When Star Wars: The Force Awakens' first trailer dropped back in 2014, fans were convinced John Boyega's Finn would be the main hero of the sequel trilogy. However, while Finn was indeed a major player in the newer Star Wars movies, it was actually Rey who ended up as the saga's focal point. Originally a 'nobody' from Jakku, she rose to power by defeating Palpatine, the First Order, and the dark side to finally bring balance to the force after all these years.
However, things could have been extremely different for Daisy Ridler's character and the journey Rey goes on. Here are some ways the story might have played out.
She Could Have Been Related To Kylo Ren
One of the most intriguing aspects of Rey's story throughout the entirety of Disney's newest trilogy was her backstory. Just how was she so powerful when she had very little training? In the end, of course, it's revealed she's the granddaughter of Emperor Palpatine, with fans discovering this in The Rise of Skywalker.
But, given her similarities to Luke Skywalker and Anakin Skywalker, some definitely had reason to believe she was a Skywalker by blood. A daughter of Han Solo and Leia Organa would have made sense at one stage, as would a possible child of Han and Qi'ra and Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade. Alas, it wasn't to be.
...And She Could Have Been A Kenobi
Another popular fan theory regarding Rey was that she was somehow related to Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Obviously, he had plenty of time to have a child during his exile on the sandy planet of Tatooine, an era we still don't know much about ahead of the release of his own TV show in 2022. It did always seem unlikely because Obi-Wan wasn't there for fun (otherwise we're sure he'd have chosen to lie low on a comfortable planet like Coruscant or Bespin), but that didn't stop some people from getting carried away with the idea.
She Could Have Been A Solana
The Duel of the Fates script had an alternate story for Rey in mind. It's been claimed that this was Colin Trevorrow's version of Episode XI, one he wrote in full before J.J. Abrams was drafted in as a replacement. It's worth pointing out that Trevorrow has never downplayed this, while concept art has leaked in the time since it first made the headlines.
In that version, Rey would have stayed as a nobody - which seems more like what The Last Jedi had in store. Kylo Ren would have executed her parents many years previously and, as he dies, would have finally revealed her surname: Solana. How fans would have reacted to this is something the world will never know.
She Could Have Fought With A Double-Bladed Lightsaber
When The Phantom Menace released back in the summer of 1999, Darth Maul's double-bladed lightsaber was one of the movie's biggest talking points. Nobody had ever seen a Star Wars character carry a weapon like that, one that made him a formidable foe for Jedi Knights Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi.
And had the Duel of the Fates script been used, fans would have seen Rey use one. She gets a yellow lightsaber at the end of The Rise of Skywalker but a double-bladed saber, with two blue ends, would have been pretty cool as well. Ridley's character would have used this in combat against Kylo Ren but, again, fans will never know how that would have been received.
She Could Have Waited On Jakku Forever
When Rey first appears in The Force Awakens, she tells Finn she's waited years on Jakku for her family to return - having been abandoned as a youngster. Even after fleeing to the planet of Takodana she still pines to go back, determined to learn why she was left to fend for herself as a child in such brutal conditions.
So imagine if Rey had waited forever? That was her main goal at first, one she ends up forgetting all about. If that would have happened, the Resistance would have had nobody to stop Kylo Ren and the First Order from reigning supreme. Luke didn't want to know, Leia's days of fighting were over and Han Solo preferred to go back to his old life as a smuggler than do anything about it.
Rey Could (And Maybe Should) Have Lost The Lightsaber Fight
When Rey and Kylo Ren fight off against each other for the first time in TFA, the former Jakku scavenger is certainly the underdog. After all, she's going up against a powerful dark side user who has years' worth of training under his belt and she, at this moment in time, is merely a Jedi novice.
Obviously, she ends up winning. But this arguably does more harm than good. It would have done wonders for her character development if she'd lost the battle, but then gone on to win the war. Instead, she always came across as far too powerful far too early on - making her eventual victory all the more predictable.
She Could Have Been Properly trained
On the subject of Rey's lack of training, just think. If she'd spent more time in the company of Luke, perhaps years, months, or weeks, then the First Order would have eliminated far swifter.
She might have killed Supreme Leader Snoke herself given her vast power, and she could even have defeated Palpatine without too much effort. One thing is certain, however. Rey should have been trained more by Luke because it would have made her overall arc make far more sense than it did at the time.
She Could Have Died
Confident after beating Ben Solo, and spending a couple of days training with Luke Skywalker, Rey then decides to travel to Snoke. She's convinced she can turn Kylo Ren back to the light side of the force after speaking to him a couple of times via their force bond. But, when she gets there, she finds herself in more trouble than she thought.
Snoke orders Kylo to cut her down - and had things gone differently, she'd have been gone and the Resistance would have been all the weaker for it. Fortunately Ben decides to turn on his master instead. But Rey's hopes of an alliance are ended almost immediately, with the new Supreme Leader desperate to 'let the past die'.
She Could Have Followed Luke’s Lead
In The Rise of Skywalker, Rey is appalled with herself when she impales Kylo Ren. So much so she even flees the fight against the First Order, vowing to isolate herself on the planet of Ach-To, just like Luke Skywalker did. It takes a pep talk from the Jedi Master to change her mind, with the iconic Star Wars character returning as a force ghost.
Had Luke not intervened, Rey may very well have abandoned the fight for good. Nobody would have known her whereabouts and, therefore, nobody would be around to stop Palpatine and the Final Order. Fortunately, she did change her mind, becoming the Resistance's big trump card in the process.
She Could Have Turned To The Dark Side
Episode XI hints on numerous occasions that Rey turning to the dark side is a genuine possibility. Firstly, she force shoots lightning - just like Snoke and Palpatine do. Then she battles a villainous version of herself on board the second Death Star. And, as mentioned above, she stabs Kylo Ren too - allowing her anger to get the better of her at that moment.
Alas, Disney chose to go down a different route. But the groundwork for something else to happen was certainly there and, in another world, she might have succeeded Palpatine as the Emperor of his army.