| “ | You know I've been alone for... a while now. Without any…purpose. Just hiding. It's no way to live. Not for a Jedi. Or a droid. Maybe Cere was right. Maybe we're done hiding | „ |
| ~ Cal Kestis, to BD-1. |
| “ | The lives of every child on that list will be forever changed. Not by us. Their destiny should be trusted to the force. | „ |
| ~ Cal to the crew, deciding to destroy the holocron to protect the children. |
Cal Kestis is a major character in Star Wars franchise, being the main protagonist of the 2019 action-adventure video game Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, its 2023 sequel Star Wars Jedi: Survivor and its spin-off novel Star Wars Jedi: Battle Scars, and a cameo character in the 2022 novel Star Wars: Brotherhood.
He is a former Jedi Padawan who survived the Clone Wars as well as the fall of the Jedi Order. He and his master, Jaro Tapal, had been above Bracca aboard a Venator-class Star Destroyer when Order 66 was issued. While Tapal was killed by their clone troopers, Kestis escaped to the planet aboard their escape pod. During the reign of the Galactic Empire, Kestis sought to avoid the great purge that killed most of his fellow Jedi by creating a new life for himself on Bracca, working as a rigger with the Scrapper Guild.
Despite hiding from the empire for five years, he was discovered by the inquisitor Second Sister, but was saved by former Jedi master Cere Junda and captain Greez Dritus. Agreeing to help Junda restore the Jedi Order, Cal learned that Eno Cordova had hidden a holocron in the Bogano vault, and decided to retrieve it to find the location of the force-sensitive children. During his quest, Cal was knighted by Cere and became friends and crew mates with the android BD-1 Nightsister Merrin, and succeed in retrieving the holocron. However, he would abandon his goal to restore the order by destroying the holocron to protect the children from the empire.
Cal continued his fight against the Empire despite the Mantis crew separating, ultimately feeling that he was battling an unstoppable foe. After a mission on Coruscant went awry, Kestis found himself on another journey to reach the planet Tanalorr to make it a haven for anyone wanting to evade the Emperor's regime. During his adventure, Cal was betrayed by the fallen Jedi Bode Akuna, whom's actions resulted in the deaths of Cere and Eno Cordova, as well as countless members of the Hidden Path. Once defeating his former friend, Cal and Merrin took in Bode's daughter Kata as they continued to help others reach Tanalorr.
He is voiced by and motion-captured by Cameron Monaghan, who also voiced Superboy in Reign of the Superman.