In The Rise of Skywalker, Emperor Palpatine has several of the characteristics of a vampire: he is an undead creature who hides in a crypt in a world of perpetual night, sucks the life out of others, and is defeated by the sign of the cross. In light of this connection, it is appropriate that the name "Kylo Ren" evokes "Renfield," a servant of the most iconic vampire, Dracula: Kylo Ren's role in The Rise of Skywalker mirrors Renfield's role in Dracula in a few key ways.
In Bram Stoker's novel Dracula, Renfield worships Dracula because the Count offers to make him immortal. In The Rise of Skywalker, Kylo Ren makes a similar Faustian bargain with Palpatine when the Emperor offers to give him the fleet of the Final Order, which will make him ruler of a new Galactic Empire. Just as Dracula lives in his castle in Transylvania and depends on go-betweens like Renfield to do his bidding in the world abroad (especially in Tod Browning's 1931 adaptation and Francis Ford Coppola's 1992 adaptation), Palpatine is confined to his citadel on Exegol and must send Kylo Ren to kill Rey. Even when they are not in physical proximity, Renfield is under Dracula's psychic influence, and similarly, when Kylo Ren is away from Exegol, Palpatine speaks into his mind through the Force, reminding him of the task he has been entrusted with.
Like Renfield, Kylo Ren acts as a proxy for his dark master in the world beyond his lair – and ultimately, both Renfield and Kylo Ren betray their masters out of love for a woman. Renfield has a crisis of conscience and tries to save Mina Harker from becoming one of Dracula's victims; Kylo Ren turns against Palpatine and comes to save Rey after she shows him mercy. Both Renfield and Kylo Ren pay for their betrayals with their lives, but the women they love are able to live on.
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