Phasma

"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 Hux, regarding FN-2187

Phasma was a female 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 First Order–Resistance conflict, which took place 30 years after the Battle of Endor that saw the end of the Galactic Empire, Phasma served alongside the dark enforcer Kylo Ren and General 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 and the New Republic, for which Phasma was present.

Before the First Order could fire the Starkiller again and destroy the Resistance, FN-2187&mdash;alongside the smugglers Han Solo and Chewbacca&mdash;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.

Stormtroopers of the First Order
"Your duty is to the First Order above everything. Nothing else comes before that. FN-2003 must stand or fall on his own. If he stands, the Order is strengthened. If he falls, the Order is spared his weakness. Am I understood?" "Yes, Captain."

- Phasma to FN-2187, regarding his empathy for FN-2003

Phasma was a Stormtrooper Captain of the First Order. She was a leading member of the unofficial commanding triumvirate, alongside the dark enforcer Kylo Ren and General Hux. Phasma was assigned to Starkiller Base, where she oversaw training for 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 sought 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.

Phasma herself oversaw the training of the Stormtrooper FN-2187 and his squadmates, FN-2000, FN-2003, and FN-2199. After a training simulation, Phasma noted to General 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 caused delays to the 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 this, FN-2187 and the cadets were officially promoted to 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.

Search for Skywalker
"Sir, the villagers?" "Kill them all."

- Phasma and Kylo Ren, concluding the assault on Tuanul

Under orders from the Supreme Leader of the First Order, Snoke, Phasma prepared an assault on Jakku to be led by Kylo 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 villagers and the First Order. FN-2003, whom Phasma had commended on his latest mission to the Pressylla mining colony, was killed during the assault by the Resistance Commander Poe 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 Star Destroyer 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 aboard the Star Destroyer for evaluation. She 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 Commander 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. Before FN-2187 could be reconditioned and further action could be taken by the First Order on the droid, however, the Stormtrooper betrayed the First Order and helped the Resistance pilot escape. On the bridge of the Star Destroyer, 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, the pair escaped from Jakku with the aid of a scavenger named Rey on board the Millenium Falcon.

Battle of 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

She was later captured by the Wookiee Chewbacca and mocked and interrogated by Finn and Han Solo, where she shut down the shields on the Starkiller Base for them. Afterwards, Solo suggested disposing of her down a garbage chute with a trash compactor. After the shields had been fully powered down and the consoles in the room blasted beyond repair, the group dumped her down a chute in Starkiller Base's sewage system.

Personality and traits
A professional and perfectionist, she preferred to operate in the field, often patrolling the halls of Starkiller Base to keep her senses sharp and to oversee the stormtroopers under her command. Additionally, she prided herself on memorizing all the serial numbers of the stormtroopers under her command.

Equipment
Phasma wore armor coated in chromium salvaged from a Naboo yacht once owned by Emperor Palpatine. Its polished finished helped reflect harmful radiation, but it served primarily as a symbol of past power. She also wore an armorweave cape in First Order colors, traditional of First Order command.

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 is portrayed by Gwendoline Christie in 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 franchise. President of Lucasfilm Ltd. Kathleen Kennedy has confirmed that Christie is slated to reprise the role in Star Wars: Episode VIII.

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. 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.

Appearances

 * Before the Awakening
 * Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens
 * Star Wars: The Force Awakens novelization
 * Star Wars: The Force Awakens junior novelization
 * Star Wars: Episode VIII