differences with Walon Vau (differences which bordered on outright hatred), as he felt Vau was sadistic toward the clone troopers (a source of contention was when Vau sicced his pet strill, Lord Mirdalan, on a young Ordo). Despite these differences, Vau and Skirata were constant business partners and even friends later on.

Skirata harbored animosity toward the Jedi Generals. He particularly disliked Jedi Master Quinlan Vos for openly distrusting the clones. He also resented the fact that Ki-Adi-Mundi had a polygamous marriage, while his daughter-in-law Etain would at best be demoted to the Agricultural Corps if evidence of her relationship with Darman surfaced.

A surprising aspect of his nature, given his line of work, was his emotionalism. He felt constant guilt for the condition of the clones as slave soldiers, and hated the Jedi Order and the Republic for betraying their principles of freedom and democracy when it was convenient for them. Despite that, he remained with the Republic until Order 66 so that he could look after the welfare of the Nulls and his commandos. Also, ironic for a mercenary, Kal Skirata was easily seasick, and felt queasy at the sight of painful wounds and copious amounts of blood. Juxtaposing his hatred of the Jedi was his ability to uncompromisingly, unconditionally love those close to him, such as the Nulls, his commando soldiers, Bardan Jusik, and anybody else in Clan Skirata. Skirata, despite his short stature—it was said that he had to stand on a box to head-butt Walon Vau—was a lethal fighter, and Jango Fett considered him "one of the dirtiest fighters."

Despite his emotionalism and apparent love for the clones of Jango Fett, Skirata would at times impress upon the clone commandos disturbing lessons. As training sergeant Skirata told them how lucky they were to be clones, never needing to worry about their purpose in life, unlike every other being in the galaxy, because a clone already knew their purpose, so doubt would never need to trouble them. Despite being appalled that the Kaminoans' would give children the designation of Null, which Skirata took to mean di'kutla or useless; Skirata did not seem to fault his own decision to tell the RCs how useless they would be alone and separated from their squads in a similar manner.

After having a few drinks, Skirata would get upset, saying that he could've made them all better soldiers if only they had time to go out, and gain life experience.

Consumed by guilt and regret during his time on Kamino, Skirata would often get drunk, and start cussing and slurring his words. He would call the clone commandos he trained all sorts of abusive things, calling them his Wet Droids, and his Dead Men, which was how Skirata translated Dar'manda into Basic, so revealed in an inner dialogue of Skirata's. He would say the most awful things about clones, but to the clones, Skirata did not seem to mean any of it. If one of them caught him off duty in his rooms, he would feed them delicacies with tears in his eyes or encourage them to read illicit texts about Mandalorian soldiers, who, faced with the choice to become anything else, chose to fight instead. Niner even notes that Skirata had even started calling them son, recently.

The armor Skirata wore was colored sand gold, the color of revenge.

Kal Skirata's sand-gold-colored Mandalorian armor was a top-grade version made of Mandalorian iron. He always wore his gauntlets, even when not wearing the rest of his armor. One of his gauntlets carried a comlink. He also carried his father's three-sided knife on his gauntlet. Kal was very fond of Verpine weapons and often carried a Verpine shatter gun. He also used a custom Verpine sniper rifle and a WESTAR-34 blaster pistol. Kal often carried a length of sharpened durasteel chain with him to use as a garrote.

Despite his dislike for the weapon, during the skirmish on the Shinarcan Bridge Extension, Kal used (borrowed) Bardan Jusik's lightsaber to kill at least two Jedi in revenge for the death of Etain Tur-Mukan.

Robert Hendrickson's illustrations of Kal Skirata for Star Wars Insider closely resemble actor Ed Harris.

Kal Skirata was supposed to have a toy, but the toymakers Hasbro couldn't get a head that met the aesthetic designs that author Karen Traviss envisioned for her character, so the toy head was changed, and the figure became Mij Gilamar, which was later added to the Republic Commando books.

Kal, when pronounced like "kɑːl" (like the "a" in start of "father"), means a knife or sword in Korean.

The Republic Commando Training Sergeant miniature from the Legacy of the Force line of Star Wars Miniatures resembles Kal Skirata.