Lieutenant Mitaka

The son of Han Solo and Leia Organa, Ben Solo was seduced by the dark side of the Force and renamed himself Kylo Ren: leader of the Knights of Ren, champion of the First Order, and apprentice to Supreme Leader Snoke. Driven to destroy the past, Kylo killed his father and his master, supplanting Snoke as Supreme Leader. But he remained haunted by his father’s death, his connection with the mysterious Rey, and the pull of the good in himself. In time, all three would help Ben Solo return to the light.

Young and ruthless, General Hux is a believer in technology, and eagerly awaits the day when the First Order’s innovations will help bring down the remnants of the New Republic and the Resistance – a victory he believes will also lead to his ruling the galaxy. His increasingly poisonous rivalry with Kylo Ren causes him to take a desperate gamble.

The powerful flagship shared by General Hux and Kylo Ren, the dagger-shaped Finalizer is nearly twice the length of an Imperial-era Star Destroyer. The first of the new Resurgent class constructed in violation of treaties with the New Republic, the Finalizer’s heavy weapons are augmented by two starfighter wings, a hundred assault craft and a full legion of stormtroopers. Her turbolasers are more powerful and faster to recharge than Imperial-era weapons, a product of kyber crystals harvested in the Unknown Regions.

Kylo Ren’s crossguard lightsaber is an ancient design that recalls weapons seen millennia ago during the Great Scourge of Malachor. The crossguard blades, or quillons, emerge from focusing crystal activators that split the lightsaber’s plasma stream into three channels, with the quillons appearing after the main blade ignites. The crossguard blades allow Ren’s saber to operate safely – his weapon is constructed around a dangerously flawed kyber crystal, which would be overloaded if not for the lateral plasma vents that create the quillons.

A skittish but loyal astromech, BB-8 accompanied Poe Dameron on many missions for the Resistance, helping to keep his X-wing in working order. When Poe’s mission to Jakku ended with his capture by the First Order, BB-8 fled into the desert with a vital clue to the location of Luke Skywalker. He rejoined Poe in time for the attack on Starkiller Base, then helped Rey locate Skywalker’s planet of exile. As the Resistance rebuilt its forces after the Battle of Crait, BB-8 helped both Poe and Rey.

The New Republic’s rise reduced the once-mighty Empire to a rump state hemmed in by strict disarmament treaties and punishing reparations. But in the galaxy’s Unknown Regions, former Imperial officers, nobles and technologists plotted a return to power, building fleets and armies in secret. This movement became the First Order, ruled by Supreme Leader Snoke, and is now ready to reclaim the Imperial legacy.