Rey quickly became a fan favorite when Star Wars: The Force Awakens was released. Her tragic backstory pulled at our emotions and allowed her to create a special place in our hearts.
Abandoned on the desert wastelands of Jakku at a young age, Rey grew up living amongst the lost and the broken. Without anything to her name, she made a life for herself as an expert scavenger. She collected scrap metal and traded them for the limited food rations she needed to survive.
Although she lived day by day, the one thing that kept her spirit alive was the hope that her family would return for her.
She never left the wastelands, simply because she believed she wouldn’t remain lost forever. Rey isn’t only a fan favorite because of her emotional story, but also because she remains one of the biggest mysteries in the entire Star Wars universe.
Although we watch her journey from scavenger to pilot to force user, we don’t really know a lot about her. Fans have searched far and wide for any clues about her past, but have come up empty-handed - until now.
The facts you are about to read will help you learn some more about the mysterious scavenger and reveal a little more about the young woman who will forever change the course of the Jedi.
So, get ready to light up the Dark Side because here are the 16 Things You Never Knew About Rey.
She Could be a Gray Jedi
During the Last Jedi trailer, Rey is fighting to balance good and evil, and determine where she fits in. This has led many people to believe that she may come out somewhere in between.
A gray Jedi is someone that can walk the line between the light and the dark without surrendering to one side. Originally developed in Star Wars Legends, they are force users who don’t believe in the rules of the Jedi Council.
In the Force Awakens novel, there is a reference to the Journal of the Whills, a Jedi handbook that says, “The difference, they say is only made right by the resolving of gray through refined Jedi sight.”
This reference combined with the Last Jedi trailer may hint to the fact that Luke Skywalker thinks the Jedi need to go in a new direction to survive. This direction may lead Rey to become a Gray Jedi.
She Didn't Mean to Save BB-8 from the Teedo
Rey saves the adorable BB-8 from a menacing Teedo in The Force Awakens. However, her reasoning is more selfish than selfless.
According to her diary, Rey’s purpose for saving the droid wasn’t actually to free him from captivity. Instead, she just wanted to show the Teedo that no one can take anything of value from her territory.
Her journal entry from the day she met BB-8 said, “A Teedo had caught him in a net. I didn’t care for that – this was right by my house, which the Teedos know isn’t their territory. I needed to show them I wouldn’t put up with that, or else I’d soon have the same problem with every Teedo on Jakku. I yelled at the Teedo and cut the droid out of the net.”
By yelling at the Teedo, Rey ensured her survival, but also happened to pick up a key to her destiny.
She was Originally Named Kira
Throughout the production of The Force Awakens, Rey was always described as a hothead, gearhead, and an all-around beast. However, her name wasn’t always Rey.
During an interview, Ridley revealed that she originally thought her character’s name was Kira. It wasn’t until they were filming in Abu Dhabi that J.J. Abrams told her he was thinking of changing the name to Rey.
Although this seems insignificant, many fans have taken her original name to mean something. There is a rumor that Kira was Rey’s real name, until it was changed to protect her identity when she arrived on Jakku.
Kira is also expected to be the name of Emilia Clarke’s Character in the Han Solo movie, and is actually used multiple times in the Expanded Universe.
There is a Rebel Alliance officer called Kira Lar, a Jedi named Kira Carsen, and a House of Kira on Onderon.
She May Need to Battle a Sea Creature to Gain the Porgs' Acceptance
When we saw Rey land on Ahch-To in The Force Awakens, it seemed remote and deserted. However, since then, we’ve learned that it’s inhabited by many different creatures.
The adorable Porgs that debuted in The Last Jedi’s trailer, are the protectors of Ahch-To. This means that they decide who is worthy of staying and who has to go.
Don’t be fooled by their cuteness though. They are more like Gremlins than Furbys, and have razor sharp teeth to deter any unwanted guests.
To impress them, and earn her place on Ahch-To, Ray may have to defeat a sea creature not unlike the one Luke defeated for Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back comics.
During the trailer, Rey dives into a body of water and you can see the skeleton of a dragon-like creature. Could this be the monster she has to fight? Or is that just the monster’s lunch?
She Taught Herself How to Fly
Rey was an excellent scavenger and a lot of her skills came from her ability to obtain what she needed to survive.
One day while out scavenging, Rey found a computer display from an old BTL-A4 Y-wing starfighter. Along with other parts she found, Rey used the display to build herself a working computer.
The computer wasn’t able to transmit or receive any kind of communication, but Rey was lucky enough to find a stash of old data chips from a Zephra-series hauler that she used to create a flight simulator.
She used the simulator whenever she had free time, pretending to be flying to other worlds. These long hours of practice explain why Rey can simply jump into the Millennium Falcon during The Force Awakens, and fly away from Jakku with ease.
She May Team Up with Kylo Ren
Rey will learn that her mentor is not what she imagined. Luke fears her power and is expected to reject her as a student. So, who will she turn to for help?
In the official trailer, we get a glimpse of what looks like Rey asking for help and Kylo extending his hand towards her. Although Star Wars trailers are notoriously deceptive, fans still think the two will form a relationship.
Some theories suggest this relationship may even be romantic or possibly forged by blood.
In the newest teaser, we see Rey summoning Kylo Ren’s lightsaber. This has confirmed some fans’ belief that she is somehow related to him. Since lightsabers know who they belong to, but if the two are related by blood, Rey could be capable of wielding his lightsaber.
However, the big question is: Will Kylo Ren turn to the light or will Rey turn to the dark?
She is 19 Years Old in The Force Awakens
According to The Force Awakens Visual Dictionary, Rey was born 15 years after A New Hope. This makes her 19 years old in The Force Awakens.
This bit of information may seem irrelevant, but it actually reveals a lot about Rey’s background. For one, it discredits the theory that Rey and Kylo Ren are twins.
Leia and Han Solo had twins in the Expanded Universe, which has led many fans to believe Rey could be Kylo’s twin sister. However, since Kylo Ren is 29 years old in The Force Awakens, they can’t possibly be twins.
Rey’s age also discredits another theory about why she was abandoned on Jakku. One theory suggests Rey was taken to Jakku for her own safety after Kylo killed Luke’s Jedi students.
However, this happened less than 6 years before Force Awakens, which means Rey was a teenager and would’ve already been living on Jakku for years.
She May Have Named Herself After Her Childhood Hero
One of the first things Rey ever found while scrounging around the Graveyard was a helmet of an X-wing Starfighter, named Captain Dosmit Ræh.
Captain Dosmit Ræh was a female starfighter pilot who flew with the Tierfon Yellow Aces and served as a captain on the Alliance to Restore the Republic – a rebel group that opposed the reign of Sheev Palpatine.
Ræh became an important figure in Rey’s life. As a child, Rey would make up stories about the mysterious pilot and what she was like. Little Rey would even pretend to go on adventures with the Captain around her home.
Although Rey eventually grew out of her imaginary tales, she still wears the helmet in The Force Awakens. Many fans also believe that she kept the memory of her childhood hero alive by naming herself after Captain Dosmit Ræh.
She is So Strong That Daisy Ridley Had to Train 5 Days a Week
Growing up on Jakku, Rey had to learn to defend herself. She became a strong female fighter, and Daisy Ridley had to bring the heat while training for her role.
Prior to the deactivation of her Instagram account, Ridley would post inspiring images and videos about her Star Wars training routine. She even worked out with a pillowcase on her head, so that she didn't reveal her new Star Wars hairdo or any other movie spoilers.
Although she did have a stunt double, Ridley did some of her own stunts and trained four hours a day, four days a week.
She also had to work with a fight choreographer from Game of Thrones and conquered Bojutsu fighting, kickboxing, and climbing.
Her training allowed her to become extremely handy with a bo-staff and eventually a lightsaber. According to Lucasfilm president, “Daisy’s gotten so good at Bojutsu that even grown men on the set fear [her staff]”.
She Has Read Every Ship Manual She Could Scavenge
Rey has a gift for machinery that was developed throughout her many years on Jakku.
During her exploits, Rey has scavenged many ship and system manuals and has read through every single one. Therefore, she knows the role of each ship during combat, the weapons they’re armed with, their specific models, and how many crew members should be onboard.
From these manuals, Rey became extremely comfortable with vehicles and started to make some of her own. She engineered traps that she placed around her AT-AT home to prevent scavengers from stealing from her.
Rey also built her own Speeder entirely from scratch. She even equipped it with a fingerprint scanner so that it wouldn’t work for anyone except herself. Rey also rewired her speeder so that it would shock any thieves or scavengers that tried to steal it while she was away.
Her Doll in The Force Awakens Has Special Meaning
You may have missed it, but in The Force Awakens, there is a quick glimpse of a doll in the corner of Rey’s home. This is an Easter Egg that points to the scavenger’s childhood.
When Rey was little, she found a helmet that belonged to Captain Dosmit Ræh, a female Rebel starfighter pilot that flew with the Tierfon Yellow Aces.
When Rey was a child, she idolized Captain Ræh and made up stories about who she was and what planet she came from.
So, Little Rey made a doll of Captain Ræh out of a flight uniform she found in a cargo container. Rey would put on her helmet and pretend to seek out lost Rebels with her doll.
Eventually, Rey grew too old for the doll, but she keeps it in her room as a reminder of how far she’s come.
She Collects Flowers
Rey collects flowers to remind her that beauty can be found anywhere.
In Rey’s Survival Guide, she writes, “I have a few things at home to help me pass the time. I collect flowers – spinebarrel blooms and nightblossoms – and display them to remind myself that there’s beauty everywhere if you look hard enough, even on Jakku.”
Her habit of picking flowers started when she moved into the AT-AT, Hellbound 2, which she made her home.
When Rey first saw the AT-AT, she didn’t think she could live there, as it was located in a barren wasteland where nothing was able to grow. However, when she walked inside, she found a small green spinebarrel flower, which convinced her that if such a beautiful and delicate thing could survive there, then she could too.
Her Outfit in The Force Awakens Was Inspired by Original Concept Designs of Luke Skywalker
After George Lucas finished writing the second draft of A New Hope (1977), he realized that there was a lack of major female characters in his story. Therefore, he attempted to rewrite the plot to change Luke Skywalker’s sex to female.
He asked the concept artist, Ralph McQuarrie to incorporate this idea into his next sketch of Skywalker, which can be seen in the picture above.
Although the concept was never used, it did inspire Rey’s costume in The Force Awakens. Her goggles are taken directly from the design, and her cloak brings in elements of Luke Skywalker throughout Star Wars history.
Concept artists Doug Chiang and Iain McCaig were also inspired by McQuarrie’s Skywalker designs and tried to incorporate them in other movies. However, they both worked on The Force Awakens and seem to have finally gotten their way.
She Was Originally Excluded From The Force Awakens Toy Line
Little boys and girls everywhere instantly fell in love with Rey after watching The Force Awakens, which is why many parents were highly disappointed when Hasbro left her out of their Star Wars toy line.
Originally, Hasbro’s toy line focused on Kylo Ren and Finn. There were a couple of Rey toys, except they were fully cloaked and masked, depriving the toy of any relation to her feminine qualities.
When approached by angry parents, Hasbro said they excluded Rey from the line because they wanted to preserve the story and prevent any spoilers.
However, an insider revealed that during a meeting with Lucasfilm, product vendors were directed to exclude Rey because “no boy wants to be given a product with a female character on it”.
Outraged parents took to social media and promoted the hashtag “#WheresRey” and now Hasbro has prominently featured Rey in their The Last Jedi line.
She Taught Herself Wookie and Droid Languages
During The Force Awakens, many viewers were confused as to why an abandoned girl living on Jakku could speak the same language as BB-8 and Chewbecca. However, Rey’s Survival Guide and The Force Awakens: Rey’s Story provide a very clear answer.
When she was little, Rey scavenged a Y-Wing computer display and several computer tapes which she used to teach herself different languages. From these tapes, she learned alien and droid languages such as the Wookie language of Shyriiwook and BB-8’s language, Astromech Binary.
She then practiced her language skills with offworlders she came across at Niima Outpost.
It is also clear that Rey can speak the language of the Teedos, based on her interaction with the Teedo that was trying to capture BB-8 during the beginning of The Force Awakens.
Who Are Her Parents?
The biggest mystery surrounding Rey is her origin story. How did she end up on Jakku and who are her parents?
The most popular theory is that Rey is Luke’s daughter. When Rey picked up his lightsaber in The Force Awakens, Maz Kanata said, “That saber called to Luke and his father before him, and now it calls to you”. Since everyone in Star Wars is basically a Skywalker anyways, this theory wouldn’t be so outrageous.
Another theory suggests that Rey is Han and Leia’s daughter. The couple may have sent her to Jakku to protect her identity after her older brother, Kylo Ren joined the dark side. However, it would be extremely weird for Han Solo to have traveled with his daughter for an entire movie without saying anything.
There are also theories that say she’s Qui-Gon Jinn or Obi-Wan’s granddaughter or that she's a clone created to save the Jedi.
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