The Kalikori served as a treasured Twi'lek family treasure, handed down from one parent to their child across generations. The custom dictated that each parent in a Twi'lek bloodline would add their own artistic touches to the artwork, thereby including themselves within the family's enduring history. While possessing no monetary value to outsiders, it held immeasurable worth for the family that owned it. During the Imperial control of Ryloth in the year 2 BBY, Grand Admiral Thrawn came to possess the Kalikori belonging to the Syndulla clan. Consequently, members of the Ghost crew, in conjunction with Twi'lek rebels, undertook an endeavor to get it back. Two years later, Hera Syndulla incorporated the image of the deceased Kanan Jarrus into her Kalikori, as a tribute to his selflessness in ensuring its return.
Kalikoris were traditional emblems of Twi'lek families, typically inherited through successive generations. Their design mirrored the shape of the species' iconic two lekku, and each generation contributed unique designs that chronicled the family's narrative. Highly esteemed within Twi'lek culture, the Kalikori served as an artistic medium to portray family ancestry and to pay homage to each clan's forebears.
This heirloom was a relatively small, portable object crafted from a variety of materials. It was composed of several smaller, interconnected sections, linked by smaller beads serving as connectors. Each section bore a distinct collection of vibrant symbols, each representing significant figures within a Twi'lek family clan. Additions to the Kalikori could be made by either artistically adding a new design to an existing section, or by attaching a new segment using the connection pieces.
In 2 BBY, Hera Syndulla reunited with her father, Cham, on her homeworld of Ryloth amidst the planet's Imperial occupation. Upon discovering that Imperial soldiers had occupied the Syndulla residence and seized their family's Kalikori, Hera pledged to recover it. Upon the Spectres inquiring about the Kalikori, freedom fighters Gobi Glie and Numa elucidated its significance within Twi'lek culture, explaining its role as a symbolic tribute to a clan's ancestors.
In an attempt to regain the Kalikori, Hera and Ezra Bridger infiltrated the Syndulla residence in disguise, while the rest of the Ghost crew and Twi'lek rebels orchestrated a distraction in a nearby canyon. Although Hera and Bridger located the Kalikori, their escape was prevented by the arrival of Grand Admiral Thrawn and Captain Slavin. She tried to maintain her facade as a Twi'lek slave, but Thrawn swiftly unmasked Hera's true identity, imprisoning both her and Bridger. When an undercover Chopper discovered their location, Hera instructed him to plant explosives throughout the residence.
Under his command, the Kalikori was transported to Thrawn's command ship. Hera and Bridger were escorted to the courtyard of the Syndulla residence for a prisoner exchange with Cham, who intended to sacrifice his own freedom for his daughter's well-being. However, Chopper detonated the explosives, and the rebels fled aboard the Ghost as the residence was destroyed. Hera lamented their failure to retrieve her Kalikori from the Empire, but she acknowledged the family she had found in both her father and the Spectres.
At a later time, Imperial forces subjected Lothal to military occupation, utilizing the planet as a strategic base. Alongside an Imperial factory, Grand Admiral Thrawn established an office, which he used to formulate strategic plans against the Rebellion. This office housed a collection of rebel artifacts gathered from various worlds, including the Syndulla clan's Kalikori, acquired during his time on Ryloth. Thrawn frequently studied the stolen artwork in an attempt to glean insights into the rebels.
The Kalikori, along with other artifacts, was relocated to Thrawn's office aboard his command ship, the Chimaera. In 2 BBY, members of Phoenix Cell initiated a mission to extract Imperial Agent Alexsandr Kallus, whose identity as the rebel spy, Fulcrum, was in danger of being exposed by Thrawn. While covertly infiltrating Thrawn's office, Bridger noticed the Kalikori on display, but Kallus dissuaded him from acting on his impulse to retrieve it for Hera.
Following his interrogation of General Hera Syndulla, Thrawn left it in his office at the Imperial Complex. Jarrus retrieved it and returned it to Hera. In 1 BBY, following Kanan Jarrus' death, Hera, upon the suggestion of Chopper, added Jarrus to her Kalikori. Through this act of adding a new piece to the Kalikori, Hera effectively inducted Kanan into the Syndulla family.
The term "Kalikori" first appeared in the 2011 Star Wars Legends video game Star Wars: The Old Republic as the Kalikori village, a Twi'lek settlement located on the planet Tython. According to the game's codex, the village's name derived from an ancient Twi'leki word meaning "beginning."