Kit Fisto

Kit Fisto
Homeworld	Glee Anselm
Species	Nautolan
Gender	Male
Height	1.96 meters
Hair Color	None
Eye Color	Black
Affiliation	Jedi, Galactic Republic

Kit Fisto (—19 BBY) was a renowned male Nautolan Jedi Master of great skill and vision, and a High General in the Galactic Republic's Grand Army of the Republic during the Clone Wars. He was also a member of the Jedi Council during this period.

Biography

Fisto was born on the planet Glee Anselm. His distinctive head tentacles contained highly sensitive olfactory receptors that allowed him to detect pheremonal expressions of emotion, and other changes in body chemistry. This was indeed a unique attribute not afforded to any other Jedi, naturally, or through the power of the Force. As such, he had hoped to be assigned to the Council of Reconciliation, but was instead elected to the Jedi High Council.

Kit was an extremely skilled swimmer, and honed his Jedi abilities to take advantage of his amphibious origins, making him a deadly foe both above and under water. He was a master of the Shii-Cho, or Form I lightsaber combat, making him one of the strongest warriors in the Galaxy. It is also rumored that he could have possibly masted Form V as well.

Kit took over the training of then-Padawan Bant Eerin, when Bant's original master, Tahl, was killed 39 BBY. He was known for his trademark smile and his unusually close relationship with fellow Jedi Aayla Secura, a relationship that occasionally pushed at the boundaries of the portions of the Jedi Code that forbade attachment.

In 22 BBY, Kit was one of the two hundred Jedi that accompanied Mace Windu to Geonosis to rescue Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, and Senator Padme Amidala. He fought against hundreds of battle droids and super battle droids in the arena, and even disabled a droid that was accidentally built with the head of C-3PO. Kit survived the arena battle—escaping in the same LAAT/i gunship that Masters Yoda, Mace Windu, and Ki-Adi-Mundi escaped on—and then, along with the other Jedi survivors, led the new Grand Army of the Republic in the battle, the start of the Clone Wars.

During the height of the Clone Wars, Fisto was the first Jedi to fight and defeat a new type of droid that was given the name JK-thirteen. With Fisto went Obi-Wan Kenobi, five ARC troopers, and Barrister Doolb Snoil, a representative from the Galactic Senate, to Ord Cestus to negotiate an agreement to sell the "bio-droids" to the Republic. While en route to Ord Cestus, Fisto constructed a lightwhip, which he wielded during the mission.

He later led the Galactic Republic's forces in defeating the Quarren Separatist league, the Quarren Isolation League, on the watery world of Mon Calamari and later forged a new accord on the world that led to joint Quarren-Mon Calamari representation in the Galactic Senate.

For years, Fisto's name had been suggested as a candidate for the Jedi High Council. Humble, and not feeling that he had the skills for such an appointment, Kit would always dismiss such offers, feeling he was better suited to the Council of Reconciliation. Eventually, however, Kit's exploits in the Clone Wars answered any lingering doubts to his suitability, and he ascended to a seat on the august body.

During the Second Battle of Coruscant, he (along with Mace Windu) initially provided help with the Red Guards defending Chancellor Palpatine. After Palpatine was kidnapped, he piloted a Jedi interceptor against the Separatist fleet in an attempt to recover the shuttle that contained the captive Chancellor.

After Chancellor Palpatine revealed himself to be the Dark Lord of the Sith, Kit Fisto accompanied Mace Windu, Agen Kolar, and Saesee Tiin to confront him. Despite his prowess, Kit Fisto could not handle Sidious's intense combat style and shortly after they had crossed sabers, only momentarily blocking his barrage of attacks, he died when the Sith Lord cleaved into his waist. The man he had "protected" a few standard days before had now taken his life. Kit Fisto met an ignominious end without his signature smile on his face.

Behind the scenes

Kit Fisto first appeared in Attack of the Clones, where he was played by Zac Jensen. Originally, the initial design for the character had him as a Sith, but since the movie did not call for a Sith of a species other than Human, this was changed.

Like Boba Fett, Kit is disproportionally popular among Star Wars fans as a minor character, mainly because of his distinct smile, seen during the Battle of Geonosis and the Battle of Mon Calamari.

In the novelization of Revenge of the Sith, Kit was beheaded by Sidious, not stabbed in the chest. His death was not described first hand - instead Anakin found Fisto's head on the Chancellor's table with the Nautolan's typical smile on it.

It is believed George Lucas found decapitation to be too violent to be displayed in the movie, so he chose a much less graphic method of death.

Also in the novelization, he had a short chat with Agen Kolar and Saesee Tiin before their shuttle departed to Palpatine's Office. He said he would have been much calmer if Yoda or at least Obi-Wan Kenobi had been with them. Master Tiin scolded him for this: he deemed they were sufficent to defeat the Sith Lord without the aid of any. The discussion ended when Mace Windu embarked the gunship and immediately ordered the Clone pilot to set course for the Chancellor's office.

It is interesting to note that the decapitations of Tiin and Fisto were changed to less violent graphic stab through the chest or waist, yet Jango Fett had his head cut off, in very obvious fashion, when he squared off against Mace Windu in the Battle of Geonosis, as well as when Count Dooku was decapitated at the hands of Anakin Skywalker aboard the Invisible Hand.