Karlessh was a young male Gand. Born on Corellia to Gand immigrants, Karlessh was left to his own devices and fell in with what many considered to be a bad crowd. Rebellious and disrespectful, Karlessh dressed in the style of most delinquent youths and found himself at odds with authority. After several run-ins with CorSec, Karlessh was eventually removed from public school and placed within an alternative education program. There, he explained his reasons for becoming a deviant—he felt that his parents did not pay him enough attention. He held a level of respect for the Gand findsman Zuckuss and Karlessh's parents hoped to hire the bounty hunter to possibly mentor their wayward son.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Karlessh was born on Corellia to Gand immigrants. A member of the Gand subspecies with ammonia-breathing lungs, Karlessh was fitted with a breath mask so that he could survive on his chosen homeworld. Karlessh's parents were out-sourced scientists from a Gand-owned research laboratory; his father was an aeronautical propulsion specialist and his mother worked as a biochemical engineer. Their work kept them away from home and thus Karlessh was often left unsupervised. He attended a public school in Coronet City as his parents felt that it would be beneficial to his social development.
Karlessh started school at an earlier age than most younglings as Gands physically matured faster than many other sentient species. His young age did not become apparent until he attended a sub-adult school. Though Karlessh excelled in his schoolwork, particularly mathematics, he was noticeably shorter than his classmates and his teachers considered him to be socially immature. And being that he was a member of a race that was rarely seen in large capacity, his grade-inappropriate behavior caught the faculty's attention more readily than that of his classmates'. Karlessh was also subject to preconceived notions of Gands, which he grew to abhor. His teachers would exaggerate their facial expressions so he could impart their meanings, he would be asked constantly about Gand culture and language protocol, his coaches would not permit him to participate in sports activities due to the possibility that he would be exposed to oxygen, and it culminated in a shift in Karlessh's behavior. He began to act out, became disrespectful, and started socializing with other rebellious youths.
Destructive path[]
Karlessh's school performance began to suffer and he would often cut class. He became a petty thief and a vandal, usually engaging in such activities when in the company of a gang. He was routinely disciplined by the school and fostered an arrest record. Karlessh's parents finally took notice to their son's deviant activities when Karlessh was escorted home by the local CorSec officers after being caught shoplifting. In order to avoid a sentence in juvenile detention, Karlessh was removed from public school and enrolled in an alternative education program for at-risk younglings. It was during a mandatory meeting with his guidance counselor did Karlessh explain why he felt he needed to behave with civil disobedience—he wanted his parents to pay attention to him.
Karlessh lacked a Gand role model in his life, as his parents were too focused on their work. He cited the findsman Zuckuss as a Gand that he held a level of admiration for, saying that the bounty hunter was well-traveled and knowledgeable of social practices, unlike Karlessh, who felt that he was thrust into an environment that was foreign to him and his family left him to fend for himself. Karlessh claimed that if he had an active figure to look up to and model his behavior on, he would be less apt to engage in delinquent activities.
Karlessh's parents took this into consideration and began to look for ways to get in contact with Zuckuss and persuade him to mentor their son. Hours at the research facility were also reduced so that Karlessh could spend more time with his parents and modify his behavior. With the help of the alternative education program, Karlessh began the first steps to turning his life around.
Personality and traits[]
Karlessh was a rebellious youngling with disrespectful mannerisms. He peppered his speech with slang and was considered to be loud-mouthed and antagonizing. Despite his short stature, Karlessh would instigate fights with other children in his school. He was considered to be a miscreant.
Under the tough exterior, however, Karlessh was still a child. He had physically matured at an early age, however his social development was still that of a youngling. Considered to be very articulate when he wants to be, Karlessh often wished his parents would just treat him as the child that he was and not force him to grow up before he was ready. Karlessh often viewed his life as a social experiment conducted by his parents.
Behind the scenes[]
Karlessh was created as a general antithesis to a standard Gand characterization. The author, Trak Nar, also thought that the image of a Gand dressed like a chav would be rather amusing. In Karlessh's image, the letters on his hat are the Aurebesh form of "NY," as a nod to the logo of the New York Yankees, an item that Nar often notices on the clothing of local chavs.
External links[]
- Karlessh on Darthipedia, the Star Wars Humor Wiki