Captain Phasma, Gwendoline Christie's character in Star Wars, is this generation's Boba Fett. Thanks to her badass look, she became an immediate fan favorite, but the origin story for Captain Phasma is unclear. Who is Captain Phasma, really, other than a super BAMF-y villain?
It turns out the silver stormtrooper has a dark past, beginning with her difficult life on Parnassos. It was marked by a ruthlessness from which she escaped to rise through the ranks of the First Order until she finally stood beside Kylo Ren as a fellow commander.
This list explores all the horrors that Phasma endured and perpetrated on her journey. Be warned: there are spoilers for Phasma, the novel that tells the Captain's backstory, as well as the comic miniseries Star Wars: Captain Phasma.
The Environmentally Devastated Planet Parnassos Was Her Home World
Parnassos was once a lush and verdant world with oceans so clear you could see the sandy bottom, but when a nuclear reactor belonging to the Con Star Mining Corporation exploded, the world was devastated. It rapidly transformed into a desert hellscape, and the inhabitants were separated into warring clans who raided one another's territories to survive. As a child, Phasma and her family belonged to a weak clan that lived near the Nautilus, a cave coveted by others for its shelter.
Recognizing that her clan was weak, lacked resources, and had little chance of survival against the Scyre and Claw clans that constantly harried them, Phasma devised a plan that would spare her brother's life but kill every other member of her clan, including her parents. Phasma secretly made a pact with the Scyre to help them exterminate her people. She debilitated her brother Keldo by stabbing him in the foot so he couldn't get in the way then led her clan into an ambush. She and her brother then joined the Scyre in a rite that included covering themselves in a salve made from the remains of her deceased clan.
Phasma And Her Brother Rose Through The Ranks Of The Scyre
Phasma's life on Parnassos was not unlike Rey's on Jakku; she had to scour the desert world, scavenging parts and supplies from crashed ships. She proved herself to be an elite and innovative warrior, even finding a way to weaponize poisonous moss by turning it into a paste with which she coated her weapons. Her martial prowess ultimately led her to the top of the clan with Keldo alongside her. She eventually labeled herself the greatest warrior on the planet.
A First Order Starship Crashed On Parnassos Offering Phasma A Way Out
Phasma witnessed a starship crash on her planet in the Claw territory, so along with a contingent of Scyre warriors, she infiltrated the enemy zone to investigate. Upon arrival they met Brendol Hux, an officer of the First Order, and his crew of stormtroopers. She introduced herself as the greatest warrior on the planet, which she proved by leading her clan against the Claw. She exterminated the group and impressed Hux.
The First Order Welcomed Phasma After She Committed More Betrayal
Desperate for a way off Parnassos, Phasma jumped at the opportunity to join the First Order. She conspired with Hux's stormtroopers to kill the entire Scyre clan, including her own brother. Once again impressed by her ruthlessness, Hux and the First Order welcomed her with open arms. However, because Phasma did not want her genocidal history to become known, she plotted to kill everyone in Hux's contingent. Almost all of them were dead before the First Order found a way off the planet.
Phasma's Backstabbing Continued In The First Order
Phasma was given command over half the stormtroopers in training while the other half were given to her rival captain, the red-plated Cardinal. In typical Phasma fashion, she killed him with two stabs to the chest. She also conspired with Armitage Hux to poison Armitage's father and her savior from Parnassos, Brendol Hux. By this point she had become so obsessed with eliminating all knowledge of her history that she even killed her apprentice, a girl named Frey whom she brought into the First Order from her home world.
