Jedi of Yavin Academy Part V: Kam Solusar

 

      Name: Kam Solusar
       Species: Human
       Lightsaber Color: Purple
       Created by: Tom Veitch
       First Appearance: Dark Apprentice (1994)

Kam Solusar trained as a Dark Jedi under Emperor Palpatine. He was one of Palpatine's elite warriors when Luke Skywalker first encountered him on planet Nespiss VIII.

Luke and Kam both had fathers who served as Jedi in the Old Republic. During their first meeting, Luke faced off against Kam not using weapons, but in a board game called "Lightsider" where the two men tried to convince the other that their perspective was the correct one. Ultimately Luke convinced Kam to turn away from the Dark Side.

Whilst on Yavin IV, Kam became on of Luke's most promising students. He also met and fell in love with Tionne, another Jedi hopefull. The two were married and eventually served as masters of the Jedi Praxeum.

During the Yuuzhan Vong War Kam and Tionne moved the academy to the deep core planet of Eclipse. 



Behind the Scenes:

Kam Solusar was created by Tom Veitch for a planned comic series called "Lightsider". However, this project was cancelled and Kam's first comic appearance became Dark Empire II, where his backstory was left unexplained. 

Jedi of Yavin Academy Part IV: Gantoris

 

Name: Gantoris
Species: Human (Eol Sha)
Lightsaber Color: Purple
Created by: Kevin J. Anderson
First Appearance: Jedi Search (1994)

Gantoris had dreams that a dark man would come for him, teach him magical powers and then the dark man would kill him. When Luke Skywalker came to planet Eol Sha, Gantoris assumed that Luke was the dark man from his dreams. Gantoris gave Skywalker two tests (escaping a volcano and battling a fireworm). When Luke did not perish Gantoris agreed to go with the Jedi. Gantoris thus became Luke's very first student of his Jedi Praxeum.

At Yavin, Gantoris did meet his "Dark Man", but it was not Luke Skywalker. The ghost of Exar-Kun, a Sith Lord, whispered to Gantoris in his dreams. Kun convinced the apprentice that Skywalker was withholding powerful secrets and the Sith instructed Gantoris on how to build a lightsaber. 

Weapon in hand, Gantoris challenged Skywalker to a duel. Luke's other students watched as Gantoris lashed out with his anger in an attempt to defeat the Jedi instructor. Luke countered with defensive techniques and was able to force-pull the lightsaber from the mutinous apprentice. To the surprise of his other students Luke chose not to punish or berate Gantoris for his actions.

Kun approached Gantoris that night with terrible visions of Gantoris' tribe being wiped out by Imperial forces. Gantoris attempted to attack the Sith with his lightsaber but Exar-Kun incinerated the Jedi apprentice on the spot.

His remains were discovered the next morning. Luke's faith in his ability to teach a new generation of Jedi was shook. Gantoris would be Luke's first failed student, but not his last. 

Behind the Scenes

Gantoris was instructed by Exar Kun to build a duel-phase lightsaber. These lightsabers had multiple Kyber crystals, which allowed sabers to quickly change length and even color.

The 2015 reference book "Ultimate Star Wars" confirmed that Darth Vader's lightsaber in canonically a duel-phase lightsaber.