You know I've been alone for... a while now. Without any…purpose. Just hiding. It's no way to live. Not for a Jedi. Or a droid. Maybe Cere was right. Maybe we're done hiding
„
~ Cal Kestis, to BD-1.
“
The lives of every child on that list will be forever changed. Not by us. Their destiny should be trusted to the force.
„
~ Cal to the crew, deciding to destroy the holocron to protect the children.
He is a former Jedi Padawan who survived the Clone Wars as well as the fall of the Jedi Order. He and his master, Jaro Tapal, had been above Bracca aboard a Venator-class Star Destroyer when Order 66 was issued. While Tapal was killed by their clone troopers, Kestis escaped to the planet aboard their escape pod. During the reign of the Galactic Empire, Kestis sought to avoid the great purge that killed most of his fellow Jedi by creating a new life for himself on Bracca, working as a rigger with the Scrapper Guild.
Despite hiding from the empire for five years, he was discovered by the inquisitor Second Sister, but was saved by former Jedi master Cere Junda and captain Greez Dritus. Agreeing to help Junda restore the Jedi Order, Cal learned that Eno Cordova had hidden a holocron in the Bogano vault, and decided to retrieve it to find the location of the force-sensitive children. During his quest, Cal was knighted by Cere and became friends and crew mates with the android BD-1 Nightsister Merrin, and succeed in retrieving the holocron. However, he would abandon his goal to restore the order by destroying the holocron to protect the children from the empire.
Cal continued his fight against the Empire despite the Mantis crew separating, ultimately feeling that he was battling an unstoppable foe. After a mission on Coruscant went awry, Kestis found himself on another journey to reach the planet Tanalorr to make it a haven for anyone wanting to evade the Emperor's regime. During his adventure, Cal was betrayed by the fallen Jedi Bode Akuna, whom's actions resulted in the deaths of Cere and Eno Cordova, as well as countless members of the Hidden Path. Once defeating his former friend, Cal and Merrin took in Bode's daughter Kata as they continued to help others reach Tanalorr.
He is voiced by and motion-captured by Cameron Monaghan, who also voiced Superboy in Reign of the Superman.
Our mistakes... are in the past. And it's all of our responsibility and it's about what we do next that's important. You taught me that, Cere.
„
~ Cal to Cere.
Cal Kestis served the Jedi Order as a Padawan before Order 66 ensued. After the fall of the Jedi, Kestis went to serve the Scrapper Guild as a rigger, a physically demanding and dangerous job. However, Kestis was regarded for a focused work ethic and sense of humility he generally kept for himself, yet he was quiet and hard-working. Though he refused to speak on his past as he was quite haunted by it, feeling like he got his Master killed and could have done more, usually reacting with anger or dismissive of his past when it is brought up. Eventually Kestis began to open up more about his past and when confronted by the dark side on Dathomir for the second time in the form of his master, Kestis fully accepted his past and grew quite a lot from the experience, acting much more level headed and very wise, almost mentoring like towards others.
Powers & Abilities
“
You're learning.
„
~ The Second Sister to Cal during their second duel.
Powers
The Force: Being born a force-sensitive individual, Cal had a connection to the force since he was only a child. However, his connection to it was damaged after witnessing the death of his master and betrayal of the Clone Troopers, leaving him without further training to reach his full potential. His connection was slowly being restored during his quest for the holocron, as his psychometric powers allowed him to regain his abilities via remembering his training. During his quest, Cal's powers greatly improved to the point that the Second Sister noticed this during their duel. Despite his impressive skills, he was easily outmatched by Darth Vader, who's connection to the force was far greater than most force users.
Telekinesis: Cal was skilled in using telekinesis, but he didn't entirely master it due to his trauma and losing the chance to be fully trained. On Bracca, the only telekinetic ability he possessed was the ability to put enemies on stasis, which grew stronger during the hunt for the holocron. As his quest continued, he regained his memories on using telekinesis, allowing him to push or pull objects or opponents, swim faster, and run on walls for brief seconds. Five years later Cal also learned how to raise and lower objects through the force as well.
Psychometry: Cal possess the rare force ability to relive echoes from objects by touching it, which gave Kestis knowledge about any planet or previous person that resided there. The ability can be use against him, however, as when he touched Trilla's lightsaber, he was forced to relive her memories, thus preventing him from stopping her since he held the holocron.
Animal Taming: Using the Force Cal could calm and tame many different creatures, even gaining their help in navigating the harsh environments of the planets he explored.
Force Speed: While navigating the temples on Jedha Cal learned how to enhance his speed in the force, even while in mid-air.
Dark Side Expertise: After confronting Bode Akuna at the ISB base on Nova Garon, Cal temporarily gave in to the Dark Side of the Force, giving him the ability to enhance all of his Force abilities and heighten his combat ability, making him much extremely lethal in battle. Cal immediately displayed an impressive and unsettling natural proficiency with it, easily slicing his way through Imperial forces and overpowering elite enemies such as Purge troopers and Sentry droids with much greater ease than he could before. Cal was able to gain some measure of control over himself due to coaching from Merrin, which was the only reason he was not fully consumed by the Dark Side entirely. Cal later used this ability to overpower Bode in their final duel on Tanalorr, being able to overpower the former Jedi when before he was unable to.
Force Rage: While using the Dark Side Cal goes into a fugue state based on anger, enhancing all of his physical and force abilities by a great degree.
Abilities
Peak-Human Physical Conditioning: Due to years working as a scrapper and rigger on Bracca, Cal is in excellent physical condition, being capable of many athletic feats even before restoring his Force connection. Cal was extremely agile, fast, physically strong, and durable, able to survive many injuries that would have killed others.
Master Climber/Freerunner: Alongside his enhanced abilities via the force, Cal was skilled in parkour and free climbing due to his time as a scrapper.
Master Acrobat: Cal was extremely agile and possessed great acrobat ability due to his Force enhancement. By 9bby, five years after reconnecting to the Force, Cal's acrobatic ability had greatly evolved.
Genius Level-Intellect/Master Tactician/Expert Investigator: Cal was highly intelligent, having extensive knowledge of ships due to his years as a rigger for the Scrapper Guild. He was also quick thinking, able to survive numerous situations due to his athleticism and connection to the force. Cal's critical thinking skills were also excellent, being able to solve the many puzzles and traps throughout the Zeffo tombs, as well as navigate the harsh and hazardous terrain of Kashyyyk's shadowlands. Cal was also a clever strategist, able to think well on his feet during desperate situations to outwit his enemies, such as both Trilla and Ninth Sister, and with the assistance of his friends was able to formulate an effective plan to infiltrate the Fortress Inquisitorius, something that currently only Obi-wan Kenobi is known to have also accomplished. In the following years Cal's ability as a strategist and tactician greatly improved, with him leading many raids on Imperial compounds under Saw Gerrera's direction, leading to him becoming seen as an infamous outlaw by Imperial forces and citizens. Cal was also a skilled Investigator and tracker separate from his Psychometric abilities, being able to deduce details of a scene with remarkable ability based on little information. With help from Bode Akuna, Cal was able to formulate an effective plan to defeat the fallen Jedi Master Dagan Gera, who himself had experience in war, and was able to eventually outsmart him by switching off attacks from himself and Bode Akuna to overwhelm Dagan, before using the force to turn Dagan's fears against him.
Expert Engineer: Due to his times as a rigger, Cal was skilled in engineering and mechanics, allowing him to upgrade BD-1 on several occasions and rebuild his lightsaber, as well as possess enough understanding of the internal workings of an AT-AT walker to be able to infiltrate and take control of one. Cal shows himself to have a brilliant understanding of machinery both on a small and large level, being able to modify his lightsaber into a crossguard saber, modify BD-1's internal workings, and was able to jury-rig an ascension cable into his gear with a minute's time.
Bilingualism: Cal could understand multiple languages spoken by his coworkers on Bracca, as well as droid binary, capable to communicate with BD-1 on their journey.
Expert Pilot: Sometime between the events of both games Cal became skilled with flying, being allowed to pilot the Mantis in Greez's stead for Rebel missions.
Wisdom: Due to his master's training, Cal was wise and humble, willing to give advice or mentorship to his friends during their quest. His wisdom allowed him to to sympathize with others, such as Merrin on losing her sisters during the Clone Wars, or Trilla's past with becoming an inquisitor. Five years later Cal proved capable of Solving the trials left behind by Santari Khri, as well as those left by the Force religions of Jedha. Cal was also able to recognize the folly in Dagan Gera's plans, as well as gain insight into the Dark Jedi's nature, allowing him to eventually overcome him.
Master hand-to-hand combatant: Cal was an extremely skilled fighter separate from his lightsaber skill. Even after five years out of combat Cal easily held his own against entire squads of Imperial scout troopers armed with electro batons, and held his own impressively against the Second Sister, even if she was holding back. As the game progressed, Cal's mastery with the Force improved, and his physical ability did as well. Cal was able to outmatch highly skilled Purge troopers, who were experts in hand-to-hand combat and weapons, as well as being trained specifically to counter Jedi tactics and techniques. Additionally. Cal was able to defeat Nightbrothers in combat, even when they were enhanced by Magic to make them stronger. Cal also continually went toe-to-toe with bounty hunters and commandos employed by the Haxion Brood, even when they were using equipment such as jetpacks, flamethrowers, and wrist rockets. Cal also was able to defeat the formidable Zeffo tomb guardians, powerful advanced droids who possessed limited resistance to lightsabers. Throughout his journey Cal also faced many extremely dangerous beasts as well, even a massive Chirodactyl known as Gorgara. Five years later Cal was able to contend himself well against the electrostaff armed Bedlam Raiders, the Raider controlled Super-battledroids, and fight evenly with the extremely formidable Separatist B-X Commando Droids, who had previously proved formidable matches to well trained ARC-Trooper clones. Cal also proved capable of facing and defeating reprogrammed Magnaguards, who had proven formidable matches to fully trained Jedi Knights during the Clone Wars. Cal eventually fought and defeated the extremely strong and skilled Gen'Dai warrior Rayvis, Who had previously required an entire team of Jedi masters to subdue, and only Dagan Gera had been able to defeat one-on-one before. After temporarily embracing the Dark Side, Cal displayed devastating skill in combat, being able to single handedly cut his way through common Imperial forces with no resistance, and overpower elite enemies such as Purge troopers and Sentry droids with terrifying ease compared to his previous difficulty.
Master Swordsman: Cal was a formidable lightsaber duelist, being an especially skilled practitioner of Jar'kai and was a master saberstaff fighter. When using a single blade, Cal seems to favor Forms V & III, utilizing strong two-handed cuts and slashes alongside a solid defense against both melee and range. Cal was also a skilled practitioner of Form VI, being a skilled saber-staff wielder and Jar'Kai user, both styles of which favor Niman. Cal also seems to be proficient with Form II, Makashi, utilizing it with expert competence when dual-wielding his saber and blaster together. During the quest for Tanalorr, Cal also became skilled at using a crossguard lightsaber, as well as dual wielding his lightsaber and a blaster alongside one another with great proficiency. Initially Cal only retained his rudimentary lightsaber training, being proficient enough using basic cuts, parries, thrusts and blocks, but was able to hold his own impressively against the Second Sister in their first duel on Bracca, though she was clearly holding back. As his journey progressed, and his attunement with the Force improved, Cal's original skill returned to him, allowing him to outmatch many opponents wielding lightsaber resistant weapons, such Imperial scout troopers, the highly trained Purge Troopers, and Dathomiri Nightbrothers, allowing him to slowly hone his skill with experience. Cal's skill had improved such that he could fight the Second Sister to a match when they dueled on Zeffo, even having the upper hand until she used the Force against him. Cal was eventually able to fight the Ninth Sister to a match on Kashyyyk, soundly defeating her and even cutting off her hand, eventually Force-pushing her out of a tree. After bonding with a new Kyber crystal and rebuilding his lightsaber Cal's skill and power reached its peak, him becoming faster and more precise in his technique then before. Cal was then able to fight the fallen Jedi master Taron Malicos on a fair footing, evenly matching his lightsaber skill nearly equally, though because Malicos was stronger in the Force than Cal he was unable to defeat him without help from Merrin. Cal was able to match Second Sister as an equal during their duel on Bogano, with Cal soundly winning the fight, only losing due to being incapacitated from the memories attached to her lightsaber. In the end Cal was able to duel her one last time in the Fortress Inquisitorius, evenly matching her blade skill blow-for-blow, and was able to eventually overpower her with superior mastery of the Force. Cal was then Forced to flee by the arriving Darth Vader, who Cal proved no match for. It should be noted, however, that Cal was able to score a number of hits on the Sith Lord, which is impressive considering the number of experienced Jedi masters who were unable to accomplish even that much when facing Vader. Five years later, during the Coruscant heist, Cal showed greatly improved skill. Cal's skill with Jar'Kai and the saberstaff had risen to mastery, and blaster deflection skill had greatly improved as well. Cal was notably able to defeat the Ninth Sister once more, doing so with much greater ease than he had before, even while she was using her mental abilities to read Cal's every move. Cal also showed much less effort when when defeating Purge troopers, showing his greater skill improvement. Cal was also able to contend with the lightsaber wielding Bedlam Raider lieutenants. Cal was also able to hold his own against the superiorly powerful and skilled Dagan Gera, who had been a Jedi Master prior to falling to the Dark Side, but was only able to defeat him with the assistance of Bode Akuna, though it should be noted that at the end of their fight Cal was able to fairly match Dagan one-on-one after Bode had been incapacitated, eventually successfully defeating the fallen Jedi through combined skill and use of the Force to turn Dagan's own fears against him. Cal eventually faced Bode himself in combat, at first with help from Merrin but later in the fight Cal faced him alone and defeated him with Bode having to feign surrender to catch Cal off guard, forcing Cal to kill his former friend. Despite his tremendous improvement in skill, Cal's duelling skill was still seemed to be inferior to that of his former Master Cere Junda, who proved capable of fighting Darth Vader on equal grounds. After accessing the Dark Side Cal's skill improved even further, allowing him to kill most common opponents in one hit and overpower elite enemies such as Purge troopers and Imperial Sentry Droids with extreme ease compared to before.
Jar'Kai Mastery: After rebuilding his lightsaber, Cal began using split saber configuration, allowing him to use a dual blade function. Cal immediately showed high proficiency with the style, easily cutting his way through Imperial forces on Ilum. Five years later Cal's skill had noticeably improved, with him showcasing his skill during his duel with the Ninth Sister, using Jar'Kai to defeat her.
Saber-staff Mastery: Cal is extremely skilled with a double-bladed configuration, originally being fairly skilled in the form before greatly improving with time. By the time of the Coruscant heist, Cal was capable of performing acrobatic twirls, throws, jumps, and many of the techniques showcased by the former Sith Lord Darth Maul, displaying Cal's increase in skill with the form.
Crossguard Mastery: After adding the crossguard attachment to his blade, Cal proved immediately skilled with it, especially impressive considering that he had never used the style previously. With practice Cal learned how to deflect blaster bolts with increased charge using the blade, as well as slicing through Imperial riot shields, something that he could not do with traditional configuration.
Master Marksman: After arriving on Jedha, Cal was given a blaster by Bode Akuna, with the man also teaching him how to use it. Cal proved to be extremely proficient with it, even learning how to wield it in his off hand alongside his lightsaber, could fire charged attacks, fire targeted volleys at multiple soldiers in quick succession, and even rebound shots off multiple targets and surfaces, likely with the assistance of the force to guide his aim.
Indomitable Will: Despite being shaken from past trauma, Kestis is a fearless and resilient individual, as he stood against Darth Vader and refused to give him the Holocron on Nur despite realizing that he could not likely stand long against the Sith Lord. Cal also fearlessly faced the Fallen Jedi Master Dagan Gera, despite knowing that the man was likely stronger and more skilled than he was. The strength of Cal's willpower was most greatly displayed during his duel with Gera, where Cal was able to force off the fallen Jedi Master's mental attacks, turning them against Gera himself by targeting his fears of rejection by Santari Khri to emotionally compromise him enough to be defeated. Cal later proved able to control and overcome the Dark Side, after he began to use it some degree after Bode's betrayal.
Quotes
“
There are three rules to survive: Don't stand out; don't reach out. Accept the past. Trust no one; trust only in the Force.
„
~ Cal Kestis in the trailer.
“
I'm trash. Just not approved trash.
„
~ Cal to an overseer droid.
“
Something happened to me during the Purge. I survived, but my connection to the Force is damaged.
„
~ Cal to Cere on his connection to the force.
“
It's an.. echo in the Force from the object.
„
~ Cal to Cere on his ability to relive echoes from an object.
“
I guess you were the someone I was supposed to meet.
„
~ Cal to BD-1.
“
That is BD-1. He's with us.
„
~ Cal to Greez on BD-1.
“
No, we are not doing that again.
„
~ Cal to BD-1 on manning an AT-AT.
“
What about for a Jedi?
„
~ Cal during his duel against the Ninth Sister.
“
I can stop you.
„
~ Cal to the Ninth Sister during their first duel.
“
We did. I wouldn't be here without all of you. I used to sit on Bracca dreaming about storming Coruscant with survivors from the Jedi Council. Instead, the Order's hopes rest on a gambler, a fallen Jedi, and a failed Padawan. A bunch of screw ups.
„
~ Cal to Cere and Greez.
“
BD's the only reliable one. He let Cordova wipe his memories so he could stay behind and guide us. But you're both willing to sacrifice everyhing; to keep going even when it seeems impossible.
„
~ Cal to Cere and Greez.
“
No. Facing you... Memories that have haunted me since Bracca...I won't run from them anymore.
„
~ Cal to the specter of Tapal.
“
No. Master. I will never forget. The loss has become a part of me. I will honor your teaching. And your sacrifice.
„
~ Cal to the specter of Tapal.
“
After the Purge... I was alone for a... a long time. In hiding, I was... I was scared that they'd find out who I was or... What I was.
„
~ Cal to Merrin.
“
Well, no, but... Life has this funny way of forcing you on the path forward anyway. Now here I am. Where I least expected.
„
~ Cal to Merrin.
“
I know what it's like to lose everything. And Malicos was wrong to use that against you. We don't have to be enemies.
„
~ Cal to Merrin.
“
I'm not interested in power. I want to restore the Order.
„
~ Cal to Malicos.
“
Maybe. But it's never over, Malicos. We stand here now with a chance to learn. To rebuild from our mistakes.
„
~ Cal to Malicos.
“
Thank you for helping me with Malicos. Thought I was a goner for a minute.
„
~ Cal to Merrin after defeating Malicos.
“
You won't be alone. You'll have a friend with you.
„
~ Cal to Cere on their mission to Nern.
“
Darth Vader: You would be wise to surrender. Cal Kestis: Yeah. Probably.
„
~ Darth Vader and Cal on Nurn.
“
I'll never give it to you!
„
~ Cal standing his ground against Darth Vader and refusing to give him the holocron.
“
So... Where to now?
„
~ Cal to his crew mates after destroying the holocron.
Trivia
Before settling on Kestis, the game developers thought about having either an alien or female protagonist, but Kestis was ultimately used because they didn't want to "alienate" the player nor have a female protagonist competing with Rey, the sequel trilogy's protagonist.
Cal Kestis' name was revealed at the Chicago's celebration convention in 2019.
Cal's voice actor Cameron Monghan also played Jerome and Jeremiah Valeska in Gotham (both were earlier versions of Joker) making Cal similar to Luke Skywalker's Mark Hamill, who played the role as a Jedi and Joker in numerous media.
Also Cal looks similar to Jerome and Jeremiah due to the actor being motion captured.
