Star Wars: The Force Awakens didn't spend much time explaining how Poe Dameron survived the crash on the planet of Jakku, but the story was told outside of the movie. Oscar Isaac played the Resistance X-wing fighter pilot for all three installments of the Star Wars sequel trilogy. In addition to figures like Rey, Finn, and Kylo Ren, Poe served as one of the new-era characters thrust into the spotlight in the war against the First Order. Even though Poe became one of the influential heroes in bringing down the First Order, the pilot almost met his demise in The Force Awakens' first act.
At the start of The Force Awakens, Poe was sent on a special Resistance mission to retrieve a map that held Luke Skywalker's location. At the request of General Leia Organa, Poe traveled to the village of Tuanul on Jakku to meet the man with the map. Moments later, First Order stormtroopers led by Kylo Ren and Captain Phasma attacked the village. Poe managed to pass the map to BB-8 before being captured, leading to a brutal interrogation while aboard the Star Destroyer Finalizer. After Ren obtained intel from Poe's mind using his Force powers, the captive got help from a stormtrooper that just deserted his post.
FN-2187, who Poe renamed "Finn", led his new ally to a TIE fighter, allowing the pair to escape. Poe briefly mentioned his Resistance mission and the importance of the map before the TIE fighter was hit by a missile, causing it to spiral to the surface of Jakku. When Finn awoke from the wreckage, Poe was nowhere to be found near the wreckage. With only Poe's jacket left behind, the former stormtrooper thought his new ally had perished in the crash. While it was later revealed that Poe survived the crash-landing, Alan Dean Foster's novelization of The Force Awakens was the first to provide more context when it came to how the character walked away unscathed from the dangerous event. As it turns out, it was all accidental.
Poe Got Help From A Jakku Native After The Crash
Despite the belief that Poe ejected himself from the TIE fighter, like the case with Finn, the novel confirmed that he remained in the ship until it crashed. His jacket got caught on something when he attempted to exit the fighter, leaving him with the only choice but to pilot the craft to the desert surface of Jakku. The crash threw Poe far from the wreckage, but at that point, he was unconscious. When he woke up, Finn was long gone, but Poe encountered a Blarina scavenger named Naka Iit. After Poe helped Naka Iit from an attack by thieves, he agreed to take the pilot to a nearby town. While there, he was introduced to Iit's friend who gave Poe a ride so that he could eventually reunite with the Resistance.
While Foster's novel ended much of the mystery surrounding Poe's survival, it was understandable why Star Wars: The Force Awakens left out some major details. Based on the wreckage, it seemed almost impossible for someone to survive if they remained on the craft. With little evidence that Poe was alive, his reunion with Finn later in the film became much more of a significant moment. It also added a hint of mystique to Isaac's character since he didn't delve into the events after the crash. It was clear that Poe exemplified a new courageous figure in the Star Wars lore, and presenting every chain of event in his arc was unnecessary at that point.