Spanning the globe and the farthest reaches of the world wide web to bring you the latest news about the Force Awakens character Finn. He is one of those characters that we think we know a lot about, but somehow it seems like there is still quite a bit to know.
The big question that everyone wants to know…Does Finn become a Jedi? I had assumed that he would for a long time, and then these cards showed up saying that he wasn’t. However, we don’t know how seriously to take these cards. In fact, there is good reason to not take them seriously at all because it also says R2 is a Jedi! So, we’re back to the drawing board. We do know that he is carrying the lightsaber for most of the movie from the concept art:
but that could be just carrying it because he thinks it’s cool. The MSW plot synopsis suggests he is attracted to it, while Rey is repulsed by it. Therefore, that would make Finn the best person to carry it to bring it to Luke (until Rey takes it, as is rumored).
In a recent interview with V magazine, we get this suggestion:
Boyega plays the character of Finn, who he describes as being “in conflict, mostly with himself and also with the powers” but is tight-lipped about why this conflict exists, or which powers he means for that matter—the Force?
And when confronted with this point, most of the readers of SWNN (49%) voted that they thought that he was a Jedi, and the lightsaber is no coincidence.
Still, even Han wielded a lightsaber in ESB, so in my mind the lightsaber doesn’t guarantee anything. Or does it? To cut the guts out of a Tauntaun is one thing, but to use it in fighting? According to Wookieepedia, you need a certain strength dexterity to wield one. Perhaps even only the strength of a Jedi. The idea that Finn is in a lightsaber fight with Kylo goes way back, to a post by Jimjamjim on the Jedi Council Forums. A lot of what he posted has held up, and this was the first mention of Kylo’s crossguarded lightsaber (way back Sept 2014). So we can likely expect him to fight with the saber. However, we’re left then wondering with what skill does he use the lightsaber? Does he fumble around with it for a little bit and then just get taken down, or does he actually use it well enough? The synopsis says he is quickly taken down and then saved by Rey. Therefore, my money is on Rey being a Jedi. In the end, I don’t know if there is any solid evidence that he will become a Jedi, and I’m starting to think he just tried to use the saber, but couldn’t hack it. Could absolutely be wrong, but so far I’m struggling to find anything solid that he shows signs of being Force-sensitive. Please let me know if you’ve heard of anything!
There are some recent rumblings around the web that Finn’s story is loosely based on the Legends character “Finn Galfridian”. It’s interesting that this character interacted with the Solo twins and rode in the Millennium Falcon. In many ways, Finn Galfridian’s story has a couple similarities to Finn, but still pretty different. Finn Galfridian was a Jedi sent to help the Solo’s from none other than Luke Skywalker. Frankly, I’m not going to defend this theory, but it could be an interesting idea to look into, hence pointing it out.
In a the same article from V Magazine mentioned above, John Boyega basically stated that the fan theories are wrong. We’ve always thought that Finn is a stormtrooper, with number FN2187. There are some rumors that suggest that he might be just posing as a stormtrooper.
“We’ve seen him in the Stormtrooper outfit and his own clothes. Why is that?” The answer, he says, is “very surprising.” And if you think you’ve worked it out, the chances are you’re wrong. “J.J. will send me YouTube clips of fans reacting to things online and it’s funny. The fans have no idea. It’s great they are talking, but nobody has a clue.”
So it makes you wonder how the rumors could be wrong. It would be a nice surprise if he was in fact not a stormtrooper, and wearing the outfit as a disguise. If so, I guess he might be a Resistance fighter or spy trying to infiltrate the First Order. That would explain why he is shorter than all the other stormtroopers. That’s him in the middle:
Would someone that short make it into the StormTroopers? According the Leia in ANH, there are height requirements.
I’ve definitely all this time thought that he was a stormtrooper and I assumed that his name “Finn” was based off his stormtrooper id number “FN2187”. But what if it’s the other way around? What if he is a Resistance spy, infiltrating the First order, and when asked his number, he made one up, using “FN” as the characters based on his name? For example, this idea would explain why he was repulsed by the actions of the stormtroopers. Wouldn’t someone trained in the First Order be sort desensitized to the kind of violence that they do? Again, this is just entertaining a wild idea here, and I still think that the evidence points to him being an actual stormtrooper, but nevertheless again worth contemplating. What do you think? Share your comments below.
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P.S. – John Boyega, is as excited to hear about the trailer as we are!
So connected with JJ and told him to hurry up with a trailer. Fingers crossed! That’s all I can do. #injjwetrust
— John Boyega (@JohnBoyega) October 14, 2015