The mystery behind this Stormtrooper’s identity has been solved
If you’ve seen Star Wars: The Force Awakens (and if you haven’t, stop reading and go, what the heck are you waiting for!?), you’ll remember that our hero Finn turns his back on the First Order Stormtroopers to fight for the light side. If you’re an uber-nerd like me and have seen the film more than once, or just paid close attention the first time, you’ll also have noticed that there’s one Stormtrooper who’s extra peeved at Finn. He calls Finn a traitor and busts out a serious laser bat to battle Finn outside Maz Kanata’s Takodana castle before Finn, Han, and Chewie watch Rey get taken captive by Kylo Ren.
Since the film premiered, the Internet has cleverly dubbed this guy TR-8R. But in reality, his name has been confirmed by Lucasfilm as FN-2199, according to a new post on StarWars.com.
We get his backstory, too, which is based on content from Before the Awakening – a companion book released the same day as the movie. In a post on ComicBook.com, we learn that, in the book, FN-2199 (aka “Nines”) was part of a training squad that consisted of FN-2187 (Finn), Slip (the Stormtrooper killed at the beginning of TFA and is responsible for the bloody handprint on Finn’s helmet that conveniently helps the audience keep track of where Finn is on screen at all times until his helmet comes off), and another Stormtrooper named Zero. In the following photo, Nines is the redheaded guy in the back.
So these guys trained together, which means Finn’s departure from the tribe is a bit more wounding for ol’ Nines than it might be for other guys who didn’t work as closely with Finn. Understandable.
Nines is also a grade-A badass, which you already kind of knew due to that intense laser bat. This weapon is called a Z6 baton, and Nines gets to wield it because he’s apparently part of an elite riot control squad. If I were part of something called an elite riot control squad and I goofed on the job and let two dudes fly a TIE fighter out of my base, I’d probably be pretty pissed too, so I get it, Nines.
Whether Nines will be back for Episode VIII is a mystery. We doubt Chewie’s blaster shot killed a guy whose weapon is a formidable match for a lightsaber, though, so here’s hoping we see a rematch between Nines and Finn in the future. Finn better practice his lightsaber skills until then.
(Images via Lucasfilm and Twitter)