Kueller: Legends Review

 He's strong in the Force, is obsessed with Luke Skywalker and has an anger management problem. Plus he has a cool helmet. No it isn't Darth Vader but a villain who sadly only appeared in one Legends novel, The New Rebellion (which takes place 17 years after ANH) which isn't a bad one shot novel. But the character Kueller had me interested since there was little known about him, and now over 25 years since his first appearance we still don't know all that much about him.

Born as a man named Dolph on the planet Almania, Dolph was one of Luke Skywalker's first students at his Jedi Praxeum on Yavin 4. He showed a lot of promise, and was well on his way to becoming a powerful Jedi Knight. However one day he was told his parents had been killed by the brutal Je'har Regime, who had come to power on Almania. But Dolph did not fall to the dark side because his parents were slaughtered. He had pleaded with Chief of State Leia Organa Solo for help from the New Republic. But due to various treaties and the Imperial threat, help never arrived. His bitterness would extend to Luke Skywalker as he blamed his Jedi training for keeping him away from his parents. He blamed the Skywalker twins for what happened to his parents, but his descent into the dark side was not yet complete.

Dolph upon his return to Almania found factions willing to fight the Je'har Regime. But they were missing something to inspire them. Remembering the stories of his childhood about heroes of Almania he remembered the story of General Kueller. He would assume the name of Kueller, and would build a suit of armor and would wear a Hendanyn death mask to hide his appearance. In time, the Je'har Regime was defeated, and along with their sympathizers executed. But he had bigger plans: striking back at the New Republic and Luke Skywalker.

Finding another fallen student, Brakiss, Kueller placed him in charge of a droid manufacturing plant on Telti. The droids built there would one day be used in bombing the New Republic Senate, and also to sabotage X-Wing fighters. With every death he grew stronger, in a similar way to what Darth Nihlus did. He even had Han Solo blamed for the Senate bombing. Acquiring Imperial ships, he put pressure on Organa-Solo with the threat of a new Empire. But his ultimate test was yet to come: hunting down his former master.

While flying to Pydyr, Luke unknowingly was flying an X-Wing that had a sabotaged computer. It exploded, badly injuring Luke. Kueller sent a message to Leia: surrender or watch her brother die. Luke and Kueller would duel with Kueller gaining the advantage. Luke knew he was losing, and was ready to sacrifice himself. But Leia, along with Han Solo, Lando Calrissian and Mara Jade arrived with a ysalamir that had been swallowed by a thernbee cut him off from the Force. Leia fired 2 shots, killing him. She removed Kueller's mask to find the young face of Dolph.

Kueller is typical of the mid 1990's Legends stories. We never knew who Dolph was, and when an interesting villain comes around, they are quickly killed off. Heck at least with Warlord Zsinj we got him in a few X-Wing novels until Han blew up his ship in Courtship of Princess Leia. What we should have gotten was an entire trilogy involving Kueller. The first part his intro and journey towards Knighthood. The second novel his ending his training to fight the Je'har Regime and his fall to the dark side. The New Rebellion novel could have been the 3rd book in that trilogy, which is what it felt like. Often times in my fan canon I would use Kueller as another dark Jedi in the stories I kept in my head then would forget all about. Kueller remains to this day one of the most under-used characters in Legends. Had we learned of Dolph earlier, his journey, his downfall, and rise to become Kueller he would have been a well liked character. Heck, he could have even gotten his own action figure! But Kueller is and always will be a one appearance villain. Imagine if he had met Lumiya. Jacen Solo probably doesn't fall to the dark side. The Yuuzhan Vong could have been defeated before their invasion began. So many "What if?" scenarios on a character that could have been on equal footing with Thrawn. He still intrigues me to this day.