Star Wars: The Force Awakens character guide

Star Wars: The Force Awakens, set 30 years after the Battle of Endor* in the climax to Return of the Jedi (1983), sees characters old and new face off, once again, in a battle between good and evil
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First Order
Supreme Leader Snoke 
(Andy Serkis – CGI character)
Leader of First Order. Giant, disfigured and powerful user of Dark Side of the Force

General Hux 
(Domhnall Gleeson)
Young, ruthless officer in First Order. Commander of Starkiller Base

Captain Phasma
(Gwendoline Christie)
Leader of First Order legions

Kylo Ren (Adam Driver)
Commander of First Order and user of Dark Side of the Force. Member
of mysterious cult, Knights of Ren. Religious fanatic who worships memory
of Darth Vader

Kylo Ren
possesses Darth Vader’s 
smashed and distorted mask

Quillons: Raw power vented from primary blade

Kylo Ren’s lightsaber Homemade following ancient design. Funnels ragged
fire instead of solidifying into steady beam
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Resistance
Finn (John Boyega)
First Order Stormtrooper who crashes TIE Fighter onto planet Jakku and meets Rey. Reforms and joins Resistance

Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) 
Talented X-Wing fighter pilot and member of Black Squadron – call sign Black Leader. Assissted by BB-8 astromech droid

Han Solo (Harrison Ford)
Smuggler and member of Alliance in original trilogy. Together with Chewbacca, they fly Millennium Falcon

Chewbacca, aka “Chewie”
(Peter Mayhew)
Wookie and co-pilot of Millennium Falcon. Hero of Rebel Alliance

Other returning characters:
Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher),
Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill),
C-3PO (Anthony Daniels) and R2-D2 (Kenny Baker)

Rey (Daisy Ridley)
Main protagonist of new trilogy. Abandoned on desert planet Jakku
as small child, she has to deal with cutthroats and scavenge for
survival amongst old Empire and Alliance war junk, until she meets former
stormtrooper Finn

BB-8 Poe’s droid that comes into possession of Rey on Jakku

*Won by Rebel Alliance. Marks beginning of end for Galactic Empire. Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine defeated
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Sources: starwars.com, Wookipedia, IMDB, Empire, Digital Spy
Pictures: Lucasfilm Ltd, Getty Images
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