Captain Phasma?

[Hopeless]

Have you read the latest star wars book that focuses on this character?

What's your view regardless of whether you've read this book or not about this?

Is it possible the child Phasma escorted offworld following Brendol is actually Rey?

[Ravens_cry]

Have you read the latest star wars book that focuses on this character?

What's your view regardless of whether you've read this book or not about this?

Is it possible the child Phasma escorted offworld following Brendol is actually Rey?
Haven't read it, but I found her a sorely underused character in The Force Awakens. Seriously, they built her up as this awesome, if evil, badass, and she gets stuffed unceremoniously in the trash compactor . Off screen no less. I more or less enjoyed The Force Awakens, though I have a laundry list of complaints, and that is one of them.

[hamishspence]

Have you read the latest star wars book that focuses on this character?

What's your view regardless of whether you've read this book or not about this?

Is it possible the child Phasma escorted offworld following Brendol is actually Rey?

Timeline doesn't really match up for the above hypothesis:

Rey was specifically 5 in the flashback scene set on Jakku, and 19 in the "present day" whereas this story's flashback scenes take place only 10 years before the "present day".

While "Frey" sounds a bit like "Rey" I think it's coincidence. Given Phasma's habit of murdering people who know her secrets, I think it's more likely that she's just been killed, not planted elsewhere.

[Dragonus45]

So for those of us who aren't keeping up with the new timelines extended stuff what happened?

[hamishspence]

So for those of us who aren't keeping up with the new timelines extended stuff what happened?

The father of General Hux from TFA is marooned on a postapocalyptic wasteland world. He meets up with a savage tribe. The leader of that tribe's warriors, one Phasma, teams up with him (abandoning her tribe) to help him get back to his ship and signal the First Order to come pick him up. In return, he enrols her in the First Order military.

Lots of grim and gruesome things happen between the start of the team up, and the arrival of the rescuers.

The framing story is set 10 years later, and is of Phasma's rival, a red-armoured Captain Cardinal, who has captured a Resistance spy, who claims to have dirt on Phasma. The spy narrates the tale, told to her by another member of that group.

The important part is that Phasma abandons people she's supposed to be loyal to, when she thinks it's in her best interest.

Hence her extremely quick lowering of the shields that protect Starkiller Base, when she's threatened by Finn and Han in The Force Awakens.

[Dragonus45]

The father of General Hux from TFA is marooned on a postapocalyptic wasteland world. He meets up with a savage tribe. The leader of that tribe's warriors, one Phasma, teams up with him (abandoning her tribe) to help him get back to his ship and signal the First Order to come pick him up. In return, he enrols her in the First Order military.

Lots of grim and gruesome things happen between the start of the team up, and the arrival of the rescuers.

The framing story is set 10 years later, and is of Phasma's rival, a red-armoured Captain Cardinal, who has captured a Resistance spy, who claims to have dirt on Phasma. The spy narrates the tale, told to her by another member of that group.

The important part is that Phasma abandons people she's supposed to be loyal to, when she thinks it's in her best interest.

Hence her extremely quick lowering of the shields that protect Starkiller Base, when she's threatened by Finn and Han in The Force Awakens.

Nifty, feels like the kind of important information core to the character that might be better slipped into a movie as opposed to in a book.

[hamishspence]

It is to Phasma what the Darth Plagueis Legends novel was to Palpatine - a "Start of Darkness" story.

[Mikeavelli]

red-armoured Captain Cardinal.

Lol.

Did he get red armor because his last name is Cardinal? Or did they change he name when he got the red armor?

[hamishspence]

His birth name was Archex - he gave it up to become CD-0922 - he got the red armor when he was promoted to head of stormtrooper training - he got a Captaincy - eventually, quite some time after he got the armour, Brendol Hux (founder of the First Order training programme) suggested that because he was first among troopers, "cardinal, even" - Captain Cardinal would be a good name.

That said, it makes sense that the author came up with the name around the time they came up with the idea of him wearing red armour (as a visual pun) and wanted an alternate reason for him to be given the name - so that, for readers, it refers to the armour colour, and in-universe, it's related to, maybe, cardinal virtues.

[Hopeless]

So Rey is the same age as Luke & Leia was in ANH?

[Sholos]

The father of General Hux from TFA is marooned on a postapocalyptic wasteland world. He meets up with a savage tribe. The leader of that tribe's warriors, one Phasma, teams up with him (abandoning her tribe) to help him get back to his ship and signal the First Order to come pick him up. In return, he enrols her in the First Order military.

Lots of grim and gruesome things happen between the start of the team up, and the arrival of the rescuers.

The framing story is set 10 years later, and is of Phasma's rival, a red-armoured Captain Cardinal, who has captured a Resistance spy, who claims to have dirt on Phasma. The spy narrates the tale, told to her by another member of that group.

The important part is that Phasma abandons people she's supposed to be loyal to, when she thinks it's in her best interest.

Hence her extremely quick lowering of the shields that protect Starkiller Base, when she's threatened by Finn and Han in The Force Awakens.

Soo... even more reasons to be disappointed with her as a character.

[hamishspence]

It does seem like they'd made one personality trait shown in TFA, into the defining part of her character.

[Sholos]

To be fair, it was the only personality trait of her's that they showed in TFA, beyond attempting to recreate the Boba Fett feel without understanding how it happened in the first place.

[Kantaki]

It does seem like they'd made one personality trait shown in TFA, into the defining part of her character.

Well, that's Star Wars.
If she were a alien it would be the defining trait for her species.

[hamishspence]

Well, that's Star Wars.
If she were a alien it would be the defining trait for her species.

True. The EU especially, tended to reduce cultures to a few "defining traits". "Most Corellians have no use for odds" "Most Alderaanians are pacifists" and so on.

I think we can safely say that the author wants readers to really hate Phasma as a person, though - with how unsympathetic her actions and motives are.

[Dienekes]

To be fair, it was the only personality trait of her's that they showed in TFA, beyond attempting to recreate the Boba Fett feel without understanding how it happened in the first place.

I still don't understand how Boba Fett happened in the first place. I was absolutely baffled that the guy became popular when I discovered his following. I still am. Dude just sort of hangs around then gets killed by a blind guy with a stick.

In any case, yeah, Phasma was disappointing in the movie. Maybe if they actually did something with her. Have her be the one to fight Finn instead of the stick guy (or have her use the stick, since Finn was using a melee weapon maybe play up that she has some sense of martial honor or something? She's played by Brienne, we know she can at least wave a vaguely swordlike thing around). Have her vow to murder both Finn and some other First Order ensign that turns off the shields instead of her.

She was just sad as a villain.

[Sholos]

I think Boba Fett happened for a few reasons. First off, his introduction scene. Handpicked by Vader. "No disintegrations." There's a built-in sense of, "This guys is serious business," right there. In contrast, Phasma is just a stormtrooper with shiny armor, and stormtroopers have never been treated all that seriously by the series.

Then there's what they get to do. Boba Fett tracks the Falcon and gets the Empire into a position to capture not only Han, but Leia, Chewie, C3-PO, and R2-D2 as well. That's practically the whole cast! Sure, exactly how he managed that is off-screen, but it's at least implied. And he's taken seriously by Vader when he reminds Vader that he needs Han alive. Compared to Phasma's interaction with our heroes which is to be ambushed and knocked out, then immediately capitualte to their demands. Not a great showing.

At the end of their respective first showings, Boba Fett stands triumphant, with Han in tow and no obvious way to get him back; while Phasma has not only massively betrayed the First Order but been stuffed into a garbage disposal (from which she apparently inexplicably escapes).

[Lord Joeltion]

At least they could have given them a compelling reason to join the Order (haven't read the books, but even "life debt" would be fair). I mean, you can have both in a character: becoming a loyalist for a reason, with a slight tendency for looking personal advantage.

But most TFA characters are poorly represented. At least ANH, for it's "genericness", excelled at defining relevant traits of the characters. R2 and 3P0? You already know how they are after the second scene. You watch Leia's defiance on her first spoken lines. Luke's naivety and heroics are hinted enough throughout the first part of the film. Even Chewie (the most secondary character of the main cast) gets most of his personality shaped on the first movie.

Rey? I still don't know what to make of her out of the film alone, except that she is good at roughly the same things Luke was at her age. She has better gymnastics, I guess. Little of her true self is depicted on screen, not to mention, anything from her background. All hints, but no substance. Finn suffers worse, because he is literally useless for the plot. But then there's Phasma. The badass who is actually seen as a coward on the only "fight" she happens to take part. IDK, I think it would take more than a movie (or a couple books I simply won't read) to redeem her, if it's even possible. Then again, they managed to redeem Grievous from his goofy earlier depictions, so...


True. The EU especially, tended to reduce cultures to a few "defining traits". "Most Corellians have no use for odds" "Most Alderaanians are pacifists" and so on.
Actually, that's what people do in real life, so it's at least a pragmatic approach to the subject. "Romans are X"; "Scandinavians are known for Y"; "No True Scotsman..." and so on. It's nothing to do with racism or generalization: cultures usually have defining traits, and culture is the main defining factor for the vast majority of people in most situations.


I still don't understand how Boba Fett happened in the first place. I was absolutely baffled that the guy became popular when I discovered his following. I still am. Dude just sort of hangs around then gets killed by a blind guy with a stick.
I always thought that was strange too (I wasn't alive at the time, so...). My best guess is that it probably had to do with retroactive canon and fan hype from other source material (posters? books? toys?).

[Telonius]

A really cool costume can cover up a multitude of flaws in character development, but the villain does have to bring something to the table. Being able to mouth off to an in-an-awful-mood Darth Vader without getting immediately Force-pushed out of an airlock is pretty clear evidence of awesomeness.

Phasma has some cool-ish armor, but not quite as awesome as Boba's full Mandalorian getup. She might be Queen of the Storm Troopers with shiny armor, but she's still wearing a Storm Trooper's armor. And, as mentioned above, in the film she's provided no evidence why she should be wearing the shiny suit. (Seriously, FN-2199, the stormtrooper with the cool riot control batons, was a more effective villain with a more memorable visual than Phasma was, and all he got was a one-word line).

[Peelee]

I still don't understand how Boba Fett happened in the first place. I was absolutely baffled that the guy became popular when I discovered his following. I still am. Dude just sort of hangs around then gets killed by a blind guy with a stick.

He, along with several other bounty hunters, are tasked with finding a ship that Darth Vader cannot, even with a fleet of Star Destroyers at his command. He finds them immediately, gets the bounty from the Empire, converses fearlessly with Vader, then collects a second bounty off the same work. And that was just ESB.

I don't know what movie you were watching, but he didn't just sort of hang around when he was introduced. RotJ, sure, that one he did nothing until he died. But he was hyper-competent in his first appearance.

[hamishspence]

Even in ROTJ, when everyone else in Jabba's throne room appears to be panicking at the sight of the thermal detonator, his response is different - immediately drawing and aiming.

He also wraps Luke in cable (only a deflected blaster bolt gets Luke out) in the Pit of Carkoon fight.

[Peelee]

Even in ROTJ, when everyone else in Jabba's throne room appears to be panicking at the sight of the thermal detonator, his response is different - immediately drawing and aiming.

He also wraps Luke in cable (only a deflected blaster bolt gets Luke out) in the Pit of Carkoon fight.

To be fair, the people in the throne room didn't seem to be martial. Tons of guns were pulled out once Luke started fighting.

He did get Luke, you're right. I tend to overlook that because it didn't really have much of any effect overall, given how short Luke was incapacitated.

[Dr.Samurai]

The important part is that Phasma abandons people she's supposed to be loyal to, when she thinks it's in her best interest.

Hence her extremely quick lowering of the shields that protect Starkiller Base, when she's threatened by Finn and Han in The Force Awakens.
I love it when books try to retroactively explain goofy moments/poor writing in the movies they're based on!

/sarcasm

[Peelee]

I love it when books try to retroactively explain goofy moments/poor writing in the movies they're based on!

/sarcasm

It's usually considered good etiquette to spoiler a small snippet that was made in a spoiler.

[Dr.Samurai]

It's usually considered good etiquette to spoiler a small snippet that was made in a spoiler.
👍🏼

You got it pal!

[hamishspence]

Some Author's Saving Throws are bad - but some really help to flesh out otherwise bland characters.

[Reddish Mage]

True. The EU especially, tended to reduce cultures to a few "defining traits". "Most Corellians have no use for odds" "Most Alderaanians are pacifists" and so on.

I think we can safely say that the author wants readers to really hate Phasma as a person, though - with how unsympathetic her actions and motives are.

What gets me is how the muscian alien in the catina all comes from various muscian aliens that are especially talented in that particular instrument.

At least SOME aliens get redeemed overtime so Twi'leks produce some powerful witches and badass heroes even if it is supposed to be a race of dancing slave girls.

Also, I read 90's era text to imply that human races were from different planets. But I checked the Wookieepedia and instead it appears that different racial characteristics are mixed in every human population as an indistinguishable spectrum (with perhaps a single planet being an exception), so apparently, human race isn't actually a thing in Star Wars, even though everyone from a particular planet is alike...


A really cool costume can cover up a multitude of flaws in character development, but the villain does have to bring something to the table.

Phasma has some cool-ish armor, but not quite as awesome as Boba's full Mandalorian getup.

She might be Queen of the Storm Troopers with shiny armor, but she's still wearing a Storm Trooper's armor. And, as mentioned above, in the film she's provided no evidence why she should be wearing the shiny suit. (Seriously, FN-2199, the stormtrooper with the cool riot control batons, was a more effective villain with a more memorable visual than Phasma was, and all he got was a one-word line).

I think Boba Fett isn't a fair baseline, since, as another posted pointed out, he was that awesome.

You are right that shiny armor a character does not make. There isn't a lot of justification for why there is a shiny armor trooper in the first place.

That is the point of this comic. Give a character a story that makes her worthy of existing. Regardless of whether the comic does a good job of it (and I haven't heard anything but the promotional synopsis), the 2nd movie better follow up. Right now she's just the solution to a game of "find the character that doesn't belong."

So is the comic worth a purchase?

[pendell]

I couldn't take Captain Phazma seriously in Ep. 7 because she didn't do anything. If they want to make her a real villain they have to give her a crowning moment of awesome -- or at least competence -- in which she shows that she is an object of dread. That threshold hasn't been reached yet, and novelizations/comic books don't count in my eyes.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[Hopeless]

If you're that interested in the character I'd recommend reading the novel first.
So far after the first issue it was quite amusing if you don't mind spoilers check out the comic book cast video on YouTube regarding this.
There are so many ways the novel can improve TFA but I found the YouTube video much more informative but I'd bought the first issue and novel by then.
I hope the comic improves is my opinion.