Yakun Kwaad was a male Yuuzhan Vong. He belonged to Domain Kwaad and was training to be a shaper, holding the rank of initiate. Kwaad's training centered on bioengineering and the application of the Yuuzhan Vong's biological technology. However, instead of adhering to the strict laws that governed the shaper caste, Kwaad diverged from established shaping practices and committed acts of heresy. The young initiate was exposed, and subsequently executed as punishment for his violations. Before his demise, Kwaad was romantically involved with fellow shaper Nen Yim.
A male Yuuzhan Vong named Yakun Kwaad was a member of Domain Kwaad and a shaper serving the Yuuzhan Vong empire. Yuuzhan Vong shapers were essentially scientists trained to manipulate and enhance the biotechnology of their species. As an initiate within the shaper caste, Kwaad once found himself on Baanu Kor, a Yuuzhan Vong Koros-Strohna worldship, where he and a fellow initiate, Nen Yim, were responsible for caring for the mernip breeding pools of the vessel. During his time on the worldship, he and Yim became lovers.
However, Kwaad was a heretic. The shaper caste operated under rigid laws, and shaping procedure was meticulously outlined in a series of protocols, any deviation from which was considered heresy. After Kwaad and Yim began their romantic relationship, his heresy was discovered. The Yuuzhan Vong punished heresy with death, and Kwaad was swiftly accused and sacrificed to their gods. Before his execution, he and Yim shared moments of forbidden passion.
Nen Yim also engaged in heresy, and in 26 ABY, she did so under the direction of her similarly heretical master, Mezhan Kwaad, on the moon of Yavin 4. To uncover the suspected heresy of Yim and Mezhan Kwaad, Master Shaper Yal Phaath sent an initiate, Tsun Qel, to approach Yim while Mezhan Kwaad was away.
Qel gained the confidence of Adept Yim by discussing Yakun Kwaad with her. He claimed to have been a friend of the executed heretic and asserted that Mezhan Kwaad had sent him to Yim to share the details of Yakun's fate, thus proving his trustworthiness. Yim trusted the persuasive initiate, primarily because of his knowledge of her deceased lover, which ultimately exposed her and her master as heretics.
Yakun Kwaad was a heretic who defied the regulations of his caste and species, leading to his execution for the transgression. He and Nen Yim shared a forbidden and passionate love, memories of which remained vivid for her long after his death. Kwaad's personality mirrored the persona adopted by Tsun Qel to earn Yim's trust, and the fervor Qel displayed in seeking forbidden knowledge made her feel as though her lover had been resurrected.
Despite Yakun Kwaad's only mention being in Greg Keyes' 2001 novel The New Jedi Order: Edge of Victory I: Conquest, he is instrumental in advancing the story's plot. Tsun Qel's use of Kwaad's name leads to the discovery of Yim and her master as heretics. This sets the stage for the climactic confrontation between the two shapers and the novel's protagonists, Shamed One Vua Rapuung and Jedi Anakin Solo. Yim's affair with the heretical shaper also contributes to the development of her character's backstory.