Kyle Katarn is a fictional character in the Star Wars Expanded Universe, who appears in the five video games of the Jedi Knight series, the video game Star Wars: Lethal Alliance, and in several books and other material. In the Jedi Knight series, Katarn is the protagonist of Star Wars: Dark Forces and Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II, one of two playable characters in Star Wars Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith, the protagonist of Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast and a major NPC in Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy. Katarn was originally a member of the Galactic Empire, before becoming a mercenary for hire. He regularly worked for the Rebel Alliance and later became a member of the New Republic as well as a skilled Jedi and an instructor at the Jedi Academy, second only to Luke Skywalker. Katarn has been well received by most critics, with GameSpot including him in a vote for the greatest video game character of all time, where he was eliminated in round two, when facing Lara Croft.