Jaina Solo Fel

Jaina Solo Fel was a Human female Jedi Master of the New Jedi Order, a member of the New Jedi High Council, the wife of Jagged Fel, the twin sister of Jacen Solo and the older sister of Anakin Solo.

Born to Han and Leia Organa Solo, Jaina inherited her father's mechanical aptitude and her mother's Force sensitivity; resulting in her eventual training at the Jedi Praxeum. During her time there as a youth, she had many adventures, including helping to thwart the Second Imperium, where she helped Zekk abandon the dark side of the Force and join the ranks of the Jedi.

Biography

Childhood (9 ABY-22 ABY)

Birth

Jaina as an infant with her mother and twin brother.

"Mom and Dad never act that weird unless they're worried about us three little darlings."
"That's for sure. They sure do worry."
"Come on, Jacen. If you were our parents, wouldn't you worry?"

―Jaina and Jacen Solo discuss their parents

Even before they were born, Solo and her twin brother Jacen, along with their mother, were subject to three kidnapping attempts by Grand Admiral Thrawn's Noghri Death Commandos. In order to entice the mad Dark Jedi Joruus C'baoth into helping him with his campaign, Thrawn had made a promise to apprehend Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa Solo, and her as yet unborn children—Force-sensitive individuals that C'baoth could then corrupt and mold in any way that he saw fit once he got his hands on them.

After a visit to the blighted world of Honoghr and securing the allegiance of the Noghri, Leia ensured that Solo and her twin brother were born on Coruscant during the final days of the Thrawn campaign without the threat of any more kidnapping attempts by Noghri Death Commandos hanging over their heads. Thrawn, however, still trying to keep his end of the bargain, sent Imperial Intelligence agents to Coruscant to kidnap the twins and their mother once again. The quarters in which the Solo family lived were destroyed, but Thrawn's agents once again were foiled and the twins were unharmed.

Isolation

Despite the reassurances of ancient Jedi lore that held that childish innocence was an effective obstacle to the corrupting influence of the dark side of the Force, Solo's uncle Luke Skywalker believed that any contact with the dark side could warp the mind of a young child for the rest of his or her life. Given the Force potential in the twins, Luke told Solo's parents that he felt it was best to minimize any chance for the twins to be exposed to the dark side during this vulnerable time.

Jaina and Jacen in the care of Winter, with Leia watching closely.

They took his advice and sent the twins to New Alderaan, to be under the care of Leia's lifelong friend and aide Winter. Any safety that could be derived from this arrangement would be short-lived, however. The reborn Emperor Palpatine discovered New Alderaan's location and ordered an attack on the planet immediately. During the chaos of the attack on New Alderaan, Solo and her brother were nearly kidnapped by Darksiders Xecr Nist and Kvag Gthull, but their efforts were thwarted by the actions of a group of Jedi warriors led by Skywalker.

Following the battle, the Solo twins were brought to the ancient space city of Nespis VIII, where their parents and uncle discovered that the New Republic had survived the destruction of Da Soocha V. After the birth of their younger brother, Anakin, the Solo twins lived with their mother and father in the space city until they fled with the rest of the New Republic forces, shortly before the city was itself destroyed by one of the Galaxy Gun's warheads.

Heeding Luke's advice, Han and Leia took all three Solo children into hiding on the world of Onderon so that the future of the Jedi would be protected from Palpatine, who planned to spiritually enter Anakin and free himself from his last clone body, which was deteriorating at an alarming rate. Han and Leia made their way to Onderon, but Palpatine, using a Sith oracle stone, was able to determine their destination and intercept the Millennium Falcon. The Falcon was damaged in the ensuing confrontation, but Han and his Wookiee comrade Chewbacca managed to coax it into limping all the way to Onderon, where they landed it in the city of Iziz.

With Palpatine hot on their heels, aged Jedi Vima-Da-Boda and Chewbacca attempted to create a diversion, with the goal of making Palpatine think that Leia and the children had fled Onderon aboard the Falcon. Meanwhile, the three children embarked on a day-long journey to Fortress Kira with their parents. Palpatine did not fall for the ruse and managed to track his quarry right to the room where Leia and her children were staying.

Jaina and Jacen could do little more but look on as their parents, uncle, the Jedi Empatojayos Brand, and Ysanna warrior Rayf Ysanna battled Palpatine's last clone. At the cost of the lives of Ysanna and Brand, Palpatine was thwarted in his attempt to possess Anakin's body. After the New Republic had reclaimed Coruscant, Jaina, Jacen, and Anakin Solo were relocated to the isolated and nearly unknown world of Anoth with Winter, where they once again rarely saw their parents.

Reunion

"Where's Jaina!?"

―Han Solo, after Jaina disappeared

When they were two-and-a-half years old, the twins returned to Coruscant to live with their parents. By this time, Solo and her brother demonstrated an ability to move objects with their minds from time to time. They also further developed the mental bond that they had been born with, and had a tendency to use it to complete each other's sentences as well as coordinate their misbehavior. Because Solo's parents had been able to visit Anoth only a few times, the twins became quite apprehensive about leaving Winter (whom they had come to view as their mother) for the care of their mother, whom they viewed as a stranger.

Jaina getting into trouble as a child.

Because her husband was gone at the time that the twins returned, Leia Solo found herself struggling to balance her motherly duties with her responsibilities as Minister of State of the New Republic. As a result, Leia enlisted the help of the family's protocol droid, C-3PO, who was eager to put his recently-downloaded child-rearing subroutines to the test. C-3PO accepted the job with an initial enthusiasm, but found himself overwhelmed on a number of occasions, including one incident in which the twins caused him to become entangled within a tentacle-cactus during a diplomatic ceremony in the Skydome Botanical Gardens. He also put his storytelling abilities to use, and took pride in his ability to sing lullabies in just about any language or style. More often than not, though, the twins preferred their father's telling of The Little Lost Bantha Cub more than the droid's renditions.

After he returned with Han Solo from their mission to Kessel, Chewbacca assisted C-3PO with the care of Solo and her brother while their parents attended to other responsibilities. In the first instance when the pair was tasked with taking care of the twins in their parents' absence, the twins' pestering managed to drive Chewbacca into a frenzy, and even deteriorate C-3PO's patience programming. The Wookiee and the protocol droid decided that it would be a good idea to bring the twins on a field trip to Coruscant's Holographic Zoo of Extinct Animals. They quickly tired of the dullness of the museum and decided that a game of hide-and-seek with their escorts would be much more fun.

Without informing C-3PO and Chewbacca, Solo and her brother Jacen began their game. Evading Chewbacca's pursuit, the twins found their way onto a turbolift and rode it down to the floor designated as "1." Exiting from the turbolift, the twins embarked upon an adventure in Coruscant's undercity where they encountered many unfamiliar creatures. They eventually discovered a refugee community that consisted of accountants who had fled the oppression of the Galactic Empire on Coruscant's surface. Despite his fear of the Empire—which he thought was still in power on Coruscant—King Onibald Daykim of the refugees helped the two children return to their home.

Trip to the Jedi Praxeum

"Help, help! Uncle Luke needs help."

―Jaina rousing the Jedi trainees to save her uncle

In 11 ABY, Solo and her twin brother accompanied their parents to the Jedi Praxeum on Yavin 4 when it was learned that their uncle Luke Skywalker had been found in a coma-like state on the top of the Great Temple by his students. Although the medical team had been unsuccessful in reviving the Jedi Master, Solo believed that she could somehow awaken him from his deep sleep by kissing him, but was similarly unsuccessful. Later, the twins, along with their mother and the students, felt a great disturbance in the Force as the Carida system was destroyed by the rogue Jedi Kyp Durron—who, with the help of the spirit of an ancient Sith Lord named Exar Kun, had also sent Skywalker into his comatose state.

Jaina with her family.

The twins remained on Yavin 4, watching over their comatose relative. One night, they were able to keep their uncle's body from being destroyed by Jedi trainee Streen, who had been deceived by Kun's spirit, after Luke appeared to them in a dream. When visiting Luke's body with the Mon Calamari healer Cilghal, who was taking care of the twins after their parents left the Praxeum, the two younger Solos discovered that—unlike the adults at the Praxeum—they could see their uncle's disembodied spirit. When a group of Sith battle hydras were sent by Kun to attack Luke's body, the Jedi's spirit warned the twins again. After raising the alarm with Cilghal, Solo went to the audience chamber where Luke was lying, was greeted by the sight of her brother defending Luke's body with Luke's lightsaber, and rushed to his aid.

The twins were able to hold off the vicious creatures until help arrived. Luke's students then formed a plan to end the threat presented by Exar Kun once and for all. After helping the students combine their powers and vanquish the ancient Sith Lord, the two children were delighted to see their uncle recover.

After Anakin came perilously close to being kidnapped by pro-Imperial Ambassador Furgan on Anoth, Leia and Han Solo decided that he, along with Winter, would join his brother and sister on Coruscant. Because of their mother's increased diplomatic responsibilities as Chief of State of the New Republic, the three Solo children found themselves attending—and causing mischief at—important diplomatic ceremonies such as the Concert of the Winds on Vortex and the Herd Meet on Ithor.

When Solo was around four years old, she accompanied her father and brothers on a trip with Chewbacca. While her father had his hands full with her brothers, she wandered off, following a robotic hand. She eventually found a droid who wanted to turn her to the dark side. Fortunately, Chewbacca was able to destroy the droid and rescue Solo. To thank him, she drew him a picture saying that she loved him.

As Solo grew older, she took after her father, seeming to acquire his cockiness and piloting skills as well as a certain aptitude for all things mechanical, which made him proud of her. At the age of five, Solo was allowed to have her own multitool, which she was allowed to use on wood—though in the workshop only. At seven, Solo had one that worked on metal. Finally, at the age of nine, Han felt that Solo was responsible enough to help him with simple repairs and also allowed her to fly the Millennium Falcon. There were a few occasions when Solo was overzealous with her attempts at mechanical innovation, such as the time when she and her brothers constructed a faulty droid to do their housework, or the many times that they had "experimented" with their Uncle Luke's lightsaber.

Solo did not become as close to her mother as she was to her father, and there was an emotional divide between them. Though Leia Solo tried to be in her daughter's life as much as possible, the ever-increasing burdens of duties to the New Republic continually pulled her away from her family. Solo noticed this more and more as she grew older, and grew to resent it.

Abduction attempts

"Remember what happened? We were playing with Chewie–"
"–and then he jumped up–"
"–and then he fell down–"
"–and then I went to sleep."
"Me too."

―Jaina, Jacen and Anakin

C-3PO minding Jacen and Jaina Solo

In 13 ABY, the Solo children were living in the Imperial Palace on Coruscant. While there, the three children snuck into a Council meeting even though they had been told the area was off-limits, diverting their mother's attention at the expense of a diplomatic envoy. After the council was adjourned, Leia Organa Solo called for Nanna, their droid babysitter who they had previously eluded, to take charge of them. Nanna led them away, threatening chores as punishment for their misbehavior.

Shortly thereafter, a group of assassins under the command of a hardline ex-Imperial named Ennix Devian attempted to kidnap Organa Solo and her children in the night. Organa Solo's chief of security Mirith Sinn, along with Organa Solo and her Noghri bodyguards, slew the assassins, but the attack greatly worried Organa Solo. A pair of Noghri escorted the twins to their mother, who instructed that they be taken to her room, where she would join them shortly, and guarded well. Later, the Solo children would be able to speak to their father, who was away at war, via holocomm, reassuring him that they were unharmed by the kidnapping attempt.

The next year, during a visit to the planet Munto Codru when she was five years old, Solo and her brothers were kidnapped along with Codru-Ji Chamberlain Iyon's wyrwulf. The abductors used the dark side of the Force to mask their presence, and a pressure bomb to destroy any evidence as well as to unsuccessfully attempt to kill Chewbacca. As they left the atmosphere of Munto Codru, the three children left behind a trail of pain that could be sensed in the Force by their mother.

After they returned to consciousness, the Solo children were greeted by a man named Hethrir. He claimed that their parents, their uncle, and Chewbacca had been killed in an earthquake and that he, Hethrir, was their hold-father. The twins determined that Hethrir was lying, since their uncle and their father had not been on Munto Codru at the time that they were kidnapped, and confirmed their suspicions by getting Hethrir to incorrectly state the twins' birth order, disproving his claims of being present at their birth. In truth, Hethrir was part of the Empire Reborn, a movement aiming to destroy the New Republic.

The twins were imprisoned in Hethrir's Worldcraft, though usually separated when not in their cells, while Anakin was kept with Hethrir at all times. Though behaving in a manner amenable to the rules would guarantee her more privileges as an Empire Reborn Helper and eventually a Proctor, Solo attempted to be as rude and uncooperative to her superiors at every turn, even using the Force to put sand in their food, while Jacen sent myrmin insects to harass them. Despite the drudgery of living in such a situation, Solo found a friend in Lusa, a female Chironian who had also been kidnapped. However, Solo soon found that her new friend, along with Anakin and the wyrwulf, was to be taken away.

An unpleasant encounter with a fully-indoctrinated Empire Youth named Vram further convinced Solo that she and her brother needed to escape Hethrir's Worldcraft. Using a multitool that she had hidden from Hethrir's Helpers and Proctors, Solo managed to disable the latch of her cell's door. She quickly freed Jacen and then the other children, and they made their way out of the building in which their cells were housed. With the help of Mistress Dragon—a sand dragon that Jacen had earlier befriended—the children escaped Hethrir's compound into the "wilderness" of the worldcraft with a group of Proctors in pursuit.

As the Proctors drew closer, Leia arrived in her star yacht Alderaan with Chewbacca and a woman named Rillao and rescued them, but Hethrir had already left with Anakin. The twins accompanied the adults to Crseih Station, where Hethrir planned to sacrifice their younger brother to a mysterious entity known as Waru and auction off Lusa, the wyrwulf, and a number of other children as slaves. As they neared Waru's temple aboard the station, Leia told the twins to stay with Chewbacca while she ventured inside with Han. Han and Luke had also made their way to the station separately from Leia and the children. When Solo and her brother heard what they thought to be cries of distress from Lusa and the wyrwulf, they convinced Chewbacca to enter the temple to help them. After a confrontation with Luke, Han, and Leia, and deprived of Anakin's power, Waru destroyed Hethrir and itself.

After the confrontation with Hethrir and Waru, life returned to some resemblance of normality for Solo and her brothers. The kidnapping, however, caused Solo's parents to become much more protective of their children, with Han refusing to let his children out of his sight. Though they were insulated from any harm that might come to them, the Solo children were also protected from having any friends outside their parents, uncle, Chewbacca, Winter, C-3PO, and R2-D2. And though she had found a friend in Lusa while she was imprisoned aboard the worldcraft, Solo lost contact with the Chironian after she returned to her home planet of Chiron.

Unlike their younger brother, the twins often devised new and sophisticated ways to test their father's patience. Jacen became less willing to play with his sister, however, choosing instead to focus on developing his ability to use the Force to levitate objects. Solo became annoyed by this behavior, and started to disrupt his practice. Despite the vexation that she gave their father, she loved him, and was angered by the prospect of losing him when the news was broken to her that he had been captured by the Duskhan League during the Black Fleet Crisis, despite Leia's attempts to shield the children from the news of their father's incarceration.

Corellian Crisis

"Our cousin is a bad man."

―Jaina, describing her cousin, Thrackan Sal-Solo

Jaina around the time of the Corellian Crisis.

In 18 ABY, Jaina Solo accompanied her family on a vacation to the Corellian system. Upon their arrival, Leia hired a Drall named Ebrihim as a tutor for the children and a guide for the whole family, though the twins were unenthusiastic about their new tutor.

On their first outing, the family visited Corellia's first major archaeological site, an excavation. While touring the tunnels of the excavation, Solo noticed that Anakin had stopped following the rest of the tour, and had become fascinated with a section of the tunnel's floor. Along with Jacen, they continued off in a different direction, and the three of them eventually stumbled upon what was later identified as Corellia's planetary repulsor, one of which was located in each of the Five Brothers.

The children were soon found by Ebrihim's droid Q9-X2, who alone had noticed that the children had gone missing. Realizing that the chamber was what the Human League Heritage Squad that had been conducting the dig was looking for, and that it would not be beneficial to the New Republic if the xenophobic group found it, the twins then used the Force to cover up any sign that the group had been there. Solo, her brothers, and Q9-X2 eventually were reunited with their parents and later told them about what they had found there.

After several days, Solo and her family relocated their lodgings to the Governor-General's residence at Corona House, where they met Governor-General Micamberlecto. There, Leia and Han were scheduled to attend a major trade conference designed to bring the Corellian system back into the galactic fold. On the first night of the conference, the children stayed up late and spied on the adults, learning about an threat to destroy planets from an unknown group if their demands were not met.

The three Solo children were eventually cooped up in Corona House with Chewbacca, Ebrihim, and Q9-X2, while their parents left to advise Micamberlecto. They watched from their apartment as enclaves within Coronet City burned to the ground and bodies piled up in the streets in the first stages of what was later known as the Corellian Crisis.

Corona House came under fire, so the children, the Wookiee, the Drall, and the droid piled into the Falcon to make a hasty retreat. With the freighter's hyperdrive damaged by a pocket patrol boat's fire, they journeyed to the home of Ebrihim's Aunt Marcha on Drall. Solo and her brothers were well received by Marcha, the Duchess of Mastigophorous. The following morning, the children told Marcha what had transpired before they were forced to leave Corellia. Solo also told Marcha about what she and her siblings had witnessed on the first night of the conference, feeling that Anakin's discovery and the ominous message were somehow connected.

Marcha brought the children, Chewbacca, Ebrihim, and Q9-X2 to Drall's planetary repulsor. They made their way inside the repulsor and watched as Anakin experimented and, in one instance, activated the repulsor, nearly killing everyone there. Though she was annoyed by the fact that Anakin had almost killed her, Jaina understood that it was pointless to make her feelings known and instead tried to comfort her guilt-stricken sibling.

Solo and her brothers were later captured by their father's cousin Thrackan Sal-Solo, who had come to claim the repulsor for the Human League, and imprisoned Solo, her brothers, Chewbacca, Ebrihim, and Marcha. The leader of the Human League broadcast images of the captive children to the rest of the Corellian system to blackmail their mother into getting the New Republic to recognize Corellian independence. This action, however, turned the tide of public opinion in the system against the Human League.

The twins managed to escape from their force field prison with Anakin, and made it to the Falcon undetected. Because they had to leave the adults behind, Solo and Jacen assumed the roles of pilot and co-pilot, respectively. Before they flew the Falcon out of the repulsor chamber, Solo destroyed the force field generator and tried to damage the Human League's Mynock-class assault boat as much as possible, but was largely unsuccessful. Ascending into the sky, the Millennium Falcon was closely pursued by the assault boat with Thrackan at the helm.'

Though he had no experience at flying the freighter and was flying it upside down, Jacen managed to outmaneuver the assault boat and ended up tailing it. Seizing the opportunity, Solo destroyed its sublight engine array, causing the assault boat to hang dead in space. Immediately thereafter the Falcon was caught in a tractor beam. Although the children initially assumed the worst, the voice of Lando Calrissian came to them over the communications system, reassuring them that there was no need to panic, as the tractor beam belonged to the Bakuran vessel Intruder, which had arrived to support the New Republic movement in the Corellian system.

Aboard the Intruder, the Solo children were reunited with their parents, but were parted once again because Han and Leia had volunteered to help the Bakuran fleet in its confrontation with the forces of the Sacorrian Triad, the masterminds of the planet-destroying ultimatum, at Centerpoint Station. The twins accompanied their brother back to the planetary repulsor on Drall to see if he could find a way to use it to stop the ancient space station from continuing its destruction of whole star systems.

Once they were inside the planetary repulsor again, Solo and Jacen tried to help the technicians to understand their little brother, despite their own thinning patience. As the critical firing time approached, Solo encouraged Anakin to trust his feelings and reach out with the Force. Anakin did so and fired the repulsor, saving the lives of the twelve million inhabitants of Bovo Yagen.

During that same year on Coruscant, the Solo twins befriended a street kid named Zekk. Though he had a tendency to disappear unexpectedly back to the alleys, Zekk and the two Solo twins became fast friends, and Zekk took the twins on many adventures throughout the city. Solo eventually found herself developing a crush on him.

Caamas Document Crisis

Jaina around the time of the Caamas Document Crisis in 19 ABY.

"They're really getting married? Will we be invited?"

―Jaina, after hearing of Luke's wedding

After the discovery of a partial copy of the Caamas Document in 19 ABY, and because of the crisis and scandal that would inevitably follow, Jaina and her siblings were sent to Kashyyyk with Chewbacca and a group of Noghri for their protection. The document's discovery nearly sparked a civil war in the New Republic due to internecine tensions. After the crisis was resolved, she and her brothers attended the signing of the Pellaeon–Gavrisom Treaty with their parents, aboard the Star Destroyer Chimaera, which ended the Galactic Civil War. Shortly after the signing of the treaty, Jaina attended Luke Skywalker's private Jedi wedding to Mara Jade. During the public ceremony commemorating the union between Luke and Mara, Solo and the other children of the guests were confined to a room designated for the children of the guests under the watchful eye of a friend of Jade Skywalker's, smuggler Booster Terrik.

Jedi training (22 ABY–25 ABY)

"Always wanted to know how a lightsaber worked. Can I take yours apart, Uncle Luke?"

―Jaina Solo

When she was thirteen years old, in 22 ABY, Jaina and her brother Jacen attended her uncle Luke Skywalker's Jedi Praxeum on Yavin 4. At the Praxeum she met other Jedi candidates, including Hapan princess Tenel Ka, Raynar Thul and Chewbacca's nephew, Lowbacca. The Solo twins and those three would all form long-lasting friendships with each other. While Jacen developed an affinity for animals and the Living Force, Solo became a capable pilot and mechanic, strengthening her bond with her father.

Under her uncle's tutelage, Solo honed her talents in the Force and became considered one of the academy's most powerful students. During her time at the academy, the Solo twins, Tenel Ka, Lowbacca and Zekk would go on numerous adventures while learning lessons that would prepare them for the responsibilities of the Jedi.

Shadow Academy

"That's not right. The dark side doesn't make you any stronger. It's faster, easier, more seductive. It's also more tenacious. Just as the light side brings freedom, the dark side brings only bondage. Once you enslave yourself to the dark side of the Force, you may never escape."

―Jaina Solo

In 23 ABY, when Lowbacca came back to the Praxeum late one evening with tales of a mysterious glittering object, Solo and her friends decided to investigate it. The next day they discovered that the object was a solar panel from a TIE Fighter that had crashed more than twenty years prior. Solo decided to fix the ship and install a hyperdrive which had been given to her as a gift by her father. She began working on the damaged fighter with help from Jacen, Lowbacca, and Tenel Ka. Unfortunately for the young Jedi apprentices, the TIE's original pilot, Qorl, was still alive, and had lived the last twenty-three years in Yavin 4's jungles. After kidnapping Jaina and Jacen, Qorl forced them to finish repairing his ship so he could escape his exile at long last. The twins eventually escaped due to the Millennium Falcon's arrival, but so did Qorl, leaving the jungle moon behind and searching for any remnants of the Empire. Qorl would discover the Shadow Academy, a training ground for Dark Jedi under the command of one of Luke Skywalker's fallen students, Brakiss, and the Nightsister Tamith Kai. The Shadow Academy was aligned with the Second Imperium, an insurgency group which rejected the peace treaty between the Imperial Remnant and the New Republic in 19 ABY.

Jaina and Jacen during the Shadow Academy Crisis.

During a field trip to Lando Calrissian's GemDiver Station, the twins and Lowbacca were kidnapped by stormtroopers led by Tamith Kai. En route to their kidnappers' secret base, the twins and Lowbacca were brought to the cockpit of the ship that had been used to board GemDiver Station. Here, they were reunited with Qorl, who told them that he had found "[his] Empire" and that the kidnapping of the young Jedi Knights was the result of the information that he had given to his masters. After reversion to realspace, Tamith Kai told Jaina, Jacen and Lowbacca that they would be trained to become Dark Jedi once they arrived at their destination—the Shadow Academy.

Brakiss greeted the trio of Jedi trainees and informed them of his plans for converting them. After a particularly disastrous lecture, Solo experienced the power of Force lightning firsthand for defying Brakiss. Brakiss knew that the new recruits were wise to his propaganda, so he decided to try to turn the twins by giving them what they desired.

In one training exercise, Brakiss pitted an unknowing Solo against her brother Jacen by concealing each of them with hologram devices that made them think that the other was Darth Vader. In another exercise, she and Jacen were injured when hardballs, rocks and knives were thrown at them. After they survived this exercise, Brakiss announced to them that he was so pleased with their potential that he had decided to kidnap more Jedi trainees. Luckily for Solo, she was rescued by Jacen, who had used a Corusca gem from the GemDiver Station to get out of his cell. Using Lowbacca's computer expertise, they sabotaged the Shadow Academy's security systems and attempted to flee just as Luke Skywalker and Tenel Ka arrived to rescue them. However, a clean escape was blocked by Brakiss and Tamith Kai. During a confrontation, Luke defeated his former student while Tenel Ka injured Tamith Kai's knee. The group then escaped the Academy in the stolen ship Shadow Chaser. Consequently, the Shadow Academy fled into hyperspace. After returning safely back to Yavin 4, the Solo twins, Tenel Ka, and Lowbacca resumed life at the Praxeum.

Shortly after their kidnapping, the friends returned to Coruscant for a month-long vacation from the Jedi Praxeum's strenuous curriculum. The twins, as well as Lowbacca and Tenel Ka, spent their first day back home with Zekk, who took them along on an adventure through the Coruscant Underworld. After a run-in with the street gang known as the Lost Ones and its leader, Norys, they managed to make it back to the apartment that Zekk shared with his old friend Peckhum.

The twins convinced Zekk to attend a diplomatic banquet that was going to be held in the honor of the new Karnak Alphan ambassador within the next couple of days. Zekk accepted, and he showed up at the Imperial Palace at the proper time, though shabbily dressed. Not knowing anything about the formal dinner, he inadvertently ate the decoration in front of him. His resulting embarrassment later caused him to flee.

After Peckhum described to them some of the places where Zekk might hide himself, Jacen and Tenel Ka ventured into the undercity by themselves while Solo helped repair the Orbital Solar Energy Transfer Satellite that Peckhum was assigned to. After returning, Jacen contacted his sister, told her about his encounter with Zekk and the fact that the Shadow Academy was conducting operations on Coruscant—and that Zekk was allied with the Shadow Academy. Shortly afterward, Solo realized that the Academy was in orbit over Coruscant, and the Second Imperium was forced to flee once again.

The incident brought the vacation of the Jedi to a close, and they returned to Yavin 4. Because combat with the Dark Jedi was imminent, Luke Skywalker decided that it was time for the Solo twins, Lowbacca, and Tenel Ka to build and train with their own lightsabers. Like her uncle had done years earlier, Solo created a synthetic lightsaber crystal, which created a purple blade when placed inside a lightsaber. Following an accident in which Tenel Ka lost her left arm, Solo and her companions journeyed to Tenel Ka's homeworld of Hapes so that the wounded girl could recover. While there, Solo and her companions helped defeat a revolution to overthrow Tenel Ka's mother Teneniel Djo.

Jaina duels Zekk as the Jedi Praxeum is attacked by the Shadow Academy.

However, the somewhat dormant Shadow Academy would reappear to plague the young Jedi once again. Zekk was forced to fight the Solo twins several times, and Solo was worried about the young man she considered more than just a friend. She constantly tried to bring Zekk to the light side but was initially unable to succeed.

After Hapes, the Jedi companions traveled to Kashyyyk, the homeworld of Lowbacca, where his younger sister Sirrakuk was about to undergo a Wookiee ritual. Since the ritual was dangerous, Lowbacca wanted to assist his sibling. Unfortunately for the young Jedi Knights, a Second Imperium strike force led by Zekk himself attacked Thikkiiana City a major exporter of computer technology, using holographic devices to mimic Wookiees. The four Jedi trainees were able to defeat most of the Imperium soldiers. During the confrontation, Solo confronted their former friend Zekk in the dangerous lower levels of the world-spanning jungle. However, Zekk did not want to harm his former friends and instead warned them to stay away from the Imperium's next target: the Jedi Praxeum itself.

In response, the four Jedi raced back to the Jedi Praxeum to alert the Jedi there. The Shadow Academy and a fleet of reclaimed Imperial warships appeared in orbit shortly afterward. Legions of stormtroopers and Dark Jedi attacked the Praxeum. The twins, with the assistance of their peers at the Jedi Academy, defeated the Second Imperium forces. Near the end of the battle, Zekk and Solo engaged each other in combat, with Solo trying one last time to turn her friend back to the light. However, Zekk seemed lost, as he claimed that he would stop anyone from entering the Jedi Praxeum. However, immediately after, the academy was engulfed in a titanic explosion. Zekk had saved the Jedi from certain destruction, and it seemed that Solo had, if not turned her friend to the light side, at least turned him away from the dark.

Diversity Alliance

"Okay, hit it, Lowie. As I always say, show me—don't tell me."

―Jaina Solo, to Lowbacca

Following the defeat of the Second Imperium, the Solo twins helped rebuild the Academy, and also continued their Jedi training. While the reformed Zekk recovered from his injuries, he was harassed by nightmares as a result of his involvement with the Dark Jedi. As a result, Zekk refused to use the Force again, and left the Academy on Peckhum's freighter Lightning Rod to become a bounty hunter. However, trouble would soon come when fellow student Raynar Thul received word that his father Bornan Thul—a wealthy merchant and shipping baron—had disappeared while en route to an important trade conference with Nolaa Tarkona, the Twi'lek leader of the Diversity Alliance, a fanatical non-Human group which sought to punish Humans for the cruelty inflicted by the humanocentric Galactic Empire. Since she was a Twi'lek, Tarkona's organization was based on the species' homeworld of Ryloth. When Tarkona learned that Bornan Thul had disappeared, she placed a huge bounty on the man for unknown reasons.

Meanwhile, the Solo twins had traveled to the Alderaan system to search through the asteroid field that had once been Alderaan. The twins landed on a barren asteroid and secured a shard from what used to be the planet's core. However, they were ambushed by Ailyn Vel, disguised as the infamous bounty hunter Boba Fett. Luckily for them, Zekk came to the rescue and drove the Fett impersonator away. Despite having rescued them, Zekk refused to return with them to the Academy, although he had decided to involve himself in the search for Bornan Thul.

Jaina and Jacen during the search for Bornan Thul.

During their hunt, the Solo twins were joined by Raynar Thul, Tenel Ka and Lowbacca. They searched the elder Thul's last known locations, searching everywhere from ancient ruined worlds to the droid foundry planet of Mechis III. Meanwhile, Nolaa Tarkona went on a crusade to whip up support among the alien species of the galaxy, particularly the Chromans of Chroma Zed. Things went poorly for the Jedi when Lowbacca misguidedly joined the Diversity Alliance, under the influence of fellow Wookiee Raabakyysh, and traveled to their headquarters on Ryloth to learn more about them.

At the same time, Zekk had rescued Bornan Thul from bounty hunters, and learned the reason he had disappeared. Thul had stumbled upon the location of a top-secret Imperial plague warehouse on an uncharted asteroid in the Deep Core. Hidden within it was a supply of diseases created by General Evir Derricote almost two decades ago. Though the Galactic Empire had been defeated, this plague warehouse still remained with its supplies of diseases. Bornan also revealed that Boba Fett (actually Ailyn Vel) had sliced into his ship's navicomputer and obtained the coordinates of the plague warehouse. Having acquired the information she wanted, Tarkona now wished to unleash a plague that would affect all Humans.

Realizing that Lowbacca only knew the public face of the Diversity Alliance, the Solo twins, along with Raynar and Tenel Ka, traveled to Ryloth, only to be arrested by the local authorities and put to work in the dangerous ryll mines of Ryloth. However, Lowbacca soon learned what had befallen his Human companions. The enraged Wookiee turned against the Diversity Alliance and helped his friends escape the harsh terrain of the planet and the zealous Diversity Alliance troops. The Jedi also discovered that the Diversity Alliance was stockpiling weapons for an impending war against Humans. The group was eventually rescued and taken off-planet by Zekk, Luke Skywalker, and Lusa, who had come looking for them.

Back at the New Republic Senate on Coruscant,Skywalker requested that an inspection team be sent to Ryloth to investigate reports of Diversity Alliance aggression. After recording an encrypted message to his wife explaining their plan, Bornan and Raynar Thul, Zekk, the Solo twins, Tenel Ka, and Lowbacca gathered up explosives and went to the plague warehouse, intent on destroying it. They were almost finished wiring their explosives when Diversity Alliance ships arrived. In the ensuing confrontation with Tarkona in the warehouse, some of the plague canisters were ruptured, including the Human-killing plague. Bornan Thul sacrificed himself so the plague would not spread, and told Raynar to get himself and his friends off the asteroid.

Meanwhile in space, a New Republic fleet under Han Solo defeated the Diversity Alliance fleet. However, Tarkona managed to escape to a distant asteroid, although she would later die from a Twi'lek-specific disease. Meanwhile on Ryloth, fighting took place when the New Republic inspection team discovered stockpiles of weapons. However, the fighting was stopped by the Twi'lek Kur, who convinced the Diversity Alliance soldiers that they had been misguided and that both Humans and non-Humans should work together. With the Diversity Alliance defeated, the young Jedi had removed another threat to the New Jedi Order and the New Republic. Following the death of the Diversity Alliance, Zekk also joined the Jedi Praxeum.

Black Sun

An older Jaina.

"Nice turnabout, Jaina. About time you came to rescue me for a change!"
"Kind of a family tradition. Dad did the same thing for Uncle Luke at the Death Star, you know. Anyway, couldn't let you keep thinking you're the only one who can pull off a surprise rescue."

―Zekk and Jaina

Following Zekk's joining of the Academy, Jaina and Jacen Solo went on a trip with their father Han and brother Anakin to Ord Mantell to watch the Blockade Runners Derby. The race became an exciting event when, at the last moment, Zekk, along with Tenel Ka and Lowbacca, won the race. After the race, the group encountered Czethros, a bounty hunter who had hunted Han Solo years ago. However, Czethros now claimed to be an "honest" businessman, and they avoided any conflict. Unfortunately for them, the surprises were not over. At their hangar bay, the group was ambushed by several Chameleon creatures. They were rescued by Anja Gallandro, a young woman who wielded a lightsaber, but was not a Jedi. Instead, Gallandro relied on doses of spice to enhance her senses and allow her to wield a lightsaber safely.

Gallandro blamed Han Solo for killing her father, but Solo denied the charge because the elder Gallandro had died in a trap while searching for treasure. However, unbeknown to the Solos, Anja Gallandro was actually an undercover agent for Czethros, who was in fact a leader of Black Sun. The infamous galactic crime syndicate had been keeping a low profile for years since the death of its leader Prince Xizor during a battle above Coruscant in 3 ABY. However, since then, Black Sun had been attempting to gain power over the New Republic by planting their sympathizers and agents in places of power, including political, economic, and military positions. For his part, Czethros controlled Gallandro by keeping her addicted to spice.

Han Solo managed to convince Gallandro that he was good-intentioned by stopping a 25-year-long civil war on her backwater homeworld of Anobis. There, the elder Solo met with the two rival factions and brokered a truce between them. This made Gallandro wonder whether her hatred for the elder Solo had been misplaced, and she agreed to join the Solo twins and their companions at the Jedi Praxeum to discover her abilities.

Later, Lando Calrissian invited the twins and their friends to Cloud City, where he wanted them to be the first to try out the new SkyCenter Galleria amusement park which he had invested in through the use of repurchased interests from the spice mining world of Kessel, and through shares from a mining operation on Varn. However, things took a turn for the worse when Cojahn, a business associate of Calrissian's, was found dead. Complicating matters further, the Jedi discovered Czethros's true intentions and his plot for galactic domination. Jacen, Tenel Ka, and Lowbacca were also ambushed by several Ugnaught Black Sun mercenaries in the lower levels of Cloud City.

Jaina and Jacen at the newly rebuilt Jedi Praxeum on Yavin 4.

After the Jedi revealed Czethros's plans, Czethros was targeted by the New Republic, and warrants for his arrest were issued on many worlds. However, he managed to evade capture and went underground. Unfortunately for Gallandro, she realized that without Czethros, there would be no supplier for the spice that fueled her addiction. Gallandro then stole Zekk's ship, the Lightning Rod, and traveled to the ocean world of Mon Calamari, where she hoped to retrieve a hidden stash of andris spice from beneath the planet's frozen ice cap.

Meanwhile, on Kessel, Calrissian's longtime Sullustan mate Nien Nunb was nearly killed during a suspicious accident in the carbon-freezing sections of a processing facility. Black Sun had planted cells there, and the Sullustan knew he was in danger. His workers were turning against him and he called for help. Solo and Lowbacca went to Kessel to help protect Nunb, while Jacen, Tenel Ka and Zekk pursued Gallandro to Mon Calamari. On Mon Calamari, at the resort city of Crystal Reef, Jacen confronted Gallandro while she tried to lease a submersible to hunt for the hidden spice stash. Jacen managed to help Gallandro confront her spice addiction and persuaded her to accept her father's real fate. With Gallandro's help, they succeeded in destroying Czethros's stash of spice on Mon Calamari.

Back on Kessel, Czethros and an army of Black Sun mercenaries took control of the planet and captured Nunb, though Solo and Lowbacca managed to escape. The encounter also revealed how deeply Black Sun had infiltrated the New Republic, and that they had contacts on a variety of worlds. From Kessel, Czethros hoped to send a signal that would activate these cells. However, Solo and Lowbacca sabotaged his operations by destroying the transmitter before Czethros could broadcast the signal. Solo also helped free the prisoners and defeated the Black Sun mercenaries. Rather than allow himself to be captured, Czethros threw himself into a vat of carbonite and was flash-frozen instantly. However, the criminal was retrieved and placed in New Republic custody. Chief of State Leia Organa Solo would supervise his thawing and interrogation. As a result, the names of Black Sun moles in strategic positions of power were discovered, defeating the crime syndicate.

Following this ordeal, the Solo twins, Anakin, Tenel Ka, Lowbacca, and Zekk were promoted to apprentice Jedi Knights during a ceremony at the Jedi Praxeum.

Personality and traits

Jaina Solo was a Human female standing 1.49 meters high as an adult and had brown eyes, dark brown hair, and fair skin. She was known for being more like her father than her other siblings, exhibiting an aptitude for mechanics and piloting, as well as demonstrating some of Han's more impulsive and stubborn characteristics. Solo had difficulties understanding the emotional distance between her and her mother as she grew up. During the Yuuzhan Vong War, Solo discovered she had more attributes with her mother than she first thought, resulting in a much closer mother and daughter bond. As Solo became older, many noted she could act like Leia in an instant. She was especially close to her twin brother Jacen, as they shared a bond in the Force similar to the one between her uncle and mother. She was easily frustrated, but was good at thinking on her feet, and dedicated to finishing whatever she started.

Jaina Solo with her siblings

Relationships

Zekk

Jaina and Zekk

When Solo first met the street-wise youth on Coruscant, she was immediately smitten with him. They shared many adventures together, becoming fast friends in the process. Solo often found her thoughts dwelling on Zekk, especially after he was inducted into the Shadow Academy. It was because of their growing friendship that Solo was able to redeem Zekk from the dark side. As they continued to see each other, the two developed a mutual attraction, though neither would admit their true feelings.

Powers and abilities

As heir to the Skywalker bloodline through her mother, Solo was strong in the Force. She was particularly gifted with mechanical devices, though not on the level of her younger brother Anakin. Jaina's great Force potential was developed and harnessed throughout her life. Even as a child, Solo exhibited talent with the Force, instinctively using it to power telekinesis during their captivity by the Empire Reborn to irritate their captors. She also used the Force to help her and Jacen eventually escape imprisonment and was capable of producing light by rubbing air molecules together telekinetically.

As a teenager, Solo received training at Luke Skywalker's Jedi Praxeum, where she was trained in the ways of the Jedi, including how to construct and use a lightsaber. Her closest friend was her brother Jacen Solo and the two developed a twin bond that linked them together closely. Solo was also a skilled mechanic and pilot, having learned from her father and Chewbacca in her youth. Even as a teenager, Solo was skilled enough to install a hyperdrive in a starfighter. By the start of the Yuuzhan Vong War, Solo was already an experienced warrior, having fought both in space and on the ground.

Behind the scenes

Origins and development

"I mean, a sister killing her brother–not such an easy thing to do."

―Sue Rostoni

Jaina Solo was created by author Timothy Zahn, and first appeared in his 1993 novel The Last Command when her mother, having been pregnant with Jaina and Jacen throughout the previous two novels of Zahn's trilogy, gave birth to the twins on Coruscant. Zahn had difficulty naming the character, eventually settling on "Jaina" after having already named Jacen after a friend of his son's and wanting the twins' names to be alliterative like Luke and Leia's. Throughout the first ten years of the characters' in-universe lives, the three Solo children played both minor and supporting roles in various novels, but the Solo twins took center stage in the fourteen-book young adult series Young Jedi Knights, beginning with 1995's Heirs of the Force. The series chronicled the twins' adventures as students at Luke Skywalker's Jedi Academy.

Author comments

"She's a tough girl, but she's paid the price inside. She's just seen and suffered so much that it's a job for her just to keep herself together."

―Troy Denning

Young Jedi Knights authors Kevin J. Anderson and Rebecca Moesta chose to portray Jaina Solo as a logical and mechanical-minded tomboy, taking after her father, rather than a "typical girl" character. Anderson felt that it was necessary to treat Solo and her friends as adults in order to maintain a Star Wars feel in the young-adult novels. Elaine Cunningham, the author of Dark Journey, found Jaina's impulsive nature and resemblance to her father key in reconciling differing characterizations of Solo, and upon focusing on her identification with Han Solo, felt that the character began to come alive to her. Troy Denning, who has written a number of books that prominently feature Solo, has identified her as his favorite character from the younger generation of heroes.

Appearances

Prophets of the Dark Side (Vision to Leia Organa) Heir to the Empire (First mentioned) Dark Force Rising (Mentioned only) The Last Command (First appearance) (First identified as Jaina Solo) Star Wars: Dark Empire (Mentioned only) Dark Empire audio drama (Appears in hologram) Star Wars: Dark Empire II Dark Empire II audio drama Star Wars: Empire's End Empire's End audio drama Jedi Search Dark Apprentice Champions of the Force I, Jedi Children of the Jedi Darksaber Planet of Twilight (Appears in a dream) The Crystal Star Before the Storm Shield of Lies Tyrant's Test The New Rebellion Ambush at Corellia Assault at Selonia Showdown at Centerpoint Specter of the Past Vision of the Future Junior Jedi Knights: The Golden Globe (Mentioned only) Junior Jedi Knights: Lyric's World (Mentioned only) Junior Jedi Knights: Promises (Mentioned only) Junior Jedi Knights: Vader's Fortress (Mentioned only) Junior Jedi Knights: Kenobi's Blade (Appears in hologram) Young Jedi Knights: Heirs of the Force Young Jedi Knights: Shadow Academy Young Jedi Knights: The Lost Ones Young Jedi Knights: Lightsabers Young Jedi Knights: Darkest Knight Young Jedi Knights: Jedi Under Siege Young Jedi Knights: Shards of Alderaan Young Jedi Knights: Diversity Alliance Young Jedi Knights: Delusions of Grandeur Young Jedi Knights: Jedi Bounty Young Jedi Knights: The Emperor's Plague Young Jedi Knights: Return to Ord Mantell Young Jedi Knights: Trouble on Cloud City Young Jedi Knights: Crisis at Crystal Reef

Sources

Heir to the Empire Sourcebook Dark Force Rising Sourcebook Dark Empire Sourcebook "From Heir to Last Command" – Star Wars Adventure Journal 1 The Last Command Sourcebook "Prophets of the Dark Side: Villains for the Star Wars: New Republic Campaign, Part One"—Polyhedron 103 1995 Topps Star Wars Galaxy Series 3 (Card: Leia) "Retreat from Coruscant" – Star Wars Adventure Journal 7 ("Colonel Jak Bremen" sidebar) (Indirect mention only) "Star Wars 101" – Star Wars Galaxy Magazine 5 The Essential Guide to Characters The Jedi Academy Sourcebook The Thrawn Trilogy Sourcebook The Best of the Star Wars Adventure Journal, Issues 1-4 Star Wars Gamemaster Screen, Revised Cracken's Threat Dossier (Indirect mention only) "The Dark Side" – Star Wars Galaxy Magazine 8 "The Deadly Dozen" – Star Wars Galaxy Magazine 8 "The Hand of Zahn" – Star Wars Insider 36 (Indirect mention only) Star Wars: Boba Fett "The Women Of Star Wars" – Star Wars Galaxy Magazine 12 "The Jedi" – Star Wars Galaxy Magazine 13 Star Wars Encyclopedia The Essential Guide to Planets and Moons Star Wars: Behind the Magic The Essential Guide to Droids ("Imperial City Maintenance Droid") "Around the Galaxy: Books with Bite" – Star Wars Galaxy Collector 6 (Indirect mention only) "Star Wars Episode VII: Rise of the New Republic"—InQuest Gamer 50 C-3PO: Tales of the Golden Droid Star Wars Handbook 3: Dark Empire

External links

• Star Wars Books: The Best Pilots in the Galaxy
• Jaina Solo on Wikipedia