Rey Skywalker

"Who are you?''" "''I'm no one."

- Maz Kanata and Rey

Rey was a Force-sensitive human female scavenger who conducted her trade on the world of Jakku thirty years after the Battle of Endor.

Early life
Rey was born to unknown parents and at the age of five, was left on the planet Jakku, a junkyard planet littered with leftovers from the Battle of Jakku between the New Republic and the Galactic Empire. She lived on her own and learned to survive by scavenging the leftovers which she would sell for sustenance.

Meeting BB-8 and Finn
Thirty years after the Battle of Endor, Rey encountered a BB-unit astromech droid named BB-8 struggling against being captured by a Jakku scavenger named Teedo. She freed the droid and set it on its way, but BB-8 was insistent on remaining with Rey. When returning to a settlement to collect payment on scrap, two thugs attempted to steal the droid, but Rey fended them off with her staff. BB-8 then saw Finn, a former Stormtrooper and an acquaintance of the droid's owner, Resistance pilot Poe Dameron. BB-8 identified the jacket Finn was wearing as that of its owner, so Rey attacked Finn, believing him to be a thief. After Finn explained his intentions, the First Order arrived, searching for a map that would reveal the location of Luke Skywalker, which BB-8 was in possesion of. Rey, Finn, and BB-8 managed to escape in the Millennium Falcon, destroying two TIE fighters that had been pursuing them.

Journey to Takodana
After escaping from Jakku, the Falcon was in major need of repairs, so the two humans and the droid began working to fix it. While they were working on repairs, the ship was caught in a tractor beam. Initially believing themselves to be captured by the First Order, they met their real captors: Han Solo and Chewbacca, the former owners of the ship. After a scuffle with enemy gangs of Solo's, in which Rey accidentally released three Rathtars, Solo took Rey, Finn, and BB-8 to the planet Takodana to meet with Maz Kanata. There, Rey was called by the Force to a lightsaber that had previously belonged to Anakin Skywalker and his son Luke Skywalker (which the latter had lost during a duel with the former in Cloud City several decades ago). Upon touching the lightsaber, she received a vision, in which she saw Luke with R2-D2, herself as a child at the departure of her parents, and the Knights of Ren surrounded by slaughtered victims. After the vision, Maz Kanata explained to her the lightsaber's history and that it was now calling to her. Frightened by her vision, Rey refused to keep the lightsaber, running off into the woods with BB-8.

Capture and escape
While fleeing through the woods, the First Order, tipped off to BB-8's presence, attacked Takodana. Rey encountered Kylo Ren, and shot at him with her blaster pistol, but Kylo restrained her using the Force, and captured her. She was brought to the Starkiller Base and interrogated by Kylo Ren, wanting information on the map to Luke Skywalker. However, the darksider had a difficult time probing her mind, and Rey was able to reach into Ren's mind, sensing his fear at being weaker than his maternal grandfather Darth Vader. Upon realizing that she was Force-sensitive, she used a mind trick on her stormtrooper guard, allowing her to escape. Rey then made her way through the Starkiller Base, honing her Force abilities while using stealth. She eventually encountered Finn, Han Solo, and Chewbacca again, who had come to sabotage Starkiller's shield generator, as well as rescue Rey.

Showdown with Kylo Ren
After going with Finn to plant explosives, Rey witnessed Solo attempt to reason with Kylo Ren, where she learned he was actually Han's son Ben Solo, and she witnessed Ren give in fully to the dark side and murder his father, shocking her and Fin and enraging them. While escaping, Ren pursued Finn and Rey. When they encountered each other, Ren Force pushed Rey away, and Finn ignited the Skywalker lightsaber and engaged Kylo Ren in a lightsaber duel. After Ren disarmed and wounded Finn, he attempted to call the blue lightsaber to him with the Force, but it went to Rey. Rey then engaged Ren in a duel, and despite her lack of training, called on the Force to wound and defeat the darksider. Before she could kill or capture him, however, a fissure due to the planet's impending destruction separated the two. Rey then took the wounded Finn to the Millennium Falcon, piloted by Chewbacca, and returned to the Resistance base on D'Qar.

Search for Luke
Upon returning to the Resistance base, the reawakened R2-D2 revealed the rest of the map of the location of Luke Skywalker. Rey, Chewbacca, and R2-D2 took the Millennium Falcon to Luke's location. With the Wookiee and the droid staying behind, Rey journeyed to the first Jedi temple, which she had previously seen in her visions. There she found the last of the Jedi and presented him with his old lightsaber.

Personality and traits
On Jakku, Rey was a loner, scavenging by herself and living alone inside a downed AT-AT walker, hoping for her family to return despite many years of their absence. Despite her years of isolation, she was keen to help people in need, saving BB-8 twice from thieves and then providing assistance to Finn. She was frightened by her first force vision, not wanting to take up the the Skywalker lightsaber, but her resolve strengthened and willingly took up in order to save Finn. Unlike Kylo Ren, who was prone to fits of rage and used his rage in combat, characteristic of dark side users, Rey was able to remain calm and focused in order to defeat Ren using the light side of the Force.

Powers and abilities
Due to her life as a scavenger, Rey had significant technological prowess. She was able to repair the Millennium Falcon, despite it having been decades since it last flew, and her knowledge of the ship impressed its former captain Han Solo. She was also a skilled pilot, flying the Falcon through the wreckage of a Super Star Destroyer.

She also had some prowess in melee combat, probably due to her rough upbringing. She wielded a staff and was able to it to subdue two Jakku thugs, as well as former First Order stormtrooper Finn. This combat proficiency, combined with her force sensitivity, would translate into skill with a lightsaber. Despite no Jedi training, she was able to defeat Kylo Ren, a trained (albeit wounded) Knight of Ren in her first lightsaber duel. She had little knowledge how to use a blaster until the battle at Takodana, but quickly picked up the skill and shot several stormtroopers.

Rey was naturally gifted with The Force, and could use several powers despite little to no training. She experienced a force vision upon touching the lightsaber of Anakin and Luke Skywalker. She was also able to resist force mind-reading techniques performed by Kylo Ren, and was instead able to reach into his mind and discover his fears. Despite two initial failed attempts, she was able to use a mind trick on a stormtrooper, forcing him to release her from her restraints, leave with the cell door open, and drop his weapon, allowing for her to escape. She also used telekinesis, pulling the Skywalker lightsaber from the snow. Her skill with the Force then allowed her to defeat Kylo Ren in a lightsaber duel, despite the latter's greater experience(Although this may be partially due to Ren being seriously wounded by Chewbacca before the duel, which greatly reduced his fighting capacity)

Behind the scenes
"I tend to gravitate towards stories of women, of young women in situations – as I did with Felicity and Alias. And we were talking about 'Who could this be?' and I saw this young woman."

- J.J. Abrams

Rey is portrayed by Daisy Ridley in Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens. Ridley's casting in the film was first announced on April 29, 2014, and her character was first seen in the first teaser trailer for the film on November 28, 2014. Her first name was revealed by Entertainment Weekly in an exclusive trading card. The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams stated that it is "completely intentional" that no last name has been provided for the character.

Appearances

 * Before the Awakening
 * Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens
 * Rey Meets BB-8
 * Finn & Rey Escape!
 * Lightsaber Rescue
 * 5-Minute Star Wars Stories
 * Star Wars: Episode VIII

Non-canon appearances

 * Disney Infinity 3.0