Vidar Kim

Senator Vidar Kim is a minor character in the Legends continuity of the Star Wars franchise, serving a supporting character in the Republic comics and a major protagonist in the novel Star Wars: Darth Plagueis.
He is the popular Senator of the Galactic Republic representing his homeworld of Naboo. A conservative and an isolationist, Kim fears that integrating his world to the rest of the galaxy will lead to it being exploited by the other worlds, crime syndicates and megacorporations.
He served as a mentor to young aspiring politician and fellow Naboo, Palpatine, secretly the Sith Lord Darth Sidious who would go on to destroy the Jedi Order and become Emperor of the Galaxy.
== Biography ==
Vidar Kim was born on the Outer Rim world of Naboo. Kim was aligned with the conservative faction of the world, alongside nobleman Cosinga Palpatine, who preferred Naboo kept a distance from galactic affairs to prevent exploitation from outsiders. They were opposed by the liberal faction led by nobles Ars Veruna and Bon Tapalo, who wanted to open up Naboo to trade and get rich off their world's abundant plasma reserves.
Interested in politics, he was mentored by the previous Naboo Senator and eventually succeeded her as Senator of Naboo. His isolationist and conservative beliefs made him very popular among the Naboo. He was also happily married to his wife and had three sons, one of whom, Ronhar, was Force sensitive and thus was handed over to the Jedi temple for training. 
He also befriended Cosinga's son, who went only by Palpatine, and mentored him in galactic politics. Although they had vastly different opinions, Palpatine supporting the liberal faction, Vidar saw Palpatine as a close and dear friend, at one point telling the Ambassador he loved him like a brother, being they were too close in age for him to love him as a son. Unbeknownst to Kim, Palpatine was a Sith Lord and the apprentice to Darth Plagueis (known publicly as Hego Damask, head of the lobbying company Damask Holdings). Palpatine, a manipulative and power-hungry psychopath, was instructed to be by Kim's side to study the political game and ultimately cared nothing for him as a person.
During his time in the Senate, Kim continued to rally support from fellow Naboo against the corrupt King Bon Tapalo and his follower Ars Veruna, who have succeeded in opening Naboo's plasma reserves to the rest of the galaxy with help from megacorporations such as Damask Holdings, the Trade Federation and the InterGalactic Banking Clan. Despite failing to keep Naboo from being closed off, the display of exploitation by the galaxy made Kim still a widely popular political figure among the Naboo.
One day while watching a podrace, Kim was notified that his entire family died in an airspeeder accident. Kim was devastated at the loss of his family, and attended their cremation ceremony, Palpatine at his side. After this severe tragedy, Kim was broken as an individual and was severely depressed. He believed that Veruna and Tapalo murdered his family by sabotaging their airspeeder. Although he still saw Palpatine as a friend and was grateful to him, he was greatly lonely and was desperate to get his family back and preserve the Kim name. To this end he sought out his last remaining relative: his son Ronhar Kim, who at this point was a fully-fledged Jedi Knight. Vidar tried to convince Ronhar to leave the order, saying blood must come first, but Ronhar refused, saying the Jedi Order is his family.
As Kim continued to spiral toward depression, Plagueis and Sidious came to believe he had become a liability and sought to be rid of him while also moving Sidious up the political ladder. While talking to his son Ronhar on an airspeeder, a Maladian assassin fired a blaster at them, killing Vidar and attacking Ronhar. Ronhar tried to pursue the Maladian, but the assailant committed suicide before capture. The investigators of the attack believed that Ronhar was the real target and Vidar was caught in the crossfire. The case closed and the coast clear, Palpatine succeeded Kim as Senator of Naboo.
== Personality ==
Vidar Kim is portrayed throughout most of the novel as a just, honest, noble and goodhearted politician who cares for his planet and its wellbeing. Being a Naboo conservative and isolationist, Kim feared that integrating Naboo to the rest of the galaxy would led to exploitation. He felt that Bon Tapalo and Ars Veruna, the leaders of the liberal faction, were corrupt, which is proven to be true. This allowed him to ally with fellow conservative Cosinga, the Patriarch of House Palpatine. Aside from this belief in protecting Naboo from the outside galaxy, the two could not be more different. While Cosinga was narcissistic, cruel, corrupt and abusive, Kim was kind, loving and understanding. He is also shown to tolerate people who have completely different from his, as seen with him taking Cosinga's son under his wing despite him supporting the liberal faction, strongly believing the Ambassador would succeed him one day. 
Kim was a loving and trusting family man and friend, and a popular Senator. His stand against megacorporations made him popular among the mostly conservative isolationist Naboo, in addition to other worlds that have been exploited. Even Pax Teem, a corrupt and cutthroat Senator, admired Kim. Kim loved his family deeply to the point where he was never the same after they perished. He felt family was the most important thing in life, as seen when he tried to convince his Jedi son Ronhar to leave the order. He deeply valued Palpatine as a friend, loving him like a younger brother he never had, unaware that Palpatine was using him.
After the death of his family, Kim was a broken man. He became severely depressed, lonely and somewhat paranoid. He believed that Veruna and Tapalo were responsible for the death of his family, another reason why he wanted Ronhar to leave. He became desperate to save the Kim line by having Ronhar continue the Kim name but was unsuccessful. Kim's depression led the Sith to believe he had outlived his usefulness and had him murdered. 
In the end, Vidar Kim was a tragic pawn: beginning as a kind and benevolent figure before becoming a man broken by unimaginable sadness before being murdered in cold blood by a man he saw as a brother; just another steppingstone in the Grand Plan of the Sith Order.
Category:Star Wars Heroes
Category:Wise
Category:Protectors
Category:Science Fantasy Heroes
Category:Science Fiction Heroes
Category:Tragic
Category:Paranoid
Category:Comic Book Heroes
Category:Book Heroes