Finn (Star Wars)

• 1. Introduction

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  Finn first appears in the Star Wars franchise as stormtrooper FN-2187, a First Order soldier without a name of his own. On his first combat assignment, appalled by his unit's cruelty, he abandons his post. He allies with the Resistance pilot Poe Dameron and the scavenger Rey. John Boyega has played him since The Force Awakens premiered in 2015, through The Last Jedi in 2017 and The Rise of Skywalker in 2019.

  What frustration led one screenwriter to reject two familiar archetypes and settle on a mutinous stormtrooper instead? What did his three-digit designation secretly reference, and how did Boyega answer the backlash his own casting provoked? The answers begin with the man who first imagined Finn, years before Boyega ever read for the part.

• 2. The Renegade's Origin

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  Lawrence Kasdan, one of the screenwriters on The Force Awakens, first pitched the idea for Finn's character during early script discussions. The writing team had been weighing whether to model the lead male role on a pirate or a merchant marine archetype. Kasdan grew angry, accusing the other writers of 'not thinking big,' and proposed a renegade stormtrooper instead.

  Director J.J. Abrams wanted unfamiliar faces for the lead roles, so audiences would carry no baggage from an actor's past parts. Boyega had already caught Abrams' attention through his 2011 film debut in Attack the Block, which led to an invitation to audition for Finn. Kathleen Kennedy, Lucasfilm's president and a producer on the film, said Boyega stood out as a top candidate from the very start of casting. Many other actors read for the part, including Tom Holland, before the filmmakers ultimately chose Boyega.

  Finn's original designation, FN-2187, carries two hidden references baked into the script. The number nods to Princess Leia's cell number in the original 1977 Star Wars film, and to Arthur Lipsett's 1963 short film 21-87. That obscure homage would remain buried until Finn's own escape gave him a name to replace the numbers.

• 3. Flight from the First Order

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  On the desert world of Jakku, Finn frees the captured Resistance pilot Poe Dameron, and together they hatch an escape plan. They steal a TIE fighter for their getaway, and Poe shortens his companion's service number into a new nickname, Finn. Their stolen ship is shot down soon after and crash-lands back on Jakku. Finn combs through the wreckage hoping to find Poe, but recovers only his jacket before a sinkhole swallows the ship entirely.

  Wandering alone into the desert, Finn meets the scavenger Rey and the droid BB-8. The three of them flee the pursuing First Order aboard the Millennium Falcon. Han Solo and Chewbacca soon confront them, insisting the freighter rightfully belongs to them. Han then brings the group to his old friend Maz Kanata, who offers to deliver them safely to the Resistance. Finn initially plans to abandon the fight altogether, changing course only after the First Order destroys several planets and captures Rey.

  At the Resistance base, Finn learns that Poe survived the crash after all, and reveals what he knows about the First Order's planet-killing superweapon, Starkiller Base. He claims he can disable the base's protective shield. Finn, Han and Chewbacca land there and corner Phasma, his former commanding officer, forcing her to shut it down. Resistance fighters storm the base while Finn reunites with Rey, who has broken free of her captors on her own. Kylo Ren then kills his own father, Han, before confronting Finn and Rey in the forest. Finn draws a lightsaber against him but is overpowered and knocked unconscious. Rey seizes the lightsaber herself, wounds Ren, and escapes Starkiller Base with Chewbacca and the still-unconscious Finn. Once the base is destroyed, Rey and Chewbacca deliver Finn to the Resistance's medical bay.

  A companion book, Star Wars: Before the Awakening, traces what Finn, Poe and Rey were each doing just before this story begins.

• 4. A Debt to Rose

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  Finn awakens from his coma only to immediately ask after Rey's whereabouts. A deadly First Order strike on the Resistance fleet soon follows, prompting Finn to consider boarding an escape pod to protect himself and Rey. Before he can climb aboard, the maintenance worker Rose Tico stuns him, planning to report him for desertion. She changes her mind when Finn reveals that the First Order is tracking their ship through hyperspace.

  Maz advises the pair to find an expert code breaker. Finn and Rose steal a Resistance ship and travel to Canto Bight, a resort city on the planet Cantonica. Inside its luxurious casino, Finn is initially dazzled by the surroundings until Rose points out that many patrons sell weapons to the First Order. The two are imprisoned for a parking violation before finding a thief and code breaker named DJ, who offers to help. They refuse at first, but he frees them regardless.

  Eventually Finn and Rose accept DJ's help and infiltrate the flagship of Supreme Leader Snoke, only to be captured by Phasma and sentenced to death. DJ betrays them beforehand, but a Resistance assault throws the ship into chaos before their execution. Finn defeats Phasma in a fight that ends with her fall. Finn and Rose then escape to the planet Crait aboard a damaged shuttle.

  As the First Order closes in on Crait, Finn leads a strike meant to disable its massive cannon. Heavy losses force Poe to order a retreat. Finn instead flies his speeder toward the cannon, intending to sacrifice himself. Rose rams her own speeder into his and knocks him clear of the blast. She tells him that wars are won by protecting what matters, not only by fighting enemies, then kisses him before losing consciousness. Luke Skywalker's arrival distracts the First Order long enough for Finn and Poe to lead the Resistance off the planet. Finn embraces Rey before boarding the Falcon.

  Away from the films, Finn also became a playable character in the video game Star Wars Battlefront II. Boyega provided his voice for the downloadable Last Jedi content.

• 5. Becoming Co-General

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  Finn and Poe learn that Emperor Palpatine has secretly returned, assembling a Sith armada called the Final Order on the hidden planet Exegol. The pair travel with their companions to Pasaana, where they uncover a clue pointing to a hidden Sith wayfinder, a compass leading to Exegol. When Rey discovers that Chewbacca has been captured by the First Order, Finn joins the attempt to free him. Finn and Poe are captured instead and marked for execution. The First Order's own General Hux rescues them instead, revealing that he has secretly been helping the Resistance.

  On Kef Bir, the group meets a woman named Jannah, who leads a band of Resistance allies. Jannah turns out to be a former stormtrooper like Finn. Finn tells her he believes the Force is what brought the two of them together, while Rey duels Kylo Ren before fleeing in his ship. Back at the Resistance base, Finn and Jannah learn that Leia has died and named Poe as acting general in her place. Poe, unwilling to shoulder that command alone, appoints Finn as his co-general.

  Using Ren's wayfinder, Rey reaches Exegol and transmits its coordinates to the Resistance. Finn and Poe then organize a strike against the Sith Eternal's forces. Finn and Jannah lead a ground assault to sabotage the enemy's navigation system. As the battle turns, the two become stranded aboard a First Order Star Destroyer. Lando Calrissian and Chewbacca rescue them aboard the Falcon. The fight leaves Finn with deepened trust in his own instincts and his connection to the Force. Back at base, Finn reunites with Rey and Poe to celebrate the First Order's defeat alongside their fellow Resistance fighters.

  While sinking into quicksand earlier in the story, Finn tries to tell Rey something urgent, then later holds back because Poe is within earshot. Director J.J. Abrams later confirmed that what Finn wanted to say was that he, too, is Force-sensitive, a detail the film's novelization also confirms.

  That same sensitivity would soon send Finn down an entirely different path, one built around training rather than battle.

• 6. A Jedi in Training

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  The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special, a 2020 Christmas special, finds Finn training as a Jedi under Rey after realizing he is Force-sensitive. During one lesson, Rey accidentally hurts his feelings by making him practice with only a wooden lightsaber.

  Rey then seeks a path to the World Between Worlds, a place that lets her travel through time. Finn, meanwhile, plans a celebration of the Wookiee holiday Life Day with Poe, Jannah, Rose, Lando, and Chewbacca's family. On her journey, Rey learns from the spirit of Yoda that patience and understanding matter most when training an apprentice. She also witnesses Finn catch the falling Life Day tree with his wooden lightsaber. When Rey returns, she lets Finn slice the Life Day roast with her real lightsaber, but he misses and cuts straight through the table instead.

  That clumsy moment sits far from the battlefield decisions that, according to Boyega himself, define most of Finn's choices.

• 7. Playing Finn

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  Boyega described Finn as a man answering to 'a bigger calling' by walking away from the First Order and starting his own journey. He said Finn finds himself in 'an extraordinary circumstance' while being 'in over his head.' Boyega argued that Finn's early decisions are 'based on adrenaline,' comparing it to suddenly grabbing a weapon and then bolting.

  During The Last Jedi, Finn was originally scripted to travel to Canto Bight alongside Poe rather than Rose. Director Rian Johnson found their dialogue interchangeable, producing what he called a 'flat' storyline. He created the character Rose specifically to challenge and contrast with Finn, replacing Poe as his companion for that storyline.

  That substitution reshaped Finn's arc in ways that critics would later weigh in on directly.

• 8. Critics and Controversy

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  Boyega's performance as Finn earned him the BAFTA Rising Star Award, along with a Saturn Award nomination, both tied to The Force Awakens. Critics largely praised both the character and Boyega's portrayal. Brian Truitt of USA Today praised the dynamic between Finn and Rey, calling the dialogue between Finn and Han 'seriously clever.' Drew McWeeny of HitFix wrote that Boyega brought a 'great combination of self-interested fear and reluctant heroism that he plays beautifully.' McWeeny added that Boyega expertly charts 'Finn's evolution as a person.' Robbie Collin of The Telegraph described Boyega's performance as a 'would-be-heroic schtick' that is half-brave, half-anxious and very funny. Collin added that Finn wants to be a 'daring freedom-fighter' but remains uncertain about his own aptitude. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone called Finn 'bracingly comic and cunning.'

  Ty Burr of The Boston Globe took a harsher view, calling Finn a 'weak link.' He wrote that the character 'vacillates between noble impulses and cowardice until our interest drops away.' Burr added that the performance is 'fine but it's just fine, with little of the iconic bite a Wagnerian cartoon like this needs.'

  Finn's introduction also drew racist reactions online, to which Boyega responded, 'I'm not going to lose sleep over people.' After the first trailer premiered, Boyega told critics, 'To whom it may concern... Get used to it.' He explained that his films carry 'a secret commentary on stereotypical mentalities,' meant to get people to drop 'a prejudiced state of mind.' Some viewers called to boycott the film over its casting of a black stormtrooper. Boyega responded, 'I'm proud of my heritage, and no man can take that away from me.' He added, 'I wasn't raised to fear people with a difference of opinion. They are merely victims of a disease in their mind.'

  Some critics also faulted The Rise of Skywalker for how it handled characters of color, Finn included. In January 2020, an abandoned Episode IX script titled Star Wars: Duel of the Fates, written by Colin Trevorrow and Derek Connolly, leaked online. Some media outlets argued this unused script gave characters like Finn a larger role. In it, Finn convinces stormtroopers to defect and leads them into battle against the First Order. Concept art of Finn delivering a speech while holding a flag, along with dialogue from the unmade film, later circulated on social media. Many compared it favorably to a real speech Boyega gave during the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests.

  In September 2020, Boyega publicly criticized The Last Jedi for sidelining characters played by people of color. By that November, he revealed the criticism led to a 'very honest conversation' with Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy, who ultimately backed his claims.