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Kir Kanos was the final loyal member of the Emperor's Royal Guard after their betrayal by fellow guardsman Carnor Jax. Kanos swore an oath to hunt down the traitor and bring him to justice. However, Kanos became the most wanted man in the galaxy, after a massive bounty was put on his head by the Imperial Remnant. But Kanos remained free thanks to his skills and training as a Royal Guardsman.
He eventually caught up with Jax and slew the would-be Emperor, avenging his brothers. However, Kanos then set out to eliminate everyone that had helped accelerate Palpatine's ultimate death, specifically targeting the Imperial Ruling Council.

and the clone vats were also destroyed, Kanos and around twenty surviving guardsmen returned to Yinchorr and lay in mourning for 10 days.
However their mourning was interupted by a legion of stormtroopers who opened fire on the guardsmen. Heavily outnumbered, the guardsmen were soon withered down to just two but not before discovering that their beloved Emperor was betrayed by Carnor Jax who had bribed the clone engineers to tamper with Palpatine's clones and vats, thus not only ensuring an easy victory for Luke Skywalker, but that Palpatine could never again return. Swearing revenge on all who had betrayed Palpatine, Kanos escapes the carnage as the sole survivor.

Carnor Jax placed an incredibly large bounty on Kanos's head thus forcing him to remain constantly on the move and to travel along backwater routes and worlds. Thus Kanos arrived on Phaeda and while visiting a local cantina he overhead several Imperial officers discussing the fate of the Empire with Carnor Jax at its head. Confronting the officers disloyalty to Palpatine's ideals exposed Kanos's identity and after killing the officers he was forced to go underground with local New Republic sympathisers.
Kanos was soon contacted by New Republic agents on Phaeda led by Mirith Sinn, who transported him back to their base. Although he despised the New Republic, he understood that they shared a common enemy and agreed to join them for a time. Sinn was intrigued with Kanos, and tried to engage him in conversation, resulting in a mutual attraction that fostered between the two. However, the romance was cut short, as the location of the base had been betrayed to the Empire by Tem Merkon, and Kanos's livelihood was once again put in jeopardy. Forced to take to the field, Kanos took part in the ensuing battle, routing the Empire's forces under Colonel Xexus Shev and helping win the day for the fledgling New Republic. Although Kanos was safe for the moment, he knew the Empire was closing in on him, and he requested a ship from Mirith to leave the planet. Sinn provided him with a Scimitar assault bomber, and Kanos quickly departed.
Arriving back on Yinchorr, Kanos rigged the bomber as a trap and waited for Jax to arrive to face him. Just as he had expected, the Imperials finally arrived in the system, and Jax and his complement of Blackhole stormtroopers quickly advanced on Kanos's position. Kanos's skill was with him, and he quickly dispatched the Blackhole troopers, setting the stage for a final duel between the two men. Within the Squall, the arena where Jax had always been the victor, Kanos and Jax engaged in their final duel. Kanos's ferocity quickly gave him the upper hand, but he was merciful to his opponent, letting him regain his footing after initially disarming him. This mercy was not returned, however, as Jax took the opportunity to use the Force to smash a boulder into the back of Kanos's head.
With his helmet damaged, Kanos removed the headpiece, returning to the fight with renewed ferocity. Jax almost succeeded in plummeting Kanos into the depths of the squall, but the timely arrival of Mirith Sinn and her bodyguard Sish Sadeet saved Kanos from a quick death. Realizing that Kanos cared for Sinn, Jax threatened the New Republic agent with a blaster shot, hoping to swing the balance in his favor. Unfortunately for Jax, Kanos did not hesitate, battering aside the weapon and thrusting his blade deep into the would-be Emperor's chest. The New Republic agents were appalled at the sudden execution, hoping to keep Jax alive as a political prisoner. Sadeet tried to stop the execution, but as Kanos swung around, the Trandoshan was impaled on Kanos's sword, killing him.
Sinn cried out in terror for the death of her friend, but Kanos was remorseless, reminding her that he was only with them because they shared a common enemy and he had no love for the New Republic. Kanos left Sinn to bury her dead friend, declaring that there were others who would pay for their part in the death of the Emperor, the Imperial Interim Ruling Council. (story: Crimson Empire)

in the destruction of the Imperial Council and to meet him on Baramorra in two days. In the meantime, Kanos decided to learn as much as he could from Boss Banjeer while posing as Kenix Kil.
Kanos reported to Boss Banjeer's camp, and after impressing him significantly, he told Banjeer that he knew the location of Kir Kanos. Kanos then led the majority of Banjeer's hunters on a wild goose chase far away from the camp to "capture" the wanted man. After bringing the men far away, Kanos revealed his true persona and killed the bounty hunters, effectively crippling the hunting operation in the sector. Because Boss Banjeer was a member of Admiral Banjeer's family, Kanos saw fit to kill the man, destroyed his base single-handedly, and then personally killed Boss Banjeer. (story: Bounty Hunters: Kenix Kil)

After making several stops, Kanos decided to use his new persona as Kenix Kil to disappear into the underworld. He had his identity erased to keep anyone from learning of his true identity and took careful precautions that no one would see his face under his helmet. Hearing that a Hutt named Grappa was in need of bounty hunters, Kanos decided to take him up on employment. Kanos flew his X-wing to Grappa's base on Genon, and after meeting with the Hutt, he took up a commission to capture customs officer Tarrant Snil.
Kir Kanos dominates the men under Tarrant Snil.Snil was located on the planet G'wenee in the city of Lay Pa-Sidian, and Kanos left immediately to apprehend his quarry. After arriving, he was immediately accosted by men loyal to Snil. Several other hunters had failed to capture the customs officer, and he was confident that Kanos would have the same difficulty. However, Kanos's skill with his double-bladed vibroblade was too much for Snil's men, and he quickly killed the entire band. Kanos took Snil hostage and presented him to Grappa, much to the Hutt's delight. Grappa declared a party in Kanos favor, but it was soon interrupted by a mysterious call over the HoloNet. As Grappa quickly departed the celebration, Kanos got a minor glimpse at the mysterious visage of Nom Anor.
While working for Grappa, Kanos noticed that Mirith Sinn was also under the Hutt's employ. He sent Tav to keep watch on the woman to make sure that she had not discovered his secret. Updates from Tav eventually confirmed that Sinn had probably called off her vendetta against him, as she was certainly not spending her time searching for the killer of her friend. However, Kanos decided that he had overstayed his welcome at Grappa's. Someone familiar with the battle language of the guard (possibly Vin Northal) had deciphered the anagram of Kenix Kil and traced it to Kanos. As soon as Grappa had received word of the new information, Kanos was long gone.
At the same time, Mirith Sinn had been turned over to members of the Zanibar race by Grappa. Although Kanos had said that he held no remorse for killing the Rebel commander's friend, he felt that he deserved to repay her for causing her such grief. Commandeering an A-wing from Grappa's base, Kanos set out for Xo, the Zanibar homeworld, to rescue Sinn. Kanos followed the Zanibar transport ship carrying Sinn, and landed on the planet, stashing the ship in the dense underbrush outlying the main Zanibar city. Kanos then infiltrated the city and incapacitated a Zanibar priest, taking his place in one of their archaic ceremonies.
The Zanibar were known to capture organics and submit them to barbaric rituals, which seemed to consist of cutting up the person and flaying them while they were tied to a large metal hoop. As Kanos arrived at the ceremony, the Zanibar were about to cut up Lieutenant Massimo, the man who had betrayed Sinn to Grappa, but had been betrayed in turn. While the Zanibar were busy with Massimo, Kanos made his way deep into the ceremony building, finally finding Sinn and freeing her. However, the Zanibar quickly realized that their other sacrifice had been released, and they raised the alarm. Kanos opened fire on the Zanibar priests, killing one of them, and inadvertently freeing Massimo from the ceremonial hoop in the process.

Kir Kanos fights off a beast in the jungles of Xo.Kanos and Sinn trekked across the dangerous wilderness together. The pair had to constantly work together to keep from being eaten by the hostile wildlife. They were able to survive the day by constantly watching each other's backs, eventually reaching an ancient temple in the center of the wilderness by nightfall. Settling down to spend the night, the attraction that Kanos and Sinn had begun back on Phaeda began to blossom again. Sinn tried to convince Kanos once again that the Empire was evil, telling the story of how her peaceful husband was killed by the Empire. Kanos began to slowly show a change of heart, finally thinking for himself for the first time in many years.
After spending the night together, Kanos and Sinn awoke to see a Zanibar raiding party that had come to recapture the Humans for their ceremony. Trapped and outnumbered, Kanos tried to hold off the Zanibar, using the ancient temple as cover. Luckily for Kanos and Sinn, Tav Kennede arrived in Kanos's X-wing to save the day. Unfortunately, as soon as Sinn had climbed aboard, Kanos was wounded by a stray blaster shot and was unable to get to the ship. Kanos ordered Kennede to leave him and get Sinn away, and despite Sinn's protests, Kennede followed orders. Kanos was taken captive by the closing Zanibar as Kennede took Sinn off-world.
Luckily for Kanos, even the barbaric Zanibar had heard of the massive bounty on the Imperial Guard's head, and decided to turn him in for the reward. The Zanibar brought Kanos back to Grappa and arranged for Grappa to deal with turning over Kanos to the Imperials. Kanos remained in a cell as the Hutt negotiated with the Imperials. However, as Kanos prepared himself in incarceration, a New Republic taskforce led by Mirith Sinn infiltrated Grappa's headquarters and rescued Kanos. The Royal Guard was brought back with the Sinn to New Republic space in time to witness the Battle of Ord Cantrell.
Kanos followed Sinn to a meeting with Baron Ragez D'Asta, where she revealed to him that his daughter, Feena D'Asta, had been replaced with a clone. Although D'Asta was shocked with the revelation, Kanos reacted immediately. He declared Feena's clone a traitor to the Empire for being involved on the Imperial Interim Ruling Council and prepared to execute her. However, Sinn convinced Kanos to spare her life, as she had been forced to participate in the plot by Black Sun. Although he decided to spare the woman, Kanos still resolved to execute the rest of the council.
The newly proclaimed Emperor, Xandel Carivus had holed up inside his throne room on Ord Cantrell, and with the help of Sinn, Tav Kennede, and Baron D'Asta, Kanos infiltrated the throne room and engaged Xandel Carivus's Private Guard. They were no match for Kanos's skill, and although they were able to wound Tav, Kanos quickly dispatched of them. Carivus tried to make an escape out the back door, but Kanos cut him off, smashing his face into a bulkhead before accusing him of betrayal to his Emperor. Although Carivus tried to plead for his life, Kanos would hear nothing of it, and he coldly executed the next would-be Emperor.
Although Carivus was dead, the rest of the Imperial Ruling Council members had been locked in cells by Carivus. Sinn commented on the fact that they would be easy pickings if Kanos wished to have them killed as well. However, Kanos remarked that there had been enough killing for one day, implying that he would leave the judging of the council up to the New Republic. Kanos's change of heart had left him confused, and he prepared to leave New Republic space and Sinn behind. Although Sinn declared her love for him and pleaded with him to say, Kanos realized that his devotion was still to the Emperor, and he left the scene in his X-wing. (story: Crimson Empire II: Council of Blood)

Kanos eventually decided to go back to bounty hunting, resuming his alias as Kenix Kil. After capturing a small pointy-eared individual and turning him in for the bounty, Kanos was offered the bounty for a notorious cyborg pirate. The pirate was holed up in a fortress guarded by several advanced droids. After arriving, the robot sentries herded Kanos's X-wing into the fortress, forcing him out of the cockpit. Kanos was confronted by the cyborg pirate, who revealed himself to be none other than Lieutenant Massimo. He had escaped the encounter on Xo but had sustained major injuries following his fall from the ceremonial ring caused by Kir Kanos. Massimo had been forced to get prosthetic replacements for his right arm and right eye.
To get revenge for the hideous state that Kanos had placed him in, Massimo had set himself up as a pirate, with the ultimate goal of destroying Kanos. Discovering the true identity of Kenix Kil, Massimo bribed the bounty commissioner into sending Kanos his way. As Massimo's bots descended on Kanos, however; the Royal Guard quickly caused the two assassins to destroy each other, leaving Massimo defenseless. As with many of his other victims, Massimo pleaded for Kanos to spare his life, but the response was the same as it had ever been, and he left the traitorous lieutenant dead within his own fortress.
After this, during the Orinda campaign, Kanos heard that the scientist Sigit Ranth, who had been responsible for creating sabotaged clones of Palpatine and involved in the conspiracy to kill the Emperor, had surfaced in active duty for the Empire. Ranth was involved with a scientific team on the planet Dathomir researching the Infinity Gate, and Kanos quickly departed there to execute the traitor. However, Ranth departed before Kanos could locate the man, and he became stranded on the planet. Since flying craft were strictly regulated to prevent the escape of the Nightsisters, Kanos had to search for an alternate means of escape. Using the alias of "Burr Danid" after his fallen comrade, Kanos posed as a shuttle pilot in order to secure passage off-world. When Rebel heroes on a mission to rescue witches of the Dreaming River Clan and to apprehend the rogue Jedi Dal Konur arrived on Dathomir with a damaged ship, Kanos offered to help them get the ship repaired and help save the Dreaming River Clan if they would allow him to leave with them off-world. The Rebels agreed, and after a hectic rescue in which Kanos donned his armor several times to cut down Imperial troops, Kanos was eventually able to escape and continue the hunt for Ranth. (story: Hard Currency)

Kir Kanos's current whereabouts are at present unknown.

Stories featuring Kir Kanos (in chronological order):

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