So why is it Catra is almost universally seen as a great villain on par with Zuko while Kylo's reception is, let's be honest, mixed with fans with some seeing him as good if not outright great while others see him as one of the worst villains in all of Star Wars.
I think it comes down to - points.
One: Competence
Catra is really the main reason the Horde ends up nearly winning the war towards the end of Season 4. Adora, herself a gifted strategist, makes it clear that Catra is the superior strategist and this is shown in the number of victories Catra has against the heroes even when the heroes seem to have them dead to right. Catra is always thinking out ways to get an advantage over on her enemies, even in situations where she is clearly terrified she still thinking of ways to out smart those who fight against her.
By contrast, Kylo never wins a fight and is a piss poor strategist if you can even call him that. The only notable victory he has is when he kills Snoke when he's reading Kylo's mind which allows him to take over the First Order... Which is then followed up by him nearly getting killed by a Red Shirt and needing to be saved by Rey. Losing to Rey (again) in a tug of war for Anakin's lightsaber. And then losing the whole Resistance as a result of his uncle crank calling him.
This also extends to both characters fighting skills. While Catra rarely wins a straight up fight against Adora she does manage to defeat a number of enemies that are MUCH more powerful then her. Shadow Weaver, Hordak and even the Crystal Guardian in the series finally which was an enemy that was designed to destroy She-Ra and she came out on top in all these fights. Sure the CG got right back up but Catra actually managed to put it down briefly which shows just as dangerous she is. And again there are a number of times she managed to defeat Adora most notably in White Out where she used Adora's hesitation to hurt her to use First Ones tech on her to basically take her out of commission.
Kylo's most notable victories in combat are beating up the former Janitor (who was actually putting up a good fight against him) and a couple of Red shirts and even then he would have died if not for Rey saving him. And he never once beats Rey in a straight up fight. He might have taken her down in their first meeting but as soon as Rey learns she's a Force Sensitive he NEVER manages to win a fight with her. Hell him beating her the first time leads to her learning she's a Force-Sensitive so that defeat worked out to Rey's benefit.
Kylo will likely be remembered as a Darth Vader wannabe who failed to at everything he did which was not helped by The Last Jedi piling on just how pathetic he was. And what's worse is that in Rise of Skywalker Kylo DID improve a bit. In ROS he never really loses his temper and is presented as this looming threat that is doing everything he can to push Rey over the edge from making her think she killed Chewie to just relentlessly stalking her and hitting her with as much verbal abuse as possible.
And he is shown to have the upper hand in their final duel... The problem is he still never actually beats her. Their first fight is called off when he decides to go after her on the Star Destroyer and their second duel ends with him still losing to Rey. Yes he was pushing her back but that doesn't matter because he still lost.
By having no real victories throughout the Trilogy Kylo cemented himself for most fans as the Draahg of the Disney Era of Star Wars. He's a loser who has never finished anything and when the list of the galaxies greatest losers is made he will come in 3d place because he's just that big a loser.
Two: More Relatable Motivations
I never really connected with Kylo the way I did with Catra mainly because he's motive keeps shifting throughout the Trilogy. He wants to be the Next Darth Vader, No Wants to let the past die. No he wants to take over the Galaxy. No he wants Rey to join him. No he wants to be good and protect Rey at all cost. No in the Original Episode 9 He just wants to prove he can be a villain... until the last 10 minutes of his life when he suddenly wants to redeem himself... See the problem?
His motives change as the plot demands there is no consistent motive behind his actions and thus, for me, it's impossible for me to connect to him as a character.
Catra's motive is deceptively simple. She wants to be loved and to be seen as someone who matters but because of how she was raised she tricks herself into thinking that what she wants is Vindication and Power. The words that define her arc for the first 3 seasons are said in her two part pilot episode "Because you left me."
This is what drives Catra into doing what she does even as she ruins her relationships with everyone around her and slowly comes to realize her mistake but believes she's to far gone for anyone to pull her back. Catra from Season 1 through 4 is a tragedy worthy of Shakespeare as Catra slowly drives those she loves away and in the end she loses everything she fought for and is basically begging for death. She's a truly broken at the end of Season 4 and while there's some satisfaction to be had you still felt bad for her despite all her horrible deeds.
By the end of The Force Awakens or The Last Jedi did anyone really feel bad for Kylo? More on that in a bit but Kylo fails as a tragic villain which I think the films were trying to set him up as because he's motivation make no sense film to film.
Three: Believably Redeemable
I can't buy that Kylo was worthy of being redeemed. I mean he kills his father just to prove he's on team Dark Side and then turns on Rey just to show, again, that's he's on team Dark Side and doesn't want to be redeemed. Then in Episode 9, (both versions) he finds it in himself to turn towards the light and do one last good deed. And we're never given a reason for this besides his underdeveloped feelings for Rey... Which has for some reason.
While you could argue that Vader had the same problem but because of the Prequels that's not really an issue. Thanks to the Prequels Anakin/Vader's arc becomes that of someone who simply wants to protect all he loves and him trying to bond with Luke is the last attempt at that connection.
Now you can point out that the Prequels didn't exist when the Original Trilogy was out but the exist NOW and are just as well known as the Original Trilogy. Love them or hate them that are part of the saga and throughout the Trilogy Anakin and Vader have an arc that is set up in Episode 1 and concluded in Episode 6.
Kylo has no reason for fall in love with Rey and in fact spends most of the Trilogy trying to hurt her, hurt of kill those she's, supposedly, close to and gaslighting her. Truly an epic romance for the ages of a Jedi Knight and the guy who stalks and abuses her as best he can.
Catra is different because we SEE the good that is in her. She does care for Adora, Scorpia and Entrapta, she has a soft side that she lets slip every so often. Her perfect world is just being with Adora and being friends with the other Cadets and she tries to keep delusion going as long as possible because who she has become scares her more then anything.
There was actually some serious debate before Season 5 was released if Catra even could redeem herself. Seems silly now but at the time fans of Catra were seriously worried she wouldn't be able to pull herself out of the pit she made for herself.
Kylo, just about everyone figured he was going to pull a heel face turn because Vader pulled a Heel Face Turn. Despite everything he did many fans had figured out that he was going to find some sort of redemption and that it would be forced. And lo and behold In both ROS and Duel of the Fates Kylo finds a way to redeem himself and said redemption leads to his death, who could have seen that coming. And the reason for said redemption is because his mom called him up and told him to be good now... And that's apparently all it took for him to switch sides...
So, Catra loses everything she had, lost her friends, lost her empire and believes Adora hates her and spends most of the next 3 episodes thinking over her actions and comes to the choice to give up her life to save Glimmer and Adora's because her love for Adora is all she has. And it takes another 3 episode for Catra to truly decide to join the heroes and commit herself to redeeming herself.
Kylo, gets a call from his mom who tells him to just be good now and he decides to just be good... And that's apparently all it takes!
Four: The Relationship with the Hero
Both Catradora and Reylo are the main focus of both stories. These relationships are at the heart of everything and the conclusion to both relationships are weirdly similar. Like Major Websites have compared these two relationships similar.
Like Kylo himself the general reception of Reylo is... mixed... Some love it others love to hate it while Catradora is a relationship that just about everyone found engaging and even for those who didn't ship them agreed that their relationship was still very well written.
This all comes down to one point. Catra and Adora KNOW each other probably better then they know themselves while Rey and Kylo don't. Over the course of one week, Rey met Kylo and the two spent their first day trying to kill each other and Kylo hurting those close to Rey. Then, just a few days later, Kylo gives some BS about how he's the real victim in all this and Rey just... FALLS IN LOVE WITH HIM!!! WHAT?!?!
Adora never stopped loving Catra but she still broke away from her when she ended up trapping Glimmer's mom in another reality and ONLY considers going to save her AFTER Catra saved Glimmer at the cost of her own life. And even then it was at least a YEAR after Angella was imprisoned in said alternate reality AND Adora needed a whole day to come to terms with the idea that she could be with Catra again.
Catra needed to give up her free will and get tortured to even have a chance to be with Adora and that wasn't something she planned as she fully expected to die when she saved Glimmer as she didn't realize that Adora still loved her because she, Catra, thought that she was beyond saving.
Kylo, says that Han was a bad parent, NEVER apologizes for nearly killing Finn and never once shows any regret for hurting Rey and yet Rey still falls for him. No need to actually EARN that trust, just say a few words and do one or two nice things just because you don't want to be evil anymore.
Anyways, that's why I think Catra works and Kylo Ren doesn't. Consistant motivation, more relatable motivation, more believable reasons for being redeemed and her relationship with Adora isn't nearly as forced as Rey's is with Kylo's.
Thoughts?
