In a galaxy far, far away, Kylo Ren and Obi-Wan Kenobi never had a chance to meet face-to-face, but thanks to Kylo’s butchering of a popular Force power — the Jedi mind trick — he’s connected to Obi-Wan in a way that he might not appreciate.
Well-known as a hot-headed yet extremely powerful member of the First Order, Kylo Ren is the opposite of Obi-Wan in terms of his overall demeanor, drive, skill level, and most importantly, philosophical beliefs in the Force and how to use its incredible power. First seen using a mind trick against a Stormtrooper in Star Wars: A New Hope, Obi-Wan had not only mastered this highly effective skill by that time in his life but is assumed to have passed it onto Luke Skywalker who, in turn, taught it to Ben Solo aka Kylo Ren.
Kylo Ren Can't Pull Off A Jedi Mind Trick Like Obi-Wan Can
As seen in Star Wars: Age of Resistance - Kylo Ren #1, by Tom Taylor and Leonard Kirk, this issue follows Kylo as he brings the full power of the First Order down on a galactic species that are expanding a bit too far and fast for Supreme Leader Snoke’s liking. Landing on their planet where his grandfather, Darth Vader, once waged war, Kylo makes his way to the alien leader of the Benathy, King Kristoff, and tries to negotiate his surrender before things get just as violent. And it’s here, as Kylo tries and fails to use a Jedi mind trick on the king, that he's shown to be connected to Obi-Wan in the worst way possible.
Unable to convince the alien leader to stop his slow crawl across the stars, Kylo tells him, “You will stop your expansion. You will submit to the First Order,” then repeats it a couple more times while reaching towards King Kristoff in a Force-enabled attempt to make him change his mind. Unimpressed and unaffected by the trick, Kylo next ops to stab the guy through the head with his lightsaber and immediately starts a new battle between the present parties. But what’s most interesting to note here is that because Kylo as a character is so bad at seeing other people's perspectives, he is utterly incapable of using the Force to change their minds. Meanwhile, Obi-Wan is far more in tune with his connection to the Force, its powers, and himself as a person, making Kylo’s failure a fascinating flip on Obi-Wan's iconic use of this ability.
Furthermore, Obi-Wan had much better mentors than Kylo (sorry, Luke) to help him along his journey in learning his powers as well as a more dangerous life that honed him into the balanced warrior and teacher he eventually becomes, so it also stands to reason that Kylo simply wasn’t the man he needed to be when he attempted this trick. And although it’s unclear whether this specific species of alien is in any way immune to the mind-scrambling abilities of the Jedi like some are known to be (Watto or Jabba the Hutt anyone?), it seems more likely that Kylo Ren simply wasn’t good enough at using this iconic Force power like Obi-Wan Kenobi was.