The most hated Star Wars characters of all time

Kylo Ren

Ben Solo — who calls himself Kylo Ren — has been called a man-toddler, a Vader fanboy, and a sad excuse for a villain. And those are just the things I’ve called him here on Dork Side.

This Sith Lord wannabe is unstable, temperamental, and doesn’t act like a man of his years and “status” should. And though all of this is purposeful in terms of characterization and development, it’s still hard to believe he could ever overcome anything seriously threatening. At least, not by himself anyway.

People expected a lot more from the “evil villain” of the sequel trilogy. They expected someone like Vader, who’s had years of heart-hardening (or smoldering) and power-asserting.

And what did we get instead? A kid. Or a grown man who acts like one. Who can’t let go of his daddy issues and refuses to accept that your bloodline doesn’t make you royalty — especially not if you act like you deserve it when you don’t.

There’s only one episode in the Skywalker saga left, and he has still yet to prove he has any leadership potential, or that he’s capable of doing anything without depending on someone else.

Compared to the Vader he so deeply aspires to be, he’s weak, immature, and completely misguided.

Is that the way Snoke wanted him to be — totally helpless in the face of real conflict? Yeah, probably. But it’s still extremely difficult to watch.

Will he redeem himself — both in the story and in the eyes of Star Wars fans everywhere? We still have months left to find out.

Until then, we could speculate about why Snoke put up with his nonsense for so long. Maybe that’s why he just let himself die without putting up a fight. He was done with Kylo’s childish rampages. But more on that later.