Cayden


 * "Every Sith filth I slay is another thousand lives saved."
 * —Cayden.

Cayden was a Jedi Knight who fought in the final years of the Great Galactic War. He is largely attributed to being the founding member of the infamous Jedi Crusaders, a zealous group of warriors who were known for taking kyber crystals from fallen Sith as a trophy and wearing them around their neck.

Early life
Cayden was born on Kashyyyk, the son of a Czerka security officer and a botanist. After losing his mother to a retributive Wookiee raid, his father couldn't find ways to deal with the grief and became an abusive alcoholic.

Still a boy in every sense of the word, the young Cayden made a rash decision and one morning left his home in the canopies of the tall Wroshyr trees and out into the Great Walkway, a series of wooden ramps and bridges connecting the tree lines — shared by both the Wookiee natives and the outlanders.

In a string of bad luck, he was hunted down by a radical group of Wookiee separatists seeking to make an example. They forcefully exiled him to the dark Shadowlands below — a death sentence for almost anyone not trained in the art of combat or the Force.

It was in the depths of this dark, twisted forest that Cayden heard the Force for the first time in his life. Guided by its embrace, he followed it to an ancient Rakatan star map and a kyber crystal of unique color.

He was rescued by a Mirialan woman who was exploring the Shadowlands at the time, the Jedi Master Viridi. Sensing the boy's strong connection in the Force, and seeing his kyber crystal in hand, she took him off the Wookiee homeworld and onto Coruscant for training.

Using the bark of a Wroshyr tree as the outer covering and the orange kyber crystal now bound to him, Cayden created his lightsaber and began the life of a Jedi.

Legacy of the Force
Now a Jedi Knight in his own right, he accompanied his Master to Corellia as Jedi volunteers in the war effort against the Sith, whom they both saw as the natural enemy of the Force.

Hello Darkness
The battle of Corellia cost him dearly as Cayden felt loss for a second time with the slaying of his master at the hands of the Sith Lord, Darth Saber. Vengeance had clouded his thoughts, as the young Jedi now sought to bring justice for the death of Master Viridi, justifying his actions by painting the oblivious Saber a major threat to the Republic war effort.

Master Bait
As Darth Saber made his way off Corellia, Cayden managed to place a tracking device on his ship before departure.

Behind the Scenes
Cayden is the tertiary antagonist of Legacy of the Force and one of the three main antagonists of the comic overall. He was the product of a choice Darth Saber made at the end of the Act II prologue, Hello Darkness, in an update internally known as "The Branch". He had gained a lot of popularity before his reappearance in the comic, as many readers instantly attached themselves to the character.

Trivia

 * Thus far, Cayden is the only individual in Star Wars lore wielding an orange lightsaber.
 * His favored lightsaber form is Juyo. This heavily contrasts the graceful combat style of his nemesis, Darth Saber.
 * A recurring joke among the fandom is that he is "well-endowed" because of the way his Jedi robes are drawn.
 * His character arc is roughly summed up as a revenge story in reverse. Instead of following the victim on a path to spiritual peace, justice and closure, it follows the designated villain's perspective instead.