As The Force Awakens has introduced dozens of new characters to the Star Wars universe,
fans can’t help but wonder how many of them are exactly what they seem.
And if their true identities are much more interesting, how many of them will be revealed
in the coming films?
Fan theories have ranged from convincing to ridiculous, with the true identities of Rey,
the Jedi hero in The Force Awakens, and Supreme Leader Snoke being two of the most debated.
To fill you in on the best – and worst – theories, we’re going to run through some of the most
popular suspicions from commenters on Screen Rant.com.
Needless to say, we’ll be SPOILING Star Wars: The Force Awakens, so you have been
warned.
Rey
The identity of Rey’s parents is almost definitely a key detail – not only because
she’s the latest in a line of powerful Force users, but because they’ve apparently abandoned
her on a backwater planet without being given a last name that we know of.
Assuming her parents weren’t pure evil, fans have argued that Rey – which may or
may not be her real name – was stashed for her own safety.
And that means her parents could have been prime targets – for good or bad.
The Youngest Skywalker
With the Star Wars saga following the Skywalker family to this point, introducing Luke Skywalker’s
daughter as the new star would keep the cycle alive.
There’s a lot of evidence, too: Rey hears Luke and Anakin’s lightsaber calling out
to her – not just in any voice, but her own cries when her unseen parents left her
behind on Jakku.
When she touches the saber, she envisions sights and sounds key to the Skywalker family.
Not to mention the revelation that in her darkest hours, she pictures an island in the
middle of an ocean – probably the same ocean where she eventually finds an older Luke Skywalker.
Could the daughter’s Force powers have been calling to her father the entire time?
It’s possible that Rey is just a student of Luke Skywalker’s, but with Luke’s life
a total mystery, and the Force especially powerful in his bloodline, a stronger bond
looks likely.
Sister of Ren
As Yoda told fans in the original series, “There is another” Skywalker aside from
the bearded Jedi.
Since Leia is shown to have had a son with Han Solo, who says the two couldn’t have
had a daughter?
In the extended universe novels, Leia and Han had multiple children, one of whom fell
to the dark side just like Kylo Ren.
The theory would explain why Kylo can sense that the mystery girl helping the Resistance
is important, even claiming that “he feels it too” when mentally linking with Rey.
It would add a deeper meaning to Rey and Leia’s first meeting, not to mention Rey and Han’s
relationship, especially if the old smuggler agreed to keep their bond a secret, knowing
Kylo would come looking for his younger sister.
Star Wars fans have seen a brother and sister join forces already, but could the new trilogy
see them go head-to-head, determining once and for all whether the Light Side or Dark
Side will come out on top?
Another Kenobi in Hiding
His padawan Anakin may have been the first Jedi to fall in love despite the Order’s
rules against attachment, but the Clone Wars series showed that Obi-Wan Kenobi had just
as much to give – especially once the Order was destroyed, and he went into hiding.
This theory claims that Obi-Wan had a child who knew to keep the family name a secret
from the Empire, eventually hiding their own child on Jakku.
There’s not much evidence to support this one, but the mirrored stories are too good
to ignore.
If it’s true, Rey would be returning Anakin’s lightsaber to Luke, just as her grandfather
gave it to him decades before.
Where Anakin’s grandson Kylo Ren fights for the Dark Side, Obi-Wan’s granddaughter
rises to defeat him.
Aside from making Anakin and Obi-Wan the heart of the entire series, it would open the door
to Kenobi’s bloodline, not Skywalker’s, producing the Chosen One prophesied to bring
balance to The Force.
It’s a bit less likely, but seeing Luke train the grandchild of his own mentor?
That might even be a better way of bringing the story full circle.
Anakin Reincarnated
Okay, this one is a bit crazier – but still could be true.
According to Anakin’s mother, her son didn’t have a father – he was a child born out
of the Force.
It explained his powers, and his mission to destroy the Sith… but the First Order and
Empire lived on.
So what if the Force made another child?
Or, more specifically, gave Anakin a second chance?
As Rey, the child would have the same force powers and knack for spaceship mechanics that
she demonstrates all the time, and touching Anakin’s lightsaber would bring emotions
and memories flooding back.
The studio has promised a satisfying answer that will call back to the very start of the
saga, and a second Chosen One with Anakin’s gifts would do the trick.
Supreme Leader Snoke
Those are just a few of the theories concerning the identity of the newest Star Wars Force
User, but the big bad villain is just as important.
Assuming that Supreme Leader Snoke is an adopted title (like most Star Wars villains), fans
can’t help but imagine which existing characters Snoke might actually be – even if the cast
maintains he’s a new character.
And the theories are just as much fun to imagine.
The Operator
The old Star Wars novels were thrown out of canon, but were replaced just as quickly.
“Star Wars Aftermath” introduced a few characters before they appear in The Force
Awakens, but one mystery leader has fans talking.
Known only as ‘The Operator,’ and believed to be a former Imperial Admiral presumed dead,
the figure is more ruthless than any Imperial before him.
He’s even willing to leak information to the Resistance, letting other officers be
ambushed and killed to make the Empire stronger or more devoted.
Fans have seen how the new First Order is likely a result, and have wondered if ‘The
Operator’ eventually takes the name Snoke to lead the order himself.
Darth Plagueis
When Palpatine was trying to seduce Anakin Skywalker to the Dark Side in Revenge of the
Sith, he told him a story of his own master, Darth Plagueis.
But even the knowledge of how to prevent death or create life couldn’t keep Plagueis alive
when his apprentice rose up to kill him, and take a servant Sith of his own.
But what if Plagueis was only disfigured?
Could he live on in secret, waiting to undo his apprentice’s plan, and take a new student
in Kylo Ren?
It would explain Snoke’s alien size and appearance, and his injuries.
Maybe having died and resurrected himself was Plagueis’ last challenge?
The Grand Inquisitor
As fans of Star Wars Rebels already know, Darth Vader and the Emperor didn’t hunt
down Force Users themselves: they hired Inquisitors to do the job.
Leading the group was the Grand Inquisitor, directly serving Vader as his best Force-using
Jedi-hunter.
He actually looks like Snoke, but was implied to have died in the show.
But as Star Wars fans know, death is never permanent.
Grand Moff Tarkin
It’s a long shot, but we have to include our own theory about Snoke’s identity.
In short, he’s the broken, rebuilt, and more determined than ever Grand Moff Tarkin,
Darth Vader’s former superior officer and the villain of the first Star Wars.
Tarkin has the smarts to be both The Operator and Snoke, assuming he wasn’t killed in
the Death Star explosion.
It’s an outlandish theory, but if the new Star Wars team is going to bring back an existing
character, why not start with the best?
That’s our breakdown of the most convincing, or most entertaining theories on Snoke and
Rey’s identities in the new Force Awakens trilogy.
But what do you think?
Have we missed any possible answers?
Let us know in the comments, and remember to subscribe to our channel for more videos
like this one.