Don-Wan Kihotay
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| Don-Wan Kihotay | |
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White |
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Gray |
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Don-Wan Kihotay was the alias of Hess Korrin, a librarian turned pseudo-Jedi Knight and acquaintance of Han Solo.
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[edit] Biography
Hess Korrin was a Force-sensitive librarian who catalogued antiquities on Obroa-skai. He spent much of his time reading histories of the Jedi. With the rise of the New Order, his department was closed down by the Imperial Security Bureau.
Outraged, Korrin took it upon himself to preserve the memory of the Jedi. He was able to rescue a lightsaber from the antiquities department's collection before it was destroyed by the ISB. Delusional, he adopted the identity of Don-Wan Kihotay, as the last of the Jedi Knights.
Knowing that Korrin's behavior would lead to his demise at the hands of the Empire, his Ithorian supervisor took him to Aduba-3. He was killed by the ISB, but Korrin/Kihotay somehow escaped detection.
When Han Solo was recruiting spacers to help him bring down Serji-X Arrogantus, Kihotay volunteered. The job became much bigger when a local shaman, the Old One, summoned the Behemoth from the World Below to also fight Arrogantus. Kihotay attempted to face the monster one-on-one, but Solo eventually took his lightsaber and was able to use it to defeat the monster.
After the events on Aduba-3, Kihotay went to Telos to recover. However, the medical station at which he was staying was destroyed in a mercenary attack led by Beilert Valance, killing him.
[edit] Behind the scenes
Don-Wan Kihotay was created by Roy Thomas, Howard Chaykin and Tom Palmer.
"Don-Wan Kihotay" is a play on Don Quixote, a madman who thought he was a gallant knight in the classic Spanish novel, Don Quixote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes. Don-Wan indeed looks how Quixote is usually protrayed: bearded, tall, thin, and wearing medieval armor.
Kihotay's name was spelled Don-Wan Kioti (perhaps intended to have the same pronunciation) in Star Wars 9: Showdown on a Wasteland World.
In that issue, Don-Wan is seen shot by a blaster, bids his companions farewell and is never seen again. In the next issue however, he appears again, talking to himself that his armor saved him, and soon afterwards plays an important role; the authors decided to retcon him back to life between the two issues.
Don-Wan's name is also a play on Don Juan, who was originally a character in a poem by Lord Byron. The poem is about a legendary, almost archetypal romantic figure of the same name who has since had his story told countless times--with as many different renditions as there are story tellers. In this case, his name highlights the veil of blindness that pure romance casts over some people, driving them toward madness of one kind or another. This also happens to be one of the greater themes of the overall Star Wars on-screen saga.
The name likewise bears a resemblance to Obi-Wan Kenobi. This part points towards wisdom, which is what most characters around both of these figures gain plenty of during their exploits, though for vastly different reasons.
[edit] Appearances
- Star Wars 8: Eight for Aduba-3 (First appearance)
- Star Wars 9: Showdown on a Wasteland World
- Star Wars 10: Behemoth from the World Below
- Star Wars 11: Star Search (Appears in flashback(s))
- Star Wars 16: The Hunter
