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This Article Contains Spoilers -
WARNING: This article contains major spoilers. If you do not wish to know vital information on plot / character elements in a story, you may not wish to read beyond this warning: We hold no responsibility for any negative effects these facts may have on your enjoyment of said media should you continue. That is all. |
| “ | I know all about waiting. | „ |
| ~ Rey to BB-8. |
Rey, born Rey Palpatine and later known as Rey Skywalker, is the main protagonist of the Star Wars sequel trilogy. She is portrayed by Daisy Ridley, who also voices Cottontail from the 2018 live action film Peter Rabbit, and by Cailey Fleming as a child, who also portrayed Judith Grimes from The Walking Dead.
A former scavenger of the desert planet Jakku, Rey then encountered Resistance droid BB-8 and former stormtrooper Finn (FN-2187) as well as Han Solo and Chewbacca. With them, she ventured to deliver BB-8 to the Resistance, as he possessed a piece of a map to the location of the legendary Luke Skywalker.
Additionally, Rey later discovered that she is an extremely powerful and skilled Force-sensitive being. When she rejected these powers and the cosmic responsibilities that came with them, she was captured by the First Order's Force-sensitive warrior Kylo Ren.
He probbed her mind to find see the map, but Rey then accidentally awakened her Force powers and resisted the dark warrior and eventually escaped. Once she returned to the Resistance base, she then went on a journey to be trained by Luke Skywalker, having discovered his whereabouts.
Upon receiving training from the reluctant Jedi Grandmaster and learning what happened the night Kylo Ren killed Luke's students, Rey set off to bring Kylo Ren (Ben Solo) back to the light. However, she soon learned it was a trap made by Snoke.
As she was about to be killed, she was helped by Ren and the two of them temporarily combined forces and defeated Snoke and his praetorian guards. When Rey tried to convince Ren to come back, he still would not.
As the last of the Resistance made their way to escape while Luke held off Kylo Ren, Rey aided in their escape and got them into the Millennium Falcon. However, when Luke passed on into the Force, Rey took Luke's mantle as the last surviving Jedi in the galaxy.
She later discovered that she was the granddaughter of the Dark Lord of the Sith Emperor Palpatine. Just like Luke, she resisted from the Dark Side took down the first order and also saved Ben Solo.
Personality
| “ | Kylo failed you. I won't. | „ |
| ~ Rey to Luke Skywalker. |
Rey is an extremely pure hearted, kind, brave, heroic, and benevolent individual.
The harsh realities of such a world like Jakku could have easily made a person cynical or guarded against sympathy and weaknesses, but not Rey. Despite seeking out a meager existence in the scorching heat of the Western Reaches planet, Rey possessed a heart full of generosity and a willingness to help other people in need.
It was this willingness that led her to not only help BB-8 be free of Teedo's interference and Plutt's attempts to acquire the droid, but also led her to help BB-8 in its mission to return the star map it carried to the Resistance. Though she never wanted to leave Jakku for fear that she would not be there when her family returned for her, she believed in the importance of the Resistance and its fight against the First Order enough that it gave her strength to continue on BB-8's mission to find Luke Skywalker and defeat the First Order..
Her encounter with Maz Kanata profoundly impacted how she saw herself and what she was capable of, and Rey began to see that she was part of a larger galactic fight—and that the power of the Force was with her. Her recognition of these abilities and her destiny coincided with turbulence in the Cosmic Force, which for years had remained dormant, and ultimately led her to find Luke Skywalker.
Powers and Abilities
| “ | She's just beginning to test her powers. The longer it takes to find her, the more dangerous she becomes. | „ |
| ~ Kylo Ren on Rey's powers. |
The adventure that followed her leaving Jakku led Rey to discover that she was gifted with the powers of the Force. As a side effect of the mind probe done by Kylo Ren, Rey inadvertently unlocked her dormant Force abilities by accessing memories of Ren's training which, in turn, served as her own training in the ways of the Force. Though she initially rejected these powers and the destiny that came with them, Rey's encounter with Skywalker's lightsaber began awakening the power of the Force inside of her. She eventually embraced these events, especially to fight Kylo Ren, and the abilities she was just beginning to learn when she sought out the exiled Skywalker, rekindling a spark of hope for a galaxy on the road to war.
Powers
- The Force: Rey is very powerful and has a very strong connection to the Force, described by Ren as stronger than she realizes. However, until learning from Luke, she had received very little training and depends mostly on skills she learned before she knew she was Force-sensitive or watched someone else use the Force. Despite this and although she is not quite as powerful as Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker respectively; at the two latters' peaks, her powers rival that of Kylo Ren, despite the latter being the grandson of the Chosen One, and the nephew of the leader of the New Jedi Order; therefore making her an exceptionally powerful light and dark side Force-user. According to Snoke, Rey will grow stronger with the light side of the Force.
- Telekinesis: Rey utilizes Telekinesis either as offense or defense. Her power was shown to rival that of a weakened and injured Kylo Ren, as she could pry Luke's lightsaber out of his telekinetic grip when he tried to summon it to his hand, causing it to fly past him and into her hand instead. By the time of Battle of Crait, Rey's strength in the ability allowed her to levitate a large pile of small boulders simultaneously without much effort to open a passageway out of a cave for the Resistance.
- Force Crush: Rey utilizes Force Crush to crush objects, including droids.
- Force Pull: Rey utilizes Force pull to pull her opponents or objects towards her.
- Force Push: Rey utilizes Force Push to send her opponents flying through the air, causing them serious injury or temporarily incapacitating them/knocked them unconscious.
- Telepathy: Rey utilizes Telepathy as an extension of her Force powers to mentally communicate over small or vast distances with other individuals, especially Ren, due to the mental connection they share through the Force.
- Mind Probe: Rey utilizes Mind probe to sift through the thoughts of a sentient being. She was able to resist Kylo's attempt to probe her mind for the map to Luke Skywalker's location, and even turned his attack back on him to discover his fears of inadequacy in the shadow of Darth Vader.
- Mind Trick: Rey utilizes Mind trick to control the minds of other sentient beings, however, it does not work on individuals who have a very strong will. It took her three tries to master it, as she used it against a Stormtrooper to escape from captivity, and her skills grew throughout her escape from the Starkiller Base.
- Force healing: Rey utilizes Force Healing, to heal herself or other sentient beings from their physical injuries. Her healing capabilities even allow her to bring the dead back to life at will.
- Force vision: Rey utilizes Force vision to have visions of the past, present, and future; however, like all Force-users, her visions are not always clear or sometimes has visions even when she is not utilizing this power at will. It is also possible that some visions, like the one resulting from when she touched Anakin Skywalker's lightsaber, are the result of Psychometry, another Force power that allows the wielder to see and discern information about people, events, and places by touching objects people carried.
- Force sense: Rey utilizes Force sense to sense another sentient being's emotions, the future, ripples in the Force caused by momentous or traumatic events, or impending danger and the presence of the dark side. She learned this when Kylo attempted to use it against her.
- Battle meditation: Rey utilized Battle meditation, allowing her to renew her morale, stamina, and overall battle prowess. This allowed her to defeat the more skilled, yet injured, Kylo Ren in battle by meditating on the Force as Maz Kanata taught her.
- Telekinesis: Rey utilizes Telekinesis either as offense or defense. Her power was shown to rival that of a weakened and injured Kylo Ren, as she could pry Luke's lightsaber out of his telekinetic grip when he tried to summon it to his hand, causing it to fly past him and into her hand instead. By the time of Battle of Crait, Rey's strength in the ability allowed her to levitate a large pile of small boulders simultaneously without much effort to open a passageway out of a cave for the Resistance.
Abilities
- Lightsaber Skills: Despite having no training, Rey has some skills in lightsaber combat and is a very gifted duelist. Rey was able to defeat the Dark Jedi Kylo Ren, despite the latter being far more skilled and experience in lightsaber combat then she is. She was able to overpower him after meditating on the Force as Maz Kanata taught her. However, it should also be noted that Kylo had already been wounded by Chewbacca and Finn respectively, and thus was not at the peak of his strength. Despite her short time training with Luke, she improved enough that she was able to fight Supreme Leader Snoke's Praetorian Guards on even terms alongside Kylo Ren and eventually with his aid, overpower and kill the eight deadly warriors.
- Skilled Hand-to-Hand Combatant: Rey is skilled in unarmed combat.
- Skilled Staff Fighter: Rey is skilled in staff fighting, having used her staff for much of her life.
- Skilled Markswoman: Rey is skilled in utilizing blaster pistols.
- Master Pilot: Rey is highly skilled in piloting various speeders and every type of flight craft.
- Master Engineer: As a scavenger, Rey has a good understanding of engineering and the things she collects. She knows multiple different machines and ships, which proves useful when she accidentally comes into possession of the Millennium Falcon. She knew how to work a ship's computer and circuitry systems. which allowed her to prevent the Millennium Falcon from breaking apart by removing one of the ship's circuits.
- Multilingual: Rey is currently capable of fluently speaking English, Shyriiwook, and Binary.
Creation and Conception
When Lucasfilm set out to create the Star Wars sequel trilogy, which would be released under the banner of The Walt Disney Company after its acquisition of Lucasfilm, it became clear to them that Star Wars could not just rely on the heroes of the original trilogy and would need to create a new generation of characters to take up the mantle. One such character was Rey, who, in the development process for Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens, was known as Kira. The film's original screenwriter, Michael Arndt, described Kira as a "loner hothead, gear-head, badass." J.J. Abrams, who was chosen as the film's director, quickly gravitated towards the idea of a female lead, visualizing a young woman when developing with the film's protagonist. He was further drawn to the notion that the character, living thirty years after Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi, would not know who Luke Skywalker was or even regard him as a myth. Abrams was also drawn to the idea of a female Jedi being at the center of the Star Wars story.
By November 2013, the film's costume department created its first drawings for what Kira's costumes would look like. Initially, her costume design was going to have a lot of gear for climbing and tools because of her scavenging work, but the production team chose to go with a simpler look and pared the costume down. The final design was approved in February 2014, including the goggles that she wore while scavenging. The genesis of the goggles came from the production team not wanting people to know who the character was at first, including whether she was male, female, or even human. Her home, built in a downed AT-AT, was constructed in Abu Dhabi at the end of a mangrove swamp, which was the only place that the production could find that had a clear horizon and was flat and desolate. Abrams said that because the character's existence was miserable during her time on Jakku, he wanted her home to be built somewhere that seemed equally miserable.
Trivia
- Rey is the first main protagonist of a Star Wars movie to be female, Rogue One being released one year after, so the female hero in that movie became the second.
- Her original name was supposed to be Kira. This name, spelled differently, would later be used for a different Star Wars character.
