Kane Starkiller was the father, a Jedi, to both Annikin Starkiller and Deak Starkiller, who were brothers. His origin planet was Aquilae.
Kane Starkiller escaped to the Fourth Moon of Utapau after the Knights of Sith took the place of the Jedi-Bendu as the protectors of the Galactic Emperor. When the forces of the Galactic Empire showed up on Utapau, he was compelled to run, resulting in the death of his son, Deak.
Kane requested that General Luke Skywalker accept Annikin as a Padawan. He was unable to teach his son in the Force himself, due to being a cyborg, a fact he had kept hidden from even his own family. Only his head and right arm remained organic. His mechanical augmentations were failing, leading to his impending death. He gave his life on Gordon, donating the energy pack that powered his artificial heart, which the heroes needed to power the freighter and hibernation pods necessary to reach the Forbidden Systems.
- Kane's initial appearance was in the original film's early script. In the initial version, he is known as Akira Valor. By the second version, he is simply called "The Starkiller" and is the father of Luke Starkiller; he survives to the end of this version and is not a cyborg. In the subsequent story synopsis, he is removed and replaced by a crazy old man discovered along the way. The concept of Luke's father being a cyborg was integrated into the story of Darth Vader. Interestingly, Kane's cyborg body featured a chest plate on his torso that mirrored a similar chest plate on Vader's life-support armor.
- There is another similar father-son relationship; the one between Kol Skywalker and his son, Cade Skywalker, including Kol's eventual sacrifice. The presence of a large Sith presence, and their corruption of the New Galactic Empire is very similar to the events in the initial drafts.
- The identity of Kane's wife, and the mother of Annikin and Deak, remains unknown, as does her fate, although it is implied she is deceased.