Star Wars: Why Did Captain Phasma Become A Stormtrooper?

With the Star Wars sequel trilogy introducing so many new characters to the galaxy far, far away, it was only a matter of time before fans picked out a few favorites. One interesting character that seems to have stood out to many is the iconic and chrome-armed Stormtrooper, Captain Phasma. While featured as a prominent supporting villain, fans often wish for more Phasma content.

Much of Phasma’s backstory has been explored in the expanded Star Wars media, and it's worth highlighting. As one of the most interesting villains to come out of the most recent phase of Star Wars films, fan support for the character might be able to breathe new life into her. There are a lot of questions to ask about this powerful character, but one of the first is why she turned to the Stormtroopers of the First Order.

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What Did Captain Phasma Do Before Joining The First Order?

Captain Phasma
Home Planet	Parnassos
Species	Human
Features	Female, gold hair, blue eyes
Affiliations	Scyre; The First Order
Family	Unnamed mother and father; Keldo (brother)
Born	6 ABY
Died	34 ABY

Some may believe that before her shiny armor, Captain Phasma just grew up on some well-off planet and was connected to the First Order in some way through that. However, a backstory that simple doesn’t cut it for Phasma. She began her life out in the Unknown Regions of space on a dangerous planet known as Parnassos, a planet that forced its inhabitants to rely on clans to survive. Rather than being born with some kind of innate good, Phasma would quickly demonstrate that only the strong could survive. She hatched a scheme that would result in the death of her original clan, including her parents. This allowed her and her brother Keldo to join the Scyre clan.

As she aged, Phasma experienced a life somewhat similar to Rey’s, struggling for survival while scavenging worthwhile tech from wrecked ships. For quite a while, Phasma’s only ally was her brother Keldo, and the two worked together to become the leaders of Clan Scyre. Once leader, Phasma took charge of the clan’s military wing and led them against other rival clans in a struggle for survival. It was during this period that Phasma demonstrated her combat prowess, military expertise, and ability to draw people into her command. Unfortunately, her own brother would eventually become her enemy, once Phasma became aware of the First Order.

Furthering her dark nature, Phasma delivers one final line to her brother in the novel Star Wars: Phasma before putting him out of his misery:

I know what I am, Keldo. I always have. That's the difference between us. I am willing to finish what I've begun.

With that, she killed her brother, setting her on the path to getting involved with the First Order.

Why Did Captain Phasma Become A Stormtrooper?

There are a number of reasons why Phasma became a member of the First Order’s Stormtroopers, but the first and most obvious was to get away from the horrors of the planet Parnassos. She happened to come across General Brendol Hux of the First Order after he made a crash landing on her planet. He explained to her what the First Order was, the resources they wielded, and the way their military structure worked. Phasma was entranced by everything that Hux told her.

After severing the rest of her ties to her planet, she eventually joined the First Order for a better life, although not necessarily one that was all that much different from her youth. The nature of her role within the First Order was also likely a draw. Phasma loved engaging in war, as it was all she had ever known. Having her own “clan” of Stormtroopers at her command likely made her feel right at home. The trust she has in her troops, even though they are her subordinates, is made clear in a line from the novelization of Star Wars: The Force Awakens:

You can't be so stupid as to think this will be easy. My troops will storm this block and kill you all. Whatever you're planning, it won't work.

How Powerful Is Captain Phasma?

Captain Phasma's Equipment

Chromium-coated Stormtrooper armor
Chromium-coated Sonn-Blas F-11D blaster rifle
Chromium-coated SE-44C blaster pistol
First Order armorweave cape
Command Staff

Being a chrome-armor-clad Stormtrooper already indicates that Captain Phasma is far above the skills of the standard human anywhere in the galaxy. When the time she spent fighting for survival is added into the mix, it becomes even clearer that Captain Phasma isn’t to be taken lightly. She was able to take control of the Scyre clan after having her family killed, and then going on to wage war and later on kill her own brother. Everything from her past indicates that Captain Phasma is one of the most ruthless and skilled beings in the galaxy.

Instead of starting out as a standard recruit, Phasma was always destined to be something special, jumping straight to training other Stormtroopers as soon as she was trained in the First Order’s ways. The First Order recognized how powerful of an asset Phasma could be by toughening up any Stormtrooper recruits. It is said that she was an expert with any and all weapons the First Order could get their hands on, and her hand-to-hand combat skills were just as impressive. Rather than following in the footsteps of many other high-ranking First Order service members, Captain Phasma always entered into battle with her underlings, a practice that likely came from her time on Parnassos. In the end, she was only defeated by a surprise attack from someone she thought dead, and a collapsing ship, making it clear that there weren’t many who could take her in a head-on fight.

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Star Wars

Star Wars is a multimedia franchise originally created by George Lucas and Lucasfilm Ltd with the 1977 motion picture. The science fiction franchise follows the adventures of characters (both humanoid and alien) in outer space including those who can wield a mystical power known as the Force. Since the release of the original trilogy of movies, the franchise has expanded to include multiple films and branched out to other media like comics, video games, tv shows, theme park attractions, and more. The IP and Lucasfilm were sold to Disney in 2012.