A human female pilot named Karé Kun flew starfighters as a lieutenant within the New Republic Starfleet, specifically as part of Rapier Squadron. Later, she joined the Resistance alongside squadron mates such as Commander Poe Dameron and Lieutenant Iolo Arana during their conflict against the First Order. She eventually achieved the rank of captain and took command of her own starfighter group, Stiletto Squadron. Kun was the wife of Temmin Wexley, but she became a widow when he was killed during the Battle of Exegol.
Around the time of the Galactic Empire's defeat, Karé Kun was born on Sarq 22, earning her the moniker "victory kid." Eventually, she enlisted in the New Republic Navy and rose to the rank of lieutenant, becoming Rapier Two in Commander Poe Dameron's Rapier Squadron, a starfighter squadron.
Kun and the rest of Rapier Squadron responded to a distress call from the freighter Yissira Zyde near Suraz 4 approximately thirty years after the Battle of Endor. Upon exiting hyperspace, they discovered that First Order troops were in the process of boarding the freighter. They engaged the nearby TIE fighters and shuttles, destroying all eight TIEs and one shuttle before the remaining shuttle and the Yissira Zyde jumped to hyperspace. Lieutenant Muran, known as Rapier Four, died when his vessel was caught too close to the Yissira Zyde as it entered hyperspace, causing the X-wing to explode.
During Rapier Squadron's subsequent patrol, Dameron embarked on a solo quest to locate the Yissira Zyde, forbidding the others from assisting him. He tracked the missing freighter's telemetry and jumped into hyperspace, leaving Kun and Lieutenant Iolo Arana, also known as Rapier Three, to patrol the sector as usual.
Following Dameron's skirmish in OR-Kappa-2722, Kun, along with Dameron and Arana, became members of General Leia Organa's Resistance. Both she and Arana were promoted to the rank of captain and given command of their own starfighter squadrons, with Kun leading Stiletto Squadron. Kun, Dameron, and Arana were then stationed aboard the refitted MC80 Star Cruiser Echo of Hope.
Dameron chose Kun and Arana to participate in a secret mission to steal the yacht Hevurion Grace, which belonged to New Republic Senator Erudo Ro-Kiintor, as part of Operation: Sabre Strike. Kun donned a bulky EVA suit and piloted a Z-95 Headhunter for this mission within the Uvoss system. Upon the Hevurion Grace's arrival in the system, Dameron disabled the ship using modified concussion missiles. He boarded the ship and forced the passengers and crew to evacuate into escape pods. While he was restarting the ships engines, a First Order fleet emerged from hyperspace and attacked the pilots.
Despite Dameron's orders to escape, Kun and Arana remained nearby to fend off the TIE fighters swarming the yacht. They destroyed nine of the eighteen TIEs before the Resistance pilots found themselves trapped between a gas giant and the First Order fleet. To avoid the planet's gravity, the pilots risked passing over the First Order ships and jumped to hyperspace, successfully completing their mission.
Following Operation: Sabre Strike, Dameron recruited Kun and other members of Black Squadron, including Temmin Wexley ("Snap"), L'ulo L'ampar, and Jessika Pava, for a clandestine search for the explorer Lor San Tekka, who Organa believed held the key to finding her brother Luke Skywalker. When L'ampar questioned the mission's secrecy, Kun retorted that he should be grateful the Resistance allowed "old-timers" like him and Wexley near a starfighter. By this time, Kun and Wexley had been in a relationship for a few months, though Wexley hadn't yet expressed his feelings to Kun.
Black Squadron traveled to Ovanis, a planet covered in mountains and ravines. While Dameron and BB-8 explored the Cave of the Crèche, Kun and her fellow pilots circled above in their T-70 X-wing starfighters and L'ampar's A-wing starfighter. After contacting the Crèche cultists, Dameron informed L'ampar that he had discovered a tracker on his starfighter and warned that the First Order was approaching. Kun then alerted him that the First Order had already arrived. She spotted a First Order landing platform carrying several TIE fighters, two Atmospheric Assault Landers, and a contingent of stormtroopers equipped with jetpacks.
Kun and her fellow pilots then discussed the meaning of Dameron's order "get me some leverage." She agreed with L'ampar's assessment that they should figure out the order themselves. After studying the situation, Wexley proposed that they take control of the First Order platform since there was nowhere else to land on the mountainous planet. When Pava suggested drawing away the starfighters, Kun warned that the new TIE/sf space superiority fighters were faster and more maneuverable than X-wings. L'ampar then agreed to attack the TIE fighters, leading to a dogfight. Black Squadron managed to shoot down several TIE fighters but L'ampar accidentally downed the First Order platform, causing it to crash.
However, the First Order Agent Terex had kept the Maxima-A class heavy cruiser Ravenous in reserve. The Ravenous launched more TIE fighters, which overwhelmed Black Squadron. At the advice of Wexley, Kun and her fellow pilots flew their starfighters into the canyons in an effort to disperse their pursuers. Though Pava managed to destroy several pursuing TIE fighters, her astromech droid was hit. Under fire, Wexley realized that their plan was not working and ordered them to regroup for a head-on assault. Prior to the assault, Wexley began to speak about his feelings for Kun, but she cut him off, telling him to save it until they made it out alive to return to the Resistance base on D'Qar.
During the dogfight, Black Squadron managed to shoot down several TIE fighters. Kun and her fellow fighters then witnessed a fight between two large winged creatures that had emerged from the Crèche egg. After Dameron and the Crèche cultists had subdued Terex and his men, Kun and her comrades refueled their starfighters at the Cave of the Créche. After the cultists departed on the back of the black winged creature, Black Squadron departed Ovanis. Before leaving, they radioed the Ravenous to pick up the stranded Terex. Dameron had decided not to take Terex into custody to avoid risking open warfare between the Resistance and the First Order.
Following a small victory celebration on D'Qar, Kun shared an awkward, yet romantic moment with Wexley before leaving for a mission to Megalox prison on the planet Megalox Beta. Dameron had learned from the Crèche leader that Tekka had spoke with Grakkus the Hutt, who was imprisoned at Megalox. The planet was a high gravity world and the prison was surrounded by a gravity field that was projected by an orbiting space station that served as the prison's control center. Organa managed to bribe Warden Luta into allowing Black Squadron to visit Grakkus.
Kun and her comrades traveled into the prison accompanied by a squad of prison guards. Upon arriving at the landing bay, Black Squadron were abandoned by the guards. Unable to bribe the guards into escorting them to Grakkus' fortress, Kun and her comrades were forced to fight their way through the criminals. After arriving at Grakkus' fortress, Kun and her fellow pilots were accosted by Grakkus and his Hutt posse. While Dameron met with Grakkus, Kun and the other pilots waited outside in the compound. Dameron soon encountered Terex, who had learned of their secret mission to Megalox. Grakkus then offered to reveal the information to whoever helped him escape Megalox.
When Terex exited the building, Kun and her fellow pilots expressed surprise that the First Order agent had beaten them to Grakkus. Dameron then rejoined Black Squadron and told them that they were locked in a race with Terex to help Grakkus escape the prison. Dameron got BB-8 and the other astromech droids to embark on a mission to disable the prison's gravity shield in order to gain leverage over Grakkus and Terex. Meanwhile, Terex managed to convince the crime bosses Kan Be, Papa Toren, and Isin to organize them gangs for an attack on Grakkus' fortress in return for helping them escape offworld. Kun and her Black Squadron comrades were forced to fight off the gangsters.
Kun managed to obtain a blaster during the fight and helped hold off the assault long enough for BB-8 and the other droids to complete their mission. While Megalox Beta's high gravity overwhelmed the gangsters, Kun and her comrades were unaffected because they wore gravity belts. After rescuing Grakkus, Dameron contacted Luta and managed to convince her to let them escape with Grakkus in return for restoring the prison's gravity field. Having completed their mission, Black Squadron departed on their starfighters with Grakkus' ship.
When Terex attacked the space station and several fleeing shuttles, Kun and her fellow pilots turned back at Temmin's urging and attacked Terex's ship Carrion Spike. They then returned to D'Qar.
After learning that a spy within their ranks had leaked information to Terex, Dameron was unable to trust his fellow Black Squadron pilots including Kun. As a result, Poe did not include Kun and her comrades during the mission to Pheryon. While Dameron believed that Kun was loyal since she had flown with him in the New Republic Navy, he did not bring her and the other Black Squadron pilots during a mission to Kaddak to recover N1-ZX, a member of the Resistance spy droid network who had supposedly obtained valuable intelligence on the First Order. Instead, he brought BB-8, the technician Oddy Muva, and Organa's spymaster C-3PO.
During the course of the mission, Dameron realized that Kun, Pava, and Wexley were innocent and that Muva was the true spy. In fact, Muva had been blackmailed by Terex into spying on Black Squadron in order to safeguard his wife Sowa Chuan. After Dameron and the droids crash-landed on a desert world, Kun and the rest of Black Squadron traveled to the planet to rescue their commander.
Kun participated in a battle over a desert planet as part of an effort to rescue Dameron from First Order forces. Black Squadron fought against Terex's flagship Carrion Spike and his fleet of Ranc Gang "Uglies." Despite taking damage from the "Uglies" and temporarily losing control of her X-wing, she survived thanks to L'ampar providing covering fire for her. Muva reprogramming the Carrion Spike's battle computers to attack the "Uglies." Muva then contacted Kun and her squadron mates and told her that he had sabotaged the Carrion Spike's computers and was evacuating his wife and Terex's slaves in escape pods. Kun and the rest of Black Squadron agreed to protect the escape pods from the Ranc fighters.
Despite the efforts of Kun and her fellow pilots, one of the Ranc "Uglies" managed to destroy an escape pod. Kun was distraught and L'ampar responded by shooting down the "Ugly." L'ampar's actions, however, put him directly in the firing line of First Order starfighters, resulting in his death. Kun and the rest of Black Squadron then flew against the Ranc fighters for a final sortie. Shortly later, they witnessed a First Order Maxima-A class heavy cruiser and its TIE fighters destroying the Carrion Spike and the Ranc fleet. Kun and her comrades expressed shock that the First Order was targeting one of their own, not knowing that Terex was in trouble with his First Order superiors. After the escape pods had safely landed on the desert planet, Kun and her fellow pilots flew over Dameron as he was confronting Commander Malarus and a First Order landing party. They took a holo-recording to dissuade any potential First Order attack. Fortunately for Black Squadron, Malarus had come to arrest Terex for defying Supreme Leader Snoke's orders to avoid open hostilities with the New Republic and the Resistance.
After L'ampar's funeral, Kun joined the other members of Black Squadron to share drinks and stories of L'ampar's combat career.
After a harrowing mission, Kun and Wexley confessed their true feelings, and were married.
Following the First Order's destruction of the Hosnian system, Kun and Wexley took part in a recon run of Starkiller Base. Wexley's craft encountered trouble, but Kun threatened to divorce her new husband if he gave up. She piloted her X-wing to recover the craft and they escaped in hyperspace back to D'Qar. Using their collected data, the Resistance was able to assault and destroy Starkiller Base.
Black Squadron was then assigned missions of their own to gather allies.
In 35 ABY, Snap kept a holo of her in his cockpit. The two joined the remaining Resistance fighters at their new base on Ajan Kloss. Kun embraced her husband before he flew off to battle against the Sith Eternal's forces. He was shot down by Sith TIE fighters during the battle, and Kun's name was on his lips as he perished.
Sporting blonde hair, tan skin, and black [eyes](/article/eye], Karé Kun was a human woman. She was a devoted friend to Poe Dameron, always ready to assist him. Kun shared Dameron's concerns regarding the New Republic's insufficient efforts against the First Order, leading her to join the Resistance, a paramilitary group dedicated to monitoring the First Order's activities. A skilled starfighter pilot, Kun could improvise orders in combat to adapt to the situation. Kun also returned Wexley's romantic feelings, and their relationship blossomed following their mission to Ovanis. Furthermore, Kun possessed proficiency in wielding blasters and engaging in unarmed combat.
Kun's allegiance to Dameron motivated her and her fellow Black Squadron pilots to come to his rescue on a desert planet during a mission to retrieve a spy droid. She demonstrated care for her fellow pilots, expressing gratitude to L'ampar for protecting her damaged fighter from Terex's "Uglies." Later, she provided cover fire for Muva and the escaping slaves as they fled Terex's ship Carrion Spike. Kun was deeply saddened by L'ampar's death in combat.
Karé Kun made her debut in Greg Rucka's 2015 junior novel Before the Awakening, released alongside the 2015 film Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens, the first installment of the Star Wars sequel trilogy. Her first visual depiction was in the Marvel Comics series Star Wars: Poe Dameron, written by Charles Soule and illustrated by Phil Noto. Greg Grunberg, the actor who portrayed Temmin Wexley in The Force Awakens, was unaware of Karé's existence until a Twitter user informed him on his Twitter account after he was asked whether Karé would appear in the 2019 film Star Wars: Episode IX The Rise of Skywalker.