Phasma

"You really are a First Order commander through and through, Phasma. You threaten, and whine, and wail, but you never do anything."

- Terex

Phasma was a human female stormtrooper Captain of the First Order. She served as part of the unofficial commanding triumvirate for the First Order and their Starkiller Base operation, taking charge of the command of the First Order's stormtrooper soldiers. During the Cold war, which took place 30 years after the Battle of Endor, Phasma served alongside the dark enforcer Kylo Ren and General Armitage Hux in their efforts against the Resistance.

Under orders from the Supreme Leader of the First Order, Snoke, the triumvirate searched for a galaxy map that would lead to the last of the Jedi, Luke Skywalker, on the planet Jakku. After the sacking of the village Tuanul, Phasma and her stormtroopers killed the survivors under orders from Ren. Afterward, FN-2187, one of her division's stormtroopers, had an awakening that led to him betraying the First Order, despite Phasma's efforts at reconditioning him. The First Order eventually decided on unleashing their Starkiller superweapon, an event which led to the destruction of the Hosnian system, where the New Republic's capital was located, for which Phasma was present.

Before the First Order could fire the Starkiller again and destroy the Resistance, FN-2187, alongside the smugglers Han Solo and Chewbacca, infiltrated the base and took Phasma captive. Under the threat of death, the trio managed to have Phasma lower the Starkiller's planetary shield for the Resistance's assault effort on the superweapon. Although Phasma believed the Resistance would be destroyed by her stormtrooper legions, the Resistance was ultimately successful in destroying the Starkiller Base. Phasma was left in the base's trash compactor, though she managed to escape just before the base's destruction.

Early life
"We were attacked. By the Scyre. Mother and Father and all the rest&hellip;are gone.''" "But you stabbed me. My leg." "''No, Keldo. The Scyre did that. They caught you on watch, and I thew you into the Nautilus. I saved your life. We are lucky that they've invited us to stay here, to live among them. All we have to do is fight for them and contribute. And then we can stay here, in the Nautilus. It will still be ours. What say you?"

- Phasma and Keldo

Prior to joining the Scyre clan, Phasma and her brother Keldo were part of a small and weak clan that resided directly around the Nautilus on the desolate planet Parnassos. Phasma and Keldo grew up having to defend the clans territory from raiders from rival clans such as the Scyre and the Claw. One day Phasma orchestrated the deaths of her clan including her father and mother in order to ensure both herself and Keldo survived whilst still being able to live in the Nautilus. In order to do this, she stabbed Keldo in the foot with a knife and pushed him into a cave thus disabling him, claiming that the clan was under attack Phasma shouted for help and her family came to fight the Scyre, by the time Keldo had woke up his family was dead and most of his foot was lost. Shortly after, Phasma along with Keldo both pledged their allegiances to the Scyre by painting themselves with oracle salve made from their family. Due to Parnassos' harsh environment and lack of technological advancements, Phasma spent her days wearing protective gear and scavenging crashed starships for weapons and supplies. Additionally, she led a group of Scyre clan warriors and believed herself to be the strongest warrior on Parnassos.

Encountering the First Order
"I am Phasma, and I am the greatest warrior of Parnassos."

- Phasma, to Brendol Hux

Everything changed, however, when Phasma observed a First Order starship crashing in the neighboring Claw clan territory. Covertly leading her Scyre warriors over the border into Claw territory, Phasma was brought face to face with First Order officer Brendol Hux, flanked by three stormtroopers and a black droid.

Hux introduced himself as an officer for the First Order, who had been on a mission to recruit the strongest warriors in the galaxy to the First Order's military when his ship had been shot down by Parnassos' automated defense system.

Seizing her opportunity to get offworld, Phasma stepped forward and unmasked herself, introducing herself and offering to help Hux find his crashed ship.

Service to the First Order
"The First Order is not the Empire. We are purer. We have been through the crucible and emerged stronger."

- Phasma to Agent Terex

Phasma was a stormtrooper captain of the First Order, though her true rank was higher than her title suggested. She was a leading member of the unofficial commanding triumvirate, alongside the dark enforcer Kylo Ren and General Armitage Hux. Phasma was assigned to Starkiller Base, where she oversaw training of the First Order military and the stormtrooper ranks, in particular. Phasma sought to have only the best soldiers don the First Order's stormtrooper armor, and endeavored to keep politics out of the ranks to guard against a lack of effectiveness. Phasma also believed that a stormtrooper's loyalty was to be first and foremost to the First Order, not to any individual or comrade.

Shortly after the events of Operation: Sabre Strike, which saw the capture of the First Order colluder Senator Erudo Ro-Kiintor by members of the Resistance, Phasma contacted Agent Terex aboard his corvette Carrion Spike, assigning him a mission to track down pilot Poe Dameron and retrieve Ro-Kiintor's information. Appearing to Terex via hologram, Phasma expressed her exasperation at the agent's predilection for keeping nonhumans as his personal slaves, and discussed Terex's mission with him once he dismissed his servants. She complimented Terex's sources, surprised that he knew the term "Starkiller", and threatened him not to fail his mission to find Dameron. Terex's search led him to Megalox Beta, where Dameron slipped through his grasp after escaping the Megalox prison. Phasma contacted him after learning the Carrion Spike had left the Megalox system with significant damage, and ordered the agent to return to First Order space for debriefing. Despite Phasma's threat of extreme disciplinary measures, Terex switched off her hologram and refused to report in. Phasma continued attempting to contact the rogue agent, demanding an after-action report, but still Terex refused to obey and disabled the ship's communications, engines and weapons systems.

After Terex and his Ranc gang associates took over the Carrion Spike, Terex told the disapproving First Order corporal that Phasma, Supreme Leader Snoke, and Kylo Ren regarded him as a criminal but that he would prove them wrong by destroying the entire Resistance. After Terex contacted her, Phasma objected to his actions and objected to his unfamiliar attire. Terex responded that he was wearing the armor of the Lord-General of the Ranc gang and that she knew that when she recruited him. Phasma then reminded Terex that he had been ordered to report to First Order Space to report for his failure to obtain the information from Grakkus the Hutt. She warned Terex that Ren had taken an interest in his "missteps."

Terex was undaunted and responded that he had once met Darth Vader, who he described as a "terrifying magical strongman". Terex then briefed Phasma about his plan to trick Dameron into delivering a droid that was purportedly carrying crucial First Order intelligence to the Resistance base. Terex planned to track Dameron and the droid there and destroy the Resistance with his fleet. Phasma immediately objected to Terex's plan on the grounds that the Supreme Leader had forbidden any open hostility between the First Order and any forces aligned with the New Republic. Terex retorted that he was not solely a First Order officer and that the Ranc gang answered solely to him. He vowed to do what Phasma, Hux, and Ren cold not do.

Phasma responded that this "errant action" was the reason why Terex had not been given the status in the First Order which he believed he deserved. She warned him that the consequences of pursuing this action would be dire. Terex mocked her for doing nothing but making threats and boasted that his plan would hand them the Resistance. Terex told Phasma to go and polish her armor before terminating the transmission. Phasma tried to protest but the transmission was severed. The First Order subsequently dispatched forces under Commander Malarus who destroyed Terex's flagship Carrion Spike and the Ranc gang fleet. Terex was then handed by Dameron to Malarus.

Training the FN Corps
"While I am entirely in support of unit cohesion, General, a stormtrooper's loyalty must be higher, as you know. It must be to the First Order, not to one's comrades."

- Captain Phasma to General Armitage Hux, regarding FN-2187

Phasma herself oversaw the training of the stormtrooper FN-2187 and his FN Corps squadmates, FN-2000, FN-2003, and FN-2199. After a training simulation, Phasma noted to Hux that FN-2187 and his class had the potential at becoming the best stormtroopers the First Order had ever produced. However, she also noted that FN-2187 was potentially too empathetic, despite having trained him and his class since their induction into the First Order, after he strayed from his objective to save FN-2003 prior to completing the simulation. Phasma later expressed these concerns to FN-2187 himself, ordering him to leave those who could potentially weaken the First Order behind, speaking of FN-2003.

After the previous training session, Phasma accelerated FN-2187 and his fellow cadets training sessions, at times praising FN-2187 in front of many members of the First Order for his successes. However, Phasma once again reprimanded FN-2187 after watching his performance in a melee weapons exercise, during which the cadet once again expressed sympathy for FN-2003. Following this, Phasma sent FN-2187 and his squadmates on their first deployment to an asteroid field in the Pressylla system, giving them a short briefing in which she explained the cadets were to restore order. At the asteroid's mining facility, collectively known as Pressy's Tumble, Phasma stationed the cadets on guard duty. In the meantime, she gathered a group of stormtroopers with her and awaited to negotiate with the mining facility's miners that were on strike, whom had allegedly been riled up by infiltrating New Republic agents and had caused delays to the First Order's mining operations.

Once ready, Phasma called FN-2187 and the cadets to her, informing them that they would be accompanying her for the negotiations. However, immediately in response to the miner's requests, Phasma ordered FN-2187 and the rest of the cadets to open fire on the miners. FN-2187 did not fire his weapon, but the rest of the squad did so, killing all of the miners. Despite his hesitation, FN-2187 and the cadets were officially promoted to full-fledged stormtroopers, but Phasma remained disappointed in FN-2187's lack of fulfillment. Phasma decided to give FN-2187 one last chance to show his worth by choosing him to be deployed on the First Order's next mission to the Western Reaches planet of Jakku, hoping a real battle would show him what it meant to be a stormtrooper.

Assault on Jakku
"Sir, the villagers.''" "''Kill them all."

- Phasma and Kylo Ren, concluding the assault on Tuanul

Under orders from Snoke, Phasma prepared an assault on Jakku to be led by Ren. The dark enforcer was on the hunt for a galaxy map that would lead to the location of the last Jedi, Luke Skywalker. Skywalker had led the Rebel Alliance in their efforts to take down the Galactic Empire 30 years prior, and destroying Skywalker was the Supreme Leader's goal in the First Order's conflict with the Resistance and, by extension, the New Republic. Phasma was accompanied by at least 80 stormtroopers, including FN-2187 and FN-2003, to the Jakku village of Tuanul. There, the First Order sought to find an ally of the Resistance, Lor San Tekka, whom they believed had found the map to Skywalker.

Immediately after her stormtrooper forces touched down on the planet, a battle broke out between the First Order stormtroopers and the villagers. FN-2003, whom Phasma had commended on his latest mission to the Pressylla mining colony, was killed during the assault by Dameron, which was witnessed first hand by FN-2187. After the villagers were rounded up by Phasma's forces and Dameron's X-wing starfighter was disabled, San Tekka was brought before Kylo Ren and interrogated. San Tekka, however, did not give up the location of the map and was executed by Ren, and Dameron was instead taken as prisoner. When Phasma inquired what to do with the surviving villagers, Ren ordered her to kill them all. Under Phasma's command, the surviving villagers were killed, although FN-2187 refused to fire his weapon and his conscience was awoken by the event.

Before returning to their command ship, the Resurgent-class Battlecruiser Finalizer, Phasma and her forces searched the entire village for anything that could lead to the map under Ren's orders. When nothing was found, her stormtroopers destroyed Dameron's X-wing and returned to the Finalizer. Once there, Phasma confronted FN-2187 and demanded he turn his blaster rifle in for inspection, as well as to report to her division for evaluation. She also reprimanded the trooper for removing his helmet, which he had done so in order to vomit after witnessing the events on Jakku. Phasma determined that FN-2187 ultimately needed to be reconditioned.

In the meantime, Ren used the Force to probe Dameron's mind and discovered that the map to Skywalker had been hidden in Dameron's astromech droid, BB-8, which was back on Jakku. However, before FN-2187 could be reconditioned and further action could be taken by the First Order on the droid, the stormtrooper betrayed the First Order and helped the Resistance pilot escape. On the bridge of the battlecruiser, after FN-2187 and Dameron escaped, Ren determined FN-2187 had been responsible for Dameron's rescue, and Phasma noted that it had been the stormtrooper's first offense against the Order. Despite the First Order's efforts to pursue the treacherous stormtrooper and locate the droid, he escaped from Jakku with the aid of a scavenger named Rey on board the light freighter known as the Millennium Falcon.

Assault on Starkiller Base
"You can't be so stupid as to think this will be easy. My troops will storm this block and kill you all. Whatever you're planning, it won't work."

- Phasma, to Finn, after disabling Starkiller Base's shields

Following the initial failure to retrieve the droid from Jakku, Snoke approved Hux's recommendation of putting the Starkiller superweapon to use against the New Republic. Phasma, along with the might of the military force stationed on Starkiller base, gathered for a speech to be delivered by Hux prior to the weapon's activation. Phasma stood at attention behind Hux during the general's speech, in which the impassioned human commended the First Order on their success in building such a massive superweapon. Phasma, along with the rest of the present First Order, then witnessed the activation of the Starkiller Base for the first time as it fired its dark energy quintessence beams through hyperspace and reached halfway across the galaxy, successfully destroying the entire Hosnian system, including the New Republic's capital, Hosnian Prime, the senate, and a majority of its fleet.

Afterward, the First Order received word that BB-8 was on Takodana, inside the castle of the pirate Maz Kanata. Kylo Ren led an attack that, although failed to capture the droid, led to the capture of Rey, who also had knowledge of the map to Skywalker. This led FN-2187, who had renounced his designation and now went by "Finn," to seek a way to return to Starkiller Base and free his friend. Along with the famed smuggler Han Solo and the Wookiee Chewbacca, Finn successfully infiltrated Starkiller Base and sought out Phasma to bring down the base's planetary shield. In addition to rescuing Rey, Finn and Solo sought to make way for a resistance attack on the First Order superweapon. While Phasma diligently patrolled the areas of Starkiller Base under her command, Chewbacca tackled the stormtrooper captain and brought her before Finn and Solo.

Finn taunted Phasma during her capture, expressly telling her that he was now in command. When ordered to lead the group to the shield control room, Phasma initially refused, but she was convinced by having Chewbacca threaten to crush her within her armor and Finn threaten to shoot her at close range. As Phasma and the group made their way to the control room, the captain realized that Starkiller's architects had never considered being infiltrated and had little security. Once at the shield console, Phasma attempted one last time to thwart Finn's efforts by stating she needed a second officer to bring down the shield, a bluff which Solo called her on. When that failed, Phasma took down the shields as asked and threatened the group, assuring them that her stormtroopers would kill them all and put a stop to their plans, to which the captain was still oblivious.

Instead of killing Phasma, however, Solo asked Finn&mdash;who had worked in sanitation on the base as a cadet&mdash; if the base had a trash compactor, to which Finn replied that it did. Once the trio blasted the consoles in the room beyond repair, they dumped Phasma down a chute into Starkiller Base's sewage system. Ultimately, bringing down the planetary shields allowed the Resistance forces to infiltrate Starkiller Base and destroy its thermal oscillator, crippling the superweapon and causing the icy planet that hosted it to collapse upon itself.

Finding a scapegoat
But Phasma did not stay in her prison for long. Having managed to set herself free, she returned to the console she had used to lower the shields to erase all traces of her treason. Upon realizing that Lieutenant Sol Rivas had accessed the very same computer mere minutes before her, Phasma decided to make him take the blame. Spotting her scapegoat on Level Two, the captain attempted to shoot him at a distance, but missed due to the many explosions throughout Starkiller Base. She was forced to follow the escaping Rivas on the surface, and then in space after the lieutenant fled in a TIE starfighter. While pursuing her quarry, she started recording notes on the final moments of Starkiller Base, rewriting history in her own favor. Phasma and TN-3465 tracked Rivas to the planet Luprora. While tracking him they ran into a creature called the tsw'ells. Phasma killed the creature with a knife. After killing the creature, the pair were greeted by a species named the Lupr'or. After meeting their leader, Jair'i, they set out to find Rivas.

Personality and traits
"Phasma will do anything to survive."

- Vi Moradi, to Captain Cardinal

Phasma was a human female who stood at 2.0 meters tall. Phasma was outwardly fiercely loyal to the First Order and believed that a stormtrooper's loyalty was only to be given to the First Order as a whole, not to any group or individual. Phasma saw herself and her stormtrooper divisions as extensions of the will of Supreme Leader Snoke and looked down on sympathy in her ranks. Phasma, privately, also believed that the meddling of politics ultimately led to ineffective ranks among the past stormtroopers of the former Galactic Empire, and sought to ensure herself that only the best soldiers were worthy of joining the stormtrooper ranks. She believed that the First Order was stronger than the Empire, and was proud of the crucible of tests she and her compatriots endured to achieve that strength. Phasma disapproved of Agent Terex's indulgences, which included keeping alien slaves and drinking Wookiee-brewed brandy with Kessel spice.

The captain considered herself a perfectionist and kept herself in peak physical shape. She routinely walked dozens of kilometers while on patrol on Starkiller Base in any typical day and was an expert in combat, particularly with all First Order small arms. Phasma also always insisted on fighting alongside her stormtroopers on the forefront instead of remaining in the comfort that could have come with her elevated rank. As well, Phasma took it upon herself to memorize all of the serial numbers of the stormtroopers under her direct command, such as FN-2187. Terex complimented her on always being accurate to a fault.

However, in spite of her outward loyalty to the First Order and to her unit, she in truth had zero loyalty to anyone except for herself, and her past was wrought with betraying anyone that placed trust in her, including her own family and clan. As such, she was perfectly willing to exploit her reputation as the "mother" of the Stormtrooper Corps of the First Order to ensure her own survival and used her knowledge of memorizing all of the serial numbers of the stormtroopers under her direct command to know which ones she should eliminate in the future. Captain Cardinal before his death even speculated that, once the First Order's aims differed from Phasma's own aims, she will not hesitate to betray the organization. This was best demonstrated with the destruction of Starkiller Base, where she proceeded to not only deactivate the Starkiller Base's shields before then, but also promptly proceeded to kill anyone who might have deduced her to be the one responsible, and even framed another officer, Lieutenant Rivas, for the deed.

Equipment
"Even a Wookiee can't crush First Order armor."

- Phasma in response to threats from Chewbacca

Phasma wore armor coated in chromium salvaged from a Naboo yacht once owned by the Galactic Empire's Emperor Palpatine. Its polished finish helped reflect harmful radiation, although the chromium served primarily as a symbol of past power. Phasma also believed that stormtrooper armor provided anonymity to an individual's gender, paying little heed to the antiquated belief that female stormtroopers were something new.

Phasma also wore a traditional First Order command armorweave cape in black and red, the colors of the First Order. Her primary weapon, a Sonn-Blas F-11D blaster rifle, was also polished in chromium.

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Behind the scenes
"She's Star Wars' first female villain. It's incredible, it's timely, and I'm very proud to be a part of it."

- Gwendoline Christie on her portrayal of Phasma

Phasma was portrayed by Gwendoline Christie in the 2015 film Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens. The character was originally intended to be played by a male actor, but Christie was cast in response to internet backlash against a perceived lack of female cast members. Phasma became the first leading female villain for the Star Wars film franchise, as well as the second female villain in the main films after Zam Wesell in Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones. According to J.J. Abrams, Phasma was named after the Phantasm horror film franchise, due to her armor's reflective chrome status resembling that of the Tall Man's spheres. President of Lucasfilm Ltd. Kathleen Kennedy has confirmed that Christie is slated to reprise the role of Phasma in Star Wars: Episode VIII The Last Jedi, set for release in 2017. Later reports confirmed that the Phasma character would be back in a "bigger role," which Christie expressing that she hoped that the role would lead to more opportunities for other women like her in such films. In her own words, she "campaigned hard" to be in The Force Awakens; the role interested her due to Phasma being a female character who was defined by her actions rather than her flesh. Christie was pleased that Phasma wore armor which wasn't sexualized and that her face was never revealed, which she felt was a modern and exciting concept. She has called Phasma a very progressive female character, which she believes is a large part of her appeal to fans.

The character of Phasma was first revealed in the second teaser trailer for The Force Awakens on April 16, 2015. Phasma's costume was created by Michael Kaplan, who felt it would be a good idea to have the character in silver armor. He initially intended the silver armor for Kylo Ren, whom he pitched as "Lord of the Stormtroopers." Abrams felt the costume design was wrong for Ren, and the artwork remained pinned to the costume department's wall until Kathleen Kennedy saw it and decided to use it for Phasma.

Dermot Power created some of the concept art for Phasma, which was featured in the reference book The Art of Star Wars: The Force Awakens as "Stormtrooper Cloak Front Red Stripe." The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams stated the costume design reminded him of the 1979 horror film Phantasm, in which the antagonist used a murderous silver sphere as his weapon, and as such believed it sounded "really cool" to name the character Phasma. Phasma has been compared to the bounty hunter Boba Fett, of the Star Wars original trilogy, for appearing as an armored and masked villain in a supporting role.

In addition to the film, Phasma appeared in other material from The Force Awakens, including the novelization and junior novelization of the film. Phasma was featured heavily in Finn's backstory in the junior novel Before the Awakening, set before The Force Awakens. She also appeared in the reference books Star Wars: The Force Awakens: The Visual Dictionary and Star Wars: The Force Awakens: Incredible Cross-Sections.

For Phasma's role in The Last Jedi, Christie and director Rian Johnson discussed the character, exchanging ideas.

Non-canon appearances

 * Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens