| “ | I will not be undermined by creatures bred in some laboratory! | „ |
| ~ Krell to Rex, after revealing his true colors. |
| “ | A Jedi? [laughs] I am no longer naïve enough to be a Jedi. A new power's rising; I've foreseen it. The Jedi are going to lose this war and the Republic will be ripped apart from the inside. In its place is going to rise a new order, and I will rule as part of it. | „ |
| ~ Krell revealing his fall to the dark side and foretelling the outcome of the Clone Wars to Captain Rex. |
General Pong Krell is the main antagonist of the Umbara arc of Season 4 of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. He was a very stern Besalisk fallen Jedi general during the Clone Wars who took a no-nonsense approach when it came to commanding a group of clone troopers. Having won many key Republic victories during the war, the Besalisk Jedi Master was recognized as a successful general among Jedi and clones alike but had the highest number of clone casualties under his belt.
At some point, Krell foresaw the rise of a 'new order' and decided to join the winning side. As a result, he secretly turned to the dark side of the Force and sought to sabotage the Republic from within to gain recognition from Count Dooku to become his new apprentice. He is the archenemy of Captain Rex.
He was voiced by Dave Fennoy, who also voiced Black Manta in Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay.
What Makes Him Pure Evil?[]
- He has an extreme prejudice towards clones, seeing them as inferior to normal organic beings. He used them as disposable cannon fodder and at one point called them 'creatures bred in a laboratory.'
- He also has the highest casualty rates out of any Jedi due to forcing them into suicide runs. It is further implied in the book The Queen's Hope that his hatred towards clones was there from the very beginning, as he was said to have shown discomfort at Yoda's request to treat them as people.
- After foreseeing that the Jedi would lose the Clone Wars, he planned on defecting to the Separatists and becoming Count Dooku's new apprentice in order to gain a position of power in the new order, betraying his fellow Jedi with no concern for their fates.
- While he wants to be Dooku's apprentice, by Krell's own admission, it's only so he can join what he believes to be the winning side, not because he cares about him (completely unaware that Dooku will die prior to the Jedi Order losing).
- While it is implied he wanted to join Dooku because the Jedi Council probably won't listen to him as they ignored Sifo-Dyas's warnings of his own visions and even ignored Dooku at one point where it lead to Qui-Gon Jinn's death. This reason is not enough to be excused.
- Once he took the 501st clone unit, he forced the clones to follow him by walking for over 12 hours in a difficult path and refused to let them to take a break, threatening to punish those who disobey him.
- He has several clones killed in battle by forcing them into full-forward assaults against the enemy, refusing to allow Captain Rex to fall back, and reprimanding him when he does. When Fives criticizes Krell's strategy, he takes out his lightsaber and forces him to stand down, preparing to kill him if he refuses.
- Even then the strategy might have been more successful if Pong Krell used his combat skills to lead the assault from the front, but instead decided to watch from behind.
- After Captain Rex laments the loss of the many clones who died in battle, Krell callously dismisses his concern as "the price for victory."
- After Fives and Jesse disobey orders to secure a victory on Umbara, Krell orders their near-execution via firing squad without so much as a fair trial out of spite and to assert his authority over them.
- He tricks the 501st and 212th clone units into attacking each other by telling them that they will fight with the natives wearing clone uniforms.
- This results in several casualties before they finally catch on, Waxer being one of them.
- After he is revealed as a traitor, he is shown to be a sadist as he reveled in slaughtering dozens of clones after he gets exposed as a traitor, laughing and smiling at their deaths.
- At one point during the fight he beats the clones with his bare hands, such as by breaking one of their backs.
- During the fight, he mocks Rex by saying he should've listened to Fives from the beginning and that Krell was simply using the clones all along.
- He mocks Dogma for being the most "foolish" clone due to his blind loyalty, which Krell used to his advantage.
- Then, when Rex prepares to execute him, he taunts Rex's inability to pull the trigger until he finally gets blasted by Dogma, making his death well-deserved for his treason against the Republic and the Jedi Order.
- Despite having a lower kill count than other Star Wars Pure Evils, Pong Krell manages to stand along with them due to having fewer resources than them and stands out for how personal his crimes are.
- He also has a higher kill count than Keeper Agruss, who stands out for how realistic his crimes are.
- He is also realistically heinous as the way he manipulates the clones are similar to real-life fraggings, especially those that happened in the Vietnam War.
- His shameless bigotry, callous disregard for the lives of his soldiers, remorseless betrayal and jovial sadism also play a part in his unlikability. Also aiding this is the fact that unlike other villains in the series who are usually acting on someone else's behalf, like Dooku or Grievous, Pong Krell acted completely of his own volition.
- Pong Krell on the Villains Wiki.
- Pong Krell on the Star Wars Wiki.
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