Star Wars The Force Awakens: Who is Captain Phasma?

She’s shiny, she’s tall, and she’s the first female stromtrooper we ever saw. Who is Captain Phasma anyway?

Captain Phasma is one of the new characters in Star Wars: The Force Awakens who immediately captured the imagination of fans everywhere. When the chrome plated storm trooper first appeared in the second trailer, there was a moment of shock. Who or What was *that*? Silver? What this some how a designation of higher rank we had hitherto fore never seen? And um, not to be rude, but wasn’t he a little tall to be a storm trooper?

So when the bomb dropped that Captain Phasma was not a he, but in fact a she–played by the 6’3″ tall bombshell of an actress Gwendoline Christie, famous for her role in Game of Thrones as Brienne the Beauty–it was only even more catnip to fans. Though one might assume that underneath the storm trooper uniforms, everyone was a white male solider between the height of 5’10” and 6’1″, the trailers had already slammed down one assumption, the moment John Boyega pulled off his helmet.  Now it was taking a blunt object to the kneecaps of the other. There are not just female storm troopers, there are female storm troopers who lead entire divisions of the First Order, and wear snazzy chrome plated armor. Add her to the ranks of the Women in Practical Armor, and to the imaginations of fans every where.

The overwhelming reaction to the character, which is at this point at Boba Fett levels, has been a little startling to the production, who have attempted to temper expectations–Captain Phasma doesn’t have many lines, she’s only in a small part of the movie. But I would expect the fanfic on her to fill out the Legends category of Captain Phasma before The Force Awakens makes it to blu-ray and DVD.

Next: What is The Force in Star Wars?

Check out the entire Star Wars Force Awakens cast list.