Disney confirms internet fan theory and unmasks mysterious Star Wars character
Search your feelings, you know it to be true
There are a lot of helmets hiding a lot of faces in Star Wars. Sometimes fans are thrilled to discover the person behind the mask. Sometimes it's a tad more disappointing.
One jug-head who caught the internet's imagination is the anonymous Stormtrooper that confronts Finn in The Force Awakens. From the moment he yelled "traitor" and extended that riot control baton, fans had a new hero.
In lieu of a real name, he was dubbed 'TR-8R', in honour of his favourite insult, and the legend soon spread.
However, a theory developed that this Stormtrooper took Finn's betrayal personally because it was... well, personal. He was not 'TR-8R', he was in fact FN-2199, a former comrade of Finn's in the book Before the Awakening. Along with their clumsy friend FN-2003, or 'Slip' for short, the trio trained together in the First Order barracks.
Guess what fans? You hit the nail on the head!
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"His name is FN-2199," the official Star Wars site has just announced. "But his friends call him Nines.”
Yes, TR-8R is Finn's former brother in arms, and Slip is the Stormtrooper who dies in his arms at the beginning of the movie, leaving a grim red palm print on his white helmet.
Speaking of red, turns out Nines is ginger. That's him in the background of this training scene, also from Before the Awakening. Hs voice is apparently provided by David Acord, a Skywalker Sound sound editor who has worked on Star Wars since Attack of the Clones.
Well, Nines may be fine, but you'll always be a TR-8R to us.
