Ken, the main protagonist, is a brave but callow youth, whose behavior resembles that of Luke Skywalker before his Jedi training. Raised in the Lost City of the Jedi for the first twelve years of his life, Ken eventually joins the Rebel Alliance, where Luke discovers him. Ken is the son of the mutant Triclops and, therefore, grandson of Emperor Palpatine.
Trioculus is the self-proclaimed son and heir of Palpatine. As his moniker implies, he has three eyes: two in the same place as a normal human and a third on his forehead. He attempts to procure the glove worn on the hand that Darth Vader lost in his duel with Luke Skywalker in Return of the Jedi. This glove is rumored to bestow great power upon its holder. Trioculus is killed by a droid replica of Princess Leia.
Triclops is Palpatine's illegitimate son, named because of his three eyes. He is sent into solitary exile because the Emperor fears Triclops' potential mastery of the dark side of the Force. During his exile, The Empire administers shock treatment therapies which eventually drove the boy insane, and he is sent an insane asylum. There, he meets the nurse Kendalina, a Jedi Princess, and the two conceive a child. Kendalina is murdered, and their son, Ken, is taken away. Triclops is forced to work for the slave lord Trioculus. After pledging pacifism and his desire to see the Empire's demise, Triclops is taken in by the Alliance. When they learn he was fitted with an implant that transmits images to Imperial Probe droids, they feed him disinformation. Triclops escapes before they can destroy the implant, leaving only an impassioned letter to his son, Ken.
Grand Moff Hissa is an Imperial Moff who plots to take over the reins of the empire by using Trioculus as a puppet dictator. He loses his legs during a scuffle with the Rebellion, in which he falls into a vat of acid; thereafter, he uses a hovering wheelchair to get around.
Supreme Prophet of the Dark Side Kadann is a bearded dwarf who prophesies that the next Emperor would wear the glove of Darth Vader, hence Trioculus' interest in it. Part of Kadann's success as a prophet is due to a network of bribe-payers and other people who help his prophecies come true. In the Dark Side Sourcebook, it is revealed that this Kadann was once a Jedi who was secretly turned to the dark side before the Great Jedi Purge. He pledged his loyalty to Palpatine, and was thus spared and became one of his chief advisors. Kadann foresees the Emperor's death at Endor and tries to warn him; this warning went disregarded, of course.
