Lah Kara

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This article is non-canon within the canon continuity. This article covers a subject from a Star Wars: Visions story that Lucasfilm declared is set in an alternate history within a reimagined galaxy.

Lah Kara was a Force-sensitive human female who was the daughter of the legendary sabersmith Lah Zhima. The two lived together in their home on the planet Hy Izlan, and when Margrave Juro attempted to revive the long-gone Jedi Order, Zhima created several lightsabers for him. After Zhima finished creating them, Kara practiced using one of the lightsabers, which had their kyber crystals tempered so that their blade length and color would reflect the user's connection to the Force. When Jedi Hunters arrived to capture Zhima, he tasked Kara with delivering the lightsabers to the Jedi waiting for them in the Aerial Temple above Hy Izlan. One of the Jedi Hunters pursued Kara as she escaped on her speeder bike, but she deflected his blaster fire while riding backwards through a forest. When they reached a frozen lake, she sliced the hunter's speeder and escaped to a station, where she hired a Boatman droid to take her to the Aerial Temple.

Upon arriving at the temple, Kara gave the lightsabers to who she believed were the Jedi awaiting them. However, all but one—Ethan—revealed themselves to be acolytes of the Sith. The Sith surrounded Kara and Ethan, but Juro soon revealed himself. Several of the Sith attacked Juro, while Kara and Ethan drew their lightsabers to fight back as well. Juro managed to kill most of the Sith, but he was knocked back when the acolyte Roden attacked with Force lightning. Kara then broke away from fighting Homen—a Jedi consumed by the acolytes' darkness—to attack Roden, allowing Juro to push the Sith onto a massive kyber crystal, disintegrating him, after which Homen stood down. Kara then asked Juro to help save her father, which he agreed to before inviting Kara to aid him in restoring the Jedi Order and join him as the ninth Jedi.

Biography

Daughter of the sabersmith

Lah Kara was a Force-sensitive human female who lived with her father,^[1] the legendary^[3] sabersmith Lah Zhima, on^[1] her home planet^[2] Hy Izlan during an era of war. The two were familiar with Hy Izlan's ruler, Margrave Juro, with Kara having known him since she was a baby. Juro, also a Jedi Master, sought to restore the Jedi Order and began mining for kyber crystals within his territory so that lightsabers, the ancient weapons of the Jedi, could be forged. While Zhima worked on completing the lightsabers for Juro, Kara watched from a balcony as a line of harpoon cannons flung hooks^[1] into orbit^[4] to mine kyber crystals from asteroids.^[3] When a hook crashed back down to the planet's surface, Kara used a rope to jump down to the ground, then got on a speeder bike with her droid 99-99 and headed toward where the hook had landed.^[1]

Kara later returned to her house, and after entering, removed her helmet and coat while greeting her father. She ran over to where Zhima was working and asked if he had finished the lightsabers, which he confirmed. Zhima then handed his daughter one of the lightsabers, and she activated it to produce a long, clear blade. 99-99 fired several blaster bolts at Kara, which she deflected. Kara then noticed she could change the length of the lightsaber's blade and experimented with altering its size while Zhima informed her that he had tempered the kyber crystals used in the lightsabers he had created so that their blade length and color would vary depending on the user's connection to the Force. Kara lamented that the blade's lack of color indicated her connection was not strong enough, but Zhima told her she had a natural talent with a lightsaber and explained the importance of growing her connection with proper training. Kara wondered what color the blade would turn when used by a real Jedi and resumed practicing with the lightsaber.^[1]

Speeder bike escape

When a starship passed overhead and landed nearby, Kara asked if it was the Jedi. Zhima responded it was unlikely, as they had been called to the Aerial Temple above Hy Izlan, and gathered the lightsabers, handing them to Kara and instructing her to take them to the temple. As two Jedi Hunters approached their home, Zhima hugged Kara, who commented that he was acting as if they would never see each other again. Kara rode away on her speeder bike with 99-99 as the Jedi Hunters confronted Zhima, but before she got far, she heard an explosion from their home and turned to see her father being captured by the hunters. As one of the hunters fired at her with a blaster, Zhima told her to escape. Kara did so, and was pursued by the other hunter on another speeder bike.^[1]

As they sped across the tundra, the Jedi Hunter fired at Kara, but she avoided the shots. The pursuit continued into a forest, and the hunter briefly stopped shooting. However,^[1] he^[4] soon resumed firing, and Kara turned her speeder around, riding it backwards as she ignited her lightsaber and deflected the blaster bolts. As they exited the forest, Kara turned back around and drove over a frozen lake. In the middle of the lake, she leapt off her speeder bike and began to run back toward the hunter, standing in his path. When he reached her, she used her lightsaber^[1]—which by then had a faint and pale green glow^[4]—to slice the hunter's speeder bike, causing him to crash. She then got back on her bike, eventually arriving at a station near the lake.^[1]

At the station, she asked a Boatman droid to take her to the Aerial Temple. Although the Boatman droid was initially reluctant,^[1] he^[5] eventually agreed to take Kara when she paid him with a coin. The droid began slowly walking toward a starship, prompting Kara to urge him to hurry. Aboard the ship, Kara sat behind the droid with 99-99 in her lap and whimpered as the ship shook while traveling to the Aerial Temple. When she looked out the viewport, she saw the Jedi Hunters' ship flying away from the planet.^[1]

Duel in the Aerial Temple

When the ship landed at the Aerial Temple, Kara thanked the Boatman droid and leapt out, where she was met by a group of individuals she believed to be Jedi waiting for the lightsabers. However, only one of them, Ethan, was a Jedi, while the others—Hanbei, Roden, Toguro, Niizo, Hen Jin, and Homen—were actually Sith acolytes who had taken the place of the Jedi invited by Juro. Kara introduced herself as the daughter of Lah Zhima, and after explaining the sabersmith had been taken by Jedi Hunters, asked the group to use the lightsabers she had brought to save him. When Kara then asked where Juro was and revealed she knew him, Hanbei inquired if that meant she knew where the margrave could be. The Sith surrounded Kara and Ethan and ignited their lightsabers, each of which turned red. A steward droid who had been waiting with the group then arrived, and Juro emerged from it, revealing he had secretly been with them as they waited.^[1]

The Sith turned their attention to Juro, and Hanbei charged him but was swiftly killed by the margave. Roden and Toguro then also engaged Juro, while the other Sith remained near Kara and Ethan, with Niizo telling Kara she would never see her father again. Ethan then ignited his own lightsaber, causing Kara to do so as well and attack the three Sith. Ethan was knocked to the ground, and as Kara continued to fight, she fell back to^[1] the temple's reception hall,^[5] where Juro was still fighting Roden and Toguro. After Juro killed Toguro, Niizo and Hen Jin attacked the margrave as well, leaving Homen to fight Kara, who was soon joined by Ethan. As she fought, her blade turned a brighter green.^[1]

The ninth Jedi

Juro managed to defeat all the Sith attacking him except Roden, but he was overwhelmed by the Sith's Force lightning and knocked down. Kara broke away from Homen to assist Juro, and as she battled Roden, the margrave used the Force to push the Sith onto a massive kyber crystal, which disintegrated him. Noticing Homen and Ethan still fighting, Juro commanded Homen to stop. Homen then extinguished his lightsaber and apologized, explaining he had been consumed by the darkness of the others.^[1]

Juro then turned to Kara and apologized to her for being unable protect her father, and agreed to Kara's request to help her save Zhima. Juro then told Kara and Ethan that there were still Jedi wandering the galaxy, and asked Kara to join them as the ninth Jedi as they worked to reestablish the Jedi Order. Juro's ship arrived outside the temple, and Kara and the other Jedi boarded it before it jumped to hyperspace.^[1]

Later, Kara was separated from Juro while being pursued by Jedi Hunters, and she encountered the droid Teto while aboard an abandoned ship.^[6]

Personality and traits

Lah Kara was a human female with gray eyes, light skin, and brown hair that she worn in a ponytail.^[1] She was in awe of her father and his important job, and she felt that she would eventually have what it took to learn the ways of the Jedi. Kara had a loving relationship with Zhima and the two were everything to each other. She longed to become a hero and get off her planet.^[3]

Powers and abilities

Lah Kara was strong in the Force and had natural talent with a lightsaber,^[1] needing only training and focus to become a true Jedi.^[5] She was able to deflect blaster bolts with her lightsaber while piloting her speeder bike backwards, and she dueled multiple Sith acolytes simultaneously.^[1]

Equipment

Lah Kara wore a pink poncho over a top with brown sleeves, brown shorts, and brown boots. She also wore a white cloak with blue stripes that she removed upon returning to her home. While riding her speeder bike, she wore a helmet. Kara used a lightsaber with a kyber crystal tempered to reflect the Force connection of its wielding. The lightsaber's blade was initially clear, but gradually became green.^[1]

Behind the scenes

Milestones

Lah Kara first appeared in "The Ninth Jedi," a short film that was written and directed by Kenji Kamiyama, produced by Production IG, and released as part of the first volume of the non-canon Star Wars: Visions series^[1] on September 22, 2021.^[3] Prior to the short's release, Kara was introduced in a video uploaded to the official Star Wars YouTube channel on July 3, 2021, which revealed her name written in the Japanese katakana script.^[7] The English spelling of Kara was later confirmed in a StarWars.com article released on September 13, 2021,^[3] while the English spelling of her full name was not confirmed until the release of the episode itself, which included it in the credits.^[1]

Kara is voiced by Chinatsu Akasaki in the original Japanese and Kimiko Glenn in the English dub.^[8] When imagining Kara, Kamiyama though of her as bright and cheerful. He thought Akasaki's voice fit the role perfectly and complimented her performance.^[9]

On April 20, 2025, at Celebration Japan, it was announced that a sequel to "The Ninth Jedi", titled "The Ninth Jedi: Child of Hope", will be released on October 29, 2025, as part of the third volume of Visions. A spin-off series titled "Star Wars: Visions Presents - The Ninth Jedi" will also air in 2026.^[10] The director of "Child of Hope", Naoyoshi Shiotani, said that Kara's journey to find her father was a grand story, and that he wanted to create a short, growth story that Kara would remember for the rest of her life.^[6] Kamiyama revealed that the series will be about Kara's journey to find her father.^[10]

Inspirations

Kara is intended to be a classic Star Wars character, similar to^[5] the Jedi^[11] Rey and Luke Skywalker. Kamiyama felt that Star Wars has always been about a young person swept away into an adventure by fate and wanted to keep this aspect in his story.^[5] Kara also had similar hopes and dreams to Luke and Rey, longing for more and hoping to become a hero. However, unlike them, she had a stable and loving relation ship with her father.^[3] Another similarity Kara had to Luke and Rey is having a droid companion in the form of 99-99.^[5]

Character designs for the short were done by Tetsuya Nishio, who created concept art of Kara.^[5] Two concept art pieces were dated to piece to February 2021^[7][12], with one of those pieces being dated to the 25th of that month.^[12] Kamiyama and Nishio wanted to created designs that would be attractive to Western viewers, and so looked at popular series such as Naruto Shippuden to create a similar look.^[5] Another inspiration for Kara's design was^[3] the rebel princess^[11] Leia Organa. Kamiyama and his team were inspired by the speeder chase in^[3] the 1983 original trilogy film^[13] Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi, and Kara wore a helmet and poncho similar to the garb worn by Leia in the action sequence.^[3]

Concept art galleries

"The Ninth Jedi"

Storyboards

Concept art

Digital renderings

In-progress artwork

Storyboards

Storyboard for "The Ninth Jedi"^[9]

Concept art

Kara and Juro, Tetsuya Nishio^[14]

Kara and 99-99, Tetsuya Nishio^[15]

Kara concept art, Tetsuya Nishio^[16]

Kara concept art^[5]

Concept art^[7]

Kara's helmet. The design is noted to be impractical but charming^[5]

Kara and Zhima^[12]

Kara concept art, February 25, 2021^[12]

Kara concept art^[5]

Kara concept art, Tetsuya Nishio^[17]

Kara and Zhima in their home^[5]

"The Ninth Jedi: Child of Hope"

Storyboards

Concept art

Digital renderings

In-progress artwork

Concept art

Height comparison chart^[18]

Kara and Teto concept art^[19]

Kara concept art, Naoyoshi Shiotani^[20]

Young Kara concept art, Naoyoshi Shiotani^[21]

Kara and Teto concept art, July 24, 2024^[22]

Appearances

Explore all of Wookieepedia's images for this article subject.

• Star Wars: Visions — "The Ninth Jedi" (First appearance)
• "The Ninth Jedi" — Big Gangan Vol.08
• Star Wars: Visions — "The Ninth Jedi: Child of Hope"
• Star Wars: Visions Presents - The Ninth Jedi

Sources

Notes and references