A legendary traveler and explorer, Lor San Tekka was a longtime ally of the New Republic and the Resistance. After the Battle of Endor, San Tekka helped Luke Skywalker recover secret Jedi lore that the Empire had tried to erase. He then retired to live simply on Jakku, where he followed the dictates of the once-forbidden Church of the Force. Leia Organa sent Poe Dameron in search of San Tekka, who gave him a portion of a map revealing Luke’s planet of exile. San Tekka was then killed by Kylo Ren, who sought the same information.

A harsh desert world, Jakku is a lawless place that’s home to thieves, outlaws and refugees. During the final years of the Galactic Civil War, Jakku was the site of a secret Imperial research base and served as a jumping-off point for warships heading into the Unknown Regions. The Empire made a last stand above the frontier planet, leading to a pitched battle between rebel and Imperial fleets. Jakku’s sandy wastes are littered with old wrecks, picked over by desperate scavengers searching for parts that can be salvaged and sold.

A commander in the Resistance’s starfighter corps, Poe Dameron is one of Leia Organa’s most-trusted operatives. A decorated X-wing pilot, he can fly anything – which is fortunate given how often his headstrong nature leads him into trouble. Poe leads the attack that destroys Starkiller Base, but soon finds himself on the run from the First Order. Sidelined without his beloved X-wing, he learns tough lessons about leadership, heroism and sacrifice.

A skittish but loyal astromech, BB-8 accompanied Poe Dameron on many missions for the Resistance, helping keep his X-wing in working order. When Poe’s mission to Jakku ended with his capture by the First Order, BB-8 fled into the desert with a vital clue to the location of Jedi Master Luke Skywalker. He rejoined Poe and the service of the Resistance in time for the attack on Starkiller Base, then helped Rey locate Skywalker’s planet of exile.

The son of Han Solo and Leia Organa, Ben Solo was seduced by the dark side of the Force and renamed himself Kylo Ren, becoming the First Order’s champion and Supreme Leader Snoke’s student. Kylo killed his father and seeks to destroy his mother’s Resistance and the remnants of the Jedi Order. Though a servant of the dark side, he still struggles against the pull of the light side of the Force.

FN-2187 was trained since birth to serve the First Order as a stormtrooper, but a skirmish on Jakku awakened his conscience and drove him down a different path, one that proved both heroic and dangerous. He helped Poe Dameron escape the First Order – picking up the nickname Finn in doing so – and then sought his own freedom alongside Rey and BB-8. Finn helped the Resistance destroy Starkiller Base, but had to decide his true loyalties: Would he continue to fight alongside the Resistance’s soldiers, or seek to reunite with Rey and flee the galactic conflict? At first Finn tried to flee the war, but a mission alongside Rose Tico convinced him that he had to commit himself to the Resistance’s cause.