Kaz's talisman

For other uses, see Kaz.

"Kaz, what is this? I found it on the hangar floor."
"That's the talisman Mika gave me to ward off my curse. I must've dropped it before I took off."

―Neeku Vozo and Kazuda Xiono — 20?cb=20250116042720

▶️ (file info)^[2]

Kaz's talisman was a small, roughly humanoid-shaped wooden doll that was in the possession of the archaeologist and treasure hunter Mika Grey by 34 ABY. That year, she gave it to the pilot Kazuda Xiono, claiming that it was a talisman that could protect its bearer against evil and that it would help him counteract the effects of the curse that the pirate Leoz had supposedly placed on him. Afterward, while rushing toward his starfighter in order to help defend the space station Colossus against the Guavian Death Gang, Xiono dropped the talisman onto the deck of the station without noticing it.

When the pilot later realized the figurine was no longer with him, he briefly panicked before resolving to nevertheless believe that he was not, in fact, cursed. After the crisis to the Colossus was averted, Xiono's friend Neeku Vozo returned the talisman to him. The pilot then decided to use the doll in a mischievous act of retribution against Leoz, tossing it into his bowl of food and claiming that the figurine was cursed, which caused the frightened pirate to throw the talisman away. Afterward, Xiono returned the doll to Grey after thanking her for her assistance.

Description

"What is that?"
"Just a little talisman I picked up on my travels, the kind of thing that can ward off evil energy."

―Kazuda Xiono and Mika Grey — 20?cb=20250116042720

▶️ (file info)^[2]

Kaz's talisman was a small wooden doll^[1] that could fit within the palm of an adult human. It had a roughly humanoid shape with arms stretched out to the sides. The brown-colored doll's head featured a darker circular area intersected by a band of lighter material, and, on its chest area, it also had a downward-curved light-colored striped band. On its stomach, the figurine had a large dark circle with a zigzagging line on it. Finally, the doll had a vertical dark line running along its back. The surface of the talisman featured several scratches as well as deeper cuts.^[2]

History

Curses and charms

"Maybe what you need is another charm to act as a defense against this curse."

―Mika Grey, to Kazuda Xiono — 20?cb=20250116042720

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Mika Grey offering the talisman to Kazuda Xiono.

The Force-sensitive^[3] human archaeologist and treasure hunter^[4] Mika Grey had the talisman in her possession^[2] by 34 ABY. That year,^[5] Grey had the doll in her bag when the human pilot Kazuda Xiono of the mobile space station Colossus's Ace Squadron came into her fortune teller's tent within the station's marketplace. Xiono was seeking Grey's mystical help after the Nikto pirate Leoz had supposedly placed a curse upon him. In response, the fortune teller guessed that the pilot could benefit from something that could ward off evil, and, after a brief deliberation, retrieved the talisman from her bag. Claiming that she had acquired the doll during her travels through the galaxy and that it could protect from "evil energy" and act as a good luck charm, Grey gave the figurine to Xiono, although she only rhetorically deflected back at him the pilot's question of whether it would indeed help him.^[2]

After Xiono thanked Grey, the Colossus came under attack by forces of the Guavian Death Gang, through the territory of which the station was traveling at the time. Rushing through the station's corridors toward its starfighter hangar in order to launch his own fighter,^[2] the Fireball,^[6] in the facility's defense, Xiono braced against a flickering ceiling light fixture potentially bursting apart—based on his earlier unlucky experience. However, after the lamp's illumination stabilized, the pilot looked appreciatively at his new talisman and put it in the pocket of his jacket. However, as he was later climbing into the cockpit of the Fireball, Xiono did not notice the doll falling out and onto the deck of the hangar.^[2]

Turning the tables

"Here you go."
"What is this?"
"Oh, nothing special—just a little totem I got from Mika Grey. From what I hear, it's cursed."

―Kazuda Xiono and Leoz — 20?cb=20250116042720

▶️ (file info)^[2]

During the skirmish against the Guavian Death Gang, Xiono realized he had misplaced his talisman, while at the same time his friend, the Nikto mechanic Neeku Vozo, picked the figurine up from the hangar's deck and wondered as to its purpose. Although the pilot briefly panicked, he then nevertheless decided to believe that he was not, in fact, cursed. It allowed him to focus on effectively defending the Colossus, with the station ultimately being able to flee into hyperspace. Afterward, Vozo met Xiono in the hangar, returning the talisman to him and inquiring about it. When the pilot explained the figurine's purpose to the mechanic, the latter was elated with the implied realization that Xiono was no longer under the supposed effect of the curse. At that point, with an idea dawning in his mind, Xiono asked his friend to give him the talisman.^[2]

Kazuda Xiono intentionally frightened Leoz (pictured on the right) by giving him his talisman and claiming that it was cursed.

Xiono later approached Leoz while he and the Aleena Grevel were having a meal at the marketplace. The pilot tossed the talisman into the pirate's bowl and claimed nonchalantly that it was a supposedly cursed "totem" he had received from Grey. The information led the frightened Nikto to toss the talisman at Grevel, after which the equally scared Aleena flicked the doll away from them both while Leoz cowered in fear at the sight of the artifact. Arcing through the air, the talisman landed into the soup bowl of the Klatooinian Bolza Grool, who fished the doll out with a spoon and, annoyed, also threw the figurine away, with it landing near the entrance to Grey's tent. After Xiono visited the fortune teller to thank her for her assistance, he noticed the talisman on the deck and, picking it up, tossed it to her. Holding the talisman in her hand, Grey then watched Xiono depart while commenting out loud about the pilots of the station being superstitious.^[2]

Behind the scenes

Kaz's talisman first appeared in "Kaz's Curse,"^[2] the tenth episode of the second season of the animated television series Star Wars Resistance. The episode was aired on December 8, 2019.^[7] Lucasfilm Animation artist Stephan A. Carey made a concept art illustration of the talisman on March 29, 2018, and the artifact also received its name via both that image, which was included in the accompanying StarWars.com episode guide for "Kaz's Curse,"^[8] and the talisman's StarWars.com Databank entry.^[1]

The episode guide^[9] erroneously^[2] claimed that Kazuda Xiono climbed into the Fireball while holding the talisman in his hand.^[9] During the development of "Kaz's Curse," the talisman was at one point stated to have been discovered by Mika Grey on^[10] the planet^[6] Mimban. Another version of the artifact's background was it being a toy doll that Eila,^[10] a young Force-sensitive girl who was living aboard the Colossus as a fugitive from her homeworld, the planet Tehar,^[6] was missing.^[10]