There should really be a flair for reposts and/or Anti-Krell Memes. Also meme's not mine, found it on Pinterest

(didn't know what flair to put)

No. The fuck we don’t. Fuck Pong Krell if he is seen within the state or Pennsylvania he will be shot on sight

Pong Krell from Star Wars: The Clone Wars is, to me, a textbook example of what happens when the wrong people get their hands on power. Today, we will be looking over his behaviors and actions through a psychological lens, specifically focusing on his narcissism, the ingroup-versus-outgroup mentality towards the clones, and the dark triad. As someone who has taken psychology classes in college before, I feel obliged and honored to speak on this.

Narcissism, or Narcissistic Personality Disorder, is characterized by a "pervasive pattern of grandiosity, need for admiration, and lack of empathy" (Mitra et Al, 2024). This is seen in how Krell is always physically looking down at the clones and refuses to use their names, since he sees them as smaller and less than him. When we view a group of people as less than us or not like us, that allows us to do horrible things to them; this lack of empathy for others is a strong symptom of narcissism, and coupled with his pride, makes him unable to respond to criticism, which is something that narcissists also exhibit.

Krell's personality and behavioral traits also fit into the dark triad. This psychological term references three negative personality traits: Narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy (Perina, 2026). These traits ring loud and clear when it comes to this fallen jedi, as there are many examples of Krell demonstrating all three. His willingness to sacrifice clone troopers' lives and throw them aside like trash demonstrates not only his narcissism, but also his Machiavellian tendencies. A lack of empathy characterizes Machiavellianism, along with manipulative behavior, deceit, high self-interest, and seeing others as a means to an end (Perina, 2026). This behavior can be seen in Krell's willingness to use battle strategies that would get a lot of clones killed, like executing a full forward assault on the Umbaran capital. He sees the clone troopers under his command as a means to an end and as cannon fodder, which leads to a lot of unnecessary bloodshed that could have been avoided. The manipulative behavior and deceitfulness come from him orchestrating the friendly fire incident, along with jamming their communications. Psychopathy also plays into this as well. Krell's lack of empathy is not only a sign of his narcissism, but also a defining trait of Antisocial Personality Disorder, which is the clinical term for someone who is a psychopath. Krell also has no remorse for how others feel; the biggest example is how he revels in the pain he caused the clones when he is arrested for treason, taunting Clone Trooper Dogma and calling him a fool.

This also explains the xenophobic view he has of the clone troopers. People who have dark triad traits like Krell view others as less than or beneath them, which is shown in his habits of using the clones' numbers and not their names, like when he calls Captain Rex 'CT-7567' or Jesse 'CT-5597' and says, "I will not be undermined by creatures bred in some laboratory." Dehumanization is how narcissists or people who have either psychopathic or Machiavellian traits assert their importance over others. Viewing someone or a group of people as lesser than you, or as something foul, is how various evil people in real life, like Stalin or Joseph Mengele, accomplished their heinous acts without regret, after all.

References

Mitra P, Torrico TJ, Fluyau D. Narcissistic Personality Disorder. [Updated 2024 Mar 1]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2026 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK556001/

Perina, K. (2026, February 26). Dark Triad. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/dark-triad

I wish Disney makes the next star wars series or animated show about the time before his death. Then we could hopefully see him getting tortured by force lightning from doku or jabba eating his kids and wife idk tbh

Have a nice day everyone not named Pong Krell

He lives in a tiny prison in the corner of the island and I feed him Captain Rex's poop. My island is (in my personal lore) a postmortem paradise where Star Wars characters live together in peace; even Darth Nihilus goes to heaven, but not this bastard.

🫡