Reminiscent in design of the Empire's TIE interceptor and Darth Vader's TIE advanced, Kylo Ren's TIE silencer is an angular fighter equipped with laser cannons and missile launchers. Ren is an expert pilot -- thanks to skills passed down from his father -- which he puts to use in exploiting his ship's speed and ferocity. There is no other First Order craft like the TIE silencer, and it is an effective tool in Ren's mission to destroy the Resistance.

A small, secretive private military force, the Resistance was founded by rebel hero Leia Organa to monitor the actions of the First Order. Most New Republic power brokers tolerate the Resistance while regarding Organa and her fighters as dead-enders with an unfortunate fixation on the past. Organa’s cash-strapped movement relies on credits, ships and equipment quietly funneled to it from the few senators who share her concerns.

The New Republic’s rise reduced the once-mighty Empire to a rump state hemmed in by strict disarmament treaties and punishing reparations. But in the galaxy’s Unknown Regions, former Imperial officers, nobles and technologists plotted a return to power, building fleets and armies in secret. This movement became the First Order, ruled by Supreme Leader Snoke, and is now ready to reclaim the Imperial legacy.

Part of the support crew that keeps the Resistance starfighters flying, Rose has hated the First Order since she was a child. Now able to fight back against the enemy, Rose keeps her focus on her mission.

Rey is a Jakku scavenger, a survivor toughened by life on a harsh desert planet. When the fugitive droid BB-8 appeals to her for help, Rey finds herself drawn into a galaxy-spanning conflict. Despite dismissing herself as “no one,” she learns that her life is being shaped by the mysterious power of the Force.

The Incom T-70 X-wing is the latest incarnation of a classic design, and the signature combat craft of the Resistance’s Starfighter Corps. Faster than the Alliance-era T-65s, Resistance X-wings are maneuverable enough to engage TIE fighters in dogfights, but powerful enough to take down capital ships. The credit-strapped Resistance relies on X-wings donated or lent by sympathetic New Republic senators and local security forces. During the assault on Starkiller Base, Poe Dameron flies a customized, dark-hulled X-wing under the call sign Black Leader.

An older design pre-dating the Rebel Alliance, these low-altitude, high power ski speeders use a stabilizer strut to keep balance when zipping across alien terrain.

Now reinforced with new combat craft, the Resistance fleet dispatches hardy bombers into battle with the First Order fleet. Escorted by swift starfighters, these munitions-laden carrier ships drop powerful proton bombs onto their Star Destroyer targets.

Small, flat-muzzled avians that flock about the rocks and roost in the cliffs of Luke Skywalker's secluded island, porgs are inquisitive creatures.

Poe Dameron is a commander in the Resistance’s Starfighter Corps and one of Leia Organa’s most-trusted operatives. The son of a rebel fighter pilot and a rebel commando, Poe grew up on stories of Alliance campaigns. A decorated X-wing pilot, he can fly anything – which is fortunate given how often his headstrong nature leads him into trouble.

Luke Skywalker was a Tatooine farmboy who rose from humble beginnings to become one of the greatest Jedi the galaxy has ever known. Along with his friends Princess Leia and Han Solo, Luke battled the evil Empire, discovered the truth of his parentage, and ended the tyranny of the Sith. A generation later, the location of the famed Jedi master was one of the galaxy’s greatest mysteries.

Princess Leia Organa was one of the Rebel Alliance’s greatest leaders, fearless on the battlefield and dedicated to ending the tyranny of the Empire. Daughter of Padmé Amidala and Anakin Skywalker, sister of Luke Skywalker, and with a soft spot for scoundrels, Leia ranks among the galaxy’s great heroes. But life under the New Republic has not been easy for Leia. Sidelined by a new generation of political leaders, she struck out on her own to oppose the First Order as founder of the Resistance. These setbacks in her political career have been accompanied by more personal losses.